The last blog

Every generation is a little bit different than the next. Just from when I was younger to now I am seeing a mass jump in how intrusive technology is in my life. I pretty much use it for everything, even right now as I type I am using a computer, the Internet and an online blogger to do my homework. I heard that most grade school are getting rid of the use of paper and are going towards ebooks and other digital devices to teach in the classrooms, this is not a new phenomenon. For how important technology is in our new world of the digital age, I do think it would be very challenging to unplug from the rest of the world, and I am not sure if I even want to. I guess that is something this class as taught me this semester is that the more you use technology and the more you keep up to date with current events in the digital age the less these types of changes seem scary. I can understand why people do go on those vacations though to get away from cellphones, computers, television, laptops, tablets, etc because it is an escape from the busy world happening around them, but this is like the same thing when people would just go to their country homes to get away from the craziness of the city for a while; so they can take a breath. I learned the history of most technology I use commonly everyday, including telephones, the television and the Internet. I learned how fast technology is catching on today and how we are in a situation where its hard to came back from, kind of like if we sold our souls to the devil. Technology is pretty interesting, and most of the time makes life easier and more enjoyable.

Blog #9

After doing extensive blogging this semester, I can understand the positive and negative  qualities that are associated with it. I do believe that blogging as an impact on our society because everyone and anyone can upload their personal thoughts, opinions and ideas on the web. Creating an online journal that is accessible to anyone who dares to view. The positive aspects of blogging is that it's extremely easy to use and mostly anyone could do it. Allowing  people to openly share with the world anything they want to with tremendous diversity, and also allows them to be extremely interactive on cyberspace. One the contrary,the negative aspects of blogging go hand in hand with the ability that anyone can blog. Since anyone can upload what they want on the web, it allows the bloggers to use propaganda or other tactics of mind play with the viewer. Another problem is that blogs are usually never censored and or mostly unfiltered, meaning that if anyone can blog than anyone can be the viewer. This can have huge ramifications including problems on the web such as cyberspace wars that could include politicians, police and other authority figures. I do believe that blogging is going to continue to grow because we are in the digital age, where we are moving away from old techniques such as analog and moving towards new methods of communication and how we view the world. So this could be a problem for anyone being able to publish, for example the South Carolina Gov. vs. Nikki Haley showed us how serious people take the information on the web and how dangerous harmful gossip and jokes can mean.  The impact on our society, could mean could things environmentally because we wouldn't be using so much from paper supplies but what this could also mean economically with job loses and also socially with people becoming more and more desensitized to human interaction and more living in the digital/ internet world.

Blog #8

Privacy, seems like an entirely different term and meaning than it did only ten years ago. That was when the Internet wasn't so intrusive and social networks were not so popular. Today people like Christopher Sartinsky- the deputy CIA director talk about how he is surprised that so many people on Facebook openly state their religious affiliations, where they live and personal thoughts like no one is watching. How even it is not disturbing for people anymore to think that everyone will know there personal thoughts but more like a pleasure. Even if someone was to delete their Facebook today, it still takes an request to have your account permanently deleted and seven years until all your information is erased from the website. It's even a scary thought that Mark Zuckerberg, the fellow that created Facebook is now the director of CIA's Facebook program. Things like this and the Patriot Act have been really problematic for people's privacy in the 21 century. These privacy issues might be goof for the government looking for people on the run, but for the rest of us normal U.S citizens this feels more like a violation. Problems such as loosing your identity, being mistaken for another persons identity, and how potential employers can now creep and stalk people on the web. Also there are issues of not secure enough websites and people gaining access to steal others bank and card information. This is not a problem for our government, who actually is allowing the CIA more funding for Facebook programing, but more problems for the people being subjected to this type of invasion will little to no say in the matter. This type of behavior really makes you wonder and contemplate on how free are we exactly?

Video Games

Video games have a massive role in our society, like most things in the technology world. Video games are like a dramatic reflection on contemporary society functions. For instance, how video games usually reference or share characters from books, movies and comic books. Also how video games usually match our current advancements in programing capacities. There main purpose and function being mostly home entertainment but also serves the role in portable consoles entertainment. With the advancement in technology and the increase in better graphics, video games realistic qualities are bigger than ever. Some even argue that because of the shockingly realistic views and the main targeted audience is to the 10-30 demographic, that video games can be harmful to young teens. The studies that discuss this topic are mostly talking about the video games with strong violent content. This worries parents and some leading officials because they are afraid what effects this will have on society. On the other hand, In many video games, the skills required to win involve abstract and high level thinking.  These skills are not even taught at school. I never really played video games all that much when I was younger, except for the classics; Sonic, Mario Bros., PAC Man, Donkey Kong, etc. I did grow up with a brother and some cousins that where and who are still to this day extremely into video games. I have actually have the privilege of walking into a gamer party, where all the lights turned off and the only light from coming from all the peoples LCD's on their computers. I felt like it was kind of odd, but apparently it let's you get more in the "mood" of the video games world. They mostly play game of Warcraft and other avatar games. I guess I can understand wanting to get more into the world, considering video games allow and release from the real world just like most other things do, for example movies, books, watching TV. Of course it is going to have effects on us as an society, but why wouldn't it? Most things do, especially the ones that a correlated to other main stream means of entertainment. 

