Hacker Art Project

            For my project, I am considering writing a short story on hacking the human body, or hacking a system in society that is illegal and could change the world. The subject of hacking the human body could deal with a type of steroid that is in a different form than most drugs so that it is undetectable. If I wrote about hacking a system in society, I would research how hackers could change a system that would affect society in a detrimental way. I might explain how it could take years to stop and change it. The source I will use to make links between my story and the class will include readings on how to hack a persons’ mind for the subject of hacking the human body. One reading that stands out is Hack Your Brain by Jon Brodkin. The subject about hacking society would include readings from Thomas Shanker and Eric Schmitt and from Andy Greenberg. These are just a few of the informative sources that stand out at the moment. There are many more sources that I could use to describe these two subjects. During the final for this class, I will summarize the topic I chose to explore and the connections related to class.

Scratch Game
 

Here is the link for my game http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/kb_2012/480361

My Scratch Project 

For my project I am trying to create a game that requires you to try and score a touchdown with a football player while dodging referees. The referees with be moving in random directions, and you will have to navigate around them using the arrow keys. The Frogger project I saw gave me the idea to try and create my game. Right now I am having trouble making the referees move in the direction I want them to, and also stopping the game whenever the player runs into a referee or when he scores. Everything else is pretty straightforward.

Scratch

After playing around with other people’s created projects using Scratch, I found a couple of games that were pretty entertaining to play. One of the projects was the game Frogger, and the other was a version of the game Pong. What made these games fun to me was the fact that the creators incorporated motion into their Scratch project. Some of the projects I viewed were just animated pictures ranging on various subjects. While playing the Frogger and Pong games, a user can actually control the game instead of just watching the Scratch project. Being able to control the project is what I found interests me. These two projects also appealed to me because you are playing an actual game. In Frogger, the creator gives the player a certain amount of lives before the game is over. In Pong, the player has to control three balls or they will lose. These two animated games were the ones in particular that stood out and held my attention.

Pong - http://scratch.mit.edu/projects/Tinjam890/471983

            PMOG Critiques 

            For the most part, I think the creators of PMOG did a good job creating the gaming system. I have never really experienced online games before, but after playing around with PMOG I came away relatively impressed. I liked the wide variety of missions that a gamer could choose from. While playing the online game, a person could benefit by gaining knowledge about numerous subjects. The variety of tools that a user can use while playing the game also makes the game more enjoyable. The creators of PMOG did an excellent job on this.

            One aspect of the system I would change has to do with making it easier for the gamer to achieve different levels. PMOG requires a person to play the game for an extended period of time before they reach various levels. Perhaps the creators could down scale the difficulty of achieving the different levels. Of course, the higher the level the gamer is trying to reach, the harder the task is going to be. This is common for most all games, though. I guess the creators want to see how dedicated some of their players really are.

Hacking Gaming Console Games

            Many video gamers will play hours on end to accomplish the task of defeating a game they have recently purchased. Some will grow irritated due to not advancing far into the game, and then having to start the game over because their character died. To many, this is part of playing video games: playing the game until they have finally conquered it. However, there are many gamers who will decide to forgo the sometimes tedious process of playing a game and trying to advance to the highest levels. Gamers will actually hack a video game to advance into the game to where they do not have to play particular levels, or they will hack the game for their character to receive special attributes. To do all of this, gamers will use “cheat codes.” Using their controller, players will type a code at different screen locations (most likely the main menu) depending on which game they are playing.

To some, cheat codes sound like a very innovative idea to defeat a game. One gamer likes to think of cheat codes as “discovering shortcuts, tips and tricks” (Edwin, 2005). However, to many serious gamers, the act of using cheat codes is considered cheating and unethical. A person does not have to be very technologically advanced to hack their video game with cheat codes. The objective of this paper is to inform the readers how relatively easy it is to hack a video game console and view cheat codes in order to change certain aspects of the game. This paper will attempt to show readers the positive and negative reasons people use cheat codes when playing video games.

