Internet Addiction

For my last free post, I chose a very interesting article about the effects the internet has on many people, and how it can disrupt their daily life. Before reading this article I think I may have been very naive about the fact that internet addiction really exists. For some people, hours upon hours of daily internet surfing are not out of the norm. Furthermore, a person suffering from internet addiction will experience symptoms like depression, anger, or sadness if the use of the internet is not available. Another branch of internet addiction is a result from online gaming, which can become a very dangerous addiction regarding one's health. One very positive thing regarding computer addiction is that it can be cured with therapy.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/704888_2

U.S. Military Wants Phantom Army On Facebook

For one of my free posts, I chose an article I read on Facebook itself! It is an article that tells about how the military plans to use the social media to try and save lives, and promote peace. Its point is to have hundreds of false identities spread all over the foreign social media, and to have conversations promoting peace in many different tongues. They also hope to be able to come in contact with jihads, and try and convince them to stop causing crime, and terror. All of these posts and conversations are planned to happen on Facebook. That really goes to show you how much of the world now has access to social media. It must be very widespread if the government is planning on creating Facebook pages to try and convince the enemy to stop the destruction. Will it work? Perhaps, now it may not, there are articles describing its motives spread all across the internet after all.

http://www.allfacebook.com/u-s-military-wants-phantom-army-on-facebook-2011-03

The Invisible Computer Revolution: 1

I picked a video off of Youtube of a man giving a presentation of mobile phones, and how they swept across America, and how they are beginning to boom in other countries. Cell phone adoption in the year 2000 was only at about forty percent. Now, it is at eighty percent. In Africa, more and more cell phones are being used, as well as the internet. They even grew to fifty-eight percent used by the population of Africa from the year 1994-2004! It is now becoming easier and easier to communicate with people in foreign countries. It's hard to believe that at one time it was nearly impossible. As cell phones and the internet continue to grow all over the world, more and more people are able to connect with each other no matter where they are in the world.


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Malcolm Gladwell’s “Small Change: Why the Revolution will not be Tweeted”

While reading this passage, I began to think differently of Facebook, and Twitter. I never thought the day would come when people would begin to use these websites for anything more than keeping in touch with their friends, or the need to put up the latest party picture from the night before. Now, we are starting to see what could be the beginning of a massive, activism revolution. People in this passage argued that networks could simply not rally people to a cause greater than their own, because it would not connect one to another well enough. Furthermore, they argued that networks work only from everyone working together. There is no centralized ruler, or authority. It is a place where the power is solely in command of the people. So, naturally one would think that if an uprising was considered on the web, it would be very difficult to have everyone agree, and come to terms with one another. This was certainly not the case with the rioters in Egypt in late January of this year. The people of Egypt were tired of the way they were being forced to live. From there began their Facebook, twitter, and Youtube revolution. They used these resources to rally to their cause, and to plan their strategy for attack. They did this all together; there was no one leading them all, and no one calling the shots They used the network to gain what they wanted. This goes to show how much the internet, and computers have changed over the years. They went from colleges communicating with each other, to wealthier individuals, to the public, and now serve as a platform for new rule.

Where will it end, or will it end? The internet is beginning to show that it is capable of more than just doing homework, taxes, and communicating. It is a universal tool that has endless capabilities, and it is only getting easier to get a hold of. It is going to be very interesting to see what else comes from this new era of the internet. We can only wait, and hope that more positive comes out of it, because, in reality, there is a light and a dark side to everything. The dark side of the internet, and what could possibly come from it, is a very scary thought.

Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

Nicholas Carr's, Is Google Making Us Stupid,  was a very interesting passage that offered a lot of insight. He speaks of how the internet is ruining our minds, and the way they used to operate. He says how reading long passages are becoming more and more difficult. This is due to the ability to learn at lightening quick speeds. No longer are we rummaging through old books and papers. He is afraid that it will only grow worse over time, and that peoples' minds are going to become more and more artificial. He thinks we are slowly becoming more like computers, and computers are becoming more like humans.

Nicholas Carr's, Is Google Making Us Stupid, said a lot of things that are true that I think many people choose to ignore. Alternatively, perhaps they never thought deep enough to realize what he means on their own. Since the dawn of the machine, humans have grown more and more engrossed in its mystery. To many people, it almost is equivalent to Pandor's box. They do not understand how it works, or what really makes it function, but they except it, nonetheless. This is proof of what Carr is trying to say in his passage! Not only does the computer now weaken our abilities to read long passages, which, ironically I felt while reading his,but it literally does make us "Pancake people." Now that people have this vastness of information at their fingertip, they want more. They want bigger, faster, and better. I wonder how Carr felt once Google Instant made its first appearance on the web? Someone must have thought the power wasn't enough; now when you type something in the Google task bar, results begin to pop up before your even done writing! On top of that, when you are looking for what you typed on a web page, you now have the abilities to "jump to text." This is a new feature that allows what you're looking for among a paragraph, to be highlighted blue. Now, you do not have to read anything at all, except what you are actually looking for. If we are indeed losing the traditions our heritage, it does not seem as though many people care. Perhaps, it is time to create a new heritage? We live in a time where gizmos and gadjets give us abilities to learn, find your home, pay taxes, write reports, check the alignment of the stars, and even test if you are pregnant, all in the palm of your hand. Maybe it is time to let go of old traditions. Maybe it is time to embrace the age of the machine. Perhaps, we should truly become Pancake people, because it doesn't look like we really have a choice.

