So there's this kid named Edgar. He has some cool qualities, well, he can have the cool qualities. He has the potential, he chills with the "cool" crew, but then he acts a little shady he goes and hangs with the "lames", ditching us in the process. And recently he's been really sort of unsure of what style he wants to pick. First he was on his hispanic style, dressing up like a typical hispanic. Then he was sort of on his skate boarder style. And now the guy has the nerve to grow out his hair, but i don't know if he's doing it to look different and start a new style.
me : yo edgar was gooodd
edgar : nothing mannnn chillin
me: why you been growing your hair?
edgar : cuz i look cool man , you should do it too, ladies love it mann
me : ehhh i dont know, you some kinky nigga...( i walk away shaking my head)
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
hw # 23 - 1st constructive exploration of cool
To me , being cool is basically knowing the right people. You must know how to act, you need to know how to dress. Most importantly tho, I think you need to hang with the right people, because hanging with the wrong people in this society can ruin your little "cool reputation". A lot of people try to fit in with everyone else to feel cool, actually everybody does, trying to impress people, staying with the latest style. In my eyes, I really hate when people become mad fake just because they want to fit in, like just act like yourself, and if just so happen to be cool while you doing it then you good money. If you still mad whack while tryna be cool, you definately wont. I
Thursday, November 5, 2009
hw # 15 triangle comments
To Chris Roldan post #11
I found it funny that you only decided to do your digital fasting when you had no other option. If you were to actually do it when you had your options, and stood away from it on your own, you would have possibly wowed me. The good thing with you "digitally fasting" is that you let your brain rest. You text way more than you may think, it's not just you, it's almost all teenagers. You managed to read your feed book, and catch up on old hw which was good. So maybe its okay to blame all the new digital technology for our failures in school right? Imagine what your grade could have possibly been if you had not had a cell phone, and an ipod too i guess.
I found it funny that you only decided to do your digital fasting when you had no other option. If you were to actually do it when you had your options, and stood away from it on your own, you would have possibly wowed me. The good thing with you "digitally fasting" is that you let your brain rest. You text way more than you may think, it's not just you, it's almost all teenagers. You managed to read your feed book, and catch up on old hw which was good. So maybe its okay to blame all the new digital technology for our failures in school right? Imagine what your grade could have possibly been if you had not had a cell phone, and an ipod too i guess.
Monday, November 2, 2009
hw 14
In the book Everything Bad is Good For You, Steven Johnson claims that the things that we originally thought was bad for us like video games and television may actually good. He argues that the structure of video games is done in such a way that the reward systems are clear and that it is not mindless escapism as gamers would mull over a way to solve a problem or situation presented in the video game. Players are put in situations where they need to evaluate multiple courses to take and find the best one. He further argues people do not really know what video games are like through second hand descriptions and have to play for themselves to see how challenging a game could actually be. Video games stimulate our brains in a way that produces higher dopamine levels and activates the reward center in our brain unlike any other form of entertainment. It exercises a different set of mental skills that are just as the ones we use in reading important. Thus, this reinforces his arguments that we need to re-evaluate the "form" of video games, rather than the content because there is an implication that something more complex is involved. He argues that the beneficial elements of video games arise from their format and the way they make us think rather than what the game is about in terms of story or plot.
The same is true for television and Stevens emphasizes their interactive nature where we are at times required to make sense of plot and character development. He acknowledges that it is less interactive than video games but due to the sleeper curve, stories have become more and more complex, with several plots layering and connecting together alternating different points of view. There are less and less “flashing arrows” directing viewers on the story. It leaves some things out for the view to try to figure out. The lack of handholding in present dramas as compared to past ones is visible down to the dialogue and expressions of the characters. The chapter is best summarized by this sentence in the chapter, “Pop TV More Subtle and Discrete Than Ever Before!"
