A World In Pictures - Meagan Hale

This is a famous picture taken in Times Square on Victory Over Japan Day on August 14th, 1945. A soldier grasps a girl and happily kisses her in the face of victory. So what? What's so important about one man kissing one woman? Well, it's more than just a kiss. It's a celebration. Soldiers can come home now and can stop putting their lives at risk every day. They can settle down and have a family without fear of being taken away. Women can stop fearing their husbands and brothers and friends and sons may not make it home alive. This is the day that America had been waiting for. If you were to do a little research on this picture you would find that these two people were complete strangers. This act was completely spontaneous. That was perfectly fine because now everyone was free to live their lives again. Spontaneity was encouraged. Soldiers were now able to get jobs and have families. Pictures can have a huge impact on others and I am sure the couple in this picture had no idea how many people they would inspire with their sheer happiness and excitement. Others who saw this whether it was the same day or a week later or a year, they got to celebrate all over again after seeing this. When looking at this viewers get a sudden burst of the same happiness those in the image experienced. A picture like this reminds people even today of one thing, victory, and how sweet it tasted.

A World in Pictures- James Jones

     

       This is a picture of Buzz Aldrin with the U.S. flag on the moon during the mission Apollo 11 of 1969. This event held a great significance with the people of the U.S. as it marked the end of the space race and the possibilities of technology. The winning of the space race helped the U.S. in asserting a sort of dominance in the Cold War and allowed them to take a stronger stance as a world power.  The fact that technology made this event possible led people to think about how much further it could go, about how much it was truly capable of, and about how much more useful it was than they may have realized at the time. And since then many more advances have been made, thanks to the ever growing interest in technology that was also contributed to by the space race.                                                                                                                                           

Come to the dark side, Luke- Max Kaufman

Good and evil, has been a hot topic of discussion for thousands of years. This is probably because it is one of the most subjective things out there. Good and evil is, and always has been, a matter of perspective. Good and evil is the product of natural selection, back when human kind was writing on cave walls, the groups of people that generally survived were the ones that were geared towards helping the group and not killing one another. Thus forth from these situations came good and evil, merely a perspective of what is helpful and hurtful to the group. But in today’s society good and evil are much more complex things, there are many gray areas. I don’t want to sound cliché but money is the root of a whole lot of uncertainty involving good and evil. I believe this is because in our modern day and relatively young society, we are reverting back to being individualistic, rather than being a group geared society, mainly because of no threats of imminent jaguar attacks.

For the Love and Hate of Television- Tapan Darji

I watch T.V. to entertain myself and to catch up on current events. I watch television to know what is happening around the world. I watch on television and also T.V. shows. My favorite television shows are America's Got Talent, American Ninja Warrior, and Jeopardy. I hate reality T.V. shows.

Television provides a good form of entertainment. Television is also a convenient way of advertisers to send their messages, but it is not an efficient or effective way because many people don't pay attention to advertisements on T.V. There are inane shows on television, but television is not inane. It does provide people with news and other current events.

The way our society focuses on the Nobel Prizes is bad. Television should the awarding of Noble Prizes. This shows that our society is focused on foolish entertainment rather than research and good humanitarian things that people do.

iwrite- Max Kaufman

                My daily routine starts by me apprehensively waking up in the morning getting ready and getting on the bus, from there I put my earbuds in and listen to music made readily available to me by Pandora radio, usually I end up surfing the web or falling asleep in tandem with my listening to music. I stop my music when the bus arrives at the school and my phone rests in my pocket for… I will be honest and say that most of the time it doesn't even make it to my pocket. Even after the bell at 8:25 my phone is on my leg 80% of the time (sorry Mr. Pope). Why I don't name it? It would be too hard to decide on a name. It would be safe to say that I, along with most teens, use my phone as if it were a highly addictive substance. The technology of the 21rst has become my worst enemy. I spend more time occupying myself with my gadgets than I do with my school work. In the much bigger scheme, I believe that this new wave of technology has given teens a means of escaping “the real world” that is just as captivating as drugs. Swiping up, down, left, right, or in whatever creative pattern you came up with, unlocks a whole new world to dive into to avoid trying to keep your  head above water in the one you are stuck in.

Assignment 5: For the Love and Hate of Television

Existence to me is useless without pleasure. Some activities that "better" the individual are truly worthwhile because they allow for greater pleasure in the future, whether this is selfish pleasure or the altruistic capability to help others (if that exists). But regardless of all these "bettering" activities, there has to be some time for inherently enjoyable activities. This can come in the form of reading a book, going for a run, watching TV or doing anything else that anyone wants to do.
I watch television, but not excessively. It is not a "good" use of time in most cases. There are educational programs that exist but they are not the kind I watch. I watch TV for entertainment, and  for no other reason. I could learn things or study school work or do homework in the time I watch TV but I don't and I don't think I should. I learn enough to do the things I want to do and then some, and my time is still not entirely filled.
With that extra time I do things I enjoy and when that thing is watching television I will watch television, the action needs no further justification.

Assignment 3: Come to The Dark Side, Luke Emmet Allen

Every person has an opinion. In people our age those opinions are often unformed or too severe for reality, but they are opinions nonetheless. These opinions range from preferences of beverage to decisions on the justness of international policy, but they are all rooted in our personal morality. Or morality that we adopt from our society and expound upon to make it our own. Or religious beliefs. Or hatred instilled within the individual. There is an infinite number of reasons for what each of us consider "moral," but none of them can really be understood by anyone with a different view. These views can be influenced by the boundaries enforced by cognitive relativism or simple disagreement on which interpretation of the same facts leads to the best outcome. The point is that there is no agreement among the inhabitants of the world on what is right. A fundamentalist of the Christian faith may find it acceptable to beat a child when he or she misbehaves while a more liberal interpretation of the same religion will find a completely different stance on the issue. But one cannot decide on the proper action until they establish which interpretation of the religion is correct (this is no issue for an english class blog post but I think it's safe to assume there is not a known correct religion for everyone), because morality in these cases is based on what is acceptable according to God.
These are the differences within one monotheist religion, among all religions, among all sets of belief, among all facts that an individual can know.
The infinite number of influences and thus infinite number of theories of morality show there is no obvious good and evil. Unfortunately for the writers of Star Wars, Darth Vader is only committing atrocities if you value human life.

Assignment 2: iwrite

Technology has effected me in a very positive way, but there are still many issues I take with it.
Education is the probably the biggest and very likely the most important aspect of my life that has been influenced by technology. Computers and the internet have helped me succeed (in the relative sense) in school and in debate, as I would not otherwise have the capability or the motivation to fulfill the obligations these activities entail. I did not experience research during the time that it involved a trip to the library and hours of sorting through unnecessary information, but I can imagine I would not have preferred it. The ease of access of information itself justifies the growth in the use of technology, but there are other huge benefits. For example, the sheer amount of information available through my phone is now greater than that of all the books in Lexington's libraries. I doubt anyone would dispute (reasonably) the fact that education is a good thing, and because technology is a means to this end it must also be welcomed.
However, all of these benefits are only realized under the assumption that people will appropriately use these tools. From wasting time to cyber-bullying, there are numerous problems that are specific to a society under the influence of the smartphone and the personal computer.
With any luck we will see that the benefits outweigh the harms, and hopefully we will become more respectful of the huge responsibility we have made for ourselves. Personally, I'm glad I have a cell phone.

for the love and hate of television- brandon castillo

I watch television every night. I do this because I believe that it is very entertaining and helps me get through my homework without dying of boredom. In fact, I am watching The Simpsons right now! I watch television when my favorite sports teams are playing or when my favorite shows like Modern Family or Big Brother are on.

