Blog #6

          Today we are constantly being watched on cameras.  About every building you walk into that sells some sort of product has a camera.  Even some private houses have video cameras set up incase of a crime  may occur.  I believe that the reason we have cameras is to identify individuals who commit crimes.  In 1984 the reason they have cameras is the same thing, to keep people from going against the party.  They need to control the population in Oceania because the party is represented by the smallest amount of people.  I don't feel like the cameras set up today in society are for control as it is in 1984.  I feel it's just for safety and protection against criminals.  I don't mind cameras being set up in stores or in parking lots, but I do mind cameras being put in bathrooms.  A bathroom is a private place not a public place in my opinion.  If you are worried about crimes being committed you can put the camera outside the bathroom and see the suspect coming and going.  The only thing is with that you may not catch the crime on tape, but I would rather have privacy in the bathroom.  I couldn't live in Oceania and have to fear for my life everytime I do something against the Party.  Our society isn't that controling with our security cameras, but if it ever becomes like Oceania I will most likely be changing my opinion.  As of now I think these cameras as a good thing in our society and help accuse people committing crimes on tape.

My Feed Advertisements

          I would have sports advertisements mainly on my feed.  Basically because sports is pretty much what I do and the feed seems to figure out what their users like and what interests they have. I will describe the four advertisements and then put some links where those advertisements can be found.
         The first advertisement that would be on my feed is the advertisement of hunting equipment.  Basically like a Gander Mountain advertisement for camoflauge, guns, ammo, or bows.  I love to hunt and it is my passion.  The feed would definately figure this out by me surfing for hunting videos and looking for good deals to buy hunting equipment. http://www.gandermountain.com/
         The second advertisement that would be on my feed would be a wrestling equipment advertisement.  Next to hunting wrestling is my next favorite hobby and I have wrestled for sixteen years of my life.  I am constantly buying wrestling shoes because I ware them out so fast and get about two new pairs a year.  I probably wrestle atleast 180 days a year.  I would say that I am on the mat practicing or wrestling in an actual match about 500 hours a year.  500 x 16= 8000 hours of my life has been on the mat. Wow I never thought of it before now. Wrestling shoes, kneepads, and headgear would definately be advertised on my feed.  http://www.eastbay.com/catalog/advancedSearch.cfm?SID=8035&inceptor=1&keyword=asics+wrestling+shoes&cm_mmc=SEM-_-Engine-_-Google-_-asics+wrestling+shoes 
          My next advertisement would be for bowfishing equipment.  I do a lot of bowfishing during the summer and I'm constantly breaking or losing my arrows and I need to replace them. The arrows are actually expensive and I wouldn't mind the feed letting me know when good sales are happening. http://www.bowhunterssuperstore.com/bow-fishing-c-31.html?osCsid=15bac911bff38414ecb4ce8471d19f15  
          My final and last advertisement would be an advertisement for new items at restaurants.  Wrestling 180 days out of the year i'm constantly losing weight, so I love food more than your average person.  I also like taking my girlfriend out to eat and it would be nice to know where there are new items on the menu to try or where a good quality cheap meal is at because i'm by no means rich.  I think a good feed would be like an Applebees advertisement because they are always have new item commercials on TV and have the 2 meals for $20 deal.  http://www.applebees.com/ 
         The four of these advertisements would definately be on my feed.  The feed seemed to link your personality, past purchases/interests, and hobbies to what they should advertise you.  I don't think the feed would have any problem figuring out what good advertisements for me would be.  Apparently Gander Mountain, Asics, East Bay, and Cabela's know what I like and keep track of my purchases from their stores because i'm always getting magazines and other advertisements in the mail from them.  It's funny how advertisements are such a huge part of our life that we don't even notice them.  Everyday when we get dressed we are like walking billboards showing off American Eagle, Columbia, and Nike brand materials.  It's a shame that we are so easy to market to by getting the celebrities to wear something and having millions wanting that same look.

Live Free or Die Hard

For this blog I decided to talk about living freely or naturally without any technology.  First of all I am more than capable of doing this because I grew up on a farm and understand what I have to do to provide for myself.  As for not having any technology the biggest thing would be not having my cell phone to talk to my girlfriend, but heck she is dating a redneck like me so I can bring her along to the little olde cabin I plan on staying in.  Technology has never really been my life so I really wouldn't have a problem leaving it behind.  People may not understand that even ovens, showers, and toilets use electricity and are considered technology.  That's right I would have to resort to buckets filled with water and showering outside most likely and cooking on a wood stove.  I really wouldn't mind living without technology because we are too attached and need to experience the outdoors and natural beauty that surrounds us.  As for food there is no problem there.  I have been hunting all my life and am capable of supplying plenty of vension and fish.  Gathering also is key to living in the outdoors and knowing what type of berries make you sick and which do not is great knowledge to have.  It may be hard for people to leave technology behind but it really isn't that hard to live on your own and provide for yourself.  Food, water and shelter is all you need and you would do just fine, learning as you go.  Trust me if you had to figure a way to live you would learn fast.  I have joked around to my conservative grandfather, that if I ever won the lottery I would buy a mountainous lot build a house and then mine the road so I'm secluded from everyone and do not have any drama in my life.  I'm a conservative guy and don't like drama or politics and let's face it life today is all about both.  Whether you are looking at the economy or the styles that people dress or act like I believe it all comes back to drama and politics.  So I'm just gonna seclude myself from all of it and live free rather than die hard and unhappy worrying about the decision between purchasing a PS3 or Xbox to play during all my free time off the computer and cell phone.  

This is Blog #3 Dummy

So are we the dumbest generation?  I don't think we are because we are the most technologically advanced generation.  However do most of us answer questions with stupid answers, I would have to say yes.  In my opinion I think what it comes down to is retaining information that we have learned in school.  I believe that since we are so advanced in technology that it is too accesible for us to just get on the computer, phone, or any other device and find the answer to a question.  Since we have this accessibility we have no reason to retain information.  This all comes back to us being lazy.  I mean why would you read a textbook in college if the professor says that their tests are only on vocab.  I am pretty confident in saying that myself and my peers would go through and highlight the vocab and use it to study, which completely skips the rest of the information in the textbook.  We always seem to take the easy way out and that doesn't just include our generation, but every generation.  I mean would you rather rubs sticks together to start a fire or would you like to use a lighter?  Our generation just has new technology, which makes it so much easier and faster to find information instead of doing it the old way and involving hard work.  Someday something faster and easier even yet will come out and the generations after us will be called dumb and lazy by our generation.  So to conclude I would have to agree with Mark Bauerlein, that we may seem like the dumbest generation right now, but he is part of the dumbest generation before us.  If you think about it in a way I guess you could say we are the smartest because we make inventions that make daily life easy for us, but doesn't this also make us dumb because it affects our health and nature by making us lazy.  It's a tough argument to make either way, but I don't think my generation is dumb.  We just look dumb to the older dumb generations if that makes any sense....