Remarks as prepared for delivery to the Monahans High School Commencement Exercises on Friday, May 29th, 2009 by Matt Pippen:

Good evening and welcome administration, school board members, faculty, parents, friends, and fellow graduates of the Class of 2009. I have the distinct honor of welcoming you today as your salutatorian. Today, I want to talk to you about the future.

Thirteen years in the making, today, we have reached the frontier of our lives – the unexplored. While the past eighteen years have been under the guidance of our parents, we now begin a new path shaped by only our own will. This unexplored life will greet us with the greatest adventure, mystery, hardships, uncertainty, happiness, and joy from everyday forward. The lessons we have learned at Monahans High School will become vital to our success.

We began our journey to reach this frontier as small kindergarteners, full of uncertainty. It has not been easy. The trek from kindergarten to high school has been a rough path full of stepping-stones that led us to the young adults we are today. Young adults that carry dreams and aspirations. Young adults that are full of potential.

Many people say we will be the future and the world will be in our hands long from now. This is wrong. The world is in our hands now. We now have the power to change things and from our generation, we will visit Mars and beyond, find the cure to cancer, make the next breakthrough in alternative energy, and lead the country into its greatest period of prosperity. To do this you must remember a few things. 1) You never fail until you give up; Tom Krause sums it up best: “There are no failures – just experiences and your reactions to them.” 2) “I can not do everything, but I can do something. I must not fail to do the something that I can do.” Those are the words of Helen Keller as she reminds us of the importance in taking action. 3) Do what you love and you will succeed. Theodore Roosevelt tells us this: “The best prize life offers is to work hard at work worth doing.” These are just a few things to remember as we move forward.

Very briefly, I would like to say thanks to a few people. First and foremost is God who I owe all my success to. I would like to thank my parents for providing me with guidance and love and then standing by my side when I choose not to take that guidance. I would like to thank my brother, Bryan, and sister, Megan. While I may not always show it, they are my best friends in life. To my friends I owe a special thanks for providing me with encouragement, among other countless things, and lifelong memories over all these years. I would also like to thank my teachers from Kindergarten though high school. So many of you have become more then just a person that teaches math or science, but a friend, counselor, inspiration, and educator of lifelong lessons. To all of those who have been in my life, I can never say how much I thank you and owe to you.

I leave you with two things this evening. The first – Before Google was even a thought, many people used a publication called The Whole Earth Catalog as a means of finding information. The catalog started its fade as technology developed and the Internet took center stage. The final issue was printed in 1974 with a message on the back: “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.” Always remain hungry for more knowledge as it is the key to your success, and not only that, you must accompany this with foolishness. This is the idea that you are not the brightest and have much to learn no matter how much you may already know. The second – In 1997, Apple Inc. created one of most famous advertising campaigns in the history of television – Think Different. Along with the campaign came a mantra that I live my life by everyday. I would like to share it with you. “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.” Tonight is our night. Good luck and congratulations to the class of 2009.

Thank you, God bless, and “Stay hungry. Stay foolish.”

First and foremost, today is a day about our veterans. These brave, bold, and courageous men and women in front of us today have taken up arms for our country; an experience that we will never be able to understand unless we make it ourselves. Please give them a round of applause. (Applause) However, just as important, are the men and women who are not with us in this room; those who gave the ultimate sacrifice – their life. It is their blood that stains the battlefields of war and wrote the pages of history books. Although they cannot be with us, please give these men and women a round of applause. (Applause) Let us always remember that these men and women gave a sacrifice so we may continue to live in a free and safe country with the opportunity to prosper like no other country on the face of this planet. The impact of these heroes can best be summed up in a common bumper sticker: “If You Can Read This Thank A Teacher. If You Can Read This In English Thank A Soldier!”

Fellow students, I now want to take an opportunity to talk to you about the importance of giving to our country. As John F. Kennedy said in his 1961 inaugural address, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” The heart and soul of America is found in those who do this. Despite what you might think, giving back can be done in a variety of ways.

The most obvious of these is serving in the military. All of us in this room know about serving as a defender of freedom through commercials on TV or recruiters on campus, but many have never considered giving back though the military. This path is not for everyone, but everyone should take a note from Theodore Roosevelt: “No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his well being, to risk his life, in a great cause.”

A second way to give back is though national service. Those that feel military service is not an option for you, consider national service. Throughout history, people have felt the importance of serving a cause greater then themselves. Just look to Monahans High School for an example. Those in the band, do you feel proud that you pull together each year in the attempt to make something work that is greater then yourself? How about football. Do you cherish that feeling after a hard fought Friday night victory all to push the team, something greater then yourselves, to a new height? The factor that makes national service different then these is that the cause is human, and there is no greater cause then the human cause. All around the world, people are suffering from things such as AIDS, malnutrition, a lack of clean water, or even a way to produce food. Organizations such as Peace Corps will enable you to help these people escape these conditions – conditions that no human should have to endure. Even here in the United States, AmeriCorps serves as a way to affect others. Today, AmeriCorps leads community service efforts all around the country. It helps struggling youth, children learning to read, voter participation, and so much more that is vital to our countries ability to stand out as a world leader in the 21st century.

