Designed to Live

Technology thrives in the life of everyone now days. People have become to be dependent on it. Technology is something that has infinite possibilities and will continue to grow and expand every day and year. But when is technology too much. Neil Postman refers to technopolies in his book Technopoly: The Surrender of Culture to Technology. Technopolies is the act of technology taking over the culture or person. Cell phones have done that to the American population and also to many other countries. Cell phones in the U.S. have become a necessity and its a part of our culture.

People use cell phones to do everything now from business to having fun and cell phones are becoming more and more advanced. People are able to play games when bored and can also take pictures or video record when they see something of interest and don't have a camera or tape recorder. The cell phone has shape everybody in some way or form most people can't even leave the house without there cell phone.

The internet is another form of technopoly that is taking over the world. It has become a thing that is needed in everyhouse. It used to be only dial up but now is wireless and so convenient to use. The possiblities are endless when using the internet. People are able to communicate over long distances now.

I could talk to someone in Russia and have it all instantly happen. I don't have to wait a month for a letter to be sent to me. It is so advanced but has taken over the world and everyone uses it. The internet can help you find all you need for a research project or it can help you find the music that you love to listen too.

The internet and cell phones are only two of many technopolies that have shaped the culture of the U.S. and many other countries. People all over the world are becoming more and more dependent on technology but technology continues to get more and more advanced. Gadgets get smaller and more efficient and continue to grow in popularity.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 10:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cape Hatteras Light

A lighthouse has helped guide the ships and vessels of the ocean from the beginning of time. The first lighthouses were not even lighthouses really but torches in the air to mark where land is. Lighthouses have come to be obsolete to an extent. Some lighthouses still run today but most are tourists’ sites and ships use GPS to locate where there is land. For the longest time though people had no idea on how to make it safer for the keeper of a lighthouse to stay safe and fire was not a good source of light in a rain storm. The invention came to be a lighthouse that would house a keeper and use electricity instead of fire to signal ships of land. Math played a vital role though when it came to the construction of these lights. Math had to be used to take and figure out how far a light would be visible from land. The problem was that some lighthouses had to be placed very high to achieve an adequate distance. One of the ways that architects solved this problem was by placing the light at the top of a hill. This proved very effective the lights were very high and could be seen for long distances. The problem came though when a light had to be built in a place where hills were scarce.

Finnish lighthouses showing different heights

Math was used to figure out the height of a tower for the given distance out that it would have to be visible. Without using math to figure out this crucial height some ships would have lost there ships on shoals or rocks. An architect though had to come in and make it strong. Most places where lighthouses were needed to be built had very harsh weather during storms.

Blueprint of Admiralty Head Lighthouse

Architects used strong materials and also a cylindrical shape to produce a very sturdy foundation and tower. Math and architecture had to go hand and hand to produce a lighthouse that would be tall and withstand the elements of the weather.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 8:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Oppositions face every person in this world. I am faced with oppositions during my everyday commute to and from class. I leave the room and turn the lights off and walk up the steps. Right there I faced two oppositions. I step outside and face yet another one with the weather. The wind hits me and pushes me around while the temp is controlling what I am wearing. I walk and walk facing oppositions all around and I dictate how I handle them most of the time.

The electricity in my room is an opposition of materials and tools. It is an opposition that we deal with in everyday life in a good way. What would I do with out electricity? With out this opposition we would not be able to sit in a room and see around or listen to music, watch TV or even get on our computer to chat with friends or check our email. This is an opposition that as humans we have taken and harnessed and used very effectively. That is the resolution for this opposition. We take and harness the power it has and then we let it sculpt us. It’s there and it helps sculpt how are day will run such as when it starts when the alarm clock goes off signaling that I have to wake up. It also allows me to stay up and work on an important piece of homework that I have to do or better yet let me study for an important exam that I have the next day. This opposition is so important to us and it helps run our everyday life. Electricity could be an opposition that helps us deal with other things in life too not just simple things like a light switch. It may be the future and make America not as dependent on oil as it is right now.

