iWrite-Leah Noble

I'm pretty sure we can almost all agree that technology has both a positive and negative impact on our daily lives. However, I think some of the things that make this newer technology great can also lead to negative effects.

For example, being able to be connected with others at the touch of a button just about anywhere, a very convenient thing, has caused some adverse effects as well. I know from personal experience that sometimes spending a lot of time on group messaging has led to conflicts within even the tightest knit group of friends. It's the same idea as spending a week at a camp with the same people, you get tired of them and everyone starts to fight. In addition to this, being connected with your friends all the time makes the occasions you do get to see them in person less special and less interesting in that you already know what's going on in their lives.

I also think that part of the reason why technology is sometimes given a negative label is not because of the idea of the technology itself, but because of the ways we, as humans, abuse it. For example, many people complain about technology being such a time waster and a distraction from work that needs to get done. The problem here, however, doesn't lie in the technology, but in the person who is letting the technology distract them. I do agree that sometimes social media, texting, etc. can be very distracting, but we all also have the ability to choose to let it be a distraction. WE make the choice to pick up our phone and see what's happening on instagram or twitter, the technology itself is not forcing us to waste time, we do that at our own will.

In general, I think that most of the new technology given to us, in and of itself, has a positive impact on society. The problems occur, however, when we decide to use (or overuse) it in a negative way.

iWrite - Scott Street

While technology can be great and all, I believe that it is having a negative impact on society. Call me crazy, but if you just observe a casual restaurant, you will see at least 95% of the people on their phone - even while eating! I think that if technology gets in the way of food, something is wrong. Yes, sometimes technology is very handy and mobile, I think it seems to get in the way of daily life. I know from firsthand experience that Twitter, Instagram, Clash of Clans, etc. are huge time traps and are very good at making me lose track of what I am doing. Admittedly, these things have even gotten in the way of homework, which is something that I find ridiculous and highly counterproductive. Believe me, I am not anti-technology - I am just against what technology does to us and how it affects us. It "zombifies" us by making us completely unaware of anything outside of our little phone screen. Go outside. Take a walk. Enjoy nature.
The world does not (and should not) revolve around the internet.

Oh, hey. Didn't see you there. My name is Scott Street and I am 16 years old (You could also call me by $cotty Highroller if you so please). I am a wannabe professional swimmer and I hope to attend a college where I can continue competing. I also play the drums quite avidly and need to find a bassist to start a band. My goals for this year are to maintain a high GPA (all A's and B's), to pass all my AP exams, and most importantly, have too much fun.

Over the summer, not that much happened quite honestly. I would say the highlight of my summer would be my Kentucky Zone Swimming trip, which was to San Antonio, Texas. I liked it because I swam fast and made a lot of new dope friends. Really all I did over the summer was swim an absurdly large amount of time and hang out with my friends.Nights out with my swim bros were always the best. Oh yeah and I also wasted a lot of time.

What really and truly "geeks me out" are definitely sports. Being an athlete has really not only drawn my interest to swimming but also to other sports. I hope to go into a sports field as my occupation, whether I'm the next Jim Nantz or just a guy that works for a sports corporation or something. That would  be cool. I'm a fan of any Pittsburgh sports team and, of course, UK. Another thing that really "geeks me out" is definitely music. Many people would say that my taste in music is very diverse, as I like things from Hip Hop/Rap to good ol' classic rock (the 60's was the best).

If I could choose one superpower it would definitely be the ability to jump higher than everyone else. Who wouldn't want that superpower? And if If I had that superpower, I'd definitely be D1 Bound!

This is my favorite picture with one of my best friends and Ryan Lochte, who is an Olympic champion with a multitude of gold medals on his resumee.