I think that TV does provide a good source of entertainment. There is a reason why some many people watch TV and a reason why so many companies pay billions for thirty second advertisements. People like visually appealing things. Reading can only produce so much. Watching television can let us visualize the places our favorite characters are going such as Hogwarts or the Middle Earth. Even though advertisers do have the ability to shove their products and messages at us with television, they pay a lot of money to do this and they know that millions of people watch TV (otherwise they wouldn't pay so much). As I said before, there is a reason that millions of people watch TV. It can be inane as most shows are for entertainment reasons and a distraction for the most part.

It is sad that society pays more attention to the entertainment business than the future of science and knowledge in general. This tells us that our society today is shallow. In other words, they would rather be entertained than educated. I don't think that this is a good thing and do not know how to change it. People believe that they already have enough on their minds and when they get home, they just want to be entertained without having to think; television like the Emmy's provides this while the Nobel Prizes require a former knowledge of a wide variety of things and the need to pay attention.

Assignment 5: For the Love and Hate of Television

The Emmy Awards (aired about a month ago) are kind of a big deal. Not a big deal in that life-altering-kind-of-way, but a big deal in the sense that a lot of celebrities dress up, that a lot of companies pay more money in advertisements, and a lot of people stop watching reruns.

The Emmys are not the only award extravaganza of the season though. During the first week of October, without the advertising, paparazzi, or celebrities, the Nobel Prizes are announced. But how many people are listening? With the Emmys comes television's fall lineup, but what does the common person get after the announcement of the Nobel Prize in physics?

So, what are your thoughts? Choose one or two or all of the following prompts:

Why do you watch TV? Why do you not? What shows do you love or hate?

Does TV provide a good form of entertainment? Is it just a convenient delivery system for advertisers to send their messages to the masses? Is it an inane use of time? Can it be all three?

What does it say about our society that the Emmy's have so much glitz and attention and the Nobel Prizes are quietly announced in the news? Is this bad? Good? Appropriate?

Check out these sites for more information:

Turn off your TV

Television and Health

Positive Benefits of TV on Toddlers and Children

Due Sunday September 28th at 11:59 pm 

This is an image taken on May 6, 1945 at the Ebensee concentration camp in Austria. It represents the holocaust in a single photograph. These people would wake up at 4:30 AM every single day to build underground tunnels all day until 6 PM. What they are wearing may not even be classified as clothing, and their knees show starvation and shrinking of the muscles and bones. These people are here for merely being themselves. After staring at this photo for the past 5 minutes my mind has opened up and I have realized that America is so incapable of feeling what it's like to truly suffer. Here in America, the homeless are better off than 90% of Africa, the poorest of the poor have more than all of these people in the photograph combined, and we complain and survive while these people live with humbleness in their hearts. Hearts that will likely stop beating.

A World in Pictures- Olivia McCrary

This is a picture of the destruction caused by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. This earthquake was one of the deadliest natural disasters in United States history. This event had a detrimental impact on the San Francisco area and shocked people across the country. The earthquake and subsequent fire killed over 3,000 people and up to 300,000 people were homeless because of it. The cost of damage is estimated to be over $8 billion today.  This event and the other events I came across when searching for a picture made me realize how I lucky I am to have never personally experienced any severe tragedy or disaster in my life. Everyday I hear people complain about things that are so unimportant (sometimes I'm guilty of this as well). We take everything we have for granted.
Hopefully remembering horrific events like this earthquake will make us stop complaining so much about such insignificant things.

A world in pictures-Silvia Todorova

This picture represents an event that shocked many. This is a picture of the giant cloud the atomic bomb left in Nagasaki, Japan. The U.S. Thought that this was the only option they had to end WWII. This bomb may have ended the war, but it also ended the lives of many innocent people. The bomb completely changed  Japan, it killed a large part of it's population. It left the country in shock even years later. It has a lasting effect not only on Japan but for other countries as well. This event is also one of the most controversial moments in history. Should the U.S. have reacted this way? Should they have killed so many innocent people? Was this the best way to end WWII?

Come to the dark side, Luke- Silvia Todorova

The terms good and evil are both very subjective and can have different meanings and interpretations to different people. I believe a person can't necessarily be labeled as good or evil, but they can do good and evil things. Just because a person does a bad thing doesn't make them evil. Same can be said about someone that does something good. Not everyone can agree on what is good and what is evil. What some people see as evil may be different than what other people see as evil. Your culture, nationality, and religion have an impact on what you perceive as good or evil. Consider the following: your friend asks you to cheat on a test and you agreed to help them so they don't fail. Some people may see this as doing a nice thing for a friend and others may see this as wrong since cheating is against the rules. Are you an bad person for letting someone cheat?  Or are you a good person for helping out a friend? Will you forever be remembered as being one of those two words just because of this situation? I thing people cannot be good or evil, but can only described in such a manner.

A World In Pictures - Jeb Brumley

In this photo, taken by Dan Farrell, we see JFK Jr. saluting his father, John F. Kennedy, after his funeral Mass in Washington, D.C. The days following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were difficult and Americans struggled to accept what had happened. A country was grieving over the death of one of their most important people and seeing JFK Jr. salute him was very comforting to thousands, if not millions of citizens across the country. Mrs. Kennedy leaned down and whispered to her son to salute his father one last time. The image of three year old "Jon Jon" encouraged the nation to move forward following the loss of a beloved president. Following this, the President's coffin was brought to Arlington Cemetery for the burial service. JFK Jr. were too young to attend this part of the service, so the photo shows him giving a final goodbye to his dad.

A World in Pictures - Sam Flomenhoft

Depicted here, a man surveys the ruin of Hiroshima, days after the United States military deployed "Little Boy", the first atomic bomb used in warfare. Just days before, Hiroshima was a lively city, full of people and economic activity, but the scene here shows no signs of life besides the sole man. While we can never fully understand the devastation and tragedy the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused, this picture captures some of that overwhelming sense of loss.
Looking at this picture can make a person rethink the United State's decision to drop this bomb, and definitely lead them to dissent with their decision to drop a second one. Many of the survivors, like the one in this photograph, probably felt complete loss and hopelessness. Their homes had been destroyed and everyone they knew killed. The buildings were torn down, as seen here, and there was ash and debris still floating around. Even the strongest buildings could hardly survive. An example is the building depicted here, that has nothing but its skeleton left. This picture abhorred me and made me understand the seriousness of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

A World in Pictures- Tapan Darji

This is a picture of the battleship Arizona sinking after the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. This was a surprise attack by the Japanese on the U.S. This attack forced America to enter the World War II.
Before the picture was taken people were living their normal lives in Hawaii just like any other day.
This attack happened while World War II was happening. The U.S. was trying to stay neutral but this attack caused the U.S. to launch war on the Japanese and therefore enter the war on the side of the British.
This picture shocks me. It is hard for me to comprehend how the U.S. was so unprepared for this type of assault knowing that the Japanese wanted complete naval power in the Pacific and the U.S. was in their way.
I feel that this event changes everything that was happening in the world at this time. This forced America to launch war on Japan and thus cause them to enter the war. This caused a shift in the war as the U.S. begins to send forces to Europe to help fight against the Japanese, the Germans, and their allies. This not only changed the outcome but strengthened the U.S.'s military force and also brought America together and ended the Great Depression.

Come to the dark side, Luke- James Jones

I don't believe that absolute good or evil exist, I think that there is a lot of gray area. When we think of good and evil it seems obvious which one is which but considering how many different intentions a person could have do we really know what to classify someones behavior as? We all have internal struggles of whether to do one thing or another, these decisions could be about what to eat or about something serious that may affect many people. Everyone has had a thought or consideration that could be described as bad or evil regardless of how good they are, it's just part of being human. At some point or another, your emotions may lead your thoughts to a dark place but we can't blame that on your overall alignment of good or evil because it results from human nature. Overwhelming aspects of our lives lead us all to be annoyed and act somewhat rude from time to time, not to say people are not capable of having bad intentions but anyone could have them, not just those we think are evil. I believe that good and evil qualities may exist in all of us because regardless of how perfect or horrible we are we are all capable of good or evil.

