Final Reflective Post

As I spent time thinking what to say in this final post for my digital civilization class (Yes, I do plan on making periodic posts about other topics), I realized that I have changed quite a bit this semester.  I now have the tools and am familiar with enough resources (or access to other resources) to make my journey of life long learning an enjoyable one.  In order to avoid re-stating a lot that I have already said, please refer back to my last reflective post which focus on self-directed learning and how that has really benefited me this semester. 

At the beginning of the semester, it was very obvious that I wasn't very comfortable with this class and really struggled meeting the course objectives of consume, create, connect.  I typically wrote of topics that were of interest but struggled making historical connections (see example on a post I made about the NBA). 

However, after a change in attitude and self-directed learning, I feel like I became much more involved as can be seen in my post about the atomic age.  I felt much more comfortable with this class when I started using the tools of consume, create, and connect more effectively. 

What I enjoyed most about this class was working and blogging about our final project.  Missionary work is something that I have always enjoyed participating in and I found it awesome that I could focus on a topic that I loved in an "academic" class.  I enjoyed helping put on a fireside (connecting with my ward and many friends) on how to be digital missionaries.  I also enjoyed making historical connections and posting links to my facebook about missionary work.  It was fun connecting with the referral center missionaries and I look forward to continuing to become a more effective and efficient digital missionary. 

Thanks for a great semester.  I look forward to continuing the journey of becoming more digitally literate through creating, consuming, and connecting. 

Digital Revolution

On Thursday, December 9 (tomorrow), my digital civilization class is hosting an event called Digital Revolution: Upgrading Education for Digital Civilization.  I am really excited to attend this event and to have played an active role in the group Sharing the Gospel in a Digital World.

 In preparation for the event, we met as a group on Saturday morning from 9-12 AM to discuss how and which direction we wanted to go in presenting digital missionary work.  It was a lot more complicated than I had anticipated because we only have 5 minutes to present on the topic.  Therefore, we basically created a short trailer with hopes to spark an interest in the audience to learn more about becoming digital missionaries.

Want to learn more about becoming a digital missionary???  Come and learn first hand tomorrow night in room 3108 JKB from 7-9PM or join our virtual audience at the same time at http://www.justin.tv/digiciv

Blog Post Nomination

In my digital civilization class, I have been asked to nominate a post(s) that I felt followed the learning objectives.  In my opinion, the following post by Andrew does just that:  

Adventures in the Galapagos.  Great example of incorporating historical content and self directed learning in the same post.  Andrew does a great job of getting the reader involved by sharing his personal experiences on the Galapagos islands.  I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really like how he ties his personal experience to relevant historical information we were studying at the time. 

Online missionary work...catch the fire

One of the coolest parts of being a part of Sharing the Gospel in a Digital World group for the final project is actually participating in online missionary work.  I have really enjoyed using tools such as facebook, missionary mingles, hosting a fireside (Andrew gives a great recap in a recent blog post).  It has also been fun to re-kindle some old friendships and begin talking with them about the gospel as well. 

Sharing the Gospel 2.0

Throughout the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the means of which missionary work is performed has changed.  I will apologize up front for my thoughts being unorganized.  This is a draft for the historical content section of our final project. 

Early Church

Dan Jones preaching in Wales

When the church first started, missionaries were often sent on missions alone and often taught to large groups of people.  

Two missionaries in the early 20th century.

In the early 20th century, missionaries taught the gospel in companionship's.  Many of those serving missions left wives and families at home while they were out preaching the gospel.  





  




Memorized Discussions 
 For many years, missionaries shared the gospel by giving memorized discussions to people investigating the church.  This was known as the 'Uniform System for Teaching the Gospel'. 

Preach My Gospel

In 2004, missionaries throughout the world began using Preach My Gospel as their guide for missionary service focusing on teaching by the spirit instead of giving a memorized lesson.  This tool gives missionaries the flexibility to prepare and teach lessons to meet the specific needs of those investigating the church. 

Learn more at mormon.org

Missionary Work 2.0
As a member of The Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have been counseled to share my beliefs with others.   What impedes you from sharing the gospel with others?  Is it fear of hurting your reputation? is it the fact that it requires effort and hard work and you don't get paid for it?  Tim Wu, Professor of Law stated that we are living in more of an exposure culture, where 'getting noticed is everything'.  What are are motives of sharing the gospel?

