Schwegman Blog Post #8

In " The Machine Stops," Forester's vision is that of what will happen if we continue to be dependent on technology. Eventually, leading to a complete dependency on technology which is very unhealthy.  Forester is responding to the issue that technology is causing humans to loose are close association with our  peers and other humans. Forester brings up some interesting points that shows our human nature. First is the development of religion. In this short story, he shows that humans become so dependent on the machine that they even begin to confide their personal beliefs in the Machine. This shows that as humans we have a deep religious devoution that is crucial for our "sanity." The Machine in this story shows the authencity of human nature that we need some type of religion to live "happily." Having a character like Kuno shows that even in a society so dependent on the Machine, there is someone who doesn't follow a long with society's conventionalism.

I agree with a lot of Forester's visions of the future, but I do not think the future will be so dramatically dependent on society. I do not believe that " The Machine" will become so influential that humans confine themselves to a cell and interact soley with technology. Social interaction is crucial for a society to work, and social interaction with a machine does not make the cut. Also, I do not think religion devouted to technology will develop. Most religions are people confining themselves to an object that is unattainable. The Machine in this context is attainable. I do not believe humans will be satisfied with this kind of religion. Forester does leave a lasting impression that our growing dependecy on techonlogy will eventually lead to an unpleasant future.

Schwegman Creative Proposal

My group's presentation topic is techonlogy and health. With this idea, I have many ideas that I can use to present it. I can show that our techonlogy used with medical procedures is advancing and we are becoming more reliable on computers or robots. My group can try to show that doctors do not play an important role in operating on a patient than doctors used to. 


We could represent this future in a creative project by showing an average trip to the doctor. When we speak with a doctor, all of our information is now posted in an internet database. Also, showing 3-dimensinal views of a new piece of surgical equipment would give viewers are sense of how advanced our health is becoming. To complete this project, I will need to do a lot of research. 


To complete this project I need to set two or three hours of work a week dedicated to completely it. 

Schwegman Blog Post #11

My definition of online privacy is based off Facebook privacy settings. I believe that the setting preferences we make on Facebook should be respected and not exposed by those who created Facebook. If we believe only our friends should view our profile, specific pictures and posts, and personal information, than only our friends should view it. There should be no one else to be able to view this. In a "perfect world" our privacy settings would be respected. I believe that there is someone information that individual should keep private to themselves and not put it on the internet. Personal things such as; phone number, address, other information that would make it possible to track down and access an individual personal information. Pictures, wall posts, and thoughts are allowed online.

When my family first started adding me on Facebook, I was nervous to let them see all my information. I may or may not have pictures that are appropriate for them to see. I also might have inappropriate comments and wall posts that are from my friends and from me a couple of times. I was started to put them on limited profile, but then I realized that if I am ashamed to let my own family see my Facebook than I should be ashamed to let anyone see my Facebook. I took down some photos and changed the way in which I use my Facebook. I "cleaned up" my language, from then on I avoided any language on Facebook that would be inappropriate. My profile though, is completely private from anyone who isn't friends with me. Users that aren't my friend may be able to see my schooling and profile pictures, but that is all I allow. I also went through my friend list and deleted anyone who I didn't know. I also do not accept anyone as a friend unless I know them, this sounds juvenile but a lot of people accept anyone.

When looking up my name on google, the only hits I found were high school honor roll and my old swimming times. Spokeo was very different though. I didn't find anything about myself but I found information on my mom, dad, step mom, and all my aunts and uncles. Also, my deceased grand parents were on it. All the old houses were my family used to live in were on there also. It also made me feel uncomfortable that all the house prices were on it too. It is hard to handle this information because you don't know how to delete it. And if you delete it, you know there are still more websites or places that still contain this information.

Schwegman In Class Writing #9

The audience of the article, "Stay Informed on Facebook's Third-Party Privacy Policies," is any Facebook user or Internet users who are concerned about their privacy. This is shown by the constant reference to our individual actions online. The article is responding to the growing population of Facebook and our decrease in caring about what we choose to show. The author scares us into believing people, a third party, is tuning into our information. The author gives us a sense of paranoria.

The author uses an extreme website to support his view. Although he believes this source is extreme and possibly untrue, he beleives this article gives a provoking thought. The article uses a rhetorical appeal, pathos, to prove his point. He shows that users continue to expose themselves in order to have social interactions. Asusers, we would rather have our personal lives out there, rather than not have a Facebook. Also, that money is more important than our privacy.

If I was writing an essay on online privacy, I would not use this article as an acceptable source. This article is too bias in showing that Facebook's privacy settings are unsafe. It only uses Facebook as an example and no other social media site. Also, the website it sites is very extreme. The author doesn't choose a median argument.

Schwegman In Class Writing #8

My top five:
1. Rugrat's in Paris
2. Britney Spears "Toxic"
3. Matrix
4. Harry Potter
5. Dodgeball

My group's top five with MLA citations:
1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. New York: A.A. Levine Books, 1998. Print.

2. The Hangover

The Hangover. Dir. Todd Phillips. Perf.  Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms. Legendary Pictures, 2009. Film.

3. Lord of the Rings- " The Fellowship of the Ring"

Token, J.R.R. The Fellowship of the Ring. United Kingdom: Geo. Allen & Unwin, 1954. Print.

4. The Matrix

The Matrix. Dir. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Perf. Keanu Reeves. Warner Bros. Pictures,        1999. Film.

5. Backstreet Boys "I Want it That Way"

Backstreet Boys. "I Want it That Way." Millenium. Jive Records, 1998. CD.

Schwegman In Class Writing #7

In this video by Glenn Beck, he explains the history of violence through visual stimulation. Beck explains how humans are conditioned not to kill naturally: we are programmed to kill and be prone to violence through advanced video games. The Pentagon created the first "video game" to get soldiers adapted to  killing enemies during WWI. Ever since that creation, killings during war time have increased dramatically. 

Beck argues that our violent tendencies are the results of pop culture's influence on us. He believes that the increasing violence shown in the media are training people to be murders. He also argues that the sex shown in these video games are changing the way we treat the opposite sex. 

This video with Glenn Beck is very informative on video game violence, but the argument Beck creates is very bias. Beck only shows the side of video games that are bad and creating murders. We all know there are two sides to every arguments and Beck failed to reinforce his argument with opposing views. I also believe that he makes a valid point that video games are being too violent, but blaming them on every murder that occurs is going too far. I believe that video games should be censored and be less violent because they are increasing violence in those who do not realize that it should not be taken as reality.

Schwegman In Class Writing #6

Part one:
My experience with online music is far below the experiences my peers hold with online music. I just downloaded my first iTunes song a Monday, while many of my peers have a whole library. I typically only use YouTube as a source of music entertainment.

Music piracy has declined in usage recently due to the shut down of Limewire, a popular music piracy site. Many people are for and against music piracy. As a college student music piracy is a cheap alternative to buying a song for a $1.29 on iTunes. Many artists and average people feel that music piracy is stealing.  I see where people get this idea. I believe music piracy is a form of stealing, but I also feel that it is completely ridiculous that a website charges $1.29 for a song. This issue has many arguments that are all valid points.

Part two:
The article I was assigned to read was, "How to Save the Music Business." The author believed that music piracy is stealing from the music business and artists. The author came up with ideas to fix the problem and also blamed web sites for causing the problem. He supported his ideas by showing how they worked in other countries. His ideas somewhat support my stance of music pirating. His ideas still make users pay for their music, but at a much lower price than sites like iTunes.

Schwegman Blog Post #6

http://www.myfakewall.com/w/Brad+Paisley+


For my "fake wall" I choose country music musician Brad Paisley. For this profile, I choose to do a mix of both advertising and real life status updates. I advertised his nominations, new song releases, and a book release. I also made it that it would be very personal. I had updates about what he did that night and also him giving a prayer to those effected by a tragic event. 

Schwegman In Class Writing #5

Boo the Dog

The dog, Boo, is selling itself as the cutest dog ever.  The dog is perceived to live a “lavish” lifestyle. It has pictures with famous people such as: George Stephanopoulos, Tory Burch, Dan Harris, and Oprah. Its information leads us to believe Boo lives a normal lifestyle as a dog though by liking to run outside and playing with other dogs. Boo’s wall-posts match its information because people post commenting on how cute Boo is and other comments about his adorable looks.

The advertising on the side of the webpage is for boots, which hints at my tendency to online shop. Other advertisements were for acne cream and to “win a Nook.” I am not too sure why I have these advertisements. These advertisements on the side are completely random, except for the ad for women’s boots. This ad definitely matches my web history from previous purchases of boots. These advertisements are mostly explicit. They say “Like this and get a free Nook” or “Stylish boots for $39.99.” All these explicit advertisements have pictures to go along with them to lure in users even more. The targeted audience seems to be younger women from the assortment of advertisements, like shoes and skin care. For me personally, these advertisements do not appeal to me because I have learned to block them out. I would never notice them unless asked to. 

Schwegman Blog Post #5

In Christine Rosen's article "Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism," Rosen argues that unspoken rules and communal norms in online social networks have influenced users behavior in the offline world. One of these rules or communal norms is the relationship status on Facebook. The relationship status is seen as a way to track a relationship and the official representation of that relationship to the public.

