I am currently taking the a Cyber Theory and Practice class and my final project was to create this website. Going into this class, I didn't know much of what it would be about, other than the internet. Since the begining, I have learned much more than I ever even thought I could.
In this class, I learned how to make a basic webpage using some html. Much of what I have learned in creating the website I have learned on my own. We didn't learn about html at all during class so I just had to go exploring to find out as much as I could in a short time about html. I know there is so much more for me to learn about it, but I feel that I know most of the basic codes (which still isn't very much). I think it is very interesting to use html because you don't get to see the results immediately, where as with most other things on the internet you can, like downloading pictures, you just click on the link and it appears.
In this class I learned a variety of other things relating to the internet as well. I learned more about hackers and how some can be good while others can be harmful. Also that there are hacker groups out there, almost like a club. I learned that the majority of people on the internet and working with computers are males because they are more interested in searching to find the answers while females just quit or ask for help when they can't figure things out. I learned a lot about cyborgs in movies (Matrix, Blade Runner, Terminator 2, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc).
The group website (the main page) was based on Virtual Reality. We chose this topic because none of us really knew that much about it but we all thought it was interesting from what we did know. We also knew that there would be a lot of information out there about the topic so it would be easier for us to get information. We also found some interesting pictures as I'm sure you've already seen on the main page.
My personal website is not totally based on Virtual Reality because we were to include a variety of different things from what we have done in class. I have included pictures that I took with a digital camera or off the internet and then revised on Adobe Photoshop. The collage is a representation of my personality (actually just things that I like or are interesting to me) which I also used Photoshop to create. I have a short essay about how Virtual Reality is helping the Construction industry, which relates to our main topic of the group website. I also have critical responses to things we have covered in class, which includes quotes and my personal opinions. Near the end of my website there are some links to miscellaneous websites and at the end is a statement about my relationship with technology.
“Virtual Reality is the use of animation and three-dimensional graphics to create a ‘real’ feeling.” What do Virtual Reality and the construction industry have in common? The construction industries are using Virtual Reality to help them in creating new ways to build, deal with disasters and help identify problem areas.
Virtual Reality is a huge step toward a more technological world, especially with the construction industry. It will make their work easier with fewer problems because the construction industry can get more work done in less time by using Virtual Reality. They find new ways to build and are able to identify problems easier through Virtual Reality. It can also help you “determine how to move the materials around the site in a more efficient way” (www.centralohio.thesourse.net). Virtual Reality can help the constructors see what the finished product is supposed to look like instead of trying to imagine and then create it. I’m sure the people that have been working in the construction industry for a while wouldn’t like to use Virtual Reality because it is a whole new way of thinking, but if it would help their businesses and help them, hopefully they will try it.
Virtual Reality can also be used to “estimate the cost of the jobs more efficiently” (www.centralohio.thesourse.net). Because Virtual Reality is so technologically advanced, people assume it is much more expensive than it actually is. “There are places to enter that are cost effective” (www.centralohio.thesourse.net). I think if it is not too expensive for the companies to switch to Virtual Reality, then there would be no reason for them not to. If it makes their lives easier and their final product is better then it would really benefit the construction industries to try something new.
Using Virtual Reality, the buyer will be assured that they will like the final product because they will be able to see it before it is done. They are using Virtual Reality to “conduct video tours, create three-dimensional layouts of jobs, view topographical features of a site and images with a three-dimensional view, allowing the viewer to move around the area” (www.centralohio.thesourse.net). It is also helping them with their tours of the homes or properties because they don’t have to drive to the actual site to give the tour; they can just use Virtual Reality to show them. I think this will also help the buyers of houses because they can create how they want the house to look and actually see it before it is built. It is better than two-dimensional pictures because you can actually move around and see things from all angles.
The use of Virtual Reality will help the designers and construction companies see things the same way. “Construction people think in three-dimensional, architects and designers think in three-dimensional but work in two-dimensional” (www.centralohio.thesourse.net). Using Virtual Reality, they will all be able to see and work in three-dimensional making them all think and work in the same way. This should make communication better between them causing fewer problems. I think communication is a key point in working well and getting things done. If Virtual Reality can create better communication between designers and construction workers then things will work better and there will be fewer things to worry about. The next step for Virtual Reality is to move the technology to the rest of the business world.
If more people can work better using Virtual Reality and it is cost effective then we should work to get it out there and use it as much as possible. It improves communication and assures the buyers that they will like the final product. I think if Virtual Reality has come as far as the construction industry then there is no stopping it. It is a great use of technology and hope we can use it as much as possible
Cross-Gender in Chat Room
I first created my identity and wrote it on paper before I went into the chat room to be sure that I didn't mess up anywhere. I was flyboy427, I had blonde hair and green eyes. I also said I played hockey because two of my roommates do and they could help me if I was questioned anything about it.
My hypothesis was that it would be very hard to talk to any girls without being sexual, I knew that I would have to seek them out because from previous experience of being in a chat room, the guys were the ones that started all the conversations.
