Essential Questions of Philosophy

How do we know what we know?

My slideshow was of the United States landing on the moon. This topic is an interesting one to explore because a common myth is that the whole thing was fake and filmed. How do we know what's real? Is seeing believing? We can see pictures, or as Plato would say images of images reflecting as the eye would see.

Out of all the senses, we use sight the most as a base for our evidence. We can see an image of Neil Armstrong standing on the moon with the flag, but how do we know its real? None of us have seen space, so how do we know? We trust history. And I have seen other launches to space on televison, proving that its possible.

The slideshow goes from beginning to end: the launch, being on the moon, and landing in the ocean. It documents the whole process and doesn't show us just outer space. We can tell by the pictures that it is real. We know that a rocket can be launched from the surface of the earth, and we are familiar with the ocean. We have enough evidence to believe it is real.

Final Project Image

Pimp/Hack/Mod/Mashup Videos

1. Honda Meets Rube Goldberg
This is an example of hack. To me, hack means taking something apart to make it better or to update it. In this commercial, a "Rube Goldberg" machine is made up of Honda parts to show how well they work. I thought it was really interesting how they used most of the parts of the car in the commercial. The hacking showed that Hondas are reliable.
2. Aquarium Computer
This is an example of a mod. They took a regular computer and modified it so that the hard drive would be cooled in mineral water instead of by fans and still work while submerged. They took the cooling system and modified it and made it better and perhaps more futuristic. They showed examples of how the mod happened by showing the specific parts of the hard drive that are were submerged. Mod to me literally means to modify, but not to add any more functions or capabilities. They took the regular computer and modified it to make it cooled in water.
3. Beer Throwing Fridge
This is an example of a mashup between a bridge and a catapult. And it's very cool and clever! Mash up to me means to combine atleast 2 products and made a new product out of them, such as Heely sneakers (skates and sneakers). In this case, the two products (fridge and catapult) combined make a "beer throwing fridge".

Definitions

PIMP: Changing something and making it more decorative. Usually very flashy and expensive (show Pimp My Ride).

HACK: Changing a device and giving it new features. Gives the user features that are usually unavailable and are usually taken without permission (computer hacking).

MOD: To change for the better. To modify or fix.

MASH UP: A bunch of changes to a group of things.

Exemplary Product: Cell Phone

Comic Analysis

Looking at the comic as a whole, you can see that the same 2 characters appear in most frames. The They stay stationary throughout the comic, which you can tell by each frame having the same background and characters in the same position. They are engaged in dialogue, which is shown by speech bubbles and the character's body language. They are facing toward each other. In the first frame, the monster (which you know is a monster by his appearance) is towering over the girl (who you can tell is a young girl by her appearance) yelling "rarr". The girl's facial expression shows that she is not scared. In frame 2 there are symbols representing how each character feels. Question marks coming from the monster show that he is confused, and 3 periods coming from the girl mean that she is waiting for what's next. Again, you can tell by their facial expressions that the monster is confused and that the girl is not amused. In frame 3, the dialogue continues. The speech bubble comes from the monster, so he is the one speaking. His body language (arms thrown up in the air) symbolizes that he is frustrated. The girl's body lamguage and expression remains the same. In frame 4 the girl speaks for the first time in the comic. He mouth is open and the speech bubble comes from her. The monster's expression and body language tell us that he is wearily listening. His brow coming over his eyes in a U shape show that he is somewhat nervous for her answer. He has his arms timidly by his side. In the fifth frame, the comic concludes because it's the last one. There is suddenly s change from the other 4 frames: It is a close up of the monster's face and the girl is not present. You can still tell he is in the same spot, just zoomed in, because of the same green backgound. His expression has drastically changed.He looks angry (by his brow bent into a V over his eyes) and he is showing his large teeth. The girl's words in the last frame have made him angry. Small yellow stars around his mouth symbolize how shiny his teeth are. He is annoyed at this and at the girl's response, so he "sighs". You can tell he is sighing by the word "sighh" coming from him. Overall, throughout the entire comic, the monster goes through many different emotions: intimidation, confusion, frustration, nervousness, and anger. The girl has one simple bored expression the whole time.

Slideshow

US on the Moon