second paper setup

2 PAPER SETUP
Today is the second day that I have been working on my paper. I left off with the disposal of bathroom products like toilet paper and disposable woman’s products. Next I went into modern technologies like cell phones and computers. I used what Slate wrote to backup my writing on how wasteful Americans are. New technologies become a problem when people throw out the old ones. People are in a race to have the newest and best items. This is a problem because the old products are still good. I used this information to relate to the Green movement and the problem of throwing out electronics. I described how people would rather throw out their things than have out of date products. I tied this into recycling and how some people feel it is easier to access to just throw away simple items like bottles and cans. Finding good quotes became a problem so I used the inter net for backup information. I found a website but did not want to get in too deep because it would argue my point the other way. Tomorrow I plan on finding more quotes to support my statements on recycling. I will also bring up some new points, although I am not sure what those are yet. I believe I am halfway through, I have a good amount of work, but I need more support to my claims on just how much this effects the environment.

paper setup

Paper set up
Today I started setting up my paper. The option I chose was the one on Made to Break. I am proving that America will continue on it’s path of wastefulness. According to Slade this what happen. I figure this because Slade is saying it is much easier to dispose than recycle in a more environmentally way. I started by writing my ideas in short paragraphs. After that, I looked threw the book to find quotes that backed up what I wrote so far. The introduction was full of good quotes. Tomorrow, I plan on making my paragraphs longer and finding more quotes. Next I will organize what I have written to make sure the order of what I wrote makes sense.

Current Event

Current event
For my current event I brought in an article about a cell phone with the Google locater ap. A guy who had the ap on his Smartphone, got his car stolen. While the car was taken the cell phone was inside the car. The man was able to use the internet and settings on his account to find his car and the feath.
I asked the class whether or not they felt this development in technology was a good one. On one hand the [person was able to recover his car and phone. On the other, this story could have gone the other way. If it did, the feath would have been able to take more from the victim. When people have these phones, they do a lot of personal stuff o n them. The feath could have accessed the victim’s bank account and other personal information.
When I asked the class what they though, this came up. We did discuss negative effects like this, but for the most part the class felt this was a good ap. If the person had not had this locater on his phone he may never have found his phone. He could have found his car and phone without it, but it would have taken much longer. It also came down to luck that he found his car but did not have any of his accounts hacked or information stolen. What I took from this piece of news is that ever new technology has its positive improvements, but also has a downside to the situations they are used in.

made to break 1

Made to break 1
This book starts out with a summary about how America invents new tecnologies but then throws them away when something new, bigger and better comes along. Some examples of this would be televisions, phones, both cell phones and telephones, and anything electronic. All this wast is bound to impact the envirment. The book says we need to rethink how we manage this before the planet becomes a giant land fill. This is a problem, how ever there is something the book does not discuss.
There are green ways to recycle. Many times there are places that will take an old computer or phone that a person can donate when they get a replacement. One major technology that pollutes the envirment is batteries.
There is a green way to dispose and ricicle battries but it is hard to find places that do this. This is a problem because batteries power manythings found in households today. All the dead batteries thrown out every month can severly impact nature. People need to make axcess to green recicleing such as the disposal of batteries and electronic chips more available.

Problems with wikipedia

Problems with Wikipedia
One problem that stands out in the world and Wikipedia is when Sanger was discriminating against the new comers to the site. People that are just starting out to a page are know as newbees, or nubs. Many times more experienced users are not so kind to newcomers, because they are believed to not know as much. This thought is a closed minded one. Like Jimbo Wales said, “we were all new at some point and with out new contributors the site can not be expected to grow” new users should be encouraged to contribute because the more users writing will give articles with more perspective. When Wales founded Wikipedia, this was his dream. He wanted an easy to use encyclopedia. When pop culture items appear in a source, there is bound to be users with differing opinions. What was eye opening was the offsets of Wikipedia. Conserveapedia was used to control information as much as it is used to learn things.
Another problem is news. When news first breaks, multiple users make entries on that topic. Some examples of this are, hurricane Katrina, September Eleventh, and the death of Tim Russard. The problem with news is somany people are writing on a topic and it is unclear if the topics are being properly edited. Another problem is when an event is old, such as Hurricane Katrina, after time people stop writing about it. If a person looks up a news event from over a year ago, they will probably find dead links, or information that is not updated or checked. This a side affect of everyday people writing news.