The Wisdom of Crowds:  Think of how much good could be done and lives could be touched if all 13 million members of the church became actively involved in missionary work online.  Everyone working together for with the same goal in mind: to invite others to come unto Christ.  The church would have such an edge over the evil in the world.  Evil is everywhere but it is a  bunch of mini groups attacking from different directions.

Folksonomies: individuals acting individually yet producing a collective result.  This is what happens when we share the gosple online.  We are working individually to help the church (collectively as a whole) grow and gain more exposure.  We do this by posting links to church sites from our blogs, facebook, twitter, etc. 

Online missionary work creates a giant 'Network effect'.  Think of how many people you connect with on facebook, myspace, through e-mail, twitter, or online each day.  Fellow-shipping has become that much easier.  Investigators and recent converts have instant access to hundreds and thousands of members who are reading and willing to help.  It is always easier to make changes in our lives when we have an instant support group when times get hard. 

Fortunately official church sites and doctrine online are not an 'open but a closed API'.  Imagine what would happen if anyone could have access to editing and changing the doctrine shared on church websites.  It would be a mess?  It would lead to another apostasy or falling away from the truth. 

There are many ways in which we can become involved in missionary work online.  I'll post more about this next time.

Evolution of Missionary Work

In preparation for our presentation at Digital Revolution: Upgrading Education for Digital Civilization, I've decided to make a quick post about some thoughts and ideas we had on how to tie in the historical content to missionary work. 

The main focus of our project thus far has been helping the referral center missionaries share the gospel online. We have done this by participating in mingles online, chatting with friends on facebook, creating and translating gospel related prezi presentations, and hosting a fireside to help get more people involved. 

I feel that a cool way to tie in the historical content would be for each of us to research about how our ancestors were introduced to the gospel and eventually accepted the gospel.  Then show the evolution of missionary work.  I think it would be neat to show how it has changed from early saints leaving there families to share the word, young men sharing the gospel through memorized discussions, young men no longer using memorized discussions (emphasis on teaching by the spirit following Preach My Gospel), and now incorporating online tools and media to spread the gospel world wide.  \

More finalized thoughts to come....check out our group website for more. 

The Automobile: an essential part of life

Do you have a car?  Could you survive without it?  I recently thought about this question when I let my cousin borrow my car last weekend.  It was an interesting experience.  I never realized how much I depended on my car for things (especially on the weekend). 

A few examples where I missed my car this weekend are:  I played pick up basketball at the gym on Saturday and even though it is only a little over a mile from my apartment, I had my friend give me a ride.  I also waited until today to pick up my dry-cleaning because I didn't want to walk to the dry cleaners.  These are small things which I could definitely do if I didn't have a car, but having an automobile just seems to make life easier. 

In the early 20th century, Henry Ford's assembly line for the automobile revolutionized transportation.  Horses shortly became outdated and people became more and more accustomed to driving instead of walking.  However, I feel that unlike in the early 20th century, out society would not function without the use of the automobile as a mode of transportation. 

More information about the history of the automobile can be found here. 

Lemon's world

As part of my midterm evaluation in my digital civilization class, I done an evaluation of Mike Lemon's blog. 
This has been a really good experience for me.  It was fun to look at another blog in depth.  I learned a lot from reading Mike's blog and would like to make a few comments on it now.  Great consistency.  I really like how you stay current with the historical topics and make connections to digital media.  There is always room for improvement but for the most part I feel you are pretty up to date.  I also think it is awesome how you are using digital media to teach English to kids in Korea and Japan.  That's such a great way to connect to other people around the world.
I feel that you are doing a good job creating and connecting but sometimes it's hard for me to see evidence of adequate consumption.  I had a hard time seeing much evidence of your knowledge of the computing concepts (I feel this is partially because that is something I need to work on as well.)  I also would like to confirm your own realization that it wouldn't hurt to spice up your blog a little with some personality.  But all in all, I really enjoyed learning about the topics of this course through the lens of Mike Lemon.