I then entered the teen chat room of Yahoo!Chat. I had a hard time at first because I didn't want to say anything sexual because I know how it is to be in a chat room and be bombarded by sexual advances. I just typed my a/s/l (age/sex/location) and then looked through the list of people in the chat room. I found one that was bad_girlie1021, I asked her what her a/s/l was and she was 19 from Texas. She immediately started being sexual by saying "I'm a bad girl because I get aggressive at night." Then she said, "I'm kinky in sex." I immediately changed the subject by asking if she was in sports. She said she was in track and I said I was in hockey. She said it was her favorite sport and she used to watch it all the time. Then she said, "I'm so busy with college and all." This made it much easier because we had something in common. Then my computer said "this program has performed an illegal process" and it shut down so I couldn't print out the conversation or even finish it. I did feel that I got a lot out of the conversation though.
I expected it to be very hard to talk to anyone and it was at first. I also expected that all the girls wouldn't talk to me unless I said sexual things. I found it very easy after a few minutes to talk to the girl once she realized that I didn't want to hit on her and I just wanted to have a normal conversation. I think that girls just expect guys to make sexual advances, but once they get past that the conversations can be pretty interesting.
My hypothesis was kind of right, but it was much easier to talk to people after they realize that not everyone there wants to talk about sex. It was nice to be in a chat room and see things from the opposite side, although it was a little harder to get a conversation started being a guy.
I think the movie The Matrix is an extremely thought out movie. The first time I saw it was in the movie theater and I remember walking out of the theater feeling like a different person. I almost had a high on life or something similar. Everything around me had a different meaning. I personally like most movies that bring up questions and make you think beyond the movie. I am also wondering if this has already happened and if there is a "Morpheus" or "Neo" type of a person out there and maybe if there is, will they be able to fix things without us knowing? If there is a problem that is. Also, what if there are aliens out there that resemble the agents, would we know about it, or would that just be another world inside our own that we don't even know about. The exact things from the movie (the oracle, agents, etc.) could be right there in front of us and we never even knew because we were never provoked to think about things any differently. To me, the movie just wants you to question things more and look at things in a different sense, which would be good or bad depending on the person.
Many people are scared when movies or things similar make you ask "what if" questions. I like them though because they get me thinking about things more than just any movie that shows the ending and leaves you feeling the same and everythings is normal again. I like to use my imagination to try to answer the questions. I think that TV and movies are getting boring because they don't make you think about things after they are done. I usually don't even remember the movies if they give me all the answers. I do think that th eworld is very computer oriented though, more so than people think and you might say it's scary, but just look around at all the things already that are ran by computers or something similar (i.e. alarm clocks, stereos, cell phones, some cars, etc.). I like to be interactive with people just as much as the next person, but I think our world is already controlled by computers much more than we will ever understand.
My question was: What significance did the background and scenery have to do with the movie?
I think it was always dreary and dark because the creators wanted us to be aware of what could happen in the future. I also think they wanted to represent the replicants as being sad, depressed and hiding from the world. It seemed like they wanted to show the future as being so run-down and unhappy that it wasn't worth being a part of. It was always raining and nothing had color or expressions. I think they wanted us to be afraid of the future and realize how good things are right now. It also made it seem like people don't care about their surroundings and the environment in the future. The people roaming the streets seemed to have nothing to do and no purpose in life, they were just there.
I agree that you can tell all about someone's feelings by looking at their eyes. Eyes are all different, but can be understood by everyone. I think that by wearing dark eye makeup or sunglasses all the time people are trying to hide from or shut out the world. I also agree that if you are depressed, sad, or whatever and you try to hide it by smiling, it doesn't work because your eyes say all without saying anything at all. Your eyes can show all emotions and you can't do anything about it. I think if you have no soul (like they say the replicants did) then you would have no expressions or emotions and your eyes would not change at all. It was obvious that the replicants did have a soul (or somehow developed one) because they did show emotions and Pris tried to cover her eyes with makeup all the time. I don't understand how they would have souls though, because a soul is something that is impossible to recreate, it is everything about each person and you can't take or reproduce them.
I think the replicants did in fact have emotions but they had to develop them. For some reason, their emotions were always sad and unhappy. I think the reason they were so sad was because the surroundings prevented any happiness from entering. I also think that because they knew they had short lives and it was going to end soon they had no reason to even try to make it a good life. They had no way of developing happiness because it was no where to be found.
This site doesn't give much information on the actual movie, but it does show a list of the cast and some credits. It has pictures and links to other Blade Runner pages. The site also talks about the soundtrack to the movie including official and private links.
On this site, there are many ratings from a variety of critics. It has a short paragraph explaining the movie. The site also has a spot where you can check local listings to see when the movie will be playing. It has links to other sites relating to the movie and links where you can buy the movie.
This site has everything from screensavers to comic books. It has a photo gallery with many pictures from the movie, a downloadable game, and interviews with a variety of different people that worked on the film. It also has trailers, cast and crew information, and a chat area where you can talk about the movie. This is overall an excellent site, it has many things relating to the movie.