My reaction to this book was mostly good because I feel like a different point of view on the use of electronics would be a good balance for our class book Feed. Something that may be faulty is that the sleeper curve is based on the assumption that people in the past generation were only ready for hand holding and since then people have grown due to the sleeper curve to be able to handle this level of television. Maybe people been at that level all along but the society and times were at a point were that kind of television was still being developed and people were testing and developing the medium of television story telling and it had to start simple to get where it is today. There has been more complex movies or television shows available in the past but overall I tend to agree that shows today require more from the viewer, there are grey areas, less hand-holding, layered jokes, and less information told and more information required. With video games the way people play requires a fast analysis of the situation and what they need to do to win. This probably requires for the brain to work a bit more than it has previously for the same medium.
At the most fundamental level, Everything Bad is Good For You argues very different things about technology--Everything Bad is Good For You argues it makes us smarter, while Feed is argues that the technology made the people dumber. Feed says that things have become simpler and simpler because the people are getting used to more simple things and its cyclic, while Everything Bad for You is Good argues it does the opposite, things are becoming more complex and evolving because of the technology. They do talk about different aspects of technology. Feed focuses on consumerism and corporation's attempt to advertise and sell to the general populace. This book doesn't contradict that part of feed, it is supporting consumerism culture by saying video games and television (which are propped with advertisements) is good. It also says because of the technology people don't think much anymore which is this book contradicts. It is analyzing the effect of how technology effects the way people think instead of how advertisment and consumerist culture affects it. Feed talks about how bombarded people are by adverstisements and buying things through the medium of technology. Everything Bad for You is Good focuses on the ways technology has since then developed in a way that demands more from the person using it by getting them involved and exercises their brains as a result. This book is focused on the way technology itself is affecting us, not the way media or advertisement is through technology.
The same is true for television and Stevens emphasizes their interactive nature where we are at times required to make sense of plot and character development. He acknowledges that it is less interactive than video games but due to the sleeper curve, stories have become more and more complex, with several plots layering and connecting together alternating different points of view. There are less and less “flashing arrows” directing viewers on the story. It leaves some things out for the view to try to figure out. The lack of handholding in present dramas as compared to past ones is visible down to the dialogue and expressions of the characters. The chapter is best summarized by this sentence in the chapter, “Pop TV More Subtle and Discrete Than Ever Before!"
My reaction to this book was mostly good because I feel like a different point of view on the use of electronics would be a good balance for our class book Feed. Something that may be faulty is that the sleeper curve is based on the assumption that people in the past generation were only ready for hand holding and since then people have grown due to the sleeper curve to be able to handle this level of television. Maybe people been at that level all along but the society and times were at a point were that kind of television was still being developed and people were testing and developing the medium of television story telling and it had to start simple to get where it is today. There has been more complex movies or television shows available in the past but overall I tend to agree that shows today require more from the viewer, there are grey areas, less hand-holding, layered jokes, and less information told and more information required. With video games the way people play requires a fast analysis of the situation and what they need to do to win. This probably requires for the brain to work a bit more than it has previously for the same medium.
At the most fundamental level, Everything Bad is Good For You argues very different things about technology--Everything Bad is Good For You argues it makes us smarter, while Feed is argues that the technology made the people dumber. Feed says that things have become simpler and simpler because the people are getting used to more simple things and its cyclic, while Everything Bad for You is Good argues it does the opposite, things are becoming more complex and evolving because of the technology. They do talk about different aspects of technology. Feed focuses on consumerism and corporation's attempt to advertise and sell to the general populace. This book doesn't contradict that part of feed, it is supporting consumerism culture by saying video games and television (which are propped with advertisements) is good. It also says because of the technology people don't think much anymore which is this book contradicts. It is analyzing the effect of how technology effects the way people think instead of how advertisment and consumerist culture affects it. Feed talks about how bombarded people are by adverstisements and buying things through the medium of technology. Everything Bad for You is Good focuses on the ways technology has since then developed in a way that demands more from the person using it by getting them involved and exercises their brains as a result. This book is focused on the way technology itself is affecting us, not the way media or advertisement is through technology.