Reflective Post - A change in attitude and self-directed learning

praisephotography.com

In  my digital civilization class, each student is required periodically to make a reflective blog post.  The purpose is to evaluate how well we have been meeting the course learning outcomes.  Click here to see the course learning outcomes.  In September, the overall theme of my reflections post was one of frustration.  Something needed to change.  But what?? Throughout the past six weeks, I have done my best to embrace the learning outcomes of the course and heed the suggestions of my professors.  So what changed??  I'd say it was a change in attitude and self-directed learning!!

Besides deciding to have a more positive attitude both in and outside of class, the biggest change I've made is how I use my self-directed learning time.  After reading the assigned readings on each historical and computing concept I am often confused about what I just read.  I question why anything that I just read is important?  How does it apply to me?  This is where self-directed learning comes in.  Instead of trying to research topics that aren't relevant to the specific concept we are focusing on, I have tried to use my self-directed learning to try to make sense of the topic we are studying.  If understanding historical content and computing concepts is something you struggle with, try using self-directed study to clarify concepts instead of finding new ones.  It might just work.  It did for me.

Common places I go for self-directed learning:

• Google, Wikipedia
• Diigo - I have found this to be extremely helpful.  I wish I would have started using this tool earlier
• Other students blogs - this helps me to see what other students felt was important and to draw connections from the readings
• Links - either from assigned readings, Wikipedia, or any other sites
• Books - I don't do this often but it's a good safety net 

 Meaningful self-directed learning has helped me become a better consumer, creator, and connector.

• CONSUME:  It is a lot more enjoyable and I feel significantly more comfortable with the historical concepts now than I did after the first midterm evaluation. 
•  CREATE:  Understanding the concept we are studying has made it easier for me to create as well.  I can spend more time focusing on making meaningful blog posts instead of purely posting because it's an assignment.  I guess I can't say that I would be blogging about historical concepts if I wasn't in this class but you get the point.  A few of the  fun ways to create were the youtube video and sound note for the mini-book club project on about The Count of Monte Cristo.  
• CONNECT:  I am not afraid to talk about or show others what I have learned because I am more confident in the subject matter.  I have found myself talking about this class a lot more with my friends and even asking them to check out my blog (I never thought I would willingly put a link to my blog on my facebook page).  I am also super excited about the final project.  It has been great working with the referral center missionaries and members of my ward to organize a fireside that the BYU 61st ward will be hosting on November 21.  I have also had the chance to re-kindle many old friendships (through the use of facebook) and share bits and pieces of the gospel with them.  None of them have accepted the invitation to participate in an online mingle yet but it has still been a great experience for me.
  
  
  

Along with continuing to get better at being a self-directed learner, another area of which I wish to improve on is being better at understanding and connecting computing concepts to the historical content.  I think one way I can do this is to use some of my self-directed learning time to clarify computing concepts and blog about them instead of always focusing on the historical content.  

Becoming a better self-directed learner has made digital civilization class much more fun.  It has also helped ignite the flame and increase my desire to become better at consuming, creating, and connecting with others.

Hollywood responds to Atomic Age

The invention of the atomic bomb changed the world.  Never before had the American people lived in such fear.  Fear of not knowing what would happen next.  Would the Soviets, Cuba, or another country drop an atomic bomb on the United States?  These weapons could blow up the world from thousands of miles away. 



Now for a brief history of the Nuclear Age.


During this time of FEAR, Hollywood responded.  Over 70,000 films, television, short stories, and novels acknowledged these fears.

The following is a list of a few films Hollywood created about the atomic age:

• The Day After Tinity -the film's main focus is Oppenheimer's role as scientific director of the Manhattan Project, for which he secretly recruited an assembly of top scientists.
• Thirteen Days - this film is a docudrama portraying the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962. 
• The Nuclear Age - a documentary about the realities which arose from the advancements of the "Nuclear Age," from the creation of the Atomic Bomb in 1945 to the late 1980's.
• The China Syndrome - this fictional film depicts a narrowly averted meltdown at a nuclear power plant in Los Angeles, California and the efforts of three people who witness the accident to inform the public of the potential hazards at the plant

 Having watched clips from each of these movies, and seeing the state of fear that people lived in, makes me ever more grateful for the gospel in my life.  I am grateful that I have been taught the principle of being prepared.  Some disasters can't be avoided; however, that doesn't mean that we can't be prepared for them.
What would you do to prepare if there was a threat of an atomic bomb being dropped on United States?  Do you think you would be ready?  

