1984 Over View

There were some parts in this book that i found to be super interesting and other parts that i found to be extremely boring. I am just going to say that from the very beginning when O’Brian was first introduced, i did not trust him at all. I also did not trust Julia but was very surprised to find out that she was actually really against the Party. I was beyond shocked when I found out who Mr. Charrignton really was. That was the last thing I thought He would be. Anyways, there are some Parts of the book that struck me as very frighteningly art. For Example, the Party targets children. They know that kids will believe just about anything and what they learn sticks with them. They start children off learning how to spot someone committing thought crime. They are not even remorseful enough to put their family first. All that is in the mind of these young children is the Party and ratting out anyone who they thought was a threat to The Party. Take Parson’s little girl for example, at only seven years old, she marched out of her group during a hike and followed someone who she suspected to be spy. Not only that, but she also ratted out her own father. The party really does a good job feeding their slogans into the minds of these innocent children. Secondly, I thought it was smart of O’Brian to trap Winston the way he did. He had Winston believe that O’Brian was really on his side when in truth; he was really an Inner Party member. O’Brian had Julia and Winston believing that they were so smart and wise,, when in truth, he knew of their whereabouts and actions. Thirdly, the big issue of surveillance. Big Brother is constantly watching the citizens of Oceania. Non of them have any real freedom because everything that they say and do is accounted for and will be used against them. although our government’s current surveillance is up to par, I don’t believe that it will ever get to the point of something similar to Big Brother. the people of our society have too much power in their hands. Lastly, I did not like the way the book ended at all. I thought that Winston and Julia would be able to defeat the Party and start some type of  a revolution to overthrow the Party, but unfortunately, they were both killed. so much for a happy ending. over all, this book was interesting and i liked reading it.

Language Is Freedom

As a person who loves language and believe in the importance of being able to express your feelings through speech, the thought of Newspeak is frightening. In our world there are so many different languages and ways of expressing yourself, but in Oceania they try to limit you speech. I love speaking different languages and if i were only limited to being able to speak one, it would drive me absolutely insane. Big Brothers main reason for limiting language is to limit the possibility of anyone being a threat to Big Brother. That means that anyone perceived as being dangerous will be immediately snuffed out. Think of Syme. He was an incredibly brilliant guy when it came to words. The Inner party members found his intelligence to be unnerving and for that reason, they took him out. The poet Ampleforth was taken out because he left the word God in one of the poems he was suppose to revise. These people are completely shut down if they have a different way of thinking. The idea of Newspeak was to totally wipe out the possibility of speaking out against Big Brother. Living in a society like that would mean having no freedom of speech. We take our freedom of speech for granted. Imagine not being able to express your true feelings with your words. How else are supposed to express ourselves. The citizens of Oceania had to live in constant awareness of their emotions and words. They had to watch their thoughts because everything that we think eventually becomes words that we speak. they are limited in Thought because they can’t express their thoughts freely. Winston himself has different views from the Party and had to conceal his true feelings by acting like everyone else. Language has been a tool of expression for many years, and i don't believe that it is possible to completely erase all the languages of the world and make it into one central language. if anything, i think it is impossible. Not being able to express your opinions is very suffocating and i don't think anyone in our present world has the capability of doing that. You might be able to control the actions of a person, but it is near impossible to control their thoughts. Big Brother might be controlling the party members's actions but there will always be people like Winston who go against People like Big Brother.

I've noticed ..

All today I noticed people complaining and complaining about the amount of work we have do in this class including the blogging but honestly it isn't even hard work .. I mean what else are you gonna be doing on a school night other than liking each other's Instagram pics or favoriting tweets about how you still have to do the work .. I know the work is time consuming but it consist of stuff we know a lot about .. We're all familiar with surveillance, the articles we read, the book, and how we did over the course of the semester so why not take a little time and form what we know about these things into the assignments we were asked to do. Also everyone complains about their grade and how they expect an A but slop together their work to take up as little time and effort as possible  just to say you got it done. Come on guys only 4 more months to go why get lazy now ? We got this ! 

Who's watching ?

     In the society that we live in now it seems that people are a lot more open about their personal life due to all the new technology advances and social media encouraging you to show people personal information. In 1984 the government had taken over, but in our country the government isn't the only person who can get into your personal information and monitor your movements. It may not seem like a big deal but it can become something big that can get out of hand when you least expect it. You never know who is looking at everything you do, not just the government but with new technology comes new crimes. Stolen identities, and hackers are a big deal. Even displaying your birth date, personal preferences and the city that you live in people will use this information and create someone new or ruin someone's life.
     Hackers don't need much to find out everything about you. All these apps that have been created can help the hackers by posting things you enjoy doing and some of your favorite things makes it a bit easier for someone to hack into your accounts and snoop around in your private life. I try and only use my phone when I absolutely need it and still write down important information and numbers I may need because anything can happen to it, for example break, get stolen or maybe get internally damaged and everything you had was lost. That's why important information should always be kept in a safe place where it is easy to access it. I am personally guilty of using social media but now I am more aware of what I should and shouldn't post, now I think twice about what I will post.