wikipedia verses newspapers

Wikipedia verses newspapers
One topic brought up in The world and Wikipedia, is that the website is expected to replace newspapers some time in the future. The author does not expect this to happen for many years. Some reasons this is believed to happen are many authors can contribute and it is used by a wide audience. A positive thing that can come from the webpage replacing newspapers, is this will save many trees. If Wikipedia replaces traditional newspapers many good things can come about like people coming together to share and learn information, but it has many negative sides also.
Books and newspapers are put together formally. This by one or a few authors, and is strictly edited. On Wikipedia, anyone can write and anyone can edit. When it comes to important topics, such as wars, historical events, and people’s lives it is to easily miswritten. The book World and Wikipedia has many cases where deaths were falsely reported, or mysteriously predicted. People like reading the news where ever they are and when ever they want. Making Wikipedia our primary source for news, is good because people can take a portable device with them to axcess the internet. It can be a negative thing because newspapers are written for a specific area. Also reading the morning paper is a way to relax for some people, if it becomes completely digitized, it will just be another way society has become rushed and compact.
In traditional newspapers there sections, headlines, sports, comics, job listings. When a person goes to Wikipedia they will search for a certain topic. They only way they will flip to another is if they know they want to read something else, and what the other topic is. They also might find another linked to a topic they are currently reading. In an old fassion paper, the reader can find topics and articles they might never search for because it is right in front of them.
Switching from print news to internet news, will be very different. Some things will change for the better, and some changes will be negative. It is too mixed to decide to use one or the other. Readers should probably use both to stay well informed, and get the best information they can.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia1
The World of Wikipedia starts off by giving an outline of how the website started. It gives examples of the first conversations on the page. The mane idea of the first half is how the Creator, Jimbo Wales wanted to make an easy access encyclopedia. This book gives examples of previous paper encyclopedias. What the reader is supposed to take away from this book is how information is controlled.
When Wales created the website Wikipedia, he wanted people to be able to access information from wherever they are. Some of the chapters in the book tell of a site called conserveapedia where information is shared, but controlled. What is sup prizing about this chapter is how kids are home schooled from the internet. The problem with this, is using pages like this to teach is uncertain. Pages like wiki, medi, or conservapedia are monitored, but they are still made by users. If people are us9ing them as a primary teaching source, they are taking the risk that what they are learning or teaching is not true.
The ideas in this book are what members of the groups learned when doing the project last week. A person can pick a topic and search but there is always the chance that what is posted on the page is inaccurate, or just not true. it

group Presentation

Group Presentation
Today our group did our presentation. My group was me, Stephanie and Janet. Our topic was Assisted Suicide. We gave the description of Pad, Physician assisted Death and euthanasia. The difference is Pad, the doctor will give the injection, while the other, the patient will give themselves the lethal dose of medication. We found that this medical practice is aloud in states like , Montana and Washington. There were a number of Wikipedia sources on this topic.
There fifteen sources we found on Assisted Suicide. We opened all of them to follow the links in side. A few of these were primary sources, but most were secondary sources. The interesting thing about sources 2 and 15 were that they were dead sources. This is because neither had anything to do with the topic were investigating.
For the source found in the article euthanasia, only number1 is a primary source. The second threw fith sources were not very useful. One of these was a blog and tow others were election results. Another source was a journal article. Number5 had nothing to do with our topic at all. The rest of the sources, numbers 8-13 could not be found.
Our group found that the information was being presented in a balanced format , our team checked each source to establish whether it was in support or against PAD and euthanasia. What our group found is that the sources are balanced, half for and half against. We also found that Wikipedia is not enough information. The articles are good to explain what assisted suicide is, and the difference between PAD and euthanasia. The sources and links do not give enough information to write a paper or help some one who knows A person who wants to choose one of these options. What the members of the team found surprising was we had to do a great deal of information to find information on the Terry Schivo Case. Since it was fairly recent, one would think the Wikipedia page would have at least one mention to it, or a page with a link to some kind of information. The most important think team members should take from this project is that Wikipedia is not a place to solely base facts and information on. Our team believes that it is useful when introducing yourself or others to a topic, but only basic facts that can be easily chest should be taken seriously from the webpage.