Skype

For part of our final project, Rhett, Andrew, James, and I will be hosting a fireside with the referral center missionaries about how to become more proactive online missionaries.  Part of our preparation for the fireside has been frequent chats with the missionaries through skype.  The first couple times I met over at Rhett's apartment to participate with him in the chats; but not last Friday.  Last Friday I performed my first official skype chat with Elder Seth Spencer and Elder Blair Ahlstrom.  It was really neat.  I know that I am still an amateur but this was a big step for me in becoming more digitally literate.  It was also another step forward in becoming a better online missionary. 

The fireside is scheduled for November 21 from 7-8 in the Little Theater in the Wilkinson Center.  Here is our tentative outline for the fireside: 

1. Missionaries skype in and give brief presentation about what they do at the referral center and a few suggestions on what we can do to become better online missionaries.
2. Rhett, Andrew, James, and I plan on discussing a few of the other online tools available.  We plan on sharing personal experiences about what we are currently doing to share the gospel online.  
3. Eat yummy treats and mingle with others.

We look forward to seeing all of you on the 21st.  

What really drives our economy?

John Maynard Keynes's ideas on economics have had a profound influence on modern macroeconomics as well as many economic policies of governments.  Macroeconomics looks at the performance, structure, and development of the economy as a whole.  Keynes theory, know as Keynesian economics, states that business cycle fluctuations should be reduced through both fiscal and monetary policy.  If monetary and fiscal policy is what reduces business cycle fluctuations, why doesn't the United States use these policies to end the terrible recession we are currently in? or is the United States already applying them? 

A World of Ideas

In his blog post about social discovery, Gideon Burton states that the typical college student performs research by ferreting out print or electronic sources that consist mostly of texts or other artifacts that he or she can analyze, synthesize, generate data or arguments about, then writing about what he or she discovered.   Burton mentions that even though this process of research is solid in many respects, he feels that most of us will find this method to be increasingly inadequate and ultimately irresponsible. 

I decided that I wanted to put Dr. Burton’s opinion to the test.  The bulk of my outside research about “computing and intelligence” came from the book A World of Ideas: A Dictionary of Important Theories, Concepts, Beliefs, and Thinkers by Chris Rohmann.  Even if the information is relevant and applicable, to me, it is a pain to do research this way.  I feel that using social discovery would not only be more effective but more fun as well.   Here are a few key points from A World of Ideas:

·         Artificial intelligence is the emulation of human thought processes by mechanical devices.  Alan Turning composed the turning test to see if machines are intelligent.  So far, no device has been constructed that can pass the Turning test.  I feel that the reason that machines struggle to pass the test are because computers can’t feel, show emotion, or think like humans.  Do you think there will ever be machines that are so human-like that they will pass the ‘Turning test’?

·         Kurt Godel caused a decline in interest in formalism (any approach to theory or practice that emphasizes form, structure, or formal rules) with his incompleteness theorem which demonstrates htat not all true statements can be proven.  Pound it for Godel!!!  Since working with the referral center and sharing the gospel through digital media is the topic for my final project, missionary work has been on my mind a lot recently.  I can’t imagine what would be like trying to teach the gospel (gospel truths) if you had to prove every truth that was taught.  It’s pretty hard or even impossible to prove ones feelings, beliefs, and testimony. 

One think I like about computing is that in order for a computation to function, once must pay attention to detail.  This concept is very prevelant in the business world.  Financial statements are analyzed and reports are created in order to help companies be more profitable.  Small errors or changes can pay large dividends for businesses.  I guess that can be applied to our lives too. 

I agree with Murry Leinster that logics (computers) are civilization.  Computers are used for everything today.  They play a large role in our society and what kind of society we’ve become.  I don’t really agree with Leinster that if we shut off computers, we would become a civilization that we’ve forgotten how to run.  Isn’t that what history is for?  To learn from what people did in the past and how to avoid making similar mistakes.  Computers are new.  If we survived without them in the past, we would certainly be able to survive without them again.  Couldn’t we??

It's All in Your Head

Psychology is the study of mind and behavior.  The human mind became central to 20th century thought.  

