A Few Last Words............

I wanted to dedicate this blog to giving some personal thoughts on the course and also by opening up the comments to others and what they got out of this intermediate composition class.

1. Great integration of group and individual and group projects. Personally, I like to steer clear of working with groups and depending on others, but by being able to have individual projects within a larger group really made the process of working together constructive and not hectic.

2. The laid back environment of discussions really let people speak their minds. I think we have a very interesting class dynamic with people who do have strong opinions and great commentary in different arenas. By being able to talk in a round group discussions I think we were all able to appreciate what everyone had to say and learn a lot from the different people in this class.

3. The course topic of technology, which at first scared me due to my lack of proficiency with many forms, ended up being a manageable and very interesting topic to base the class of off. I think by looking into history at passages and by dealing with present day forms of technology, there were many thought-provoking topics explored in this class.

Thanks Scot and Class!

Ace the Final Paper

With the final research paper being due next week, I thought it would be helpful to include come tips from various sources and myself about how to write a good paper that address the prompt.

1.Have a thesis, and state it clearly and concisely at the start of the paper. A paper is not a newspaper article, or a book review. The thesis should be the backbone of your paper – eliminate material that is not relevant to it. Refer back to the thesis as the paper develops.

2.Have a conclusion The paper should not just fizzle out when you run out of ideas – finish with something that ties your argument together nicely. It’s often useful to summarize your argument, gathering together the main pieces of evidence and showing that they demonstrate your thesis. In this class’s case, we should restate the authors and theorist that dealt with technology and the particular field.

Lastly,,

3. Do not plagiarize. Plagiarism is a serious offense and is grounds for failure. ]


Good luck everyone!

Surveillance: Keeping People Safe and Companies Growing

After watching the show about the schools that are monitored my cameras, I began thinking about surveillance in general. To be honest, as I mentioned in class, I think that surveillance leads to productivity and overall a better environment. Cameras in the work place and classroom are often very discreet, and as long as employees and teachers are notifited of thier presence, I feel as thougth they should not have a significant impact on peoples actions.

If the teachers you hire and employees you hire are leigitnment people with good intentions and a good work ethic, then cameras keep them safe. An environment in which employees work to thier maximum and don't waste time on the clock is an environment prone to success and growth. If teachers and employees that are being surrveilled are allowed an appropriate amount of break time during a work day, then every action while not on break ideally is should be a productive one.

SMS Alert

So I was thinking about this texting phenomena that we were discussing in relation to the article we read for Wednesday....

And I have come to the conclusion that while the power of texting can lead to scary and uncontrollable situations in some extreme circumstances, the overall power of cell phones and texting has improved the way society works.

We have been able to cut out the uncertainty of correspondence between people and now how means of direct and almost communication. Texting and email alerts have lead to a society that can run faster, smoother, and more reliably.

What do you guys think? Agree or Disagree

Blogs from Many Places

So during this work week we have not discussed much new material, but I thought it would be interesting to share some popular and unique blogs with all of you. I mean our blogs arn't too personal or particularly interesting, but some people put a lot of their time and emotions into blogs.

This is one of the most popular blogs in the world. It is a group blog this discusses technology.

This blog is called lifehacker and is a place for people to go "for comments and advice on just about anything".

This is ablog dedicated to making people's lives easier. Its an interesting blog that lest readers's into secrent about how to make their lives more convenient.

Idhe and Greenhouse Gases

After reading the introductory material about Idhe this past weekend, I became interested in what other kinds of topics, on a more in-depth level that Idhe explores with his idea of Phenomenology. So, I visited his homepage and came across an article that interested me titled: Whole Earth Measurements . I focused on the first part of the article titled, "How Many Phenomenologists does it take to detect a 'Greenhouse Effect'?" It's a short passage that discusses and debates between the different ways that technology and humans have interpreted and are interpreting pollution, our environment, and raising temperatures due to CFCS and other potentially harmful chemicals.

In this article, Ihde debates between what really is harmful to our earth and what is natural. He debates how we use technology to measure Greenhouse gas and if maybe our calculations are based on faulty math, and maybe we are just not sampling enough data or looking at a big enough picture to come to conclusions.

