Too Far

     Just in my time growing up I have witnessed the popularization and advancement of modern technology. Almost everything we do involves technology somehow. Most the time when we are communicating with someone it's through texting or Facebook chat, if we are lucky we will share a phone call. By doing so, it's easier to say whatever is on your mind, you never really have to face the person, just some screen. I believe this is why cyberbullying, sexting, and such of the source have become such problems today. I also believe this is the reason so many people have lost intimacy with loved ones.
     Technology was created to have people become more available and for convenience. I love having a cell phone, it's always right there when I need it. If I just want to catch up with an old friend I can easily do so, but at the same time I strongly feel all this technology in recent years has just made us a zombie in our life. We constantly have to be checking our phones, Facebook, email, etc. If you don't respond to someone almost immediately it is considered rude. When I walk to class I'm usually texting and listening to music. By the time I get to class I could not even tell you what I went by during that walk. All this technology is making us miss out on our lives. We overlook the small things, we never are able to just escape, and our surroundings have become a blur. Relationships are shallow because most of them are formed through the aid of technology. What happened to the days of spending quality time with someone? What happened to the meaning of an actual relationship? What happened to coming home and enjoying your family without being bombarded with emails, computer games, and surfing the web. Whatever convenience technology has made for us, it has also drawn away. We have become robots. When will the boundary be drawn to say this is too much?

Ever Get A Rest?

     After a day of classes/work I always come back to my dorm room, jump on my bed, and turn on the TV and whip out my laptop. This is my 45 minutes-1 hour to just relax before I start on my studying for the night. During this time I'll catch up on my latest episodes, surf the web, and/or sometimes fall asleep. However, after this break, I still don't feel rejuvenated. While home this weekend, I was surfing the web, as usual, when I came across a quote stating doing nothing is not always pointless. This got me to thinking, I grabbed a blanket and went to go lay outside in my backyard. I laid their and actually relaxed, thought about absolutely nothing and just enjoyed being in my own little world for a bit. This brief fifteen minute period helped me relax and refresh myself way more than my 1 hour I give to myself daily. I, like many people today, spend too much time being invested into the internet, TV shows, and social aspect of my life.   I never really take a quick break from life to think and prioritize, I always have myself on the go. In my opinion, taking time to do absolutely nothing, even for just a few minutes a day, leaves you feeling much more refreshed.

Inconveniently convenient

            Every time I go to the gym, I leave my cell phone behind in my dorm room. I enjoy the hour I get to myself being out of contact from others, and not constantly feeling paranoid to check my phone for text messages or facebook updates. When I first heard of my Composition class assignment to write a blog over technology, I instantly thought of writing about the inconvenience technology has cast on us, despite its many pros. Then the snowstorm came.

            My friends and I clearly were going to take full advantage of the snow and have a night out sledding. After a few fun hours out on the hills, we decided to take our freezing bodies back to the dorm. On our way back we saw a young guy and his girlfriend stuck in one of the many snowdrifts, we turned around to help them. I’m sure it was there that my cell phone slipped out of my pocket. When I got back into my dorm room I realized what I was missing, my friends and I went to retrace all our tracks for that night. It was nowhere to be found. Right away, I needed that lost cell phone to call my mom to inform her I will need to contact Verizon Wireless immediately.

            Over the course of a weekend and a few days, I was constantly inconvenienced without my phone. Yes, I will admit, I loved the downtime and being out of reach to people, but it got very old. I needed my phone to call a friend for help with homework, I needed my phone for my alarm, I didn’t have it to make plans or stay connected to the world. I kept having to bug my roommate and suitemates to “please let me borrow your phone.” It was because of those few days that I realized just how dependent our society has become upon technology. A few years ago, my phone was only used to keep in contact with my parents. Now, it is more than an emergency device. It is a key to my social life, a necessity for school (checking email while out), and has many features such as the alarm I also use daily. As more and more is added to the cell phone to use, the more dependent I’ve become on it.

In the last couple years, technology has become a key to your education. Not only do you need it to search and google information you wouldn’t already know; but also it is the main, and sometimes only way, to contact instructors. PowerPoint’s, syllabi, other updates are constantly being put on the internet for students. During the snowstorm, my instructors communicated with me through email and the school website, Desire2Learn. Without this, I would probably already be failing most of my classes. With almost anything these days, technology is needed and I, like the rest of the world, have become a full-blown technology user.

With technology surrounding me everywhere I go, I can’t help but to wonder if I’ve become more dependent on technology, or because of the advances in technology I’ve been forced to become more dependent? For me, the more technology advances, the easier I find myself depending on it. Which leads me to also ask myself is this obsession a positive or negative thing? And what would the outcome be if we were to suddenly lose all our technology? These are questions we all should ask ourselves next time were pulling out our cell phone to chat with an old friend, rather than personally talking with them face to face. Just because technology can be used for just about anything, doesn’t mean we should always resort to it.

Comp 2

 This blog is to mark the start of something new. I created this blog last semester for my Composition 1 class. The previous blogs were topics given to us to have fun with at the beginning of class. From now on, I'll be using this blog for my Composition 2 class which discusses Technology in our world today.

Persuasive Essay #2

Assignment:

using your article, accomplish the following writing tasks:

1. summarize the article in 3-4 sentences, hitting the article's thesis and major points.

2. state your position on this issue in 1-2 sentences.

3. brainstorm reasons for your position.

4. what is the larger issue at stake regarding your position?

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1-2.        My article for this essay is about a murder from New York City and his journal. In this article, it discusses fragments of his personal journal read aloud in court. Most of these fragments are graphic and guiltless, upsetting the family member who lost his two children and wife because of this murder. They show little remorse, but show inside the mind of the murder. I find this article very interesting. It is interesting because it shows you how shameless and messed up a killer can be, and gives you an idea of how they think. At the same time I find it to be very sad, because no one wants to hear of the pleasure felt when someone you deeply loved got killed.

3.            -not everyone should have constant access to courtrooms.

                -some material in court explicit

                - some parts of court should be kept limited to only members of the legal team               

4. If it is too explicit for all members of the courtroom, too explicit for the newspaper. Not everything needs to be posted in the newspaper to be discussed and read. Show some respect for those suffering hardship and respect their right to privacy.

Man of My Dreams

Hello man of my dreams,
   So nice to finally meet you, it's only taken my whole life. You know we should get together and never part sides. But for starters, how about a first date? I'll treat you good, feed you good, and make you laugh. I"ll even pay for our first date if that means you'll go with me. I'm not desperate don't worry, just really thinking your something awfully special. So in that case, I'll see you at 8 o'clock Friday night.

Raise an aristocracy for a brainer U .S.

This article discusses making tax cuts, which is believed that the rich will then hoard. The author of this article argues how this is a good thing. The rich think "how do I get more money? Not how best to use it." The author believes that more hereditary wealth would stabalize our markets in this unemployed phase were in it.