Operation Blackout

Patrick Rogers

Going an entire day without communications like the Internet, telephone, and television was much harder than I expected.  Not really because 18 hours of no internet is a bad thing, just a little out of the ordinary for most college students. The first few hours were relatively easy despite the fact I denied to myself my iPhone didn’t count for about 15 minutes.  During this break from the habit of the internet I took time to figure out how/if these inventions changed the way I communicate offline.  What I found is that we do so in two main ways and that's good.

I started with the first internety thing I had.  AIM. Ever since the early days of AOL's AIM people have valued the anonymity in communication.  It was fun to have the messaging available on most phones before the internet was readily available for cellular devices.  AOL allowed you to see your friends and chat with them in a list format that let you see the conversation progress.  Based on this rapidly updating list, an individual is more likely to react with the device as the spoken word instead of a digital letter (often referred to as a message or Email), excuse me... email.  This common mistype is due to a societies adoption of certain methods of communication. 

We all email.  We all chat. But these two formats seem to be much more different than one might imagine.

Think about how you share a link with one of your friends, you probably email it (if your even still that old school).  Do you write anything longer than three sentences?  Probably not.  Usually along the lines of "here" or "funny hipster pictures I told you about."  That's because you treat the email as a letter.  A format more often preserved for more formal correspondence. It's much more likely that you share your funny things on the chat format.  Users who use chat functions are more often than not typing short messages rather than lengthy formal things.  Why formal?  Most likely due to that unsaid feeling that you get with the email format that your message is being saved or is considered to "officially" come from you. 

Now share that same content with that friend over a chat-format form of correspondence.  You messages are conversational and might even mimic the basic rules of face-to-face conversation.   Examples like: "Hey what’s up?, Hi!, or even the user breaking abruptly into a conversations might be considered normal.  Also, much more text will be made in this format by adding all the niceties of a local version of discussion.  We'll call this "Personal Correspondence" with the ambiguities and misunderstandings of conversation a lot more perspective is given.

This distinction in methods of communication is made offline as well.  Chat would seem to gravitate more towards spoken word and email to written.  It was then that I realized something interesting.  The main difference is not so much in the method of the communication but rather its storage.  Conversations are quickly blurred and forgotten and written notes can get lost or destroyed.  These organic ways of communicating are also much more forgiving then their “social” counterparts. 

After the time was up I jumped online and began reading about chat and email storage histories and found some alarming information.  Now imagine that link your sharing is confidential (or a joke in really bad taste your sending to a friend from college.)  In an email format, there would be a send and receive dynamic that limits the amount of discussion simply by, at the very least, being an inconvenience.  Simply put, a conversational format of communication exposes significant security risk to most daily users of the internet. 

If you don’t appreciate people on the street listening to every conversation you have perhaps its time we looked at chats the same.  Remember AOL? It deleted your messages when you logged off.  Use Facebook or Google Chat?  Facebook has disabled the removal of chat history when it combined it with messages a few months ago.  Gtalk by default saves all chats but has the option to be deleted from your inbox.  This may not effect most user of this class in the short term, but as a new generation grows up with the tools on the internet a ticker-tape of photos, emails, and conversations will be stored from virtually every aspect of their interests.  That’s something to think about.  I think I will be repeating this assignment.

Operation BlackOut

Jonathan Rodriguez

I must confess, I chose Operation Blackout because it is the name of a Britney Spears album. That being said, unlike the album, I was a mess. I tried to do the entire assignment in one day, and it just didn't happen.
I managed to go close to seven hours on a Friday when I had work off to not use any form of telecommunications. During those seven hours, I woke up, with the aid of the sun (I left my blinds open during the night) made myself breakfast. Eggs, which I'm used to making so I didn't have to get technical. I sat on my couch, read some fashion magazines, did some reading for school, went on a jog, and then read some more. I played with my clothing, looked in the mirror a lot, took a long shower, and finally I had enough.
I needed to know what my friends were up to, what was happening on the Twitterverse. I felt so alienated.

So I still had to divide my time between two more days. That weekend, I managed to lose my cell phone, in a very classy way I'm sure. That was a tornado and half. I was so out of touch and had no idea what was going on in the world. I had to get a replacement. I hated my replacement so I decided to use the opportunity to finish another six hours. Part two wasn't as difficult. My favorite part of my time off from telecommunications was going to the flower shop and meeting my new friend the florist, Mona.

