Warburton Blog Post 5

Christine Rosen’s journal article, Virtual Friendship and the New Narcissism, is a well written analysis of the new technological aspect of friendship that has grown astronomically in the past few years.  The main point Rosen is trying to convey in this essay is that the social friendships we are making today are not as meaningful as pre-digital age friendships, and can also be damaging to social skills.  This article comes from The New Atlantis, which is a conservative journal that focuses on relevant and new technology.  The intended audience for this article was most likely the elderly and less technology experienced generation due to the fact that it points out the negatives of the social networks such as its creation of a more self-centered generation of young people.  The arguments in this essay are all opinion based, however they have facts to back them but there is nothing to prove beyond doubt that the arguments presented are the absolute truth.  Rosen appears to be a credible writer because she keeps her focus on the topic and does not stray off on ideological rants which would be unprofessional and unlike a credible author.  Rosen uses specific instances to prove her points; she referenced a 2006 Dateline special about the easiness of predators to contact children to show that these social network sites are not as safe as we think.  She uses several other specific instances to prove her point that social network sites are primarily detrimental to the social skills of young people who use them.  Rosen thoroughly addresses all negative aspects of these sites but she does not consider the positives of the same sites and what roles they play in keeping friendships alive.  Overall I agree with Rosen in that too much of these sites can be socially harmful but I also believe that in when used in moderation these sites are not harmful to their users.

Warburton Blog post 4

            I chose to view the new commercial put out by the Chevrolet Motor Company.  In this ad the narrator takes you through a very brief history of the company while images of their most iconic cars are shown.  The ad then moves to the present day and proceeds to show all the new innovations and technologies that are offered.  It video has a nostalgic feel to it because you originally see black and white clips of old assembly lines.  This ad draws the attention of the viewer because the voice of the narrator it very calm and makes the audience stop to listen what is being said.  The commercial appeals to the audience’s sense of national pride because it stresses throughout that the cars truly embody the American spirit.  The ad also appeals to the idea of freedom that comes from driving on the open road.  The ad is designed to appeal to all types of people because it shows how the company is using efficient technology as well as developing higher performance engines.  It appeals to anyone who enjoys cars and the history behind them.  The ad assumes you have heard of Chevrolet before and that you as the viewer are familiar with some of the more iconic cars that they have produced in the past.  The viewers see older photographs and associate that with simpler, more care free times which is then associated with the company.  This ad can be viewed on television but can also be found on YouTube.  The different mediums also show that Chevrolet is trying to get this ad to as many people as possible from all age groups.

Link to ad:

http://www.youtube.com/chevrolet?x=us_showcase_874&feature=pv&seo=goo_|_2010_Chevy_Retention_YouTube_|_IMG_Chevy_Make_YouTube_PV_|_Chevrolet_|_chevy

In-Class Writing #4

The Virginia Tech homepage is a very well planned and appealing website.  It incorporates the schools colors with links to different departments and activities.  The website draws the viewer’s attention to the center window in the middle of the page which has the latest news about events involving Virginia Tech.  The website has a search bar at the top which allows the user to easily navigate the through the site.  To the right of the search bar is a small memorial ribbon, commemorating the April 16^th tragedy.  It shows at the bottom of the page a small map of the world with all Virginia Tech highlighted and descriptions of academics and student life also at the bottom to the right.

