HW 29

Many older people intellectuals, professors, scholars and so on believe that advertising should be banned to young people. To that point I answer what about our economy? Isn't our economy something to be valued and protected. Given the fact that young people are the largest consumer base in this economy its crucial to protect the freedom of advertising so that the only large scale group of consumers still buying during the recession can continue to prop up our consumer driven economy. Furthermore I'm not convinced that heavily regulating advertising to teenagers will solve the problem. That would become just another excuse for teens to hate the adult world and the culture they live in. It would be viewed as a violation of their freedom; and would they be so wrong? For many being in between the ages of fourteen and twenty is practicaly a prison cell. Filled with mindless routines and exercises that seem to have no end. For these people a ban on advertising to them would just further distance them from what most would call normative society.
Regardless of what people say they love advertising. They love the feeling of the advertisment going for them. To put it simply people love to be loved, and for us commercialization fills the role in many ways. People also love the fact that they know its not good for them. People have historically loved things that aren't good for them. Especially in the United States which has the highest drug prevelance of any western country. But even though these ad's fill our heads with total crab and feed our addictions its still necessary to protect the rights of advertising so as to fill our constitutional obligations.
In conclusion I think that teens have long been manipulated,cheated,screwed over, and I don't think thats going to stop any time soon. Therefore I don't think that banning advertising will do anything to stop the problem in fact I think it will just make it worse. Teens should be allowed to think for themselves. If there old enough to drive, fight in wars, and drop out of school then I think there old enough to handle some advertising and at least make some sort of judgement thats not pre-determined.

HW 28

Reed, T.V. "Popular Culture: Resources For Critical Analysis." Washington State University (1997): n. pag. Web. 8 Dec 2009. .
Lack, Tony. "Consumer Society and Authenticity:." n. pag. Web. 8 Dec 2009. .
http://stereogum.com/archives/nmes-25-bands-making-america-cool-again_011791.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_(aesthetic)

These sources listed above are all insights into what is precieved as cool. Some of the sources give insights into certain sub-cultures which over time have been percieved as cool while other sources talk directly about the modern day image of cool. These sources are important to look over because they give some background information on not only what is cool but why certain things are cool and the history of these phenominons.

Hw 27

Going out onto the street and talking to people who I don't know is not something that I particularly looked forward to, but then going out and talking to people was actually quite interesting. Even though I only talked to a couple of people they both gave very different answers. The first person I talked to was a thirty something hispanic male who was standing outsside an office building smoking a cigarette. After aproaching him and exchanging pleasentries it became clear that he was rather uncomfortable with the subject and not interested in having a long discussion. I asked him to define cool, he took a breath and put on an uncomortable smile and said "I don't know.......somebody who has a lot of friends and has good taste". Then I asked whats the connection between cool and conformity? Then he really looked irritated. He said that he thought that most "cool" people were conforming with society. Basically he gave answers that were expected. After talking to him we came across another person who seemed to have a totally different attitude about cool and was totally willing to talk to us. By the look of him he seemed as though he was homeless or at least close to being homeless. However he didn't seem angered or bitter but joyfull and personable (much happier seeming then any walking suit we tried to talk to). The homeless man was almost eager to talk to us and looked quite happy to be recieving the attention. We started out by asking him who he thought was cooler the Pope or the President. He answered the Pope. I was surprised by this answer because since the president certainly holds more popularity then the pope in this country and he didn't seem to be a particularly well educated person; but he was able to adequatley justify his argument. He said that the pope is chosen from such a wide range of people that it surely is impressive to be chosen (especially since all of the competition is made up of men of god). He then elaberated on his definition of cool and what he found cool. He believed that alternative rock, individuality, and a cool crowd is what makes someone cool. Overall he gave answers that were not only unique and interesting he was able to (at least somewhat)break his archtype.

HW 24 Short Story

He didn't want to go to the party. He knew that he would end up doing the same old shit. It was all getting a little boring for him. he was getting sick of seeing the same old people and doing the same old thing. He wanted to go somewhere new and original get away from his own little ground hog day and change his ways. Even though he was thought of as real smart guy he had a reputation of doing everything that wasn't smart. As he entered the party he got all the greetings as if they hadn't seen him in a year. Even though he thought he should feel good about how everybody felt about him he didn't. In fact it made him rather frustrated and upset; it wasn't the fact that everybody liked him that pissed him off it was why they liked him that got him angry. He was tired of being viewed as the funny guy who can slam down a lot of liquor. He wanted to be viewed as original, new, and inteligent. Unfortunetley for him he knew that he couldn't keep his status and be viewed a different way.