The New Atlantis is a journal of technology and society. Their mission is to reach out to scientists and policymakers and force them to think about "the ethical and social implications of their work." This journal also wants to be at the center of the movement of politics in the technological age. This article's audience is most likely directed at people who are older, and who are probably not very fluent in the social networking world. Rosen has left out those who have the most understand of social networking, who can refute or agree with her arguments because they have influenced it first hand.

Rosen establishes her credibility by stating her position at The New Atlantis. She is a senior editor there and a fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

To support her claim that relationship status on Facebook is the official representation of that relationship she tells a story about a friend who had a very public break up through Facebook. This is credible because I think anyone using a social networking site has seen this happen. She could strengthen her claim by giving more examples, but the overall idea and argument is very accurate. Our class also agreed that this argument is valid and that Facebook has changed the way relationships are publicized. I agree with this because I have seen this happen over and over again. My brother and his girlfriend ended up breaking up because he refused to make their relationship official to Facebook. And my best friend from back home also just ended a relationship of three years because her boyfriend ended their relationship on Facebook just as a way to show her that he was upset. This relationship change fueled so many arguments and they ended up breaking up for good. Rosen could have addressed this idea more by researching Facebook relationships better. I also realize that this article is from 2007, and at this time couples were not as dependent on Facebook for their status.

Schwegman In Class Writing #1

Technology is a huge role in my everyday routine, especially when I first wake up. My alarm clock is my cell phone. Before I get out of bed, I check all my texts messages received during the night and respond. Then I check my Facebook for any new notifications and I also check my Twitter timeline. Also, anytime I go near a computer my Facebook is always checked.

I define technology as a continuously growing field. It is also something that is very beneficial to our society and daily life, but it is also something that is a distraction in our everyday life.

Technology gives me a short cut when I'm thinking, reading, or writing. Instead of thinking through something I can look it up online. This hurts my critical thinking processes that could have been better developed if it wasn't for technology. Also when writing(typing) or reading papers on the computer I am distracted because I am just a click away from finishing initial goal when I started on the computer.

I have no idea what is means from digital objects vs analog objects.

Characteristics of a "digital native" can be someone who was raised in a digital world and also in fluent when it comes to technological problems.

A "digital immigrant" is someone who has grown up without any type of modern technology and struggles to conform to society's growing dependency on technology.  

Schwegman Blog Post #4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U - Dove Evolution- Campaign for Real Beauty

The Dove Campaign for Real Beauty is something that is seen on TV commercials very frequently. In this commercial, Dove shows to us the process in changing the face of a model to make it "acceptable" for a billboard. A woman is seen at the beginning with a fresh face (meaning that she has no make up on) and hair that is short and unkempt. The woman has a camera set to her face while people begin the process of applying make up to her face and fixing her hair. In a fast-forwarded process, we see her face being transformed. Her face becomes flawless, her eyebrows and lips are more full, and the color of her eyes are changed. Her hair has extensions put into in to make it longer and fuller. Then her hair is styled, making her look like a model. The women begins taking photo-shoots and her image is then brought up on the computer screen. Now, her face is being transformed even more by photoshop. Her neck is made longer,   her face becomes thinner, and other features are changed. The women is completely transformed at the end of the video and is then a photograph of her is placed on a billboard on a busy city street. Dove then shows are text box saying, "No wonder our perception of beauty is distorted."And then gives the consumer the opportunity to "take part in the Dove Real Beauty Workshop for Girls"with a website to go to.

This ad gains the attention of its audience by showing the drastic changes that happen in making a ad with a model. It also adds dramatic text to go with it. The ad establishes its credibility, or ethos, at the beginning of the ad. It states of the creator of the ad "Dove," a well known body care company. Later in this ad we will see that it has to do with the work of a model. Obviously being a body care company, Dove knows what goes on in "creating" a model or ad. Dove appeals to our emotional needs, ethos, by making its audience more confident. It makes the audience feel normalcy that a model looks like everyone else before she is completely transformed by make up and computer editing. It shows the use of logos by showing the process of creating the ad. Without showing the complete logical process, the commercial would have no credibility or explanation for how the woman's face changed.

This ad appeals to a mainly a feminine audience. We know this because of the text box at the end about the Dove Real Beauty Workshop for Girls. Also, because we know many women are self conscious when it comes to their appearance. Dove tries to make women feel more confident by showing our edited our perception of beauty is. Most people, or women, would not know that models are transformed like that. Dove grabs our attention by this. Consumers learn a lot from this commercial and every second of it is intriguing.

