No more books.

I've never been not much of a book person, so I don't think that I would miss them that much. I know mostly everyones excuse for not reading is they don't have enough time or they or too busy. But is someone really that busy that they can't take a half hour to hour and just read? I know I'm not that busy and could definitely read for a half hour if I wanted to. Even though I could read I feel like just sitting and reading is not that productive but I guess that goes the same for playing Xbox or watching TV. So i guess I wouldn't miss books that much but I'm sure the people that read everyday would.

I'd imagine a society without books would be like the society in feed. The only people that seemed human were the ones that the ones that didn't have the feed. Everyone else had information spoon fed to them from their feed instead. Today everyone is being fed information as fast as possible by their phone or computer. I think today's life style is beginning to get to fast for books. Everyone just wants to get everything done as fast as possible and get on. This how we metaphorically burn books. Movies are made of the most popular books so we can see the whole story in a matter of hours instead of reading for a few days. Spark notes shorten huge books down to a few pages but still convey all the major points. This is how we're slowly eliminating books from our society.

 

'Hungry' for More

I first heard of The Hunger Games awhile back. My friend Andrew started reading them then over break my other friend John started reading them too. Both of them said it was a great book, So I figured I would probably enjoy it as well. I was correct and after reading through all of it I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought it was as easy to read as feed but I thought it was more interesting. Just the Idea of kids fighting other kids is already more interesting than a bunch of rich kids with the internet in their head.

I thought the the beginning of the book started slow, but I knew that this was only set up for the games that took up the other half of the book. I didn't really know how the games were played at first. I thought it was just going to be 1 v 1 until there is only one kid left. If the audience wanted constant action that's the way they should of done it. I thought the way the games were actually portrayed in the book was still pretty interesting though. It was more geared towards survival rather than just killing which made it seem like anyone could win.

I thought the games should of ended with Katniss killing Peeta. Yeah, they were working together the whole duration of the games but when the announcer said that the rule stating that if the two tributes from the same district lives they both win was repealed I was ready for them to both try to kill each other. But then the announcer took it back and I felt like I was cheated out of what could of been the greatest scene of the whole book. Not that I wanted to see any of them die but after all they went everything together it would of been a terrible thing to see them fight to the death, but it would of been great.

My connection is to the video game Call of Duty Black ops. More specifically the game type called one in the chamber. This mode pits 6 players against each other and has them fight with a pistol and a knife until there is only one player remaining. At first glance there is not that much in common with hunger games but I found a few similarities. In addition to playing until all other players are killed, the players ages can be age 12 and up. Also before a game the player bets their virtual currency on how well they will do in the game.  Yeah, these similarities are pretty basic but I guess it shows where mind was at while reading the book.

Not So Real

Reality TV has gone completely over the top. I think Daniel Tosh described it the best on one of his comedy specials, "We have a game show in our country called survivor, Thats a game in our country. Where you can win one million dollars for surviving 30 days in a country where people already live. Do you realize what kind of message that sends? I've been here for 60 years can I have some bread? No, were Americans this is a game ...".  Survivor isn't even the worst example. The real housewives shows or cake boss are prime examples. I don't know why anyone would want to watch rich middle age women yell at each other or some guy making cakes.

All of that being said, everyone continues to watch these ridiculous show. The only reality show I watch fairly often is of course, The Jersey Shore. I don't care about any of the relationships or any of their drama. I enjoy the stupid things they do and they're popular phrases ie. The cabs are here, T-shirt time, etc. These are the only things that I like about this show. I don't really think this qualifies as a reality show though. All they do is work at a T-shirt shop and party. Sure it makes for interesting TV but I wouldn't call it reality, more like fantasy. Who wouldn't want to do the least amount of work possible and party every night and get paid wheel barrels full of cash.

The episode I watched was the finale that aired Thursday. It wasn't the most entertaining episode I've seen but it wasn't boring either. The only reason I wanted to watch this episode was because it's the finale and it's usually what we watch every Thursday night unless we're watching sports or something that generates a bit more brain activity. I wasn't really that focused on what was going on during the show but from what I saw it looked like they did everything they would do on a regular show.

Technology has definitely made information more accessible to others, but I don't think that much of our privacy has been lost. If you Google someone's name the odds of it being the exact person you're looking for are extremely high. Obviously more high profile people will be easier to find, but finding a John Smith would take a lot more effort. But Google isn't the only way to find people. Facebook has become the stalkers bread and butter. All you have to to is search a name and look for their picture and if the person isn't too smart they won't change any of their privacy settings. We choose to put what ever we want on the internet and Facebook. If you don't want some corporate viewing a picture of you doing a keg stand then don't put that picture up or change the privacy settings, if you have nothing to hide then it doesn't matter who's looking.

