Technology

     Technology makes the world go round. Literally, it really does. Everyone relies on technology more than they are able to keep track of in one day. Cell phones, computers, GPS’s, IPods, televisions, and video game consoles (the list could go on for 1,000 more words but that is not my point) all contribute to the time we spend with technology. I do not know if I could live without my cell phone, computer, or television. There are many benefits to using these modern day technologies, but there can be many downfalls as well. Some people are so caught up in their technology driven lives that they do not realize the negative effects of some of these technologies until it is too late.
Cell Phones
     I know I could not function without my phone. My cell phone is connected to my hand at all hours of the day when I am awake. I can easily admit that I am addicted to texting. The only people I talk to on the phone anymore are my mom, dad, and grandma. Everyone else can get ahold of me through a text message. In my previous blog about technology, I expressed my feelings about stupid people giving texting a bad name because they make poor choices while doing it. The very next day, not even twenty four hours after I posted that blog, my cousin’s best friend was killed in a car wreck because he was texting. Eben Wildman passed away on October 16, 2010. He was a sophomore at Miami University and in the Navy ROTC program. He had everything going for him and affected so many people’s lives it is unbelievable. At Eben’s memorial, I signed a contract dedicated to Eben that I would never text and drive or text anyone that I know is driving. I do not know how many people signed one of those papers but it had to be over one thousand. Even though he will be very sorely missed, he is also saving lives through his contract. Eben was definitely not a stupid person and I have changed my mind about how dangerous technology can be. I was one of those people who thought my life could never be negatively affected by technology until this happened and changed my whole prospective.
     An alternative to texting while driving is simply calling someone on the phone. Although it is also not very safe to talk on the phone while driving, everyone should invest in a hands-free device or pull to the side of the road if they must make a call. My mom has Bluetooth built into her Buick and I think this is a very positive form of new technology that should replace all forms of using the phone while driving. Every new model of car built should contain a Bluetooth system regardless of the cost.

Computers
Another technology I do not think I could survive college without is my laptop. There are computers available on campus for student use but nothing beats the convenience of having my own computer in my room ready and available whenever I need it. What frustrates me the most about my computer is that sometimes the internet does not work when I need it. My roommates and I have been to the technology depot so much this quarter and the only explanation they can give us is that the Wi-Fi in the Convocation Center is not very strong.

     I do not want this essay to be me complaining about all the technology problems I have in my life, because I know there are very positive uses for computers. This class requires a lot of computer use and so a most of my other classes. Everything happens faster through the internet and teachers can be reached much easier through an e-mail than a phone call these days. I love using Blackboard because I get reminders, lectures, and assignments that I might have missed in class or forgotten about. I also think the internet makes me more intelligent. Anything I do not know I usually look up on Google.

     One website that I will not use is Facebook. I am choosing to go against the mold and try to prove that you can still make friends in real life instead of meeting people through cyber space. I am not completely against Facebook and other social networking sites. I have just decided that these websites are not for me. As I watch the drama unfold with my friends and hear the horror stories about creepers stalking girls, I just do not think I want to join. The movie that really persuaded me not to get a Facebook was Catfish. This movie is a must see for anyone engaging in online social networks because it really lets you know not to trust anyone you do not meet in person first. Another reason I do not want a Facebook is because I watch my roommates try to do their homework and find themselves on Facebook. It seems like a short assignment can take way longer than it needs to because they have Facebook up in another window and keep clicking back and forth. I do not think I would have enough time in my life for Facebook right now and I am glad I do not have one.

Television
     I think I can be classified as a television addict along with my texting addiction. I know almost every show anyone talks about. My favorite show is Grey’s Anatomy. My roommates do not like this show and I can barely be in the room alone long enough to watch it. I have the series recorded at home with my DVR and every time I go home I always have to take a few hours and sit in front of the T.V. to catch up. I have the television on almost all the time. Even right now when I am supposed to be concentrating on writing this blog I am glancing up at the random show Basketball Wives even though I do not like it. I guess television is my distraction for getting my work done like some people are distracted by Facebook. But I think mine is definitely less drastic and I learn a lot of information (useful and useless) by watching T.V.
     Technology keeps improving and safe alternatives are coming out to replace the ones that give us so many problems. I am not against technology; I just think sometimes it should be limited.