HW 25 additional thoughts

Some of the trends that I noticed throughout the stories I read were fairly typical and somewhat expected. However many people cofronted these aspects in very different ways. For starters in every story I read cool and popularity are in the same catagory. Basically if you are popular you are cool and visa versa. Also I think that attention played a great role in defining cool. The main characters in all of the stories are constantly getting attention and putting themselves into situations where people will give them the attention they seem to desire even if the deny they want it. I think attention plays such a big role in the story because it plays such a big role in our lives. High school is home to some of the most conceeded people you will ever meet; I mean it's not their fault but thats just how it goes. Popularity, cool, fresh whatever you want to call it if knowbody gives you the time of day then they will never know that your cool, therefore we need this attention to express our coolness and connect with the people around us.
Even though mmany of the characters in these short stories cary many of the negative aspects of teenage life, none of them seem to be particularly mean or bad people. I think that we all have somewhat of a desire for the people around us to be nice caring compassionate people even if we don't project that in our own lives. I think that it speaks somewhat highly of the people in our school that they have the desire to have compasionate caring people instead of controling ego maniacs. Also groups seem to be a recouring thing throughout the story. All of the cool people in these stories seem to have a group of followers who basically work at the cooler persons behest. In conclusion it seems that all of these stories have a recouring message that is not said upfront. People want loyalty appreatiation and recognition. However these catagories seem pretty hard to fill and thats why most of the recognizable popular kids don't fill such rolls.

HW 25 comment 5

Amon, I liked your story because you covered an aspect of cool that most people didn't cover; the affect of recreational drug use on popularity/cool. I think that in many high school drinking and useing drugs (especially marijuana) is a right of passage and can dramatically affect someones popularity in school. Even if someone is not especially well dressed or talks the talk sometimes there party savy can make them cool anyway. Furthermore I think you also covered the unfortunate side of such drug use which gave your story a accurate perspective.
Everyone has heard a story about someone getting "too fucked up". Great work.

HW 25 comment 4

Jin, I really hope you don't find this person to actually be cool because this persona (or possible alter ego of yours) is the biggest douche bag on the face of the planet. Anyway I did like your story because I think that you were able to capture a common view of cool; the cocky all out kind of guy. Furthermore I think that the style you wrote your story in worked with the length.
Nice Work

Hw 25

Quinn, I liked your story because I think that you captured the conflict that a lot of people have with trying to be cool but at the same time not trying to seem like a poser. Also I in the begining of your story I liked how you had one of the character's breaking balls because that happens all the time and it seems that might on some level be a mark of coolnes. Also the conversation that you had with the girl about asking her out but then shading away as to not damage your reputation I think is true of a lot of people. Great work!

HW 25 comment 2

Sam, I think that you really got at how groups have a lot to do with popularity and being cool. The male character who becomes more popular and moves on is a theme that happens in this school often and is probably a familiar story to many people. I also think that you blended the two main characters well and they make the story not only realistic but very entertaining. The way the group reacts to the problems that they are all facing reminds me of a group in the 11th grade. Hmm I wonder who?
anyway great work

HW 25 comment 1

Matt, nice work on your story. I think that you were able to not only capture the struggle that a lot of people have with their own identity and how many people come to terms with that identity. I also think that the way you described the relationship between Laura and her parents gave a lot of information about where she came from and how she formed as a young adult. Furthermore I think that you were able to write this story without being cliche or overdone. Good work.

