JessicaC's Blog

Media plays a significant role in all our lives. We turn on the TV and can see what is happening all around the world and in our own backyard. We read newspapers and magazines; we search on the internet, and can even hear news on the radio. Our lives are centered on the media and what they have to tell us. In the United States we have the greatest freedom of free speech. We can write and say what we want as long as it is not slanderous or libel. Journalists have the freedom to write about whatever they please. They can bash the president’s policies or even the way he speaks. There is not limit to the free speech. I wonder what would happen if there was. Would people riot? Would they stay quiet about it? Here in America, we have the luxury of not having to worry about such a thing. It may not be so in other countries around the world. Many people in America do not realize that this wonderful gift of free speech has its price.                         

The great nation of China is known for many things: The Great Wall of China, the Han Dynasty, fireworks, Chinese New Year, and a seriously huge population. Their media is much the same as ours, television, newspapers, magazines, radio, and internet. However, since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 until the late 1980’s, media was state-run. Independent media started to come around because of economic reforms, but regulatory agencies still continue to set strict regulations on the communist party, government policies, pornography, and a banned religious group called Falun Gong. Although it is heavily censored, the Chinese media has flourished in areas it can talk about. 

Japan is considered one of the leading countries in new technology. They make cheaper cars, video games, and have a vast variety of game shows on television. Nevertheless, they still have media censorship. Although they do not have direct laws about censorship, it would be suicide to their papers if they reported negatively on the government. Many of the newspapers are closely tied with politicians and the prime minister so they guard what they say about them. Many civilians are starting to become tired of not hearing the truth and many have threatened to become reporters to get the truth. As one can see these reporters do not report on the negative aspects of politics out of fear. They fear losing their jobs or even worse, their lives.

The Middle East is perhaps the best known area of restricted freedoms issued by the government. Many people outside this area think the government is horrible and on the verge of being totalitarian. However there is another factor to remember, religion. The countries in this area consist of many religions that require much censorship. Women are subject to death for even looking at a man in the wrong way. So how does this play into their media? I think it explains why they are almost completely censored in what they write. Whether one thinks this is right or wrong is a personal opinion. It is hard to say what the right thing to do is. We have been at war with Iraq for eight years trying to give them the freedom they deserve.

What I am trying to say here is that we have so much freedom that we are confused when someone else has a different view. Many articles about other countries’ media focus on the negative aspects. They focus on the oppressed portion. I agree that people should be free to say what they wish and write about anything they please, but who are we to judge what they do. People blame the governments for trying to hide things and control what we hear, to keep us in the dark. That may be true, but what about the good things. Media is so centrally negative that we forget these countries have good qualities as well. What if the news we are getting is selective. We hear what the journalist wants us to hear. Could it be that they choose only the negative things to translate for us? Yes Arabs and Farsi’s seem to be extremists to us, but are they. Im sure there is a more moderate Arabs that we do not hear about.

What I have learned is that media plays one of the greatest roles in our lives. Yes, we have free speech but what are we truly learning. I am not a journalist. I watch the news and listen to what they choose to tell me. I am thankful that I can write and say what I want, but people should realize there are always two sides to every story.

Technology is defined in dictionary.com as the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. However, to me, it simply means a way of life. I use technology in almost every aspect of my life. For school, I use computers and calculators. For work, I use a computer, printer, and calculator. For entertainment, I use my cell phone, laptop, ipod, television, dvd player, and many more things. Technology has consumed the world for better or worse and whether a person is rich or poor, we all benefit from the use of technology.

