Monday, November 30, 2009

HW 27 Informal Research- Interviews and Surveys

The family member I chose looks at being cool the same basic way that I do. She looks at cool as being yourself, not pretending to live in a different way just to impress another person or a group of people. Being yourself makes you identify yourself to the world, to people who will end up being your friends because they like the real you. As I've realized, this family member said there is no real definition of cool. However, she said the idea of cool can be looked at in a different light, which would be the right way. In life, you should just worry about living your life the way YOU want to, to the best of YOUR ability. Although there is no real definition of cool, since society has picked up the term anyway, that is what "Cool" is.

Monday, November 23, 2009

HW 25 Story Comments and Analysis

PART 1

To Victor,
I liked your story and the message that it put out. Overall, from your story, the idea I got was that people allow fear to get out of the way of our minds and replace it with the thought of Cool. I like the story itself too. Good Job.

To Bryanna,
I liked your story. I think your deep message says a lot. Like Victor's paper, which I read before, in the story you interpret how fear of a person can trick others into thinking that feared person is cool. Great Job.

To Matt,
Although your story was read out loud, i decided to read it again. First off, it's an overall great story, with great interaction taking place between the characters. To me, your story shows how topics such as sex are today's "cool" topics. In your story, one character questions why the other character trying to be cool does the things she does. I think ALOT of people need that same reality check. Good Job.

Michelle,
Overall, your story describes what people would look at as being "cool". I thought a lot while reading your story. Long black hair, not seeming to care about class, leather jackets and skateboards, these things are things that are called cool in today's society. It's funny because the same people who call those things cool don't even know the meaning of the word "cool". Good Story.

Conor,
This is a good story. It demonstrates what people in society look at as being "cool". Reading your story, This Bobby character, just seems so familiar, but it may just be my imagination. Good story.

PART 2

After reading a couple of short stories, I sit back and just feel confused. All the stories are great. In fact, the stories paint a very accurate picture of what people look at as being cool today. However, 2 things are wrong with that picture. 1, there is really no definition of "cool", so how can we determine what cool is, and 2, if "cool" meant what society made it out to be, why are the things that people look at as "cool" even "cool"in the first place?

In 5 stories,i got the basic assumption that people looked at people who don't really care about anything other than themselves as being "cool" people. Not caring much about school, teasing others, these are our definitions of "cool"? That's pretty scary.

Although it has come to a conclusion that there is no such thing as "cool", it's too late to kick it out of our lives now. So with that being said, if we have to define "cool", can't we define it in the right way? Having a dream in life, doing all your homework, knowing about important devices such as computers, these are the things that really matter, these things should be looked at as being "cool".

Overall, I think all the students that went through this unit learned a lot about something that's been apart of their lives for almost their whole lives. Being "cool", has been explored and is probably now being looked at differently than a lot of people, who are probably thinking themselves how they can ever think what they thought was "cool" before, "cool" to them at one point. It just shows that it's not just the word ":cool",it's a lot more words and topics that haven't been explored yet that remain a mystery. Although civilization has existed for thousands of years, nobody has the right to say that a word has a definition, because there is no such thing as words or definitions that mean the same thing that we thing it means. Could it be that we are just living one very big lie? I think a lot more exploring needs to be done to conclude something that big.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

HW 24 Short Story 1

Eric walked to school the next morning feeling confident in his newly purchased clothes. He was practically 100% sure that these clothes would help him in his mission in getting the attention of the "cool" kids. As he got closer to his school, he remembered the hour long training session of "cool talk" he went through the night before, which brought a smile to his face. He was ready.

As he entered the building, all he could think was to not look anywhere other than straight in front of him. he had to pretend that he didn't care what other kids were thinking of his new transformation. After all, he was "cool" now. He arrived to class and took a seat in the back. He had trouble sitting down with the amount of excitment building up inside of him. " This is what I worked for", he thought. His plan was running smoothly, nothing could stop him. As he kept pondering what his next "cool" move would be, that's when THEY walked in. The people who Eric desperatly wanted to be accepted by, the people who were the celebrities of the school. He stared at them and envied their pride and glory. He wanted it, he craved it.

