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I have a subscription to Harper's Magazine, and I try to read it as regularly as possible (although that's tough when we're all in similar boats with a million things going on). In this year's February edition, I came across a pretty good article titled "Sick in the head: Why America won't get the health-care system it needs" by Luke Mitchell.

I agree with Erin that the Faber College discussion has been interesting, to say the least. In a lot of ways, it reminds of how some things get "accomplished" at work. With so many individuals attempting to offer opinions on things, it's extremely difficult to put a reasonable plan in motion. I understand this is an open forum, and the talking heads for each group will come up with a more organized game plan. Students, faculty, and administrators are all making insightful comments.

April 6 - I'm not sure what a typical technology log should look like, but for the most part, mine is pretty dull. If you take out the amount of time I spent on the computer, the only other electronic devices included the following: cell phone, toaster oven, TV, dishwasher, and microwave oven. I also used my car and a conventional oven, which seem as if they could be included on the technology list as well. There are a handful of items that I would consider technologies, but they don't completely fit the description listed (shower, faucets, toilet, i.e.

The distinction between reality and not reality has intrigued society for thousands of years. When I say society, though, I suppose I'm discussing only those individuals who actually want to discern the difference between the two, since it is readily apparent that a great deal of people rather enjoy the blur between the two worlds. In the past, "unreality" could be considered anything from a dream sequence to joining a secret cult to playing/cheering for your favorite sports team. However, with technology at the helm, we have another life available: one that is virtual.

A few glaring items came to mind as I finished reading Roszak's "The Cult of Information:"

What constitutes an American tradition? It probably depends on who you ask. When I think of traditions of this country, I think of baseball, apple pie, and freedom (not necessarily in that order ... ). Holiday traditions in the U.S. are a little easier to define, only because they are recognized by a large number of people who live here. Religious traditions can be seen in the same vain, although few religions were actually created in this country.

We are to the midpoint in Theodore Roszak's "The Cult of Information," and up until now, I have experienced mixed emotions based on what I have read. On one page, I found myself thinking, "Yes!

Question: Considering the work of Ellul complete the following:

Write about/describe an example of a technique in today's society. Tell its story and the need for the creation/adoption of this technique and the new techniques that resulted from it? Could we have controlled for this technique? Is there or was there an alternative?

While I admit to being a little hesitant at reading such a grandiose PDF as presented from The technological society by Jacques Ellul, I found a bounty of words and phrases (some that I agreed with, some that I didn't) of which I made note. I'll try to make comments about as many as possible, although an entire Internet might not be enough room to give my thoughts about this text.

If I were tasked with the chore of educating an alien race about earth's culture, it's pretty obvious how I would start. I would create an online slide show of the 2009 Super Bowl commercials. After all, what better way is there to show a foreign species how humankind has evolved into tech-hungry, commercialized beings?