COURSE REFLECTION

PWR2 helped me grow as a writer in a new tangent when compared to how I learned in PWR1.  I think that the diverse factor of including a new research format paper (or hypertext in our case), group collaborative work, and a focus on presentations truly expanded my rhetorical skills as both a writer and a speaker.  It was interesting to learn how to write for a website, taking into account the usability of a research hypertext.  Additionally, actually learning how to use and working with Dreamweaver was a great new skill to learn.  I definitely saw a huge difference between PWR1 and PWR2.  We were expected to begin where PWR1 had left us off and to rely less on hand-holding and help.  Specifically, E-Rhetorics challenged me to push myself in a new dimension.  I feel like I have so much more knowledge on the topic of digital culture, which I know will be an immense help in the future.

The Blog: I never really knew what a blog was until this class.  I thought that the idea of a blog was very  interesting, as it really was just like an online journal.  I think that it served the same purpose that Panfora allowed, but at the same time it was cool to actually start a blog of our own.  I had fun with it because I didn't have to worry about the design of the site (I had had enough of that already!).  I also felt that near the end of the quarter, I was running out of good ideas to talk about.  In any case, it was again a good experience and it even inspired me to start a blog of my own with my closest friends.

The Proposal: I actually loved how this assignment was set up so clearly and that it didn't have to take the form of an argumentative paper.  I found it easy to write and I felt like it really got me interested in my topic.  It was also nice to get my ideas organized so early.

Proposal Presentation: I think that this gave me the opportunity to share and pass on the excitement of my topic to the rest of the class.  I really got into my presentation, and used my creativity to really capture the audience.  The presentation was also a good experience of talking in front of the class to get a taste of what made a presentation good and bad.  Talking with the OCTs helped with this process.

Research Hypertext: Wow.  This one was a challenge.  Besides learning how to make a website, I also had to learn how to write effectively for the hypertext's purpose.  It was definitely a learning process of dividing information and totally splicing up a linear argument.  I struggled with content and design, but in the end I felt like I was in a position that was far from my "computer illiterate" phase in the beginning of the quarter.

Research Presentation: So I had done all my presentation and work, and this was the opportunity to show it off to the class.  Since I had gone nuts for the first presentation, I found myself stuck with trying to think of good ideas for my presentation.  In the end, my idea to set up the Power Point like a DVD menu served a rhetorically effective purpose and my video clips really drove home my argument about the ways that consumers have been affected by DVDs (Plus, the videos were really fun to film and edit). 

The things I learned from E-Rhetorics will be of extreme use to me during my future years at Stanford.  In fact, I think that for life I am a step ahead of the game both because I have grown so much as a writer over these past two quarters and because I have really explored the new implications of technology that will continue to dominate our lives in the future.  The knowledge I gained will be extremely useful and I know that I will be using these new skills for the remainder of my life.

Technological inventions have no limits.  But are we going too far?  How are new inventions affecting our lives?

In particular, I am thinking about a few devices that could in fact be harming us instead of making our lives easier.  Little toys that seem like fun could have some more serious implications.  The GPS, for example, is surely a great device for location.  My dad can't go on a road trip without setting up his GPS as a little map and to figure out our trip statistics.  But could it be possible that GPS is weakening our grasp on self-suffiency?  Possibly some map skills are going out the drain.  I can say, however, that my dad's GPS came in handy when we lost the trail on a hike in the snowy Sierras.  But I think that having GPS in cars and things like that may be a little overboard at times, as much as it could be a major help.

The PDA devices are other examples of little devices that could come in very handy for organizing information.  My mom has her Palm Pilot, which connects to her computer and keeps track of her datebook and phone numbers.  Personally, I think that it is a great way to keep things in order.

Then we get to cell phones.  They are totally consuming people in many different aspects.  I think they are great for emergencies and connecting with friends.  I am so thankful to have a cell phone in case I ever got into any trouble.  But text messaging can sometimes get out of hand.  And camera phones?  Completely unnecessary.  Why do you need to send pictures to your friends over the phone.  Sure it is nifty, but we don't really need it. 