OuTLiNe

I. Introduction
A. Attention Grabber
B. Background of video games and how they have changed
C. Thesis Statement - Video games are more influential than watching movies for children.
D. Forecasting - Video game rating vs. movie rating. Desensitization. Social Aggression in children. Live video games unmonitored.
II. Body
A. Interacting gets children more involved in what they are watching and doing. Being desensitized by harmful or sexual scenes.
B. Difference in video games now from the old versions.
C. Video game ratings vs. Movie ratings
D. Social aggression in children who grow up playing video games
E. Live gaming and what children are expose to through other gamers. Real life example.
F. Opposing Views
G. Refute
III. Conclusion

Introduction

[Attention Grabber] Since the beginning of gaming in the early 1970's, technology has made huge strides into the world of video games that are played today. One of the first in home consoles played one game that consisted of two small white bars against a black screen with a small white ball bouncing from bar to bar. Video games today depict scenarios with realistic looking features and thousands of different games to choose from. Gamers can now interact with people from all over the world and are exposed to blood, gore, death, sex, theft, and destruction. Although people are also exposed to all of this in television shows and movies, actually interacting in these scenarios has a different influence on many gamers, especially children.
Not only have video games changed, but society has also changed in the past few decades. The acceptance of what children are exposed to today has been influenced by video game playing. Although gaming brings joy to millions of children, interaction through video games, as opposed to watching movies or television, is more influential and harmful to the social growth of adolescents. Video games can promote violence in children and desensitize them to harsh situations. The difference of video game ratings versus movie and television program ratings can be a factor to children being exposed to scenarios that are not age appropriate. Children who start gaming at a young age can grow up to have social problems such as aggression. It is a parent's responsibility to monitor the games their children play but some things can go undetected such as interaction with older players through live gaming and games played outside the home.

Environmental Damage from the Mega-Dairys

In 2008, a mega-dairy in Madison County Ohio (where I live) drained their manure lagoon and spread 300,000 gallons of liquid manure on a local field. This is not a crime but the mega-dairy was not certified to do this and it showed because they did not take all the proper precautions. Problem 1; the field was wet from a previous rain. Problem 2; it rained just 1 day after the manure was spread. Problem 3; the spreading company did not check the drainage tile in the field to see if it was flowing properly. The company failed to check the weather report and the rain washed the manure into a local creek. Paint Creek (which runs behind my grandparent's house) suffered a loss of 5,634 fish due to the ammonia contaminated water. The mega-dairy and the manure spreading company plead guilty and were fined close to $28,000 for the damage. The companies deserved this punishment if not more for their irresponsibility. Many of the small creeks around me are children's fishing holes or water sources for livestock so i am surprised only the fish were effected. I hope that mega-dairy learned its lesson.

Technology

Almost everything I use in my life today is some form of technology. Things become easier or safer or more fun and they become the new replacement for the older less convenient version. I could not imagine my life without my computer or my cell phone. These are the two forms of technology that I use on a daily basis. I remember my very first cell phone that was a cool new flip screen with a camera that could alomst take an unfuzzy picture! Now looking back at it with my current touch screen, internet browsing, digital image camera cell phone, I realize how far things have come in just the past 7 years. I don't know of any ways that this upgrade in cell phone technology has harmed my life. I do text a lot, but I do not see the negative side of texting. Yes, a lot of car wrecks are occuring because of irresponsible people choosing to break the law, but usually if any law is broken something bad will happen so technology is not to blame; the user is. It is possible to live without a computer, my grandparents do it everyday, but my lifestyle would not be possible without the use of a computer. School work and e-mails are my reasons for using the computer and they do not need any of those things so this technology does not benefit them as much as it does me. Everyone has their own reasons for the technology they use to benefit their lives. I only see positive effects from the technology I use but I also understand that stupid people can make choices to ruin the reputation of technologys.

Fact

This article seems to be hitting on major issues in Al Gore's documentary. I believe these issues are very true but I do not know to what extent. Scientists will always have different opinions but no one can know the future for sure. I did not like how this article was written. It was confusing and all over the place. I believe we need to treat the problem of global warming as if the worse case were happening because anything we do to help the environment and prevent disaster can only have posttive effects. There is no doubt to most scientists that humans are the problem but we are also responsible for finding the solution. I feel that even if Al Gore exaderated the effects of global warming, he still brought awareness to the subject.

What Is Education For?

"What is Education For?" truly opened my eyes to the responsibility we have to take care of the earth. This is the best reading selection I have read in the class so far. David Orr makes some very good points that I have never thought about before. Orr says that the most educated people are the ones destroying our country and not taking notice or doing anything with their education to stop it. Every discovery or invention comes with a price for the well being of our earth that is not always taken into account. My favorite part from the article is, "The plain fact is that the planet does not need more 'successful' people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restores, storytellers, and lovers of every shape and form"(4). This article is telling us to realize that every action we preform has a consequence on our surroundings. In all the education we obtain, there is never enough about how to preserve and help our planet. Ohio University and its students should come together to protect our environment and encourage the city of Athens do join.

