HW # 16

Thesis: The digital world has taken over our lives and has made conformity worse.

1st argument - how our lives and mine are affected by the digital world

-own experience

-interviews and surveys

-other blogs

-lecture

2nd argument - why this has made conformity worse

-lecture

-own experience

-other blogs

3rd argument - what would the good side or bad side of all this

- Feed

-Everything good is bad

-Music

-Wall - E

-Digtal experiments

Hw # 15 - Comments

To: Matt B.

I liked your blog post, even made me understand stuff i hadn't understood when i read it like what "The Sleeper's curve" thought it had to do with actual sleeping. Your blog shows you truly understood what Johnson was saying and connected with them as well. I really like how you connected Johnson's book and feed because i really didn't think thay did but now I get the connection. I agree some of his points are strong but like you said it's a little faulty so makes you still think when will people look at technology as good then the usual bad and what a waste of time it is?? maybe you could talked a little bit more of the other points he talks about like of video games. But overall like your posts, they are insightful. Good Job

To: Brandon Z.

I like how you read and understood the texts but at the same time were able to disagree or agree with his ideas. You even use yourself to prove him wrong which I thought was pretty cool ( the part about readers being more active VS non - readers.) I like ideas you bring up like the way author is saying that the technology most people is a waste time is actually good and will be better in the future or like in the end you say we can't really do anyhting to stop this new technology era, just sit back and watch is true. Maybe you should talk a little bit more of what author said and connecting or just agreeing or disagreeing with some of his other points. But besides that i believe you got what Johnson was saying and have great ideas.

HW # 14 - Second Text

GAMES

In this excerpt, Steven Johnson talks of games and how people view them V.S. how they view reading. He talks of how most people view them; they are " a colossal waste of time," while reading is a virtue and every child should be a reader. He explains that the reason why games are viewed as the worst is because they are always " contrasted with older conventions of reading." He then presents a very interesting idea, what if games had come before reading and then reading became all the rage. People would still be prejudiced he says because they would contrast it with games and how they are so much better than reading. He believes people should read but he can't expect that readers spend no time on other stuff like TV, games or Internet. Playing Games make you have better hand - eye coordination but Johnson says that’s the most you hear about the experience of video games. You usually don't hear of how it feels like playing these virtual games and how hard they can actually be. He then goes on to describing how hard games can be but for some reason we enjoy it and keep playing. And how the tasks we must do in these video games seem more like chores but we 'd rather be playing Ultima than cleaning up our room.

The part I found most interesting was when Johnson told reader to imagine if games had come before reading, we would still be contrasting except this time with games. It makes think of how maybe instead being told all time since birth that reading is the best and every one should read instead we would be told to play video games. I personally like reading but also like playing video games. But I know that some adults see us teenagers playing and automatically are like what a waste of time, they should read more then waste time playing games. Of course some just say this without actually ever experiencing playing a video game but then how can they say they are a waste of time. Johnson says this is because video games are always contrasted with reading. He says they are always seen as the worst but not how hard games are. I know for a fact how frustrating and hard video games can be; in Halo I would play and have to get through some hard missions and I remember how frustrated I would be but Johnson says these tasks we do in video games are like chores. Which is funny because I'd rather be doing a mission then doing my laundry. But I think this is because like Johnson says we are actually in control of the story or plot.

A perspective I think is useful is how Johnson talks of the good of video games than just the usual "evils" of video games presented, because helps readers see both "sides." Another perspective I believe was useful was of how it would be different if gaming came before reading. But at the same time, he still believes that reading is the strongest way to get his point then in TV or video game. Which makes me think that he still believes reading is better than TV or games, but at the same time he also say that age twenty he wasted a lot of $$ on guides for video games.

TV

In this excerpt, Steven Johnson talks about TV and why we stay up at night watching TV shows like ER or Sopranos. He talks of how can't even surf on Internet without hearing complaints about the amount of sex and violence on TV now but not of how TV actually makes you think. He then goes on to say about the two kinds of TV; one where there is multiple interweaving plots and second is where viewer's are "filling in." He talks about how the growth of the number TV shows that are doing this versus back in the day with simple shows like I Love Lucy and how when first introduced TV shows with multiple threading like Hill Street Blues they did receive complaints that show was too complex. But Johnson says twenty years later shows with multiple threading like sopranos are enjoyed because "been trained by two decades of of multi threaded dramas." Then Steven J. talks of the second type of shows where viewers fill in, like for example ER where they give you subtle hints but that they are very scarce that it has viewer going "what is happening? "For each of these types of TV shows he gives detailed descriptions of how TV shows today are like this to comparing then to older TV shows. All this is evidence to back up how TV is now actually making us really think than two decades ago.