Hw 23

cool is a very vague term which is often put in line with popular but I'm not convinced. I think that people often become popular just for the reason that they have more balls then most. Not in a sence that they puch everybody that looks at them funny but in a way that they are willing to talk to someone they don't even know or make outrageous comments in front of people. But if you ask me being cool is the ability to present yourself in a original (or seeming so) way. That could mean anything from style humor or ability with the opposite sex. One idea that is repeated often is self confidence. Basically being an egotistic prick. To be able to walk down the hallways with the smell of arogance all over you. That ability seems to come mostly from personal insecurity and self loathing, but I could be wrong (but I don't think so).
Being cool also veries from place to place. If you were to take someone considered particularly cool from school of the future and introduce them to the "cool kid" from a private mostly white religious private school, the private school kid would most likely find the sof kid to be a total jerk, and I'm sure the sof kid would feel very much the same about his suburban counter part. Furthermore I think that the New York brand of cool is one of the most unique in the nation. I say that because New Yorkers tend to blend more then any other region in the country. There are very few other places in the nation where cool is a blend of hip hop culture and skater culture or punk culture ect. This most deffinetly comes from the imense diversity of the city; however I highly doubt that any kid would admit that they are inspired by another races culture (unless there a white kid, then they will just deny there white).
One of the final most obvious components of cool is sex. From the male point of view one of the coolest things a man can do is convince a woman to perform some kind of sex on him at a random time. Regardles of style, humor or balls, having sex with a random girl and never calling them again can propel anyone to the top. Staying in that field if a man has sex with another man then they could still stay cool in some peoples eyes but they just won't ever live it down. There going to have to hear all kinds of jokes and even if knowbody says it to their face they know its being said behind their backs. Which brings me to my end point that being popular which generally comes with being cool is not always a good thing. There is always constant criticsm of the person and if they do something considered undesirable then they are thrown to the wolves. Not to mention the fact that most sucessful people you talk to generally have some horor story about being picked on in high school which often they follow up with how that person that picked on them is now a loser and not doing anything with their life. Which in some cases is true sometimes not hard to make a definate call, point is when your on the top someone will always want to bring you down.

INTRODUCTION: The digital age has invaded our lives in many ways. If I were to tell somebody that digital technology has thwarted the privacy of our lives that person would probably say tell me something I don’t know. My question is why doesn’t anyone care. What has happened in our society to make people accept the assault on their personal lives and roll over to the government and big corporations? I think that there are many reasons why people don’t seem to care. For one there has been a bombardment of advertising since the 1950s. People have been told that the corporations are their friends. Just keep buying and buying and everything will be fine. It’s brainwashing, but instead of electro shock and water boarding its fraudulent companies and faulty email. I believe that people have given in to these invasions because the intellect of the world has decreased. People no longer care about being educated outside the realm of basic and work pertinent knowledge.
Argument 1: A disturbing fact is that the government starts tracking and invading people’s privacy starting from when they are very young. A Fordham law school study reported that “32% of states warehouse children’s social security numbers; at least 22% of states record student pregnancies; and at least 46% of the states track mental health, illness, and jail sentences as part of the children’s educational records. Some states outsource the data processing without any restrictions on use or confidentiality for children’s information. Access to this information and the disclosure of personal data may occur for decades and follow children well into their adult lives” (privacy.org). This goes to show that people start to loose their privacy starting when they are young and continuing on into their adult lives. Having this lack of privacy starting from a young age starts a mentality of accepting these invasions and these attacks on our liberties.
The mind of a young person is very easy to manipulate and tracking children on every aspect of their lives is beneficial to the government and corporations because if the government can make people accept being watched from a young age, being monitored, and being constantly judged, young people will give up on caring about protecting themselves from the invaders and those who want to obstruct their lives with attacks on their civil liberties. Furthermore the government’s use of tracking has contributed to a feeling of decreased expectations. These decreased expectations have led to an overall decrease in learning in the school system.
Argument 2: The most common form of communication in the modern age is emailing. According to the Radicati Group there are over 1.3 billion email users worldwide. People display their most personal and private secrets over email. Email is also extremely easy to hack. According to the Washington Post after being nominated the Republican parties vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin had her personal yahoo account hacked. Most people however wouldn’t know that because it was one of the least covered stories of the 2008 election. It wasn’t covered because people have shown that they don’t care about having their emails read. Having your email hacked has become a way of existence. There are websites dedicated to hacking email, people only have to pay 100 dollars to have someone hack an email and give them the password to their account. The punishment for these crimes is very minimal. At most someone could end up doing misdemeanor computer crime charges, which result in small sentences. Even if the government were to increase sentencing for computer crimes it wouldn’t do much good; most of the websites created for hacking email are based outside the United States therefore out of U.S. law enforcement jurisdiction.
The most curious part about all this email hacking is how there is no evidence to show that email use is decreasing. People continue to flaunt their personal lives all over the internet via email even though there is a great chance that there email will be read. People are giving in to this violation of their life because they would rather have a quick censored life rather than a slower private life. We are all hooked on internet speed. A technological junkie of sorts; if we’re all hooked on technology then we are all just slaves to the grind. It is a fact that people love to do things they’re not support to (especially Americans). The United States has the highest rates of cocaine and cannabis use in the world (sciencedaily.com). If we as Americans want to continue this illicit lifestyle then we certainly can’t be detailing our exploits through email.
Argument 3: The use of effective advertising has contributed to the digital brainwashing of Americans. If someone wants a perfect example of how advertising has brainwashed people take a look at the Marlboro man. The advertising campaign that took a cigarette company to legendary status. First of all just getting people to smoke is a market miracle. Taking a product that smells bad, tastes bad, and will kill you and then getting people to use it is a perfect example of how easily manipulated people are. Industries like to start advertising early and often. Generally advertisers like to go for the young minds because they are easier to mold. According to the American Psychological Association (APA) “Research shows that children under the age of eight are unable to critically comprehend televised advertising messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate and unbiased”. As shown by this quote advertising to young children can put their minds in a place where they are more willing to accept what corporations tell them and are less likely to push back against advertising.
If advertising can get children into a place where they believe everything they hear then they’re not going to stand up against a government that wants to invade every aspect of your life. The intellectual curiosity will diminish and the aspirations for un-censored freedom will die right along with it. Advertising is putting people in an imagination land where nothing bad ever happens as long as your consumption keeps up your life will be nothing put excellent. When in reality advertising has brought them nothing but bad. Sending bank account numbers to fictitious lotteries or having colleges expel you because of photos on facebook or Google reading your gmail. That is all that has come from digital advertising.
Significance: I think that this topic is significant because it involves the future of our country and our civil liberties. I think that it’s also very significant in that it’s a topic that isn’t discussed too often. There is a clear relationship between digital and the elimination of privacy and I think that I’ve tried to point that out using evidence and examining some of the aspects of modern American life. The major point that I was trying to get across is why doesn’t anyone take a stand for their personal freedoms, and what is the reason for their lack of interest?
Conclusion: In conclusion I think that people have stopped caring about keeping their privacy because they have been brainwashed so much that there isn’t much to care about anymore. People have been told to just consume believe everything you hear and do it as quickly and easily as possible. The ideas of the counter culture may have been killed by the 1970s but I think that the revolutionary spirit of Americans died with it. There has been no public outrage over such treasons as the Patriot Act or the abuses of the intelligence community. Most people probably believe that none of those things will affect them at all but the truth is it does affect everyone. The government now has more control over our lives than ever and there is no response. The end of a revolutionary era indeed.