I think the little things all depend on situation and on individuals.  If they can be of use, then they are great.  And in fact, a lot of the devices could actually help in many convenient ways.  But in certain cases they are just plain stupid and not necessary for any reason.  But I guess if the technology is possible, it will probably be made.

iPod

A simple little name, yet it is one of the biggest crazes in new technology.  Apple's little toy, also known as their digital music player, is the hip new device that has people raving.  The iPod has not been around for very long, but already it has caught on like a brushfire.  Although other mp3 players have been around, the iPod has been the first huge push at the little device.  The technology is so amazing and people are wanting a piece of the action.

I received my iPod as a graduation gift.  I had no idea what it was when my parents gave it to me.  Don't worry, because I caught on soon enough.  I started putting music on my computer and transferring it to the iPod.  Soon, I had a grip of songs that I could carry around with me wherever I went.  Sure, portable CD players do the same thing, but this is a device that requires no CDs.  And believe me, I am sick of carrying around CDs.  I probably have close to 250 CDs, and it gets to be a hassle when you have to take them on vacations.  But now this little iPod can hold all my songs and I don't have to worry about a thing. 

With the help of iTunes, I can load all of my music onto my computer, and then easily transfer songs straight to the iPod in a matter of seconds.  But it gets me thinking about other things for the future.  Will we have these small little devices to watch movies on as well where we can save movies?  I wouldn't doubt it for a second.  But the iPod truly is amazing.  It comes in many sizes and varies with the amount of information it can hold.  The biggest one carries 10,000 songs! 

And now Apple is introducing the new iPod mini, which is a less expensive and smaller device.  It holds 4 GB, which is close to 1,000 songs, and it only weighs 3.6 ounces.  Apple preivously probably had a select consumer base, but this cheaper version will make the iPod more available to people of different income brackets.  Also, the addition of color to the iPod makes it more appealing.  Not that Apple has anything to worry about as far as sales go.  If you take a ride on the highway, you're almost bound to see a classic iPod billboard.  Moreover, there's even an Apple store which is advertised as being a "cool" place.  Apple is definitely grabbing the attention of its younger generation consumers and not forgetting about the older ones.

After reading a quite interesting yet peculiar article for this week's articles from Cyberreader, I would like to analyze the world of cybersex.  And since it is such a broad topic, I am going to focus on the aspects of what constitutes cheating in the online world.  There are chat rooms set up everywhere in which people can IM and have "cybersex."  They leave their identities behind and have cyberrelationships with people that are hundreds of e-miles away.  But what happens when a relationship goes too far?  When does the relationship pass from friendship into a sexual relationship, even one that could be considered cheating?  And how safe can this unprotected e-world be?

From the article, "The Night Thoreau Had Cybersex" by Dinty W. Moore, I found the situation that Martha involved herself in quite strange.  She was married, with children, and yet she found time to carry on an intimate relationship online with a stranger she had never met.  Without ever meeting in person, seeing a picture, or hearing his voice, she regularly carried on conversations that constituted the act of "cybersex."  How could she get that close to a nearly complete stranger?  Enough to be able to exchange racy dialogue?  What would her family think of her actions?  Unless her husband approved of promiscuity, I don't think that he would approve of her online escapades.  Certainly he would be upset by her actions, but can they be considered cheating?  She never met this guy, saw him, and she certainly never touched him.  Yet her thoughts were more than just a story or fantasy.  She was interacting during a live chat with a man, supposedly getting off on fantasizing about their virtual encounter.  In my opinion, cybersex can constitute cheating in a relationship.  Just like passing love letters or participating in phone sex could be thought of as cheating, why can't cybersex?  This would mean that cheating is an emotional investment as well.  Physicality is gone.  Would a girl consider a stripper rubbing up against her husband as cheating?  Probably not.  And isn't this strange?  When the personal investment is gone, cheating is not an issue.  So if someone has a one-night cyberbang are they still cheating?  Obvisously, this is a complicated issue.  I believe that people can become friends online and develop a personal relationship without it being cheating.  On the other hand, if someone plays the game of cybersex with a stranger, their actions probably constitute cheating. 