After class, he rushed out of class to catch up with the "cool" kids, hoping to say something, anything to them. As long as it was "cool". But Eric stopped running, and his expression changed. he still saw the popular kids, but he now saw them picking on two kids. These kids, who looked like midgets, stood there and took the verbal assault that the cool kids were handing out to them. Eric, who started to get disgusted, wondered just how these kids could be such A-holes and how he didn't realize it. Once he heard the thud of one of the bullied kids getting pushed into the lockers, that was the final straw. He rushed up and went staright for the leader of the former school Gods.

"If you want to pick on someone, pick on me", said Eric.

The cool kids, looking at Eric with confusion, backed off like the cowards they really were and continued down the hall.

Later that night, Eric took a long, deep stare into his mirror, wondering what had happened to him over the past couple of days. After droping the last piece of his new clothing into the big bin, he topped it off with the lid and put it in his closet. he then took a look at his old clothes. He then started to go through them, figuring out which shirt he would wear the next day. Rather than concentrate on what he would do to try and impress someone else, he was now concentrating on which shirt he should wear to impress himself.

Monday, November 16, 2009

HW 23 First Constructivist Exploration of Cool

I don't think there is only one kind of Cool, no matter what people's perceptions of the definition are. In other words, what's cool in one social circle doesn't have to be cool in other social circles. I don't think there's one kind of cool for everyone living, which is why I say that there isn't a definite definition.

When it comes to the actual concept of Cool, I think cool is the process of being accepted either by people who are onlookers to the person, or being accepted into social groups based on the person him/her self. This connects back to my earlier idea of there not being one definition of cool. Whoever you hang out with socially, you obviously accepted them socially, showing that you think they are cool, and vice versa. This can absolutely be seen in different ways in different groups. For example, in one group, the newest Jordan sneakers that came out could be looked at as a cool topic, while in another group, that is just irrelevant. This kind of situation happens everyday. I'll give an example right now.

One situation could be that some people may think one kid is cooler than another kid because the first kid is more athletic, while the second kid is more into computers. Both those kids are definitely cool in their own ways, one is not cooler than the other. Sure, the first kid is more athletic than the second kid, what does that mean? Why is he cool? I bet if there was an actual situation like this ( which there is, and it happens everyday) and I walked up to the people who think the athletic kid is cool and asked them "Why is he cool? Better yet, what is Cool?", they'd have a hard time to have an accurate answer. I'll gladly admit that before I got down to thinking what cool is, I would've been in the same predicament where I didn't know what cool actually meant. Now that I was able to think about it, i know now that there is no such definition for Cool.

Without really deeply thinking about the term Cool, people may just assume that society is divided into the Cool people and the not so Cool people. Now that I had a chance to really think, as well as have it as a topic of discussion in class, I disagree with that assumption. To me, there is no exact definition of Cool, and it could be interpreted in many ways. To me, Cool is a process in which people accept and/or like People or Things. They look at them/it as being enjoyable or fun to be around. They give their respect to that person or object and want to be around them/it whenever they can. That is only part of my idea to what cool is. All I know is Cool isn't something that can be defined, just something that can be interpreted in may different ways by us.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

HW 22 Final Draft

In today's world, society is run alot more differently than 50 years ago. It has grown both in many ways other than in a physical sense. A main reason why this has happened is because of HOW we live in society. The control over the majority of society is in the hands, or better yet buttons and screens of Digital Technology. In this past century, Digital Technology has grown in mainstream, pop culture rapidly. After numerous studies as to why people, more specifically Americans, almost always use anything Digital, it really comes down to three main points. Despite it's numerous negative aspects, digital devices are still being used by the majority of Americans because it provides entertainment, keeps us in better touch with family and friends and makes the user's lives easier.