Seminar 2K15

Socratic Seminar is always a fun group activity that is held every time we read a novel. I have had the privilege of experiencing many Seminars because of AP english. You’d think with such experience i would contribute but, no. I love the experience hearing everyone perspective and how each of us view the book differently or perhaps the same. I always want to speak out but in the back of my head something is telling me no don't speak you'll sound like a fool. I've always been horrible at speaking in large groups but when its a small group i cant stop talking. 
Lets get to the point. As a class everyone kept bringing up how Big Brother is almost like us with surveillance. Although they may have some similarities we are by far away from being like big brother. big brother takes their surveillance to a how new level unlike the government ever since our 9/11 attack they just want to be more cautious and protecting our nation. We still have somewhat “privacy” and freedom . Oceania people don't have that privilege they are being manipulated and controlled. Their surveillance isn't benefiting them rather Big brother ( in order for them to keep control).

I wish i would have contributed more in the Seminar. Maybe, i would have had more to discuss.

Another View Point

Last Friday during the Socratic seminar I remember how Mrs. Fletcher brought up the question if our government could ever turn into one like in the book 1984. At first my mind was on a set no. I mentioned how our country is way too big with so many people and seeing how our country is built up by the main goal of freedom of the people, it just couldn't work. Unless of course, we were under attack and taken over by a new super power then yea it could happen.  Well anyways… this is what I believed at first but after putting in more thought it may not actually turn out to be so impossible. If you have read my past blog post about Government Surveillance then you would know that I was stumped on the whole necessary and proper clause situation and if it would give the government a reason to spy on us. Since I’m still a bit confused on that lets say that the necessary and proper clause did let the government have a tighter hold on surveillance. After taking that first step into invading our original rights what is there to stop them from finding another reason to take it a step further later on in the future? To put it in other words, what is there to stop someone from making an unfair choice again after not being punished or stopped for doing it the first time? I still can’t see our country falling into such a state like 1984 but in a way I can see it brainwashing our people into believing what we have is freedom and what the government is doing is justice and protecting us. In Oceania, the people were closed off from the outside world like the people in North Korea for instance so because of that fact it’s a lot easier for them to keep a more tighter hold and tell them only what they want them to know about the outside world. For us on the other hand, we always get new immigrants with knowledge of a world outside the states and our own people constantly travel outside to see the world for themselves. So you can’t really brainwash them in the way Big Brother did in 1984 but I still don’t believe we are entirely safe or at least the future generation won’t be. All I know (more like what I believe) is that the Government is plotting something that we aren't aware of and if we don’t stop them in their tracks any way we can it’s just going to get worse as time goes by. In the end with this in mind, I’ll probably forget about it at one point and continue the “freedom” I do have and enjoy my life with it. 

Socratic Seminar

The main topic in the Socratic Seminar that caught my attention was the big question of whether or not language was an important factor in our freedom. I feel as though language CAN be an important when it comes to individualism, but is definitely not a necessity. The reason I say this is because, yes, language does give everyone a chance to express themselves word for word, which does help when one is trying to explain themselves. If there was a way to shorten our language, and make it to where there is no way of speaking your feelings or thoughts, it would not change the way a person feels or felt. Those frustrating feelings will still be present, and it may even lead to a rebellion faster than if there WERE more words in the vocabulary. Words were created to express ourselves because of those frustrating feelings, whose to say we are not able to make up more words that can help us express ourselves? Which leads us to "Big Brother", it would be a waste of time and thought to try and change the language.

How close are we?

In 1984, there were multiple times where Winston and Julia had to meet at a secret place. This was because they both knew that Big Brother would be watching and listening to their every movement. It is really sad that their government had absolutely no limits to how closely they would track people. This reminds me of our cell phones of today. In a article that we read in class, it talked about how our phones should be named something besides cell phones, like "trackers", because they are not used to only communicate, but it gives the government a chance to watch our every move and actions. It is claimed to be for only security purposes, and to keep our country safe, but when is breaching our privacy too interfering? I feel like there should be a written and spoken statements explaining what it is that they do with our phones, and what exactly their limits are. I don't know if I am completely comfortable with knowing that my location among other things are being tracked, but it does help to know exactly what is going on. The next concern is to how much surveillance power should the government get before it become to invasive and too powerful. What we don't know is how the system of "Big Brother" came about, and if all it took was too much power given to the government, for the new society to begin. Our country is always claiming how United we are and how free we are, yet there are SO many things that we do not know, and that we are not aware of. This doesn't show unity, this shows the same characteristics of "Big Brother". Something should be changed soon before we slowly fall into a government's traps, and eventually lead a life with no freedom.

socratic seminar

Socratic seminar was actually really cool. I think it's goood that we talked about the book and people expressed their ideas or asked a question on something they were confused on. I didn't really talk on this day. During this talk I did realize something, he who controls the past, controls the future. Think about it. Socratic seminar made me realize some things in the book that I hadn't realized before. Hearing other people's ideas and thoughts were helpful. The book started to become more clear.

Government Surveillance, Yes..No..?

