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!

Writing Assignment One, AOL Instant Messenger!

Since 1997!

Imagine a time where you were unable to access the internet virtually anywhere. In this time you were not able to pull out your smart phone and connect to the nearest Wi-Fi. Instead, many of us were merely sitting at a desktop computer listening to dial-up so we could link ourselves to the outside world through the internet. For me, I was having this ‘problem’ in 2004. As soon as I walked through the door from school I would casually drop my book bag at the door... act like I was going to pull out some homework but instead I would race to my family’s fancy Gateway computer. Though I had just left school, where all of my friends were, I was sure I was going to miss out on something if I wasn't connected to them somehow. You see, in 2004 I had a lot going on, just like any other stuck-in-middle-school adolescent.  Having a social life was ranked extremely high on my priority list and, as a twelve year-old, the best way to keep that list the same was to constantly be on the internet. I, like many others my age, had discovered the easiest way to stay connected with friends, AOL Instant Messenger.

AOL Instant Messenger for me began inside the AOL website. You had to create your own username and this allowed you to use all of the AOL features and also connect to webpages. Eventually, after experimenting with some shameful chat rooms, I discovered AIM. This version of chatting was to be downloaded to my computer allowing me to simply log into my ‘screen name’ without going through the AOL site. Wow, did this make life so much easier for me. Not only was I cooped up in my study all alone, now I could be there for even longer chatting it up. Hawthorne would have been appalled.  In his writing he explains how the wood burning stove would ruin the sanctity of family-time and communication as whole. Boy, was he worried over nothing. I would be irritated just leaving that coveted computer chair for dinner, much less for time around a fire. At the current time, I was unaware at how this form of communication was shaping my life. Looking back now, I do smile thinking about all of the friends I made, music files I ‘shared’, and time I took to have my ‘profile’ looking perfect but I do wonder how different my adolescence would have been without AIM. Would I have learned how to master MS Paint without having to make all of my friends ‘icons’ that were perfect for their personality? Would I have different friends because there was no blocking feature in life? Would I have gone outside to find that I am an extraordinary golfer and be best friends with Tiger? Would I have learned the useless information ex: remembering that the combination of ctrl+3 would make a blushing smiley? Who knows. But I do know that I am more than content with my communication skills to this day and have only fond memories of my short-lived experience with AIM

I am pretty grateful for AIM, but for one reason more than the others. AIM led me to the discovery of good ol’ MySpace. Though it is still around today, AIM was eventually drowned out by social networking sites where it’s use is no longer demanded, but it definitely paved the path. Because of MySpace I was able to teach myself a little HTML coding and was able to express myself through making ‘layouts’ for friends and even strangers. AIM made me more comfortable with the internet and honestly with using the computer as a technology instrument. If it wasn't for the internet when I was in middle school the only thing I would be really experienced in now would be Rollercoaster Tycoon (but that couldn't be too bad). I will admit that I never thought about how much the internet would affect me in the years to come. I could not have ever imagined the amount of information we share with others who are all over the nation and the world. It’s amazing that years before the internet was created, Bush was already thinking about how we could connect with one another and share ideas. I was growing up in the prime and never realized how amazing the internet truly was, maybe because I didn’t know any different? Now I do. There is no telling what I would do in my free time if I wasn’t consumed with my laptop but I really believe that I’m ok with never knowing. I never want the internet to leave my life and I am grateful that I am able to watch its hand in transforming society right before my eyes.

Hello!

My name is Aurelia and I am a Junior Advertising major with a minor in Entrepreneurship.  Hopefully these two paths will eventually cross and I can be creative and innovative at the same time!  This blog is for my Internet Studies course and after telling a little bit about ourselves we are supposed to post something interesting from the internet.  This summer between vacations, friends from home and other things that kept me busy, I caught a pretty cool show on Discovery Channel.  Not as cool as Shark Week, but some of you may have also seen this pretty odd 'documentary'- it's called 'Mermaids: The Body Found'.  Now, if you have not seen this show you will think I am out of my mind for taking even an ounce of the information that was broadcast as truth- but! You should give it a chance, here's a small reason to make you a believer: