Monday, December 21, 2009

HW 31

Kiana:
we were talking about the various methods that people use to mask, manipulate, costume, adorn, and aggrandize ourselves. As we discussed in class on Friday, we said that everyone somehow does one of these things whether it's subconscious or not and everyone has a different way of covering up their "true" selves. That is why i was wondering which one you think you are and why?

Sunday, December 20, 2009

HW 30

One big idea of "cool" is that everyone wants to do it. As long as we have media and technology and other people telling us what the latest, newest thing is, we will always have cool. People are considered accepted when they follow these rules and everyone wants to be like them because part of being "cool" usually means you have a lot of friends. One can deny that they have always tried to go "against cool" but that is not true because no matter what we do, something is considered cool, for instance tattoos or piercings. I was thinking about the question: does emptiness in some people cause them to do or behave in a more "cool" way to be accepted and fill in that emptiness or does the "cool" just add to the emptiness?
As i was doing research, I found psychiatrist Anna Freud's mother and child separation theory to be good and I agreed with it. That theory states that if a mother and child are separated at womb, it could really have a great effect on the child and how they will react and behave in life-especially with their mother. Here is a quote: “I therefore decided to present some of her ideas on the importance of the mother during the child's earliest years in the development of a ‘psychological’ object, culminating in the attainment of object constancy by the time the child reaches his second birthday, an achievement which is of great importance in permitting the child to go on to develop human relationships with all the emotional richness and complexity with which we are familiar.”

This quote states how mother/child separation really usually begins during the "terrible twos" and if parents don't show attention to their kids, then that will most likely affect how the kids will be with their parents when they are older and when the kids have kids. Some kids will also do "bad" things or things to get that needed attention from other adults in their life. They then start to do "cool" things to get noticed and attention which all relates back to emptiness. But if they want attention and they do "cool" things to achieve that, then they might feel more empty because they aren't being true to themselves and if they aren't showing their true selves, they might be feeling emptier than before. All of these things relate back to each other and this made me wonder if everything cool or not cool" we do revolves about what society and our peers want of us?

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

HW 25

Thank you for the comments Kiana and i agree that my story could be made more in depth and i could have worked harder on it.

HW 24

i decided to interview my aunt for my family interview because i think she is one of the coolest family members i have. The 1st question i asked her was what she thinks being cool means. She said that being cool means being able to express who you are and staying true to yourself. She also said that being cool is a person who can interact well with others and not hold a grudge. She also believes that superficial cool will only get a person so far and relationships cannot be based on shallow things like that-they also need to have a good personality. I then asked her what being uncool meant to her and she said that being uncool means being a nasty person who doesn't work well with others, someone who thinks they are above everyone and someone who always judges books by their cover. The next question i asked was if she was cool in high school and she said that she was somewhat cool because she was a cheerleader but that unlike all the other cheerleaders, her family didn't have much money so she couldn't buy clothes that were as expensive as the other girls, so that was the part that made her slightly "uncool" to her peers. She said it was ok because she had other friends to that liked her for her-not for her style or superficial things like that.

I definetly agreed with everything my aunt said.

Monday, December 7, 2009

HW 28

http://www.mindfields.org.uk/blog/?p=140
(gives tips on how to be cool)

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1088699,00.html (describes how kids/teenagers strive to be cool by being rebeliious)

http://www.copyblogger.com/be-the-cool-kid/ (shows mostly about cool kids and the effect on them later in life and what goes on in a "cool" kids head.)

http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Cool (how to be cool in general and there are tips in this article, too.)

Thursday, December 3, 2009

HW 27

person one:

Me: I see you are holding a magazine with michelle obama on it. Do you think her style looks cool?
Person: Um..maybe because most of the first ladies don't dress that way and don't show their arms but she does and it looks comfortable and polished and nice.

Me: Would you dress like her?
Person: Personally it's not my style but considering she's a first lady, she looks good. She's more chic than the rest.

Me: So how would you describe your style?
Person: I'm not sure i guess i would call it kind of girly kind of homeless (laughs). I think it looks nice.

Me: We like it. Did you dress similarly to this in high school? if so, did it look cool in your peers opinion?
Person: This is sort of funny: I was a goth type person in high school and people made fun of me for that but i don't care what they say. I don't have to always be cool. I believe that cool is different because everyone has different perceptions about it.

Person 2:

Me: You are dressed in a fancy sort of way. We were wondering if you had a car?
Person 2: Yes i do. I have a Mercedes.