I don't think that giving up minor freedoms for increased security would be bad, but giving away all our freedom for complete security is a terrible Idea. It's like what we were discussing in class on Thursday. Whenever a population has no freedom, what is there to protect. I don't mind getting patted down or being scanned with an x  -ray machine at an air port. It goes back to what I said before, if you have nothing to hide then who cares what they check. I'd rather them scan everyone so we can catch people before something bad happens then have them mosey on through and something terrible happen. I don't think that it takes completely sacrificing a societies freedom to achieve a reasonable amount of security. 

Day 7: 1 Hours to Gooooo!!!!

At last, the end of this challenge is near and what a challenge it was. In the beginning I knew this assignment would be a difficult one but I didn't realize how difficult until these last few days. It wasn't hard finding thing to do  over the last week, I got done all the work I was assigned for this week and managed to read another book on top of feed. I guess this week made me realize how much work I should be doing, wasting time on Facebook and my phone has really taken it's toll. It's not that I didn't do any of the work that was assigned to me but I just tried to complete it as fast as possible. Without all the technological distraction I was able to take my time and produce some quality work.


With all the good that came from having no technology pinging me every five seconds there was also some bad. I  hated being completely out of the loop. Something as simple as where to meet for dinner turns into one of the harder things to do in a day. I love being able to look up information extremely fast, such as: GPS directions, movie times and product availability etc. these are just a few of the things that make us for effective with our time. If I can figure something out in advance then it would give me more free time to do other things (It would probably just be consumed by Facebook though).

This has been one hell of an assignment. Going without technology for a week has proved  been an entertaining task and one that I will not soon forget. Although this week technological abandonment has let me see the amount  of wasted time on my phone and Facebook, I still can't wait to get back on my phone and text until my thumbs fall off.

Day 4....

Another two days gone by without technology. I feel as though the hard part is mostly over. This weekend has gone by pretty fast so far even though I've just been reading most of the time. I've gotten into a pattern of reading for a few hours then cleaning my apartment. Which my roommates have been enjoying because a little bit too much My roommates and I started p90x a few weeks ago and this is the first time I was actually looking forward to do it since it's the only thing I've done this week besides reading and school work.

After these 4 days I've realized I could go without Facebook. When I first started I wasn't really sure but now I don't really miss all the people complaining about their schedules or why no one likes them. I really only liked Facebook for the chat because no matter what even if people weren't answering their phone they would probably be on Facebook. I've only been watching netflix recently so the lack of TV hasn't  bothered me, there's too many commercials anyway. Probably the worst thing for me is no Xbox. It was the easiest way for me to burn some time. Play a few matches of Halo or Call of duty then Boom, it's dinner time.

All of those activities have been replaced. I've started reading the watchmen again, I got half way through it freshmen year but never got around to finishing it. So yesterday I started from the beginning and now I'm about three quarters of the way through and enjoying every page of it. I've also been playing a bunch of risk lately as it is the longest board game ever and it's also pretty fun.

The only crazy thing that happened recently happened when I was waking up. I woke up then fell back asleep then had a dream that I had my phone in my hand and the notification light was going off, then I woke up and was kind of disappointed. I guess having no technology has affected me more than I thought but I've already made it 4 days there's no point in stopping now.

Day 2.

Today is the second day without my cell phone, Facebook, TV, music, etc. So far it hasn't been too bad. With all the time not wasted on TV/video games and such, I was able to read all of feed before our quiz today. even though I read it in such a short amount of time, I don't feel as though I missed any important concept or part of the plot. That's pretty much all I did yesterday besides clean my room and count up a cup full of change.

I thought that classes would go slower with nothing to look at or respond to every five minutes but they go the same speed no matter what. I just don't like the fact that I don't know what anyone is doing. If I meet someone for lunch now it's by pure coincidence. With the weekend coming up I have no idea where to go "socialize" at. Aside from being completely out of the loop I haven't been that bored, I feel like I've been more productive in these two days then I have been in the first few weeks of the semester. I guess it show's how much time I waste with technology. 

That's pretty much all that has gone on so far. I'm not looking forward to the weekend I'm nearing completion of all the work that's been assigned to me so I don't know what i'm going to do. These first two days have been interesting though. It's a little weird going anywhere alone because at that point no one know's where you are until you meet up with someone you know. Despite it being weird it's also kind of cool. I think of it as  being technologically invisible. All things considered though, I'm enjoying having no technology more than I thought I would.

Here's an interesting story. It literally shows how "attached" people are to their technology. The article is from 2006 so I don't know how credible is but it's semi entertaining http://gizmodo.com/#!155708/car-crash-victims-arm-found-cellphone-intact

Not Just Another Brick In the Wall

The idea of living in a cabin for a year doesn't sound like that bad of idea. It'd be nice to get away from whatever your doing and relax. If I could find something to do everyday I wouldn't mind, at least I'd be keeping busy. During the winter it would be a little rough just because of the the extreme cold and not being able to do much outside. It would be a physically taxing experience but one I feel would be worth doing, but seeing how the next few years will be pretty important this probably won't happen. In our defense though it would be much easier for Thoreau to complete this task as he has never used our technology or experienced the speed of todays society.