Big Paper

HW 17

Quinn, I think that you have some really strong ideas in the making. I think that taking those exerpts from your personal life really could make your paper that much better. I think at the end where you say that video games damage grades is a great place to focus because I'm sure that will get the attention of a lot of people. The only thing I would say is that I'm a little unsure what your thesis is exactly. Towards the end of the outline it seems that its taking a different focus then earlier in the outline. So I just think that you need to find that one sub-topic within digital and focus on it and you will have a great paper.

HW 17

Sam, I think that you have a very strong and controversial thesis. I agree a lot with what you are saying in your thesis and I think that you have some strong evidence to support it. You also seem to have everything that your writing organized and well suppoted by strong evidence. Furthermore I think that you could find some really good quotes using the sources you mentioned in your out line. Overall great outline. Strong thesis, well constructed arguements; I think that your going to write an amazing paper.

HW 16

For my paper my thesis is the development of digital social networking and digital based communication has abstructed the privacy of our lives. The major points that im going to make to back up this thesis is the availability to view the intimate details of our lives, the use of emails facebook photos and phone conversations to criminaly or socially indict someone and the use of laws which give government authorities the ability to violate or privacy.
For my first arguement that viewing the intimate details of our lives via digital is relatively easy is supported by the fact that if you type in email hacking on to google you will see a million adds about how to hack someones email acount or security breaches in certain types of email acounts so on and so on. Also anyone who has seen a news story on someone under twenty then they most likely saw that persons facebook on the news. Phone tapping is an age old tradition and its only getting easier and easier for someone to have access to the kind of technology to listen to someones phone conversations.
In my second arguement Im going to talk about how many people famous or not have either had their reputations or careers ruined because of things they either said or have been photoraphed or in some cases just talked about. In the modern day of digital communication the ability to privately talk about your views and experiences can easily be violated.

