Getting intimate on the Internet

In the article "A Brave New World of Digital Intimacy" Thompson is claiming that social media is perhaps driving society apart rather then bringing they together more. He talks about the news feed on Facebook. Zuckerburg introduced the news feed to make all updates on Facebook more accessible your friends. He wanted people to be able to scroll through one page and see all what was happening in their friends lives. This new power that Zuckerburg gave us also came at a price; it made us become "ambient aware" of our friends. The article describes ambient awareness as looking at your friends through peripheral vision, knowing that they are there, but not really paying attention to them. Thompson describes us as skimming what our friends are doing, not quite being able to focus on what they are doing. This skimming mentality is parallel to what the other articles have been saying about or society today. We are unable to focus on long portions of text, just like we are unable to focus on what our friends are doing. Thompson indirectly describes literacy as the ability to focus on what we are reading, not just reading and writing.

Gin and TV

This article is about the free time that we have and how we spend it. The author compares the time of the Industrial Revolution in England to our times now. He says that back then people would drink gin to in their spare time because of the mayhem of the Industrial Revolution. Nowadays, society spends most of its spare time watching what is on television. This article defines literacy as being able to understand what you read and being able to contribute your knowledge for the greater benefit of society. The article brings up the point of a cognitive surplus. It says that a cognitive surplus is all of the time we spend watching television rather than using that time to expand out knowledge and the knowledge of the world. This article is an important article in the fact that it is a call to action. The author says that we need to "Look for the mouse" is all that we do. We need to strive to find time to contribute to the wealth of knowledge of the world.
Repetition- cognitive surplus, looking for the mouse, at least they're doing something
The article uses the phrase cognitive surplus over and over again. The author is saying that that society has stored up a large amount of free time. We can use this free time in whatever way that we want but most of us choose to use it watching TV. The author is arguing that if society would put some of its cognitive surplus towards expanding the knowledge in the world, it would be a better place.

Is Google Making Us Stupid

In this article, the main point the author is trying to get across is the the human mind is evolving. Carr claims that because of all of his time on the internet, his mind has lost the ability to focus on long pieces of text. He finds him mind wandering a few paragraphs in, and is the article or text is too long he will skim it instead. Carr says that with the internet, humans no longer will go through the process of trying to solve a problem, instead they will look up the answer on their phone and not even think about it once. Carr argues that we have lost the desire to truly test our mind but instead we would rather have an answer given to us. In "Socrates Nightmare" it says that humans have lost the ability to think critically about what we read and truly think about it on a deeper level. Carr article is similar to this in the way that both believe that reading and really understanding what we read is important. Both men believe that literacy is a critical skill that all of mankind should possess.
Human kind is evolving into being that no longer thirst for knowledge. We prefer the easy way of googling something to find the answer rather than dig and go through the process of finding the truth. Carr's article is ultimately a cautionary tale about the dangers of the internet and the effect it can have on the human thought process.

Identity through social media

I decided to do the Westboro Baptist Churches twitter account. As I look at all of the things that they have tweeted recently I see  a lot of Bible verses but I also see things like "Godh8sfags" and terrible things of that nature. Their interactions with other people are horrible. Everyone hates everything that they say and never take them seriously because of all of the hate that they preach. I believe that they establish a negative view of they themselves but they also don't care. They continue to preach their hate towards others and do not care who they offend. I feel like this will be a very interesting twitter account to analyze.

Electronic Tatoos

When going through all of the pictures that I am tagged in on Facebook, I feel i represent myself as a fun guy. I have tons of pictures hanging out with friends. I have pictures of me in a speedo at a high school basketball game. That was a fun night. I have one of me in a uniform skit for girls. The are a bunch of my friends and me at the park swimming in the Chattahoochee river. There are plenty of me with my friends dressing up for dress up days during homecoming week during my senior year. One day we were the blue man group and went the entire day without talking. Looking at all of these pictures it looks like I am a guy who loves to be with my friends and doesn't care how weird I look while doing it. I love being able to see the pictures of me and my friends on Facebook, but I do not feel it is a responsibility to maintain a presence on social media sites. I hardly ever post or tweet because if I ever want to say something it is usually to a certain person and I will say it to them directly. If I do end up posing something I will of course censor myself. I wouldn't want to offend anyone or make myself look like and an idiot. If a future employer was to look at my Facebook for a job interview I don't think I would have a problem at all. I think he might get a laugh at so of the stuff I dressed up in or did, but I do not think any of it is offensive or bad in anyway. I am just a guy who loves to make great memories.