Me: Do you feel that because you have a Mercedes your car "speaks louder" than your personality to some people?
Person 2: Well, I'm sure my car plays a role in how people percieve me

Friday, November 27, 2009

HW 22

INTRO
More and more people are spending a majority of their time indoors playing with technological items rather than being outside. This is what my essay is going to be about: digital media/technology. This world of digital media really affects how we live our daily life and is changing how we think about things.

Argument 1
It seems that whenever we walk around, we always see people talking on their cellphone, listening to their Ipods, or even bringing portable DVD players with them on the subway to watch movies, just to name a few. It is clear that everyone is becoming obsessed with digital things so I thought it would be interesting to do a survey/interview of people on the street to see how much time they spend on the internet, one guy said that he used to spend about 7 hours on his technology all together but since he has a newborn, he spends about 2 hours on technology but when I talked to him, he had his Iphone in his hand. Another guy said that because he works he spends about 3 hours a day on his phone and he doesn't watch much TV. He does think that technology is excellent though and that without technology he would be bored and it is a good form of communication. I noticed many people said this. I interviewed my mom about digital items and she said that on average in a 9 hour work day, 7 hours are spent on the computer and about 1 hour on the phone. She said she gets so sick of being in front of digital screens all day that she just doesn't use technology much at home. She also said that technology makes life easier but is also less personal than it used to be with communication to other people. For example, faxes were easy to use and were fast and you actually had to sit there and type out a letter but now with e-mailing, it is less personal and have incomplete answers. But it does make life simpler. My mom also said that yes, our society is obviously digitally obsessed with all the new gadgets coming out with Twitter, Google, blogs, etc. but the amount of speed is good and now we live in a "I want it now" time where we want everything ASAP. But it is good, though. I also asked some friends for their opinion on digital technology and one friend said that she spends about half the day on her phone but because she is in school, it's a bit less and that she has her TV and computer at home and she spends about 3 hours on the computer for fun, so not including homework and TV she watches like 2 hours. She believes that digital technology is good because it makes it easier for people to talk to each other but that so many people are addicted to it that it's bad and that it is not good to become so dependent on a digital thing. In general, while doing these interviews and thinking about the answers people gave me, I noticed that they were all very similar, which could maybe show how much the digital media has affected how all of us thinks about it.