Read the article and let me know what you think!

P.s. I know you guys have missed me, I've been reallyyyyyy sick :(

Wikipedia Controversty.

So this week I found a really interesting article relating to Wikipedia and it's entry on President Obama.

I stumbled across it while checking out a different article at wired.com.

Check it out, it discusses how since the president moved into offices pa there have been several ommisions to his page.

Do we treat Wikipedia differently than other wiki sites?

A wiki is a resource meant to me alterted by users for other users, but does this clash with people thinking that it's wrong to omit cotroversial information about our president?

Is it wrong that people are trying to save-face for our president by omitting his ties to controversy of the past?

Lexia to Perplexia: Expression for the Masses

At first, Lexia to Perplexia scared me. It was, as discussed on Wednesday, Stelarc like, and really out there. It was not very self explanatory and didn't interact with the users of the website as you would anticipate. After thinking about the concept though, and contemplating what a "scaled down" Lexia to Perplexia web site would be like, I concluded that writing that took alternate forms will be the writing that dominates the future.

It's easy to skim a 5 page article of jsut text, get a few points out of it and call it a day. But you cannot skim Lexia to Perplexia, nor can you leave the website without experiencing writing involving more than just the physical reading of words.

In the future, sites like Lexia to Perplexia will allow individuals of all interests and backgrounds to feed off information of others. An interactive website lets people, who might have not taken the time or energy to read a "text-only" document, to reap the benifits of literature and the resources of it as well.

If you think about, we experience mini-lexia to perplexia sites everyday. Check out the layout of facebook, you have photos, information, a place to comment, multiple pages, and links to other pages. If you took the presentation qualities of facebook away, each one would look the same. It would have a box stating your birthday, year in school , and institution, and then that box would be proceeded by a box stating, interests, hobbies, about me etc.

If each person's facebook was composed of blocks of plain text, there would be no captivating qualities of the site.

Facebook's links to pictures, it's ability to record videos, the the ability to comment, is what makes each any every one of us FACEBOOK ADDICTS. (more or less ;))

For some reason UTUBE would not let me imbed this link, but PLEASE check out this clip from Conon O'Brian. It gives a comedic outlook on the technology of our day.

Writing and Technology: Both Sides of the Fence

Today we identify creativity and personality with our writing. Our media projects are prime examples of how writing can morph into many forms. Well we are in the 21st century, and in general, we accept how much technology has enhanced our experiences with education including writing. But, I have to wonder, what traditionalists would think of this. Is arguable that media forms don’t enhance writing, but distract from it? Personally, I think arguments could line both sides of the field on this one. On one side, words are words and writing is writing, and the people that should get recognized in the field and accepted are the ones that put words together in unique, captivating ways. On the other side, writing can be argued as more than just words juxtaposed together. Writing is an art form that allows people with knowledge and experience to get heard and become integrated into society. Writing incorporated with media allows people to become communicators and engage others with their ideas and thoughts.

I am interested to see what everyone has to say about the media being so integrated into our writing. Cleary, media is an integrated part of our writing culture as college students, but what do you all think that the writers of the 20th and 19th century would think of how many shapes and avenues writers take today with their work.

demeantors

After watching the movie clip with the man being so molded and in tune with his surrounds I started to wonder what really defines a person. When I describe my life to people, I talk about my surroundings, my school work, my job and my friends. I don't talk about who I am on the inside during casual conversations. All the characteristics I use to describe me are external to myself. I talk bard on stumlus from the outside world comparable to how the pain character did in the movie. While I differ from him in the way that I am not a cumpulsive liar, I feel his actions can be compared to how people interact with one another on a daily basis. For example, having been a dancer for my whole life, when I see a person with a dance shirt on I begin talking about it. If I am however talking to someone else dance is usually not the first thing I bring up. So the way this all relates back to Clark, is that ge belives information and knowledge is stored externally to the brain. My argument is that not only is information stored externally. But so is a persons identity. You describe someone based on their surroundings and tid bits of information. You identify someone based on their external actions.