The third part of the assignment wasn't as bad. I had things to do that required no TV, computers, cellphones, things of that sort. I sitll wasn't a fan and had to take to twitter to release my frustrations.

All in all, I was a big mess.

A Day Without Telecommunications

The communication technologies that I usually use are my cell phone, the internet (Facebook, email), and Television. The day which I chose to go without telecommunication was a day that felt boring and empty. It was a Friday. I woke up around noon. Already living without telecommunications affected me because I couldn't use my alarm so I relied on my body to wake me up. Once I woke, I usually check my phone for text messages and/or missed calls. I was unable to do that because I had turned my phone off before I fell asleep. This made me feel sad la little. After I do that, I fresh up and shower so that I'm ready for my day. Next, I turn on my iPad or my laptop to check my emails and Facebook. I was unable to this which makes me feel behind on things such as update emails from work or school. I also feel behind from the events published on Facebook. Since I DJ, I also check my social media websites to see if I have new fans or comments on my music, and to also see how many hits I get because it motivates me. I was unable to do this as well. Since i didn't have to work that day, I thought I could study for a little bit. But i was unable to do that because my readers, my notes, my PDFs, and my textbooks are in my iPad and laptop. So i couldn't do that. I decided then I would make myself a light snack and then head to the gym. At the gym, I couldn't listen to music because I have that on my phone. Without music, my workout seemed dull and boring. I tried to spend as much time as I could doing my workout but time felt so slow. After the gym, I headed home to shower and get ready to eat. It was about mid afternoon and I was already feeling so bored and my day started feeling empty. I would usually text someone or call someone to see if they wanted to hang out but I couldn't do that. I decided that I would drive to the store and pick up a few things. I noticed that I did not care about what time it was because I wanted to get the day over with so I was living my day very paced and easy going. This is unusual for me because I try to maximize my time everyday and technology helps me do that. After the grocery store, I came home to put away my stuff. I decide that I should get a head start on my laundry. While I did my laundry, I also decided to organize my room and clean it up really nice. I rearranged some of my furniture also. By the time I got done, it was about 10pm. This is usually where my iPhone gets the most activity because of friends texting me or calling me to make plans for the night. I could not do this. I felt like a square. I thought about going over to a friends house but I know that night would rely on some sort of telecommunications. I ended up just laying in bed gathering my thoughts and falling asleep. This day of black out was by far one of the most distant days of my adult life.

Joshua

Operation Eyes Closed Assignment

Stephanie Gieseker

The Operation Eyes Closed assignment was a major realization as to how reliant we are, especially as students, on telecommunications. What I found interesting was seeing how often through out the day we are communicating and attached to technology. For 12 hours straight I found it difficult to detach myself from things I use on a daily basis; facebook, email, text messaging, etc. Not being able to text or check my facebook cutoff most of my communication through out the day. (which was an unfortunate realization to see how little time face to face we spend) At first it was a nice “break” but became increasingly annoying. Not reading for school was probably the easiest part, however when I did leave my house for dinner it was very clear how much we rely on written words.

I went to the Berkeley Thai House for the next part of my day. Luckily I knew where the restaurant was so locating it was not a problem. I did find myself avoiding any street signs as it would be automatic for me to read them. The menu at the restaurant was in Thai and English. By only allowing myself to view the Thai side, I mainly relied on my familiarity with the outline of a common menu. I could make out the location of the main entrees and ordered the first one. The waitress did not speak english well so it was hard to communicate what I was doing. I simply pointed to one of the safe looking entrees to let her know my order.

This assignment really proved how difficult it would be to function in an environment where you are not able to read or communicate through written words. We so heavily rely on telecommunication; to the point where it is hard to function through out the day without it. What is very shocking to me is how new age our phones, facebooks, emails, blogs are. This generation is so reliant in these things and it was not long ago at all that this technology did not even exist. Overall, this assignment held a lot of value and I found it very interesting.