ARGUMENT 2
Digital technology also shows up a lot in society and the media, which is most likely why all of us in society are so enamored with these gadgets. There are constantly new phones coming out that is either an upgrade with newer features from a previous phone or a completely new phone that has a lot of cool features. When the Iphone came out in 2007, there were extremely long lines at every Apple store nationwide where people were camped out for days to get the phone that sold out very fast. Also, when the Wii came out, people camped out for days to get it and then fights and such ensued when people could not get a hand on the Wii. That shows how obsessed we are with this kind of media culture. I also found some interesting about this. The topic I'm really interested in is the addiction to digital media and how it affects us.
1. http://www.livescience.com/technology/080125-tech-addicts.html
This article said that some people's addiction to technology such as Blackberries is equal to a persons addiction to drugs or alcohol. It also shows different tests done in various years to show how people are addicted to this and what people think about this subject. It is a good article.
2. http://www.physorg.com/news171819640.html
This article is from a British newspaper saying how a study conducted in teenagers showed how technology has ruined teenagers learning especially written work because they are so used to using text speak and abbreviations and hardly spend any time doing actual home work that writing and grades have gone way down. Also, plagarism has gone up because teens and people in general can get so much info by looking something up online. This is also a good article.
3. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/07/01/la.tech.addictions/index.html
4. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-bootcamp/200907/techno-addicts
This article talks about the actual things going on in one's body when they use technology. (Endorphins etc.) its a great article also. For example, for the V.M.A.s on MTV and there was a scandal with Kanye West and Taylor Swift and what happened was that Taylor won an award and was in the middle of giving her speech when Kanye jumped onto the stage unexpectedly and said "i'm sorry, Taylor, but I think Beyonce has the best video." Taylor was left speechless and in tears. The second that happened, Facebook friends statuses exploded with things on how big a jerk Kanye is and their opinions on it and when they showed Lady Gaga and her performance, statuses were all about her and how she looked. People were both watching TV and were on their computers or phones talking about it. This alone shows how obsessed people like myself are when it comes to electronics. This shows how everything is quicker with the media.
The message of digital media is represented a lot in movies and songs. In Wall-E, for instance, the people are shown sitting on a couch watching TV, getting fat, and eating a lot. There's also one scene where a robotic like voice says "red is the new blue" and the people, with just one lick of a button, change their red clothing to blue and everything around them is all technology because the people buy into what the advertisements tell them to do. And the people in the advertisements speak in a robotic voice, which could represent how all of society is robots when they listen to what the media tells them what to do and what is the latest technological thing that is out, and so on. The band, Bad Religion made a song called "21st Century Digital Boy" which is about how digitalized the kids of our generation are today and another song of theirs, "I Love My Computer" is a song that sounds like the character is talking about the computer in a way that a person would talk to a fellow human being. In "Digital Boy", he chorus says "See I'm a 21st century digital boy I don't know how to read but I've got a lot of toys My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual Ain't life a mystery?" These lyrics are saying that in this generation, people use technology more than doing other more productive things such as reading. In "Computer", one of the lyrics are: "I love my computer for all you give to me: predictable errors and no identity And it's never been quite so easy I've never been quite so happy All I need to do is click on you and we'll be joined in the most soul-less way And we'll never ruin each other's day 'cuz when I'm through I just click and you just go away." These lyrics are saying that the character in this song is saying that he loves his computer because the computer never makes him mad and that when he has a bad day, the computer will make him feel better and it is easier to use the computer than talk to a person because a person can talk back to you and piss you off but the worst thing a computer can do to him is have an error and it won't talk back to him, which is why he likes it so much. In both Wall-E and the Bad Religion songs, the common theme is that they are both kind of making fun of the media way of life. The same goes for the book, Feed which describes how the characters go into an outer space like world and try to avoid doing things having to do with technology but that they still can't do it because everywhere they look it is something digital. Movies, music, and books are big influences in teaching and showing the public about this digital world we live in.
In my opinion, technology and digital things in general are good things when they are not used in excess. I think that things like phones help us out tremendously in contacting people who don't live close by and for spreading information. The experiment I did is not using my internet or Aim for about 1 week so far. This is not my choice but I own a Sidekick which had and is still having a massive, nationwide data outtage. I haven't had good, working service since last Thursday and most my friends who own Sidekicks have full service back but me. I have mostly only been able to text and call on my Sidekick so it feels like I'm owning one of those phones from the 90's that only had calling or texting on it. I only recently got Aim back but still no internet, which is what I want the most. Because I had a messed up phone all last weekend, I was in a pissy mood and most of my time was devoted to trying to fix it. I've called T-mobile numerous times over the past week because I need my phone to be in perfect working order soon. This outage really has shown me how addicted to my phone and digital media I am. I could barely function on anything but my phone which is a sign of how much I need my technology. I do so much on my phone already so it was as if I was having a withdrawal. I also do some homework on my phone which was also a problem. I think if I wasn't so obsessed with my phone, this technical problem would have been easier for me to deal with and it wouldn't have taken up so much of my mental energy. I am definitely trying to cut back on my electronic time because it also distracts me from doing homework which of course, isn't good. Since I can barely do anything on my phone now, I actually feel more productive and hopefully, this continues even when my full service is restored. I also think it is useless for people to keep upgrading their technological devices every couple of months because most of the time, there aren't drastic changes being done to the gadget and people just want to have the newest item to seem more up to trend with the latest thing. As you can see from this essay, this new digital media life we live in really influences how we behave in our everyday life.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

HW 25: Comments on Stories

Kiana-I REALLY enjoyed your story because I really felt like I was in the head of your character. I also liked how you used the word "cool" a lot to really show how important it is to the story. Some of the lines were funny and I liked it a great deal! -Juju

Michelle- I liked your story a lot and I liked how you gave your character a mysterious personality because I noticed that not many stories had that so I liked that. I also liked how you ended the story with a cliff-hanger type thing. Good work!- Juliette

Saturday, November 21, 2009

HW 22

When she looked at her reflection in the store window on her way to the first day of school, she smiled, knowing how good she looked in her skinny jeans and heels. She stood there and smiled and thought to herself "this outfit will definitley get me friends to talk to I mean who could hate it?" She fluffed her hair, retouched her makeup, took out a lint roller and made sure there was no speck of lint on her clothing. With the swish of her hair and the clacking of her heels, she walked in to the school and given the onceover.