Some of the oppositions we have to face with a probabilistic response for our commute. The opposition of climate can require a probabilistic response. When I leave for class I guess at whether I will be warm with the clothes I have on. Most people will question me though and ask, “Do you check the weather?� Well of course I check the weather but what if the weather changes. Weathermen are fairly accurate sometimes but they are not always that great at predicting the weather.

There is also the opposition of enclosure that I deal with. This one is probably one of the most important oppositions and it is always affecting me. Most people face this one with a crossing opposition response. When you put four walls up a person will put another wall or ceiling across the top to make everything work together and make it all stronger. A poorly made house with bad studs and design could look like this.

A wall also contains studs that reinforce the wall and make it stronger. A person may also take this a response with there windows and doors in their room. What would happen if someone didn’t put a brace across the top of a window or door? A person will put a brace across the top of a window or door to prevent the wall from falling in right there. A door is only effective if the house stays up and does not fall down.

Those are a few oppositions that I face and most people face. A commute from my dorm to a class can make me face much opposition. Oppositions are everywhere and humans will always be faced with them no matter what the circumstances and a person must see them and choose a resolution to solve them.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

There are so many attributes to a duck. A duck has physical characteristics that we see. We can see that a duck has feathers, a beak, wings, color (camouflage), eyes and that they float when placed in water. Through dissection we could see that a duck has organs, muscles, and bones. They also have attributes we can feel such as its soft feathers. We also can feel that it has a hard beak and scaly feet that are webbed. Through sound we know that a duck quacks or makes some form of a squawk to show its presence. These are some attributes that we know when we consider a duck a thing.

A duck also has the attribute of framework. The framework of a duck is complex somewhat. The duck has a bone structure to keep it from falling down. It makes the duck stay up and hold its frame. Another framework of a duck is its organs. A duck has organs to break down food and keep the heart beating and the duck alive. The duck also uses muscles to allow it to move and fly. Without muscles the duck would be stationary. A duck also has one last framework that most people don’t think of and that it can float. Through the intricate way its feathers are on its body and a substance on there feathers they float. Their webbed feet help them swim through the water too.

A duck has a set of clockworks that keep it alive and functioning. One of them is the fact that it reproduces. When a duck reproduces it ensures that the species will continue to live and survive. Clockwork that keeps the duck alive though is its organs working. The duck has a heartbeat that keeps beating and lungs that keep breathing. A duck also has a digestive system that keeps the food breaking down so it can use it for energy. The duck also obtains food in through clockwork by eating at certain times of day and obtaining a set amount of food each day.