Moreover, do I even need to get into the fears of who these people are having cybersex with?  They're getting it on with people they don't even know.  I don't understand how people can trust the net.  There are way too many weird people out there.  You can never tell who is out there on the other end of the line.  I think there have been way too many cases of people lying about their identities.  And why not?  They can be whoever they want.  They can be that sexy model they see in the magazines.  But the scary thing is that they can really be a fifty-year old man looking for a young and innocent girl.  It's scary.  Really scary.  At the same time, I'm sure that many people have met their matches over internet chat.  I just don't know about the whole cybersex thing.  I think that people are more than welcome to do it on their own will, but they just have to be careful.  Okay, enough about all that.  Check out this funny comic. 

The Sims.

Yep, you've heard of them.  They're the little people on your computer that say things like, "Ger-jeeber-schnot" and other jumbo-mumbo jibberish.  I remember first watching the Sims at my friend's house as she created people on her screen and played with them.  I suppose it was like she was playing with a little dollhouse.  Then I got my Sims game and I can recall playing countless hours building houses, creating characters, and making my Sims act out funny scenes.  In all, this new digital game has placed a new spin on gaming, and its implications are interesting.

I have a specific way of creating Sims, which I'm sure is completely different from how other people play the game.  The first family I made was my own.  Then I created our house.  One of my interests in the past has been architecture, and I had a blast recreating my house from framework to plumbing and interior decorating and furniture.  I pretty much let my Sims go at it and soon they became a happy family, like my own.  But honestly, that got a little boring.  So what did I do next?  I moved myself and my friends into a huge mansion.  I didn't have to worry about the money because my friend told me a cheat where you can get unlimited cash.  Games are always more fun that way.  Anyway, my best friends and I were having a blast hanging out in the hot tub and dancing to our jukebox, until drama happened.  We were lighting off fireworks in the backyard and one of my friends unfortunately, well, died.  But the Sims game took a picture of her buring in the flames so that we could put it in our family photo album.    My friends mourned a lot, so I moved in my extended family into a blank plot of land and that is where is discovered the fun of architecture.  The great thing about the Sims is that it allows a broad area of game play.  If you are interesting in designing houses, you can have your fun.  If you like interior decorating, you are more than welcome to have a go at it.  And finally, if you like playing God and forcing your Sims to form relationships or fight or tickle each other, it's all yours.

Basically, the Sims stimulated my imagination.  I think one of the most exciting things I did was to create Hogwarts and the characters from Harry Potter.  I had Harry, Ron, Hermione, Malfoy, Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape, and McGonnagal.  They lived on the Hogwarts grounds, complete with classrooms, dining hall, Dumbledore's office, bathrooms, dorms, Hagrid's hut, a maze, Quidditch field, greenhouse, and much more.  The sad thing was that I didn't want them to play with each other after I had created the situation becuase 1) I didn't want them to leave their character identities (Harry and Malfoy can't be friends) and 2) I didn't want any of them to die and ruin my entire creation.  But back to the imagination thing, I think that the Sims has been a very creative outlet.  Basically, it's just there for fun, but from reading some articles in class, it seems like people have really benefitted from playing and telling stories.

It's pretty crazy that there are so many expansion packs for the top-selling game.  Who knows what they will have next.  What we do know, however, is that people have grabbed onto the fun.  I don't really know what else to say.  I would guess that the Sims have any larger social implications on social relationships.  If only we could click on our friends and choose between various options of what to say or do to them.  But then again, we would have to learn all that jibberish.