Who are You????????

Do we ever really know someone? Whenever someone joins a social network of any kind, there is always a particular persona that he or she wants to portray that will attract certain people. I think that everyone done lied about their age one time or another. One's own personal opinion is altered when asked to give a description of his or herself. The whole point is that people develop imaginary identities as well as steal others. The extent of the theft can be a small as using someones picture to using their personal information. It is not a odd thing to be done because it occurs often. http://ezinearticles.com/?Identity-Theft&id=138293. Especially now, the economy is going through a rough patch and everyone is trying to pull any and every scheme possible just to get a buck. It has become especially easy to do because now everyone want to have their bills or statements electronically sent to them. Credit cards, bank statements, and online purchases are all targets of those unwanted predators. Social networks are the easiest targets to disguise one's true identity or take on another. http://www.oddee.com/item_96910.aspx. This site displays all the unthinkable stories that has occurred on facebook and other social networks.

Technology and Defense

I believe the key to winning any war is strategy. If there isn't a structured setup where all possible situations are simulated and practiced then one should not even enter war. We have grown as a race when it comes to war tactics. We have gone from using horses and boats as our only means of transportation in war to using satellites and other various machinery to predict, detect and simulate any possible scenario. Surveillance of any suspicious activity and individuals. The surveillance devices that are used for army and defense purposes are enhanced to maximize protection.http://www.army-technology.com/contractors/surveillance/innovative-sensor/. Philip Agre's " Surveillance and Capture" differentiate between surveillance and capture. Everyone from one time or another played a part in the capture by being a willing participant in giving information that will track one's location or activity. The surveillance done by the government is done for our protection, from what I am told, but that is not always the case.http://www.notanotherconspiracy.com/2010/03/surveillance-cameras-in-national-forest.html The evolution of guns and strategic war tactics have not only been physical but it has somewhat become virtual. Computer viruses, hacking into companies systems and databases are happening all the time and that is just the beginning.

Polygamy vs. the Single life

When I think of Polygamy, I see several women of various ages married to a one man and each woman has between 3 to 5 kids and they all live in a small close-knit community, where they are very religious and are somewhat excluded from the rest of the world. I know that my basic description may appear to be a plot of a show that on television, but that is what I built up in my head based on the description given to me from here and there.My description is not too far off from the truth. http://www.pri.org/politics-society/polygamy-in-america1873.htmlThese communities are based on the Gemeinschaft model(common-ship) because of the close communities and everyone know everyone. The gender roles in these communities are defined and set with little to no room for any elevation. Women are inferior to men and one wife has more power of the next. In appose to the modern day woman has goals and ambition lives by the Gesellschaft model(companion-ship) not neccessarily want to get married and have kids. That lifestyle is not for everyone and I do believe everyone has a choice. Women being thought of as equals and companions other than property and inferior.The way I see it that women stepping out of the housewife role was neccessary. http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/women/. In Stuart Moulthrop's " You Say You Want a Revolution?" he uses the "digtal revolution" as a turning point in which there was a change in hope for something better. The liberation of technological systems. The freedom to learn in any order. The same goes for gender roles for the feminist movement. Liberation for women rights for equality.

Efficency

In one of my past blogs, I talked about how we have become so dependent on machinery to do the job for us. Machines are now making human contribution in manufacturing a particular item nonessential. Computers have taken the place and the jobs of many willing individuals. For instance, when a product is produced in a factory, a mass amount is produced using one or many machines. That same product produced by hand would need several hundred workers and much more time to produce. Even though machines has improved the quality of products, the the uniqueness of of the product lost. Yes, the quality may have improved but there are many things that were lost. I know it may sound like repetition when I say people jobs were lost and their sense of accomplisment if one must think in that way. We have been socialize to feel a sense of pride in the things that we produced with our own hands. There is this show on the history channel called" Modern Marvel". This show is like the behind the scenes to things that we eat daily that are produced in large quanities and packaged. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2rM6RuuQdw There are fewer people working at these factories because it is cheaper to pay the one time cost on a machine than to continously pay an person that will refute things. Just Like the video of " The Machine is Using Us/ing Us" ,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE hypertext is all around and how it is everywhere. I remember talking about a video I've seen where an individual spoke about man's purpose is to produce more technology. I remember him saying that technology does not die, it only changes. It's true machines improve efficency, but that only weakens the indivduals and shifts the power from the indivdual to the machine.