Today, no matter what it is, almost every digital device provides some case of entertainment available for the owner of that device. Now because of this, the device has more of a purpose and has a bigger fixture in the user's life than it should have. For example, instead of only being used to call people, cellphones today have many different applications in it. So while the digital user isn't on the phone with somebody, that is no reason why the actual phone shouldn't still be used. These sources of entertainment have become apart of daily life for the people that own the devices that include them, which is why they are so hard to let go of. Without entertaining devices, I do believe the enjoyment level of the device users would go down.

Another reason why Digital Technology is used alot is because of the needed bonds of the digital users with family and friends. Without the phone or computer, interaction with loved ones would be limited. This would be a bad case with alot of people, as not everyone lives in close range with their friends an family. So how can people still interact and be far away from eachother at the same time? This is where Digital Technology steps in. Phones and Chat Services on the computer allow people to interact for an unlimited amount of time which not only makes the bonds unbreakable, but makes them even stronger. Just like the case with the entertainment, i'm pretty sure it would be a big problem for Phone and Internet users at this point if these devices all of a sudden became unavilable to them.

Entertainment and Connection with loved ones are just two interpretations as to why people have grown more dependent on Digital Technology devices. These devices have been apart of society long enough to be considered apart of life. Now that's a strong, bold statment, but considering what these devices are able to do for people, it cannot really be argued against. For instance, if you want to tell a friend something, instead of waiting a period of time until you see that person again or writing a letter, just by using a cell phone that friend will know what you wanted to tel them in less than a minute. Or maybe you would like to show a picture of a new child born into the world, well by using a cell phone or computer, more people can be apart of that special moment in mere minutes rather than having to wait longer than they have to. Overall, Digital Devices although accompanied by some negative flaws, have proven that they indeed makes human life easier to live through.

While Digital Technology does have it's many positives, it does have almost an equal amount of negatives. Although Digital Technology does provide multiple features such as entertainment and better contact, one alternative description that can define the use of digital devices could be Isolation. Stepping back and thinking about how the world is run, I'm somewhat amazed on how far civillization has come. We see old movies about 50 or 100 years ago, which includes old time cars and factories. Now not only are cars and factories upgraded, but society has given people more options, as well as more oppurtunity to get lost in another world. Some may say this is just the beginning of digital takeover. In the movie Wall-E, humans are lazy and fat, while robots are cleaning up after them. Sure this is just a silly Disney movie now, but could this be a very precise prediction of what our world is to become? Only time will tell now.

This is what Digital Technology has become, so far that is. Movies and Books and other multiple sources signal more evolution in the digital world, and that in maybe 50 years, what we think of as obsession today, is nothing compared to what Digital Technology will be looked at as in that time period in 50 years. In other words, what we see as a fantasy in movies such as Wall-E, could actually be Deja Vu towards society's future.

Monday, November 9, 2009

HW 21 Art Project




This picture to me holds a lot of significance when it comes to Digital Technology in our world. When on that subject and looking at the picture at the same time, it pretty much speaks for itself, saying that the world is being run by Digital Devices. The art shows me that the world is being taken over by the growing digital era.
Not only does this show that Digital Technology has made an impact on daily human life, it also shows firsthand that that same impact could also be a force in the art world. It gives artists a chance to really think about Digital Technology's role in society and put those feelings to work on paper or whatever they're developing their art on.

Thursday, November 5, 2009

HW 20 Big Paper Revised Draft

In today's world, society is run alot more differently than 50 years ago. It has grown both in many ways other than in a physical sense. A main reason why this has happened is because of HOW we live in society. The control over the majority of society is in the hands, or better yet buttons of Digital Technology. In this past century, Digital Technology has grown in mainstream, pop culture rapidly. After numerous studies as to why people, more specifically Americans, almost always use anything Digital, it really comes down to three main points. Despite it's numerous negative aspects, digital devices are still being used by the majority of Americans because it provides entertainment, keeps us in better touch with family and friends and makes the user's lives easier.

