Last Blog

Agghh I cant believe i forgot about this blog...Where to start, when I first printed out the huge sylibus for the class I was wondering what I got myself in too. I figured I would read a few book take the exams and just try to escape with a good grade. Ive never view reading as enjoyable to wanted to read but this seemed to change with this class...I didn't really get into the class until Feed that was the first book i found interested and could see the overall view of the class. The Thoreau Challenge was something that challenged my daily life. I would have never guess before this class I could go 7 days without anything. I am proud of myself and see myself tending not to use them as much.  The second skins movie was an eye opener in a creepier way. I love video games but these people were nuts!Hunger games and 1984 were okay books that had a cool theme to them. In some ways these books that were written in the 50 and so are coming somewhat true today. Hunger Games was my favorite book in this class and might be tied with Catcher in the Rye for my all time favorite. The concept of the book was intriguing and one that I would have never thought about if I didn't take this class.  This class allowed me to see if I expand what I like in books I might find something I love. After this class I see how these books relate with my world. the want to buy more than  I need, how Big Brother could be watching me, how censorship is all around us and how we are burning books today with our remakes or movies.  I am glad I took this class. This was my favorite gen ed class and probably one of my favorite class in all my years of school. I was glad we were allowed to express ourself and share how we see the world around us. I really feel that what we say in class is not only listen too by the students but by Dr Mortimore too. After this class I have a whole new respect for literature after this class.

Bye Bye Books!

Sad but true. For some reason people do not want to buy real books. We would rather buy something off line and stare at a computer screen. A kindle or Ipad will never be able to replace a book 100% percent. Reading books is different...each book has a different smell, some have large print while others cram on the words...the feeling of accomplishment when you flip to your last page....all of that will be lost. We would rather have a lighter less dense file on our computers to read. Kindles and Ipads make every book look and feel the same. I world without books would be weird to me. However I feel probably in my life time no one will own "real" books. Newspapers and magazines are now being sent to your ipads daily, so its only a matter of time until the population catches on. I feel that there will always be some sort of books, some sort of religious text. I picture a time where kids dont even know what a bible looks like or why important documents like the Declaration of Independence is written on paper.  I feel books are very important.I know sometimes I complain about having to read them but i feel once I do I look at it differently than a movie, I question things more. I feel that reading books allows you to escape into a different place and use your imagination.  I feel that with our way of life now kids are loosing that ability because they are not challenged.





Today we burn books, not just with a match but when we turn them into movies. When Hollywood gets a hold of a movie they change it all around. We lose the personalty of the story and it seems like the overall goal is to make money and not do the book justice. There are so many examples where the movies are different than the books...Remember the Titans, Holes, Harry Potters, and I am Legend were all different than the book...I have only seen two movies that went right along with the book the first being The Blindside and the other was Miracle. I feel that we do these books an injustice when we make them into movies. I am eager to see what Jim Carey does to this up coming movie Mr Popper's Penguins because that was one of my favorite books growing up

Hunger Games

This was by far my favorite book of this class. At first I didn't really want to start but once I picked up the book I couldn't put it down.  It was a book that moved at a pace that I liked. I ended up reading the entire book in the same day and I don't think I have ever done that. It also had a way to draw in the readers and keep them there. I am looking forward to reading the next two books whenever school work slows down. I saw they were on sale at borders and picked them up. The book goes well with the class in the aspect of how consumers can dictate how the system is set up and  run. I feel that  this book and 1984 and Feed go together very well in that aspect. Hunger games and 84 both had that extreme ruler that struck fear in the people. How you must obey the rules and if you don't the higher power will make sure you understand how the system works. Hunger games and Feed go  together in that the  people are directly involved with everything. People gave money to the Hunger Game people witch was of most appealing to them and the feed would show items of value to the people to purchased.
Hunger games reminded me a lot of the Stone Cold Steve Austin movie the Condemned. This movie had very dangerous people from all over the world fight to the death for freedom. People could log on and watch these event from where ever. Rather than medicine dropping from the sky weapons would fall down to make killing easier.


And March 2012 The Hunger Games Movie will be released! So I will be interested to see how Hollywood changes the book.Hunger Games Movie 2012

reality TV

First off I'm not a reality TV fan or junky. I find if I wanted to see drama I can just go back home and listen to old high school friends. I decided to watch 2 different reality TV shows. The first was Jersey Shore because I wanted to see what the big deal was all about and the other was The Survivor. Where to start at with the Jersey Shore. The real parts about them was the dogs and the mess on the floors they bring and a some what look at a dysfunctional relationship looks like. I feel that there are some couples like what are in the show but I feel the producers force it on the watchers. They live in close quarters which allows for a lot to go onto.  I think reality TV focuses on drinking, having fun and sex.The show portrays that you can be lazy, get drunk every night, look fake and talk like you didn't pass the 3rd grade and still be rich and drive really expensive cars. They sometimes "work" or show up to a T shirt shop to make it look like they are doing something. I had a really hard time watching it without getting angered at the way the system works.  These people are making millions of dollars pr show and I go to school and probably wont have the full time job I want once I graduate next year. Survivor was more real than the Jersey Shore in that the basic human instant of surviving was there. Even though at any moment these people could get medical help, leave, or even get a pizza if they were hungry. Even this show seemed very staged to me in how key resources would just pop up. I feel that if I was in a situation like the shows put you in I would be a little intense but at times it felt too much.  Daniel Tosh from Tosh.0 once said on one of his shows "You wonder why other countries hate us? In America we have a game show called Survivor! It's a game show where we try to survive in places where people already live. The people there are like, 'hey can I have some of that bread'? And we're all 'NOOOOO! I'm starving! We don't have our cell phones out here, this is really tough!'." Its really true,we are  so caught up in ourselves to really see what we are watching. I feel some people just life to see a train wreck while others just like to see someone else's life sucks more than theirs.  So when everyone else is watching their reality TV I will stick to watching my sports.