After all this talk about surveillance and Government control in 1984 I don’t necessarily know what to think if all this government security is something to have a real concern over or if we should just let the government do what it’s got to do.  The obvious positive outcome would be that the government would be able to catch terrorist at a much faster paste. After the 9/11 incident it was discovered that we had several terrorist living among us without us ever detecting a thing. In order to prevent them from sneaking in again we have to take bigger measures. I can see why this would be a real issue since its invading our personal lives and freedom but times are changing and we can’t always stick to our past methods, right? If I’m remembering this correctly there is a clause that can let the congress adjust old laws in order which shall be necessary and proper to protect our people. So in this situation where technology is enhancing every day with new ways to get into touch with people and find more dangerous complex answers, wouldn't that give the government a necessary and proper reason for them to spy and ease drop on us threw technology? I’m not saying they should watch our every single move that we must always be under watch, but enough for them to track what we search up and who we talk to over the internet/phone. When I think of it this way I honestly don’t know what to think and still trying to get some facts straight before I can let out my final opinion. If someone could clear up the whole necessary and proper clause part and if it would really let the government spy us that would be really nice. Thanks!

stress

Am I the only one stressed out about this final? I just have to talk about this because I am so stressed. All of these classes and all of these finals that will determine if we graduate or not. I'm trying hard to stay on task and maintain my grades, but this is not easy. Senioritis is actually real and school has only been in for four months. The best thing to do is not procrastinate and to try to get my work done when it is assigned. In this class we have to blog, write an essay, prepare for an exam, study vocal, and write a 3p one pager on what we think our grade should be. It's all due tomorrow but I will get it done. I can do this!

Cloud servers

Many of us wonder where everything that we delete goes and if it is actually still accessible by other people such as the government and many other tech companies that run cloud servers. We all delete files on our computers and mobile devices every day, but where do those deleted files actually go? Are they still there in some form? Can they actually be recovered? Is the recovery process difficult? It’s evident that the process to recover deleted files such as pictures is not that difficult because on phones such as the iphone, it is easy to recover pictures because it provides a folder where recently deleted pictures go that can be turned on or off depending on your choice. Pictures that you have deleted, and once you recover them they only appear on ones camera roll and not in the photo stream. When you delete a file on a Windows computer, it is moved to the computer's Recycle Bin. However, what happens to the deleted files? Where do they go? When a file the file header is removed so that the computer can no longer see the file and makes it as though it is gone, The file is no longer readable by the computer. However, the file is still on the hard drive. It is still possible to recover deleting things with software. So for those of you that are worried about where your deleted files and pictures go you don’t have to worry about it because you technically still have it but in your hard drive. When you delete a picture on your iphone and you recover it you will see what I am talking about and it will no longer appear in your photo stream. There are applications where you can clean cache files on iphones for more memory and what you clean out in cache files are mainly your pictures. I don’t think that the government has anything to do with cloud servers and if they did they probably just monitor for illegal stuff that shouldn’t be on people’s phones in the first place. Now you know what happens to deleted pictures.

Surveillance

Surveillance for me is being watched from cameras or other things that are saved and never lost and that government can get a hold on. There are surveillance cameras on every street and most corners. They are mostly for safety and to catch crimes. Surveillance is good to some extent too much doesn't give us our privacy we deserve. I feel that government shouldn't be too involved in people's lives because they have other things to worry about other than trying to find out everything about people. Surveillance should just be kept how it's like right now. We shouldn't have to be worried about surveillance and if we're going to get in trouble if we say something. If there's a crisis we still shouldn't give up our privacy and freedom just because there's a crisis because some people would rather go to another country where we don't have to give up our privacy just because there's a federal crisis. We deserve freedom and giving up our privacy there's no freedom to that. 

surveillance boundaries

As im on my IPad just scrolling though these blogs I just wonder what if someone was looking at me through my webcam right now. It's kind or creepier knowing someone is watching rather than not knowing at all. I think that surveillance is essential though, but at what point is too far? In 1984 telescreens are my version of too far. Cameras that are in stores, tracking devices those kind of sureveillances are okay. That can actually save someone's life, but telescreens and stuff is too much. Maybe we are closer to the ways in 1984 than we thought. In "That's No Phone, That's My Tracker" it basically was saying how we don't really use or phones for what they were made for which is making calls. We text, use social media a lot, especially this generation. Phones are very useful though especially IPhones. All you have to do it type something into Google and you can get your answer. FaceTime is very useful and one of my favorites. Imagine while on FaceTime someone was behind both of the phones watching your entire conversation. That's when I think surveillance has gone too far. Having cameras in the bathroom, your room, private places shouldn't be allowed. At that point it's just all about your personal rights and privacy. We should all be able to think what we want and do what we want freely. If we couldn't think what we'd normally think I would actually go crazy. All I think is surveillance is cool, but at what point is it crossing the line?

Webcam Surveillance, Too Far

1984 is a book that illustrates what a world would be like completely controlled by the government. One example of the totalitarian government techniques is the constant surveillance on the citizens. There is the one device named the telescreen, where unlike our normal television, it watches you. This means that you will never know when you are being watched and to what extent. I feel as though the government has taken things too far, and that it had taken away all of the freedoms and individualism in a person. 

This reminds me a little bit of our government of today. We now have these webcams that are supposed to give us the opportunity to talk to someone face to face without them being there physically. Yet there has been recent accusations and even some proof that these webcams give the government a chance to spy on us and watch us during our daily tasks. For example, there was a recent story given by one of our classmates about the Xbox connect. It was said that the gaming system was completely shut off, yet there were clicking noises as though there were pictures being taken. Later on she found out that they actually were pictures being taken of her. This is very scary because it makes me wonder if we are slowly turning into the Big Brother world of 1984. If that is what is happening, how long will it take for us to get to that point? In other words, how long before our government tries to completely take over its society 

As citizens we should be able to choose if are privacy should be breached by the government or if it should not. Instead it seems as though we are not being notified with their actions, and that is what makes situations, such as being spied on through our webcams, such a scary thing.

