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Showing posts from October, 2017

B21: Lonely and Too Connected

In Charles Seife’s The Loneliness of the Interconnected , Seife effectively informs readers about the internet and human behavior through the discussion of different case studies. Seife is effective at reaching people because of the disturbing yet interesting information he shares. He writes in a way that is kind of like a story with varied sentence structure, which helps keep the reader entertained and on edge. I primarily noticed the impact he had using short, simple sentences such as “Even against your will,” “Then came the internet,” “Bit by bit, it is driving us toward extremism,” etc. (Seife). The angle on this is a little unclear because the views are extreme and futuristic, but it is hitting on the negative side of being so interconnected and focused on technology and the internet. With fake news and the ability to spread ideas easily on the internet, people can receive validation for their ludicrous beliefs. The “so what” is that internet users need to be wary about what is ...

B20: Money and Politics

After reading Inside The Macedonian Fake-News Complex by Samanth Subramanian, I was left feeling a little bit uneasy. I knew that politics were in everything, you can’t believe everything you read on the internet, and people can make money from posting on the internet, but I did not realize the extremes or extent of them all. What made this article interesting was that it detailed the life of an 18-year-old from Veles, referred to as Boris for the purpose of anonymity, and the history and connection between Velez and other countries. Subramanian’s addition of detail about the economy of Veles and its decline as well as descriptions of other people that made money as Boris did, by posting online, helped bring more context to the story. It helped show how much posting online could help them be more financially stable (or at least supported), and by posting articles that had already been posted, they weren’t necessarily adding to the collection of fake news in the world. They were just s...

Friday Fun! (Extra Post)

I was in class on Friday, October 20th. Extra credit, please?

B19: i(m)GOD?

In iGOD by Nicholas Carr, the future of technology is discussed. I never knew that from the beginning, Google had planned on developing Artificial Intelligence and ways to indefinitely combine man and machine. I am opposed to this. Although it could equalize the playing field, I am hesitant to accept and provide permission for implementing technology, like those discussed in this article, into myself because of a podcast I heard. They discussed how human’s natural memory will decline because of the reliance on AI’s and lack of need to remember because of the purpose of an AI. The angle of the story is how AI’s and new technology will change our lives. Soon enough, everyone could be using some form of AI to complete daily tasks. Carr provides a lot of different prickles that make this idea feel concrete in an otherwise unbelieving society. The author makes it relevant and engaging in many ways. For one, I don’t know anyone that does not use Google at least once a year. Personally, I us...

B18: Hungry Skies

The article “Star Eater” about black holes and the idea of time was super interesting. The author brought up the physics and facts that are not common knowledge and helped the reader understand the extent of amazingness using comparisons. For example, relating the energy of an atomic bomb to the energy that would be generated from a marshmallow coming in contact with a neutron star’s gravitational pull. By making other comparisons to familiar objects, such as “crumbs on a table cloth after a hearty meal,” “smaller than an eyeball,” “a separate bubble in the Swiss cheese of reality,” and “sugar-cube-size fragment,” the author pulls off making this prickle-filled article understandable and engaging. Another technique I noticed is that the author seems to keep his paragraphs short and sweet. If the author had written long paragraphs, the reading would have felt like it dragged on and the reader might have felt as though they were increasingly likely to get lost in the author’s lengthy wr...

B17: Inquiry Essay Peer Edit #2

I think that your procrastination is closely related with your attention. As someone with experience with attention, I can completely relate. Sometimes for me it is not even about whether or not I want to do an assignment, it is just about how fast my mind is moving and as soon as I think “Oh yeah my mom told me to buy tickets home” I have moved on to that and left my assignment just waiting to be worked on. I will switch to different tasks a lot or go on a thought tangent, like you do in class and probably everyone else does throughout the day. Maybe you could talk about why procrastination is so bad for you personally like how it negatively affects you, such as forcing you to stay up late to finish assignments last minute, missing things that are said in class - I do this a lot - I miss a sentence or two when I am getting my things out for class or when someone walks in and depending on the class or what is going on - those sentences may have been very important, so it is unfortu...

B16: Inquiry Essay Peer Edit #1

Your essay was very well written. I enjoyed reading it and I learned a lot about what it is really like to be a cadet and how that lifestyle compares to the civilian lifestyle. I thought you really explored how multiple aspects can be different and how that may affect a student. I thought that you choose good sources and strategically weaved them throughout your essay in a way that was smoothly done. But I do agree with Jimmy, despite the fact that you said upperclassmen Cadets “break elevators, get drunk, and are irresponsible,” I never felt that you truly addressed how alcohol is such a big issue and how stressed the upperclassmen are.  Unless you mean to say that students and underclassmen in general are over stressed and eventually break. The rest of your essay is very descriptive and since this section of your essay was slightly less explained I felt like I was left on a cliffhanger, still curious and desiring more examples and explanations. I can see how it might be har...

B15: Intro for Exploration #2

A loud cling, clang noise reoccurring almost predictably ten Mississippi’s apart with 2-minute pauses in between. One set done in the five by five. Two sets done. The ten Mississippi’s duration gradually increases to fifteen as you move on to set five out of five. I hear the soundless screaming and feel the throbbing of blood pushing through my tired legs. Body weak. Breathing becomes faster and heavier. Stay in control. Push harder. One more to go…a single cling-clang... and done. That’s the beauty of weightlifting alone. Exercising with others is a completely different experience. You would be sifting through a cacophony of clings and clangs. Alone you only should hear your own cling-clang, which repeats after each set is complete. Sadly, this peaceful experience was only a dream. It feels as though I have dreamed about working out more often than I have worked out over the past three weeks. For a duration of three weeks I have attempted to experiment with lifting. For the past ...

B14: Intro for Exploration #1

If you are looking to add a few extra layers of insulation for the winter, you have come to the right place. I am talking about gaining 15 lbs. of muscle. It is bulk season. I will be sharing my advice on how to successfully do the “Freshman 15” the right way. First, don’t be like me. Go to the gym at least four times a week if not more. Find a friend to work out with. Make a playlist specifically for different exercises and try to make the movement match the music. Ask questions. These suggestions are things I have learned in the past three weeks as I have explored the wet, whey-filled world of powerlifting. Real men don’t lift weights... they lift women. Coming into high school with “Classical Ballet” as my only athletic background brought on a big challenge. I had a huge desire to stay in shape and try new things, but I just didn’t know where I would fit in, what I would realistically have time for, or even how to get started. Once I had decided VT was the school for me and had r...

B13: Describing an Event

A minor exploration of powerlifting will be included in this fitness experiment essay. My first experience with powerlifting took place before this paper was assigned. I was already interested in trying out powerlifting but thought it would not be a thing I pursued. Primarily because my mom specifically said I was not allowed to do powerlifting (Shh…). I woke up, put on some sneakers and ran out the door because I did not want to be late. I got to War Memorial Gym a couple of minutes early, but had trouble finding the room. I also didn’t hear any loud music blaring through any of the halls I passed, which is how HT described how I would know I was heading in the right direction. I messaged HT and after a few minutes he replied with “I should’ve told you a lot of people are late lol”. By then, five to six people had arrived and said they were there for Lift so at least I knew I was in the right place. Then I made an observation, a minor exploration into powerlifting, about the people w...