A World in Pictures- Isabelle Rinker

This picture shows men waiting in line for the possibility of a job during the Great Depression. As you can see, men are lined up all the way down the street for one job opportunity. At the time, the economy was so bad, and people were desperate to make money to support themselves and their families. The Great Depression (during the era 1929-1939) was a time in American history in which due to the New York stock market crash, the economy was doing so poorly, that most businesses could no longer support themselves, and therefore, most families could not, either. Families would start taking in boarders or selling chickens for extra money. Most men were unemployed. Families could not feed their children. All of the men in this photo were probably going through the same situation, struggling to support their families. The Great Depression has since been a part of American history that we will never forget, and we can hope to never repeat.

The World in Pictures - Amelia Caldwell

This picture speaks a thousand words, taken during the Great Depression we can see the sadness in this woman's face and how scared and tired the children were. The people who took the hardest hit from the Great Depression were in a constant state of wondering when their next meal would be and where it would come from. Looking at pictures from this horrible time in history makes me realize how lucky some of us really are. We always complain about not having enough, but at least we have something. This woman, and these children, and the many other people who went through the Great Depression literally had nothing. This picture really makes you think twice before complaining because somebody messed up your order, or you are not allowed to get the iPhone 6 Plus. Pictures from the Great Depression need to teach us to be grateful for what we have, because at any point it could all be taken away.

The World in Pictures- Eliza Jane Schaeffer

This is a picture taken 20 minutes after the atomic bomb exploded in Nagasaki 1945. You can see that even after nearly half and hour, the dust and smoke still hangs in the air. It's photographic evidence of the horrifying destruction the United States wreaked when it bombed Japan. In the foreground, there are people standing in awe. I can't imagine how scared they were. They had just watched their homes and friends distengrate under the force of the bomb. 20 minutes later, they are still staring at the mess that was once their hometown. 

The bombing of Japan is something that, as United States citizens, we try not to think about. Was it really necessary? Was it worth the countless deaths and residual radiation? Some argue it was, some argue it wasn't. This picture makes us consider these uncomfortable questions. Although we can do our best to forget memories, it's hard to forget a picture. 

A World In Pictures - Emily Salamanca

This photo shows to Chinese girls and a little Jewish girl. During the Holocaust, it is a little known fact, but many Jewish Europeans fled to China where their religion was tolerated. Between 1933 and 1941, it is estimated that 20,000 Jews escaped persecution by fleeing to the Chinese port of Shanghai. Shanghai was one of the few places in the world that would accept Jewish refugees at this time, Japan being another. I think this photo is important because it shows how unlikely cultures can blend together in the face of danger. The Chinese, like many other groups were doing at the time, could have shut its border to the Jewish, but instead invited and protected them. I like this picture because it displays how happy and sweet cultural diffusion can be. Those girls probably don't speak the same language and can barely understand one another, which makes the laughing, done by the girl on the right, to be even more incredible. Today, we could learn a lot form this picture about how we should accept every culture that comes into our nation with dignity and respect because we can learn a lot and also, have fun! The Jewish girl was lucky enough to grow up in the midst of this depressing time and the Chinese girls received an unparalleled cultural exchange. 

A World in Pictures - Adrian Wyllie

Raising of the Flag at Ground Zero

    Even as forces struggled to tear our nation apart, on that fateful day of September 11, 2001, The terrorist attack that strove to split us apart did the exact opposite: It pushed us together. When the Towers fell, the city of New York lost all hope. Hundreds perished in the shadows of that terror attack. But several things happened soon afterwards. In the mountainous rubble, three firefighters raised the U.S. Flag. This photograph became instantly famous, for it inspired courage into our breaking nation. Even now we look back, but instead of seeing the twisted heap of rubble that was the fallen heap of rubble that was the World Trade Center, we see this image. it inspires hope.
   It says, The United States of America will never fall, it will never be pushed, it will never be split. Like the flag and Motto of the United States of America so clearly say, "E Pluribus Unum." Out of many, One. One nation, one flag, and none left behind. As it will always be, the United States will stand united, and will never fall.

A World in Pictures-Maya Creamer

      This photo shows Thich Quang Duc, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk, burning himself to death on June 11th, 1963, in a busy intersection of Saigon, Vietnam. He burned himself to death to protest the persecution of Buddhists under the South Vietnamese government led by Ngo Dinh Diem. This photograph gained a lot of attention around the world, and continues to be one of the most well-known photos ever taken; Malcolm Browne won a Pulitzer Prize for taking it.

      This photo drew the world's attention to the treatment of the Buddhists in Vietnam, and was a turning point in the Buddhist crisis. Soon after it was taken, Diem announced reforms to attempt to make amends with the Buddhists, but raiding of Buddhist pagodas and nationwide damage continued. Diem's regime was eventually toppled, and he was assassinated on November 2nd, 1963.

      Seeing this photograph makes me feel shocked and sad. It makes me lose a little bit of hope in our world that the persecution of Buddhists in Vietnam in the 1960's was so bad that Thich Quang Duc felt that he had to end his own life to draw attention to it. Nobody should be persecuted for what they believe. The fact that he chose to end his life in this very painful, prolonged way shocks me. What shocks me even more is learning that, after seeing him burn himself to death, other Vietnamese Buddhist monks did the same. They all sacrificed their lives in hopes of drawing attention to their plight, and getting better treatment for their people.

      Despite the fact that this photo is quite shocking, it also makes me feel a sense of awe. The fact that someone could endure this kind of long, horrible death without seeming to be in any pain amazes me; he appears to be very calm and still, sitting straight and cross-legged. The dedication that Thich Quang Duc had to earning better treatment for the Buddhists of Vietnam is inspiring; he was willing to end his life for the good of his people.

     

Brandon Castillo- a world in pictures

Ray Rice hits former fiancée in hotel elevator.

This picture came out last week, targeting Ray Rice and possibly destroying his career as a NFL running back. Ray Rice was on top of the world, two years removed Super Bowl Champion, signing a new multimillion dollar contract earlier this year. Ray Rice would have started for the Baltimore Ravens and played throughout the season. But then, in March, 2014, a video of Ray Rice dragging his then-fiancée out of the elevator. He got suspended for two games for this season as he has been a class-act throughout his life- lots of community service and no a blemish on his tract. But, the NFL would come under scrutiny by Women's Rights Activists saying that he should've been suspended longer. Then this picture came. A picture of him actually hitting his fiancée in the elevator changed the view on Ray Rice and he was cut by his sponsors and his team. The pictures and videos from TMZ would go viral. These would change the views of many of Ray Rice and the NFL; it showed their character and values as a person and as an organization. They put a lot into winning and money. It was a sad day for Ray Rice fans, NFL fans, altruistic people.

Assignment 4: A World in Pictures

On Monday morning, you could have stood on the top level and witnessed the beautiful eccentrics of New York city. On Tuesday morning, you would have run in horror.The two tallest buildings in New York City fell on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 and because of the consequential pain and destruction, America would forever be changed.

On September 11, the majority of the nation watched in horrific silence as they saw the pictures of chaos.

This picture from New York Magazine marked the start of a new era for America.

Pictures show us what we cannot know first-hand. They can make a statement or argument. They can educate on the reality of the world. They can change how a person thinks about an idea or event. This week, find a picture that shocked, comforted, or changed a nation or community of people (falling of Berlin wall, JFK assassination, etc.)