Today, no matter what it is, almost every digital device provides some case of entertainment available for the owner of that device. Now because of this, the device has more of a purpose and has a bigger fixture in the user's life than it should have. For example, instead of only being used to call people, cellphones today have many different applications in it. So while the digital user isn't on the phone with somebody, that is no reason why the actual phone shouldn't still be used. These sources of entertainment have become apart of daily life for the people that own the devices that include them, which is why they are so hard to let go of. Without entertaining devices, i do believe the enjoyment level of the device users would go down.

Another reason why Digital Technology is used alot is because of the needed bonds of the digital users with family and friends. Now without the phone or computer, interactioj with loved ones would be limited. This would be a bad case with alot of people, as not everyone lives in close range with their friends an family. So how can people still interact and be far away from eachother at the same time? This is where Digital Technology steps in. Phones and Chat services on the computer allow people to interact for an unlimited amount of time which not only makes the bonds unbreakable, but makes them even stronger. Just like the case with the entertainment, i'm pretty sure it would be a big problem for Phone and Internet users at this point if these devices all of a sudden became unavilable to them.

Entertainment and Connection with loved ones are just two interpretations as to why people have grown more dependent on Digital Technology devices. These devices have been apart of society long enough to be considered apart of life. Now that's a strong, bold statment, but considering what these devices are able to do for people, it cannot really be argued against. For instance, if you want to tell a friend something, instead of waiting a period of time until you see that person again or writing a letter, just by using a cell phone that friend will know what you wanted to tel them in less than a minute. Or maybe you would like to show a picture of a new child born intot eh world, well by using a cell phone or computer, more people can be apart of that special moment in mere minutes rather than having to wait longer than they have to. Overall, Digital Devices although accompanied by some negative flaws, have proven that they indeed makes human life easier to live through.

While Digital Technology does have it's many positives, it does have almost an equal amount of negatives. Although Digital Technology does provide multiple features such as entertainment and better contact, one alternative description that can define the use of digital devices could be Isolation. Stepping back and thinking about how the world is run, I'm somewhat amazed on how far civillization has come. We see old movies about 50 or 100 years ago, which includes old time cars and factories. Now not only are cars and factories upgraded, but society has given people more options, as well as more oppurtunity to get lost in another world. Some may say this is just the beginning of digital takeover. In the movie Wall-E, humans are lazy and fat, while robots are cleaning up after them. Sure this is just a silly Disney movie now, but could this be a very precise prediction of what our world is to become? Only time will tell now.

This is what Digital Technology has become, so far that is. Movies and Books and other multiple sources signal more evolution in the digital world, and that in maybe 50 years, what we think of as obsession today, is nothing compared to what Digital Technology will be looked at as in that time period in 50 years.

HW 19 Big Paper 1 Suggestions

Michelle,
I overall enjoyed reading your paper, as the topic really pulled me in. I liked how you described a general, daily life with digital devices. Your paper as a whole has great goals. As im sure you know, i think all you have to do is just expand your arguments more. Other than that great job.

Matthew,
Your paper not only has good topics to discuss, but you also have great evidence to support it. After reading your paper, I think all you have to do is do little editing like spelling. Great Job.

Victor,
Although you haven't started your paper yet, I think you have all the potiential to write a good one. The reason we have been able to write about the topic of the use of digital technology is because we are involved in it on a daily basis. Since you play World of Warcraft everyday, you would have the perfect P.O.V. when it comes to reasoning as to why people are so involved with the Digital World. Keep that in mind, and I hope you catch up with your work.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

HW 18 Big Paper 1 Rough Draft

In today's world, society is run alot more differently than 50 years ago. It has grown both in many ways other than in a physical sense. A main reason why this has happened is because of HOW we live in society. The control over the majority of society is in the hands, or better yet buttons of Digital Technology.

In this past century, Digital Technology has grown in mainstream, pop culture rapidly. After numerous studies as to why people, more specifically Americans, almost always use anything Digital, it really comes down to three main points. Despite it's numerous negative aspects, digital devices are still being used by the majority of Americans because it provides entertainment, keeps us in better touch with family and friends and makes the user's lives easier.