There is also one other great way to give back to your country. That is being an informed citizen. Take this as an example: Those of you who supported Barack Obama during this recent political election – why? If you supported John McCain – why? If you cannot answer beyond “He sounded good” then you have found a new way to give back to your country. Take it from Thomas Jefferson: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” But it doesn’t end there. Just as important as being an informed citizen is being an active citizen. Vote on election day, start a blog, run for a political office, and express your educated opinion on important issues. Edmund Burke once said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” If you don’t believe him, open a history book and look at how wars of tyranny and great oppression started.

Thank you for your attention. I truly hope that you consider one of the ways to give back, and just as important, I hope you remember the importance of our Veterans. Calvin Coolidge , a former U.S. President, best sums up what will happen the day we forget. “The nation which forgets its defenders will be itself forgotten.”

Thank you and may God continue to bless America and those who serve her.

I agree with Queen of Spain (Erin) that is type of behavior is absolutely unacceptable, but she is forgetting a few things.

First, John McCain and Sarah Palin are not the ones who are making these actions and should not have this level of blame thrust at them. It is those lunatic supporters who believe that all those who don’t share their exact views must be cast from the earth. Now saying this, I do believe that McCain/Palin do need to calm down on attacking that incites people on this level, and, second, they need to ask supporters who behave like this to disassociate themselves from their campaign.

Second, the solution isn’t to run over to the other political party. While it might not have been at a Obama rally, McCain has had his share of this too. Here’s just one example of no doubt many you can find that uses the same logic as the person at the McCain/Palin rally. Why isn’t a big deal made about comments such as these? (Note: I am not saying one comment is better/worse then the other. Simply that very negative comments have been made.)

Here’s the truth: both parties have supporters that are responsible for making comments such as these. The solution shouldn’t be to attack the candidates over these supporters, but to call these supporters out. We all, including both candidates, need to make it clear that this type of behavior is in no form or way allowed. If they want to carry on exercising their free speech, they need to move away from the campaigns.

While we are on the topic, even Twitter needs to settle down on the hatred. I can no longer bare to watch my Tweet stream during political events due to the smears made toward both candidates. Can’t we simply agree to disagree instead of making disgusting remarks? I am not saying that you can’t support your candidate or express yourself, but a little class would be nice.

A little class is all I ask.

Have you seen some of the content on TBN or TPN? On TPN, we have podcasts ranging from liberal politics to overclocking. Is that “Im tired so this post wont be two long… I had a cheezburger for lunch today…it was good… THANKS FOR READING!!!!!!” type content? Or if you look to the developing TBN, we have articles from bloggers detailing some of the best iPhone Web Apps to posts about CSS changes in the authors blog.

At TMP, we have developed our goal from the original goal of the TPN. We want to show adults that teens can produce quality content at the same level as them. We don’t mean were all going to be Leo Laporte’s and Rush Limbaugh’s, but we can create content that isn’t “blabber.”

In addition, when people see that amazing content is being produced by teens it boosts the overall teen image.

Instead of avoiding something, it should be fixed. That’s part of what TMP is about, as mentioned above.

This really isn’t targeted toward TMP, however I would like to point out there are no minimum posting limits to either network. All we are looking for is a site actively producing content. I would actually agree with you that requiring people to post a minimum amount of times is harmful, and I would even take it as far to say it hurts creativity.

I would like to clarify TMP’s stance on content. We leave all creative control in the hands of the author, but we do tell you that we do not allow “offensive content.” This is meant in the sense of making of a race or religion. If you use harsh language or are explicit, that’s your choice. You post.wouldn’t even be considered “offensive” under our definition. However, TMP will not stand behind the distribution of the afore mentioned hateful content.

But, what happens if you do choose to distribute such content? TMP will simply notify you that your post has been removed from our site, but you will not be removed from the network.

It is your choice entirely over to join a network with such a policy set in place, but in the same sense, the network has a right to control what is distributes. TMP and myself are large believers in free speech, so I do not in anyway want to infringe on it. At the same time, there’s a certain level of responsibility to maintain.

Teen Media Productions has been online for a full year now, and Teen Media Productions since July of 2005. We are in no way new to the scene. We are, however, reforming ourselves to better suit the podcasting and blogging environment. Did you know Teen Podcasters Network is even mentioned in a book? Tricks of the Podcasting Masters by Walch/Lafferty.

We are a high-quality network that is here to stay.

The “duplicate content penalty” myth is one of the biggest obstacles I face in getting web professionals to embrace reprint content. The myth is that search engines will penalise a site if much of its content is also on other websites.

Clarification: there is a real duplicate content penalty for content that is duplicated with minor or no variation across the pages of a single site. There is also a “mirror” penalty for a site that is more or less substantially duplicating another single site. What I’m talking about here is the reprint of pages of content individually, rather than in a mass, on multiple sites.

From Bytestart.co.uk

That’s simply not true. There are many sites that do syndicate your content simply upon stumbling upon your feed anyways. Point being, if it was going to hurt you it would have hurt you by now.

The second major goal of TMP taken from TPN is to have the community help each other. This has been going on long since the original days (I was there) of TPN. It may not always be apart to all others, but as a community we communicate though forums, chat, and email, among others. Right now we may be a little absent on the forum posts, but I can guarantee if someone did ask for help they would receive it.

Chris, I respect your opinion, but there are several things you are overlooking.

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We have Leo Laporte join me for episode 2. In this episode, Leo gives his thoughts on the iPhone and Pownce and reveals a bit about his earlier years. All this and more in My Life in Mouse Clicks Episode 2!

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