They way I use technology is probably about the same as every average person. I use it to do homework, communicate with people, entertainment, and even with customers. The most important piece of technology that I use in my everyday life is my cell phone. I always have it with me and I constantly use it. Cell phones were first invented in 1947 by Bell Labs engineers at AT&T. However, the cell phones that we use today were developed by Martin Cooper in 1973. Since then, they have been developing ways to use wireless technology out of the home. I thank Martin Cooper for his invention. It has made my life so much easier. Of course all the features of my phone are way more complex than Coopers first invention, it was his doing that allowed this wonderful object. My cell phone has pretty much everything I could need. I have text messaging, mobile email, a calendar, and a calculator. I keep myself organized by writing to do lists in my phone and putting important dates in my calendar. Since my phone is always with me I can check what needs to be done for the day and if it is really important I can set up an alarm that will remind me of the reason. Another important aspect of my cell phone is my email. Since I started collage, my professors email me assignments and updates on things. Also, I work with elementary schools, so being able to check my email when im on the go is very important. I text almost every hour of the day because to me it is a fun way to stay in contact with my friends even though I am busy. We can have a conversation all day and if we have to stop for a while it is ok because we can simply pick back up where we left off. Another reason I like having my cell phone is because I can instantly call someone. When I am at the store and I forget what I am supposed to get, I can just call my mom and know the answer in just a few seconds. It is highly convienent to be able to call someone wherever you are and get the information you need in a matter of seconds. Another reason being able to call someone is in cases of emergency. If I got lost somewhere or if someone was hurt I can quickly call for help. Besides all the important things I need my phone for, I like having games and music to use in my spare time. If I am waiting for something or simply bored, I use the games on my phone and listen to music. There are so many uses for my cell phone that I am very grateful for. Of course cell phones do have their negative effects. One bad thing is that sometimes people get to comfortable communicating via text, that they do not know how to communicate face to face. It seems to me that people have more confidence while they are texting than when they have to actually talk to the person. I feel that by simply texting all the time, we are losing some of our humanity. We are so used to talking to the phone, that it seems weird talking to a person. It also makes people lazy. I know because sometimes I will call my brother who is in the next room, instead of getting up and talking to him. I do not believe that  my cell phone is effecting me so much that I cannot talk to people, but it has made me a little more lazy.

There has been much controversy over technology and machines taking over some of our humanity. Many people think we are losing some of our humanity to robots or machines. In this video by Pricilla Renea, a girl has a boyfriend who is not paying attention to her because of the technology around him. He is concerned with playing his video game and his car. Eventually he loses her. This shows what can happen to us if we let technology interfere. Instead of communicating with each other, we do it through technology and this leads to somewhat negative things. With online dating sites, like Match.com, People let the computer decide who is best suited for them. How do we know if a person lied on their profile or if they are bad people. Even if the person turns out to be true, what does this say about us as humans that we let a computer decide who is best for us? In the tv show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, a couple are talking through instant messaging while sitting right next to each other. They said they felt more excitement when they wrote to each other rather than talked. I can understand if they were writing romantic love letters to each other and sent it through the mail, but to sit right next to each other and talk about everyday things through the computer is ridiculous. I think this shows that while technology is good and fun to use, maybe we are using it too much. Now instead of reading books we can go online and get full texts on our computer. Instead of writing essays, we post blogs. Im not saying that this may necessarily be a bad thing, but I believe we also need to remember the human aspect of technology. As I look around this room filled with computers, I see a girl making a power point and another on myspace. I see a boy on a video game website. With each of these, they are communicating through technology. The girl on myspace is writing messages to her friends. The boy playing the video game is playing against an unknown component. We have gone from playing face to face to playing against people halfway around the world. In most ways, this brings out good things. We are not identifying the opponent by discriminating factors, but by their ability. And yet, if we were to meet that person, would we know what to say? Would we be able to talk about other things than the game, or what pictures were posted on their websites? I grew up with a classmate who rarely ever talked in class. On my facebook account, he asked to be my friend and talked endlessly. I was so shocked to see that. I believe he had more confidence when not directly with the person. The computer enabled him to talk without insecurities. And that is exactly my point in saying we are losing some of our humanity to technology. I love talking and laughing with people, it would be a shame to only hear my own laughter.

World Vision

Technology is defined in dictionary.com as the branch of knowledge that deals with the creation and use of technical means and their interrelation with life, society, and the environment, drawing upon such subjects as industrial arts, engineering, applied science, and pure science. However, to me, it simply means a way of life. I use technology in almost every aspect of my life. For school, I use computers and calculators. For work, I use a computer, printer, and calculator. For entertainment, I use my cell phone, laptop, ipod, television, dvd player, and many more things. Technology has consumed the world for better or worse and whether a person is rich or poor, we all benefit from the use of technology.