Sigmund Freud is considered one of the most prominent thinkers of the first half of the 20th century.  In his book Civilization and its Discontents, Freud makes mention of individual development (urge towards happiness + urge towards union with others) and civilization development (creating unity out of individuals).  Freud states that these types of development oppose one another.  This imbalance between the individual and the community of which Freud makes mention is quite different from Adam Smith’s ideas about the same topic.  Adam Smith talks of people being driven by self-interest.  As each individual becomes the best he/she can at their respective skill, it leads to the betterment of the society (civilization) as a whole.  

In the same book, Freud discusses two of the drivers of human life:  men being inclined to aggression and sexuality.  Freud states, "If private property were abolished, all wealth held in common, and everyone allowed to share in the enjoyment of it, ill-will and hostility would disappear among men."  I disagree with that statement.  If you get rid of those those things, there would be an increase in moral hazard among members of society.  (Moral hazard, in business, is the risk that one party to a transaction will engage in behavior that is undesirable from the other party's point of view.)  There would be an increased number of people who would either stop working and mooooch off of everyone else OR people would be much more frivolous in there dealings with others because there is no fear of losing a home or personal belongings since all are equal.   

Carl Jung was another influential psychiatrist of the 20th century.  

A few quotes of his that I really liked were: 

"The more a man's life is shaped by the collective norm, the greater is his individual immorality." ("Psychological Types", 1921)  AND

"Without freedom there can be no morality." ("Relations between Ego and Unconscious", 1928).  

I like these quotes because I feel that they are applicable to the world we live in today.  Sex, drugs, and immorality are becoming more and more accept mainstream among members of society today.  You could even say that being involved in such acts has become "normal".  However,when we are chaste and moral, we become truly free and able to act and make decisions for ourselves.  It is when we abstain from the use of drugs, alcohol, immorality and obey God's commandments that we become free.  

Cracking Open the Shell

The following are some thoughts that came to mind during our discussion of modernism in my digital civilization class this morning:

1. I struggle with modernism because with experimentation of new ideas and breaking away from what is rational, there is a disruption of the past (sometimes more logical) ways to approach life.  
2. Modernism takes people our of there comfort zone even when it might be a good thing.  I feel that my digital civilization class is a good example of this.  Like I said in my last post, there is a sense of uneasiness with change and I have definitely felt that.  However, I also feel that with change comes growth.  I am being stretched in ways that I wouldn't have imagined (especially with respect to digital technology).  Therefore, even though uncomfortable, change can be good if accepted with an open mind.
3. Although I still have much to learn, I feel like I understand the general themes of modernism much better than many other historical concepts previously discussed in this class.  I feel that it has a lot to do with the structural manner in which the information was initially presented.  I really enjoyed reading through the power point in Dr. Burton's post on modernism.  There was structure, organization, a logical presentation of facts and ideas.  These Renaissance-like way to introduce the topic of modernism (for me at least) helped increase my understanding of key concepts and facilitated in drawing conclusions. 

Modernism in a nutshell

One aspect of modernism is that it is “marked by experimentation”, particularly manipulation of form, and by the realization that “knowledge is not absolute”.   Modernism was built on a sense of lost community and civilization.  People weren’t satisfied with the way things were but became more and more interested in how things could become.  Basically, the twentieth century was a "time of change". 

One of the movements of modernism was that of literature/ poetry.  A key characteristic of modernist literature was the use of “free verse”.  Free verse is a form of poetry that refrains from meter patterns, rhyme, or any other musical pattern.  This was a huge change. 

One of the great modernist poets was William Butler Yeats.  Yeats was a master of using symbols to paint detailed images in the readers mind as he/she read his work.   As he matured as a poet, Yeats began to rejecting the more conventional poetic diction and began using a more austere language and more direct approach to portraying his themes and ideas.   The impact of living during the time period of modernism is evident in the change in his style. 

In his poem “The Second Coming”, Yeats’ use of rich and vivid symbols helps to paint clear, distinct images in the readers’ mind. The first image with which we are presented in the poem is an image of disaster; a falcon cannot hear the call of safety, and begins to spiral wider and wider, more out of control.  This image of disaster can be compared to a society or civilization that is in disorder and heading towards chaos.  When this happens, people naturally begin to look for solutions and “change”.  Yeats is living in anticipation of a great change in the poem, which he encapsulated in the Christian concept of "the second coming". 