 The association that Dove achieves by this ad is that they are a "down to earth" company. They are not interested in all the degrading ads. It gives the company a good reputation because they are interested in service and helping girls gain confidence with themselves without superficial expectations. It  helps consumers want to buy Dove products, because they know that money from their purchases goes to a company that is trying to promote an image of "real beauty."

Dove used television commercials as the medium in this ad. By using television, the commercial and its message is more widely seen. Because it was displayed on television, this ad can also be virally seen on YouTube and other websites.

Schwegman In Class Wring #4

Images used on the Virginia Tech homepage are used to lure in prospective students by showing the university as a campus that is used for academic excellence, but also as an overall gorgeous campus. There are advertisements for open houses and a text box slide show showing all the academic enriching causes that students are working on. This text box gives prospective students, their parents, and also current students confidence that Virginia Tech is preparing their students for a successful life after college.

The homepage consists of two different color schemes. The first being maroon an orange, an obvious display of school pride. The other color scheme is blue and green, most people see these color schemes as “natural” or “environmental.” The school is trying to prove that as Virginia Tech, we are environmentally aware and trying to work towards a better environment. Also, this color scheme attracts attention to different places on the website.

            The site is appealing and easy to navigate. Links are clearly marked and there are places for quick links, making if easy for students to get where they are going. The homepage says that Virginia Tech is a school filled with a sense of community, pride, and academic excellence. It also shows that Virginia Tech is a worldly school, having locations for study abroad programs across the globe. This is shown by a map that is in the center of the homepage. 

Schwegman Blog Post #3

1. I googled, "online shopping," simply because I have been online shopping a lot since I have been in Blacksburg, VA. My first three websites were; Macy's, Nordstrom, and Amazon. The first two websites are extremely relevant to me because they are the two places I browse when looking for clothes. Amazon is  a little bit random. From Pariser's book we learn that Amazon is a huge advertising website, so that is why it appears in my top hits. Amazon most likely has a contract with Google to make sure this happens. All three of the websites were just the homepages, so I was not directed to a certain section.

2. I had my roommate, Kaitlyn, google "online shopping." Her results were very different compared to mine. Her first three results were Amazon, OverStock.com, and HSN. From the website selections, it appears my roommate does not online shop as much as I do. Because she is a beginner to it, the top three online shopping sites are trying to pull her in. I am not very shocked at these results because I know she doesn't online shop because most of the packages that come from her are from her parents, not like me, who gets Nordstrom packages "every once in a while."

3. I actually think individualized search is a good thing. I am a very impatient person and when I am "Googling" something I do not want to spend immense amount of time looking for what I want. If someone is researching something in a professionalized manner, they do not need to be doing it on Google. They should be using library databases, not using a website that doesn't always give you accurate information. Also, this individualization does not completely shelter us from the rest of the internet. We are still highly exposed to all ideas and knowledge, even if our Google searches are personalized.

Schwegman In Class Writing #3

The image in the advertisement is of a woman and a man in industrial clothing, and they are on lunch break. The texts reflects that women are capable of doing a man's job and that they are now equal and accepted in the work force.

The purpose of the advertisement is to get women out of the house and to get them working in factories to support the war effort. It also shows to men and women that women are now equal. There will be no more comments that "women cannot do this job," women are important to help win the war.

The creator of this advertisement is the government or industry management. They need women to start working in the factories because a lot of men are off at war.

The advertisement ties into all the rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos. The ethos are that everyone is equal which is very ethical. The logos is that a man is reinforcing a women's work, this shows to men that it is logical that a woman can work. The pathos is that this advertisement relates to both sides, giving empathy to women's and men's opinions. If it didn't reinforce both sexes, this advertisement would not be as effective.

Cultural assumptions in this advertisement is that women were not capable of fulfilling a man's job, they were inferior. In this time period, it was assumed that women were supposed to be at home, not in a factory. This advertisement shows a change in culture mostly from the war effort. Cultural contexts are that a man is reinforcing that a woman did a good job. If it was a woman reinforces another woman, this advertisement would not treated the same. This shows how different the culture is in that time period.

Schwegman Blog Post #2

A 21st century education looks like something I viewed in a futuristic movie as a child. Smart Boards, computers, laptops, iClickers, virtual textbooks, and other technological advanced devices are all found in 21st century classrooms. As a child this is something I never imagined to be apart of. Homework is based off using a computer;  assignments are posted online, research papers using online databases, and online quizzes and textbooks. This is what a 21st century education and classroom look like today, but it is not something I would want in my own 21st century dream school.