Monday, November 16, 2009

HW 23

In my opinion, the definition of cool is subjective meaning that every person has a different idea of what "cool" means to them. Different groups think different things are cool. I think there is superficial cool which is when people are considered cool because they have the latest clothes or gadgets-only things you see on the outside. Then there is inner cool which is when the person might have a good, chill personality or a personality that is really funny or some "good" personality like that. For superficial cool, that changes frequently because there are always going to be the latest must-have gadget or the newest fashion styles that the "cool" people will change to to keep up their "cool" statuses. I also noticed that one thing that is considered to be cool is to be unique and not care about being cool. Personally, I believe that the actual cool people are the ones that honestly don't care about being cool but that it is annoying when people claim to not really care about being cool when really, they actually do care.

People also think that fitting in with a majority of people makes you cool. For example, in my elementary school, I didn't really fit in because most of the popular girls were the rich ones with the PTA moms who didn't work and houses on Fire Island. I didn't have that so I didn't really fit in with everybody and I had few friends as a result of that. When I got to middle school and high school, I realized not many people cared about fitting in and being popular because that was considered not to be cool or nice to care about insignificant things like that. This goes along with a question that somebody brought up in class which was: is being cool more envy than liking? This means that do we envy something that someone has so we want to do or own that same thing to fit in even though you don't like it?

The biggest aspect on what is "cool" is really shown to us by the media. Magazines have pictures of celebrities carrying the latest bag or wearing the latest shoes or magazines like People feature the what's hot/what's not lists which show you what is the coolest new item and what look is outdated. Also, there is always that one song that the radio DJs or VJs think are cool and they play it 24/7 such as the Jay-Z and Alicia Keys song "Empire State of Mind." If you hear the song everywhere or see the fashion everywhere, the thing most likely will grow on you and you will like it. A perfect example is liquid leggings. When they first came out, I didn't like them at all but after I saw them everywhere, I started liking them more. The media "implants" what's cool for you.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

HW 19

Yurelis-
POV:4
Evid:3.5
Significance:3.5
Con:2
Opp. View:4
Com:2.5
Total:19.5

Kiana-
your paper was really really good. It was very strong and I liked how you used a lot of statistics and information from the internet to back up your statements. You were very thorough with everything and you hardly left anything out. I also enjoyed how you used some of your own personal statements also so you didn't only use information ot=r facts. Using personal examples is very good in my opinion because it shows your own experiences and not just something an author wrote about in a newspaper. You also cited sources which is good. I also found it was good that you titled each paragraph with the heading like 3rd argument, significance, etc. because it is easy to follow that way and everything isn't just jumbled together. You could adfd like one or two ideas from movies or songs to make your arguments even stronger. GOOD WORK THOUGH!

Friday, November 13, 2009

HW 21 ART PROJECT

VIDEO ART PROJECT from Juliette on Vimeo.



1. I think my art project is a mirror because all I am doing is showing how advanced technology and digital things have become since a while back. As you can see from the first half of the video which is black and white, I am using more simpler technology that was probably advanced for them like the typewriter and the old-fashioned looking phone. Obviously, there were no cell phones/microwaves, etc. there. Then in the next half the video that is in color, I am using my Blackberry, my old Sidekick, a regular desk phone, my computer, the microwave, and the TV. I am trying to convey the message of advancing technology and how different it is now.

2. Some reactions I have about my art project is that I tried to drop little hints about how advanced we are today with digital things. For example, In the black/white video where I go into the kitchen to cook, I said: "I wish I could make food easier so that I don't have to slave over a hot stove all day." Then in the color video, you see me using a microwave, which is an easier way to cook, of course. Personally, I don't think this video makes you feel or think anything very insightful or brings in new ideas, but I do think it makes us actually see or realize how much more technologically advanced we are today compared to 50 or so years ago.

3. I think there are many interesting parts of making my art project but the one that I found interesting was that I had a good amount of "old-fashioned" technology-based items. In a world where most people don't even own a typewriter, desk phone, or VCR anymore, I own those things. (The typewriter belongs to my sister because she wanted it for some reason.) Evidently, I still have a computer, a TV, a DVD player, and so on, I also own "old" digital devices and I don't upgrade these things a lot. But while setting up for the first video, I hid some of the current digital devices to make it look more outdated. I thoroughly enjoyed this art project, though.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Comments on rough draft

i think this is a really good rough draft for a paper because it is very detailed but clear at the same time and not much is missing. You should just add more sources. Good job! to Kiana

Yurelis- your rough draft is pretty good because everything is organized and i can follow your thoughts well-they aren't jumbled everywhere. I think you could have added some more info to each paragraph and shown other points of view to like an opposing viewpoint. Good Job! -Juliette