technopolypt2

Technopoly pt 2

   The second part of Technopoly talks about more modern tools and technologies. Some of these are medical developments and the control of information. In one section it tells about how different groups will sift threw information and decide what is appropriate and not appropriate. An example Postman gives is a family. Parents will make sure the children will learn important information. They will block their children to films and magazines that may have content that is to graphic or mature. How ever different families have differing opinions on what is inappropriate. Some parents disprove of strong language, while others are more worried about their children seeing naked images. Parents have reasons for blocking such content from their children. However, they have reasons why some may be ok. For example one family might  let a child watch a war movie, because violence is on the news every day. A second reason could be, while the film is violent, it has a historical lesson. Postman also writes of information being controlled because it can contain contrasting beliefs.

     Certain groups or countries may block it’s people to websites or information. When the Olympics were in China, the government had to unblock a lot of internet pages. Normally these such pages would be inaccessible from Chinese computers, but while multiple countries were braw casting from China, they needed to reach audiences across the world. The reason information is controlled like this is because it could be dangerous.

    Usually learning new things is a positive thing. However some people can learn harmful things in books or over the internet. As the class has learned, people can use the internet to harm each other. Some groups will control the information, so the members will keep the right mindset. If the members learn too much they might leave the group or try to change it.

lifestory pt2

Life story of computers pt 2

    The second half of this book is a timeline of many of the technologies we use everyday. It first chronicles the development of microchips and general computers. Farther on, it tracks the history of personal or home computers. Next the chapter discusses word-processing programs. The part I enjoyed most was the section on video and computer games.

    Chapters in the second half of Life story of computers tells about many people who are well known today. Some of these are Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Steve Wozniack. These three men were very important to the history and development of the soft ware we use today, but technology would not be the same with out user imput.

 Many of the technologies in this book  would not have survived if they were just affected by major corporations. Lots of these, especially the gaming systems, were evolved by active gamers and hobbyists. As time went on, the market expanded. Now the companies depend on their loyal customers, and new marketing strategies to stay in business.

Extra Credit: Bullying

Bullying has always been a problem amongst young people. It used to be a face to face confrontation typically in lunch rooms, playgrounds, and hallways. This could be for any number of reasons, being too fat/skinny/ tall short, having special needs etc. but times have changed since the explosion of the internet influence, and social networking websites. You no longer have to be in physical contact with a person in order to be pushed around by them. The most recent case of abuse through social networking websites is the case of Tyler Clementi. Tyler was a first year student at Rutgers and a gifted violin player. Tyler made an agreement with his roommate Dharun Ravi to have private use of their room for a certain amount of time. Ravi violated this contract by secretly setting up a video camera and taping Clementi’s private sexual encounter with another male. Ravi and his friend proceeded to “out” Clementi by posting this recording through twitter. This violation of trust and privacy drove Clementi to the point of suicide. This story has many similar ones to it.

            A few years ago there was a girl named Megan Meyers. Megan was having problems with another girl at school. The bully would bother Megan often in person. But one day the conflict escaladed. The bully enlisted the help of her mother to make a fake MySpace profile. They created a false account of a boy named Josh. One day megan found and befriended josh. She felt so secure and connected to him that she proceeded to tell Josh her tales of her school bullying. When Megan found out that “josh” was her bully in disguise, she took her own life. The most twisted part of this story is when the bully’s mother went to Megan’s wake and comforted the Meyers parents. When Mrs. Meyers found out who was responsible for her daughters death, she was outraged but powerless.

