Outline of Essay

Thesis: Electronic representations are simulations that help people prepare for the future, expected and unexpected.

Argument 1: Games today revolve around players growth. These simulations revolves around the players choice and actions throughout the game. These new generation of games help players realize differnet points of view presented by CP (computer players), and how their actions effect every CP. And because these games are so real, the digital people in the games to become real. ~ Games: Fallout 3

Argument 2: They are simulations that help prepare for the future by giving you experiences first had through digital representations. Nowadays some game company see that the new generation of gaming is actual contact and physical motion.~Game: Wii Fit, and Xbox 360 Natal

Argument 3: Through television shows and movies when someone becomes ignorant, they usually pay the price. These simulations help viewers widen their perspective on their own personally situations and help them see a different point of view. ~Movie: Thank You For Smoking

HW 14

I have read the "Long Excerpt" called Everything Bad for you is Good for you by Steven Johnson is about varies things from video games to T.V. shows. He talks about how people who play video games tries to solve their difficulties by asking their selves an SAT problem such as:

I have to get across this river, what are my choices?

A) Jump it

B) Swim Across it

C) Use the bridge

I know this is sort of an obvious type of question with an answer you don't really have to think twice about, but this is the sort of question gamers ask themselves. And then we have people watching T.V., and a list of programs the excerpt listed are ER, 24, Apprentice, The Price is Right, etc. The excerpt suggest that watching shows like these, is like reading a book and trying to understand the concept and complications of the story or plot. This book does not talk about how bad these programs or how bad these video games are to your health but talks about how they help you improve on certain skills.

I can see why Johnson believes what he how these digital representations are helpful in some ways. He believes that certain television programs can help with our perspective in situations and how we see view these situations. Such examples, Scream, the movie, he pointed out how we would watch this movie, "As the door shuts behind her, the camera swoops in on the doorknob and we see that she's left the door unlock. The camera pulls back and then swoops down again for emphasis. And then a flashing arrow appears on the screen with a text that helpfully explains: 'Door unlocked!'" Johnson explains how we would watch what appears on screen and how we interpret the situation. There is no big arrow pointing to the doorknob that says "Door Unlocked!" but it is how we see in our mind. We also do this in books, we label each character with a list of names we come up with, quotes they've use in the past, and past actions to interpret what will happen next. Johnson suggest that TV and reading a book is not so different.

A page in Johnson's book talks about how we play video games. He said anyone new to the game who probably think that video games have obvious objectives like, kill this guy, dodge this, go here. But Johnson suggest that the agenda is much more complex than that:
"1) Your ultimate goal is to rescue your sister
2) To do that you must defeat the villain Ganon
3) To do this, you need to obtain legendary weapons
4) To locate the weapons, you need the pearl of Din
5)To get the pearl of Din you need to cross the ocean..."
Johnson compared this endless list to pacman which got about 4 agendas. This endless list shows how games have advance over the years and how complex it is to it's predecessors. In fact I believe that Johnson is hoping for more advance games in the future, many of which will be puzzle games such as Zelda to help, not only increase the awareness of the mind, but also the creativity.
There are many reasons these authors would disagree on and very few they would. One thing they agree on is that games and television programs will take up several hours of your time a day. Although Feed only talks about how being too in touch with digital representations are bad for you, not just physically, but mentally. Feed talks about how these electronic devices will take over your lives and control you and your emotions the way they want to, how people will become so addicted that everyone will want it implanted in their heads. Johnson, however, believes that they are good for you in some degrees. Although he didn't type it, or I didn't read it, he compares watching television to reading a book, how you follow a complex story but with images, and he then compares games to questions or puzzles and you have to solve them with given information. In ways, this would excessive your mind and your ability to adapt to complex plots.
So in all, Johnson and Feed talks about the digital representation of life, but both have very different view points of it. Feed talks about the future and how it will take over everyone while Johnson talks about how these representations will help you in life.

HW 13

The Feed, by M.T. Anderson, is about a book where everyone is hooked up to the internet, or what they call "The Feed," 24/7, where everything you can possible do on your computer is done in your head instantly without having to left a finger. Anderson is a very creative writer because this book have many events happening at once, many fake advertisements to convey a meaning and hints on how these people of the future live and to sum it up, appropriately respond to these events through the eyes of a kid name Titus who grew up with the Feed, must have taken a tremendous time of planning. Anderson tried to make this book about the future as real as possible but it seems more like he observe human behavior of today's society.