The lion with the head of a man is a pretty weird image in his poem.  As this weird creature comes closer and closer to us, naturally we want to turn it away.  Often times, we react similarly to change.  As old ideas die and new ideas are born a sense of uneasiness sets in causing man to spiral again in yet another "widening gyre". 

Throughout “The Second Coming”, Yeats’ uses symbols to create a feeling of disaster, turning to dread at the thought of facing a change, even when such change could be an improvement.  This is modernism in a nutshell. 

Digital Literacy meets Missionary Work

After a recent discussion in my digital civilization class about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and its use of digital media, I wanted to post a few of the thoughts that I had related to our discussion.

1. It takes time to become proficient in online chat just like a new language.  This also applies to becoming proficient in the use of digital literacy tools.  
2. Last Thursday, was my favorite digital civilization class period of the semester.  I had no idea that there was so many different LDS church sites and ways to spread the gospel digitally.
3. It's probably pretty obvious that the digital world is new to me and I am far from being proficient but seeing how it applies to something that I am passionate about has really changed my views towards digital media.
4. I no longer super hesitant about potentially working in Provo, UT post graduation.  I used to be hesitant because I wanted to live in a place where all members could participate and feel a part missionary work in the area.  Having seen many of the digital tools/ resources for missionary work that are available, I feel a lot better about living in Provo after I graduate. 

Sound Notes

Hello everyone.  Last week, after Rhett, Andrew and I held our mini book club, I had a great idea.  Instead of boring everyone with a long post of what I learned, I wanted to post a sound note to my blog for everyone to listen to.  Simple, right???  I don't think so.  Hopefully someone will be able to help me out but I couldn't figure out a way to create a link to hear my sound clip directly to my blog so I posted it another way.

The following is a list of the steps I took in order to post my sound clip (commentary about The Count of Monte Cristo) to my blog:

1. Create a sound note.  
2. Try to upload sound clip straight to blogger (Failed)
3. Create a movie using Windows Movie Maker (Upload the sound clip and a picture/ slide show/ or actual movie)
4. Once the movie has been created, upload the movie to YouTube.
5. Embed the recently uploaded YouTube video into your blog.  

Even though it was a more complicated process than I was hoping, I feel like I became more digitally literate because of this experience.  I learned how to use Windows Movie Maker and how to upload a video to YouTube.  Pretty cool stuff.  More information on these great tools to come.  

The Count of Monte Cristo

Now that it's been a week since Rhett, Andrew and I started our book club, I wanted to tell you how it went.  After discussing the books on each of our lists (and casting lots), we came to the consensus that we would read a classic romantic novel written by Alexandre Dumas, The Count of Monte Cristo.

To be honest, I was a little uneasy at first because I've never really been one who enjoys reading books and The Count of Monte Cristo is very long.  I always assumed that I could maximize my utility by playing sports and being active rather than delving into a "good" book.  It was time to put reading to the test and see how much utility I could actually get from reading.

After we decided what book we would read, it was time to get reading.  In order to get a general overview,  I went to sparknotes.com and then began reading the abridged version.  I was a bit overwhelmed by the 396 pages but I didn't want to let my group down because I knew that they were depending on me to be able to talk about what I learned from this experience.  The following are a few things that I learned from reading The Count of Monte Cristo:

Book List

In preparation for a mini book club project that I will be participating in for my digital civilization class, I have created the following list of books that I would be interested in reading:

 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens - The story is about an orphan Oliver Twist who escapes from a workhouse and travels to London where he meets the leader of a gang of juvenile pickpockets.  This book will help to understand more about the hardships that children went through during the Industrial Revolution. 

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens - The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period.  I want to read it because I've heard it's really good and it's set in London and Paris before and after the French Revolution. 


Great Expectations by Charles Dickens - Great Expectations is the story of the orphan Pip, writing about his life (and attempting to become a gentleman along the way). The novel can also be considered semi-autobiographical of Dickens, like much of his work, drawing on his experiences of life and people.  I think it would be interesting to learn more about what it must have been like for children to grow up during the Industrial Revolution

Technology can be good

I just found an article about Jessica Holcomb and how she makes enough money to support her family by working part-time (10-13 hours a week) from home.  How does she do it?  Automatic Profit System.
She made a simple website and created an on-line business that became an instant cash cow.  