Socratic Seminar

Socratic Seminar was very helpful in understanding the concepts of surveillance and Big Brother. Many people had great topics to discuss and explain both sides of the argument. I feel that surveillance is mostly everywhere. In 1984 big brother is the government and he sees everything the telescreens are surveillance cameras. I feel like living in a society where there's always surveillance is bad and doesn't give us our freedom and privacy we deserve. Everyone said many important topics about the book and asked great questions. Big brother was taking over all of the society of Oceania. It made me think what would happen if our society would get like that. If there was surveillance everywhere and the government knew everything we were talking about and what we do. Socratic seminar had me thinking about things and informed about things I didn't know about. It was a great way to understand the book more and surveillance. 

socratic seminar

I think what they’re doing in state Oceana is genius. I mean Big Brother, the name and face that led the totalitarian state of Oceana, gave a false impression that the government was not only spying in on its citizens, but also lying to and controlling their minds as a means of “security”. It’s just incredible how they have so much power to brain wash so many people. It’s very hard to take away language and limit it. Also, to make people fall in their trap and brain wash each and person because everyone has opinions and to do so they cut words out of their vocabulary and limit their words. People can’t use words to express themselves. They can’t say how they feel at all or think of words to say. These people are basically robots, they have a time and schedule for everything and boundaries to everything they do. Everybody’ talking in newspeak hiding all thoughts and feelings. In class we discussed the question “should citizens be prepared to give up personal freedoms and privacy during a national crisis?” I think when national crisis occurs you don’t sit there and think if your freedom is worth giving up for or if the government should get in your life. In reality no one’s really prepared for national crisis, no one wants to live scared. When national crisis occurs you have to do what you have to do to be safe, whether it’s giving up your privacy or not. When you’re in crisis nothing but your safety should matter. Would you rather have your personal freedom and privacy and be scared of crisis your whole life or give your personal freedom away for your own safety? I mean yes it’s uncomfortable but in reality you won’t be watched unless you’re suspicious.

A few topics.

This post is honestly going to be all over the place. First of all, is anyone else really stressed out about finals? I have so much to do today and I have rehearsal tonight at 5:30 for Mariners. I remember last year, our teacher told us to stay home and study the week of finals so I don't know why we're having rehearsal this year. After I finish writing this post, I have to finish a few study guides, type my reflection essay, practice solos, and study for the rest of my classes until I have to leave to go to rehearsal.

I've gotten accepted to two colleges so far! Next weekend I'm going to visit Portland State with my aunt, uncle, and cousins and I think I'm really going to like it. I also got a 13,000 scholarship to Vanguard! Many people keep asking me where I'm going to go but I won't know until I get all my acceptance letters in and discuss it with my parents. It feels really weird thinking about college because I honestly feel like I'm still a junior.

I really want to become a book lover again. I remember in elementary school I used to read so many books because I loved to read so much. I really want to get into reading again because I still enjoy it. I have a list of about 30 books on my phone that I want to read before summer and I'm hoping to somehow finish all of them. I'm a pretty quick reader considering the fact that I read The Fault In Our Stars three times in one week when I borrowed the book from my friend Madi. 

I wish I could have came to school Friday for the Socratic Seminar, but I had some things to take care of until 3rd period. I feel like I missed out on a great conversation. According to the blog posts from many of you guys, it seemed like an interesting hour of the day. It seems like there was a lot of great ideas floating around the room and you all learned a lot. 

Lastly, I wish you all luck on all your finals and I hope you all pass and keep your grades up. Don't forget, we're seniors but we shouldn't be slacking off.

iCloud

    Valeria and I were talking about iCloud today at school.  After listening to what Valeria had to say about it, it really had me thinking as well on why we actually need it.  I've never once used iCloud, nor do I even understand iCloud, but it's just there.  Storing, saving data that I don't really need.  I'm not scared of iCloud because I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm just very curious as to where my things actually go.  Valeria was saying how her iPhone kept insisting to make an iCloud hourly, and the same thing was happening to me.

    The notification was annoying so I gave in after the second time it asked and made an account for iCloud.  But the whole not knowing part is actually pretty weird.  And again, I'm not mad about the idea, I'm just curious as to why and where my data goes.  I tried reading about iCloud and it was honestly way too boring that it would put me to sleep, so I just gave up.  I wish that Apple would've made a commercial explaining iCloud and how it really works instead of basically forcing it upon us to make an account for something we have no idea about.  I'm pretty positive that nobody read what iCloud was about because it was like 16 pages worth of irrelevant things.  It's pretty interesting how iCloud can save your storage and data without you even asking it to, though.

Surveillance

    Personally, I enjoy talking about what life would be like in Lakewood/Bellflower if we were under surveillance.  Not that we aren't already a safe neighborhood, but we would definitely be more cautious as to what we are doing in public.  Same as to the text messages that we send or the people we associate ourselves with.  I have nothing to hide, so nothing would change drastically about my life if we were to be put under surveillance, but I know a lot of people that would tremble in fear because of being under surveillance.