Include your picture, a description of it, and what it provokes you to think about in your blog.

If you're facing writer's block, consider the following:
What happened just before the photograph was taken?
How do the people in the photograph feel?
What is happening outside the frame of this photograph?

Due Sunday, September 21st at 11:59 pm.

Come to the dark side, Luke- Olivia McCrary

There isn't really an universal definition of good or evil. People have attempted to decide what is right and what is wrong, but, nonetheless, standards have been different throughout history and between cultures. Evil is often defined as harming others, and good as helping others. But, if this understanding of good and evil was different, we might live in a society where things like cheating and lying are considered perfectly acceptable. Basically, everyone has their own unique ideas of what good and evil mean.
The concepts of hero and villain and of good vs. evil are never going to be easy to understand because they often very subjective. In movies, for example, sometimes the heroes use just as much violence to get what they want as the villains do. The violence caused by the hero is not seen as wrong because they are the "hero". When they kill a bad guy, everyone applauds their action. Yet, when the villain kills a good guy, what they did is viewed as a malicious crime. They have both done the exact same thing. What defines which person is the hero and which is the villain? It is really all about perspective. 
Personally, I don't think people are either completely good or completely evil. Some people are a combination of both, and some people do what seems evil or wrong in order to do something good. Because of this, people can't really be labeled "good" or "evil". Even the most selfless and honorable of people have lied and made selfish choices at some point in time. 

Come to the dark side, Luke - Gates Sweeney

Every single human operates on stimulants. It is essentially a computer, processing inputs and generating outputs based on what the mind sees to be right. This varies from person to person, and is governed by emotion and mood. I believe that good and evil are personally generated by the human mind due to external stimulants. It's a chain reaction.

Here's an example:

You see your "friend" from school. For the past week all he has done to you is "playfully" punch you as if it means nothing. Now you're a little wimp so to you, it hurts. It's Monday, and your mood is already crappy so when you see him coming you just begin to yell at him angrily.

Now why did you do this? Well, your friend punching you acts as a stimulant. Due to the fact that this has been a reoccurring thing for the past week, you are agitated and your mind now has your friend labeled as an annoying fake friend you wish you never had. Your brain now has a negative "output," or a reaction for every time you see him. I would call this evil on a small scale. Evil is not spontaneous and neither is good. People generate or even mask both sides in their daily lives. Anyone can have good or evil at any given moment.

Come to the dark side, Luke- Madye Moore

Personally, I do believe that there is an absolute good and an absolute evil. Yes, I'm sure someone can be considered evil and do some good things every once in a while, and a good person do some bad things every once in a while, but I still think there is a fine line between the two. There are certain characteristics that we associate with evil people that we would never associate with good people and characteristics we associate with good people that we wouldn't associate with evil people, and those never mix. The way I see it, we were put on this Earth to be one of the two, whether there's more evil people or more good people we will never know, but I know for sure that there's a little bit of both. I'd like to think the good outnumber the evil, but some things that happen these days make me think otherwise.

Come To The Dark Side, Luke - Meagan Hale

Most people would say good and evil are polar opposites like hot and cold or day and not, but I think it's much more complex than that. I think that good and evil are teetering on a thin grey line rather than being black and white. People are not inherently good or evil but rather a mixture of the two. Some have more good in them while other more evil. I also thinking that there is good in evil and evil in good which is what makes the world a mostly grey place. So how can opposites be in each other? You can't go right and left at the same time. Well, take the idea of good in evil first. Something bad happens to your friend and rather than telling them the truth you lie to them to spare their feelings. It was a good thing to protect your friend but in doing so you lied. Lying may not be an evil to some but the Bible says, "thou shall not lie" and if you aren't religious you can't lie in court either so there you go. All of my life I have heard the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Maybe it is. Now for the evil in good. Some people only do good when they will get something from it. How many high school students would do community service if they didn't have to? Would people still run into a burning building to save people if the news cameras weren't rolling? Some would, most wouldn't. It's hard to distinguish between good and evil. I think that the world is mostly full of evil. Besides, its easier to do the wrong thing generally than the right thing. We're humans and as humans we are a mixture of a lot of things. Intelligence, stupidity, love, hatred, happiness, sadness, good, and evil. I think most people are good. Media usually shows the stories of murder and robbery and rape because those get more attention and it skews our perception of the world. There are truly evil people in the world and as much as we want to believe in humanity some people do fail us. I think good has a way of prevailing but personally I prepare for the worst. Evil is powerful and overwhelming. Evil disguises itself as the sweetest fruit of the tree and its not until we bite into that fruit until we realize that it's rotten. Even Lucifer was an angel once, God's favorite even before falling from grace. Humanity's desire to be good is a force to be reckoned with. I think in a sense there is a battle between good and evil. We live amongst both and it's up to each individual person to choose a side. Freud was right when he described our Id, Ego, and Superego. There is good and evil in all of us. We all have to strive for the balance. We all have to be our Ego.

Come to the dark side, Luke- Isabelle Rinker

As a practicing Catholic, I believe that among a higher power there is a definite good and evil, God is good, and the devil and sin are evil. Because of this, I DO believe there is an absolute "good" and "evil." But not among humans.

None of us are perfect. We all have our flaws, but none of us are completely evil. There is no such thing as a "good" person or a "bad" person. Some things we do to help people can end up hurting others, and vice versa.

This is a complicated topic to discuss because the concept of "good" and "evil" is so abstract. For example, some may say that I am a bad person because I have made some mistakes in my life, but others may say that I am a good person because I have done good deeds. Regardless, I am going to remain content with who I am, because I know that only God can be truly good, and only the devil can be truly evil.

Come to the Dark Side - Emily Salamanca

         I believe, like most that there is no incarnation of pure 'evil' and pure 'goodness'. This can be shown through all characters, fictional or real. Those who are considered 'antagonistic' and pure evil and merely what they perceive is right. From the audience's standpoint, this is the opposite of what their good is. Likewise, the same can be said about a good person who can be viewed as evil from the opposite point of view. Also, there could an instance where there is no clear good or bad, wrong or right. For example, there is a paradigm known as the 'Trolley Problem'. Imagine there is one track that splits off into two tracks. On Side A, there are 8 people tied onto the track, but on Side B, there are only 4 people tied on. There is a train that is going to roll onto Side A, unless you, the person in control of the track, switches the hinge so that the train instead rolls onto Side B, where only 4 people are strapped down. However, if you do switch the hinge, then you have become an aid in the murder of 4 people. You then have 2 options: Do nothing and let 8 people die, but get to live a free live out of jail; or, make the switch and let 4 people die, but condemn yourself to life in prison. In this situation, regardless of what decision you make, people have died because of it.

Come to the dark side, Luke. Eliza Jane Schaeffer

Absolute is one of those all or nothing words. It takes one example to the contrary to take away the title of "absolute". That's why I don't believe in absolute good and evil. Even the most despicable scum have some good attributes if you look hard enough.  Psychopaths have goals and ambitions- goal-setting is good. Serial killers often have unfulfilled love and belonging needs or mental illness, so can they really be held accountable for their actions on a moral level? The archetypal Mean Girl has self-confidence issues. Even the evil queen in Snow White just wanted to be considered pretty. Are these people one hundred percent, without a doubt, all or nothing evil? I don't think so. Somewhere, in everyone, is a tiny little light of goodness. For some, it's a bonfire, and for others it's a candle, but fire is fire. 

The same goes for good. How many times have we heard it said (or sung in the case of Hannah Montana) "Nobody's perfect"? We all lie and cheat and steal. We copy eachother's homework. We are mean to those who are kind to us. Because we are human. The same goes for classic saintly figures, such as Mother Teresa or Gandhi. Don't try to tell me that they went their entire lives without saying something mean. 