I am happy for Jessica.  I'm glad that she found a way for her to be happy and restore financial security to her family.  I just wanted to share an example of how the Internet strengthened a family since my last post was primarily on how it tears families apart.  

I also found an interesting article on the Effects of technology on society.

Technology....what does it do to your family?

What is the first thing you do in the morning?  As a society, we are becoming more and more dependent on technology every day.  Think about it.  Most of us wake up to the alarms on our cell-phones and immediately check to see if we received any texts, e-mails, or missed phone calls while we were sleeping. 

Whatever happened to eating breakfast together as a family?  Now, instead of eating breakfast, parents and kids rush to the computer first thing in the morning.  As technological innovation continues to increase, spending time together as a family has taken a back seat.  The effects that technology has on families today are similar to those caused by the industrial revolution. 

Self-interest...what's wrong with it?

This weekend, after hanging out with Rhett, I read an article about the backlash that LeBron James is receiving for signing with the Miami Heat.  To my surprise, the thoughts that came to mind after reading the article weren't about basketball or even sports.  I began recalling a recent topic discussed in my history of civilization class at school.  What does LeBron James and his decision to go to the Miami Heat have to do with ancient history?

The Printing Press = Accessibility

As I have contemplated how to make my blog more interesting and more contributory to my digital civilization class, one word came to mind......accessibility.  During class and as I go about my day to day life, I look for real-life connections to the historical topic we are studying in class like we've been instructed to do.  The problem is that I record my notes/ ideas/ connections on my iPod touch instead of my blog.   But why?  The reason is because of accessibility.  When I record my thoughts on my iPod, they are more personal and the conclusions that I come to are always right.  However, when I post on my blog, my ideas are no longer personal but accessible by anyone.

As I've studied and researched about the evolution of the printing press, it was interesting to discover that I'm not alone in my fear of my thoughts/ ideas being made more accessible.  In fact, Gutenberg himself wanted to keep his invention of the printing press a secret.  Why?  I think it might have had something to do with accessibility

Personal Renaissance (Reflection Post)

Have you even been in a situation where you felt like you didn't belong?  Have you ever been somewhere where the people practice a different culture?  Or started learning a new language and feel like you will never become fluent? 

Throughout my life, I have had such experiences and hoped that I wouldn't have to go through them again.  This semester at school, I signed up for a Digital Civilization class and all of those feelings of inadequacy or difficulty have seemed to come rushing back. 

The NBA.....is it the same or different?

In 1891, Dr. James Naismith invented one of today's most popular sports....Basketball.  Based off of a discussion in my digital civilization class, I began to think about the game of basketball and how just like knowledge (or the means by which we obtain knowledge) is constantly changing, so is the game of basketball.

Language...should it be determined by the situation?

Have you ever been in a situation where you felt like you didn't belong?  Have you ever felt like you had something important to say but didn't know how to say it?  Have you ever put your "foot in your mouth" because you didn't understand the context of a conversation?  For me, the answer to all three of these questions is YES. 

In the article "Language" by Louis, chevalier de Jaucourt, Jaucourt defines language as "the way in which men communicate their thoughts through a succession of words, gestures and expressions adapted to their character, customs and climate."  Each of us speaks more languages than we probably think.  As I was thinking about the way that I communicate with others, I came to the conclusion that the situation that I am in determines what language I use to communicate.  How well do you communicate? 

Self-interest in Business

Niccolo Machiavelli said, "It is better to be feared than to be loved."  What does that mean?  As discussed in my digital civilization class, it means that people do things out of self-interest.  Think about it...we do things because we expect things in return.  We study for our tests because we hope it will help us to perform better on the test.  Would you go to work each day if you weren't going to receive a paycheck at the end of the month?  If the majority of our decisions every day are made our of self-interest, what happens when a business or cooperation bases its decisions out of self interest?   

Who needs college anyway?

In the c1450, Johannas Gutenberg invented the first movable type. This was a big deal because it made learning more accessible and was an easier medium of communication. Printing and the distribution of books also rattled the cages a bit by challenging the authority of established institutions. After discussing the this issue in my digital civilization class, the following thought came to mind. Is knowledge being so readily accessible in today's world taking place of the need for academic institutions like Colleges and Universities?

