After a long semester of Comp 2, I can say there is a lot about me and what I thought I knew that has changed.  First off, who I am has changed.  Through the assignments that we have done in the class, I have become more aware of who I am as a person and how technology has influenced that.

In my very first blog, for example, I reflected on the use of my iPhone and realized how much it has consumed me and how much time I invest into it whether it is actually productive or just to kill some time.  I never knew how much time that I am on my phone instead of interacting with the world around me. 

Second, when I was writing my paper over the visual arguments and propaganda, I never realized how much I was interested in politics.  A year ago, I would have told you that I have absolutely no interest in politics but now after writing the paper, I found myself thinking more about how politics affect my life.  It has made me realize that I am actually growing up (kind of a scary thought) and beginning to make decisions that not only affect me but everyone.  Furthermore, the assignment made me more conscious of my own beliefs instead of just agreeing with what my family and friends and how important it is to for my own ideology.

What else has changed is my own thoughts on ethos, which is what a lot of our class focused on.  Ethos, in short, is the credibility an author has when writing something.  I used to think that it was all about being learned in the subject that you are writing on such as trusting a person with a PhD in medicine writing an article about health instead of trusting your next door neighbor’s thoughts on what is ailing you.  I had never realized how much more ethos encompasses than just that basic definition.  Ethos, according to Nedra Reynolds in an article she wrote, “…encompasses the individual agent as well as the location or position from which that person speaks or writes” (Reynolds 326).  Learning that ethos also included who I am as a person and where I am from, was very surprising.  I had always known that when a person wrote a song or created some other kind of work of art such as a painting or sculpture, they are expressing themselves and their lives through it, but it never occurred to me that the same is true whenever I write something.  I have always taken my writing assignments throughout high school and college very lightly and never put much work into it.  Now thinking back, I wish that I had put more work into them because it shows so much about who I am as a person.

Now that the semester is over, I am kind of sad that the class is ending.  That is definitely a weird feeling.  I have made some good friends and learned a lot of new things about writing and myself.  This whole class had definitely been an eye opener about how I use technology, how I write, and many other things.  I can say that this has been one of my favorite classes and I am going to miss it.

The Job of a Parent

Hey readers!  So about a month or two ago, in my comp 2 class, we watched a movie called "Digital Nation".  In short, it is a video about how technology is slowly beginning to take over our lives and some of the affects, both positive and negative, that technology has on our lives.  It was a video that really got me thinking, especially one section in particular.

The scene is about video games and how children in South Korea are becoming obsessed with games and they are even making government funded camps to send the kids to to help stop the addiction.  I mean, really?!  A mother on there said her son rarely did anything except play the games and he didn't communicate with her very much and she didn't know what to do about it.  It makes me so mad that a parent reacts in a to something like that.  YOU ARE THE PARENT!  You see there is something your child is doing that is harmful to them then be a parent and stop it!  Don't count on other people to do your job as a parent and STOP IT!!  If my parents didn't want me to play a game, then you can bet I wouldn't have played it!

I think that is becoming one of the biggest problems with our society: parents aren't wanting to be parents and expect other people to do their jobs.  If you have a child, then you need to step up and be their parent.  If you see there is technology that is harming you child in a physical or social way, then YOU as a PARENT need to do something about it!  I am beginning to see this more and more each day whether it is in public or it is with people in my own family.  We wouldn't need to worry about the harmful effects technology has on children if parents took the time to teach their kids about using technology properly and in limited amounts instead of using tv or the internet to raise their kids.

Like I have said in previous posts, I am pretty excited to see where technology takes us.  This was not a rant against technology at all, but instead was more against the way that we as a whole are using technology (which my posts have mostly been focused on, I believe).  If we focused more on training ourselves to use technology properly, we wouldn't have to worry about the negative affects that come with overuse of technology. 

Watson and the World of Tomorrow

Hey everybody!  So a while ago in my comp 2 class we watched a film over a computer called "Watson".  Watson is a computer created by IBM that is able to think on its own and answer questions it was asked.  In 2011, Watson was put in a contest against the two best people to ever play Jeopardy and, needless to say, it won!

This got me thinking about how far we have progressed with technology in just a short amount of time.  Five years ago, I remember using floppy discs and now I can save stuff wirelessly online without having to worry about ever losing it.  Now I can use a laptop that is barely half an inch thick when five years ago, you were lucky to be able to fit your laptop into your back pack!  All of these advances in technology that have happened in such a short time have me looking forward to the next 10-20 years but at the same, kind of dreading them.