My Happy Place :)

Looking out the window, all I see is green. This is summer of course. The corn is taller than the car making a wall along the sides of the road. Usually, the sky is so blue and random white fluffy clouds cover the sun for a few seconds of shade. There is always a breeze going through the trees so it is rarely silent. The creek is now low enough to cross from the lack of rain. So we go back in the secluded meadow serounded with trees and have our fun. Camping in the back yard but it feels like we’re miles away from civilization. My best memories are in this meadow with my friends and family.

     Fall arrives and everything is beginning to turn brown and dust clouds swarm around the farm and up the long driveway. The days seem to get hours shorter and the sun doesn’t shine as bright. But the colors of the leaves make it worth country living. The leaves look like confetti when the wind rushes through them now. Then they cover the ground and cover up all the dead grass. The crops are harvested and it seems like I can see for miles, but there is not much to look at. Campfires and homemade apple cider are my favorite thing about the fall. The Indian summers are what I look forward to.

     Once winter comes, I feel like I am in a depression. The cold is rigid and the wind never stops. How many times will I fall down the hill on the ice this year? My whole attitude changes when the first snow arrives. Everything is breathtakingly beautiful, and the best part of all, snow days!

The end. I hope you pictured PEACEFUL

Seeing

     Seeing by Annie Dillard is definitely a detail driven essay. The author creates good mental pictures for her reader and shows her great love for nature and the world around us. At some points, I found myself unfocused from the reading because of how in depth every little scene was. I believe seeing is a very appropriate name because she is talking about the blind and what their experiences are when they gain their sight. They appriciate and notice every detail that people who have always had their sight often look over. This essay was very long so I did not pick up on a thesis. It is quite a rant but I got the message that we need to observe and not take the small things in life for granted.

Real Men Don't

     In Eugene R. August's Real Men Don't: Anit-Male Bias in English, he writes about all the stereotypes a male has from adolesence to adulthood. August gives specific examples of peices of writing that are against males and their specific roles in history and modern day. Eugene's arguements have a lot of details to back them up. He gives just about every example of words that guys are called to try and tear them down. However, August does not state any names that females are called or any literature against women.

The Perils of Indifference

     The Perils of Indifference speech was a little confusing to me because I did not know all the places and the events Wiesel talks about. He has a lot of passion in his words though which made me very interested to keep reading. I was not aware that the United States knew about the concentration camps and sent the ship of 1,000 Jews back to be tortured. History is always in favor of the person who is writing it and for Wiesel to proclaim a different prospective is very brave. He is an outsider of the United States who actually experiences the horriflic event and is still grateful for all the work the Clinton administration does even when he knows our flaws in the situation.
     Indifference was the whole topic of the speech. Wiesel saying the word repeditively really gets his point across about how harsh the Nazi's really were. The Nazi soldiers did not have any feelings for the children and their parents whom they were effecting. The statement he makes about God and if His presence was with the Jews or not was very upsetting and made me feel terrible about what these people went through. Wiesel is brave for speaking about his life changing experience in front of the leaders of the United States.

What's up Saunders' butt?

     Braindead Megaphone definitely held my attention until the end. Saunders has some very valid points but the way he presents his feelings are a bit harsh. I detected some personal issues in is past with the media or certain political parties that made the essay biased, but I could be wrong. This piece of writing was intended for the radical reformists in the United States who only dwell on what everyone else is doing wrong instead of what positive actions they can take to help our society. Yes, most of his information was correct, and I totally agree that the person with the loudest voice has the most influence, but the author's tone was rude and degrading.
     "The vegetable that has come to dominate our village is the profit motive" is the statement which really caught my attention. Everyone is trying to find the easiest and fastest way to become wealthy. Reporting on an issue such as the holiday shopping season does not compare with a larger issue like a natural disaster. In his essay, Saunders leaves out the positive aspects of the media and focuses on bashing all the "stupid" people for reporting on or watching items that are irrelevant to him.

Course Theme Post

Although there have been many horrors that came with the growth and development of the the human race, our society would not be what it is today without bad experiences to learn from. The water consumption rate is increasing with the population, but with today's technology and global awareness, people are taking action to help conserve water and other natural resources. Without the wars and other tragedies, we would not be as advanced in our technology, economy, or medicine. Maybe an apocalypse is in the future for us but I think we are better prepared now for whatever it is that will happen than we would have been without the horrors we created.