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