First off, I am incredibly excited to see what kinds of new technology that the future will bring.  I mean just looking at Watson makes me excited for possibilities that are being brought forth through robotics.  That ranges from robot butlers (every lazy teenagers dream) to fully robotic, and fully functional, limbs for soldiers or normal citizens who lost them in accidents.  I mean all of these possibilities are just so mind blowing and intense that I can hardly wait for the future to bring us these new technologies that will one day help us out.

At the same time, though, I kind of dread how this technology can separate us or even make us less active and more absorbed into the computer (or phone) screen.  Already, like I've said before, my phone keeps me so distracted in public that I have no idea what is going on around me.  I have become the best at being able to keep focused on my phone without running into anything when I am walking.  How sad is it that I have gotten that much practice at it?  Ever since my last post, I have been working on avoiding using my phone too much when I am around other people and I even deleted Facebook and Twitter.  This was a huge step in paying attention to what is going on around me and even being able to connect better with my classmates.  Only recently did I redownload Facebook and Twitter to my phone and I definitely use them a lot less than I did before.  It made me realize how much time and effort I invest in Facebook and Twitter and how little any of that time on there was productive (communicating with friends and family from far away, news, etc.).  It kind of worries me that there may be newer and better technology coming that can distract me even more than my iPhone already does!

Us And Our iPhones

            I can still remember sitting in the store wishing that the salesperson would hurry up on his computer and that overwhelming sense of excitement as he finally placed the long awaited item in my hand and I walked out the door: on this day over 3 years ago I acquired my first iPhone, the 3GS, and have owned one ever since.  Now, I have the iPhone 4 and it has become a very significant part of my life because I use it for a communication device, clock, music, games, and more.  The bad part about this is that it can consume you if you are not careful.  I constantly become absorbed in it and no longer pay attention to what is going on around me.  Even though it connects me to the world in so many ways it also disconnects me from it as well.  I have found that we begin to swap physical face time, not the app, for relationships and friendships developed through or Facebook and meaningful conversations for desensitized texts

Each day as I am riding my bike or walking to my class, I look around and see the majority of people on their iPhones, listening to music, texting, or on some social media site, and not paying attention to those around them.  And then I realize that I am doing the same.  I don’t interact with my fellow students possibly missing out on real friendships with them for empty friendships on Facebook or Twitter.  The iPhone was designed for easier access to our social media sites and connections with friends but I feel as if we have all taken this too far.  How often do we walk right past someone without even knowing what that person was wearing or if they were smiling or crying because we are too absorbed into our iPhones? I know I do it all the time.  I will sit and play games on my phone instead of having a conversation with the person sitting less than two feet away from me.  For all I know, that conversation could have meant the world to that person or they are going through a tough time and just need someone to talk to.

I have noticed that we, myself included, are giving up these real conversations with a person who is physically present to have empty conversations with someone who is probably miles away at the time.  We miss out on making new connections and relationships just to text a friend about nothing or to scroll through endless newsfeeds of nothing.  For all I know, that man sitting next to me could be a new bro or the girl standing a few feet away could be my future wife.  These examples are extreme what-ifs, of course, but prove my point none the less and could quite possibly be true. Even with our own friends we usually share our problems over a text or Facebook message, where feelings and emotions are lost, instead of meeting in person and actually, dare I say it, talking about what’s going on.  I understand in some cases that might not always be possible and that is the only way the conversation can happen, but we do it all the time despite being able to make it happen in person.  Once again, I know that the iPhone was created to make all of this easier and more convenient for you and me, but we have reached the point where we are taking it too far.  You can’t make the same connection with a person through Facebook or a text as you can by hanging out with them in real life.  Or at least I think so.

I think it’s time we started focusing less on our iPhones and more on the people around us.  Take time to notice them: what they are wearing, how they are feeling, how their day has been, etc.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my iPhone and think that it is an amazing device, but once we begin focusing on that instead of our fellow students, I think it may be time for a change.  Maybe we all need to go a day without using our iPhones and see what is going on around us that we don’t normally notice.  Maybe start reaching out to people in person instead of sending them a friend request.  I personally think it would brighten everyone’s day if we were less absorbed into the technological world and more focused on those around us.