hw 13 feed b
“Art is not a Mirror with which to reflect the World. It is a Hammer with which to shape it." -Bert Brecht
This quote reminds me of another one, one about life imitating art or it being the other way around? In Feed, it is a reflection of our society and holds many parallels to it using an allegory. Its our world but different. The mirror is a reflection of something, that thing has to be there first for it to be created inside the mirror's image, much like art imitating life being a reflection or copy of something. I've decided that it was both. After all this book was created as a reflection for our current culture, but in being created, it also shapes it and the people who read it. I think art cannot help being both. All art to some extent is a hammer, even children's books because children often seek to follow the ideals displayed in the story sometimes even to adulthood. But the extent to which it influences the reader or culture depends on how much it touches them. The deeper the impact, the deeper the influence. So in terms of this, Feed is both the mirror and the hammer. It is a reflection of society but it shapes the perception of it as well.
I think Feed is art and the way Anderson chose to write the story was very well thought out. It depicts the lives of teenagers living in the 21st century and their daily trials that any teenager might face today, making it realistic in tone, even though its futuristic. Feed is about the advertising and technology in today's world and shows the harmful effects through its allegory of the "feed", a computer installed inside their heads. The allegory of the feed shows how people can no longer think for themselves and have to have things spelled out for them. They have an infinite array of knowledge available to them, like the Internet search engines, but they aren't really smarter for it. The characters of this book are dependent on their feeds. Anderson is able to use this allegory effectively to talk about what what he thinks about the modern use of technology with symbolism; the way the characters interact with the feeds and with each other through it.
I think though it talks about teenagers, it is a pretty adult book. It's probably meant for teenagers and adults to read but targets teenagers sinice its a Young Adult book. I think it might be more suitable for older teens because I remember reading it when I was in middle school and though I got the plot and everything I didn't really appreciate the story but younger teens can still read it. The way they'll read it will be different though. It's like how when you read the same book at different points in your life you somehow take away different things from it. Feed is one of those books where you'll probably take away more once you're older because you have experienced more to get what the book is trying to say.
This quote reminds me of another one, one about life imitating art or it being the other way around? In Feed, it is a reflection of our society and holds many parallels to it using an allegory. Its our world but different. The mirror is a reflection of something, that thing has to be there first for it to be created inside the mirror's image, much like art imitating life being a reflection or copy of something. I've decided that it was both. After all this book was created as a reflection for our current culture, but in being created, it also shapes it and the people who read it. I think art cannot help being both. All art to some extent is a hammer, even children's books because children often seek to follow the ideals displayed in the story sometimes even to adulthood. But the extent to which it influences the reader or culture depends on how much it touches them. The deeper the impact, the deeper the influence. So in terms of this, Feed is both the mirror and the hammer. It is a reflection of society but it shapes the perception of it as well.
I think Feed is art and the way Anderson chose to write the story was very well thought out. It depicts the lives of teenagers living in the 21st century and their daily trials that any teenager might face today, making it realistic in tone, even though its futuristic. Feed is about the advertising and technology in today's world and shows the harmful effects through its allegory of the "feed", a computer installed inside their heads. The allegory of the feed shows how people can no longer think for themselves and have to have things spelled out for them. They have an infinite array of knowledge available to them, like the Internet search engines, but they aren't really smarter for it. The characters of this book are dependent on their feeds. Anderson is able to use this allegory effectively to talk about what what he thinks about the modern use of technology with symbolism; the way the characters interact with the feeds and with each other through it.