HW 15

Quinn, Very interesting and good work. For 13 B i agree with a lot of what you are saying. I also believe that M.T. Anderson has a way of getting into our heads and making us be more aware of the world around us. I also agree with what you said about recomending the book to younger generations of people to try and make them more aware of the negative affects of digital on the body and the mind. I also really liked your point about how sooner or later we all will be dead so it is good to stop and look around the world a bit and not trap ouselves in a little box.
For Feed A I also have been wondering who M.T. Anderson is and what inspired him to write Feed. It seems like he has a very interesting and cultured background, and its somewhat surprising that he went to Harvard because he didn't write with that stuck up ivy league I'm better then you mentality which is seen in a lot of non fiction writing from professors. So thanks for doing that reaserch real interesting stuff. Furthermore your right that almost everybody would flip a shit if technology went down on us out of the blue one day. If I had to take a geuss then I would probably geuss like 5-8% of the population wouldn't go crazy. If you need any evidence for that point just go back and remember y2k, and that was before ipods wireless internet and widespred use of dvds. So your totally right on that point. Also your right that we follow in other peoples footstep's if we went to a school where all the girls were in dresses and the guys looked like they got there from 1957 I don't think that a new kid would do anything much different even if he didn't like it. Same applies for digital so again real good observation.
I must admit that after reading your post on the self experiment Ive concluded that you have more courage then me! If I lost the internet on my phone I probably would never recover. Your right however that people don't need as much connection as they have. Meening that if you can call, text, and I.M. someone from home then your probably plenty connected. I think that most people could live without internet on the phone but your right that most people couldnt live without a home computer of some kind.
In conclusion I really liked your posts and I think that you wrote some really great stuff and put out some real inteligent ideas. The only criticsms I can think of is I would have liked to see you do more on your self experiment like maybe some more analysis about how your experiment would aply to other people. Also maybe after you talked about recomending the book to your little brother talk about how digital might affect his generation. Anyway great work hope to read some more in the future.

HW 15

Sam, I think that in all of your posts you are able to articulate your points clearly and thoughtfully. Your post for homework 14 was particularly good becuase in my oppinion the true test of a good writer is the ability to keep the reader interested and if appropriate entertained. Your posts most certainly pass the test. I especially liked what you wrote in about our generation being mindless idiots who all dress alike and can't even complete a video game without cheats. It got me to consider the possibility that our generation could be the dumbest, but then I thought about it and I totally disagree. Something to think about: If our generation is the dumbest then why has our generation been the most accepting of cross culture relations homosexuality and excepting scientific theories like evolution? Regardless I think that you articulated your point well.
For your post on homework 13 I found myself agreeing with most of what you were saying. I think that you are 100% right that art is in the eyes of the beholder, and I think that giving the example of the Picasso piece is a great example. I also agree with what you said about Feed in that one person could take away something from Feed that knowbody else would even think about. You also wrote about a class discussion where Andy made a point of saying that agknowledgeing his own ignorance mad him smarter then all of us. You then said the enlightenment isnt something you go after it simply comes to you or something of that affect. Honestly I disagree with both points. I think that enlightenment is something you persue and I think that being enlightened about something doesnt necessarily make you smarter, in fact I would argue that people who say that they were enlightened are the dumbest of the lot. To Andys point about his own ignorance I dont think that makes you smarter at all, I think that persuing the areas in your life that you are ignorant on and educating your self is what makes you smarter not admitting defeat to something that your unable to define.
Your post 12 about Feed and your post 11 about your experiment were both very interesting. I liked the part where you said that anyone could make the arguement that we dont appreciate the little things in life. Your totally right because the arguement is a total cliche. As for your experiment I did a similar one and had similar feelings about the experiment. I can totally relate on the feeling of bordem and wanting the whole experience to just end. Good post.
Overall I think that you are a great writer and make very well thought out posts and its not just the same old shit its orginal and and its interesting and I give you credit for that. However I do think that there are some improvements that you could make. I would have liked to see you elaberate on why you think are generation is so dumb and furthermore what specifically caused this lack of intelect. Also I would have liked to hear a little more about your experiment and how would you go about it if you had to do it again, or something like that. Overall as I said great work.