Monday, November 2, 2009

Hw 16 Essay

More and more people are spending a majority of their time indoors playing with technological items rather than being outside. This is what my essay is going to be about: digital media/technology. This world of digital media really affects how we live our daily life and is changing how we think about things.
It seems that whenever we walk around, we always see people talking on their cellphone, listening to their Ipods, or even bringing portable DVD players with them on the subway to watch movies, just to name a few. It is clear that everyone is becoming obsessed with digital things so I thought it would be interesting to do a survey/interview of people on the street to see how much time they spend on the internet, one guy said that he used to spend about 7 hours on his technology all together but since he has a newborn, he spends about 2 hours on technology but when I talked to him, he had his Iphone in his hand. Another guy said that because he works he spends about 3 hours a day on his phone and he doesn't watch much TV. He does think that technology is excellent though and that without technology he would be bored and it is a good form of communication. I noticed many people said this. I interviewed my mom about digital items and she said that on average in a 9 hour work day, 7 hours are spent on the computer and about 1 hour on the phone. She said she gets so sick of being in front of digital screens all day that she just doesn't use technology much at home. She also said that technology makes life easier but is also less personal than it used to be with communication to other people. For example, faxes were easy to use and were fast and you actually had to sit there and type out a letter but now with e-mailing, it is less personal and have incomplete answers. But it does make life simpler. My mom also said that yes, our society is obviously digitally obsessed with all the new gadgets coming out with Twitter, Google, blogs, etc. but the amount of speed is good and now we live in a "I want it now" time where we want everything ASAP. But it is good, though. I also asked some friends for their opinion on digital technology and one friend said that she spends about half the day on her phone but because she is in school, it's a bit less and that she has her TV and computer at home and she spends about 3 hours on the computer for fun, so not including homework and TV she watches like 2 hours. She believes that digital technology is good because it makes it easier for people to talk to each other but that so many people are addicted to it that it's bad and that it is not good to become so dependent on a digital thing. In general, while doing these interviews and thinking about the answers people gave me, I noticed that they were all very similar, which could maybe show how much the digital media has affected how all of us thinks about it.
Digital technology also shows up a lot in society and the media, which is most likely why all of us in society are so enamored with these gadgets. There are constantly new phones coming out that is either an upgrade with newer features from a previous phone or a completely new phone that has a lot of cool features. When the Iphone came out in 2007, there were extremely long lines at every Apple store nationwide where people were camped out for days to get the phone that sold out very fast. Also, when the Wii came out, people camped out for days to get it and then fights and such ensued when people could not get a hand on the Wii. That shows how obsessed we are with this kind of media culture. I also found some interesting about this. The topic I'm really interested in is the addiction to digital media and how it affects us.
1. http://www.livescience.com/technology/080125-tech-addicts.html
This article said that some people's addiction to technology such as Blackberries is equal to a persons addiction to drugs or alcohol. It also shows different tests done in various years to show how people are addicted to this and what people think about this subject. It is a good article.
2. http://www.physorg.com/news171819640.html
This article is from a British newspaper saying how a study conducted in teenagers showed how technology has ruined teenagers learning especially written work because they are so used to using text speak and abbreviations and hardly spend any time doing actual home work that writing and grades have gone way down. Also, plagarism has gone up because teens and people in general can get so much info by looking something up online. This is also a good article.
3. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/07/01/la.tech.addictions/index.html
4. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-bootcamp/200907/techno-addicts
This article talks about the actual things going on in one's body when they use technology. (Endorphins etc.) its a great article also. For example, for the V.M.A.s on MTV and there was a scandal with Kanye West and Taylor Swift and what happened was that Taylor won an award and was in the middle of giving her speech when Kanye jumped onto the stage unexpectedly and said "i'm sorry, Taylor, but I think Beyonce has the best video." Taylor was left speechless and in tears. The second that happened, Facebook friends statuses exploded with things on how big a jerk Kanye is and their opinions on it and when they showed Lady Gaga and her performance, statuses were all about her and how she looked. People were both watching TV and were on their computers or phones talking about it. This alone shows how obsessed people like myself are when it comes to electronics. This shows how everything is quicker with the media.
