https://www.desmos.com/calculator/xfrkrbkjlq
When I started my Desmos the first thing I did was find out what equations to use to create the picture. I found all the equations in the document provided by my teacher, however I have trouble remembering them all. So I went to my math text book to review the equations before I started my project. The biggest challenge I had during this project was the shading, because I have never done it before. I used google and Youtube to try and learn but still had trouble understanding. Eventually, I asked my friends for help and they explained how to use the equations to create the shades. Once they provided the explanation and provided me examples I was able to complete the project. The main strategies I use was trial and error, and I would keep tweaking the equation till it matched the shading I was trying to achieve. This project really helped my understanding of transformations of functions, as it provided a visual representation of how changing the equation affected how the picture was graphed. I would rate my overall project 70 out of 100.
For my poster I am using dystopian propaganda technique of fear and deification to illustrate the Machines continue efforts to control people through misinformation. I used green fog on the surface of earth with a poison symbol. This uses the tactic of misinformation, creating fear because it makes everyone believe that the air is poisonous. To make it even more believable I added a human skeleton lying on the ground to show what will happen if you breathe the air, which is not true because people live on the surface of earth. I created a locked barrier between the underground and surface of the earth and only the Machine as the key to unlock the barrier. This could have two meanings; this barrier is protecting the people from the dangers above ground and the machine is the gate keeper and this gives the Machine the power opens the barrier, let the poison air, and kill everyone. Both ideas show that the Machine has the power to control life and death giving him deification over the people below. Giving the Machine a red eye demonstrates it is always watching and will know if you ever try to go against him. I made the eye red, symbolizing power and intimidation giving more reason to fear him. I have him wearing a shield because that shows trust and protection giving him deification and a reason to trust him and make him not seem evil
The Machine Stops by E.M Foster and Wall-e by Andrew Stanton give out tons of warnings that we might become a dystopian society. The world we live in shows connections between the fictional worlds in the movie and book. The main connection shown is advancing technology, as people are slowly relying more on technology as it advances and having the capabilities to do our simply needs. We are becoming attached to technology, and we forget what we are doing to the environment. Just like the story we take so much from the earth to create all our technology to make life easier. “But Humanity, in its desire for comfort, had over-reached itself. It had exploited the riches of nature too far. Quietly and complacently, it was sinking into decadence, and progress had come to mean the progress of the Machine.” Just like the movie we are going to get so lost in technology it will be too late to fix the planet. We are also slowly becoming socially isolated as we rely more on technology. The ways of communication described in the story are like modern ways of communication like facetime calls or text messages. For example, our communication is like what happened in Wall-e, everyone communicates through a screen produced in front of their faces as they are right beside each other. This is comparable to our world because everyone is on their phones right next to their friends. This is also what happened in the short story everyone is isolated in their own little room and their method of communication is through technology. Another connection our world has to the stories is that time is becoming more valuable. In both worlds communication can be done quickly and easily without moving in the comfort of their home causing zero need for travelling or going outside. This lack of movement causes a lot of people to say, “my time is too precious” (pg 12). Like the Machine and government, people continue to rely on technology, making them lazy when it comes to thinking for ourselves. Instead of creating our own opinions and beliefs we follow social media and the government’s beliefs. In Wall-e, humans did not have any control, they lost the ability to move on their own and robots would take care of them. The robots in Wall-e took over when the humans tried to go back to earth, because that went against the orders of the robots. In the end the humans managed to successfully take control. In the Machine, humans lost all ability to think for themselves completely and the machines control everyone and everything. This story gives us a huge warning on what could happen if we stop thinking for ourselves and have everything done for us by machines. It shows how easy it would be for the government to take power if we get too lost in technology.
Defining if media platforms are neutral?
There are so many media platforms in the world today and it is important to understand the influence that they can have on the world. Media platforms are neutral, however the people that post, write, record, or use them are not. Despite the platforms themselves being neutral the question remains should we control the content of the users? Arguments between free speech versus censorship remain heated. On the one side of the debate, free speech is the cornerstone of Canadian rights, and it is written in the Charter of rights. Therefore, censoring what we say, read and hear is wrong and who has the right to determine what is censored? In addition, providing freedom of speech allows others to understand different points of view, even if they disagree. Further, freedom of speech is threatened by cancel culture and promotes censorship. As quoted in the article Pew Research Center, Emily Vogel’s states “Cancel culture is trying to silence someone that does not have the same belief as you.” Censorship takes people’s First Amendment rights away and violates their civil rights. On the other hand, people say media platforms need to do more to self-regulate the information that goes onto their platforms which promotes cancel culture. As quoted in the article Upworthy, Annie Reneau quotes LeVar Burton saying, “In terms of cancel culture, I think it’s misnamed,” he said. “It’s a misnomer. I think we have a consequence culture, and that consequences are finally encompassing everybody in the society, whereas they haven’t been, ever, in this country.” LeVar is saying that we should not censor them but have a conversation about what is being said and there should be consequences if the messages are harmful. Another suggestion is that each company should have strict policies that must be followed on what to post, but people say that is not enough and they need to take it a step further to get rid of offensive and misleading content. People are saying Facebook needs to get rid of misleading information because it can create a lot of harm, especially if it is medically based. Although censorship goes against freedom of speech, it is for the safety of people using the app. If Facebook makes the decision to censor, this will make them not neutral. My opinion on this subject is that media companies are neutral because they are just programs used by the public to post information. However, the people that use these platforms are not neutral because they can put whatever they want which makes some people happy and some people upset. In this case it is almost impossible to make everyone happy because they all want different things, but the conversations are still worth having.
This is my Milanote I created about myself for English.
Riverside CC’s Self Assessment Document