    If it's a serious problem and for the safety of our citizens, then I'm all for it.  The government would definitely not waste money and time on doing something that won't benefit our safety and our living conditions.  If it's happening, it's for a greater purpose.  No one is going to single you out, unless you're doing something wrong.  I think that might be the main reason why I don't really care about it.  I'm rarely on social network or the computer, and even when I am, I don't do anything wrong, let alone have time to do anything wrong.

    I have heard that some parts of Long Beach are already under surveillance, but a lot of people agree that that part of Long Beach deserves to be under surveillance due to all of the crimes that happen there.  You don't hear a lot about people who live in Long Beach complaining about how they're under surveillance or anything like that.  It's a very positive thing and it will definitely fade away overtime, meaning they won't forever be under surveillance.  It's most likely only temporary.

Socratic Seminar

   I believe that the Socratic Seminar helped a lot about understanding not the MAIN concept of the book, but little details, which is also okay and it's interesting to hear opinions.  I was very sick on Friday and I had no voice, which is why I couldn't contribute to the activity, but I was very impressed that we had very little awkward moments.  It was nice to hear people say their opinions, and if someone disagreed, it was very civil and the person would just explain why they think the way that they think and then we moved on.  I remember when we did a Socratic seminar for Mr. Phinizy's class in my 10th grade English class, it was the first time I've ever heard of anything like it and I very much enjoyed contributing as well as listening.

    Luckily, for the ERW Socratic seminar, it flowed perfectly, which is a surprise because it's first period and usually people are dead that early in the morning, but I was glad to listen to many different point of views and hear from a lot of people that I don't usually hear from daily.  Even though, we did kind of lose track and Mrs. Fletcher had to tell us twice how what we're talking about relates to the book, we did a great job explaining how it all ties together and why we think the way we think.

   We talked about surveillance and why it can and can't be a good thing.  I always thought that if we were under surveillance, it wouldn't really affect me at all because I have absolutely nothing to hide, and usually people that have something to hide and don't want to be under surveillance are doing something wrong, or they just think the idea behind it is creepy, but if we are all under surveillance, no one is going to pay attention to someone that isn't doing anything bad and make fun of them.  They're going to be doing their job.  Someone from the seminar brought up how they would be fine with being under surveillance because the government obviously doing it for the safety of us, they wouldn't just waste all that time and money on nothing.  I hadn't really thought of that, so it made me more on the side as to why not have us being under surveillance if there really is a threat nearby.

The Socratic seminar really brought out peoples thoughts in a comfortable environment and I wouldn't mind doing it again for future purposes.

Socratic Seminar

     I thought that the Socratic Seminar was pretty neat. It was the first time i had done anything like that. I enjoyed hearing what everyone had to say about 1984 and the type of government. As i was listening various people made good points and made me reevaluate the way i thought about the book. I had really good ideas but couldn't find a way to cut in because i felt that i would be rude just talking over someone. We are essentially trying to be find the right time and jump it to give our own opinion.Over all i think we as a class did well regarding being patient and respectful of what others were saying but we lacked participation, seeing how this was our first time. I think if we organized ourselves a bit more we could have gone in a circle to share on one topic at a time and if you didn't have anything to contribute you can pass so no one will be pressured to participate because everyone has an individual grade.
     One thing i was dying to contribute was on a comment some one made on how media limits what see and know. I didn't get the opportunity to give my opinion because many people were contributing and eventually moved on to another topic. I wanted to say that it is true the media is limiting us to what we see and know, because I write in the school newspaper (WindJammer) and even though many people don't read it because they say it's boring it frustrates me. It is frustrating when people talk bad about newspaper because it isn't our fault, Mr. Eeles limits us in so many ways to print what we want with certain exceptions Mr. Eeles takes out our best stories , the things people want to read and care about for example we did an under cover drug story which he said was a negative view on the school. It greatly upset many of the WindJammer staff because we work hard and to change a story last minute and find something else that takes up the same amount of space in a short period of time. There are so many things that we can't do because we also need to think about our adviser and how she can get in trouble for what we publish even though we are protected by the law.

Modern Monitor

Many people out there who have read the dystopian novel 1984 believe that such methods of surveillance is just mere myth to the public's eyes, that Big Brother is nothing more than a false belief that is to come like the Aztec calendar which predicted te world would end in the year 2012.  But such things aren't so unbelievable, for at this very moment, something in your house that is connected to the internet in some way, is watching your every move.  It could be your computer's built in webcam that you use to stream videogames, it could be your PS Camera that you installed for "Next gen motion controls", it could even be your trusty smartphone which you use to browse whatever whenever you want.  Technology is evolving people, and we are still out of the loop on what really goes on with these contraptions.  A good example of what I'm trying to say is the video game "Watchdogs".  Sure, it's a video game and they have always been known to add their own twists to the truth, but it's the theme of what this game stands for is what we should all pay attention to.  Technology can be a double-edged sword, it can work for or against us, and we have no way to control how it turns out unless we just drop it.  But we know that that's extremely difficult to do, to drop off of the grid, fall into the dark, or becoming one of the "invisible people" are just fantasies that we all like to entertain at one point or another.  The truth is, technology has us all dancing in the palms of its digitally constructed hands, and we have near little to no chance to escape it all unscathed, mentally or even physically.