Evolution of the Amish

I read an article in the New York Time from September 2009 about an Amish community transitioning their local newspaper titled "The Budget" into the digtal age.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/technology/internet/21link.html?_r=1 Now and days even the Amish has become apart of the internet hype. I've always known the Amish of being diligent to their cultural practices besides the reality show "Amish in the City" from some time ago. http://www.newline.com/amishinthecity/ . " Amish in the city" was a show where young Amish adults were placed in a house with other guys and girls in L. A. Usually during this time the young adults are allowed to go places such as Malls and do activities such as driving a car that are not normally allowed in the Amish culture. This time is called a "Rumspringa", http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5455572 The teens are allowed go out and exeperience the outside world, it is expected for them to return to the church. The Amish are Gemeinschaft communities that haven't yet evolved into the society whereas electronic devices are attachments to their lives. They secluded themselves and work and produced things for each other. These Amish communities have control of the mean of production which is better for a community. There is no specialization of work or trade because it is a group efford in everything that is done. I would think that whenever a exchange would take place that a Bazaar market is the adequate way of going about it because the community relationship they have within these small Amish communities. To build a relationship between the producer and the consumer has learnt to be the most beneficial. The Amish decision to step into the digtal age has seem to be confusing because as states in the New York Times, "It wouldn’t just be for an Amish readership anymore.” They are opening up their community to the outside world.

Power

" Knowledge is Power" is what I've been told ever since I can remember. It may not have always been delivered in such a way but it has always been said or implied. Growing up, I believed that adults knew everything and that there was reason for everything that was done. Oh boy was I a sucker! It took my sophmore year of college and my first real Political Science class to open up my eyes to the ignorance and the lack knowledge of the average American. The same goes for technology. Radios, televisions, computers, and cellular phones are all devices that will enhance our knowledge on any particular topic ranging from what a girlfriend did on her date last friday, a football game, to the State of the Union Address given by the president. Langdon Winner, " Mythinformation" disagrees with the concept due to the fact he believes that people lack information, information is power, and an increase in knowledge will enhance democracy which will increase social power. I came across an article that talks about the value of knowledge and the various factors. http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/files/54909/11966774055Choucri.pdf/Choucri.pdf Even though there is a revolution of technology and it expected to have more beneficial factors over negative ones, there is still the argument of who are the ones that are fighting for a change? According to Winner, the only people out there actively engaged in the transformation of technology are selfishly doing it for themselves. Us Americans have envolved into using all the online resources for educational purposes as well for fun. I found an article in the New York Times about the Chinese using the internet for entertainment. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/19/technology/19chinaweb.html?scp=1&sq=for%20chinese,%20web%20is%20the%20way%20to%20entertainment&st=cse. For some knowledge is power with the effects of equality and for others it is just another step in the revolution of technology.