Blog #6

I remember using a PC for the first time when I went to catholic school and we would have computer class. We never actually where able to explore and play on the computers, it was more for learning how to type and such. When I went to middle school, I received my own laptop but at the time I really had not interest in it. I didn't have a computer at home so The Internet wasn't really something I play with all that much. At that time in my life I was way more interested in walking around with my friends and being out late. In high school, was the first time I ever used the World Wide Web. I created a facebook account this year and started using the Internet for my research projects. My freshman year was actually the last year that my high school allowed free range on the Internet. After that year, a block ad been put on the Internet server and you couldn't even look up two people kisses without a blocked warning. I really didn't even use computers or know much about them until my senior year of high school when I had to take my computer class. I felt really stupid, because I was in a class filled with sophomores and they knew tons more than I did with most things relating to computers. It was then that I felt like I actually got the hang on how to use the ordinary computer and computer programs such as excel and windows. To this day, I still don't own a computer and I still do feel back in times compared to most technology. I something mind, mostly the times when I feel incompetent and stupid because I might not know how something works, etc. Myself and technology as never really gotten along. Today, I realize its mostly because we never really had technology in the house because it wasn't something that was a necessity. I remember, in high school when I had to use the Internet for a research paper I was doing and i couldn't figure out how create new tabs and how to operate search engineers. I became completely embarrassed when I had to ask one of my fellow class mates for help. It was something that was common and I had no idea how to work it. After that experience, I haven't really spoke up when ask about technologies. I guess mostly because I am afraid of being wrong. I believe it was Mark Twain who said It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.

The Terrifyinh truth about new Technology

I can completely agree with what the author was saying about new technology and it's effects on new generations and old generations. My mother once told me when she was a teenager, she heard a rumor that in the near future there would be a device that would allowed people to carry their own phones around and to not even have to worry about home phones anymore. Her reaction to this news was a huge hysterical laugh. The mere thought that people could have the option for portable phones was completely absurd to her. When reading this article, it made me think of that story and how in today's world I am blown away by somethings I have never experienced before or could even imagine they were possibilities. When I watch my nephew who was born in 2011, play with my sister's kindle or watch television on their HD TV, I can relate to where the author elaborates on the youth being more costumed to newer technology, Even as a one year old, my nephew will fondle with the kindle and play with it in ways that it's just fascinating to sit and watch him explore. Kids, today don't play with your average game board set, read or just use their imagination as much. Now, technology has become a filler for those "old" systems of entertainment, and with it, Kids are more able to use technology faster and better than the generations before them. Sometimes I am worried about what the future of technology will bring to our world. My horizons are now opening to the world that is mostly consumed by technology and I am leaving behind the part of my life, where technology was more as a privilege than an everyday need. Technology seems to have become the new "math" in schools, when they tell you that you will need this information for the rest of your life. I am one hundred percent sure, that this will happen to me when I get older, there are already so many things that have died with the dinosaurs and I am only twenty years old. I can't even imagine in another twenty, forty or even fifty years what new technology will emerge.

Blog #4

In today’s world, anybody can pretty much shoot video on any type of device we have in our daily lives. For instance, cell phones are really popular choice and these video are mostly uploaded to Facebook, Twitter or any other social networking site. This is really important for a growing internet society. When Trayvone Martin, last spring was shot something that was really important to the trail was a women recording the audio of the event. Not all cases or so politically intrusive but still very important. Consumers, instead of creating videos for home “nostalgia” purposes they can document any part of their daily lives and upload it the the internet and after that the video can go viral or not. Justin Bieber is a classic example of someone who started there fame though shooting videos of himself and uploading them to the internet. Lady Gaga would be another example of that same practice. Shooting “home” videos is important for artist, politics, keeping the general public informed and any other reasons. With growing technologies and the importance of the internet in our lives, I do believe it is important for communication majors to partake and be informed with shooting and editing videos. Not only for keeping up with the current times but to be able to communicate with large audiences or people that are not geographically close. In current news, the video that was created bashing Muhammad not only blow up but went everywhere on the internet, especially YouTube. After people in Egypt and other northern African countries saw this video they reacted with protest and violent actions against the United States. People might not realize that videos that they make and upload to the internet can be so important socially and I think that is because it is a new phenomenon. This is way education and being educated about the process of video communication is important to help with intercultural corals and other problems that might surface.