Bread and Circus

Way back when the Romans ruled a majority of the European continent, the Roman government worried about rebellion every waking moment as they were in office.  Their weights upon the people of Rome were sometimes extremely unfair and civil unrest was constant throughout the Empire.  Yet one day, someone came up with the most ingenious idea of all time, a concept that many governments still use today due to the fact that it keeps the masses in place.  That is the Roman "Bread an Circus", by far the most simple yet effective way of keeping stability in a community.  The concept is actually really simple, keep the people fed and entertained, and you can do whatever you want with them, no fuss about it, just dinner with a show an you've gained temporary loyalty of the community.  Even to this day, our governments still use such tactics in order to keep us at bay.  Don't believe me?  Try taking some of your favorite hobbies into consideration, sports, gaming, television, all of the good stuff.  Now think, how many of these subjects require some type of government involvement?  in the 1984 novel, the Ingsoc government tries to make the party members to go to required meets and hikes, even having entire weeks to celebrate Big Brother and its feats.  Even the proles are kept busy as well, for instance, the lottery that they're given.  The two men in the pub were completely immersed in the small chance of winning a prize from the Ingsoc government.  Instead of using that mindset of bettering themselves, they use it for such trivial means, that of which will almost certainly never bear fruit.  Modern day governments make sure that all of these activities are there in order to make us forget about the consequences of their choices and rather us focus on someone's win/loss ratio or who's dating (or cheating on) who.  As a wise person once said, " Ignorance is bliss".

Socratic seminar

This past Friday we had a Socratic seminar which was where people shared their thoughts based on what we are learning about in class right now. The Socratic seminar consisted of both 1984 and surveillance because both of those thongs relate to what we are learning currently but surveillance is also what 1984 is almost about with the telescreens and all the other stuff.

Unfortunately many other people like me weren’t able to share their thoughts throughout the discussion. I know that the discussion was for a grade and I feel bad that I did not participate but I’m at fault for that. I am not going to blame it on my shyness to speak in front of all my classmates but I didn’t participate in the discussion because I honestly was really sleepy. Its first period and honestly I sleep like 6 hours every night because I stay up for no important reason. I feel bad that I let Ms. Fletcher down by not participating but that will not happen again. What I noticed throughout the discussion is that many of us are like minded and anything that I would think relating to the topic someone would say it and that is also another reason that I didn’t share because I did not want to repeat what someone else had already said.

Although I didn’t talk I enjoyed hearing everyone thoughts on what they had to say on surveillance and the book 1984. I noticed that some people liked the idea of surveillance and some didn’t. The room at the time was floating with thoughts of the possibility that 1984 is sort of what is happening to us right now. I heard many good thoughts and I gathered those ideas for a possible use in my essay if I need them for support or anything else. I loved the Socratic seminar and it was really helpful and I really think that it benefitted everyone when they write the essay for the final, to all those who shared on Friday good job,

Brilliance

One thing that was mentioned during Socratic Seminar by Jeremy was that although the thought of Big Brother watching us and the development of Newspeak and the Though Police was uncomfortable, the idea in itself is completely brilliant. The lengths that the Party has gone through in order to limit freedom of speech and freedom of thought is masterfully done. This isn't to say that I agree with it at all, but the mere idea of corrupting the English language by deleting bits and pieces of our vocabulary in order to limit our thoughts is something kind of genius.

Let's face it. The United States is probably one of the most lenient countries to ever exist. It is even stated as the very first amendment: the freedom of speech, the freedom of religion, the freedom of the press, etc. But there is a time and place for everything. You can't simply protest whenever and wherever you want. But given this right, we are given the power to protest by certain guidelines and say what is needed to be said.

In the eyes of Big Brother, simply having a contradicting opinion is an example of thoughtcrime. But as the years go on as a Party Member, as more children are being conditioned at a young age to be faithful to Big Brother, thoughtcrime will simply cease to exist because there are no words to explain it. One of the reasons that Winston was capable of having mixed feelings was because he was there before the war occurred. He was able to experience the changes that happened. He knew which pieces of history were manipulated and changed simply because he lived the truth. The children that were after the Party was established only know the Party, which is why Julia did not rebel against the Party for the pure fact that she knew what was right; she rebelled simply because she liked to be a rebel.

The course of history has been constantly changed, merely for the fact that Big Brother must always be deemed all-powerful and all-knowing. The vocabulary is being shortened just so people can no longer find the words to describe things. At a young age, children are being taught to manipulate their parents, something we can compare to the Nazis in Germany around WWII. As terrible as something like this exists in fiction, it's all seemingly genius.

