Entry #2: Technology: Bigger Than You Think

We've been talking a lot about technology in class this week. The 'Did You Know?' video was really interesting. I found a couple other videos that have to do with technology as well.

This video shows potential technology for the future. I thought this looked very surreal. Imagine being connected to everything everywhere. It seems like this sort of technology would never happen in our life times, but people have to consider that technologies that the world has today may not have been around when this generation was young. Parents of this generation may have never seen touch screen phones coming or even DVDs. Technology moves rapidly and the technology shown in the video could very well be among us in the next decade as some do believe. I suppose this gives everyone something interesting to look forward to as they get older!

Another video I came across has the same idea, but it's presented in a different way.

While the first video has the nice music and fun scenarios, this video gives off a completely different message in my opinion. First of all, the technology shown is obviously already created. I can't figure out why, but it's just not as shocking as the way it's presented in the first video. The second video actually makes me feel like humans will become extremely lazy (even worse than they already are) if this is released for the public to purchase and use it. Although advances in technology are usually to benefit humans and make most everything convenient, it seems as though technology only does two things: shortens the processes of many things in our lives so that we have time to cram more into our already busy schedules or allows us to do nothing and become too lazy for our own well-being.

I hope many of you understand the disadvantages of technology, but don't let those defeat the benefits. Technology really is important in keeping the world in some sort of chaotic order. Plenty of technologies allow for distractions, but users just have to have more self-discipline in order to avoid that. Let me know what you think of these house-friendly systems. Do you consider them revolutionary, or just a cripple on society?

It's My Body and I'll Dress How I Want To

I am a fashion enthusiast. I dress myself solely for the purpose of style and feeling confident. I believe a lot of teenage girls can relate when I say that my parents have told me countless times that I was showing a little too much skin. But the fact of the matter is, I can wear whatever i want. I have never dressed in such a way that I revealed anything unmentionable. Even if I had, it’s my body; it's my choice of what I show. Why is it frowned upon to wear slightly revealing clothing? Honestly. My brother has told me that he thought my shorts were too short and I went on to explain that what I wear is my business and it doesn’t imply anything. Simply because I'm showing a lot of leg doesn’t tell anything about my character. Good people can dress skimpily. Not that anything was hanging out, but even if a girl wants to show off her womanly parts, that’s completely up to her. It doesn’t mean she’s a whore or she’s easy. It means she is wearing clothes that she likes on herself. That's just something that society needs to learn to get over. A person shouldn’t even be offended by how much of someone’s body is showing because humans in the nude is natural! There’s nothing wrong with it and nothing to be ashamed about. My brother suggested that I wear my shorts that go down to my knees. I told him, “It’s hot out.” He said, “I always wear long shorts.” Then I told him, “That’s because the majority of your gender doesn’t think it’s acceptable to show your thighs.” I absolutely love the commercial shown below. I think the shorts look good on both of them. Why aren't more guys daring enough to want to pull this off?

It doesn't matter what your gender is. You're free to dress yourself however you like. We're not 5 years old anymore; we can make our own decisions when it comes to our appearance. Don't be afraid to do something out of the ordinary. Taking risks can be a very good experience. Whatever you choose to do, be confident in yourself and think twice before judging someone else's appearance, because you know you wouldn't want to get judged for yours.

Entry #1: To Blog or Not to Blog?

 With all the crazy advanced technology the 21st century possess, people sometimes question the usefulness of new technological concepts. Take blogging, for example. While there are many, many bloggers out there, there is still a fair amount of individuals who don't understand the purpose. So what IS the point in blogging when someone could just read the newspaper or magazines? Well for one, blogs have a lot more freedom than newspapers and magazines allow. Blogs are easily accessible. Most people have computers with internet where they can easily get on blogging websites; free blogging websites, might I add. Bloggers can get their information out to hundreds, thousands - even millions - of people with a simple click of a button. Organizations may have blogs to reach out to people in need. There are advice blogs for when individuals have nowhere else to turn. Blogs can also be like diaries. Many blogging networks allow users to create private or password-protected blogs. Users can blow off steam and get their feelings out through blogging rather than a physical diary. This way, the writer's thoughts are completely private and there's no trace of a journal for others to invade.

Daniel Nahabedian

After doing some research, I have discovered a few blogs that I'd like to share my opinion about. First off, I found Canvas of Light which is a photography blog. I love photography, and I really enjoyed viewing Daniel Nahabedian's work. He took pictures in France, Spain, Thailand, and other interesting places. All his photos make me feel like I'm the one behind the camera. It feels personal to me. When I see such amazing art work, it inspires me to further my photography skills.

Craig Harris

Another blog I enjoyed is The Stroppy Sausage. This is a personal blog by Craig Harris, full of humor, as you can tell by the fact that the writer refers to himself as a sausage. I like the voice that he brings to his writing. It's very friendly and easy to become interested in his topics. One thing I particularly enjoyed was 'The List'. This list consists of things that the author hates. If I were writing a personal blog, I may pick up some of his humor or casualness for my own use.
Now, not every blog is going to be appealing. I did encounter blogs I didn't care for. One of those blogs was Unbrave Girl. I saw this blog because it won an award for the 'Best Tokyo Blog.' Once I visited the page, I saw nothing of Tokyo. Trying to uncover some information about the author, I clicked on 'About' and it was basically a broken link. This happened for other links as well, so I became frustrated and left the page. When I later revisited it, the links were working fine, but other than the fact that the author, Sally, lived in Japan, I don't understand why it won its award. The theme didn't seem to fit in my opinion.

A Whole New World

Anchorage, AK

Salutations, everyone! I'm Amanda, but you can call me Manda. I just recently moved from Alaska to Arizona. I graduated this past December in Alaska when I was 16. I moved here only a month after that and I got my first job working at McDonald's a week after I moved here. This is my first experience in college and, while I'm somewhat nervous about the extremely short semester, I'm really happy to be here.

One thing you need to know about me is that I love art. I love to be creative and I really enjoy other people's creativity as well. In my free time, I draw, paint, play and create music, and explore photography (from a very amateur perspective). My biggest artistic interest is fashion. I love clothes. I observe certain trends that interest me, but I mostly like to do my own thing. My favorite part about clothing (beside buying it) is putting outfits together. Here is my fashion social network where you can see a few outfits of mine. You may or may not have seen me demonstrate this at school, but sometimes it's hard to be motivated at 6 AM :)

I had an amazing advertising teacher last fall, and he inspired me to go after the career that I want. If you're going to college to be something that will make you a lot of money, then awesome. But that doesn't mean you're going to be happy. I love fashion, so I'm going to college to be in the fashion industry. The money doesn't matter to me. As long as I'm able to wake up every morning looking forward to going to work, then I'm golden.

I really appreciate you stopping by. This is a new experience for many of us and I wish you all luck! Happy blogging~