Warburton Blog post 3

I chose the word Chevrolet to plug into Google because I am a collector car enthusiast and Chevrolet happens to be my favorite car maker.  When I pressed the search button the first result I got was a link to the official Chevy website which had a list of the new 2012 cars and the history of the company over its 100 years in business.  The second link on Google’s list was a list of all the 2011 models that Chevy currently offers and their specifications such as gas mileage, horse power, and consumer reviews.  The third website in my search browser was a tab that showed the Chevrolet dealership in Blacksburg.  I then had my roommate Google “Chevrolet” in his computer and his results were identical to the ones I received.  I was personally not surprised that his results were the same as mine because of the large size of the company you can almost always be certain the first website that appears is the company’s official website.  We are also both living in the same area which explains why we both received results for car dealerships in the town of Blacksburg.  I personally believe that Google and other sites use personalized search technology but I find it hard to believe that it is gone to the extent Eli Pariser claims it to be.  There is no doubt that search engine technology used today can locate your geography and your interests based on your previous searches.  However I find it difficult to believe that Google would completely filter out prevalent information such as the BP oil spill from your search window.  I think the individualized search is a good thing as it is used today because it does not think for you but it simply suggests sites you may like.  This personalized technology can be trouble if it becomes too prevalent and is used to block cites from view completely because this is essentially censorship.  If the internet becomes any more personalized than it is today it will have a negative effect on research and the internet as a whole because it will limit the information that is available to each internet user and affect those individuals’ findings.  I believe that the personalized internet searches are a helpful tool but should not replace the functioning of the human mind.

In Class Writing 3

The man and woman in the poster look as if they have just finished working for the day on a manual labor job.  They both are dressed similarly wearing work clothes of the post-World War II era.  The purpose of this poster is to commend women for stepping up to fill the jobs left vacant when the men went to fight in the war.  It plays on the stereotype that women are unequal to men.  Although it seems obvious to us today that these stereotypes were unfair but at the time this view was acceptable.  The creator of this ad was most likely the United States Government who is targeting all American citizens as their audience to let it be known that women were a large part of our World War II victory.  This ad uses ethos to appeal to the viewer’s sense of moral justice and equality.  It uses pathos to make the audience feel a sense of pride in their nation’s people.  It also uses logos to make the reader ponder what the logical way to see how greatly women contributed to our victory.

Warburton Blog Post #3

           The ideal school experience for today’s digital natives in my opinion would be one that uses a balance of technological and traditional approaches to learning.  I believe that this balance is necessary because I have experienced both learning styles by themselves and through those experiences have come to discover that both need to be present in order to maximize learning potential.  My ideal school setting would be one in which the teachers are both well educated in their subject and the digital technology being used at the time, as well as the benefits of traditional learning techniques.  In my schools I would have SOL tests to hold the teacher accountable for the teaching of the material.  I have had teachers in the past that taught a class that there was no SOL test, which gave my one particular teacher the idea that she did not have to teach us as thoroughly as she otherwise would have had to do.  I was astonished at the laziness of this particular teacher and was frustrated that there was no way to show the school board what was not being taught.  The SOL tests would serve as a test not only for the student but for the teachers as well.  Digital technology would be a key part of the learning process in my ideal school because I believe that if we do not keep up with the times we will be left in the past.  This is essentially how Virginia Heffernan describes the need to restructure our teaching methods.  I personally would not go to the extent that she goes to in her argument because I believe that there is value in the traditional pen and paper methods as well.  I have been in classes where the instructor wanted to be so technologically up to date that they issued netbook computers to the class for the school year.  This idea seemed logical in theory but as the year progressed the people in my class began to use them for computer games during class rather than note taking.  In my ideal school I would not issue out netbooks but instead use these laptops only when necessary because technology is useful only when it is not abused.  I believe that there are good sides to both learning methods we must find the balance that is most effective which would truly produce my ideal school.

in-class writing #2 Warburton

Nick’s essay’s structure was lacking definite shape and I traditional form.  It consisted of a brief intro, two body paragraphs, and no conclusion paragraph.  The essay does not contain a thesis statement either and it seems like a long list of technological devices that the writer has owned.  I think a good thesis for this essay would be “I have used almost every type of digital technology in my life and I feel I am more experienced with technology than others my age”.  I really didn’t like the way the paper was written or structured, it seem as if it had been written in five minutes and the structure in the web site form was hard to follow.  I feel that if he had spent more time on his word choices and wrote it on a traditional word document that the paper would have been much more enjoyable.