I think the Chinese had it right when they created the Ying Yang. There's a bad and a good and there's good in the bad and bad in the good. That applies to people as well. 

Come to the dark side, Luke - Jeb Brumley

I think that there is an absolute good and an absolute evil in the world. I do not think that either side will be, or even can be, eliminated by the other. I feel that the way someone is raised and the environment that they live in has a huge effect on whether or not their good will outweigh your evil. For example, if someone grows up in the United States it is likely they will mean to do good throughout their life. Even though they will have their fair share of "evil", they should be considered good. I believe that those who grow up in the same circumstances, but are considered evil, suffer from mental illness that was not treated properly. I believe this is what has caused many if not all school shootings here in the United States. On the other hand, the "pure evil" of the world exists whether or not we believe it. For example, I think that those who are part of ISIS in the Middle East are truly evil. It is not mental illness that affects a whole region of the world, it is evil. They are an entire population that is killing innocent people. But i also think that this evil will be passed on for generations. For example, if someone is born to an ISIS member they will grow up being taught the same as their predecessors. And even if this evil was destroyed, it would just be a matter of time before another one emerges. The world is filled with true good and true evil and neither can ever be stopped.

Come to the dark side, Luke-Maya Creamer

     Since there really is no set definition of "good" or "evil", it's hard to say whether someone can be purely evil or absolutely good. Although we often hear about acts of pure evil and acts of absolute kindness, I don't think there's really such a thing as absolute good or absolute evil. I think that every human being is born with a mix of good and evil within them, and the amount of each that they exhibit or act upon depends entirely on the situation they are in at any given moment.
     Take, for example, the gunmen in the school shootings that we have had far too many of recently. Although what they did was unthinkable, and they will probably never be forgiven or forgotten, I don't think that they are all bad. As we have heard in many accounts from those who know them, they were people with families, friends and normal lives-they had at least some good in them. I believe that many of them were mentally ill; many of the gunmen were bullied, and were often considered "weird" by those around them. The constant blows to their often-already-low self-esteem caused them to feel an intense need to get revenge on those who hurt them, even if that meant hurting innocent kids. In a moment of weakness and feeling like they had no other choice, not a moment of pure evil, they pulled the trigger. And they will forever be known for their acts of evil.
     In the same way, everyone who seems good most of the time has some bad in them. Leah Kleppinger may have returned the wallet, but I'm sure that in many smaller, similar situations in her life, she has made the wrong choice-the choice to keep the wallet, or make a cruel comment, or hurt someone else in some way. This doesn't make her evil; it makes her human. I believe that everyone, no matter how good they seem, has moments when they make the decision to do something cruel or evil. Leah Kleppinger will always be known for her good deed, but she will also have to live with the guilt of any bad decisions she has made in her life.
     Everyone is both "good" and "evil"; each person just leans more toward one side or the other, and we group them in one of the two categories.

Come to the Dark Side, Luke - Amelia Caldwell

I believe that there is an absolute good and evil in the world. When God created Earth and everything upon it, everything was perfect. Satan manipulated Adam and Eve into eating the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden, thus evil was brought into the world. Satan is still manipulating people to this day, causing them to do horrible things that could not have been imaginable before the first sin. However, there is also good. There are people in the world who go on mission trips to third world countries, who help the children who are starving and not as fortunate as us Americans. If we focused more on the good than on the evil, the people of this planet would be more inspired to do good. But Satan targets the minds of vulnerable people clouding their judgement. Because Satan was able to manipulate Adam and Eve into disobeying God, evil was introduced to the world and thus the concept of good vs. evil.

Come to the dark side, Luke- Tapan Darji

There is an absolute good and evil. There are good people do bad things and bad people do good things. Good and evil has to exist. They are what balances society. Good things and bad things happen to balance the world. Wars are launched to balance good and evil in society and the world itself. This is because without wars either good or evil would overpower the other. This is important because if the balance goes out the world would suffer. If good were to overpower evil, good would suffer because evil would be trying to attack good which would end up destroying good and making it evil. An example is of this is a group is overpower a group. The suppressed group tries to fight back against the overpowering group. The overpowering group then tries to destroy the suppressed group trying to rebel. By trying to destroy the suppressed group, the overpowering group is as evil as the other group. On the other hand, if evil overpowered good, the world would turn into complete chaos.
Evil is the bad that people do, while good is the positive things that people do to help other people.
Evil can include lying,  stealing, and cheating. It is also committing crimes such as murder or drunk driving. Good on the other hand helps people. If evil were eliminated then good would also not exist because without evil, good would be useless. Good would have no effect because evil is what causes good to happen.

brandon castillo- come to the dark side, luke

I believe that there is absolute good and evil in the world.  I believe that God made the perfect world in which Satan was able to wreck when he tricked Adam and Eve to eat that sweet, red apple in the middle of their glorious garden. After that, we humans knew what was good and bad. Humans have a moral machine inside of them; we are born with it. Even little kids know between good and bad, if they do something bad you can tell because they are looking anxiously back and forth with eyes of guilt. I think that there is a perfect good, one this world once had; one this world has lost. Evil things happen in this world because of the manipulation of people by the wicked and evil. People such as Hitler who order the whole German people to do the unimaginable. There is a flip side though. If one human has the capacity to do evil to the entire world, one human has the capacity to do good to the entire world as well. It is up to us to decide which side we want to follow.

iwrite- Tapan Darji

Technology has inconvenienced me. It has gotten in my way before. It distracts me from doing more important things like studying and doing homework. Watching television can be a distraction for me as can be video games.
I have seen technology having a negative impact on society. For one thing, it makes people more unsocial. It also makes people more lazy. It distracts people from doing important stuff. It increases inactivity as more children tend to play video or computer games rather than go and play outside. Technology can also hinder learning as more people tend to be on their phones playing games or texting  their friends or on social media rather than pay attention in class. Also adults also abuse technology by being on social media rather than doing their work. Phones can distract drivers causing them to not pay attention to the road leading to them getting injured or injuring others.

Come to the Dark Side- Adrian Wyllie

The difference between good and evil... is there one? I do not know how other people think, but I believe, very strongly, that good and evil are a pair, not opposites. I have extensively studied the human mind, how we think and what we do. But what I found in that mass in our heads is something unexpected, but obvious. We are governed by emotion. happiness and sadness, love and hate, fear and anger, I found that these emotions are tied together in a way we could never have expected. I have found that it is impossible to be happy without feeling sad, that love and hate build the relationships equally.
We have always written our stories with the classic good and evil, and we characterize good with love, and evil with hate. but the one thing we absolutely cannot have is one without the other. And maybe once people learn to control the hidden double emotions, we would have less evil and more good. But the evil is good, by perspective.
If we look back to the World Wars, we can clearly see that both sides of the conflicts not only portray the other as evil, but they truly believe it. But the truth is, they fell into the trap that makes good and evil seem so polar. to the outside world watching in, these conflicts look no more than kittens playing. Kittens play with each other because they love playing, wars are fought because the sides hate each other. But these two events fit together so well, that you could say the sides of the wars love fighting the other and the kittens hate not playing. And if everything is a battle, then sometimes you are your own enemy, and both sides are good.
But sometimes we see things in such a biased light that it is almost impossible to find who is right. The best place to look is inside yourself. Look for that love, that hate, that hidden emotion, and know, that deep down, there is no more good or evil than there are emotions, that there is no logic and no rhythm. The only thing that controls is logical thought.