Through these three things we can raise some phenomena about a duck. One phenomenon is why a duck flies? We can see and observe a duck flying but it is something that we wonder how it works and why it happens. Another phenomena is the heart beat and thought process of a duck. Does a duck have emotions? We know it has pain and that the brain keeps a duck’s heartbeat going and lungs breathing. Floating is a phenomena about a duck also. A duck floats but it never makes sense why a duck floats. Other birds don not float when in water so why do ducks float? A duck is a bird that contains all the attributes to be a thing and also has clockwork and frameworks and through these three things we know it is a phenomena.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A sight that we are all familiar with whether we saw it in a picture or in real life is the crashing of waves on a beach. Waves are phenomena that anyone who has seen it probably enjoyed. Through lecture we learned that phenomena have things, frameworks and clockworks all built into them.
Waves are considered things because they relate to your senses and also have characteristics of things. A person sees a wave crash on the beach but they also hear the wave crash and usually there is that salty smell of salt water accompanied by it. Waves also take up space and form the shape of a curl. Waves also come in many shapes depending on the weather. When a storm comes in the waves can get to giant proportions and on a calm day they stay fairly small and are not damaging to the shoreline.
Framework is another characteristic of a wave. Framework is considered a fixed number of things in invariant relationship. The waves them selves are the framework. The waves will constantly crash on the beach of an ocean. The waves will change size and height but they will continually keep hitting the beach at a steady constant speed.
Another characteristic of waves that make it phenomena is through clockworks. Clockworks are frameworks that have fixed numbers of things that change periodically and return to the original relationships. I see clockworks through the tides. The tide controls where a wave might hit at a certain time. A wave will always return to that spot eventually. The tides keep changing through out the day constantly changing where the waves crash on a beach.
Through these three concepts of things, frameworks, and clockworks I think that waves are phenomena. Waves contain all three and can be sensed through the senses. I think waves are an excellent phenomena.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Sleep is one of life’s essentials. Everyone needs sleep to rebuild their strength and energy. Most people prefer to sleep in their room where they decorate and design it how they want. I have a bedroom at home on the second floor facing the east. The room is so inviting and bright. In the mornings the room is so breathtaking because of the rising sun coming in through the window. The walls are blue giving it a laid back feel and making the mind calm and relaxed. The ceiling is white giving blank idea to the mind allowing it to think. The whole idea of the paint scheme was to make it seem like someone is walking onto a beach with water around a person and a white cloudy sky. There is also a TV and a stereo giving it a really fun place to stay. The bed is very inviting with many pillows and a big fluffy blue blanket. The bed is warm and helps you to sleep comfortably at night. The room is very cozy and it is one of the more relaxing places in the whole house. There are pictures of sailboats and also little model boats on a white shelf to the right when a person walks in showing that the person living here is probably laid back and likes to relax. The room is fairly small and the majority of it is to the right when someone walks in. It is a bedroom worth living in and makes a person smile when they wake up in the morning and see the sun shining hinting that there is a good day to come.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 4:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the definition of social design according to www.reference.com

--Social design is a design process that contributes to improving human well-being and livelihood

A social design issue that is facing our nation is today is space. Right now some cities like New York and Chicago have major issues with space. The people living in a city does not reflect the amount of space that a city has for its people. I feel that architects and interior designers have to face this problem head on. An architect has to be able to take the space he is provided and maximize the living conditions of that space for many people. Spaces though are become more and more small and the amount of space that you have to choose from is disappearing. I feel that architects need to find a way to maximize space. There has to be some ways to conserve and maximize space. I think one idea is building places that are very thin. Having thin walls maximizes the amount of room inside the building. There are few ways to address this problem. It is going to be more of a thing of the future. Architects no the problem but we have to focus on the problem and try to fix it.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 4:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The sound of music playing and people talking while you walk through a door to a vibrantly colored place filled with arts, crafts, and food. That is the sight and sound when you walk into the Midtown Global Market on the corner of Chicago Ave. and Lake St. The place is so full of energy. I arrived at the Market place around 3:00 in the afternoon. There were many of people all with different backgrounds and also speaking different languages.
Energy is the element I came to focus on. Energy is so abundant in this little place of trade. Energy is transferred from hand to hand through things like money or goods and also transferred through people talking to each other. People are making crafts that they put energy into while making there crafts. They then will sell their goods to anybody willing to buy what they created. There is the law of conservation of energy though so when someone buys the craft the energy is transferred to the buyer through the use of the craft but also some of the energy is returned to the creator of the craft. Money is a source of energy. I view it as a source of energy because it gives you power to do what you want. Being able to have power gives you energy to communicate but also gain things such as the crafts people make.
The Global Market was a fascinating place to walk around at. When you walk in the colors catch your eyes first. The walls are a bright gold and the place just has vibrant colors of red and gold and other brighter colors. It also has music playing in the background that adds to the energy of the place but it is covered by the noise of people. I view that talking is a form of energy. If a person is mad he may yell or speak out loud to someone. His vocal chords create a negative energy and through that negative energy you can tell he is mad. Energy is transferred and created in so many ways not just at the Midtown Global Market but also everywhere else there are people gathered together.

Posted by Noah Hamer at 1:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)