Despite using technology everyday for the last few years I don't think I've become some mindless husk or less of my own person.  I think that not conforming makes a person less efficient. Who would hire someone for a 100k a year job that doesn't know how to operate a cell phone or access the internet.. Just because you use Facebook or own a cell phone doesn't mean that you are, as Pink Floyd would say it "Another brick in the wall". I agree that corporations influence more than we realize, at least it hasn't gotten to the point where we're willing to get lesions just to look cool, like in feed.. But until we get to that point, using technology will not make us less of who we are and it won't take living in a cabin alone to prove it.

Hey, we're not dumb!

So according to Mark Bauerlein we are the dumbest generation. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and even though his is very demeaning towards our generation I don't really mind. He thinks that instead of facebooking we should be reading or doing something more intellectual with our time. unfortunately the speed of our lives has gone up exponentially. Information can be accessed in seconds via a phone or computer. Who wants to spend time reading a novel or researching the past. Although these activities would make us a more cultured people, it just doesn't fit into our lightning fast culture.I don't think that having information more readily available to us makes us more lazy though. I think it makes us more productive because of the ability for us to do more things at once.
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 Probably the best use of  the song Carmina Burana

I admit, I didn't know half of the questions on part 2 today's quiz. Half of those questions weren't even important though. For example, the name of the composer that wrote Carmina Burana. We only care about information that is relevant to us. I'm guilty of this, if something happened 300 years ago why should I care. I definitely found the quote " Two thirds of high-school seniors in 2006 couldn't explain an old photo of a sign over a theater door reading COLORED ENTRANCE" interesting. It would seem that our generation doesn't even know our own history or what we discussed in groups that racism is slowly starting to decline. As a member of another group pointed out, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". Despite the fact that our generation probably doesn't know the meaning of the sign, I still believe that there is less racism in our generation.

Mark Bauerlein can think what ever he wants. I love living in such a fast paced culture. I don't think I would be able to live in a society that's not. If that makes me dumb then oh well. 
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Addicted!

The second skin documentary was very informative and interesting. Never  before have I seen such displays of video game addiction. I know back whenever I was in middle school I thought I was bad when I played Halo 2 after school for many hours at a time. I now know that my time spent in Halo 2 doesn't even come close to the Hours spent by the people in the second skin documentary.  To someone who is uneducated in these types of games it would seem that the gamer is just wasting his/ her life away in front of the computer. But me knowing a good deal about all sorts of games know what's going on. In these "mmorpgs" players cooperate to complete certain objectives or just socialize. In the mind blowing amount of hours that players put into these games it's not surprising that they meet people who they want to become friends with. It's the same thing with any sports team or organization.  The only difference is their world isn't real. While I don't doubt the ability to create relationships inside these types of games spending days worth of time inside an imaginary is completely ridiculous. There is a plethora of examples of how people waste their time playing these games. The four main guys in the documentary all took off vacation days to play the new expansion, one of them even mentioned playing for 18 hours straight. Another player said that he had logged over 100 days of playtime. What a waste of time.   

                  This video pretty much sums up the whole second skin documentary in 5 minutes


Games are not the only computer centered activity that solicits copious amounts of hours from our day though. In the post human section of  Culture Jam  there is a passage about a woman whose addiction to a chat room destroyed her life. she didn't shower in 4 days and her speech had become slurred  so that there was no breaks in between any words. I think people take these social networking sites way to seriously. "liking" pages on Facebook has gone way out of control ie. the page "Turning off the downstairs lights and running upstairs so no one kills you". All of those pages are garbage, I know it doesn't take long to generate  a page but all they want to do is have fans and it's obnoxious. Social networking has gone completely out of control and it's for reasons like the ones above that people get obsessed.

Hey Everybody!

This is a story about Jon Witte. In 2008 Jon started his journey at Shippensburg University and has been striving for greatness ever since. he currently a Management Information Systems major in the college of business.  Jon hails from Fairless Hills which is located in the southern part Bucks County, PA. The only upside about living there is that it is very close to Philadelphia, about a half hour away. In the summer, Jon works at a public pool. He has been working there for 5 years but hasn't had to save any lives yet. Maybe if he didn't fall asleep on the stand he could pay better attention. In addition to being a mediocre lifeguard, Jon likes to watch sports, highly intellectual  movies and play lots of video games (but not too much). Jon's current favorite song is "I just had sex" by the lonely island, but he also likes a wide variety of music.

Alright, I'm done writing in the third person now, the task has proved rather difficult. I just wanted to do something different compared to a normal bio. Unfortunately,  as I continued writing though the third person stuff was starting to get repetitive so I stopped. All of the information above is true, but here are a few more interesting bits of information.In high school I did marching band and we were so good that we were invited to Hong Kong to play at the Hong Kong Sevens rugby tournament. Playing in front of 50,000 people was awesome, although I think the audience was more interested in the streaker that ran on the field during our show (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLOOGSJES_E). Lastly, I went skydiving my freshmen year. It was the best experience ever, there is no other rush like it. That's everything that I can think to write about. I look foward to blogging in the future!