The message of digital media is represented a lot in movies and songs. In Wall-E, for instance, the people are shown sitting on a couch watching TV, getting fat, and eating a lot. There's also one scene where a robotic like voice says "red is the new blue" and the people, with just one lick of a button, change their red clothing to blue and everything around them is all technology because the people buy into what the advertisements tell them to do. And the people in the advertisements speak in a robotic voice, which could represent how all of society is robots when they listen to what the media tells them what to do and what is the latest technological thing that is out, and so on. The band, Bad Religion made a song called "21st Century Digital Boy" which is about how digitalized the kids of our generation are today and another song of theirs, "I Love My Computer" is a song that sounds like the character is talking about the computer in a way that a person would talk to a fellow human being. In "Digital Boy", he chorus says "See I'm a 21st century digital boy I don't know how to read but I've got a lot of toys My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual My mommy's on Valium, so ineffectual Ain't life a mystery?" These lyrics are saying that in this generation, people use technology more than doing other more productive things such as reading. In "Computer", one of the lyrics are: "I love my computer for all you give to me: predictable errors and no identity And it's never been quite so easy I've never been quite so happy All I need to do is click on you and we'll be joined in the most soul-less way And we'll never ruin each other's day 'cuz when I'm through I just click and you just go away." These lyrics are saying that the character in this song is saying that he loves his computer because the computer never makes him mad and that when he has a bad day, the computer will make him feel better and it is easier to use the computer than talk to a person because a person can talk back to you and piss you off but the worst thing a computer can do to him is have an error and it won't talk back to him, which is why he likes it so much. In both Wall-E and the Bad Religion songs, the common theme is that they are both kind of making fun of the media way of life. The same goes for the book, Feed which describes how the characters go into an outer space like world and try to avoid doing things having to do with technology but that they still can't do it because everywhere they look it is something digital. Movies, music, and books are big influences in teaching and showing the public about this digital world we live in.
In my opinion, technology and digital things in general are good things when they are not used in excess. I think that things like phones help us out tremendously in contacting people who don't live close by and for spreading information. The experiment I did is not using my internet or Aim for about 1 week so far. This is not my choice but I own a Sidekick which had and is still having a massive, nationwide data outtage. I haven't had good, working service since last Thursday and most my friends who own Sidekicks have full service back but me. I have mostly only been able to text and call on my Sidekick so it feels like I'm owning one of those phones from the 90's that only had calling or texting on it. I only recently got Aim back but still no internet, which is what I want the most. Because I had a messed up phone all last weekend, I was in a pissy mood and most of my time was devoted to trying to fix it. I've called T-mobile numerous times over the past week because I need my phone to be in perfect working order soon. This outtage really has shown me how addicted to my phone and digital media I am. I could barely function on anything but my phone which is a sign of how much I need my technology. I do so much on my phone already so it was as if I was having a withdrawl. I also do some homework on my phone which was also a problem. I think if I wasn't so obsessed with my phone, this technical problem would have been easier for me to deal with and it wouldn't have taken up so much of my mental energy. I am definitly trying to cut back on my electronic time because it also distracts me from doing homework which of course, isn't good. Since I can barely do anything on my phone now, I actually feel more productive and hopefully, this continues even when my full service is restored. I also think it is useless for people to keep upgrading their technological devices every couple of months because most of the time, there aren't drastic changes being done to the gadget and people just want to have the newest item to seem more up to trend with the latest thing. As you can see from this essay, this new digital media life we live in really influences how we behave in our everyday life.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Hw 16 Paper Outline