                They way I use technology is probably about the same as every average person. I use it to do homework, communicate with people, entertainment, and even with customers. The most important piece of technology that I use in my everyday life is my cell phone. I always have it with me and I constantly use it. Cell phones were first invented in 1947 by Bell Labs engineers at AT&T. However, the cell phones that we use today were developed by Martin Cooper in 1973. Since then, they have been developing ways to use wireless technology out of the home. I thank Martin Cooper for his invention. It has made my life so much easier. Of course all the features of my phone are way more complex than Coopers first invention, it was his doing that allowed this wonderful object. My cell phone has pretty much everything I could need. I have text messaging, mobile email, a calendar, and a calculator. I keep myself organized by writing to do lists in my phone and putting important dates in my calendar. Since my phone is always with me I can check what needs to be done for the day and if it is really important I can set up an alarm that will remind me of the reason. Another important aspect of my cell phone is my email. Since I started collage, my professors email me assignments and updates on things. Also, I work with elementary schools, so being able to check my email when im on the go is very important. I text almost every hour of the day because to me it is a fun way to stay in contact with my friends even though I am busy. We can have a conversation all day and if we have to stop for a while it is ok because we can simply pick back up where we left off. Another reason I like having my cell phone is because I can instantly call someone. When I am at the store and I forget what I am supposed to get, I can just call my mom and know the answer in just a few seconds. It is highly convienent to be able to call someone wherever you are and get the information you need in a matter of seconds. Another reason being able to call someone is in cases of emergency. If I got lost somewhere or if someone was hurt I can quickly call for help. Besides all the important things I need my phone for, I like having games and music to use in my spare time. If I am waiting for something or simply bored, I use the games on my phone and listen to music. There are so many uses for my cell phone that I am very grateful for. Of course cell phones do have their negative effects. One bad thing is that sometimes people get to comfortable communicating via text, that they do not know how to communicate face to face. It seems to me that people have more confidence while they are texting than when they have to actually talk to the person. I feel that by simply texting all the time, we are losing some of our humanity. We are so used to talking to the phone, that it seems weird talking to a person. It also makes people lazy. I know because sometimes I will call my brother who is in the next room, instead of getting up and talking to him. I do not believe that  my cell phone is effecting me so much that I cannot talk to people, but it has made me a little more lazy.

People have many reasons to look up information. Some for personal reasons, others for school assignments, and still others for professional work. Whatever the reason, we all need to know that the information we are obtaining is valid. When we research, we need to evaluate our resources to be sure they are credible. Since we are living in a modern age, we have many different types of resources we could use. We have both printed resources like journals, news articles, and books, and also web resources. When we evaluate printed resources we should ask ourselves: What do I know of the publisher? Are they biased? What do I know about the author? Are the facts of the article accurate? What is the author’s main focus? What is the time frame of the article?. If we ask ourselves these questions and are able to answer them with good responses, then more than likely the source is credible. When we go online to do research, it is a little harder to be sure of the credibility. We can ask ourselves: Can we find the author’s name? Is he certified to write on this topic? What organizations are connected and what do they represent? Is there a way to contact the organization? Who published the article? Is the article peer reviewed? Are the facts accurate? Is it biased?. It is clear that the question one needs to ask for both resources are very similar. If all those questions can be answered, then we know it is a good source to use. Two websites that I believe are useful are dictionary.com and cnn.com. With the first website, it is very useful to me because not only does it define words, but it also has an encyclopedia, thesaurus, and a translator. I know that it is credible because at the bottom of the page it links its supporters, authors, and publishers. It also is a non biased website. I also like the cnn website because it provides the most current news and has an archive of older articles. I know this website is credible because, the authors, publishers and sponsers can be easily found. Some of the articles may be biased, but for the most part it delivers the news responsibly.