The Feed uses many events that are happening in today's time. Their Feed is nothing more then a computer in their head, they play games and order from online websites just like we do. They also have a computer program assistant just like most phone companies do. Everyone in the Feed is dumb and are very lazy, just like we do, for example the media says our SAT average is much lower then the last few years and also America is the country with the most overweight people. This book reflects our society, there's is a lot to point out but this book have many events of history as well. The riots of people resisting the Feed is an example of many great resistant of the past such as the Renaissance. I feel that this book also conveys another message, because Violet dies in the end (or becomes a potato) tells me that people will not fit in right if they are late in this "'fad" or never got the feed and will be abandoned by society as the clinically insane which is suggested by Titus when he first meet Violet and her dad.

I feel this book is not just talking to young readers already in tuned to the advertising world, nor is it only for the people of the electronic industry, I feel like this is a book for everyone, even the people out of America. This book does not solely talk about America, its a message to everyone, Russia, Australia, Mexico, etc. Although the message isn't really against America, even though in the book America doomed every living thing outside the dome, I feel its more like a cry for help since in the book it seems like we couldn't help ourselves even if we wanted to. Another message from this book is that the corporate industry took over everything such as school and peoples private life, something like Totalitarianism, something Hitler and Stalin came up with...That might be another message. Anyways, this book has many hints and references and parallel connection with our world, its numberless.

HW 12

I feel that the book, The Feed, does in many ways accurately protray the lifestyle that kids have nowadays. The way they talk, overusing the word "like," the way they dress thinking that anything new woud be the new cool, even the way they act is something we do as kids. Then comes the network, called the Feed, which is basically a computer in your brain. You're ableto stay on the network 24/7 with endless updates and all it comes with all the perks a computer would have such as orderng online, chating without using your mouth anywhere and anytime, watch videos and download music instantly; the most convient and advance technology during their time. The only different with theirs is that we don't have the network installed into our brain and it isn't as convient as theirs. Still, we do spent as much time as possible on the network then we should at all, some of us are on portable technologies that can do things the feed can, such as chat with people, visit sites on the internet, etc. The way I feel, I believe that the people in Feed is our children's, children's, children's, children's. I feel that the Feed is that that far into the future seeing how technology is rapidly evolving as we speak. I think that some of us mght live lone enough to see some kind of prototype because the idea of the Feed has come up to the government. I saw a documentary about a year ago that the government wanted to implant a chip into our heads for security purposes, and some families were wanted to participate as test subjects. I don't know what exactly happen to the family or if they even continue the idea of the chip, but it's scary how realistic this book might be. Also when people said that they would never want the feed in their heads, I honestly think that many of they people were lying. Maybe they were skeptical about the feed and what it can do because most of them are on the internet almost 24/7, not much different then the time people in Feed spend on it. So yes, this book does accurately reflects our generations and possible our kids are going to act more like Titus and his friends then we will, and their kids will act more like TItus then they will and so on and on and on.

Homework #10

http://www.scambusters.org/dangerous.html
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/177525
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/predators/john_robinson/index.html

Surfing through the web, I have found some interesting sites. The first site is about how not to trust all the e-mails you get because they can contain viruses that can spread from your computer to other peoples' computer. And it also gives advice on how to tell if you caught a virus and how to prevent it. The second link is just a bunch of sites, mostly from sites you should never ever go to unless you want to ruin your computer, to sites that will disturb/scar you for life. The third site is about a killer, and one of his hobbies is to chat with women online and meet with them. He then kills them, takes their child (if they have any) and sell them to his unsuspecting brother as a "pretending to be a do-good adoption broker".

These sites I have been force to roam gave me a sense of insights as to what the internet is capable of in the wrongs hands. These sites were not of interest but merely a search out of curiosity. After reading from these sites, it seems the internet is more lively. People able to express how they feel(the comments given from users) to how they make a living(hackers getting information). You have people like John Robinson, seducing lonely women and then selling their kids thanks to the internet. Then you have a work of art (sites listing in the second links) Its truly a place for everyone even if you are hated, your still invited to do anything so long as the internet is capable of doing it. And people can do amazing things in it even if it is sick and sadistic.