Today, no matter what it is, almost every digital device provides some case of entertainment available for the owner of that device. Now because of this, the device has more of a purpose and has a bigger fixture in the user's life than it should have. For example, instead of only being used to call people, cellphones today have many different applications in it. So while the digital user isn't on the phone with somebody, that is no reason why the actual phone shouldn't still be used. These sources of entertainment have become apart of daily life for the people that own the devices that include them, which is why they are so hard to let go of. Without entertaining devices, i do believe the enjoyment level of the device users would go down.

Another reason why Digital Technology is used alot is because of the needed bonds of the digital users with family and friends. Now without the phone or computer, interactioj with loved ones would be limited. This would be a bad case with alot of people, as not everyone lives in close range with their friends an family. So how can people still interact and be far away from eachother at the same time? This is where Digital Technology steps in. Phones and Chat services on the computer allow people to interact for an unlimited amount of time which not only makes the bonds unbreakable, but makes them even stronger. Just like the case with the entertainment, i'm pretty sure it would be a big problem for Phone and Internet users at this point if these devices all of a sudden became unavilable to them.

Entertainment and Connection with loved ones are just two interpretations as to why people have grown more dependent on Digital Technology devices. These devices have been apart of society long enough to be considered apart of life. Now that's a strong, bold statment, but considering what these devices are able to do for people, it cannot really be argued against. Overall, Digital Devices although accompanied by some negative flaws, have proven that they indeed makes human life easier to live through.

This is what Digital Technology has become, so far that is. Movies and Books and other multiple sources signal more evolution in the digital world, and that in maybe 50 years, what we think of as obsession today, is nothing compared to what Digital Technology will be looked at as in that time period in 50 years.

Monday, November 2, 2009

HW 17 Outline Suggestions

Matt,
Your outline provides a good preview of a good paper. I believe the topics you plan to expand when you write your paper are topics that are worth talking about. To me, you plan to kind of build up to your main ideas in your essay. First you plan to talk about competition with technology itself, which also introduces the source of your paper. Then for the rest of your paper, you plan to talk about our society's use of technology. Overall, I think your ideas are taking you on the right track. Good Luck on the paper.

Michele,
Your outline for your essay is pretty clean cut and ready to be turned into an essay. I see how in your first arguments, you focus on the beginning of our class' unit, which is a good way to introduce your topic. Then you plan to talk about more of YOUR personal experiences with digital technology, as well as go even further on what we learned in class this year. Overall, I like your essay plan and Thesis is practically done. All you may need is a little more detail in your thesis ( since Andy just talked about Thesis in papers right now). Other than that, good job and Good luck.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

HW 16 Big Essay Outline

Question: Why has Digital Technology become a permanent fixture in our lives that continues to grow everyday?

Thesis: Despite it's numerous negative aspects, Digital Devices are still being used by the majority of Americans because it provides entertainment, keeps us in better touch with family and friends and makes the user's lives easier.

Argument 1: Every digital machine provides entertainment, which ranges from video games, social networks, amoung a laundry list of avalibilities. These sources of entertainment alone have become apart of daily life for the majority of people. So without the internet, high tech cell phones and video games consoles, i don't think those many people want to think about what they would do WITHOUT any of these things.

Argument 2: Family and Friends have come closer together with the use of digital technology, The internet and phone work overtime to provide the makeup of closeness for the user to his/her family and friends when the actual distance between them is quite far. I would persoanlly suggest this is one of the more positive reasons why digital technology is such a phenomenom in society. Just like in the entertainment aspect, I'm sure the last thing people want is to have the internet and phone all of a sudden vanish, allowing for families and friendships to somewhat fade.

Argument 3: WIth digital technology, life is easier. What would we do in our spare time without entertainment provided by digital technology on our hands? How would we be able to either talk for 5 minutes to a loved family member or schduele a day plan with friends? These questions are very hard to answer, as digital technology has become a part of life, or better yet, life itself.