Response #3: Someplace to Respond

This is a response on the introduction of Someplace Like America: Tales From the New Great Depression by Dale Maharidge with photographs by Michael S. Williamson, which also includes a forward by Bruce Springsteen. You can find out more about the book here.

I was interested in this piece from the start just because I have recently (in the past two years) been “won over” by Bruce Springsteen. I grew up with my dad playing his songs, and although I don’t quite dig them myself, I can respect his talent and career easily. He is a good voice for America. Two years ago, or it might have been three, I saw a little bit of his performance at Bonnaroo, a music festival in Tennessee.  He knew how to talk to the crowd and I was impressed with his stage presence, he’s a very likable guy. 

The introduction was gripping from the start, talking about the death of a homeless person in Santa Barbara and how warnings were posted around the area threatening other homeless people. That sounds awful. I can’t imagine wanting to hurt people that are already enduring such hard lives, just let them be. It turns out this was a local resident who posted these fliers and was unrelated to the actual murder. It’s sad what people will do in certain situations for their own (opinionated) beliefs.  

Response #1: An Amateur Ponders Hackers

If I myself had to come up with a definition of what a hacker is I would say a person, or maybe even a computer program, whose goal is to corrupt someone’s computer. This could be anything from viruses to a person who wants to get inside a company’s computer system in order to gain information or just to cause some chaos and destruction. I think this is a good assumption, I’m not exactly a computer expert, far from it, but I would say I am computer savvy. 

It is my experiences with computers that lead me to believe this, however if I believed in the media and what they consider hackers I would really be lead to believe hacking was “exciting”, if not completely wrong. There have been countless movies that portray hackers as sophisticated people, who could enter into computers to steal money amongst other things. Often movies portray hacking as a videogame, like it’s that easy. I think it’s obvious that movies have screwed up the image of hackers by far, for example why is the same character that played Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in X-men believable as a hacker in the horrible movie Swordfish? The only “hacking” that I myself have been a part of has been possibly changing a status update or two on a friend’s Facebook when they left their computer up, I guess that didn’t really involve me finding out someone’s password or anything.

Response #2: Reality TV Doesn't Reflect Me (But I Still Watch it)

Here's the link to the original article this is a response too.

I selected this article because I am both a cynic and a hypocrite when it comes to "reality" television. I love The Jersey Shore, not because I believe the people on it are real, but simply because it comes off to me as pure comedic entertainment. It's funny to see people so stuck in their own little worlds, and now I watch it just for the big egos these people have. The cast has so much money now, obviously, yet still let MTV shut them into a house with no sort of media (computer, cell phones, TV, etc.) and are forced to sleep on twin beds, some three to a room. I know they don't realize it but because they are forced to spend so much time with each other it's obvious that fights or drama will ensue. I am also a cynic since most reality shows come off to me as complete garbage. I have a friend who is really into Keeping Up with the Kardashians and they just appear to me as such attention seeking morons that I have to leave the room, it gives me that big of a headache.

My Political Compass Test

Economic Left/Right: -5.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -2.67