Bruce vs. Nick and the Technological War

Ok so on Monday we read the article The Tech Lab: Bruce Schneier and then we watched the Ted Talk with Nick Bostron. They were both very different but yet similar in many ways. When I first read the article by Bruce, I got both a negative and realistic feeling. Negative because it was well.. negative and realistic because I agreed with mostly all that he was saying. Although at some points he took what he was saying to the extent, he was mostly right on the ball. In the first line of the article, "Welcome to the future, where everything about you is saved," I already could tell the kind of position he was going to be taking. He talked about how technologically-obsessed our generation is and I couldn't help but to agree fully with his thoughts. He basically goes on to say that because of this obsession with technology and all of the improvements in the past couple of decades, we will soon live in a world where we will no longer have the basic freedom of privacy and how conversation will no longer be like it is now. As he says, "Privacy isn't just about having something to hide; it's a basic right that has enormous value to democracy, liberty, and our humanity,".

On the other hand, during his Ted Talk, Nick Bostron spoke about things that I would never expect a public speaker to speak about. He took a more positive approach and spoke about our 3 biggest problems. He spoke about how aging is the biggest cause of our first problem; death. The next problem was about Existential Risk and how it is a threat to human survival. The third problem he spoke about was about how life isn't as usually good as it could be and that sometimes you have a great moment and you wonder why can't life always be like that. He also said, "There are ways in which we can change thins- not by taking things away but by adding." He also spoke about how we need to think about technology and it's profound impact on human nature.

Where Bruce Schneier seemed a little scared about what the future holds, Nick Bostron had a more positive and enlightening speech. He came off as more wise and excited about what the future holds. He touched on the fact that technology is not about if it's a good or bad thing, but yet the more important thing is how we use it. This seemed to go against Bruce's position in that Bruce takes the position that technology is leading us to a future that could have many negative outcomes. Where Bruce seemed to point out all the negative effects of technology, Nick did just the opposite. He spoke about how technology can help us with such things as individual improvement, intellectual capacity, cosmetics, vaccinations, etc.

Overall, both men spoke about their views on technology and although Nick spoke about more eccentric ideas, both men gave their point of views on the topic of technology. Where Bruce seemed to take a more scared and negative approach, Nick seemed more optimistic and pointed out the benefits rather than the negative affects of this technological era.

Andddd to go along with all this technology.. I attached a trailer from the movie 'The Surrogates".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwTJ7mCcFoY

Here's the link to our video.. WATCH IT!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/user/commethicsthesituati?feature=mhw4#p/a/u/0/jZsauG2z3B8

New and Improved :)

Wahoo!!!

Check out "The Situation's" new video. It is new and improved!! We edited it and made it even better. Our group decided to add music to give it a nice touch. Prior to adding the music, I felt as though it was lacking a little something. Although the music can be thought of as to be a little depressing, it is bittersweet. We chose the song Imagine by John Lennon because it seemed to fit the mood. Every time I watch the video, the song still touches me! I don't think that we could have chosen a better song to go along with our message.

We also added subtitles to "spruce" up our video. After watching other people's, we noticed that we needed to make some changes. I noticed that a lot of people did use subtitles in their videos and this made it look more professional and much cleaner. We decided to do the same with our video. The subtitles we added helped our video to look more professional.

We also cleaned up our transitions. They were not as clean-cut as they could have been in the first version and we knew that we needed to change this. Smooth transitions are the key to making a good movie and when the transitions are not clean, this can cause the video to appear and look somewhat sloppy.

Another thing that we added was credits at the end of the video. We thanked Jimmy for his time and telling his story. We also added all of our names to the credits.

Overall, I think that this is going to be a great version of our video. I will post the link as soon as we finish it. I hope that these changes throughout the editing process helped to "professionalize" our video as well as clean it up. This whole experience has been a great learning tool and I never thought in a million years that I would ever be able to make a movie!

Whole New Perspective on Life

This video project, that I was veryyyyy nervous about, actually turned out to be a great learning experience. Jimmy is the most amazing and inspirational person I have ever met and I cannot get over how much I took away from this whole experience. Throughout the making of this documentary, I have rethought everything! Whenever I complain about something little, Jimmy is always in the back of my mind. Never ONCE did I hear him complain and I am continually amazed at what a pleasant person he is. He is constantly going to the doctor and I don't know how he is always in such an upbeat mood.

When you meet and interact with someone like Jimmy, you feel as though you should NEVER complain EVER again. Even if you just spent a minute with him, you would understand what I mean. His optimism for life is contagious and everything he does inspires me. Because the AIDS constantly makes him feel fatigued, he cannot work a steady job. Instead of staying home all the time and complaining about his disease, which most people would understandably do, he goes out and volunteer close to everyday. He is such an amazing person and I feel like I should be thankful for all I have and never complain about anything ever again!!