Paragraph 1: intro to this unit

Paragraph 2: interviews with people on digital technology and insights

Paragraph 3: how digital media shows up in society/media and insights

Paragraph 4: examples on digital media from movies, music etc. and insights

Paragraph 5: personal idea in general on digital media.

Paragraph 6: conclusion

Monday, October 26, 2009

HW 13

In Feed, Tobin kind of tries to go against the current way of a digital life because he finds it is somewhat vapid. But at the same time, he also goes along with what his friends do and they sometimes do follow the digital media way of life. So it's like a contradiction. In my opinion, Feed is just a whole allegory to our society is today with us being practically ruled by digitalization. The characters going to the moon represents how different our world would be without technology and how we would be/act if we (teenagers) went outside our comfort zones because not many teens do that. The author, M.T Anderson also mentioned a line in Feed about how when the characters are watching TV in outer space, they looked dazed and in a zone. This relates to things we have been talking about in class.

It is a tough question if I would want my art to be a mirror or a hammer but I think I'd want my art to be a mirror showing everyone what possibly bad things are going on in the world today because some artists show the world instead of doing the other thing.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

HW 12

While reading FEED, I noticed that the digital media aspect of Feed is very similar to teens in this digital technology world today. The teenagers in Feed are always on their phones and get all their information about what's going on in the world from their digital media. I definitly think that that is what is going on in the world today, especially with teenagers. I know that me personally, I couldn't live without my technology for 1 day. I also think that we only like things that are close to home and that teenagers don't like to broaden their horizons. This was shown in the part of the book where the group went to a fast food like restaurant in space and they felt comforted because it's just like how things were back on Earth. They also saw a lot of ads amd ion the book the teens thought that ads were bad which is how me and probably a majority of teens feel today that ads are stupid but some teens buy into the ads which is true in real life.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Hw 11: Self Experiment

The experiment I did is not using my internet or Aim for about 1 week so far. This is not my choice but I own a Sidekick which had and is still having a massive, nationwide data outtage. I haven't had good, working service since last Thursday and most my friends who own Sidekicks have full service back but me. I have mostly only been able to text and call on my Sidekick so it feels like I'm owning one of those phones from the 90's that only had calling or texting on it. I only recently got Aim back but still no internet, which is what I want the most. Because I had a messed up phone all last weekend, I was in a pissy mood and most of my time was devoted to trying to fix it. I've called T-mobile numerous times over the past week because I need my phone to be in perfect working order soon. This outtage really has shown me how addicted to my phone and digital media I am. I could barely function on anything but my phone which is a sign of how much I need my technology. I do so much on my phone already so it was as if I was having a withdrawel. I also do some homework on my phone which was also a problem. I think if I wasn't so obsessed with my phone, this technical problem would have been easier for me to deal with and it wouldn't have taken up so much of my mental energy. I am definitley trying to cut back on my electronic time because it also distracts me from doing homework which of course, isn't good. Since I can barely do anything on my phone now, I actually feel more productive and hopefully, this continues even when my full service is restored.

Monday, October 5, 2009

HW 10 research on digital media

The topic I'm really interested in is the addiction to digital media and how it affects us.

1. http://www.livescience.com/technology/080125-tech-addicts.html
This article said that some people's addiction to technology such as Blackberries is equal to a persons addiction to drugs or alcohol. It also shows different tests done in various years to show how people are addicted to this and what people think about this subject. It is a good article.

2. http://www.physorg.com/news171819640.html
This article is from a British newspaper saying how a study conducted in teenagers showed how technology has ruined teenagers learning especially written work because they are so used to using text speak and abbrieviations and hardly spend any time doing actual home work that writing and grades have gone way down. Also, plagirism has gone up because teens and people in general can get so much info by looking something up online. This is also a good article.

3. http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/ptech/07/01/la.tech.addictions/index.html

4. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/brain-bootcamp/200907/techno-addicts
This article talks about the actual things going on in one's body when they use technology. (Endorphins etc.) its a great article also.

Hw 9 respond to comments

hey Julliette, I liked how you were texting while watching the Jets game, but you should've been paying attention to the game because it was a great game!! I would'nt want my kids or nephews being addicted to digital things, so I agree with you. Honestly, I cant think of much to say because other than that one point you made I cant find myself really relating to you.
My response back: Elias yes I know it was a great game!!! i was watching it too pretty carefully. I agree with your comments.


Hey Julliette your video was good. I think none of us see or notice how much we use digital things. I mean I think we do it so much that we think it is something that everyone does but really there are some kids and parents that don't use it at much.

I like how you talked about how you would not liek your kids get that dependent on digital use when you get older. I hope you can do that beacuse like you said I feel that in the future the only thing we are going to have are digital things.

I like how you talked about the Wii. I don't know that much about it but I do see what you are saying about if you buy the Wii you can use it to stay in shape. And then you are having fun and staying in shape how good is that.

I like how you made it clear on what you were talking about but maybe you can write it as one and find a way to make it flow together.

At frist I thought that I would not limit my child's digital use, but then again I don't what them to be dependent on it maybe you can tell me so reason on why I or parents should limit their kids digital use.

Nice video good job


My response back: Bryanna I also agree with your comments to my video and thanks.I also like how you included your own opinion to this which was good.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Hw 8 respond to videos

Elias-I also like how you were very honest with yourself about how you look using digital things and how you admitted that this is what you actually do in your everyday life. It is also a very good and concise video and it obviously wasn't confusing.

Bryanna-I really like your video because I really could see how you are when you use digital things. You looked like you were in kind of a daze just staring at the computer screen and listening to music. You weren't even watching TV and you still had it on. I also liked how you showed us what you were doing like showing us the computer screen. I also really liked the point you made about your mom and paying the TV bill. I haven't heard that point made before which is good. I think you could've made your response a bit longer and added more details because you have a lot of good things to say and I would've liked to hear more. Good video, though.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Digital video and questions hw 7

Untitled from Juliette on Vimeo.