The perspective I found interesting and useful in this excerpt was how Johnson talks of how TV has increased the work the viewer must do to watch it and understand, than it used to. TV he says used to have a more simple plot than the recent shows like The Sopranos or ER. It's useful because makes me understand why he believes that TV might be reason why or minds have actually developed because the shows actually make us think. Another perspective I found was useful was how Johnson explained the way TV had two kinds; one with multiple plots and other with viewer "filling in" because made think of shows I watch I try to see which it has multi threading or if it's filling in like ER. After reading this excerpt I think TV has become more "rigorous" with mental exercise but maybe not as much as reading a book yet.

For both I believe way Steven Johnson contradicts Feed because he argues that technology isn't really all that bad, people just view it the way most people do. Game, TV and Internet is a waste of time , it's like the prejudice toward today's technology. But he argues that Games do more than make people have better hand - eye coordination because they are actually hard and that TV makes you actually think. While Feed trying to tell teenagers that technology is bad, that we should stop, so it contradicts what Johnson saying. But at the same time I think Johnson believes that technology is really not bad but at the same time reading is still better than watch TV.

HW # 13 - Feed B

Tobin's use of allegory is interesting because they way he sets up the setting makes it seem like it's happening in the future when it's actually about modern - day teenage lives. He creates a lot of parallels between his book and reality, which is what some artists try to do in their artwork. So you could say Tobin in a sense, is an artist painting what he believes and sees as the modern day teenager. The plot he creates seems familiar because it has a lot of comparisons with our lives, the way they feel to even the way they speak. He does seem to emphasize the problems but does not offer any solutions, the only person in the book that seemed to get what was wrong was Violet. Violet saw the problems, for example how their skin was falling off but instead of trying to do something or make it stop, the teenagers saw it as a trend. With Violet i believe he was showing that not all of us are the same, some of us can understand the problems with our lives or even the world. Her death was what made the book a tragedy because the only teen that saw what was wrong with their lives dies?? I think it made Tobin's message even stronger.

I believe his book was for both adult audience and young, Feed was about modern - day teenage society but at the same time hinted that the reason Titus and his crew and all teens were living the way they were was because of the adults. The adults were the ones still running the schools, making the descions to what to do with the planets or the parks. So I believe he meant Feed for both the adults and teens. To tell you the truth, i'm not really sure why he wrote it as a book than a film or a hyperlinked website but it could have been becasue it was just the way he wanted to spread his message. I agree Feed is a good example of revelatory art, because it "reveals" what our lives are like adults and teens alike.

Bert Brecht "Art is not a Mirror with which to reflect the World. It is a Hammer with which to shape it." is an insightful saying because usually people say art is what the artist sees and draws or paints and what he sees is the world. so wouldn't the artist's painting be a reflection of the world? So it made me think is art a hammer then?? I believe a mirror cannot be hammer because the reflection of the mirror is shaped by hammer. I think Feed is a hammer because it shapes what our world is like. In my ownart i would like to revelatory like Tobin's but not sure if I would kie it to be a hammer or mirror.

HW # 12

Feed for the most part is on target of what is happening in a modern teenage life, for example the way the teenagers in the book all use slang like teenagers today do. Although they say youch, meg or unit instead of hot, mad and son. They also keep up with the latest trends in clothes and hair like we do. Except the girls change their hairstyle like three times a day. Titus and his friends all listen to the hottest music at the time for example the song called "I'll sex you in" that they all couldn't even get out of their head even after the party. We also listen to latest music except we get to choose the music we like not our feed.

Other parallels feed has with modern teenage life is their relationships with others, like when Titus first sees Violet, the way he checks her out ands wants to talk to her. Shows how teenagers can act when they like someone. Or when Quendy put on all those lesions over her body just so Link can like her is an example of how far one can go to be liked by someone. Or how Titus was with his friends, he just wanted to be cool while he was around them so they would like and accept him.

But not everything Feed talked about is parallel to the modern teenage life, for example what they learn in school is not what we learn now. They learn how to use their feeds and the schools are run by the corporations. Because of this they don't learn how to read or write like we do. Another way Feed is unparallel with modern teenage life is how their feeds send them ads showing exactly what they would like to buy depending on what they've bought before. We get ads when we are on Internet but they don't coincide with what we like or want exactly. Feed also talks of how there is no parks or trees anymore because they had destroyed most of them to industrialize. I hope we never get to the point where we destroy all our trees, nature and wildlife to make way for our new technology and advanced life.