1984

        okay, now that I finally have time to sit down and write this blog post, lets just say I had a lot of practice during this week (sorry Ms.Fletcher). Now because of the discussion we as a class had last Friday. I heard in other periods with Ms.Fletcher thing did get a little heated. even though I wanted to say something about the surveillance and how technology will affect our world hearing what other people had to say really did open my mind to understanding about what other individuals thought of. As for 1984 ending up very hopeless because of big brother opens up what could of happen if Wilson did beat big brother. Would he actually end up with a normal life rebuilding from ruins, even with vocabulary. Would English become even more complex as it is now through out time.
        All these questions run through my mind about what the Author, George Orwell must had thought about how to make the ending. To leave readers/audience discombobulated by not having that heroic ending. In my reasoning, what I find that is very clever for the author is this man Orwell wrote 1984 in the 1940's, to be writing about advance technology was beyond his time. people only had box Television, land lines wires connected to a  home phone. I believe that Orwell wrote this book to let the future generations know how the government might take action to control us all without our population even knowing. This topic came out during discussion on Friday , about how even in the city of Long Beach they're are cameras in every corner.
         cellphones are becoming collected data , people can hack your phone through apps, maybe even the government is looking through your life even your privacy only to "protect" our country. All of the conspiracy theories about government, people, money, the world is all one big commotion. I'm quite satisfied our class had this discussion, their were very powerful points including surveillance, control, government, freedom anything to do with one's limit's. 1984 has made me aware now about handling my phone and when to speak up with I know something is not right. George Orwell is a fantastic writer, but can add a lot of details when it is not necessary. overall 1984 can be a great reliable source when teaching young readers the cautions of a cruel world we live in today.

RELAX

This whole argument over if we should be ready to give up our freedom in a time of crisis really shouldn't be that big of a discussion. People need to realize that in order for us to be safe and protected we must allow the smallest amount of access into our personal life. For example,  If it weren't for surveillance we wouldn't have caught the boston bombers. Imagine of those guys got away with what they did? Surveillance almost sets a shield over us. Now people might say "well I feel creeped out", don't think about it too much. What are you going to do about it? Live in paranoia for the rest of your life? Surveillance won't stop so might as well be open about it. It's for our own good. Plus if you aren't doing anythig wrong then why should it be such an issue? Just because we're being watched doesn't mean it will escalate to 1984 surveillance. You have to be more open minded about these things. 

Is 1984 a warning?

   George Orwell's purpose of writing 1984 could have been to express his "Imaginary thoughts" about a totalitarian government. Or maybe its a warning about the future. If our government were to go from Federal republic to Totalitarian the United States would be frantic. In 1984 the government controls everyone and if you rebel against it then you are killed. It makes me think how mind control and torture techniques could be used to make an individual or whole nation do what the government wants.  Living in a society where you cannot express yourself freely is not enjoyable. Communication, personal beliefs, and individual loyalty to the government are all controlled by the inner Party in many ways. Thought, speech and actions are all monitored by political officials in one way or another.
    The government even created a new language called Newspeak with limited way of expressing themselves, which in turn simply brainwashed those of Oceania. For example on page 46 Syme and Winston are talking about the newspeak and how they hate it and Syme talks about as if he likes it. He almost sounds like a brainwashed robot. "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of  words...  You haven't a real appreciation for Newspeak, Winston...  Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?"
    The Thought Police are a group of followers that spy on people, and determine whether or not they are thinking negative thoughts or have a desire to overthrow the Party. If so, they are accused of thought crime, and the punishment is death, either by hanging or torture by a Thought Police official. The thought police are similar to the patriot act in which our government watches those suspected of terrorism in today's society.
    The Party also used electronic devices to keep tabs on the citizens of Oceania. Just like a normal television, the "telescreens", were like cameras, watching every move made by any one at any time. It was uncertain whether party officials could watch everyone, at every time, but out of fright, citizens assumed they could. This is similar to our smart phones. Where the government has the access to see what were doing but no one is sure if they are always looking or not.
    So I ask is 1984 a warning?

Socratic Seminar

Last week on Friday in E.R.W I participated in a group activity called Socratic Seminar where discussed about the novel 1984 written by George Orwell. One of the main topics we discussed about was how smart the party was in 1984. The inner party was able to manipulate the kids to learn how to adore and love the party. They teach the kids to observe their parents and tell the party about and irregularities. Another main topic we talked about in Socratic Seminar is Newspeak concept in the novel 1984. The concept of Newspeak is a language that gets not larger but smaller as the time passes. So there are less words used to explain certain things. For example instead of using the word “bad” they use the word “ungood” and instead of having synonyms of a word like “great” or ‘excellent” they use “plusgood” or “doubleplusegood”.  The party uses this form of language so they can prevent the thoughts the people have since as time goes on they wont have a word to express the way they feel or thoughts they are having. In the end, I think that this was a pretty fun and interesting activity because even though I didn’t speak, it helped me see the book from other points of view and see it in other’s perspective.  

Socratic Seminar

On Friday we had the Socratic seminar in class discussing surveillance, 1984 etc. Everyone shared their own personal thoughts and unfortunately I didn't. Not that I had nothing to say but as many of you know I'm very shy and also a lot that i wanted to discuss was already being shared. So I'm sorry i let you down Ms. Fletcher. I loved being able to hear my classmates thoughts and i agreed what many of you were saying. One thing i wanted to share was my thought towards number 4. Number 4 was "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." This quote at first i found it to be very profound and it took me a while to fully understand. i had a little help towards its meaning inside the book On page 60 VII, first paragraph "Rebellion meant a look in the eyes, an inflection of the voice; at the most, an occasional whispered word. But the proles, if only they could somehow become conscious of their own strength, would have no need to conspire. They needed only to rise up and shake themselves like a horse shaking off flies. If they chose they could blow the Party to pieces tomorrow morning. Surely sooner or later it must occur to them to do it." So this paragraph is saying how rebellion to them was to have your own mind set and self control. To be capable of having power over yourself. And if only the proles realized how they are being oppressed by the parties and if once they realize that they would be able to destroy the parties in any instant. The quote "Until they become conscious they will never rebel, and until they have rebelled they cannot become conscious" to me from the paragraph above means that the proles will never rebel until they realize that they are being oppressed by the Party and the second part of the quote means once they become conscious (realize they are being oppressed by the party) and the party is overthrown, it will still be a mystery to them about how life was before the revolution because of all the changes the Party made about Past since all the historic was false information. This was my conclusion towards the quote since it was a bit difficult to understand. it made me rethink the whole situation and the true meaning towards it but what do you guys think? what are some other conclusions you may have?