A day (or three) without Telecommunications

Alyssa Martinez

I chose the first assignment and I split up the hours of “no life”, I mean, “no technology” into three intervals of seven hours, six hours and five hours. On Thursdays from 5:30 – 12:30 I have the pleasure of working at a Frozen Yogurt establishment on Telegraph. My bosses are very strict so I am not allowed to use my cell phone AT ALL, unless a case of emergency. So actually every Thursday I have no access to telecommunications, which was a very difficult transition because I am a text addict. Anyways, this first interval was not that difficult, but it was the scariest because there was an earthquake and my FIRST instinct was to grab my cell phone, but I remembered the purpose of my assignment and prayed there would be no more earthquakes. The second interval of no telecommunications was on Friday which was far more difficult, I was in my apartment reading and I went to grab lunch from 12:15 pm – 6:15 pm, It was difficult to be in my apartment and NOT use my laptop, I was forced to read two magazines and part of a reading assignment, but I had the constant itch to check my facebook, text messages and emails. The only one who reacted to my phone being off was my mother who left very nasty messages about what I could “possibly be doing” etc. She was utterly upset that she had no way of communicating to me for several hours. Later that night I explained the assignment and Sunday was a far better day in terms of missed calls on my phone. On Sunday, my cell phone and laptop were off from 2pm – 7pm. I was at the Library so this interval was not bad at all and I actually was able to get a lot of reading done, except throughout this whole process I would have the unsettling feeling of who would call me, what’s going on in the world, is my family okay? Etc. Not having a cell phone, nor internet, nor laptop is really detrimental to my being which is a scary concept to think about.

OPERATION EYES CLOSED: A DAY WITHOUT WRITING

I thought that Operation Eyes Closed would be an interesting assignment to try, and interesting it was. On a day-to-day basis I had no idea how much writing I actually read doing just basic things such as walking to class, picking TV shows, and of course ordering food. For 12 hours on Sunday, I didn’t do any reading for school (which was great) and also hardly communicated with anyone outside of my house because I “couldn’t” read my text messages, or even use Facebook. Walking to campus to run some errands it was a real effort to look at signs along Telegraph and try to ignore what they said.

I also went to have Thai food at Berkeley Thai House. I had to rely on others in the group who “could” read to get us there. Fortunately, one side of the menu was written in English and the other half in Thai so we covered the English half and really struggled with trying to figure out something to order (there was no way to cheat here!). Being a vegetarian that doesn’t eat meat or seafood I just had to ask what was vegetarian. The waitress who spoke very little English had difficulty understanding, and the only visual indicator on the menu was a small chili to indicate a spicy dish. I definitely didn’t want a meal that I couldn’t eat so I ordered Pad Thai with tofu, a dish I’d had delivered before, just to be safe. I would imagine that in places where there aren’t pictures, in order to avoid embarrassment or confusion people who are illiterate would likely do something similar.

All day I was fortunate enough to do things familiar to me and in familiar areas, and even that was difficult. However, as I’ve experienced with family members who come from a different country and don’t speak English, being illiterate is stressful. Of course, a person would come to recognize basic words and even places, but it limits a persons ability to go about their business stress-free. They would likely do the same things, order the same things, and stay in familiar areas because anything else is a very drawn out and stressful process.

Through an experiment like this, it was shocking to see how dependent our society is on the written word. While struggling with ordering food and not being able read or communicate with friends was annoying, I realized that some people go through this every day of their lives. Unfortunately, the consequences can often be more severe than just ordering a bad dish at a restaurant, but an experiment like this was definitely eye-opening to how fortunate we are to be literate and able to function with relative ease in our society.

Operation Eyes Closed- Margaret Grover

This assignment was much more difficult than I anticipated. At first not being able to read or write for 12 hours sounded like a nice excuse to procrastinate on my other assignments. Throughout the first couple of hours I found myself unconsciously reading information without even thinking about it. Reading has become so automatic for me that glancing at pretty much anything written made it impossible not to read it. I also didn’t consider the fact that not reading meant I was cut off from pretty much every other type of communication. Facebook, email, looking at text messages, surfing the Internet, even using the tv guide all required reading. One of the biggest problems I ran into was taking medicine for a headache. I recognized the bottles based on the labels and their colors and then confirmed I got the right pill by looking at its size and shape, but I could imagine that taking medicine would be extremely difficult and dangerous without this prior knowledge.

