A review of I SPY

I SPY was not a book I expected it to be. I was disappointed in the school book store for not carrying one single copy of I SPY. Lucky i found it in the schools Curr Library,...Which naturally I thought would suggest current events... as I know this book was a recent publication.
To naturally start at the end of my experience with I SPY I will say...I found no liberal tone. Nothing that made me feel as though some one was watching me; more that I was watching some one, or say for something. Even to the most open interpretation, i found not one single instance where i felt the current administration was under attack....(Save maybe the reference to cowboy boots and white doves on page 9)...
The book was bigger than I expected... about fourteen inches by 9 inches.. much larger that my usual school texts. I find that the first chapter really spells out the theme of the book, (in what I would call a strong thesis statement)

"I spy a hammer, a rabbit, a pail, A whistle, a button, a horse on it's tail; A pencil, a Penguin, a car that is blue- What else should you find? The Blocks give the clue."1



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At first I do not agree with the author, I say... "You are wrong, I do not see a rabbit or a pail"... The Deeper into the book I looked... the more I saw from the perspective of the author. The things that he said all turned out to be TRUE>>> There were hidden meanings masked behind what seemed to be blocks scattered about. But under further reflection and research, I am able to see the authors true message. Along with the other crazy stuff i found, was hidden more stuff... J-A-C-K-S... I found my self scanning all that I had read before... looking back to places I thought i looked at carefully!! Once again the book does not disappoint... jacks were clearly visible on both pages eight and nine...

I quickly turn to the second page.... I find it quite the page turner....

Through the book I found many central themes... I have to agree with many of my class mates in these central themes. Surveillance... I definitely felt that this theme carried throughout the book. The importance of close surveillance is quite clearly the authors main objective. PRIVACY... Page two down right creeped me out, it described (by showing a direct picture of ) the inside of little kids rooms. Something I found to be down right disturbing , cutting straight to the core dangers of government surveillance....

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This book affected me in such a profound way I was even pressed to go above and beyond the assignment... By reading the appendix "EXTRA CREDIT RIDDLES" and "MORE MYSTERIES". I found both to be tying the book together by sending the reader back to pages already covered.


1.First Scholastic Printing® 1993

I think that this idea of TV being an interactive media, is a real one. Mostly for the reason that to survive the new era a television program must make it self, interactive. Starting with shows like America's Most Wanted... A show that veils itself in the cloak of public service, showing the terror and cunning of some of Americas "best" criminals. I used the word best, for only the most skilled criminal are able to do things so shocking and terrible to catch the eye of the FBI and be getting away with it. What makes the show exciting is that fact that these people are still out among the free. This is the basis of the interactivity. What makes the consumer connected with the show is that this criminal may be in the house next door. That they are walking around free, and that you can be a part of their capture. If it was Americans worst locked up criminals... the show would have no aspect of interactivity. The hook in this marketing expedition, is that the big fish are all landed by the common citizen.
In the case of Mark Cerino

Capture #859 , Sep 11, 2005 Waterloo, NY
Cops in Florida are tried to track down Mark Cerino. A man who was running around Florida praying on the elderly in the aftermath of a terrible storm. Estimating jobs, collecting money and disappearing. Unable to find him, he lands on America's Most Wanted....

The Capture
"When the show aired, the phone lines on our hotline lit up. One after another, after another call came in, nine in total, stating that Cerino was living in Waterloo, a small town located between Syracuse and Rochester."

For people of upstate new york this brings the interactivity directly into their back yard. Like a winning lottery ticket at a local gas station, it makes the possibility of aided capture seem much more likely.

Do dogs go to heaven? I have a dog (CHESTER) who is 12 a year old Chesapeake bay retriever. He lives at my house in Maine by the water, my idea of heaven on earth. He is getting to the golden years (AARP)... in other words he'll only live a few more... When he dies does he go to heaven?

 I want to know what John Mccain would say. What is his position on the issue. Sara must have some advice for me, I haven't had the chance to have a beer with someone to ask this important question... I'm sure Sara would be completely qualified to handle this tough question. Which is why I support Sara Palin for Vice-president of the United States. 

 She has answers for the tough questions in life. She can be an outlet when I can't make it to the bar. I can reflect on the inspiration that is her life, because I believe that Wasilla, Alaska is a microcosm of America. With it's 7,025 residents (85.46% White, 0.59% Black or African American, 5.25% Native American, 1.32% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 1.32% from other races, 3.68% Hispanic or Latino.) perfectly represents the great U.S.A. 

Is Chester going to doggie heaven? I don't know, but I rest assured that when it's his time, God will be smiling on America's excitative branch. 

For a religious perspective go here Do Dogs Go To Heaven (funny)

Is Technology Destroying Privacy

www.flickr.com

As stated in my earlier post my computer is dead....3,000$ paper weight... As one would imagine I spend much less time in my room than I once did. A good amount of that time is spent in the library for the use of the computer. Having lost the use of my computer has shown me how much I have grown to depend on it. I have spent 95% of my class time behind my computer. All notes, papers, and tasks were done on the computer... an inanimate object I find myself truly lost without.... But wait is it really so inanimate?? "lacking consciousness or power of motion" how can a definition stand for such a strong OR.... Consciousness and motion are two completely differently issues. My Mac definitely has overcome motion... This whole self-awareness thing is a bit more of a stretch.... it's able to tell me if it is a sleep or awake, is that not a stated consciousness? Wow.... I think this blogging thing is getting to me...

11:50AM, tuesday september second I sat at my desk attempting to get the people-soft server to log me in; far from the apparent confusion ensuing in Stern 304. Somewhere around Noon I was able to actually login to the people-soft and chase down some classes. I found few in political science to even be open. I quickly found two open classes both taught by the same professor a Mr.Dylan Weller .... I quickly moved to ratemyprofessor.com to try and get a feel for what class might be like with Mr. Weller. Home>>United States>>New York>> Hobart and William Smith Colleges>> Dylan Weller.... nothing. It seemed that a Mr. Weller had never taught at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. By the time that I had returned to people soft one more green box class was available Politics and the Internet Teacher: Jodi Dean. I snaped back to rate my professor and found a plethora reviews and ratings... "She is very hard, makes fun of her students, writes about them on her blog..." a real triple threat... I was sold on the class. After finishing the registration I went to lunch, music playing, computer happily humming along... 

I would return to the smell of a burned out electric motor and  silence. I moved over to the computer and tapped the space bar trying to wake the computer from what I thought was sleep. I poked around the digital corps for minuets trying to bring life back to the machine, but silent it remained. I felt as though it was a close friend lying there lifeless... I though of how important my computer was to me. My vehicle of DIGITAL SELF destroyed.... I though of all the good times spent browsing the pages of face book and email. The time spent in class hacking out notes and researching talking points. What would I become with out Mac? Back to handwriting my notes and walking to the library every time I needed my digital fix? 

On the issue of face to face vs. not? I am all about personal interactions... I feel that people communicate much of what their trying to say non-verbally. Hand movement, facial expression, and body language are all very important factors to consider when discounting face to face interactions. People who know me best can tell what I think of something with out me saying a word by some of my tell-tail facial expressions. Certainly we can't forget the great Albert Mehrabian's study which concluded that only 7% of information in a conversation is communicated in the words used, much more he claims lies in the tone of voice (38%) and facial expressions (53% ) ( Mehrabian 1972)... Ok. Ok so maybe this data is dated and has been largely discredited, but I believe that the central idea holds true. Words are just the surface of ones conversation. Take a play or more specifically the script... Two actors can read the same lines and bring about completely different reactions, suggesting that much lies between the lines..