Life With the Camera Phone

One piece of technology that has affected the human experience is the invention and popularity of the camera within the cell phone. It seems as though almost everyone in America is ready and able to snap a picture or film a short video clip at any given moment.        

This new age, where everyone has a camera at all times, is very interesting because it has such positive and such negative consequences. For the good, always having a camera can allow you to capture all kinds of beautiful moments that you may miss otherwise. Anything from a surprise birthday party to a backyard stunt, or my personal favorite, sunsets.  

                                       (Photos I took with my camera phone)

On the other hand, because of cell phone cameras, it is much harder to get away with doing stupid stuff under the radar. Who knows how many job opportunities have been lost due to something that surfaced on social media after being immortalized by the cell phone. I know I myself have received a few phone calls from my mother demanding that I remove pictures of myself that other people have posted to my facebook.

            Guys like Daniel Tosh and Rob Dyrdek don’t know how easy they’ve got it. Back when Bob Sagett was running America’s Funniest Home Videos, you couldn’t just carry your camcorder in your pocket and then instantly send it in. Oh no, you’d have to film it on some huge, low quality, expensive piece of equipment and then send in a physical tape through the postal service.

            Camera phones haven’t just changed the way we entertain ourselves, they’ve changed the way we communicate, half the time I receive a text message it is a picture message and don’t even get me started about snapchat.

            

More on the GoPro

I would write more about how awesome this little guy is but I think the video of what I got this weekend while it was strapped to my dive mask would better explain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umcHH2WyhLQ

Fantasy Football

One medium through which my friends and I like to socialize and compete/ talk lots of trash is fantasy football. Now fantasy is pretty darn high tech. There are tons of different formats with computer based drafting, trades, waver wires, and so on. I get live feeds on which of my players are injured or how many points there getting this week as well as if they are in any legal trouble or have any other extrafootball issues going on. Playing fantasy football is a fun way to stay in touch with the ongoings of the NFL as well as good friends.

Technology Causing ADHD?

Attention-deficite hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)- A condition that affects the areas of the brain that help us to control impulses, concentrate, and organize. according to: http://www.quillivantxr.com/understanding-adhd?. People my age probably have more peers diagnosed with this disorder than peers not diagnosed. Is technology partially to blame? Are the video games, reality shows, and HBO jaw droppers to blame for our hyperactive generation? According to studies, children who spent two or more hours in front of a screen daily were more that twice as likely to develop ADHD that children who spent less time in front of the screen. http://www.everydayhealth.com/adhd-awareness/does-technology-cause-adhd.aspx The cause, overstimulation. How can a child overexposed to video games where every second is action packed and full of intense situations be expected to sit and focus on a grammar lecture? Proportionally, it is a fact that higher rates of technology influence on children is occurring at the same time as higher rates of adolescent ADHD. When you think about it, it's really no surprise that these kids are masters at Gand Theft Auto but they cant sit through an hour history lecture.

Critical Thinking

Critical thinking or CT is such an important and apparently well studied area of interest. After being publicly shamed into reading Dr. Peckham's chapter on critical thinking, my understanding of critical thinking and its evolution was really broadened. First, the importance of critical thinking. The ability to think critically is necessary for the sustainable growth of humanity, one example being the emancipation of slaves in America. This is an example of social critical thinking when the early American people contested the accepted political and social norm of slavery by thinking critically and doing the right thing. What I found interesting is how many writers throughout history have contemplated and written on the idea of critical thinking and how the concept of this thought has evolved into a truly enlightened discipline of thought. From how I interpreted the chapter, the Idea of critical thinking has evolved into the idea that critical thinking is field-dependent such that a single method for universal CT would be ridiculous.

I also did not realize how much modern day teachers considered and worked to teach CT in their lesson plans. Not only is there a huge desire among teachers to teach CT, the desire also exists to teach class-specific CT so as to maximize the student's ability to think critically and thus further the advancement of humanity. I believe that the art of CT has never been as important as it is today with all the BS in media and on the internet constantly streaming into our young brains. I am going to try and figure out a way to attach Dr. Peckham's chapter on Critical thinking to this post for the interested and aggressive reader.

High Tech Soldier Safety

The human race is always involved in war. Since the times of Alexander the Great, technological advancements have been utilized to maximize destruction and thus allow for more conquering. Since old Alex, humans have come a long way, becoming more and more efficient at killing each other with the help of technology. But how is technology helping protect those who serve to protect our freedom today? One of the newest soldier safety projects that the military is working on revolves around new types of vests called STF (Shear Thickening Fluid) body armor. The key to this new idea is the hard nano particles of silica suspended in the polyethelene glycol liquid. This solution is then used to soak fabric like kevlar which is sewn together into vests and helmet covers. This new armor is lighter that other armors and it is very flexible until the time of contact with a bullet or fragmentation from a grenade or IED when it becomes extremely rigid and impenetrable. Thanks to highly specialized machines and lab techniques, the synthesis of this new lifesaving compound is possible. Thanks technology! Read more about the advancement of STF at  http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/armyweapons/a/liquidarmor.htm

Some Thoughts

How much longer will the human race study to memorize? How much longer will places like Middleton library be jam packed with stressed out, coffee filled youngsters staring into books and computer screens? At the rate of which internet access is progressing, why should we internalize facts and dates when we can just ask Siri on the spot? Computers are just huge brains that regurgitate the information that humans would otherwise have to memorize. If we afford to spend less time memorizing, would we be able to better develop our affinity for critical thinking and for understanding each other?  If this theory holds any validity, humanity could really evolve and become more advanced.

