Surveillance - S.O.P

Surveillance can be such a major issue. I have witnessed it go from being a joke, to disturbing, and obsessive. Some people may look at surveillance as a form of art, but others just feel like it is an invasion of one’s privacy. With that said, I feel like Errol Morris is an exceptionally brilliant man in displaying our fine American soldiers that we see on our television screens at home as the “Big Bad Bully’s” that so many people never imagined we could be. The film “Standard Operating Procedure”, really illustrated the sick and unmoral images that our American troops did to the men in Iraq. Sergeant Graner clearly went from being compulsively controlling to adding his obsessive surveillance syndrome. With his obsession to “watch” what was occurring at Abu Ghraib, he became more of a tyrant; In my opinion it was because he could show people the power and control he had over other’s lives. Errol Morris said that the little guys were punished while the bigger guys could walk. I agree that it is unfair; however, these people are the individuals that did the crime. It seems like a catch 22, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Below is a comic video about stalking. In this video I see us, Americans, as the teenage girl, and our government as the little boy. No matter where we go, or what we are doing, we are never alone. There are cameras on corners, at stop lights, at ATM machines. People feel like these are there to protect us, but in reality they are there to watch our every move! The government has all of the control, and some of us still fail to realize it. Surveillance is disturbing.     

Change - Engelbart & Nelson

Engelbart and Nelson are two extraordinary and intelligent men who "pushed the envelope" for the world's new media as we know it today. I agree with Engelbart's statement, "The kind of system approach to human intellectual effectiveness does not find a ready - made conceptual framework such as exists for established disciplines". The human race, in general, were not very open - minded to the computer concept and the advantages they offered, as we all seen in the episode of "The Twilight Zone" in class. Nelson's approach was much more insightful; I gained a deeper understanding from his point - of - view. Referring to computers as "Dream Machines" is a wonderful way to get across to people of all ages that computers can create things we only envisioned through our imagination. Personally, I feel like computers have fabricated the way we live today, especially in urban areas. Although so many fear change, we live in a world where innovation is relevant and the only thing that can not change is change itself.