My 21st century education system would be as old fashion as I could get it, pen and paper. I said "as I could get it" because I realize as a student that you need to conform to society's needs in order to be successful. Society's needs in this century is to be digitally literate. My 21st education system will be designed to give students an education involving reading old fashioned books, doing research papers based off of finding information in paper books, writing essays, and taking notes by hand during lectures. I would incorporate technology into the education system by giving additional assignments to read educational articles online, some online quizzes and giving students assignments that they would need to complete on Microsoft Word, Powerpoint, and Excel. In Nicholas Carr's article, "Is Google Making Us Stupid" it is concluded that the internet and search databases are at fault for our inability to focus literature these days. While some may disagree, I believe this statement and would convey it through giving my students assignments that would have to use deep thought. Such as reflection papers and annotated bibliography that require long outlines and books to back up any ideas.

Carr's thought on our changed brain processes is accurate and needs to be addressed by educational systems and that is something I would be able to do. I think that the analytical thought that would be used in my system would help students be better prepared for the work force and also help high school students score better on standardized test. Education needs to still have "old fashioned" components to its system, even as our world becomes full of digital natives. The old ways of pen and paper are useful and something digital natives need to continue using and teach to generations to come.

Schwegman Blog Post #1

1.When I try to think back to my first defining moment in which I used technology, I think back to grade school computer class. I remember playing the game "Typer Shark" over and over again. The objective of this game was to type the word that was on the shark and if you typed the word too slow the shark would attack you, causing you to loose the game.  I was so obsessed with this game I would go home and play it on my home computer. Typer Shark wasn’t as fast on my home computer because we had dial up. Because of the slow Internet connection from dial up, I had a chance to learn the keyboard better. The sharks would move slower allowing me to look at the keyboard more often, giving me a better visual of the keyboard in my photographic memory. This ultimately allowed me to become more accurate in predicting where the keys on a keyboard were.  My out of school practice with Typer Shark made me look more impressive to fellow classmates and my teachers, I had the highest score in my class! I remember being so fast at typing and thinking to myself, "wow, I must be really good with computers!" Little did I know, there was a lot more to computers than just typing…


2. The reoccuring theme in the articles we were assigned to read is that technology is constantly changing. We discussed this in class also, that we are constantly having to adapt to changes in technology and learn these changes. After learning how to be typing efficient in "Typer Shark," I was quickly taught how to use software like PowerPoint, Excel, and Word. My level of fluency in computers continued to grow till I was making websites and learning how to use Photoshop. New technologies came out like Smart Phones and iPods, I had to learn how to use those too. It is quite obvious that as consumers in this age, we all feel the same way, we have to keep learning how to use technology to keep up with the world around us. Although we all might feel that we need to keep up, some of us choose not to. This was a difference in a lot of the articles, some of us just like to be "old fashioned" and use pen and paper. 


3. In comparing myself with other students' digital literacy narratives I notice that we all grew up kind of the same way. We all had computer classes, played video games, used an iPod, and have used a computer a lot. We all have ran into technological problems and have dealt with them, this is what makes somoene who is digitally literate. Someone who is digitally literate knows how to use technology well whether they like it or not. A digital native is someone who has grown up using a computer.


4. My generalization is that if you have dealt with a technological problem you are digitally literate. I consider this a valid argument, simply because if you have used technology enough in your lifetime you have ran into a problem. After running into those problems you could give up on technology but people recgonize that technology is valuable enough to work through. Those who stuck through it became digitally literate. 

Schwegman- In Class Writing #2

Convincing peers, professors, and parents to get a Twitter account.

A.) A text message to my peers convincing them to join Twitter.
      Hey! Please get a Twitter account! You can creep on all the really weird things that some of our friends say in their tweets and also following celebrities to see what they are doing. Get one and follow me ASAP!

B.) A face to face conversation with a professor convincing them to get a Twitter.
      Professor, Twitter is a great social media site to join for following news in our political science class. By following news stations like ABC news or MSNBC news, you can receive quicker new alerts than you would on their websites. Also, you can follow politicians and get a better understanding of their everyday life and their beliefs, and also what their political efforts are! Because of Twitter I am more informed of today's society.

C.) An e-mail to a parent convincing them to get a Twitter.
Mom,
        Join Twitter. Seriously, it will save you and me so much time. Instead of calling me three to five times a day and atleast ten to fifteen text messages a day trying to find out what I am doing, you can check my Twitter. You will be able to see what I am doing by just checking my timeline instead of hitting the dialpad to call me. Also, your son is on Twitter too. Twitter will be a convient site for you, you can check out both of our timelines and see that we are both studying and safe. Let me know if you need help with it, go to www.twitter.com and sign up NOW!