Monday, November 30, 2009
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
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.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
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.
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.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
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.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
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.
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.
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