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Technopolis

Ideas and Summary

I thought the reading was very enlightening. Just like anything, leaning too much to one side is bad. Embracing technology is dangerous by letting it consume your thoughts and actions, while refusing technology will have you fall being while everyone moves ahead. You need to keep somewhat of a balance. Chapter one dives into why embracing technological change is good, but being wary of how it can take over your life. For example, A good thing about technology is the development of portable computers allows students to easily take notes. While some may still opt to write their notes, typing is more beneficial to students with learning disabilities like dyslexia or dysgraphia. However, technology like AI has been really negative for a lot of students. While students may think it’s helping them, it’s actually negatively effecting their critical thinking and literacy. On top if that, it has a terrible effect on the environment. Cooling system in data system require large amounts of water which puts pressure on areas in droughts like California. Chapter 2 explains how tools were invented to address the issues in society but they could also unintentionally transform societies. Chapter 3 dives into how the rise of technocracy which then evolves into technopoly. Postman says that America’s focus on unrestrained growth and freedom is what started the shift. Traditional beliefs were sidelined, and technology became the dominant ideology. This next chapter i found particularly interesting. It examines the history of information revolutions. Technology like the printer had slow growth so it had a positive contribution on society, while technology like electric cars prioritizing technological speed and volume over coherence. This leads to a decrease in technological productivity. Finally, Chapter 5 explains why keeping morality in technology development is important. The flood of information created by modern technologies has overwhelmed society’s traditional systems of control. Families, schools, religions, and government once provided moral, social, and cultural frameworks have been eroded and replaced by technical methods. Postman explains that there is a chance to recover society if the right steps are taken.

Relating to Black Mirror

The readings gave me a new perspective on Black Mirror. The streaming service, Streamberry, in ‘Joan is Awful’ is all too quick to utilize the latest and greatest technology. Meanwhile the consequences of the technology negatively effect all kinds of people. Streamberry uses a quamputer to make the ‘Joan is Awful’ show which “creates a multiverse of characters” according to the CEO of Streamberry. After the show causes to Joan lose her job, her fiancee, and airs out all her business, while simultaneously ruining Selma Hayek’s reputation, Joan and Salma go to destroy the quamputer. To try and stop Joan, the CEO says “We don’t know what it’s capable of, it’s basically magic.” This parrallels well with what Postman says about technopoly, when all developers focus on is improving technology, it eventually loses what makes it a quality product. Sure, the quamputer is an amazing advancement in technology but it adds nothing beneficial to society.

What Does Dr. Oblivion Have to Say?

Dr. Oblivion essentially said that the transformation from technology to technopoly was foreseeable. He also explained that people are quick to raise concerns about fast changing technology but still fall into its allures. He said it’s important to find balance between embracing and being cautious of technology is important. Dr Oblivion says that Postman’s exploration from technology to technopoly showcases America’s priority for growth instead of traditional values. Overall, I agree with a lot of what Dr. Oblivion said and he had some very good insights.

She’s a Full On Monet! – That’s Not It

The prompt for this assignment was to mix two movie scenes together, to change the meaning of the conversation. The original Clueless scene had Tai and Cher talking about Amber dancing with Tai’s crush. To make Tai feel better, Cher starts trashing Amber’s appearance. To change the scene, I made the subject of the conversation Regina George. While the meaning of the original conversation didn’t change, it was fun to put Regina George and Cher Horowitz, two iconic characters, together. I picked this assignment because I thought it was cool that just a little bit of editing can transform a whole scene.

Making the video involved downloading the scene of Cher and Tai at the party as well as the scene of Aaron and Regina at their Halloween party. I ran into a slight bit of trouble when downloading the scenes because the only version of the Clueless scene that didn’t have a huge watermark was without background music. I remedied this by downloading a song from the YouTube audio library and mixing it into the video and adjusting the volume. After that, the video was very easy to make. All I had to do was cut out the scenes with Amber and use the Mean Girls scene. Lastly I exported the video and uploaded it to YouTube. This was definetly one of the easier assignments, the only thing I really struggled with was coming up with an idea. I couldn’t find any scenes where there was an opportunity to change the context of the conversation. Once I thought of this idea I was very excited and got to work. Overall, I’m proud of this edit, I hope you guys like it.

Love is Embarrassing – Compilation Video

*****Spoiler alerts for The Good Place!*****

Edits are very popular these days, and I LOVE a good edit. I have seen some really amazing ones for Barbie, WandaVision, and Community. I really wanted to take a crack at it, since I’ve had some experience using Adobe Premiere Pro, which meant I wouldn’t be starting from square one. For this edit, I took one of my favorite shows The Good Place and put it with one of my favorite songs “Love is Embarrasing” by Olivia Rodrigo.

Eleanor Shellstrop has a significant arc over the course of The Good Place’s run. She starts as this loner who is very selfish, self asorbed character and ends the show surrounded by her chosen family whom she loves and would do anything for. These characteristics have been inside Eleanor all along but the people who were around her put down those traits, so she has to learn how to be okay with taking care of others and being a good person. This especially comes through when she stars to catch feelings for Chidi. At first Eleanor thinks he’s a nerd and doesn’t want anything to do with him. Eventually, however, she realizes she has feelings for Chidi even though she doesn’t want to. This song is the perfect choice to capture how Eleanor feels about Chidi because she is almost repulsed by how she feels towards Chidi, given that she has never felt like that towards a person before. She finds love to be embarrasing.