For the second part of the assignment I chose to have dinner at the Berkeley Thai House. I found the restaurant because I remembered where it was located on the street and I tried to avoid looking at the signs to confirm that I was at the right place. At the restaurant half of the menu is written in English but the other half is written in Thai. I covered the English portion of the menu and was immediately lost. I assumed that the menu was divided into categories like appetizers, entrées, drinks and desserts so I just randomly selected a dish that was located somewhere in the middle and hoped for the best. Luckily, the menu did have little chili pepper pictures next to some of the spicier dishes, so I was able to determine that I wasn’t going to get something extremely spicy. When the server came to take our order I just pointed at the random dish I had selected and said, “I’ll have this.” She seemed a little confused that I hadn’t said the name of the dish but she wrote it down anyway.

Despite the fact that this project was extremely difficult, I was able to go almost the full 12 hours without reading anything. I found that spending time with people was particularly helpful because I could communicate without having to read or write anything. It was also nice to be with other people because I could just follow their lead when walking somewhere or buying something without having to read anything. However, if I wasn’t able to rely on other people I think the 12 hours would have been much more complicated. This experience has definitely made me conscious of how much I really do depend on reading and writing in my daily life; a fact that I had never really considered before. 

Operation Blackout. Magne Nielsen

I chose to do operation blackout in two sessions of 9 hours each. I went in to San Francisco after class on Friday, but because I could not use my phone, i had to run around knocking on different doors to find my friends at I-House before we left, very inconvenient. The rest of the day was actually ok without using modern technology, such as the internet because I was with my friends. Even though I wanted to check my e-mail and use my phone it was not that hard when walking around in the city.

The next 9 hours without modern tech was harder, because I was supposed to meet my teammates to play basketball, but I did not get the mail notifying me that we were meeting later than what was planned the day before, so it resulted me showing up 1 hour before the others. Not being able to use especially my Iphone made everything a struggle, especially when it comes to planning and contacting people. Not being able to double check times and dates or contact people when you need it is stressful and annoying.

However, not using the internet, my laptop or a phone for 18 hours (2 x9 hours) really makes you realize how dependent you are on them in your everyday life. And that is actually a bit scary. Timing was key for the completion of this task. Not being able to submit homework or communicate during the week would have been a major setback, I therefor decided to do it during the weekend.

A Day Without Telecommunications

Operation Blackout showed me how much I rely on both my cell phone and my laptop on a daily basis. I use my cell phone as my alarm clock and my watch throughout the day. Therefore, I had to wake up naturally, and check random clocks throughout the day. I realized that I use my laptop for basic functions like checking the weather each morning. While this was not a big deal to forgo, it was difficult to make plans without a cell phone. Instead, I could only hang out with my neighbors and friends with whom I already had plans. I found myself constantly wanting to check my cell phone. This was a good lesson on attachment to technology, especially considering much of it did not exist just a generation ago.

Laura Ruchinskas

Homework 2/ Reina Ferrufino

Reina Ferrufino

I decided to do operation blackout in a series of three days; I found it very difficuly to adapt to this assignment since I felt the need of using telecommunication constantly. In the course of this weekend, I found Thursday to be the hardest because I was in Berkeley away from my family whom I communicate often with throughout the day. Friday and Saturday were much easier because I went to visit my family and, thus, this made time go by extremely quickly. Not using my cellphone was an easy task, however, not using the Internet was by the far the hardest telecommunication to give up.I usually like browsing the Internet to shop online, watch tv shows and movies, and communicate with my friends-- I heavily rely on this form of telecommunication making it a difficult process not to use it for a course of eighteen hours. I was unable to do this assignment on certain days of the week because in my work using the Internet is a part of the daily activities. I feel people did realize my absence in facebook, there were a few friends asking, “Where is Reina?” This is because we usually respond quickly to each other and participate in a form of group response. Before College, I used to camp often and could go through several days without using forms of telecommunication. I realized that in the past I would have found this assignment a breeze, nonetheless this weekend was a challenge. I feel that as college students we heavily rely on telecommunications, I experienced by firsthand the reliability we have on them this weekend.