Quarrel on social networks and Privacy no more

In one of my previous blogs, I talked about how computers have become an external attachment to our physical bodies and our lives because we have used such devices as major mean of communication which evidently cause a relationship with the devices. For instance, there was system developed name ELIZA by Joseph Weizenbaum in 1964-1966 and this program was used to imitate a real person by using its programing to conduct a conversation with an individual. http://www.science.uva.nl/museum/eliza.html. In the book " Computer Power and Human Reason" , Joseph Weizenbaum writes about the computer being able to talk to individuals but not having that true emotion attached to it. In Thinking about to all the electronic devices that I have had and the evolution of its capabilities have "grown" with me. When I was younger, answer machines was separate from the telephone and it was cool if you had one. There weren't any digital screen display of who was calling. I am not old at all but I can remember the changes that came about with technology and how I adapted to it. I have my phone my "bestfriend" because I take it everywhere and I hold it and "feed it" upgrades and applications to make it work better. I have a symbiotic relationship, it needs me and I need it! With that said, I believe that if facebook was a tangible item or person, I think everyone would want a piece of him or her! Facebook is a mediator for those that choose so. Relationship disputes and quarrels are handled on facebook.There was a couple that use facebook to talk about one another about the type of relationship they had with one another during the duration of their marriage.http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/03/facebook_plays_havoc_in_marria.html

We were talking in class about how things dont appear to be official until it is posted on facebook and twitter because until others knows one's status I think that is not bonded.

As a child when one was in a relationship and it was a secret, it not "official", it only becomes official where others are let in on the secret. As young adults and older, for some a relationship is not official until it has been posted on a social network such as facebook. There is something about telling everyone about your relationship with another person that would make bonded.

I guess private matters are no longer private... they have to be broadcasted all over because drama and gossip is the coolest thing.( I guess!)

Computers

In class we were asked to think of some features that would improve our laptops and we thought of a lot of things. I realized that everyone was mentioning all the things that would keep them from exerting any energy. I know because I said that the computer should have a voice recognition component in it that would allow the user to retreive any file or application on their computer without actually physically searching for it (Very similar to the "memex" computer). I did take few ideas from my android phone by saying that it should have a "find me" application that would allow the user to find his or her computer if it was lost in the house. Also, the computer should have a projector to avoid the whole connecting the computer to a projector and the wires. Also, the computer would have a printer and paper shredder attached to it that recycles the paper to be used again. I believe that there are ups and downs about computers because they are very resourceful but they are causing people to be very lazy. Just like the website that I retrieved the picture from above. It said that this contraption is built for the "sick and the lazy". As I was going through the site, there were similar ideas displayed on the page as the perfect computer concept discussed in class. http://therawfeed.com/ All of these ideas are always look at as ingenius and wonderful. I would say that those indivduals are only half true. I sometimes think about when an older person says that we are "spoiled" because of all the "gadgets" we have. The same thing or idea goes for when someone of their early twenties say that they are working hard and another person twice his or her age say that whatever labor he or he does in working hard. I think there is an arguement that can't be won in deciding whether something is a product of someone's creativity or another way for one to be lazy. Because we have grown so accustomed to technology making our lives so much easier. Moreover, computers have become an attachment to our bodies and more so our lives in general.

Options?????

Throughout the years, I have been undecided about the type of career I would like to pursue. At one point, I wanted to do architecture and/or interior designing. Then I decided that I wanted to become a teacher. Shortly after, I landed in Biology because I had a interest in the sciences and I thought I wanted to become a pediatrician. Not long after, I decided that I really did not want to work with children. Finally, I decided that I wanted to become a veterinarian because I have always had a love for animals and I know that is something that I can do that would satisfy my need to help and get paid an adequate amount of money for it. I thought about how many times that I have changed my mind about a career and I noticed that my decision was not actually my own. I went from something that I was passionate about to something that I am passionate and will provide me the financial stability that want. When I decided that wanted to do art, it was because that was something that grasped my attention at the time and I was good at doing. I then started to think more rationally about my decision. Also, I had to factor in the type of life that I wanted for myself. I had a choice to make. Did I actually have to choose between my happiness and my money? My whole point of providing this brief anecdote was to show that we really don't have that many options in what we do. There was time where one had to contemplate and calculate the outcome and now there is a website that does it for you. There are websites where you enter your major, plans for higher education, and desired job and it gives you a estimate of how much one would make starting and amount that can be made over time.