Assignment 3: Come to the dark side, Luke

The news does not shy away from stories that show the moral flaws of humanity. Read any newspaper and there is always something about the latest crime in its pages. Every so often though, we are fortunate enough to hear stories of people who still want to do the right thing. For instance, Leah Kleppinger recently found a wallet when no one else was around. When she opened it, she saw $4,600 in cash and credit cards and had every opportunity to pocket it, but instead returned it to its owner.

But just because we hear about bad things and nice things happening does that mean there is a true battle versus good and evil? Is Leah Kleppinger the epitome of good while someone who would have kept the wallet the definition of evil?

So...you're prompt for the week:

Do you believe in absolute good and evil? Is it as clear cut as Harry Potter versus Voldemort, the Sith versus the Jedi? Is there no war at all between good and evil; is there just this gray area where sometimes good people do bad things? Are good and evil even things that have to exist? Can one eliminate the other once and for all? What is evil? What is good?

Use examples when applicable, tell a story to illustrate your point, show causation - whatever you decide to say about it, explain yourself.

Your post will be due by Sunday September 14th 11:59 pm

iwrite - Kevin LaZur

         I think my stance on technology must be that it benefits us. I say this because I'm doing my assignment at 11:30 Sunday night on my cell phone. Without the technological advancements we have today I couldn't procrastinate nearly as well; a short time ago (before smartphones) I would have had to use the computer to submit this, and likely get chastised by my parents for staying up late.
         Technology gives us opportunity. The glorious internet is indicative of this fact. It gives us a new perspective on life, whether it's staying up later to do an assignment or effectively organizing 4 classrooms of students to submit weekly assignments. Since I only picked how technology has benefitted humans, I won't delve into the other end of the spectrum which the opportunity for potential evil, and other minor attrocities, is possible through our connectedness as a society via the internet.
         It feels naive to refer to immediately the internet when talking about new technology. Plenty of modern inventions have no need for the internet in their use. But I guarantee that the internet took part of their creation. I insist that technology gives us opportunity. The opportunity for greatness doesn't come without a price.

iWrite- Josh Strange

Technology affects me on a daily basis. Whether it be social media, assignments, or checking sports scores, I am almost constantly on some piece of technology. Even teachers have used technology for a long time whether it be a smart board, projecter, ELMO, or the ancient overhead, teachers have always found a way to use technology in some form or fashion into their lesson.

Personally, I don't use social media very often. I use it maybe once a day, if that. But I realize that many people use it to fill hours of boredom in their average day. 20 years ago, people just communicated through speech, something that I think social media is starting to place a negative affect on.  Don't get me wrong, technology is great, but personally I would rather live 20 years ago.  Also a lot of what athletes and celebrities put on social media can affect how they perform- especially athletes. Twitter updates can be used to make a team gain motivation or lose it. Games have almost turned from being on the field to mostly off the field, which is frustrating to me as a player and a viewer.

Technology in 20 years will be put to an extreme where I personally don't want it to be. Something along the lines where the phone reads your mind and puts it into a text, where you don't have to check your phone to even see what's on it.  Gaming systems no longer have controllers it's just your body (kind of cool, Wii and Kinect have started those movements) and transportation will be much more efficient without gasoline. Technology will have it's pros and cons, but I think that outside of social media technology is helping humans take a lot of steps in the right direction.

iWrite

Has technology affected you in a majorly positive way? What happened?

Technology has been a HUGE part of my life every since the early middle school days. Many of my peers from middle school are well aware of this connection I have with technology. It has really influenced my future goals and life plan.

It all started back when I took interest in how a computer works and how it was able to produce an image that could be changed based on what the user wanted. Through my middle school I joined the STLP (Student Technology Leadership Program), where I absorbed information about everything I could from audio to networking to software and much more. I began teaching myself and learned at a very quick pace.

As of today, I have built my own budget powerhouse computer with 6 cores @ 3.7 GHz, 16GB of RAM, a pretty good graphics card with 1GB of RAM, and over 5 terabytes of storage. I primarily used this computer as a NAS server (network attached storage) where I could save all of my files etc. I then purchased a Macbook Pro, which I used for producing and editing short videos and compiling clips. Then I sold my Mac and bought a Surface Pro. Which I slightly regret. I really do enjoy the power I can get out of a small device like the Surface Pro but the main problem is that there is no sign of OSX. 

So you're probably wondering where all of this money is coming from. Currently I am developing websites from the ground up for small businesses around Lexington to pay for all of this. I hope to form this into a decent sized business that I can run while still going to school. It pays good money, which I hope to turn around and buy the new Mac Pro for my business, meaning I will receive a discount for it through taxes. :-)

Mac Pro - Amazon

iwrite - Sam Flomenhoft

Over the years, the past few decades specifically, technology has grown and improved to become more versatile, useful, and relevant to our everyday lives. With this growth have come myriad positive impacts of technology but also some negative ones. 

A common example of this is the infamous autocorrect which often distorts the meaning of text messages or even school writing assignments, which is ironic because in theory, it is a program designed to help, not hurt, the clarity of the writer's message. 

When I think of the trouble autocorrect (spell check) has caused me over the year a specific story comes to mind. 

Back in middle school, when I was in the sixth grade at SCAPA (School for the Creative And Performing Arts) for creative writing, we had printed writing assignments due once every couple of weeks. For one of these assignments I had written about Dalmatians, which is a fairly difficult word for a sixth grader to spell, so naturally, I spelled it wrong. As per usual the red squiggly line underlined the word and I right-clicked on it with my mouse, and clicked on the first corrected option (which I assumed was the word dalmatian). I printed out the paper without second thought and turned it in on time. The next day, while reading through my paper to the class, I come to find out the word it corrected to was not in fact dalmatian, but damnation, a dark word for any sixth grader to be using.

While I didn't get in trouble and this didn't really cause me too much harm, it is a comical example of how this new wonderful technology can sometime hurt us. 

iwrite- Olivia McCrary

Technology has obviously had many positive effects. I use technology in some way every single day, and I can't imagine what life would be like without it. But even with all its benefits, it's rather easy to see that technology does have a negative impact on society. Technology hasn't caused much harm to me personally, but it has harmed other people in a variety of ways.

Technology has taken control over our lives. It seems like people spend more time using their phones than actually talking or interacting. Social media hasn't really made people more social. For many, it has completely replaced face-to-face interaction.

I can't even begin to explain all of the problems that happen now that wouldn't have happened 20 years ago, such as car accidents caused by people texting instead of staying focused on driving. And there's cyber-bullying- another terrible thing made possible by technology. People use technology as a way to communicate harmful messages to others (things they would never say to that person face-to-face).

In addition to this, we are making ourselves vulnerable by having so much faith in technology. We save all of our work on computers, which can easily crash and delete things. We think we are safe when we post personal information online, yet there are hackers and people who seek to use this information in a negative way (and often do so successfully).

Recently, I have been making an effort to avoid using technology excessively. I hope other people will do the same.

iWrite - Meagan Hale

Technology is a beautiful thing. It has brought the world communication abilities of massive proportions as well as providing information to everyone. Faster transpiration, better defenses, and even the simplest things we take for granted such as light or a microwave. Present day technology has surpassed the expectations of previous generations and is still growing strong. Unfortunately, what people are forgetting is that in the process of gaining so much we can't see what we are losing.