A visual effect to screen capture

All through high school and college, I have never really played around with the many features on my computer or features available on the internet. I made up my mind that I wasn't a computer guy, thus it would be too complicated for me to learn how to use the cool applications that I always saw my friends using. I even felt that way this year until something changed.....

I actually decided to use what I am currently learning in my digital civilization class. I recently learned about the tools of visualization and screen capture from two of my classmates Parker and Sarah. There explanations were extremely simple but affective. When I came home this afternoon, I decided to dabble a little in what they had taught me and actually enjoyed it. The picture above is a screen capture of an awesome visualization tool called Wordle!!!

Social Bookmarking

Hello friends. Recently, I have been focusing a lot on strengthening my networking skills in order to improve my chances of getting a good job post graduation. As part of my digital civilization class, I had the chance to research a little about Social Bookmarking. This feature allows one to organize his/her favorite websites into a easier, more accessible format for him/herself and others to benefit from.

The following explains how to add social bookmarking buttons to a blog or a website.....

1. Click on the picture above
2. Follow the steps
3. Enjoy being more social

silly Delete key

In Digital Civilization class today, Andrew commented about the "Delete" key on the keyboard and how it effects today's language. To be honest with you, when brainstorming to write a paper or while creating a rough draft, the "Delete" key is my least favorite key on the keyboard. I find myself constantly typing out a thought or idea but deleting it because it doesn't make sense or I'm not sure how it will link in with the rest of my ideas. I have always looked at the word processor as the last step in the writing process and therefore feel like whatever I type should be clear and concise. Does anybody else feel the same way I do about the "Delete" key?

Hunams - The Quest for Perfection

I have never been a huge fan of reading or even talking about literature. In fact, I've never really enjoyed reading books. However, as I get older, and hopefully more mature, I have learned to have a respect for those who have been blessed with the gift of being able to express their feelings through heartfelt passages of writing.

As I was reading Petrarch's letters to Cicero, I couldn't help but admire his word choice and the emotion he put into each word/phrase in each letter.

The passion and emotion that is portrayed by Humanist writers caused me to think about the art of professional running. Runners are able to express there passion for the sport without saying a word. There effortless stride and ability to push there bodies to the limits in my opinion is a form of art. It is a special talent to be able to push through the pain and constant screaming of your muscles who are begging you stop and rest. Running is art.

As I continued to research the art of running, I was intrigued by an article called The Evolution of Human Running (http://www.runtheplanet.com/resources/historical/runevolve.asp). Our arteries, ligaments, skin, spine, etc. all contribute to our ability to create art through running.

The human body is incredible. But just like Petrarch said to Cicero,
"What, pray, does it profit a man to teach others, and to be prating always about virtue, in high-sounding words, if he fails to give head to his own instructions?"
I would feel a little sheepish saying all of this if I didn't get out and run myself. Don't worry, I run everyday.

Learning is a life-long task

The concept of life-long learning is just as applicable today as it was during the time of the Renaissance. Just as Leonardo da Vince made huge contributions to learning and during the fifteenth century, there are CEO’s and Presidents of different businesses that are contributing to the pursuit of life-long learning during our day. One company that comes to mind is Google. Eric E. Schmidt, and Google, has created an easy way to access large amounts of information related to any topic. I feel that there are strong similarities to the Renaissance and our day.

Once common trend that I found in all of the readings is that Galileo, Copernicus, and da Vince all were inspired by other scientists, philosophers, artists, ect. of their time. This same principle is applicable in our day. Many successful businesses, sports teams, authors, ect. observe what is happening in the world around them by other successful people and tweak their ideas a little and creat something new and exciting that succeeds. I feel this principle is demonstrated by what took place in Miami this off-season in the NBA. Pat Riley, the President of the Heat, recognized that his team was not in a position to contend for a championship. Therefore, he built a super team that can be compared to the Chicago Bulls, let by Michael Jordan, during the 90’s. There is a starting line-up led by three superstars in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh who can be compared to Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman.

The principle of life-long learning and learning from others is continuous. This attitude was created by great men during the Renaissance time period and is occurring in our day as well.