“Television the Plug-in Drug” by Marie Winn

Marie Winn's essay Television the Plug-in Drug did a very good job on explaining how television has changed the world. In her essay, she mainly talked about the way that television has changed and reshaped the way families spend time together. She focuses on the way television started from the whole family all sitting together watching a common show, to all members of the family by themselves, watching what they want to watch. Furthermore, the way parents have adapted to using television as a way of escaping bad situations with their kids, as well as a way to treat their children.

What wasn't said in this essay was many of the other problems that television causes to rise. In many places, what you watch determines the kinds of things you're into, and also who you are deep down. There are many people that I'm sure watch certain shows that they would be embarrassed if any of their friends found out that they watched. So in a sense, television also acts as a social acceptance. I'm also sure that there are shows one may pretend to like just to fit in with their friends, or a particular social circle. Shows on TV, as well as music, movies, and books all reflect on things you like. It's no wonder why some people get defensive when one is pillaging through their iTunes library on their laptop. In today's society, watching TV has only gotten easier, and more convenient. It used to be if you missed a show, you were out of luck. Now you have the ability to record, pause, fast-forward, and rewind normal TV programming. Not only that, but newer technology lets you stream movies instantly off the computer, and on to you're TV. If one wanted, they could be entertained by all of their favorite shows back to back all at the convenience of their thumb. What does this mean for the future? How could things get any easier? Technology is a speeding treadmill belt, and will continue to change with extreme haste. Something tells me we will only have more unanswered questions as we continue to be slapped in the face by the technology phenomena.

"The Machine is using us"

This was a very mind boggling video; Everything it said was very true though. Anyone who tries to live without a computer will very soon not be able to perform basic things like doing taxes or paying bills. As far as the computer using us goes, I don't believe we will be facing Skynet on the battle field anytime soon. It is true though, in a sense, the machine really is using us. Think about how much humans now rely on computers. Major companies, banks, stores, vehicles, toys, colleges, and  all branches of the military are lost without computers. It is almost as if just living a life on earth was not good enough.

We now have the opportunity to have another form of life on the web. We can make our voice heard without ever even speaking. We can join social circles and be outgoing; even when, in reality, one is a very shy and quiet person. They used to say, people always write things they cannot say out loud. That sure seems to be the case these days with all the tweets, blogs, and personal pages. Even now, I am on a computer writing everything I'm thinking, for school of all things. The irony is, no one can say anything bad about them because they make everyone's life a lot easier.  People do not like to admit it, but in reality, we are very dependent on our computers, and without them we would be unconnected to each other, and unconnected to the world.

“Games” By Steven Johnson

In Steven Johnson's essay, he talks about the positive and negative effects between the importance of reading and playing video games. He thought that children should be encouraged to read from a young age. He spoke of children that read more growing up were more likely to attend art shows, museums, live band performances, and perform volunteer charity work. He also proposed what people would think about reading if playing video games had been introduced first. This to me was very interesting to read. He talked about the differences between video games and reading, and they're effect on how people behave while doing them. He thought maybe people would suggest reading was making people less social, and more oblivious to their surroundings, while video games improved strategic, and hand eye coordination. It was a very good essay, and had very interesting views on the way people are and think about things.

I think that reading is most definitely better for your mind then playing video games. However, there are video games out there that do require a lot of reading, and problem solving situations. There are also games that are only focused around math, and history. On the other hand, there are games that have absolutely no benefit to your knowledge as a human being. In some cases, games have even been the reason for sickness and death. In most cases, these types of games are role-playing-games such as World of Warcraft. Many reports regarding this game have resulted in declining grades, loss of appetite, and sleep. In todays society, games may be the least of our worries. In the coming years we may no longer even see paper back books. Eventually, they might all be found digitally on the web. This would propose a good way of saving unnecessary trees from being cut down. One might suggest all documentation to be turned digital. If we have the ability to help our planet, why not do it? The truth is, we no longer live in a fairy-tale world where people write long love letters, and stay in touch by pencil and paper. The internet is the fastest growing creation man has ever thought up. With that being said, more and more people have been giving in to technology. So now it is books and games, or games and books. Either way, it seems to be excepted as if there was never any controversy over the issue in the first place.

"Where I Lived and What I Lived For” By Henry David Thoreau

In this essay, David Thoreau spoke of how it is a good idea not to go with the stream. He wrote about how the truly important, and fundamentals of life are the things everyone takes for granted. He uses examples of humans wasting their time and life on things like the post office, and telegraphs. He thought that everyone would live better and happier if they truly embraced what it meant to live deliberately. He thought that simplifying the life we live to a more "Spartan-like" life would be more beneficial. He felt like the world around him was very shallow and superficial. He thought people should not choose to live upset,  and not let issues over take their lives.

I think that this is a very popular way of thinking. I think Thoreau saw society going down a road that would eventually lead to where we are now. It seems like we as humans have strayed very far from our natural way of existing. Suddenly, we not only live are own lives, and dealing with our own issues, but we can now see other people's problems with social networking. I think that the way of life Thoreau spoke of is nearly impossible to have now. There are too many distractions, and too many superficial creations that are slowly taking over our way of living to truly suck out the marrow of life.