            “There are four main reasons why players cheat in a game: they’re stuck, they want to play God, they are bored with the game, or they want to be a jerk” (Consalvo, 2006). When some gamers have played a certain game long enough, they simply want more of a challenge. By using cheat codes, they can accomplish this. “Individual gamers set boundaries for what they will or won’t do, and there are several good reasons why people cheat” (Consalvo, 2006).  In plenty of cases the developer or publisher of the game will supply cheat codes for the game. “There is solid logic behind this: they know not everyone has the time to complete a game on their own!” (Rybka, 2005). One reason people will use the codes is sometimes they want to advance in the game badly enough after not being able to do it on their own. Using the codes also will give the gamer powers they would not possess ordinarily. For example, in games that deal with shooters, a player could use a cheat code to unlock all of the weapons or obtain unlimited ammunition. With unlimited ammunition, the odds of the gamers character being killed is almost impossible. These cheats are relatively easy to use in Grand Theft Auto 3 for Playstation 2. While the person is playing the game, all they have to do is type the this sequence with their controller: “R2, R2, L1, R2, Down, Right, Up, Left, Down, Right, Up, Left” (Gamespot, 2009).

There are numerous websites on the internet to find cheat codes. Gamers can even buy books that have hints and cheats inside of them. With the growing ease of finding cheat codes, non-cheat code users may be soon outnumbered if they are not already

To find cheat codes, a gamer can most easily use the internet, or buy some sort of video gaming book or magazine. To hack a video game using cheat codes, basically all a player needs to understand is how to use is a computer and the basic functions of the controller they are using. A person does not need to be technologically gifted to hack a system in this way. To use the internet, an individual could type “cheat codes” into Google and then the gaming platform they play. Numerous websites will then be displayed. A person could most likely be successful in finding some sort of cheat code in any of the websites mentioned. After clicking on the website of choice, a user will have to click again the type of console they play. The letters of the alphabet will then appear for the games. Click the letter to the beginning of the game and cheat codes for your game should appear if there are any available.

Next, when a gamer is playing their game, they respond exactly in a way how the cheat codes tell them. The code will say exactly what buttons to press and where in the game or what screen to enter the codes. There are many different kinds of cheat codes available. Passwords, Unlockables, Easter-eggs, Glitch, Hints, and Secrets are just a few of the codes users can obtain in order to get to the next level in their video game.

            Some gamers think video games should be played without any cheat codes. Not all cheats are for making a gamer better, though. “Some cheats and codes also provide humorous moments within the game, and are included to bring more replay value to the title” (Rybka, 2005). I have played games before where I would enter a cheat code to change the clothes my character is wearing or make the character’s head sizes larger. For example, I have played a basketball game where I could change the type of ball I was playing with, the uniforms of the players, and the uniform of the referee. There are many more cheats that include the changing of the weather, changing the characters around to different people, and many more. By simply pressing a few buttons, an individual’s scenery in a game could change from sunny, blue skies, to thunderstorm type conditions. These cheats allow the gamer to have more fun with the character and personalize them however they choose. Having the ability to change weather conditions and characteristics can make the games more realistic instead of having a typical standard setting.

            Even though using cheat codes is totally legal, many serious gamers still despise the people who use them. Many players consider using cheat codes during online play to be unethical even though it is still a legal action. Cheat codes “are allowing you to get beyond place that you deserve to get according to your skill and therefore are not teaching that valuable lesson of hard work equaling reward” (Mitchelsin, 2006). What may make a serious gamer agitated is the fact that cheat codes are relatively simple to find. I believe playing a video game for leisure and using cheat codes is fine. I have used them many times when I am playing by myself in my bedroom. However, I think if a person is competing while playing video games, whether it is with other players or online, they should not use the cheats. “Users themselves often encourage a culture of non-cheating, making cheating not cool” (Consalvo, 2006). Cheat codes become unethical when a player uses them in a huge online game forum and bets are being placed. “When there’s money to be made- and there’s certainly money to be made playing online games- cheater’s come out of the woodwork” (O’Brian, 2007). Using the codes presents an unfair advantage for the player who is not using them. “Fantasy games like World of Warcraft and computer environs like Second Life, to name a few, have their own currency or other virtual valuables that can be traded for hard U.S. dollars” (Bergstein & Slagle, 2007). Fortunately World of Warcraft creator, Blizzard Entertainment, has developed software that can successfully detect when cheating is occurring.  “Cheating implies that you aren’t a good enough player to finish a game on your own, or that you want an unfair - and unearned - advantage over other players” (Consalvo, 2006).

