Cell Phone PSA

The New "Green" MacBook

Apple has outdone itself yet again with a sleeker, faster, and greener

MacBook notebook...or so they say.

Thesis: The new Apple MacBook is one of the greenest laptop computers in the world. But what does "green" even mean these days?

Tool Set #1: Triune Brain

1. Limbic-Calm, soothing background music that is timed perfectly as the claims are made

2. Limbic-Light green animated symbols that grab the audience's attention and convey simple messages

3. Neocortex-The words, "The greenest family of notebooks" conveniently placed at the end making sure that it is embedded as the take-home message

Photo: www.rightreview.co.uk/view/green+brain+environmental+and+training2

Tool Set #3: Shifts/Trends

1. Epistemological shift-use of animated images and symbols to convey messages as opposed to words

2. Economic shift-produced and broadcasted by Apple, Inc., the largest technology company i the world with a considerable amount of control over the industry-->corporate consolidation

3. Cultural shift-Having this ad on the Internet, Apple is able to see how many times it is watched and by whom, from which they can target specific people and areas of the Net

5 "Facts"/Claims

1. It's advanced aluminum and glass enclosure is completely recyclable

2. Extremely energy efficient

3. It runs on a quarter of the power of a single light bulb

4. Made without many harmful toxins used in other computers

5. The new MacBook is a member of the world's greenest family of notebooks

Photo: http://inhabitat.com/tag/apple-green-macbook

Tool Set #4:Principles of Media Education

1. "Reality" Construction/Trade offs-the new MacBook is good for the environment because it is completely recyclable, energy efficient, and made without many of the toxins used in other computers. But what other stories are not being told?

They are made without many of the toxins used in other computers but there could still be other harmful toxins used. The way they word their claim makes them able to get away with it as being true.

2. Value Messages- Targeting environmentally conscious individuals? Or a mere attempt at fitting in with the contemporary "green" movement/Greenwashing?

3. Production Techniques-Animated green symbols: recycle symbol, light bulb, the earth, sun, and clouds evoke a positive response

Tool Set #5: Persuasive Techniques

1. Hyperbole-"the world's greenest notebook"

2. Straw man-"made without many of the harmful toxins found in other computers"

3. Scientific evidence-"It runs on a quarter of the power of a single light bulb"

4. Symbol-Recycle symbol

5. Simple Solutions- If you buy this laptop over another brand's laptop you are acting consciously toward the environment

Photo:http://www.skirmantas.com/most-amazing-apple-wallpapers.html

Growing Up With A Geek

With his ability to solve any mathematical equation you put in front of him, or single handedly invent a pressure control chamber for NASA, I can say my father is the most intelligent person I have ever met. He is a computer engineer and a workaholic, so he brought a lot of his work home, 95 percent of which he did on a computer, believe it or not! Throughout my childhood, there were always at least five computers in my house at all times. I grew up LOVING computer games, Richard Scarry’s Busytown being my all time favorite. There was a lion doctor character that would always say, “Put a Baaand-Aid on it!” in a hilarious voice. To this day, my dad still says that to me when I get a cut or scrape, and we crack up every time.

Because of my obsession with the computer, I was only allowed to go on for 30 minutes a day after all of my homework was done. I think I spent more time sneaking around to get on the computer without my nanny noticing than I did actually on the computer. I do think that this parental strategy helped me in school so that I had my work done, but it made me even more attracted to the computer. It was a privilege granted to me after I had proved I deserved it. I had to work for it, which made it more fun to try and bend the rules. Clearly, I was a rebel. I lived my life on the edge.

It was a game changer when I got old enough to get an e-mail account and AOL screen name: Thinkpink7777? Really? I started spending way too much time Instant Messaging with friends, playing Neopets, and utterly avoiding the chance to ever pick up a book. (I couldn’t even begin to calculate how much time I spent playing games to win my Neopet cool accessories). On a serious note, I had and still have ADHD, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. My mother is a psychologist, and knew right away. I got into a lot of trouble growing up, acting impulsively, being rude to teachers, and not caring about my homework, which she attributed to the disorder, being that I was actually a good kid at heart. The considerable amount of time I spent on the computer has definitely had a profound effect on my personality.

Like Nicholas Carr explains in The Shallows: What The Internet Is Doing To Our Brains, I have somewhat of a staccato way of thinking, characterized by a short attention span and inability to absorb text that I read, either in print or on a screen. To back up my point, my sister Blair, always had her head in a book growing up, and not only does she not have ADHD, she is in love with reading and drawing, abilities that I am not as good at because my neocortex didn’t develop the way hers did. How sad.

As I grew up, the Internet grew with me, becoming more expansive, invasive, intelligent, and addicting. My whole educational experience here at UVM is supported my media based tools—myUVM, Blackboard, Wiki documents, and now even Blogger and Facebook. I can check my e-mails and respond to anyone the second I get in on my BlackBerry, I can keep up on the latest sales sent to me by GiltGroupe, Rue La La, and other shopping websites I am subscribed to, (which might I add totally freak me out now after reading FEED) and can show my friends a funny YouTube video at any time of day. Even though I can say I was, and still am, crazy about the Internet, it doesn't compare to how crazy this chick was after coming out of wisdom teeth surgery. Courtesy of the one and only YouTube...

Once Upon a Time...

There was a fiesty young girl named Sasha Rayfield Borax. Ever since I can remember, I transform on a night of a full moon. As a ten year old, I would wake up in the middle of my slumber, at around 10 pm, and literally sprint up and down the hallway into my parents room and scream like a maniac flailing my arms around screaming, "I can't sleep! I wanna play with Rocky! I can't sleep! I want ice cream!" and other things of that nature. I was and still am... a crazy kid. To this day, every night on a full moon, I feel this strange energy come over me. I am easily excitable, loud, impulsive, and even obnoxious. I'd like to believe I was a wolf in a past life. Maybe because of my current obsession with the HBO hit series True Blood. Previously mentioned and pictured to the left, Rocky, better known as "Doob," is my miniature Labradoodle puppy dog. I am dog-gon crazy about (pun most certainly intended). He is my first and only dog, and even though I hate to say it, I'm excited to move back home to Randolph, New Jersey to be his friend again. He doesn't seem to like me as much as he used to, probably because I have neglected him for the past three years having been trapped by the ball and chain that is my academic life up here in Burlington, Vermont.

(photo taken by me, Jan. 2010)

Moving right along... I love photography. Food photography, nature photography, portrait photography, everything. I am in the process of making an online portfolio. Unfortunately I can't link you to it just yet, but here is one of the photos I did in a photo shoot for a local pasta sauce company, Dell'Amore. (Photo taken by me, Mar. 2010)

I also love comedy. Comedy movies, stand up comedians, SNL, so on and so forth. Here's a link to one of my favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan, on the rationale behind holiday traditions...