As technology advances, civilization gains incredible advancements in medicine and communications and transpiration, things that make our world better. But is what we're gaining worth what we are losing? Think of the last time you wrote a loved one a hand written letter. Do you forget about literature or nature because the next episode of some irrelevant reality tv show is coming on? There was a time when you knew where every kid in your neighborhood was not because you texted and asked but because of the bikes piled up in someone's front yard. We are sacrificing some of life's simple pleasure for the sake of convenience. Our parents and our grandparents grew up on the ideal of community. The older members of my family could name the father, mother, children, dogs, cats, and fish by their first middle and last name of the people who lived on their street and around the corner, I on the other hand am ashamed to say I haven't even met my new next door neighbors that moved in months ago. We pretend that in America we are neighborly and would help the old lady cross the street but in actuality we are too mesmerized by our smart phones to notice those things. We've gone from a strong sense of community to an overwhelmingly powerful sense of vanity. Social media has put many in the mind set of uploading a new picture of ourselves. It's sad that so many people's motivation has switched from 'because it's the right thing to do' to 'how many likes it will get me.' There's a reason that most futuristic movies aren't rainbows and sunshine. They are robots sent back in time to kill potentially problematic people and even Pixar showed us in Walle that we can get so caught up in technology that we don't even see the people around us, it took the machines breaking for people to interact with their fellow man who was only a few feet away.

Technology has brought mankind so far that in the grand scheme of things the progress is unfathomable. There was a point in time that making fire was our greatest achievement and now we are preforming successful open heart surgery with the DaVinci robot and exploring outer space. Technology is amazing, but so are the ideologies our parents grew up with. iPhones and tablets are pretty cool, but so is writing a letter, so is learning to fish, so is reading a classic novel. In moving forward it's imperative that we do not forget what we've left behind. If we lose traditions and values due to technology we may never get them back, and that is much more tragic than your phone charger not reaching your bed.

iwrite- James Jones

I've always been intrigued by the idea of living in an earlier time. I love the technology that we have now and I appreciate being able to live in this era, however, it's hard not to wonder. I feel that if we didn't have the same entertainment and constant stimulation that we receive now that it wouldn't be all that bad. The one thing that would be a setback is the speed at which you could interact with others. Now if I want to talk to a friend all I have to do is text them, but in the past texting did not exist. People had to have face-to-face interaction and build real relationships over time. Sure you could talk to someone on the phone but at least then you heard the sound of their voice. Now the only people I actually call are relatives, I text all of my friends because it's simply easier. 

 Though it is easier to interact with people outside of classes now, I think I would prefer to have to interact in person. I generally prefer talking to someone in person because it seems like it means more, like its a real interaction. I do enjoy the fact that I can speak to people by typing a simple message on my phone, but where's the fun in that. If I grew up 20 years earlier I would have no choice but to go and actually experience things instead of living through a device. Just a few decades ago people were living their lives without any of the same types of simulated experiences as we do now. Overall I think that life would be much more adventurous if I grew up in an earlier time. 

iWrite-Maya Creamer

     Today, we live in an age dominated by technology, where everyday, incredible advances are being made in the way we are able to interact with each other and with our surroundings. Twenty years ago, we didn't have a lot of the technology that we now take advantage of on a daily basis.
     If I'd grown up twenty years ago, my life would be radically different from the way it is now. Twenty years ago, there were no iPhones/iPods, and computer usage wasn't nearly as widespread as it is today. Seeing as I spend a lot of my free time on Youtube and Facebook on my phone, I would probably spend more quality time with my family and friends, and more time out in the world, rather than cooped up in my room or on the couch.
     My relationships with my family and friends would also probably be much better. Since I spend so much time using technology, I don't spend as much time building relationships with people. I can go a week or longer and realize that I haven't seen or spoken to any of my friends outside of school; I may have texted or Facebook-messaged them, but I haven't seen or spoken to them in person. Twenty years ago, I would have face-to-face interactions with people much more frequently than I do today. I would also probably have a much tighter-knit group of friends and people I know, rather than 200 acquaintances that I claim as "friends" on Facebook.
     As much as I love and am obsessed with my technology, I would definitely prefer to live twenty years ago than today. I think my life would just be so much fuller and more interesting if I wasn't always glued to my iPhone. Spending two hours watching random videos on Youtube isn't interesting, and yet I do it more often that I might like to admit; I, like many people, have gotten sucked in to the world of technology, and I have trouble getting back out.

iWrite Eliza Jane

I often wish that I had grown up in our parent's time period, before texting and video games. I remember when we first got a Wii. Before then, my brothers and I  always made up games or built forts or played outside, but afterwards we mostly just played the Wii. Then, when we tried to play our old games, it just wasn't as fun. I wonder what we would be like if we hadn't gotten a Wii. Would we be more creative? Would my eyesight be better? Would we be smarter? I have a hard time believing that electronics, as my dad says, "rot your brain," but I am curious. However, to study that would be inhumane. I definitely think it dulls creativity. When I babysit, all the children want to do is play the Wii or watch Netflix. I have to drag them into going outside or playing a board game. I'm glad that at least part of my childhood wasn't corrupted by technology. 

And then there's my phone. I am embarrassingly attached to it, but I wish I wasn't. On the few trips I've been on where phones weren't allowed, I actually went through withdrawal. Withdrawal, from my phone. How mortifying. 

All of this makes me a bit scared about what the future may hold. What's next? Interactive TVs like Fahrenheit 451? Bracelets that tell us what to eat and how  much we've exercised? Drones that steal away jobs like in Player Piano? I hope not. As I said before, I wish I had been born earlier. 

Iwrite- Silvia Todorova

Technology has had a huge impact on my life and I probably wouldn't be the person I am today with out it. It can be very helpful, but I can also have a negative impact on our society. In recent years the iPhone has become a major part of our every day lives, I mean I never go anywhere without mine! This very well minimizes face to face interaction. It's much more convenient to text or send an email to someone rather then to actually talk to them in person. This can very well hinder the development of important social skills that are need in young peoples lives. 

Technology is such an amazing tool when doing school work, that is until your computer crashes and all the work that you have done disappears causing you to start all over again. This has happened to me several time and it's very frustrating knowing you put in all this hard work into an important project for school and now it's all gone. Whenever this happens to me I tend to not do as good when writing the essay for the second time, or re working the project,or whatever it may be. This happens because I get very frustrated and I just want to finish what I am doing so I can be done with it and forget it ever happened in the first place.

Howdy-Silvia

I'm Silvia, I'm 16 years old and I am a junior in the Liberal Arts Academy at Henry Clay high school. I was born in Bulgaria but my family moved to the U.S. in 2000, since then we have been living in Lexington, KY. I have loved to dance ever since I was little and I am apart of my high school dance team. I absolutely love my teammates and really enjoy dancing with my best friends. I shamelessly enjoy watching reality tv, even though most of it is very outrageous and foolish. I also really love music, traveling, trying new things, and my friends!

What geeks me out is school, I love to do good in school and I really care about my grades. My academic goals for this school year is to pass all four of my AP Exams and get all A's in my classes. I'm also hopping to not have as many absences this year as I did last year. It made me fall behind in my classes making it very stressful. 

I use www.pandora.com a lot because I'm constantly listening to music

iwrite - Jeb Brumley

I have chosen to answer the prompt - Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?

Although technology is meant to make our lives easier, it can occasionally be inconvenient. One of those inconvenient moments came for me a couple of years ago in school. I was typing an essay for one of my classes when I meant to click the minimize button but accidentally clicked the close button right next to it. Since i was not typing on microsoft word at the time, it did not ask me if i wanted to save before doing so. Although it was my fault for doing this, it really slowed down my progress because I had to type the essay again.

Recently, I have seen technology negatively impact society when it was all over the news that a hacker got into icloud servers and leaked some celebrities private stuff. This got me thinking that with the technology we have today, our privacy is at risk. As technology improves and our lives get easier, we also put our safety and security at risk.

iwrite- Isabelle Rinker

Technology has affected my life in a majorly positive way. Ever since I was a little girl, I've always been a huge technology geek. When I was younger, my mom would buy me hundreds of educational CD ROMs that I found extremely fun and helped me to stay ahead in school. To this day, technology helps me to become a better student; most of my teachers post homework help online and I am able to type my assignments on devices like my computer or iPhone as I am doing right now.