Here is a link to my Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/scottystreetjr
Here is a link to my favorite rapper's fan page: http://riffraff-jodyhighroller.com
Trying to drop a mixtape by Spring with a few other up-and-coming rappers :)

iWrite- Emily Chavez

I think having so much technology during our generation has had a tremendous amount of both positive and negative effects. On one side, it has created an easy way for us to communicated with people we may not always get to keep in contact with. It is fast, convenient, but on the other side, kind of addicting. There is never a moment when I don't see someone tweeting, texting, instagramming, gaming, etc. I fell like we miss out on a lot of important face-to-face interactions because it's so much easier to just send them a quick text. It's also almost become expected of us to be glued to our phones and be able to reply to anyone at anytime, anywhere. I mean, even my mom will text me during the school day and get frustrated when I don't reply. It's awesome to be able to do that, but we are falling into a tendecy to use our personal devices as safety nets. They did do it before we had iPhones, laptops and Kindles, and it's okay to pull away from them in order to cure the epidemic that is electronic addiction.
I defintely wouldn't want to live without all the technology we have, because it has given me the ability to connect and network with people I may not have otherwise. However, I do think if we become any more reliant on all our devices, our relationships with our friends and family may slowly start to weaken. We will never be able to stop innovation in the realm of technology, but we can control our use of it, and make it a minimal part of our everyday interactions.

iwrite- McKenna Elliott

Technology has been both positive and negative in the shaping of our society today, though I would argue that it has had too many negative effects on our generation.

 Technology is around us everywhere we go, usually to convenience our fast-paced lives, but there are countless times in which technology has inconvenienced me heavily. A frequent scenario: I have heavily procrastinated and it's the night before a big assignment is due, and it must be done on the computer. I go to my computer and notice that it is not working properly or the way it should. I think it's no big deal, so I go to my mom or dad's computer and do my assignment, only to find that maybe the internet at my house is down so I am not able to email it to myself or my teacher, or that the printer is out of ink, or that I lost the last flash drive available in the house. So I must go to the school library in the morning to do it and rush it and get a bad grade or take the late grade the next day. 

Nobody nowadays knows how to communicate or interact with each other because of technology. You could go to dinner with your family and say only 4 words the entire meal, probably when ordering your food, because you're all so busy checking twitter, instagram, snapchat, or your texts. It's sad that that is the type of society we live in today. Sometimes when I go out to eat with my friends, we put our phones face down on the table, and if anyone turns it over to look at it or anything, then they have to pay for everyone's meal. It's a great way to not let our technology control us. I really wish I grew up in a different decade.

Assignment1: Howdy

Hi, I'm Kaitlyn Nunnelley. I play tennis for Henry Clay and Lexington Country Club. I also swim for Lexington Country Club. My personal goals are to have fun, get along with mostly everyone, and forget irrelevant people. My academic goals are to get mostly all A's and stay on top of my work load. The most meaningful moment of my summer vacation was spending a week at Vero Beach with my family and not killing each other. If I could have any super power it would be to be able to control and read minds. Books geek me out. If I can get into a good book, reading is all I'll do for days until I'm done with the book.

www.instagram.com 

Assignment 2: iwrite

In 1976, Steve Jobs became a co-founder of Apple. 35 years later he retired, putting his enormous company into different hands, and shortly thereafter succumbed to cancer. His retirement and death did not just mean a promotion for Tim Cook, the new CEO, but a major shift in a company that has been a key player in technology innovation in the 21st century.  Love 'em or hate 'em, Steve Jobs changed our lives.

So, this brings us to your writing for the week:

How has technology affected your life?

Choose one of the following prompts and in 150 words or more, provide your answer.

• Has technology affected you in a majorly positive way? What happened?
• Has technology ever inconvenienced you or hurt you? Maybe technology got in your way, slowed you down or even literally hurt you? Have you seen technology have a negative impact on society?
• How would your life have been different if you'd grown up 20 years earlier? How would you interact with others? Do you think your relationships then would differ from your present relationships? Which time period would you prefer and why?
• Become a futurist and theorize on how might technology evolve over the next decade and what changes might those changes bring.  

The deadline for this blog is Sunday, September 7th at 11:59 p.m.