Mac vs. PC

    Once again PC and Mac meet head to head in a commercial, only this time PC has had a little trouble. He roles in on a wheel chair with bandages all over. Apparently, his “user” trip over the power cord and knocked him off the table. Mac, knowing this would never happen to him due to his high tech magnetic power outlet, casually takes advantage of the situation to show off his Mac guns.
    What is this saying about PCs? What is it saying about Macs? Its obviously showing the fact that Macs are better than PCs, so much better in fact, that even the little details such as, somebody accidentally tripping over their power cord, was thought up in the process of developing the Mac laptop! This commercial does a fantastic job at selling its product.
    First off, it has a background of hilarious commercials. Instantly when you see these two characters appear on the screen it takes you back to the feelings you had when you saw the others. Then you get excited to see what other hilarious commercials they will come up with. Secondly, it compares a Mac to a relaxed, easy-going, “cool” guy. The PC, on the other hand, is a nerdy, comb over, suit and tie guy who is not very bright. Everyone watching this instantly wants to be the relaxed, cool Mac. Third and lastly, Mac presents its case with humor. The PC comes in on a wheel with bandages wrapped around two of his arms and one of his legs. He looks like he got in a wreck, but alas, he just fell off his desk. Also at the end of the commercial PC starts seeing “his life flash before his eyes.” Mac instantly points out that what he is seeing is just his screen saver and PC shamefully admits to it.
    I believe Macs do a fantastic job with their commercials making it relevant to people (wanting to be cool), bringing out past feelings from past commercials, and making its viewers laugh. I personally am a Mac lover, and own one. When ever I see one of these commercials I am proud to be an owner of a Mac!

"Don't Friend Me!"

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000105 EndHTML:0000004697 StartFragment:0000002292 EndFragment:0000004661

           “Don’t friend me!” (285) Jacquielynn Floyd, a news writer, has taken a stand on Facebook and a problem that has developed with its creation. There have been many complaints about privacy issues with Facebook, and users are worried that certain things they don’t want the whole world to see will get out a lot further than they want. However, according to Floyd, “there’s not a thing wrong with Facebook.” (285) So then, where does the problem lie? The problem, she claims, is that we have lost, “the ability to distinguish between our public and our private selves.” (285)

            I enjoyed reading this, being a believer in her idea, because of her intensity and ability to be straightforward. Through her writing she shows a passion and fire for what she believes. She sarcastically uses the terms like, twittered, blasted, poked, or super-poked; to get her opinion across of how ridiculous the argument is that she has entered. She, as you can tell from her tone, is sick of hearing people complain about privacy issue when they could easily be stopped by just not posting what you don’t want the world to see. One of her direct, intense statements is this; “Face this:  You are your own front line of defense in maintaining your privacy.” (285) She is telling everyone who has a problem with Facebook’s privacy that the problem isn’t Facebook it’s you! The “Face this” part of it is what makes it so bold, and even offensive, to some readers.

            However, with all her intense wording and straightforward statements, she will turn off many of her readers. One risk in writing boldly is you will lose some credibility (ethos) with some of your audience who get offended by your statements. But along with that, you will also gain credibility with other groups of people, and most important of all, there will be a few that react to your bold statements with an open ear and turn to your ideas.

What to do with 952 Billion Dollars

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000214 EndHTML:0000004284 StartFragment:0000002401 EndFragment:0000004248 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/rallen119/Documents/Schooling/ICC/Eng%20111/2nd%20Blog%20Free%20Choice.doc

How much money do people need to live? There are some people out there making over 10 million dollars a year. Actually, according to the IRS tax year records of 2009, it was reported that 8,274 people who filed taxes that year made more than 10 million dollars (IRS Website). How much of that money is actually needed for these people to live comfortably? After asking this question, I needed to know how much it costs to live in America. I found that Manhattan was consider to be the most expensive American city to live in and in order to live comfortably, the source said you should make about $130,000 a year.

So what happens with all that extra money and more importantly, do they need it? I did some of my own calculations to see how much money could be stored up if all those who made over $500,000 put all but this amount into one big pot at the end of the year. I used the IRS tax records for 2009 that I got off lazymanandmoney.com and found that if everyone were limited to $500,000 salary for one year the country as a total would end up with an estimation of about 952 billion dollars at the end of the year. That is an insane amount of money! If we were to put all this money every year towards our national debt, our debt would be reduced to zero within 16 years.

For this reason, I believe there should be a maximum income law passed that would prevent citizens from keeping more than $500,000 of the money they gained each year. If this were to happen the money could potentially end our nation’s debt (within 16 years), world hunger, or poverty. Just imagine what the country could do with 952 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR!

Why the Music Industry Hates Guitar Hero

Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000218 EndHTML:0000004808 StartFragment:0000002407 EndFragment:0000004772 SourceURL:file://localhost/Users/rallen119/Documents/Schooling/ICC/Eng%20111/First%20Blog%20Text%20Response.doc

            The argument discussed in this essay has to do with faults on two sides of an issue. The issue stated is that Guitar Hero, along with other musical gaming systems, has cut into the profits of the music industry. The Game-makers are said to be taking advantage of artists by not paying them enough for the use of their music, while the musician’s album sales have dropped 19 percent (268). On the other hand, the music businesses are not taking advantage of the potential profit that would result if they and the game-makers worked together. They are “whining,” as how puts it, “over licensing fees (268).” This word “whining,” gives us some insight to how immature Howe thinks this issue is.

Howe believes they should both focus on a way of working together, which he puts as, “creative participation (268).” He proves how well this could work by using the band Aerosmith as an example of its potential. They recorded earning more money for their Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game than any of their single albums (268). This being proven should be enough to convince the whole music industry to jump in and get in on the profits. Aerosmith’s earnings were not a result of desputing, but a result of “creative participation.” Howe urges the music industry to update itself to a new way of selling its music. He believes the way of albums, like tapes and other older forms of music, will eventually fade away.

What I get from this is that there is a musical industrial revolution happening. It is changing the same way our country changed from an agricultural way of providing to a factory way of providing. I agree with Howe’s solution to this argument and believe if the music industry embraces this new way of selling music, it will benefit greatly in the long run. He brings straight facts that prove his point, and make it very simple.