Technology has also convenienced the way I am able to communicate. My family and friends can call or text me whenever they want and I can receive emails within seconds. Many people view technology as a negative thing, but I use it in almost every aspect of my life and overall, it has been a positive contribution to the way I live.

iWrite - Emily Salamanca

                           If I had been born twenty years earlier, I think my life would be incredibly different. Even imagining back to when my older sister was in high school in the early 2000s, she seemed to lead a totally different life than me. I imagine her limited use of the internet and computers (which are my technology medium of choice), was like the world in 1994. I remember her booting up her computer, taking about an hour or so to do so, then another thirty minutes to open up Microsoft Word and then being able to start writing a document. Now, needless to say, this was probably better than a person 20 years ago trying to type, but it still seems incredibly antiquated (ooh, a vocab. word) to me.
                           My relationships surely would not differ. I barely use the internet as a social resource. I occasionally send a quick message to a friend, but I mostly use the internet to inform myself about the world, or to study. Likewise, not having a phone wouldn't impact me much either. I pride myself in having a flip phone - and barely being able to use it at that. I use my phone to call my mom if I want to stay late for a math session, but that's it. I've had the phone now for 6 months, and it's been lost for most of that time.
                           I would still like to continue living in this period because I don't rely on my technology too much like many of my classmates do, but...since you never put a time limit on when we could travel to, I don't know. I think it'd be pretty cool to live in Ancient Rome. Heck yeah. Latin and stuff.

Iwrite- Adrian Wyllie

On March 5, 1975, Steve Wozniak and several friends got together in a garage. What they built there, the Apple 1, became the first computer of Apple Computers. this company would not only change how our lives are lived, but also completely change the entire world. This was the start of the Information Era. Soon, there was a computer in almost every home in america, if it was made by Apple, Microsoft, or IBM. Now, almost 40 years later, we are in the heart of improving technologies improving our lives.
Now, we look forwards, to look at where we will be in ten years, in twenty years, in fifty years. It is almost impossible to tell what the next decade will hold in store for us, or what we can do in the next two. My own theories seem just as far-fetched as any other. in 5 years, almost every car will be self driven, in ten, completely electric. By the time our year is out of college, Global Climate Change will be a problem that we are close to finding a solution to. And by the time we hit the eventual end, I think our civilization will have expanded far beyond the reaches of our imaginations. Maybe some of us will be part of this change.
We have come so far with computers and modern tech, but our society keeps dreaming, we keep dreaming, and what we create, what we do, it will improve our society. Our future is not as simple as saying that this and that will happen while other things will not happen. One of the greatest guidelines of the makers of the Apple 1 was that anything is possible. It sure is.

Howdy- Max Kaufman

Hi All,
      My name is Max, I am for the most part, a pretty typical 16 year old. I have one younger sister, Lily, who is currently a Freshman at Henry Clay (whoopee). My life is for the most part consumed by music. Ever since I could talk I have been mesmerized by music. Contrary to my love for music I have always despised lessons. For whatever reason they have always seemed to take the fun out of playing an instrument. So I have taught myself to play piano, bass, guitar, and most recently harmonica. I am currently in two bands, the most active band I'm in is currently called the Musty Collars. One of my bandmates is Kevin, who plays the drums, I mostly play the bass.
     Aside from music I don't do a whole lot (never been a huge sport guy). But I did have a very exciting summer. The highlight was for sure going to Bonnaroo, a four day long music festival in Tennessee. I went with Emmet who along with Kevin is coincidentally in this class period. Words cannot describe the amount of fun we had, I am already counting the days until 'Roo 2015. To be off topic I think I would be able to teleport like the people from the movie Jumper. As far as being "nerded out" I've already mentioned music but more specifically Jack White is a remarkable human being. Personally I'm not a huge fan of his newest LP "Lazaretto" I'm more interested in The White Stripes era music of his.
    To close I don't really have much of a favorite web site but I think the most useful would be http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

Below are a picture of me getting my first guitar (although I didn't learn to play until recently). As well as that there is a video of a Musty Collars improv jam. My apologies for the most likely god awful video quality.

iwrite-Amelia Caldwell

I chose to answer the question: Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?

I love technology, if you see me on a regular basis I pretty much always have my phone in my hand. However, there have been times when technology was just too frustrating. For example, whenever I have an assignment due and it is an online assignment, there is always a possibility that my laptop will shut down and I would have to start over again. That is a HUGE inconvenience because I do not have that much time to waste. 

I believe that technology does have a somewhat negative impact on society. At the Governor's School for the Arts if we had our phones past our dorm hall, we would be written up. We were not even allowed to bring a laptop, iPad, or any tablet or it would be taken on the first night. This, however was one of the most amazing parts of GSA. We were forced to actually interact with the people around us instead of staring at a screen all day. I got to know so many amazing people that I don't think I would have even noticed if I had my phone or laptop with me throughout the day. 

Even though technology is really helpful, it can be an inconvenience and it doesn't allow you to truly live in the moment. 

iwrite- Brandon Castillo

I have chosen to answer the question- has technology every inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?

I love my technology, my iphone 4s, Nike plus GPS watch, and my laptop that I got for Christmas. They are all very useful objects that help communicate information and help me work on projects for school that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to do. But I believe that if we didn’t have technology as advanced as this, we could live in a nicer time. We wouldn’t have to worry about learning all these skills like typing, programming, or how to search for the correct things in kyvl.org. If we go even further in lowering technology to before the car; we see healthier, fit people.

I recently went to a camp with my church and they “forced” us to give them our phones. During that week, I felt more connected to the people around me than I had before and had less distractions than the normal week. It was great. People are always on their phone now! When friends "hang out" with each other, they might as well not even be in the same room, they are scavenging the internet, looking at other peoples' pictures and tweets, ignoring the friends they were supposed to be with at that moment. 

Howdy Blog Tapan Darji

My name is Tapan Darji and I am a junior in the Liberal Arts Academy. I like to read, play soccer, play video games, and watch TV. I play the violin. I like to watch sports on TV. I like to watch football, basketball, soccer, and cricket.
The most meaningful thing I did in the summer was help at the Julius Marks Elementary library.
Th best thing I did all summer was go to Chicago. I went to the top of Willis (Sears) Tower and I also went on a riverboat tour.
My academic goals this year are to get straight A's and get 5's on all my AP exams this year.
Sports is what geeks me out. I play soccer and cricket. I  also watch sports all the time. I keep track of all the latest signings in soccer. I keep track of which team won and who lost.
My favorite website:
 http://www.espnfc.us/
Here is a picture of my favorite soccer team's emblem:

Assignment 2: iwrite

In 1976, Steve Jobs became a co-founder of Apple. 35 years later he retired, putting his enormous company into different hands, and shortly thereafter succumbed to cancer. His retirement and death did not just mean a promotion for Tim Cook, the new CEO, but a major shift in a company that has been a key player in technology innovation in the 21st century.  Love 'em or hate 'em, Steve Jobs changed our lives.

So, this brings us to your writing for the week:

How has technology affected your life?

Choose one of the following prompts and in 150 words or more, provide your answer.

• Has technology affected you in a majorly positive way? What happened?
• Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?
• How would your life have been different if you'd grown up 20 years earlier? How would you interact with others? Do you think your relationships then would differ from your present relationships? Which time period would you prefer and why?
• Become a futurist and theorize on how might technology evolve over the next decade and what changes might those changes bring.  

The deadline for this blog is Sunday, September 7th at 11:59 p.m.