This video was relatively easy to make. First, I looked for and downloaded an Eleanor and Chidi scene pack which compiles clips of the two. Then I added the scenes into Adobe Premiere Pro and sorted through which clips I wanted to use. Once I had my clips picked out, I added Olivia Rodrigo’s Love is Embarrassing. After that I rearranged the clips, trimmed them to keep each clip short. I also tried to sync the clip transitions to the beat of the song. I feel like this makes edits more satisfying to watch. Finally, the last thing I did was export the video and uploaded it to YouTube.

Here is the final project!

Krissy Ryan – The People’s Princess of Cyberpunk

My character’s name is Krissy Ryan. Her character archetype is The Innocent Bystander. When crafting her, I took inspiration from Cole Turner, played by Chris Evans in the movie Ghosted. Chris Evans’s character does not want to help out or be a part of the story, and I thought that would be a fun take to put on my character. I also wanted Krissy to transform into a character. At the start of her arc, she’s naive and doesn’t believe in herself, but she’s a confident hero by the end.

Krissy is your quintessential small-town girl. She works on her parents’ farm and is being trained to take it over when they retire one day. She has a muscular build with tan skin. Krissy also has medium-long blonde hair, green eyes, and freckles from working in the sun every day. Her birthday is February 20, 1999 which makes her a Pisces. Being a Pisces makes her sensitive but also loyal to her cause. Krissy has two sides: sweet and kind as well as sarcastic and sharp; if she likes you, she’ll be nice, but she has no tolerance for people she doesn’t. She is single because she just got out of a relationship with her ex-boyfriend. Krissy is happy with her life, but deep down, she has always related to characters like Moana or Belle, who feel that they were possibly meant for something bigger. Still, Krissy is content despite some underlying restless feelings. That is until she gets dragged into a mission by her ex-boyfriend.

After a long day of working, Krissy’s favorite meal is a bacon cheeseburger with a Cherry Coke 0. Her favorite color is pink because she loves the pop of color it adds. Krissy’s favorite book is Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, but her all-time favorite book is one she read in high school: As Good As Dead from The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder Series. Her prized possession is a ring her ex gave her while they were dating, although she’d never tell him that. Lastly, Krissy’s motto is “You don’t have to be ready, you just have to be brave,” which will be helpful to her on her mission.

Pinterest Picks My Perfect Life

I love Pinterest, and I have always loved Pinterest. It’s a fun and relaxing website that allows me to curate what I would like my life to look like. I chose the “Your Dream Life” assignment because I’ve basically been doing this assignment in my free time for years.

The boards that I have on my Pinterest include hair, outfits, bedroom, pets, gym, and home. To start, my Pinterest board shows many beautiful styles of hair. In an ideal world, my hair would always be made up. Whether it’s straightened, curled, braided, or put up, I love it when my hair is done, and I wish I had more time to sit down and do it. For the outfits board, I have been struggling with my style lately. I’m having trouble choosing what style(s) I identify with. For the most part, I’ve been really into 2000s fashion, so my board is made up of a lot of that. I also love feminine fashion, so those pieces also show up on my board a lot. Moving on to my pets board, I have a cat and a dog at home, so I feel I already have the ideal life for pets. I will be happy if I have at least one pet. My gym board is the only one that doesn’t align with my perfect life. I have never been into fitness, so in a perfect world, I wouldn’t have to exercise to stay healthy. However, I know that’s unrealistic, so I included some easy, beginner exercises for my health and wellness. Finally, for my home board, I love lots of color and character, and that shows in my pins for homes. Victorian homes match my love for color and character really well, so I have always been drawn to them.

To determine what I wanted on each board, I had to sit down and envision all the aspects of my ideal life. For example, with my outfits board, I said I’ve been having trouble figuring out my style, so what I did to try and help find it was thinking about TV characters I’ve seen where I’ve thought “Oh that’s a cute outfit.” So I thought Cheyenne from Reba had some cute outfits and included her on my board. Another thing I did since I mentioned liking feminine outfits was to search for “2024/25 girly outfits” to stay up to date on trends while still matching the vibes that I like. For my house/bedroom, I went a different route. Where I live is an extension of my personality and interests. I like comedies that can be messy, and my love for playful and maximalist decorations reflects those interests. Another example is I’m a night owl, so I spend a lot of time in my bedroom. Therefore, I want it to be aesthetic, but I also want it to have things like my books and laptop in close quarters. Consequently, you’ll see a nightstand, dresser, bookshelf, or desk in many of my pins so that I can easily access my valuables.

This project was enjoyable for me because I enjoyed getting to craft my ideal life. Limited time might keep me from being able to do my hair every day, and limited funds may keep me from buying a house tomorrow, but crafting a more personalized style, going to the gym more, and decorating my room better are achievable goals, maybe now that I can see the finish lines for my goals they will be easier to achieve.