            Cheat codes can be used for a number of different reasons. Codes for scenery changes, clothing, unlimited ammunition, and the advantage of skipping ahead to higher levels are just a few of the codes that can be found on different websites to give the gamer any advantage they are looking for. I feel that using cheat codes most of the time is a faster and a harmless way to see different levels and aspects of the game. However, I understand why many gamers feel that cheat codes are a distraction and have given other users an unfair advantage. Cheat codes will most probably be around forever. More and more gamers continue to develop them and they are becoming increasingly popular. “It may ultimately be up to the programmers- the ones who introduced cheating to gaming in the first place- to find ways to protect gamers from the thugs who have finally taken that tradition too far” (O’Brian, 2007).

Works Cited

Bergstein, B, & Slagle, M. (2007, October 1). Video Game Cheating Spurs Crime Fighters. USA Today.     

Retrieved March 1, 2009, http://www.usatoday.com/tech/gaming/2007-10-01-video-game-cheating_N.htm

Conzalvo, M. (2006, December 14). Cheating is Good For You. Forbes. Retrieved March 1, 2009,

http://www.forbes.com/2006/12/10/video-games-cheating-tech-cz_mc_games06_1212consalvo.html

Edwin, C. (2005, November 29).Learn the Inside Scoop to Video Game Cheats, Reviews, and Previews.

Isnare.com.Retrieved March 1, 2009, http://www.isnare.com/?aid=21439&ca=Computers+and+Technology

Mitchelsin, Julee.(2006-2009). Cheat Codes: Ethical? Artwoo. Retrieved March 1, 2009,

http://www.artwoo.com/article/cheat-codes-ethical   

O’Brian, Luke. (2007, August 10).Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right,B, A.:Remember when cheating at

video games was harmless fun? Meet the racketeers, rapists, and hustler’s of today’s online gaming. Retrieved March 1, 2009,http://www.slate.com/id/2171993/  

Rybka, Jason. (2005). WhyUse Cheats and Codes for Console and PC Games?: The Use of Cheat Codes

and Glitches is Widely Accepted- So Don’t Sweat It! Retrieved March 1, 2009, http://vgstrategies.about.com/od/basicgamingtipstricks/a/whyusecheats.htm

Pictures used in paper can be found at these websites:

1997-2009. Cheat Code Central.http://www.cheatcc.com/

2009 CBS Interactive, Inc. http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/grandtheftauto3/hints.html 

PMOG

            PMOG has some missions that could be very informative if you needed to gain information on a particular subject. “People like you are already using PMOG to enhance their web browsing, and they'll have left all sorts of goodies on the websites you thought you knew so well.” Many of the different missions you can do provide a user with numerous pages of helpful text. The tools in the game can make reading on the various subjects fun and enjoyable. Your character can gain more stars the more missions you accomplish. The game rewards a player reading who is the reading the material.

            There are many different tools a player could use while playing the game to surf the internet. The bombs can “hurt” a character, but this is one of the tools I find to be fun. A player could place the bombs on the websites that you think are going to be most frequently visited. If your bomb hits somebody then one is awarded points. The armor tool helps protect a character against the bombs. A person could visit more sites about the subject they are reading without having to worry about losing points. A player can also create their own missions regarding subjects that they think are important or interesting.

            PMOG is an interesting game that tries to bring together people surfing on the internet. I am sure more people are being informed of important and different matters in the world while playing the game. Researching diverse subjects while participating in this game could become interesting and perhaps not so boring. I think this game could help some people who stare at computer screens for hours on end to make their task more enjoyable.

                This was not the first time I have seen the Mindjet software. Dr. Delwiche showed it to the class I was in last semester so I have seen what it can do. I never downloaded the software, but now I think it is a very neat software and could come in helpful when I would have to type a major paper. I tend to skip around on my ideas when I am first writing a paper. The way you can group ideas together and then move those if you have to could be very beneficial. I found the tutorial when you first use it to be very easy and very informative. I really liked how you could prioritize the topics you are going to write about. I could really concentrate what I was going to write on with this tool. I also liked how you could change your web to an outline view or change the type of web you were making.

                The software seems very useful, but I do not think I would use it on a regular basis. I would rather write my thoughts on a piece of paper or use other brainstorming techniques. The software is relatively easy to use, but I think I would have to learn all the different functions to really gain an advantage of using it. I think I could use all the techniques on paper as I could on the Mindjet Software. When it comes down to write a paper, I think convenience would be the biggest factor: if I had plenty of time to work on a paper I would be more tempted to use the software.