To be literate is to be able to read and write. It is defined two ways in  dictionary.com, the first is the ability to read and write, the second is having knowledge or skill in a specified field. Although many people would settle for the first definition, I believe being literate is more in depth, like the second definition. With the first definition, one would describe a seven year old as literate because that is about the age we are able to both read and write. While it is true that the seven year old is now literate, there is much more to it than just reading and writing. In my opinion, to be literate includes a wide range of things. To be literate one must comprehend what they are reading. Comprehension is a key element in being literate. It is easy to just read the words on a page, but it is a true accomplishment to comprehend. I also believe that being a truly literate person includes the ability to adapt. There is a difference in reading a news article, a poem, and even a book. One must adapt to the different types of reading. Writing is also a major component of being literate.When one writes they must be able to coherently express ideas. It is not simply writing words on a paper. Creativity and imagination are a part of writing and one must have these traits to be truly literate.

This semester I hope to be able to express my ideas in a more creative way. I have never used an online blog before, and at first it really confused me. Now that I am in the habit, I want to be able to express my ideas through technology. In my opinion, the most important aspect of being literate is expression. Learning new ways to express is fun and creative!

The internet has many uses. People all around the world use it for many different reasons. We believe it is a very good resource to have. To some the internet can be a dangerous place and to others, a wonderful place. We believe that the internet is neither good, nor bad, but it depends on how people use it. For example, online research has become one of the number one reasons to use the internet. Nobody sees research as a good or bad thing, just a way of obtaining facts. In an online poll that asked the question, “Do you think the Internet promotes or inhibits the democratic principles of equality and liberty?”, forty-five percent of the people said it promotes in some ways and prohibits in others. So in other words it has its good and bad. Although most people see the internet as simply a helpful tool, there are some who would argue that the porn sites, fraud, and predators online make it a dangerous place. We agree that this is true, however what a person does online should be their own business and they should be the ones to protect themselves. While there are some mean people out there, a greater number lies within those who use the internet in the right way. It is a privilege to have the internet and as such we are each responsible for protecting our own well being, and the right to use it as we wish.

People use the internet for many different reasons. Some use it for entertainment, others for work, and still others for communication. In the youtube video, The Internet Is For Porn, they suggest that although people use it for some many reasons, their ultimate goal is to look at porn. I have the backround knowledge to know that the sex industry is tied for number one with the drug buisness, for the number one money making industries in the world. But I must disagree with the opinion that people only use the internet to look at porn. Even if people do look at porn, they still use the internet for other reasons. I personally use it for communicating with my friends who have moved away, paying bills and managing my account, and shopping. It is very handy to have immediate access to my bank and to my friends.

I think the internet should be used exactly as it is. Although I do wish it could be more censored. The only thing that I would suggest taking away from the internet is porn. It is scary to think that children go on the internet and accidentally stumble upon it. There is no security within the searches. A way we could prevent this is by setting up locks on the sites. People who do not wish to see porn sites pop up or have their children see them, should have the option of locking porn sites off their computers. I am not a computer scientist, so I do not know exactly how to achieve this, but I believe something must be done.

Other than the porn that is on the internet, I believe that it is a good source. It gives us immediate access to unlimited subjects. People have accomplished much by using the internet. We have gained knowledge of world issues, donated our services to help others, and even run for the presidency, like . Overall, the internet is a good resource to have, although censorship should be established.

There are many ways of interacting with technology and new media. For example: cell phones, bluetooth, computers, laptops, video games, satellite, television, radio, and internet. The two most important to me are computers and television.

I use my computer/laptop, at least once a day. Many days I use it multiple times a day for multiple hours. It is a way for me to keep myself organized. I keep a my work schedule, school schedule, and everyday schedule in my computer. I write all of my assignments on the computer even if it is handwritten. I like to keep good records of all my work. I am usually scatter brained and by keeping all of my important information in my computer, I know it will keep me organized. I also love my computer because it helps me keep in touch with all of my friends. Since graduating high school, all my friends have spread out over the state and country. Having the computer gives me a way of being close to them although we are far apart.

 The television is important to me because I love watching movies. My friends call me the movie guru. Although I could watch movies many different ways and not just through a tv, I chose the television because it also has the news. I watch the news every night and by doing so I know I am learning about the world. One of my main goals in life is to travel and I want to have knowledge about the countries I will be travelling to. I do not watch very many sitcoms, but I do watch documentaries. The television has allowed me to learn a lot about the world. With all the advancements of the television like, tivo and HD, I am able to watch the shows without interruption and at a later time.