Final Project!

Here is a link to Group 3's Final Project on Will Ferrell, Lawrence Lessig and Copyright!

http://finalprojectwillferrell.blogspot.com/

Writing Assignment 2

Officially Published! :) http://www.appstate.edu/~edwardsa1/WritingAssignment2.html

Life-like Interactions

My generation of peers has grown up around an abundant amount of technology. It is in encrypted in many memories of my childhood… I can still remember the night when my dad waited in line for a brand new gaming system, the Nintendo 64. A feeling of absolute wonder and astonishment overcame me; and this feeling is always occurring, it actually seems to be never ending. This is because I am constantly being amazed with technology. Not only can I video chat with my friends on the other side of the country, shake my iPod to make the songs shuffle, and talk to my phone about directions to the nearest Oyster Bar, but I can actually deposit a check into my account- miles away from my bank, with the click of the camera on my phone.

Throughout the book “Alone Together” Sherry Turkle tells her audience about the interactions the human race is currently having with technology. She covers a lot of ground by discussing online role-playing to websites and even talks about robots. When first breaking the bind of this book I will admit that I was a little weary that Turkle would become opinionated while conveying her information and findings. Honestly, either she is really good at hiding it, never became opinionated at all, or the more likely reason that I loved her writing, I completely agreed with it. Turkle just makes the reader think. She lays out examples, facts and real experiences of others then challenges the reader with leading questions or statements, forcing them to contemplate what she has just thrown on your plate. One imp articular quote really made me ponder… on page 101 she ends the chapter with “it is easy to become so immersed in technology that we ignore what we know about life.” So many instances came to my mind immediately but this was stated right after she mentioned a piece of technology that consumed much of my childhood… “Baby So Real”. Turkle ended her chapter with me thinking about a robot-doll… in-depth thinking, too. As crazy as it seems, even though I was only around 4 years old, I remember loving my doll just like Turkle’s example of Steven Speilberg’s humanoid, David, being loved by his human Mother, Monica (page 100). It is easy to believe that children love all of their belongings including the ones that are not meant to be technologically interacted with such as Beanie Babies or Barbie’s. But, I can testify that the care I had for my Baby So Real beat out any feeling I had for my other toys. She always came first, she was always the one beside me in church while coloring, riding with me in the car and of course tucked in with me at night. Being only four, I was a baby myself. The doll was almost as big as I was; she was very similar to me, so I gave it the care that I wanted at that age. Turkle explains more on page 100 about our connection with robot-like forms and absolutely hit the nail on the head as I was thinking about my earliest experiences with Baby So Real. But, I began to challenge Turkle in my mind… I have had other encounters with robotic babies growing up.

In middle school, as part of the course, my health class required you to become a ‘parent’ for three days. This was, along with teaching responsibility, obviously teaching abstinence. Each student took a robotic baby home that had to be changed, fed, put to sleep, burped etc… and was programmed to cry. By cry, I mean wail. These babies were not meant for fun at all. Now, growing up I loved everything that resembled life and I would be devastated if it was taken away but this is one experience I had where I did not feel the connection between the life-like object. In our Internet Studies class we discussed an experiment where adults had to turn objects upside down for as long as they could. The objects were a Barbie, a Furby, and a small, living animal. If this experiment was done on me, I would be the one who would cringe at the thought of turning the Furby on its head. But, this whole “take care of a fake child for a grade” baby could have had its head beaten in and it would not have bothered me a bit. For this example in my life, and this example only, I would like to talk to Turkle about the open arms we have as human beings that allow us to have that odd, interesting, and even creepy connection with life-like things. When we allow ourselves open the door for a relationship, we act a certain way but if the relationship is thrown upon us and we are unwilling then we act in a completely different manner. To clarify, many of the times that the take home baby needed me, I only tended to it because I knew it would cry, whine, and irritate me. But, when the ‘baby’ was docile and calm, I treated it like a real child. I wanted to make sure that it stayed that way and did not want to upset it for any reason. Turkle explains on page 133 that “what robots offer meets our human vulnerabilities” and my experience with the take home baby is the best example of backing her statement up. In conclusion, Turkle has taught me more than I could imagine in just a little over 300 pages, and whether she meant to or not, has had me thinking hard about my relationship with technology since page one.

Pinterest: A New World

Pinterest is a user generated website where interesting findings from the internet are posted and shared with a community of millions. If one is to create an account, Pinterest makes sure that the holder is a ‘real’ person by linking it with other social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter. Pinterest ‘boards’ look like collages of photos that actually link to a recipe, DIY's, blogs etc. There are over 20 categories to choose from when browsing Pinterest and the community of people sharing ideas and interests is continuously growing.

ugly screen cast!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeXbBGlODXQ&feature=youtu.be

Web Assignment 1

Website for Web Assignment 1!!! http://edwardsaurelia.wix.com/webassignmentone

Temporary Web Assignment 1!