Kyle Brunson

FYS: Hacking

Victor Conte: The Sport World Hacker

When a person first thinks of a hacker, they most probably think of a male that is a computer nerd. Webster’s dictionary gives multiple definitions of a hacker. One definition is “a person who illegally gains access to and sometimes tampers with information in a computer system” (Webster, 2009). People do not have to necessarily be involved with computers to be considered a hacker. Until I took this class, I never really thought of somebody that was not involved with computers to be considered a hacker. My image was the typical stereotype, a nerdy man that did not really “fit in”. I now can see how people can be classified as different hackers. Victor Conte is somebody I consider to be a hacker that was not involved with computers. Many people consider him to be one of the master minds behind steroids in sports, especially during the 21^st century. Victor Conte instead did his hacking to the human body using steroids, changing the sports world, and hacking drug tests by beating them. Conte created undetectable designer steroids and distributed other forms of steroids, such as human growth hormone, through his business in Burlingame, California called B.A.L.C.O., Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative. Many of the biggest names in sports have been negatively associated with Conte and B.A.L.C.O., such as baseball players Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi, and track stars Marian Jones and Tim Montgomery. For years, Victor Conte was transforming the sports world and nobody could distinguish how he was doing it. Like many major computer hackers, though, Victor Conte and his operation was finally discovered and his “hacking” was finished.

Victor Conte founded his business in “1984 to do chemical analysis for athletes and sell legal supplements” and nutrition after failing at a music career (Dure, 2005). Conte also invested early while building his business “in a plasma spectrometer – a blood testing device” (Webby 2004). Conte was very active with sports growing up so this was a perfect fit for him to do something that involved sports for an occupation. Early in his career, everything Conte did was legal. It was not until the late 90s that Conte started distributing performance enhancing drugs. This is the time period when he really started to become a public figure for his relationships with elite athletes. “Cone says he was driven to create these drug regimes for athletes not by the money but because of ‘the challenge’” (ABC News, 2008). His most famous drugs were “the cream” and “the clear” which were undetectable on drug tests at the time. Many of his elite athletes were on these two drugs along with other supplements. It was not until 2003 that Victor Conte was finally busted for his illegal actions. For Conte’s actions, he was sentenced to four months in prison and four months of house arrest.

Victor Conte’s actions are related to those we have discussed in class. He also has some of the hacker traits we have discussed. For example, Conte thought what he was doing was good for the athletes’ performance and for himself regarding his business. By giving an athlete performance enhancing drugs, Conte was making the athlete better and it was building his credibility of being a good trainer. “Some say Conte may have been star struck” when dealing with high profile athletes (Webby, 2004). This may have contributed to Conte’s motivation to distribute steroids. I think computer hackers get a thrill by hacking into systems and sometimes getting involved in illegal actions. Victor Conte can be placed in this same category. It appears the more in depth he became with steroids, the bigger the thrill he received. His steroids were undetectable, and I believe each time one of his athletes beat a drug test or broke a record, he reached a new high. With every high there come a low, and Conte finally reached his low when B.A.L.C.O. was finally raided on September 3, 2003. Like computer hackers’ secrets leaking out, Conte’s secrets leaked out, too. “The clear” was sent to a drug testing lab where the compounds were finally exposed. Some computer hackers do not feel guilty when the illegal act they are committing is finally discovered. The same goes for Victor Conte.

“People have asked me: ‘Do you feel guilty about what you did? Are you ashamed?’ The answer is no. I got to a point where I realized elite sport is about doing what you have to do to win” (Assael, 2004).

After Victor Conte was released from jail, his beliefs seem to have drastically changed. He now is telling his whole story because he “believes if you do things for the right reasons, the outcome will be positive” (Assael, 2004). Before he was let out of jail, he had a whatever it takes attitude. Conte was willing to sacrifice everything to make the best performing athletes possible, even if it meant to perform illegal actions. He knew many other athletes were using drugs, so he applied the “if you can’t beat them, join them” motto. This was one of the motivations behind his actions. I think some computer hackers have a belief that “if everyone else is doing it then I might as well.” While Conte was performing these questionable actions, he did not feel guilty about anything he was doing. He thought he was helping society. The same goes for many computer hackers’ attitudes. We have talked in class how some hackers think they are helping society by hacking into different systems.  