Everyone had a BIG Brother!

I have heard many times big brother is watching or being taught that someone is always watching or listening. Everywhere we go we are on camera, ATM, banks, when we go shopping, parking lots, airports, subways. Every step we take we are probably under a careful watch. This article I read from the USA Today that talked how big brother is always there. The article starts with this creepy fact 

"They are in laptop webcams, video-game motion sensors, smartphone cameras, utility meters, passports and employee ID cards. Step out your front door and you could be captured in a high-resolution photograph taken from the air or street by Google orMicrosoft, as they update their respective mapping services. Drive down a city thoroughfare, cross a toll bridge, or park at certain shopping malls and your license plate will be recorded and time-stamped." 

We caring around things that allow us to be pinpointed. Some households even have onstar witch allows someone in an office across the US to turn on off your car, unlock it and even shut it off. Its creepy how at any given time we can be watched. We see in movies how they can find people in the middle of know where from outer space. We carry phones that have mini gps in them, our phones pin off towers so we can be pinpointed on a map. Our phone calls can be monitored at anytime, if we say a code word. The article also shares how posting pictures of your car on facebook can really disclose where you live. 

Last summer, industrial designer Adam Savage, co-host of the TV show MythBusters, used his iPhone to snap a photo of his Toyota Land Cruiser parked in front of his house, then posted it on Twitter. In doing so, Savage, in effect, publicly disclosed where he lives

Oh and Facebook taging a photo allows your picture to be shared and stored for anyone to see

Once you are tagged in a photo, that photo could be used to search for matches across the entire Internet, or in private databases, including those fed by surveillance cameras. "They almost certainly have the technical capability to do it," Russell says.

Just the feeling that someone could be watching is a little unsettling. Yes I'm sure this could be a little far fetched but it is very plausible.   


So just remember someone is always watching ;)

Choice #3

Choose and write about 4 advertisements that would be featured on your Feed. Link these advertisements in your blog. Write a paragraph about each one. 


Espn / SI
If I had a Feed I'm sure it would be throwing out all sorts of Espn and SI feeds. I love sports and Espn is already my computer homepage so its only fitting to be fixture in my feed. I would expect ads for their magazine and get options they have if your a plus member. I already get emails now but the feed would personalized these ads. Maybe for fantasy football leagues, discounted sports tickets, and magazines. Also knowing I love sport and that I like to purchase sports hats, jerseys, and other collectible things I would get redirected to relevant sites.


VWVortex / Mitsubishi


I love my car and when I'm home I'm usually around other people who modify their cars either  in a garage   or driving to the beach for a car show. I feel looking into my purchase history they would show me car part ads. Recently I decided to I wanted something new and different. Being at school my VW wasn't a reliable car to take me to and from school.  I've been doing my research on a new Mitsubishi Lancer. This is my practical dream car. I feel the feed would recognize the change in cars and find me ways to personalize my lancer knowing this allows me to socialize with my friends and enjoy myself.


Netflix


I love Netflix plain and simple. I love watching movies and TV shows to relax. That happiness you get when you find a movie or show you watched when you where younger but forgot about. Netflix already has a what we recommended for you option but with the feed it would understand me better and search for things I might have lost in my memory. I love comic book movies and there are so many so my feed could keep me updated on new releases and when newer movies are being made.


Under Armour


I wear UA all the time. Playing on travel sports team we were always given under armour gears for when we played but also for everyday life style. I'm a believer in UA and I love how the product works. I will continue to buy UA so I feel the feed would recognize this and cut out the other brands I don't really like. New releases and closeout sales would also be sent to me. Like in Feed when they would get stuff for the abercrombie and fitch like store.


I feel the feed takes all the email and stuff we get now and takes out the spam and junk products. The feed reconizes  what makes you happy or satisfied and would capitalize on this. We tend to get frusterated when we get junk mail or realize we miss a sale because we didnt see out mail. The feed is just there always giving you more and more options.

Back to normal

Free, Free at last....So today I was allowed to use technology again and I made up for not having it. It was nice having quite time but I love listening to music a lot more. I found I work better when I had my music on while doing homework, I got done a lot quicker. I got a kick out of some of the text I got. When I turned my phone on I had to wait a good 10 min to allow all the miss text to load. Between my friends and sports scores I had a ton of texts. Most of my messages where my friends asking if I was mad at them or asking if I died. This week it was nice just getting away from the fast paced world but it the little things that keep me motivated. I enjoy myself when I get to watch TV or play ps3 with my friends. The last week it was more work because I had a hard time keeping busy while at school. I fell I'll use technology less because I know I don't need it. I will however be glad to be able to surf the web, play games and what not in between classes on my Ipod. I  also never realize how much I take my cell for granite, being able to communicate when to meet or hang out is a lot harder when you don't have a phone. For my friends around campus I could walk to but when I was going away this weekend I was lost! I don't really see how we could be productive if cell phones when down for a long period of time. I also missed what was going on in the world. The entire Egypt thing I was in the dark on and even on a local note I didn't know what was going on!  Overall I love technology, I dont feel I would continue this challenge or try it again unless I really had too.  To everyone who is finished congrats and enjoy..to the ones with more time to go good luck 30pts is a lot...and for those who didnt even try..shame on you ;p!

The All American Child!