Cell Phones and Automobiles

One new danger to society that has developed with technology is cell phone usage while operating a motor vehicle. Anyone in high school within the past decade has been lectured on the dangers of using a cell phone while driving. The truth is that texting while driving, or "Driving While InTEXTicated" (DWI), is a serious safety issue for all who commute especially in the USA. "Because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver, it is by far the most alarming distraction" (Distraction.gov). In 2011, 23% of all car wrecks in America involved cell phones. That comes out to about 1.3 million wrecks all because of cell phones. http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/ . By the way, of those 1.3 million cell phone induced collisions in 2011, 3,331 people lost their lives, many of them being teenagers. As the phones get smarter the driving gets worse, with Facebook, Google, the Chive, and so many more websites available on the phones, drivers aren't just texting, their surfing too! The temptation for distracted driving has never been higher and the roads never more dangerous. Check out more facts about the dangers of driving distracted at:  http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html

Youtube

How to change a tire. How to tie a tie. How to upload a picture to the internet. The technological advancements that have led to the development of Youtube allow everyone to become an expert in anything in 15 minutes. I am a youtube addict, whenever I have a question about how to fix or do just about anything, I turn to the tube. Since its birth in February of 2005, Youtube has been very popular on the internet among the young and the old. More than a handful of people have achieved fame and stardom from their starts on youtube. Several shows on television today are based solely on funny videos found on the website. Phrases like "oh this is gonna go viral" were not in existence before the creation of Youtube. I enjoy posting some of my own videos on youtube. My only videos involve things I've done with the Gopro but I'd like to start making how to videos. Youtube also provides a new place for advertisements. Often times, a short clip will play before your requested video that promotes some type of business. For more on the societal affects of youtube, check out : http://www.certmag.com/read.php?in=3525

Here's a video of me trying to teach my lady friend how to spearfish, it too is bound for youtube.

Fun With Technology

Today I want to talk about how technology affects one of my hobbies in a very positive way. Surfing, one of the most low-tech activities around, is still very much changed by technology. One bit of new age technology that augments the sport is the GoPro camera. This camera is capable of capturing 11 megapixel video and photos, that is super HD! The GoPro is also very small (about 3in. by 2in. by 1in.) the small size of the camera allows it to be attached almost anywhere. Some places I like to put my GoPro are on a head strap and on the nose of my board. These attributes of the camera are directly linked to advancement in technology but the thing about GoPro that affects me personally the most is indirectly related to tech advancement, cost. Advancement in manufacturing technologies and automated machines allow the GoPro to be relatively affordable.
Another type of technology that makes surfing better is the invention of internet apps. From the palm of my hand, I can look into the future up to a week and half to see when and where the swell is going to be the best. This is all thanks to a little app called magic seaweed.

Here are a few clips of my friends and myself messing around with the GoPro on a small day at our local spot.

Research: 9-12-13

Over the past few days I have noticed an area that technology has changed people with the invention and availability of Global Positioning Systems. The GPS is everywhere now, if its not in your car on a tomtom or garmin, its for sure on your smart phone in your pocket. This availability of information and direction has enabled much more efficient travel to unfamiliar places. Yesterday I was navigating through Beaumont, TX like I'd lived there my entire life because Siri was just telling me where to go. Not only has GPS allowed millions of people to travel without getting lost, Parents are literally lo-jacking their children using the GPS capabilities of the kids' phones. Check out this link, its obviously pretty biased toward GPS but the site brings up some valid points.          http://rachelgreenberg.tripod.com/id12.html

Pre-research Attitudes and Ideas

           My attitude toward technology has always slightly negative but my opinion on the net affect of technological advancement on the human race is yet to be determined. From global warming and rampant use of pornography to life saving pediatric transplants and ease of world-wide communication, technology has unquestionably changed the way humans behave.

            The way I plan to investigate this issue for my bog is to carry on daily life with a heightened sense of how and why advancements in technology has changed the lives of humans in particular the college experience. Once an observation on a particular issue is made, I will investigate it on the Internet and get some facts and statistics. Hopefully by the end of this blogging assignment I will have a fairly convincing argument on weather technology is furthering the betterment of society or driving us to our doom.