Here is one of the websites

http://blogs.payscale.com/salarystories/internet_jobs/

Teaching?????

We are now in the age where everything is being dictated to the students from a computer screen. I can remember the times where the black board was actually black. I can also remember when a movie was shown using a VCR and that was a treat in class. Watching a documentary or movie in relation to a particular topic was the only break your hands would get from writing numerous notes. Doing a book report that actually involved reading a book because there weren't any other way to get the information. No sparknotes, pinkmonkeys, and/or wikipedia summaries to use as a shortcut. I was introduced to computers at a young age. I remember in 4th grade, there was only one place to use a computer and the class was split up into 2 to 3 sets of 8 to go the "computer room" because there weren't enough computers for the whole class at one time. Now, everyone has a computer when you walk into a classroom. Even though I am a victim of the technological take over, I am still nostalgic for the structure. It is funny because students tend to pick their professor based on their teaching method and grading scale. When I was a freshmen going into my sophmore year of college, I used ratemyprofessor.com and my friends' opinion to pick certain classes. Some would say this professor teaches from a powerpoint and the test are based on only the material that was went over in class. Others would say that another professor dictated everything to them and you had to pay attention because everything said in class along with the reading. I believe that the powerpoints are good for the visual learners and bad for the lazy students that don't want to do the reading for themselves. For some teachers, there isn't any teaching going on anymore, it is not just a dictation.

Technology

I was thinking about the class conversation about how society and technology interact. I found a video on youtube about how technology is the 7th kingdom because machines are becoming biologically complex. The speaker name was Kevin Kelly and he spoke about how we all had an obligation to invent technology. He also said that technology does not die, and that it only slows down. He then gave an example of a steam engine car and how there are still people that sell parts for a steam car. Kevin Kelly gave other examples of various products that are believed not to be produced anymore that are. The speaker also said that technology changes the way that ideas are created by providing "difference, opportunity, diversity".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap-ZC21bk18

Too Smart!

A part of my sunday ritual other then me going to work is that I get the Sunday newspaper. I've been a diligent reader of the comics every since I can remember. One of the comics that always tickled me was the "Zits" comic. This comic is about a teenage boy and his life as a teenager. His parents is in just about every comic strip and/or one of his ditzy friends. In this one strip, The parents are in the car driving and he is in the back on his cellular phone directing them to the resturant, parking space, and even told them what they were going to order. The father's response was that "smart phones are getting a little too smart, if you ask me". I am an owner of a smart phone (android) and I know exactly how it feels and I can relate to everything. The link to the comic is below.
http://www.nj.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Zits&feature_date=2010-02-21
I thought it was treat to get a comic with such a good association to something that is being talked about in class but I found another comic with an even better understanding to New Media and the idea of association. The "Lockhorns" comic strip is about a old married couple that is always getting on each other nerves but, they are so funny in going about it. In this strip there are different occasions where one is talking crap about the other and in the last box, the couple is in a Pharmacy. The Pharmacist is holding a bag of medication and saying "People who bought this prescription also bought these other popular medications". When I read this comic, I thought about when I would make a purchase from target or walmart online, there would be other items associated with the item of choice to get a person to buy more. I thought about how everything has sometype of association attached and how based on that causes us to be irrational and cause us to make more impulse purchases.
Here is the " Lockhorns" comic
http://www.nj.com/comics-kingdom/?feature_id=Lockhorns&feature_date=2010-02-21