HW # 11

My experiment was to see how I felt being outside, walking versus being home on computer, TV and music. I personally love being outside but at the same time i like just staying home watching a movie or on computer. I walked outside and ate outside for about 2 hrs then came home and stayed on computer, listened to music and watch TV ( Desktop computer and TV right next to each other) I noticed that while I was outside, i was pretty relaxed and energetic. I went home after and immediately got on computer to do my essay for english while listening to music and watching TV, after an hr I began to get a headache so turned off TV, but still was annoyed so turned off music . Finally at peace, i spent another hr on computer, and bit more(like 2 more) because would check email, download music or just web surf. I got off and had a bad backache and felt really tired. After this experiment i realized how different I felt when I was at home with digital media versus being outside.

Hw # 10

1. http://www.insidedigitalmedia.com/polls.php?poll=41

This website focuses on polls that ask questions about people's views on digital media, I focus on the question " Would you buy an Apple computer in order to avoid adware and spyware problems??there are many other polls and it gives you the percent of people who say yes or no.

What I found was interesting was the percentage of people that would say yes or no, for example the question I focused on more people actually say yes. When I personally would've said no but i think the real reason people said yes was because they just want to seen better in society with having the latest computer. Why can't a PC provide all this versus a Mac?? Why do people see them as the best computers?? Are they??

2. http://www.fandango.com/surrogates_114740/movieoverview

This is the movie where in the future you get to lie around in your pajamas all day, while your perfect surrogate self, a cyborg that will do everything for you. You strap on the headset and make your cyborg go to work, scrub the toilet, take out the trash, etc. I talked about it before on the blog.

I found this movie really interesting because it connected to what we would talk about in class of how slowly is taking up our lives whether we think it is good or bad. and in this movie it basically how in the future we let technology take over our lives completely, it's a very extreme idea but i wonder if it will happen, if it will even be possible?

3. New York Times -Technology http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/02/technology/02distracted.html?_r=1&em

This article talks of how " the federal government plans to ban text messaging by bus drivers and truckers who travel across state lines, and may also preclude them from using cellphones while driving, except in emergencies." (Nytimes.com) They also want to introduce a legislation to force states to ban texting while driving or lose federal highway funds.

This was the most interesting topic of all three because not only do we have bans on being on cellphones while driving but also want to ban text messaging now. I think also it'd be pretty interesting topic to talk in class to see what classmates think, do we need a ban on text messaging or are they just blowing the situation up? There is also even a graphic video where driver with a few passengers get in a car accident because driver was text messaging which connects to this article. i personally if it really is causing a lot of deaths then maybe we should ban it , why can't people just wait when get out of car to text or ask someone in car to text it for you if it's an emergency. Also saw in the news lately that this kid was sent to jail because he texted while driving and killed a father and daughter in the other car it crashed into. So does this show we have become too addictive to digital media that we can't even stop while driving? Or is this just a situation that is being blown up??

HW #9

To: MATTHEW B.

Thanxx for the advice truly got what you were saying on how sometimes
we do need time to just do "stupid shit" because it helps get "away" for a while. We both agree that toning it down is a good idea, but you say as we are made to believe. which is true because we are always being told to stop spending so much time on internet. i hope too that we can find balance between digital media and our life.
thanxx again.

To: BRANDON Z.

I liked how you agree with some of my thoughts like being lost in another world and your thoughts on my video.

i found it a bit frustrating trying to post it on blogger but now i look at it and understand what our videos symbolize to each of us personally because we all understood something new or differently.

thanxx

HW #8 - Comments

To: BRANDON Z.

Hey

Enjoyed how you were like we seem to be hypnotized once we use TV, internet, video game, etc because we do. We are so into what we're doing that we forget what is happening around us. it funny how you say digital media can soon become our entire lives because that was what i got out of Matt's blog post too. It also reminded of the new movie with Bruce Willis called SURROGATES where in the future you get to lie around in your pajamas all day, while your perfect surrogate self, a cyborg that will do everything for you. You strap on the headset and make your cyborg go to work, scrub the toilet, take out the trash, etc. It kinda shows how possibly digital media can take over our lives but seems very extreme though. Wondered how you filmed yourself or did someone do it for you?? Maybe you should expand on how maybe how digital media is good or answer some of the questions a bit more??

Good blog post and video!!

To: MATTHEW B.

Hi

I like how you were like you were there but were really not, I feel the same. Because its like for a while we " escape reality" and it can be pretty fun. When you state that you probably want your sibling or future son to be more active, i noticed so many people say the same. I did but doesn't it make us seem a bit hypocritical because one spends so much time on digital media????

I agree that things like the Wii just brings more people to these things to the point that one day we just won't go outside to play like for ex. tennis. Because why should we? we can just do it on the Wii. And it can makes us forget other important things like being active. These are all really great points but if you would expand a bit more for example how is there a connection between your emotions and the songs or why do you personally find digital media fun???

Enjoyed your blog post, hope to hear more of your thoughts!!!