1. While watching my video, I noticed how obsessed i am with digital things. I was multi tasking watching TV and texting on my phone. I am happy though which is good.
2. I feel I looked a tiny bit pathetic only doing things on the screen and not interacting that much.
3. I probably wouldn't want my future child or little sister to use technology that much but it is inevitable that it is going to happen because new technology keeps coming out and soon we will most likely do everything on technology so to survive we'd have to use technology. Also, many other kids will most likely be using technology and to not feel like an outsider, they would use the same technology.
4. I think I don't realize how immersed I look in technology and how much technology kind of invaded my life. I won't stop using technology though and I might cut back on using it.
5. I think that things like Wii are actually good especially like Wii Fit which does help people get into shape but if one just plays games on it 24/7 and can't put it down, then that is a problem because that's an obsession. At least with Wii Fit you're excersisng and moving-not just sitting down and playing

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Digital Interviews

I interviewed my mom about digital items and she said that on average in a 9 hour work day, 7 hours are spent on the computer and about 1 hour on the phone. She said she gets so sick of being in front of digital screens all day that she just doesn't use technology much at home. She also said that technology makes life easier but is also less personal than it used to be with communication to other people. For example, faxes were easy to use and were fast and you actually had to sit there and type out a letter but now with e-mailing, it is less personal and have incomplete answers. But it does make life simpler. My mom also said that yes, our society is obviously digitally obsessed with all the new gadgets coming out with Twitter, Google, blogs, etc. but the amount of speed is good and now we live in a "I want it now" time where we want everything ASAP. But it is good, though.

When I interviewed strangers on the street and one guy said that he used to spend about 7 hours on his technology all together but since he has a newborn, he spends about 2 hours on technology but when I talked to him, he had his Iphone in his hand. Another guy said that because he works he spends about 3 hours a day on his phone and he doesn't watch much tv. He does think that technology is excellent though and that without technology he would be bored and it is a good form of communication. I noticed many people said this.

When I interviewed Francesca on digitalization, she said that she spends

Monday, September 21, 2009

Yurelis comment

Yurelis- I also agree with you that it has invaded our life and that it is good when it comes to contacting people if there happens to be an emergency.I also really like your questions and I think it would be good if you elaborated on it because I would have loved to hear your answers.

Maxiel comment

Maxiel- I liked how you you used the example of how cell phones were so different back then and how now they have all these complicated things to it such as video, tv, etc. I also liked how you used a personal example of you going to Georgia and having no access to electronics to demonstrate your point of view on digital items in society. I think that you could work on expanding your idea on how digital items are affecting us mentally, emotionally, and physically. It is a really good idea which you should talk more about. Maybe give examples for each thing and explain? In general i look forward to reading the rest of your blog entries.
- Juliette

Sunday, September 13, 2009

1st hw blog: thoughts on digital things edit

I think the idea of technology/digital items is good because it helps us keep up relationships with people so if we have a friend lives far away for instance, we can still keep in touch with them,text them, call them, etc. We can also do a lot of things that are educational with our digital things such as PowerPoint and e-mailing for work purposes. Also, everyone should be able to have fun in their life and these things are fun so i like digital gadgets. Some of the downsides is that news and gossip spreads very quickly nowadays, which can ruin any type of relationship between people because if one person hates another person or hears news about another person, they can send some nasty things via an e-mail blast to many people and then those people tell other people and then there's a scandal which is obviously bad. Also, some people become fanatical about their electronics and check their e-mail every 5 seconds or update their Twitter constantly. It can be very addicting. I was wondering if we mask our true selves behind technological things such as avatars? Will our society one day be overrun by digital items?
Extended: Yesterday was the V.M.A.s on MTV and there was a scandal with Kanye West and Taylor Swift and what happened was that Taylor won an award and was in the middle of giving her speech when Kanye jumped onto the stage unexpectedly and said "i'm sorry, Taylor, but I think Beyonce has the best video." Taylor was left speechless and in tears. The second that happened, Facebook friends statuses exploded with things on how big a jerk Kanye is and their opinions on it and when they showed Lady Gaga and her performance, statuses were all about her and how she looked. People were both watching TV and were on their computers or phones talking about it. This alone shows how obsessed people like myself are when it comes to electronics.