Crawford Blog Post #8

In “The Machine Stops”, EM Forester portrays that the people in the future relied on the Machine to do everything for them. They used it every day for communication, sleeping, reading, etc. People were thrown out when they realized what was going on and knew that the Machine was not perfect and that the people should not trust and rely on it quite so much. He is communicating to the audience that the constant increase in technology could lead to the harm of humans and Earth. In the first episode of Terra Nova, the condition of Earth is practically unlivable. The technology is really advanced and scientists were able to discover ways to make the unlivable conditions livable. It is implied in the TV show that there had been so much pollution from technology that the air on Earth was no longer breathable by humans and therefore they had to create oxygen masks for everyone to wear when they were outside.

The two productions both portray how technology can harm the future by representing the rough shape of the Earth many years from now. In “The Machine Stops”, though, the people only relied on the Machine to live in the terrible conditions. In Terra Nova, the people used technology to their advantage to make the Earth livable. I believe that both of the productions were made not only for entertainment, but also to inform the public that the continuation of the growth of technology could result in the harm of our planet.

I have mixed feelings about both of the visions portrayed. I feel that they are both over exaggerated but act as a wakeup call to the people in the audience. Both of the productions are dystopian. I imagine the future not very different from how it is now, just modified and updated to the new technologies. I think people will just adapt to their surroundings as they change.

Crawford Creative Proposal

My group’s topic is about relationships and how they might be in the future. I feel as though relationships in the future will be more computerized. I do not necessarily agree with this, but this is what I see society progressing toward. I would like to draw a comic depicting social networks in the future and the impact they have on peoples’ relationships whether they are just friendships or romantic in their nature. The only materials I will need are pencils, paper, and my own artistic ability. My plan is to draw out the comic to come up with generic ideas and the storyline and then draw it again in full detail.

Crawford - Blog Post #7

Online privacy is a complicated and in depth issue. Many people have different definitions of what is and is not appropriate to share with the general public. We also need to be cautious what information we share with friends and people we know, or think we know. I believe that people should be cautious to share information that could possibly get them into trouble. Situations like that can include being the victim of online stalking; future employers denying you a job because of information they found online about you, among others.

I have a Facebook profile and I post certain information on it that could not come back to harm me in any way in the future. Also, my privacy settings are set up so most people cannot see most information about me. I never post addresses, locations, or schedules. The information I do have available to the public is simply superfluous interest in things such as movies and music. I have gone through all of my privacy settings, viewed my profile as the general public, and I made sure that I was comfortable with anyone viewing the information I had available.

I searched for myself through Google and found absolutely nothing about myself. I added my high school to the search for myself and still came up with nothing about me. I suppose that means I keep the information I put on the Internet to a minimum and the information I do put on there is kept secure for the most part.

In Class Writing #9

The audience is people who may be looking for a job because the author talks about how employers view social networking profiles of the applicants for the job they are offering. She is responding in the article to the fact that a percentage of employers are using social networking sites to determine whether or not an applicant will get the job.  She uses the results from a survey and quotes from three different attorney to support the fact that using the sites for this purpose is bad. The author uses ethos in the article by giving it credibility. She does so by using the attorneys’ quotes and reports from Financial Week and New York Daily News. I could use this article as a source for a paper because it uses several different sources that are credible.

In Class Writing #8

Individual

1.  Harry Potter books

2. Twilight Saga

3. Star Wars

4. Mona Lisa

5. Glee

Group

1.     Harry Potter

2.     Twilight

3.     Party Rock Anthem – LMFAO

4.     Star Wars

5.     Mona Lisa

Citations

1. Rowling, Joanne K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. N.p.: Scholastic
Press, n.d. Print.

2. Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight . N.p.: Little, Brown and Co., 2005. Print.

3.  LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem Ft. Lauren Bennett, GoonRock - YouTube. Perf. Redfoo and Sky Blu. YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. Youtube, 8 Mar. 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQ6zr6kCPj8>.

4. "StarWars.com | The Movies." StarWars.com | Home. Lucusfilm Ltd., 2011. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. <http://www.starwars.com/explore/the-movies/>.

5. Leonardo da Vinci, Mona Lisa, Musée du Louvre, Paris.

In Class Writing #7

In the video, Glenn Beck was comparing video games to real life.  He talked about soldiers had to train 75 years ago to shoot more easily by shooting paper targets because shooting humans does not come naturally. He was saying that a new video game called Grand Theft Auto was available for kids to play and it was really inappropriate and supposedly entertaining.

In the video game, Grand Theft Auto, Beck argued that killing people was really not entertaining. Back in WWI, soldiers had to train to be able to shoot other people more easily. So he questioned why the video game was considered entertaining because the soldiers were uncomfortable shooting other people and people kill other people in the video game like it’s not important at all. He used an example from the game where the character you play in the game could beat women to death and cut cops in half with chainsaws.

Glenn Beck talks about how violent video games are now. He uses the new video game, Grand Theft Auto, as his source and takes scenes and parts of the game and uses them as examples. He basically argues that the video game is bad. He doesn’t really back it up with sources either. He just uses examples from a single video game.

In Class Writing #6

I have barely any experience with downloading music online. I do know, though, that many people do not pay for their music. They download it illegally through certain websites and they know back ways around paying for it. I read an article recently and a few people commented on it and gave the specifics of how expensive it is for a band to release a song. So much time and money goes into just one song. Some people believe that music should just be free, but others believe it should just be like it is. It’s not like the music is expensive if you know the right place to get it. Most of the songs’ profit has a percentage that goes straight to the band, which can be a considerable amount, but only if people buy their songs.

The article I read was entitled, “The Age of Music Piracy is over”. The point the author was trying to make was that so many people nowadays illegally download music and basically, it’s free. This in turn is basically changing the way the music industry is working.