Cuddling up with a Good Book

I was thinking about reading and why it was so hard for me to get through the Public Domain and easier to read Rainbows End. Granted, these two books have very different plotlines. But I think one reason is the way that they are read. I have a PDF file of the Public Domain saved to my computer because I don't have a iphone or kendle. But I can carry around Vernor Vinge's book where ever I go. If I head out to work or go to a resturant I can bring my bound book with me. It is harder with a computer. I don't like sitting at my computer staring at its screen to read a book. It is a different way to read and one that is not as fulfilling as reading an actual physical book. I just like cuddling up with a good book; it is just more comfortable that way.

It's a Book!

My friend just had a baby and her mother gave her this book. It made me smile. It is about a donkey who sees a monkey reading a book. He is curious as to what the book does and asks the monkey questions like, can you text with it? Check out the video that was made about it. It is worth your time.

It's a Book by Lane Smith.

http://youtu.be/x4BK_2VULCU

Epiphany

As I was reading Rainbows End I had an epiphany. I was thinking about Robert Gu an the transformation that he was going through when I realized that the software that Robert and others wore was called "Epiphany". I thought it was an odd name.

I related it back to literature and the journey that characters often go through. At some point in any story characters have epiphanies: an awakening, an understanding, or a rebirth. In our lives the light blubs in our minds go off as we realize something and as we change. The Epiphany technology allow those in Rainbows End to have access to all sorts of knowledge. Robert Gu's epiphany was when he realized the change that he had gone through. He was no longer the same man he was before.

Those were some of the epiphanies that I noticed. What were some that you noticed?

Castle, there is an app for that!

So I was watching one of my favorite shows, Castle, when they talked about apps for phones. I got a kick out of it since we have been talking so much about technology and how it is shaping the world around us. Although, I am not certain what kind of apps are out there for cops it was still a pretty neat idea. Here are two links. I tried to figure out how to post the videos but it didn't work. The second video the clip is about 3 minutes and 20 seconds in . Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqabf_7Vp2E&feature=share_email

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-D3z93-lZNY&feature=related

Paint on the Brain

Sorry that I keep talking about art but when you are in an art history class, it is what's on the brain. During class today I couldn't help but think about the symbols that are always prevelant in artwork. Paintings or sculptures are symbols of something; they represent something from the present world. Symbols are all around us. We cannot escape symbols and they will never dissappear from society. You can't grind them up or erase them. Symbols change just as the world changes and we add symbols too. When we look at certain objects our brains often trigger a memory that we have filed away that correlates with what we have just encountered.

The Eye of the Beholder

There is that old saying that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Which is true in most cases. Some look at abstract art, for example, and see beauty in the brush strokes. Others may turn from the painting confused or claim "My three year old could paint that!" Just as others enjoy nature more than others or a certain type of movie. We each have our own opinions and interests.

Currently I am taking an art history class, and we have been discussing artists who imitate and use ideas from other artists who have gone before them. The artists do not produce a complete copy of the old artwork but use the ideas and concepts and then improve upon them. The artists try to implement the ideas into better masterpieces.

I am rambling here, my point is that beauty is different. It can be simple or it can be complex. Someone may think one painting is perfect while another individual may think they could make it better. Beauty is different to everyone.

In this world that we live, we are constantly trying to find things to entertain and please our eye. We all search for beauty. In TV there are special effects, movies are now three-dimensional, and pictures can be manipulated. Some may prefer looking at the Grand Canyon on pictures but some may think that the beauty of the Grand Canyon can only be truly experienced by going there.

I was just thinking about all of this when remembering a line from Rainbow's End when Alfred reflects on the cathedral in Barcelona, he states, "The cathedral was best seen without virtual elaboration; after all, the reality of Gaudi architecture was gaudy beyond the imagination of modern revisionists." For Alfred he enjoyed the architecture without the enhancement that this new society provided. He did not think that the cathedral's design could be improved upon. However, not everyone may share his opinion. Some may still prefer the 'eye show' of the Rainbows End society and like the improvements that the 'modern revisionists' made.

Beauty is very subjective.

Life Sucker

While reading Vernor Vinge's Rainbows end, I can't help but share Robert Gu's perspective on technology. During our class discussion we read Robert's thoughts about Juan's presentation to the class: "It was impressive as any advertising video that Robert had seen in the twentieth century. At the same time it was essentially incoherent, a garbage dump of special effects. So much technology, so little talent."


When I came home from serving a mission for my church mission (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), technology was evil to me. I had this viewpoint that if I even touched an iPhone or got on Facebook, for any other reason than keeping in touch with friends, I was a sinning. Technology was of the Devil. It repulsed me. All of my siblings were showing me their cool gadgets and were constantly receiving and sending text messages. Something almost died inside of me when my mother pulled our her itouch and showed me how she could read books without the actual book. It was a punch in the face! (For those less familiar with LDS missions, we are essentially cut off from most of the world and from technology in the sense of texts, social networks, and gaming.)


All the technology was so foreign and new to me that I wasn't sure what to do with it all, and so all I wanted to do was run from it. I was determined to never get on Facebook or fall into the technology trap. However, here I am having a blog. I get on Facebook frequently (too frequently). I send text messages and receive them gladly. The more I became familiar with technology it was no longer this foreign thing but a friend. A friend that I am beginning to rely on. I need the internet, just as I need my phone (or at least I think I need these things).


So like Robert I feel that something is being lost in all the impressive displays of technology. Where is the talent? The art? But slowly as I am acquainted with these things I am beginning to see the advantages, the art, the talent. I know nothing about making my blog site aesthetically pleasing but I am learning. Robert may not appreciate or like the society that he is living in but slowly he will become acclimated, we all do. The only way to not adjust is by separating yourself completely from society; that is hard to do. There are things that are lost with the advancement of technology, as well as things that are gained.