This site has everything from polls to character biographies. It also has actor biographies to let you know a little more about the actors who are in the movie. You can chat about the Matrix with a link that they have and there are also a lot of other links relating to the Matrix as well. They also have a mailing list so you can get things in your e-mail about the Matrix. Overall, this is a pretty good site.
This is a great site for people wanting to know about hackers it has the main page as links to articles about hackers. It has a variety of different recent topics relating to hacking. This is overall a great site with a lot of information to inform others of hackers and what they can do.
In this site, there is a lot of information about cyberpunks and hackers. It tells us where the words originated and what they mean today. It shows some books relating to the topics and gives a brief summary of each. It also lists some cyberpunk and hacker movies and websites relating to the topics. This is a very well thought out page and has a lot of good information.
This site tells all about hackers and hacking in general. It has categories of hackers, how they learn to hack, gathering places for hackers, and much more. The site isn't very interesting as it has a plain white background and black type, but it has a lot of information that can be very helpful. The site in general isn't very interesting to read, but you can learn a lot from it.
This site is dedicated to the story "Library of Babel". It goes into great detail to explain the story and what you're supposed to get out of it. It has many great links to related sites as well. It is a great site for the "Library of Babel".
This is an excellent site for learning about hypertext. It was created by the University of Colorado. I haven't seen a website with as much information about the topic as this one. It is filled with links that tell all about everything from the history to what it actually is. I highly recommend going to this site if you are at all interested in hypertext.
This site is much like the other hypertext site, but it goes into great detail about html. It has a lot of information about hypertext and hypermedia that can be very helpful. It has a lot of links to find out the most information possible. This is another good site for hypertext.
Our world is has such advanced technology and there is no way to stop it. There will always be people out there striving to make their lives easier and better therefore advancing technology. Technology is improving because we are all striving to have perfect lives. All in all, I think that technology is a great thing and we would be lost without it.
Date: February 15, 2001 To: Professor Usekes From: Sarah Hohlen Su: Television’s Impact on Children I have chosen to use the impact that television has on children as my controversial subject for my research paper. Many studies have shown that television has a very large negative affect on children. Children are spending more and more time watching television instead of playing outside and getting exercise therefore making them more obese than children used to be. Another large factor is that television has so much violence that children shouldn’t be exposed to. They see the violence on television and then mimic it in the real world and get into trouble and hurt others and the environment. I have two research questions: What can be done to get children away from the television and more physically active? Should TV shows be able to show so much violence if it is affecting children negatively? I have found many resources that will be helpful in proving my point that television is negatively affecting children. I think this is a good topic because if it affects our nation’s children, then it affects us all because they are our future. Much of the information that I have is trying to tell parents that they need to get more active in their children’s lives. I think this is very true so that information will be very useful for this paper. I would like permission to use the impact of television on children as my research topic. This topic interests me very much so I would really enjoy learning more about it. American Academy of Pediatrics Committee. “Children, Adolescents, and Television.” Pediatrics 96 (Oct. 1995): 786-788. [This report gives information about the effects of television violence on children. It has facts that prove that children who watch too much television may be more violent, abuse drugs and alcohol and become more sexually active at a younger age. It also shows how it can effect their performance in school. This should be very helpful with my argument that watching television may lead to violence in children.] Cohen, Stewart. “Television in the Lives of Children and their Families.” Childhood Education 70 (Winter 1993): 103-105. [This report is much older than the others, but it should be helpful in showing how much the effects of television has changed over a few years. This article is more targeted toward families and how they are effected. It should still be helpful though, because it might be able to help me talk about what can be done to solve this problem through families. This article talks about how the specific effects are hard to distinguish, which shows how much the research has changed over the years.] Hayakawa, S. I., and Alan R. Hayakawa. “The Empty Eye.” ETC: A Review of General Semantics 50 ( Summer 1993): 137-155. [This is a more out-dated article that goes over social change and how television has changed society positively. It is mostly about news and how it has brought our country together by having everyone informed of what’s going on around us. I don’t think this article will help me because it I am arguing the opposing viewpoint. ] Vessey, Judith A., Paula K. Yim-Chiplis, and Nancy R. MacKenzie. “Effects of Television Viewing on Children’s Development.” Pediatric Nursing 23 (Sept.- Oct.1998): 483-487. Jannetti Publications, Inc. (1998). [This article looks at the effects of watching too much television related to health concerns of children. It gives information on different types of health-related problems that can result from too much television watching. This will help me prove my point that watching too much television is dangerous to the health of children.] Walsch, Ann D., Russell N. Laczniak and Les Carlson. “Mother’s Preferences for Regulating Children’s Television.” Journal of Advertising 27 (1998): 23-24. American Academy of Advertising. (1998). [Most of the information in this report is based on surveys of mothers and their styles of parenting. It shows how affective each style of parenting is and what they can do to be better parents. This should help me if I want to talk about how watching too much television may be a result of poor parenting.]