HW 11

For my digital experiment Idecided to do a digital fast followed by an all out digital blitz. I split the time up for half a day non digital and half a day digital blitz (not the same day). I found the experiment to be much more challenging then I thought. At first I thought that the non digital half day might just be the most physically rewarding day of my entire life. I found that to completley and disheartiningly inaccurate. I started the digital free time well I went to the gym worked out for a good hour and a half felt refreshed and ready to go until 2 pm the same way. After I got home I was struck by this overwhelming feeling of bordem and agitation. For a second I thought to myself "fuck the experiment i'll jus b.s. the whole thing" but then I decided no Im going to stick with it and see if I can't make this something Ill repeat in the future. After glazing over the New York Times I decided to go outside and keep myself active. But with nothing else to do and the day becoming a bit of drag and no cell phone to call people or computer to Aim people I figured I would just go and get some food. Now this is the part where everything turned horribly wrong. Because I had worked out earlier in the day I figured I would go get some fast food to completley ruin everything that I had done a few hours earlier. After eating with nothing to do at home I left the food establishment and continued on over to the park. With still nothing to do I decided to just keep on destroying myself by chain smoking for about 45 minnutes. Still unable to find activity I went home and was able to sleep away the rest of digital free blues.
The second part of my experiment was not only easier but healthier as well. I was able to keep myself entertained and because of the constant barrage of internet and video game activity i was able to keep myself from emerging in fast food and tabacco. Because I had to keep going for lunch instead of walking the extra two blocks to the fast food place I walked only three blocks to the local falafel place Habbibs. Finally disproving the myth that your healthier outside then in particularly in the city that never sleeps!

Hw 13

If art is considered either a hammer or a mirror then I would say that feed is both. Feed is a mirror in that it represents the way are society has become with constant fixation on digital and the lack of awareness of the world around us. Feed is also a hammer in that it gets people to think about what we as citizens can do to make ourselves more involved in the things that really matter, such as our representatives, our environment, and the overall stability of the world.
Feed is also art because of the brilliance of the writing. The author puts in references to out modern world throughout the book but 9 out of 10 people probably wouldn't automatically see that unless they were analyzing the book from a certain perspective.
When I do my own art on a related topic I think that I will do a video mini documentry about how the digital age has affected the the young people of the world and wheather it has been a good or bad addition to the world. This relates to Feed because it puts the oppoinions of the book to test.

HW 12

I think that there are many parts of Feed that can be compared to modern life. Just like the characters in feed I think that peoples ability to read write and think for themselves has diminished because a constant rush of advertising and 24 hour everything thats not good for you (theres nothing good for you thats available 24hours). At the same time I think that feed makes young people look more ignorant then they truly are. Older generations have been putting down the younger generations as long as there have been young generations to put down. Many people thought that in the 1960s the young generation was a disgrace to the country with the high rates of drug use and pre merital sex and now there viewed as one of Americas great generations. I think that could end up true of this generation.

Homework 10

For this post I decided to look at cell phone radiation and its effects on human health.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/telecom/2009-09-08-cellphone-radiation-safety_N.htm
This article juggles around many different theories about radiation and whether or not cell phone radiation causes cancer or not. On the one hand a very extensive study has shown a connection between long term cell phone use and an increased risk of mouth and brain toumars, which causes concern but on the other hand the American cancer society, the world health organization and the food and drug administration have stated that there is no danger in using wireless devices. Even though these organizations have gained a lot of fame and reputation there statements have not been enough to keep the nations of Germany, Israel and France from limiting use of cell phones particularly in young children.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/cellphone-radiation/
This article showed a number of studies most of which showed that there is a link between cell phone use and brain toumars. A senior scientist at the EWG said that "there’s increased risk of developing brain tumors in long term users — people who have used cellphones for more than 10 years — from radiation in cellphones". This article also hypothesizes that because of the strong lobbying force from the telecommunications industry that lawmakers are resistant to increase radiation standards. Many scientists and non partisan groups believe that the U.S.'s radiation standard which today stands at 1.6 watts is dangerously high.
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/222926/cell-phone-radiation-a-growing-concern
This article is an oppinion piece in which the author takes the stance that cell phones are dangerous and a hazard to human health and that people should cut down their use of cell phones and cell phone companies should be held accountable for the dangers of cell phone use. He also points to some studies that have been done which point to cell phones causing brain toumars. He also points out some facts about phones producing radiation even when not being used for calls and he also talked about "second hand radiation" and how that is also a danger.