We are now in the editing process as we speak. Being that we only had 2 weeks to find an inspirational person as well as get all the footage and edit, our time constraints are very close. The lab has had extended hours and that definitely helps a lot but it is still very hard to get this project done in only 2 weeks. We are getting very close to the deadline and we have about a minute and a half of the video done so far. We will most likely finish by today!!

Watch this attached YouTube video. It's about AIDs Awareness.

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=12824374298683265

PROJECT WHAT?!!!!

How Am I Going to Do It??!!!

Being that I am a technology novice, when we were told that we had to make a movie in 2 weeks I quickly got nervous. I have never taken a communications class nevertheless I have never made a movie. NEVER!!! I am a science major and this class is different for me (a good different!!) Being that I am used to taking biology courses, making a movie seemed like a foreign language to me. I am both technologically and computer illiterate. Although I was very worried about how I was going to put together a movie and find a subject within 2 weeks, it looks like my group is off to a good start.

WE GOT OUR SUBJECT!! We are interviewing and taping Jim, our subject, tomorrow!! Jim is an amazing individual who inspires others as he tells his story. Jim was diagnosed with AIDs many years ago and gives speeches about his remarkable life. He is an inspiration to all and once you hear his story, you will never want to complain about your life again. Last year, I heard him speak in my Psychosocial Aspects of Illness and Disability class. He brought tears to my eyes and warmed my heart. His story is truly amazing and just hearing how he deals with his disease on a daily basis is incredible. Jim is always happy and although life has thrown him a bunch of curve balls, he is the most inspiring and amazing individual I have ever met.

Tomorrow we are going into the city to a doctor's appointment with Jim. He is letting us sit in on a doctor's appointment and then we will interview him. He is also letting us come to tape his volunteer hours. He is truly an amazing individual and I am so excited to begin taping!!!

So I guess I have semi-conquered this challenge. I have no idea how to edit so this should be interesting but I guess my group members will teach me all I need to know. When life presents us with a challenge, we must take it head on and give it everything we've got :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VU7pUz7VlM

My Take on the "Ethnosphere"

When I hear the words "cultural diversity" a lot comes to mind. For one thing, my family is VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY Italian and although I usually am consumed by my strong, intense culture, I am able to experience cultural diversity pretty often. The first thing I think of when I think of cultural diversity is FOOOD! I love so many foods from different cultures. MMMMMMmmmmmm Chinese food, Spanish, Mexican, Italian, Japanese, etc. I also think that I exhibit cultural diversity in my clothing. I love Indian type clothing and bags. I also like to proudly support the Italian flag on my shirt every once in awhile.

I believe that encounter more cultural diversity then I do not. I always try to be aware of my surroundings and a big part of this is realizing that you never know where a person comes from or what his or her background is. This is not to say I haven't slipped every once and while, I mean, who hasn't? But I try to be aware of diversity, and this goes beyond just cultural diversity. Cultural diversity is an everyday part of life and I feel that we, as American citizens, should embrace the difference!

I feel like a lot of people truly do not practice or see cultural diversity in their lives. To me this is something that is very important and something that I value. As part of being an American citizen, I feel that it is important to be open to other cultures and diversity in all aspects of life. We must think outside of the box and accept others outside of our comfort zone. To me, people who do not experience cultural diversity do not step out of their comfort zone. This is dangerous and I feel as though it is our responsibility to be open to all experiences. We must embrace the diversity and welcome it with open arms. America is a melting pot and we are what makes the pot diverse.

Empire of Illusion

This is my first communications class ever so this is all new to me!! I had never before read a book like Empire of Illusion and I was so incredibly interested in it!! On Monday we went over Chapters 1 and 2. While the Chapter 1 group was talking about how obsessed we have all become with technology, I couldn't help but agree with this. So many times I have been without a phone, if I lost it or something, and I always feel like I am lost without it. But it's also very liberating and I have realized how attached I have become to all this technology. To be honest, I miss the old communication technique. No one calls each other anymore; all means of communication are through texts. My mom always jokes around about how spoiled this generation is and how they were able to "live" without cell phones, internet, etc. Although I like to argue I can't help but agree with her. It's ridiculous how obsessed with technology we have all become. What is this world coming to!

I could not believe some of the things that were in Chapter 2!!! So I just Youtubed these "Love dolls" or whatever they were. I can't get over how SICK it is that people actually use these. Talk about being obsessed with technology and being lonely and this is what you get. These dolls are like real women. Look at the link attached and you can watch a little video about them. The video said that these dolls were originally made for disabled men but now many people buy them for other reasons. I didn't know that they were originally made for disabled me and when I heard this, it opened up my eyes. I still can't believe that people who are obsessed with these will spend about $6,000-$7,000 on these dolls. It's disgusting and I think that it's a sick obsession that people need to seek help for. They do everything a human does, which I think is a bit creepy. Anyway, this book continually seems to amaze me and my group will be presenting Chapter 5 tomorrow!! Goodbye for now!!!!

Watch this.. it's crazy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBSuYWbxBsU

-Lisa