Iran and Technology: The end of this blog

Over the past semester this blog has served as a forum for my opinions, news stories, and a wide array of class-assigned posts; but like all good things it must come to an end--kind of. This blog on Iran and Technology has run its course. I enjoyed writing greatly and feel that I have benefited from it as well. It was nice to see how my thoughts developed over the course of the semester. I think at the beginning I shied away from some topics and statements but recently I have become more assertive in what I have to say about the situation in Iran and its governing and influencing forces. More importantly it has fascinated me as to how technology has affected their situation--how it has allowed for a grassroots movement to not only establish a popular widespread base, but also to sustain itself in the following months. As I wrote towards the end of my last post, these people have used technology in a way that most Americans have not. They used twitter to spread the cause of democracy--we've used it to report on Maryland Day; YouTube for them is a their battle cry--for us its a place to post videos about skateboarding bull dogs. In Iran, Facebook (when its accessible) is less of a place to check out vacation pics than a place to find out when and where the next round of protests would occur.

No matter what, regular posting on this blog will stop in the coming weeks. I will be hindered from continuing my regular posting: between school work and employment and my summer plans it will be tough to keep going with this blog. If there is one thing I hope to continue it is blogging. This topic will prove to be hard to keep up with this summer as I am participating in the Persian Undergraduate Flagship Program in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. I think this project has allowed me to put my thoughts down on paper (or webpage). I plan to keep my friends and family posted on my goings-on through blogging and I feel greatly prepared to do that. After that I'm not sure where my blogging will go--but I know that I have left this class with a newly acquired skill. I thank my professors, classmates, family, and anyone who gave their input--either publicly or directly to me. As previously said: this has been incredibly enriching and engaging encounter for me.

And along with this final post is my final "thousand word" segment. It is Dr. Seuss's take on the Iran protests. The Iranian government does not want the Green Movement to exist at all--in any venue (not even in twitter, maybe more so than anywhere else). Take a read. And thanks again.