Comprehension

I was watching television the other day there was a "baby" that was reading words off of a card. The child could not have been older than 12 months old. I understand that if a child hears and sees something at the same time repeatly, then most likely they would remember and try to say those words. Just like when a child learns that if he or she cries that a parent is going to come running to soothe any need. Also, the woman or man providing the nuturing hugs and kisses will soon or later be recognized as "mommy" or "daddy" by someone saying it. After going to the "Your baby can read" website, I found out that the earlier times in a child's life is the best time to start with comprehension skills because the brain is producing the most synapses in the brain. That is the nerve that provides connections of words to actions and things. What I don't understand, how do one describe words such as "understanding" and "wise" to a mind that does not understand the concept? It is incredible how children get a head start with their learning. I think the child would have the same outcome without the kit of "Your baby can read" , if the child's parents just dedicate themselves to reading to the child, talking directly to the child, and surrounding him or her with all the positive and beneficial things that will help in the learning process. Funny how far technology has come. Years ago, no one would have ever thought about teaching their children how to read this way without the child knowing how to talk yet. Usually the reading process follows after the talking has already begun. Even though this product has become such a success, I think it has the same qualities that playing mozart for a child while in the womb and as an infant has. It all has to do with one's social economic status because this "your baby can read" product is not free. It one does not have the luxury and time to devote the essential for a child to learn how to read by the ages of two then that causes the less unfortnate child to lack out on and fall behind. In which reminds me of Robert Merton's Social Strain theory. How society pushes one to be successful but opportunity is not given and deviance is the outcome when failure happens.

Predictor

What if everyone decided that they can predict their own future without going to a psychic? Well, we do it all the time and some ways are more valid then others. In high school, there is a section in the year that is called the "Most likely" catergory. This catergory involves one's career path based on his or her personal characteristics. Most likely to succeed... Most likely to be a doctor, lawyer, teacher, and etc. I found it funny because if that person does not live up to those expectations then, he or she has failed. The "most likely" is not so efficent. However, when you use those personal qualities along with other indications like, one being top of his or her class, being accepted to several colleges, and one's family economic status can make a prediction somewhat rational. We calculate our life expectancy based on eating habits and family traits. We as humans, try to calculate everything to rationalize the reason why we do the thing that we do.

I found a link that I thought was nice and fun to try

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://teach.fcps.net/TALK/activities/sniffy_fluffy/MakingPredictions/bookworm.gif&imgrefurl=http://teach.fcps.net/TALK/activities/sniffy_fluffy/MakingPredictions/activity1makingpredictions.htm&usg=__yLaydlKFbWA449WqUXeTB8Gw8tE=&h=331&w=490&sz=8&hl=en&start=12&sig2=AfeHDLrPCwGquGN7r3mBSA&itbs=1&tbnid=cyuShdu1jGe3fM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpredictions%26gbv%3D2%26hl%3Den&ei=jLZ5S4DwIMfj8Qbqx9WBDQ

Learning

Whenever I see a person that is older than the average age of a college student in a class, I begin to wonder what made this individual want to come back and continue his or her education and why did he or she wait so long? That used to be the way thought about things when I was a freshmen. I was not used to having such an age diverse classes. Now, after having so many classes with so many people of various ages, I have came to the conclusion that age does not matter because one is never too old to learn. When I was younger, I used to think that as I learned more things, I would forget the old and that would allow me to obtain more knowledge. I used think of myself as a computer, when a computer gets too full of information, it has to be emptied. Well, so far I have not forgotten too many thing, it is just they seem to be very vague in my memory. This is why the show " Are you smarter than a 5th grader" is such a hit. I've only watched it a couple of times but it not that the adults don't know the answer but, it is not fresh in their memory.
I want to test your skills. Are you smarter than a 5th grader?http://www.ex-designz.net/test_page.asp?tid=59

LIFELINE

When I think about the advancement in technology and how people have become more dependent on their phones and computers more than one another interest me. It is not because I am not one of those persons but, I am one of those individuals that wake up due to the alarm on my phone, use google to answer a question, plan my day using the calendar, and use my phone as my major form of communication. I text, aim, call, and email everyone! When I think about it... My cell phone is my lifeline and without it I think I just might "sink", metaphorically speaking. I know how terrible it sounds but that is the case in various situations. Check out this article I found in the Washington Posthttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/22/AR2009032201835.html .. Tell me that it couldn't get any worst!