Little+Brother+by+Brian+H

Journal 1 Little Brother by: Cory Doctorow Pages 1-89 Right from the start of the book the author develops the characters in a way that the reader can tell that they are very technologically savvy, and that they are kind of “nerdy.” The main kids in the story go to a school where they have many countermeasures in order to make sure that the kids at the school follow the rules. Their names are Marcus (the main character) and Darryl (his friend).One of these technologies is a gait measurer. It records the person’s gait or walk and searches a database and compares the person’s walk to data to find out who it is and where they are going. One day they decide to beat the system so they can try to and get the next clue to a game called Harajuku Fun Madness so they can win a free trip. They get past the security by putting pointy rocks in their shoes so their walk isn’t compared to them so they can just slip past and go right outside.

[] (devastating video of terrorist attacks)

While on their way to find the next clue to the game, something unexpected happens. There was a terrorist attack on the BART and the Bay Bridge. During all the commotion Marcus’s friend Darryl gets stabbed so they try to wave down an ambulance or police car, but they don’t have any luck until a big 16-wheeler truck stops. They weren’t interested in helping them though. They put them in cuffs and have their heads covered in hoods while they were taken to a prison. In the prison Marcus and his friends were interrogated, and they believe that he was the terrorist. The only way that he was able to be set free was if he told them all his passwords to his phone and e-mail so they could know everything about him. When he finally got released, he went home and found a bug that tracked all his keystrokes in his laptop. This really scared him. He didn’t like to be tracked and enjoyed his freedom.

After reading the first quarter of my book I have really enjoyed it so far. I enjoy technology and am a little bit savvy myself but, I am not as much as the kids in the book. Although it is quite cool to read about all the amazing things you can do with technology. The first fourth of the book kept my attention, and I really enjoyed reading it. I did not want to stop when I started reading. It seems like it is going to be a very easy read. I believe that it would be very scary to be held captive by the government because they are very powerful, and they can pretty much do anything they want. I would also be quite angry if they wanted me to give them my passwords so they could go through all my things. Also, I would be aggravated if I found a bug in my computer as well.

San Francisco “street” Culture 9/11 Creation of the Internet Geek/ Technology Culture Alcatraz

Journal 2 Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (89-180) The day after Marcus had got back home, his parents made him go back to school. He was greeted very happily at school because most of the other kids thought he was killed in the terrorist attack. There had been many changes in his school, in his house, and in the city, that he was soon going to notice. The first one he noticed was in his school. There were now cameras in every classroom to monitor the students. When he got home, he noticed that there was something different about the computer that he made. When he opened it up to find out what the problem was, he found a bug that recorded his every keystroke. He then realized that the DHS was serious about finding who the Terrorists were.

There were many more changes that had occurred throughout the city. Some of the more basic ones were more police officers, more cameras, and more scanners to tell where every citizen went, for how long they were there, and how they got there. Marcus did not like this so he decided to start a group of people that he trusted greatly to help bring down the DHS. He was going to do this by creating a web-of-trust. From there they had a cipherso that no one else could really read what they were saying except for the people in the web-of-trust. This was so that no one got caught while talking to each other through the internet because the Department of Homeland Security was monitoring everything.

I think that I would be very angry too if the country I lived in, which is known for its freedom, suddenly started to get rid of a lot of the people’s freedoms. I do not think that I would rise up against the government like Marcus is trying to do because the government is very big, and they pretty much can do anything they want to do. Therefore, there isn’t much you can do to stop the government from doing something. I am very curious to see what is plans are for actually trying to take down the DHS now that he has some people behind rather than just him.

Department of Homeland Security policies on civil disobedience Constitutional rights importance Ciphers Alan Turing Nazi Enigma (code system)

Journal 3 Little Brother by Cory Doctorow(180-267) While at the web of trust meeting, Marcus meets a girl named Ange. They become good friends and later become boyfriend and girlfriend. They spend a lot of their time together and Marcus doesn’t spend very much time with his other friends. There was an illegal concert that was going to take place in a park in California that tons of kids were going to go to so everyone thought that the police couldn’t do anything to them. When the police told the crowd to disperse, and they don’t, the police spray tear gas on them. Luckily, Marcus and Ange were far enough away to escape and pretend they were never there.

Then Marcus starts to get emails from hundreds of news reporters from all over the world. They want to interview M1k3y, who is his online persona. He doesn’t want to meet them in person so he has the interview take place in a game. After that, he decides to tell his family about all that happened while he was captured by the DHS because he met and got a note from Darryl’s cellmate in the DHS prison. His family then tells Darryl’s father and an investigative reporter, who is going to help make the whole world know what is happening.

I think that it would be very hard to keep such a big of a secret like that hidden from your parents for so long. I’m surprised he didn’t tell them sooner even though the DHS threatened to put him in jail forever if he told anyone. Also, it is amazing that he going to let the fact that he told someone go public. This means that he is going to be wanted by the DHS. That would be very scary to be wanted by the government. So far the book has been very fun to read.

Morse code Press conferences Radio techniques to get across a point // “On the Road” // What constitutional rights the government can take away from you for safety? (click student rights)

Journal 4 Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (267-363) After Marcus tells the reporter about his life and all that happened to him, he is soon going to have to become a fugitive that the government is going to start to look for. He and Ange spend lots of time together and they find out that this other girl has a plan to help them go underground because the government is starting to look for him. All he needs for her plan to work is a big distraction. This distraction is going to be a big game of vampcon. It is a game where people dress up and pretend they are vampires for a period of time and see who can survive the longest. Marcus predicted that the DHS is going to want to disperse the crowd so he was ready. Marcus told everyone to act like they were getting gassed so the DHS wouldn’t be able to do anything.

After that, he escapes with the girl just before the crowd actually gets gassed, but he was not able to find Ange so she could go with him. He made it all the way to the truck, which was going to take him far away to become a fugitive, when he realized that he wasn’t going to leave his friends and family behind. He went back and gave Barbara more information which he got from the girls phone that he stole. However, it was only a matter of time when he got caught. He was sent to Treasure Island and was getting tortured by some technique called “waterboarding” which causes you to gag but not drown. He was saved a little later by the police sending everyone on the island part of the DHS to jail. After that, all the kids who were there because of the DHS were able to get a free trial to try and get out of jail.

I think that this was a very interesting book. I think that anyone who is somewhat into technology and likes a very action page-by-page novel should read this book. I think that Marcus was very brave when he didn’t leave to become a fugitive because if I was in his shoes I would have much rather left the city or state so I wouldn’t get caught and have to go back to jail and get tortured. Also, it would be very cool to have people look up to me as a leader and as an idol like Daniel had happen to him many times throughout the story.

1968 Chicago Incident Civic Center purpose Pepper Spray affects to the body Police intervention stipulations Torture techniques used by the government (waterboarding)

[] (waterboarding video)