I think though it talks about teenagers, it is a pretty adult book. It's probably meant for teenagers and adults to read but targets teenagers sinice its a Young Adult book. I think it might be more suitable for older teens because I remember reading it when I was in middle school and though I got the plot and everything I didn't really appreciate the story but younger teens can still read it. The way they'll read it will be different though. It's like how when you read the same book at different points in your life you somehow take away different things from it. Feed is one of those books where you'll probably take away more once you're older because you have experienced more to get what the book is trying to say.
hw 12 feed A
Feed is an allegory for the modern teenage life in the US and for the most part it is on target. It may not depict my life or completely depict someone elses but there are parts and pieces where you find you can relate in some way. The relationships are pretty real. The way Titus is trying to get Violet and his friends to get along, and how he has these two relationships with both of them that he's trying to maintain is realistic. Also when he does things that aren't that great and flawed like deleting Violet's memory's because he's trying to maintain his way of life. That's supposed to be an allegory for how American's ignore things that might disrupt their way of life, but I think America's more open to that because of technology and different cultures are constantly seeping in and becoming intermixed with the American culture; different ways of life that we're making part of our own. That's in part because they're more accesable to people now, there are many different cultural foods here and alot of different fashions, some inspired by other countries. Either way I can't say its completely one thing or another, because people aren't like that either and people are what make up this place. I can't say people are completely open of things that may change their way of life and I can't say people are completely closed either, because there will be people who are both. That's kind of why at some moments I find it exagerated because the people in this story are mostly for only one side.
The way everyone lives in their own bubble, they have their own personal sun and clouds and its almost as if they all live in their own world. They're all separate, they don't share the same sky anymore. In the modern world, sometimes people are living in their own worlds too and they kind of just drift. It's probably easier to create your own world with technology. You can go online and discover a digital and chat with people or you can phase out and watch television. Maybe the same way happiness is infectious, being disconnected is as well. You can disconnect from this world and go to another.
The story even, though its not "real" is emotionally real. It has an emotional truth. The way the characters interact with one another in their digital world is alot like how we interact in ours. When Titus is in the car with Violet and they are M-chatting and she tells him her feed is malfunctioning and she seems scaredwhen she tells him to talk to him "in the air" he feels a bit unconfortable because that makes it more real. Even though they're talking in their head, not having to say the words physically makes the topic easier to talk about because its not as direct and by saying it aloud he has to confront it. That's how it is today too. Some things people feel more confortable saying online, but some things should be said outloud and can't be said through another medium. Its like how some people break up over a text message. They don't want to be present, they don't want to deal with the messy emotions that the words would cause. Its easier to not deal with it.
The way everyone lives in their own bubble, they have their own personal sun and clouds and its almost as if they all live in their own world. They're all separate, they don't share the same sky anymore. In the modern world, sometimes people are living in their own worlds too and they kind of just drift. It's probably easier to create your own world with technology. You can go online and discover a digital and chat with people or you can phase out and watch television. Maybe the same way happiness is infectious, being disconnected is as well. You can disconnect from this world and go to another.
The story even, though its not "real" is emotionally real. It has an emotional truth. The way the characters interact with one another in their digital world is alot like how we interact in ours. When Titus is in the car with Violet and they are M-chatting and she tells him her feed is malfunctioning and she seems scaredwhen she tells him to talk to him "in the air" he feels a bit unconfortable because that makes it more real. Even though they're talking in their head, not having to say the words physically makes the topic easier to talk about because its not as direct and by saying it aloud he has to confront it. That's how it is today too. Some things people feel more confortable saying online, but some things should be said outloud and can't be said through another medium. Its like how some people break up over a text message. They don't want to be present, they don't want to deal with the messy emotions that the words would cause. Its easier to not deal with it.
Self Experiment 1
Digital Day
8-12:35 School, boring
3:50 Went to work and chatted, texted, and got on facebook real quick before work began.
7 Got out of work.
Feelings: Tired, sleepy
7:30 got home, doing hw online, working on exhibitions
8 eating my food , ya dig
9:00 playing video games, madden 10 on my xbox 360 to be exact
10:00 went to sleep , set alarm clock
8-12:35 School, boring
3:50 Went to work and chatted, texted, and got on facebook real quick before work began.
7 Got out of work.
Feelings: Tired, sleepy
7:30 got home, doing hw online, working on exhibitions
8 eating my food , ya dig
9:00 playing video games, madden 10 on my xbox 360 to be exact
10:00 went to sleep , set alarm clock
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)