When Victor first began his business, he wanted to make athletes great by giving them legal drugs. As his business grew, Conte found out he was going to have to change what he was doing to beat the competition. Conte was quoted as saying, “to beat them you are going to have to cheat, too. Hey, if the athletes are going to compete they have no choice…but with me, it will be effective and safe” (Webby, 2004). He then began creating the cream and the clear, which he began to distribute to his clients. The main reason for his distribution of steroids was because he said he was “a competitive person.  I can't hold my own on a track, court or playing field. But I've still competed year-round at the highest levels” (Assael, 2004). The cream, the clear, and human growth hormone were undetectable because “there were no accurate tests” for these drugs (Sakuma, 2004). I think another reason why Victor Conte stayed involved in the hacking of drug tests was because it was relatively easy. Just like a computer hacker that easily keeps hacking into the same computer programs or businesses, so did Conte. He once said beating the drug tests was “like taking candy from a baby” (Assael, 2004). Human growth hormone is only detectable through blood tests. Before the 2000 Olympics, drug testers had not created a blood or urine test that could trace human growth hormone. Without a test that could detect the steroids Conte was distributing, he was well on his way to his goal: to create the next generation athlete. Conte described himself in one interview, “I’m the Adolf Hitler of sport – someone attempting to create a new race of athletes” (Goldman, 2007).

In my opinion, Victor Conte is a perfect example of somebody outside the computer world that could be considered a hacker. The sports world had never seen anybody like him when he started engaging in illegal drugs. He truly was a master mind on how to beat drug tests while taking steroids. He has many of the same characteristics with other computer hackers. Like many computer hackers performing their act, Conte did not think twice about what he was doing. He was living in the moment and making his athletes better. There is some irony behind his illegal actions. Conte wanted to make athletes the best they could be and thought what he was doing was a good thing. After he was busted, the whole country learned what was going on with B.A.L.C.O. and in professional sports. Conte actually did help society in a sense when he was busted because we learned that sports and athletes are not always clean. He educated society on which athletes were dirty and about drug doping in the professional athlete world. Conte’s role as a hacker is confirmed because he slowly began his illegal actions, and then fully penetrated the entire sports world. In the end, Conte did achieve his goal, like many other hackers, of informing society of information we need to know about performance enhancing drugs.

References

http://www.ergogenics.org/blc18.html (Assael)

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/balco-glance.htm (Beau Dure)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11258081 (Goldman)

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/2004-12-02-conte-20-20-interview_x.htm (Paul Sakuma)

http://www.ergogenics.org/blc29.html (Sean Webby)

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=297995&page=3 2008

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hacker

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/12-4-2004-62528.asp

The Counterculture Wave

The 1960s was a period of many important events in American history. Many of these social movements were caused to the counterculture wave. This wave of counterculture mainly included the hippies and the drug users of the age. Hippies were at the center of almost every major national issue. They protested the war, and many other social and political movements. Now when many people think of the 1960s time period, they think of hippies.

            I searched on google to find an article pertaining to the counterculture wave. What I came across was an article from the New York Times. This article focuses on the War in Iraq and the protests occurring, and compared the protests occurring now to the protests that occurred in the 60s.  The author flashes back and forth throughout the whole article comparing the two time periods. Many of the protestors now are seen to be more powerful by the media than they were in the 60s.

            The author quotes Stephen Zunes, a program coordinator at the University of San Francisco, talking of the counterculture of the 60s: “If the counterculture helped inspire other movements, from feminism to organic diets, it was also a mixed blessing.” The protesters now have “more credibility” than they did in the 1960s. In today’s time period, reference to 1960s movements change things on their own, according to this article. The protestors in the 60s were not taken seriously because everybody was taken in by this new movement. Hippies were not taken seriously. Perhaps it was their long hair and their ties to being experimental with drugs.

            Protestors are still doing the same things today they were doing in the 1960s. Today they can make their message more easily than in the hippie era. With access to the Internet being easier than ever before, people are able to search for specific groups who have the same beliefs as they do. We are able to find protests that are occurring anywhere in the world, and with the click of a button we can connect ourselves to people from all over the world. More people today seem to be open to different opinions than in the 60s, even though the hippies were a very large group. I believe that people understand that times are changing and they now have more of a voice than ever before in our country. While the hippie movement had a huge impact on our country many years ago, each person has their own opportunity to make their own impact on the world.

query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html

            Stephen Levy wrote a rubric in his book Hackers that he thought hackers should go by relentlessly while performing their act. In the movie War Games, Matthew Broderick plays a teenage boy, David Lightman, who displays all of the characteristics that Levy lists in his book, Hackers. I thought Lightman followed every rule to a degree.

