semester

Thinking about this semester as it comes to a close many things have come to mind. This has been a fun semester, learning in new ways, and having a not so expected English class. The readings were interesting, we got to cover topics on the debates and presidential election (How many classes do you get to discuss politics in?) and we learned about the digital native. The digital native I found fascinating. To think that our generation had been classified by some and we didnt even know about it. Before this class i never even thought about blogging any thing. Thanks for the great class.

Copyright

its been a while so i will have to do some catching up. we talked about the copyright law a few weeks back. some interesting ideas that were brought up; downloading the music versus buying the cd or album. also another interesting that was mentioned was that musicians make around 2 cents per dollar the recording company makes, which i find funny. cause the recording company doesn't do that much work that the band couldn't do for themselves. bands like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead have putout albums for fans to "download" and pay what they thought would be a good price for the cd, some payed nothing, some payed more. i thought this was a really good idea because all the money made this ay went right to the band not through a filter that is the recording company.

Digital Natives

For the past week or so we've been discussing this phenomena that has occurred in our generation. we have been called Digital natives. And looking around its funny to think that this is real. We are the first generation to grow up completely surrounded by this new tech known as the internet and computers. our parents generation had computer after Gates and Steve Jobs made them. So in wondering why our parents do not understand, almost inatly, how a computer works shouldn't too much of a shocker.

Just the other day after having tried to print a document about 15 times, my parents call for me saying, "John, Fix the printer" and all that had happened was someone had paused the printer.

But that just goes to show that we as a generation are completely different from the previous one. Is that a good thing or a bad? i think its good but some think other wise. for example a kid in my Japanese class says that computers are just making us dumber, and in a way he is right but in others he is wrong. With computers most people forget how to use a card catalog ( like the old school ones with the 30 drawers and the index cards >_<) but we are also are smarter at utilizing this new tech in many ways, search engines, music sites, Gaming, designing. You name it. if you want to do it, theres a way to do it via a computer.

I wonder how the future will change when our generation will be considered foreigners to a new tech.

I'm Sure by now most people know but Obama won the presidency!

Ziegler's editorial "Death of a Salesman"

way to go Ziegler... not only did you decide to write about how bad of an auther you though David Foster Wallace was Years after he wrote "Host" but you decide to do after he commits suicide, way to make a stand when there is no one around to fight back. I think that is a cowardly thing to do and you should be ashamed. if you are gonna confront someone, be a man about it and do it while they can fight back, not after they ae dead. Weither they died of natural causes or because they decide to take their own life gives ou no right to talk bad about them so close to their death. If you do read this good for you, way to be a man! .. as for me and the people in my class your nothing more than an ass. If you have issues with someone or someting bring it out and confront them about it, instead of trash talking them after their is nothing they can do about it.

Ugh

On Host

While sitting here finishing up my paper I think about the piece we read called host by David Foster Wallace. This had to be the most interesting piece I have ever read. Not due to the content but the way it was wrote and the format in which it was wrote. Unlike most author's who would put the footnotes at the bottom of the page, DFW decided to put them in boxes in the middle of the page, sporadically placed, with arrows leading from the word or sentence he wanted to comment on. Another event that happened while reading the piece I had become victim of the "Wikipedia effect" and it seems to be an occurrence that others have noticed too while reading it.

( short description of the wikipedia effect can be found here )
Which oddly enough had just happened while finding that link, and its also known as wifling. just an fyi.

But as for the piece, i found my self after a while just reading the main text and skipping the boxes completely.

Till I think of more stuff to ramble about...

Bartleby

Human's are a creature of habit. Bartleby is no exception to this, just like you or me. When we get used to doing something over and over, when we don't do that thing, something seems out of place. like we went over in class today, Bartleby worked in the dead letters office and when he moved offices he stopped doing work, but still showed up. I noticed, that if I work every tuesday for 2 months, and when I have a tuesday off I just sit there, and say.. I should be doing something, but I don't know what... So Bartleby, much like humanity are habitual. Maybe thats what Melville meant by Ah Bartleby! Ah Humanity.