New era?

In an era where instant communication and technology provide easy and ready access to information, us as individuals are caught  between two very controversial principles. Open information and privacy. The perceptions and expectations of privacy are rapidly
changing as a result of recent development in surveillance technologies. The question is: are these new surveillance technologies a way of the government watching, or protecting us? When you look up the word surveillance it is defined as a "close kept watch over someone or something." Surveillance is not a new concept, it has been being used ever since the beginning of civilization. However; with the influence of technology, it has evolved in ways that no one can ever imagine. We have smartphones that can determine our location, video game systems that can tune in to what your voice is saying and take pictures, and even radars detecting movement from 50 feet. In an article I saw on the web at least 50 law enforcement agencies have been secretly equipped with radars that allow them to see inside of your house and view how many people there are, what they are doing, and even their heart rate. The fact that we have equipment capable of detecting heart rate 50 yards away is scary, yet beneficial. What if they bust a trap house? The police can use their radars to determine how many people there are and a plan as to how to arrest all the convicts without any deaths. Also another example would be our smartphones. They have webcams that the government has access to, which they can use to determine what we are doing, who we are with and where we are, and we have no control over when they could observe us. Which brings me back to 1984. When everyone was working out and Winston stopped, the telescreen immediately told him to continue on. Eventually with the way technology is advancing year by year, we are soon to be monitored on a daily basis. What's next?

Do We Really Care If We're Being Watched ?

This past week we reviewed many articles dealing with surveillance but when we happened to be going over the article "That's No Phone, That's a Tracker," Ms. Fletcher posed the question whether we actually care if our data and information is given away for the use of the government or police agencies for whatever unknown reason. Well to be honest I don't care if we're being because its still going to happen whether we know about it or not. Also I mean its probably only to protect our country from things that everyone would panic about if it were leaked to the public. The information given out about us or what we think is being watched probably isn't getting as much attention as people make it seem because there are far too many people in our country for the government to pay extremely close attention to what EVERY single person is doing. More than anything they are checking for unusual activity, if you're just being a normal civilian, then I don't see any reason to care or get all crazy about who, what, or why the government is watching us.

can we control surveillance?

I found it funny how before we began discussing surveillance in class and sharing our thoughts towards it, about a week before I had set up a camera in my room which is my webcam on my computer. I have noticed a lot of things going missing in my room and every time I would ask my family if they have seen it nobody confesses. I got really tired of it so I decided to download an app on my phone called "icam." It is an app where you may download onto any device in which i chose my computer as a main source as a "surveillance camera" and every time it detects motion it will send a notification onto my cell phone and it will also show me what the motion detected. At first i thought it would be great just so that i find out who it is stealing from my room. I didnt think it would actually work but it does. I thought it wouldnt work if my computer screen fell asleep and that my webcam wouldnt record anything. I was wrong. Also another thing ive noticed was that whenever i turn on the recordings on my webcam no light turns on to detect that my webcam is on which i found very ironic. So basically all i have to do is press "start" in order for my webcam to record? that simple? I had a conversation with my mom and showed her how simple it was and also how it concerned me. I told her if its that simple for me to watch my own room on my phone from my webcam with just a simple "start" button and a passcode to both my phone and webcam, wouldnt it be easy for anyone to hack my webcam and watch what i was doing? I mean dont get me wrong, its not as if im doing anything illegal or if im a criminal, but i do believe everyone needs privacy. i did research on it and how it is possible for anyone to hack onto my webcam but i thought to myself why? why would anyone feel the need to spy on me? Also my icam app also is able to detect noise. I tested it out and it turns out, i can hear an entire conversation in my room from just my webcam.. what is this? if i can do it with just a simple app who else is capable of invading my privacy? i have no idea about anybody else but it makes me feel very uncomfortable. What is the purpose of invading anyone elses privacy? And is there really any way we can control it? Do we just turn off our computers or cellphones, wifi, etc? Technology is becoming very controlling and we dont even realize how easy it is to invade others privacy, or private information, etc.

Should we give up our privacy for protection?

I believe that citizens should be ready to give up personal freedom and privacy during a national crisis. If the citizens gave up their privacy it can help dealing with the national crisis and prevent it from happening again. The problem is that people don’t want to give up their privacy because they don’t want people looking at their lives. The thing is that they are not the only people who lives are being over watched. There are so many other people whose lives are being observed as well. You don’t really have anything to worry about unless you are doing something bad or illegal. The government couldn’t care less about your life because there are so many others that they have to observe. In the end if we let them observe what we do then it’ll protect us from being attacked. I would rather have them watch over the activities that I do than being afraid of being attacked or bombed.