Interpretive Leap

I used to be a renegade, I used to fool around
But I couldn't take the punishment, and had to settle down
Now I'm playing it real straight, and yes I cut my hair
You might think I'm crazy, but I don't even care
Because I can tell what's going on

It's hip to be a square
Its hip to be a square

I like my bands in business suits, I watch them on TV
I'm working out most everyday and watching what I eat
They tell me that it's good for me, but I don't even care
I know that it's crazy
I know that it's nowhere
But there is no denying that

It's hip to be a square
Its hip to be a square
Its hip to be a square
So hip to be a square

It's not too hard to figure out, you see it everyday
And those that were the farthest out have gone the other way
You see them on the freeway, It don't look like a lot of fun
But don't you try to fight it; "An idea who's time has come."
Don't tell me that I'm crazy
Dont tell me I'm nowhere
Take it from me

It's hip to be a square
Its hip to be a square
Its hip to be a square
So hip to be a square

Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip, so hip to be a square!
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip,
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip, so hip to be a square!
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip,
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip, so hip to be a square!
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip,
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip, so hip to be a square!
Here, There, and everywhere!
Hip, Hip,

 I changed my song to Huey Lewis and the News "It's Hip to be Square". The entire song is about the singer going from a crazy wild child to a "square" or normal person. He says he could no longer take the punishment of his previous life and that he gave it up. During the time when this song was released it was though of as a bad thing to be called a square, that you were normal and boring, but Huey tries to go against the social norm and say that it is not the hip and cool thing to do. 

The scene from a movie that I am doing is from American Psycho. Patrick Bateman, the protagonist, starts playing this song while his co-worker Paul Allen is over. Patrick asks him if he Likes Huey Lewis and the News and then starts going into a in depth analysis of the band and their work. He says that their undisputed master piece is "It's Hip to be Square" and not only is it a statement about conformity it is also a personal statement about the band itself. Patrick then kills Paul with an ax. This song is ironic because Patrick is far from conforming to society. He stands out as a psychopath and a mass murderer. The use of irony and Patricks upbeat attitude while he is talking to Paul makes this one of the most memorable scenes in the movie. 

Crossfire

When we started watching the "Crossfire" video in class I thought that is was going to be a debate about this great country's politics, however I was mistaken. This video was about grown men fighting like children on a playground. The video starts out with John Stewart coming on the show very calm and collected. The two other men he was talking to however were very bias and would not listen to any of the criticism that John was telling them. The two hosts were telling John that he is a joke, that he should be asking real questions to the quests on his show not "How are you holding up?". John made the argument to them that they had a real opportunity to help the American people by asking their guests what the American people want. Instead of listening, the host become enraged with John's accusation of then and resort to petty name calling like "buttboy" to try and build themselves back up. For being an un-bias show the hosts were very ignorant, rooted in their beliefs and would not listen to reason. Even through all of the back and forth that was happening John stayed very level headed, not stooping down to the level of the hosts. He tried to reason with them, make them see what an incredible opportunity they had to sever the people of their country, instead they made themselves out to be fools. John showed that these men were not out to serve the American people, only to provide theater and entertainment to their viewers. The hosts did nit live up to the their name and hopefully the viewers then saw what total frauds they were in the political world.

My Writing Process

For me writing is a difficult thing to do. I would procrastinate, get writers block, and become distracted by the smallest things.  I would usually start my papers pretty late and then be in a frantic hurry to make sure that I could get it done. On rare occasion, I could fly through a paper like someone was telling me what to say but for the most part it is a struggle to find the right words to say. I never used the correct grammar. It is always a challenge to piece sentences together correctly. Sometimes my sentences would sound like they were another language they were so bad. The hardest part for me, even through all of the other difficulties, was finding a way to start. Once I got into the paper I could always find a way to push through but that introductory paragraph is always the bane of my existence. Another part that was always difficult was the length of the paper. I found myself at the end and saying to myself that this needs to be longer. I would constantly read other sources on the same topic and to try and find inspiration that would breath life into my writing. After I would have the rough draft done, I would then ask my sisters who are eons better at this than I am to read over my work and give me suggestions to make my work better.  There was always a lot that I could do to improve on. Once they are done marking everything that I have done wrong I will correct all of my mistakes with them either on the phone or there with me to make sure I got everything. After all of the editing, pain, and torture that it took to get here I feel pretty confident in my paper. I will read over it one more time to be sure but I have completed the mountain that is writing; however once I reach the summit I seen in the distance another mountain that I am going to have to climb. Then the whole process starts over again.