Wait where are my head phones?

After the interesting conversation about the way ipods each one of us individually and how they affect how public places in general, I proceeded to loose my headphones that afternoon. After being in my room, freaking out that I had to walk to my classes without my ipod, I decided it might be a fun experiment to walk to see what classes were like without my ipod. As excepted, I was a bit more aware of my surroundings, but also I legitimately had more interactions with people coming to and from class.

Without my personal music selection blasting in my ears, I had more time to myself to think and observe. As the ipod culture pointed out, while wearing my ipod I truly did never "willingly interact with others while listening".

So, sure walking to class changes when you can't listen to music , but my question is, does our ipod culture really inhibit the way cities interact and develop? I made a little more small talk with some acquaintances , and a wasn't able to drown out my worries with High School Musical or Shakira, but is this enough of an argument to say that our hustling bustling ipod culture has a significant impact on the dynamics of a city?

I am sitting on the fence with this one, my ipod keeps me focused, in my zone, and destination oriented, while lacking my ipod I find myself more gregarious and even a more leisurely walker.

I feel there are arguments for both sides! I am interested to see what everyone thinks.

Paradigm by Perception

As a continuation of Wednesday conversation about paradigms, paradigm shifts, and Thomas Kuhn, I wanted to add that I feel a paradigm shift is in the eye of the beholder. We would probably all agree that the Copernican Revolution was a major paradigm shift in relation to how the world is conceptualized in relation to the universe. However, I feel that depending on a person’s varied traits, beliefs and interests, something that could mean nothing to one person in the way they view the world, could be a paradigm shift according to another.

Additionally, I would argue that paradigm shifts can be very personal and provoke a lot of emotion. While some people back in the day may have gotten emotional about eliminating the geocentric ring view of the earth, today we are faced with many more paradigm shifts with the rapidly advancing field of science. When looking up common paradigms the issues of faith in god vs. faith in science was brought up up. Also creation to revolution is considered a major paradigm shift.

I am interested in not only the different kids of paradigm shifts that are out there ( some grand, some smaller scale) but I am interested to hear how paradigms shifts have affected or affect your life today.

Fight the Signs of Aging...One Giga Byte at a Time

This week we have been talking about adapting to technology. We have seen that some oppose technology and feel we should "get back to the basics" while others embrace it. I feel that technology serves as a useful tool to stay current and keep an active mind. Adapting to technology should be viewed as a way to stay healthy. Traditionalists and technology freaks could endlessly argue about the pros and cons of our technologically involved world, however I would argue that above all, both sides should look at the health benefits of embracing technology.

For example, my grandfather, an almost 90-year-old man has not kept current with the booming technology era. He is not a stubborn man, but when presented with new bits of technology over the years, he has stayed narrow minded and not embraced it. Now, over a decade after email became popular, he still has yet to turn on a computer. He also is experiencing dementia and has no true grasp of what is going on anymore. I would argue, that had he kept his mind active and learned to use features such as navigation, the Internet, and cell phones, he could still be more with us today. He has been retired for over 25 years and has not kept an active mind. My grandfather on my other side however, who is the same age owns an up to date computer and is showing no signs of dementia. I am no scientist, nor have I conducted research on this issue I am however a strong believer that technology should be viewed as something that needs to be utilized to keep a mind active and stay young above all.

Do you guys have any experiences with the technologically equipped elderly staying sharp and living long?

Good Morning, It's Jenny!

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I am excited to be in English class.
I hope you are too!

I am a freshman Biochemistry major here at Wisconsin. I live in Witte Hall, and love my time here so far! Being most of my schedule is filled with science, I am elated to be taking an English class. I plan to attend medical school and am working extremely hard to achieve my goal! If you can't find me at college library, I will most likely than not be working at State Street Brats. I come from a family of 5 kids and am a twin (older by 5 minutes). I have a 3 year old little brother. I was a competitive dancer for the greater part of my life and now dance for enjoyment.

I am excited to get to know everyone!

Jenny

<----- my twin, Jacqueline and me