Homework 8

Quinn,I too enjoyed watching you lay out all of things you do (or at least at that time) while using digital technology, I think that many people including myself can relate to everything in your post. Especailly having homework out but also doing other things I am most certainly guilty of that. One thing which I liked about your video was that it wasn't just a webcam view of you it was you doing all of the things you do while on the computer. That really captured the mood of the situation. Outside of that the only thing I would have liked to see was maybe a more detailed look at what it was specifically that you were doing in the very begining.Nice work!

Homework 5

Sam, thank you for your comment and I appreciate you taking the time to read it and give a thoughtful review. I appreciate the fact that you seem to understand my point and I also like that you agree with it in many ways. Reading your point about people who shouldn't have access to all the information on the internet was helpful because it got me to start thinking about information and whether or not all people should have the same information access and is that a threat to society. Expanding on your comment I've come to the conclusion that the freedom of information is a right that every citizen should have. Until they are comited to some kind of institution or prosecuted by the state everyone deserves the same rights and problems which come of it end up being the cost of freedom.

Homework 8

Sam, I thought that it was great how you captured how in retrospect it is somewhat sad that those two minnutes shown in your video can turn into hours at a time. I also agree with your point that the internet for most people at least of our generation does seem more interesting then reading a book. That point specifically made me think what is it exactly that makes the internet more interesting then a book? Is it the ability to multi task? Or perhaps its just the flashing lights and speed giving us all a little digital buzz. Something else that I noticed on almost all of the videos that I watched was the multi tasking and the almost instant change from one thing to another. One thing that I would have liked to have seen was you while you were playing your x-box because I think that would have really captured some of the deep concentration and intensity which many people experience while their ussing such things.Great work I was glad to see it!

Sam, I enjoyed reading your post about digital technology. I think that your personal take on the subject and speaking almost in a "day in the life" perspective. That perspective made your blog particularly unique. I also liked how you talked about getting the news even without using any news sources. Although you spoke well of how the internet has worked for you the only piece of criticism that I would say was that you didn't seem to take one side and defend it in regards to the general affect of digital media on society. Still great work!

HW 7 Interviews and surveys

When I interviewed my dad about modern day digitilization his thoughts were very mixed. To put it in perspective he was born in the 1950s. A time when having a television was a luxury instead of a "social necessity". When he was growing up there were only four channels on t.v. and it wasn't a twenty four hour service. Also at the time newspapers were something that everyone considered to be important. The newspaper was delivered twice per day, a morning addition and an evening edition. Now to jump back to the modern day he lives life very twenty first century. He has a facebook he watches a lot of tv he does all of his billing online he rarely uses his land line and relies on Wi-Fi wherever he goes. So when I asked him about the state of technology today his thoughts were mixed. He said that for his life and at his age that it was great for him, but he also said that he felt like the intellectual stamina of the world was receeding with the uprise of digital technology. In other words, the pwer of suggestion, if it's no longer such a great acheivment to know the history of another country or stay connected with politics or the financial sector then why bother knowing at all? However he said that he thought that without the internet he wouldn't be able to keep in contact with many people and all of the paper work he used to have to do has been cut in half not to mention the fact that his job has become much easier.

HW 3 Initial Thoughts Digital Unit

The constant and overwelming use of the internet is in my oppinion a shift to a digitalization of social comunication, news, and many other aspects of everyday life. Contrary to the oppinions of many I think people waste just as much time in life without the internet. Tabloid magazines television, radio. The internet has just been able to take all of those things and more and put them all under one domaine. Many critics say the internet "dumbs you down" but I think the internet just gives people choices of what they want to see. The most interesting aspect of the internet in my oppinion is the facination with social networking. Many sites make it look like your page is practically an advertisment for yourself like your trying to sell your personality to the world. The boom in digital media has the opportunity to create a more informed general public. Instead of making people go through a pain staking process of research almost all of that same information is acsessible on the internet.

The information technology boom has made a significant impact in other areas such as telecommunications. The creation of cell phone's has led to a world where everyone can communicate from virtually anywhere in the world. The type of communication that can be conducted on a cell phone has also developed. The creation of text messaging and today many phones allow one make emails on there phones and I.M. with other people. In short in this age of instant communication there's no hiding from anyone. The creation of cell phones has also created some unseen safety and health problems. Car crashes have been proven to be more common in people using cell phones.