            One of the characteristics that Lightman posses is “access to computers – and anything which might teach you something about the way the world works – should be unlimited and total.” Lightman has access to his own personal computer along with other valuable information that he encounters throughout the movie. He also had a public library that was easily available which allowed him to gain more knowledge toward hacking into the machine making it work for his personal benefit.

            “All information should be free.” The information Lightman received at the public library was free to receive as well as the other passwords he gained through hacking into computers. He would receive many passwords by finding clues about the particular subject he was trying to hack into or by simply finding the school’s password in a desk. The only aspect of the operation that cost him was spending his own personal time, which he was happy to use.

            The government broke Levy’s rule number four that states, “Hackers should be judged by their hacking, not bogus criteria such as degrees, age, race, or position.” The government thought that Lightman was working for the Soviet Union, since he broke into the computer system. This immature and innocent action almost created a nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union. They also thought that Lightman was not old enough to break into the computer systems. Government officials assumed that he had to be working with somebody with more criminally experience to accomplish such an intricate act.

Rule number five says, “You can create art and beauty on a computer.” Lightman could do just about anything he wanted to do with computers. I thought he followed this rule to an extent, but not as closely as Levy’s other rules. The beauty and art work that Lightman was able to create was being able to accomplish just about anything he wanted to do with his own personal computer and the other ones he encountered.

            One of the rules that I thought Lightman broke was “Computers can change your life for the better.” At times, computers did make Lightman’s life easier because he could live the life that was more exciting. For example, he was able to change his grade in school. The computers almost changed his life for the worse and at one point during the movie his life did take a downward turn. Hacking into the government’s computers almost caused him to be arrested. He almost destroyed the world by beginning a nuclear war. I believe of all the computer hacking rules Stephen Levy wrote about in Hackers the rule of “Creating a better life for the hacker” was the one that Lightman’s character contradicted the most.

            David Lightman appears to be the prototype hacker according to Stephen Levy. To me, he followed every rule to a strong point. After reading other various hacker articles, it does appear that most hackers comply with the rubric Stephen Levy created.

Technocrates

My technocrat experience comes from a time when I had to call our satellite provider; my frustrating experience was not as extreme as some of the stories I have heard before, but this story does show an example of a technocrat. I eventually made it through the phone call.

The satellite for our TV became totally messed up after a severe thunderstorm. The storm that produced high winds had blown the satellite off its correct path, resulting in our TV not gaining a clear picture or receiving any channels. After I worked with it for what seemed to be a long time, I decided to call the satellite company. Once I was connected on the phone line with a satellite representative, I told the worker what my problem was and how I thought the problem had happened. I said I thought the wind had blown the satellite dish off course. Immediately the worker said, “Oh, that’s not the cause of your problem. There would have to be a very strong wind to do that.” He then told me to check all the cords and walked me through some steps while the TV was on. However, this did not correct the problem. After telling him the TV still was not working, he became short with his conclusions, especially when I reiterated that I thought the satellite dish had shifted. The worker would sometimes become snippy with his answers and directions out of frustration. I started explaining my theory, and he finally realized I was not as crazy as he first had thought I was. The satellite company eventually sent a worker out to my house and looked at the satellite. Sure enough, the satellite dish had been blown slightly off its track.

            I think our government could even be classified as a technocrat. The government sometimes omits revealing to its people what exactly is going on or the full story on a particular subject. Often it even appears on some matters they feed us a small amount of information, and they let us figure out our own conclusion. This almost like a computer techy saying “Figure it out yourself.” The government is more informed on issues and feeds the public what they think we need to know.

            I do not mean to sound as if I am bashing our government, but sometimes the decision making process the government takes, leads you to wonder exactly why they take the steps they take. The people in society often never know the answers behind the whole story. Sometimes I believe the government tells only part of a matter or reveals the answer in a nutshell to make us stop wondering what is really happening. They really want us to go on to our day to day living and not question them.