            Since there was no way to sentence the mother and daughter, the case went on for years. However, just because no one went to prison, does not mean that nothing came from this tragedy. Mrs. Meyers tours schools talking to kids about the dangers of bullying and technology. A point brought up in the Social Network movie, is how things on the internet are permanent. “The internet is written in ink, not pencil.” MTV has a public service announcement with this message; it demonstrates this idea of how internet harassing can be just a damaging as physical abuse.

Technopoly post1

The book Technopoly starts off with a short summary of the history of technology. The book tells that every time a new medium is created, the old ones are forgotten An example of this would be the printing press being changed when television was invented. Since television is so important in American culture, there is a theory that in fifty years reading and writing might not be the main focus in school teaching. The problem of technology affecting learning is not a new problem. This has been around since the time of Plato. Formal learning was greatly developed when the printing press was invented. Technology is both a good and bad thing. It is good because it can enhance learning. Examples of this would be the invention of the printing press, calculators, and personal computers. Some cases where technology becomes a problem to education is the dominance of television and the internet. Technopoly gives the example that people’s attention spans are getting shorter with each new technology medium being invented. It also gives the theory that in the future maybe education will change so much, that children who struggle now will be the gifted ones in the future. With every new development, new approaches to teaching must be made.

    Another point Technology makes is the comp arson between Technology cultures and tool using Cultures. I don not understand how they are different, since the examples the book gives is the error before electronic. Since Egypt was able to construct tall pyramids in ancient times, this should be considered technological. Just because there is an absence of microchips, wires and switches, does not mean it is not technology. An interesting point brought up in chapter two is how inventions can change more than one asp3ect of a society. The clock of a church was invented to signal masses and prayer use. However, the government took this signal of time keeping and used it to their advantage. The introduction of matchsticks in Africa changed that culture.

    In an African village, a person would have to go to their neighbor, for tinder in order to start a fire. Once matchsticks, this custom was changed. Do to the custom of lighting a fire after being intimate, the old practice made it hard for a person to cheat on their spouse. After Matchsticks were introduced, people could be more secretive. The matchsticks also probably detached people from their neighbors, and made them more isolated. Since there was one less reason to communicate, people would not have to come in tact if they did not want to. This is a negative aspect of Technology. It detaches a society and makes the members more focused on them selves.

The social Network

Social Network Review

   The film The Social Network, is the story of Mark   

Zuckerberg, the creator of facebook. The film follows him from his days at Harvard to his two court reseedings. Mark Zuckerberg

 was a student desperate to create the next big thing. Since he was living in the beginning of the new Millennium, he decide this should be on the internet. While on the school’s web site, Zuckerberg

 finds a page with pictures of students. He then decides to create Facemashm, a website  with the pictures of every girl in school. After talking to some classmates,  he   obtains an algorithm to start his first website. This webpage is the beginning of both Zuckerberg

’s success and  troubles.

    While working on his new project, Zuckerberg

 writes an angry blog post slandering his girlfriend. He gives her a low rating on his scale based on who was most  attractive, and continues to post degrading comments about her. This spreads around school quickly and does   a significant amount of damage for Both Mark and the girl involved.

     After officials at Harvard found out about face mash, mark was put on academic probation for hacking in to various WebPages of the school. Another ethical conflict is that the picture of almost every female student was posted without any of their knowledge. This was the easier  one of Zuckerberg

’s Trials.

    The second Trial involves  Eduardo Saverin,

 Cameron Winklevoss   and his twin. The  Winklevoss   Accused  Zuckerberg of intellectual property Theft.,   Zuckerberg had discussed the idea for a website where people can connect with their friends with the brothers. The Winklevoss   brother had also given  Zuckerberg the algorithm he needed in order to start the website. Some one else involved in this conflict is Shawn Parker.

      Is introduced to Parker, who is the creator of Nester. Parker  tells Zuckerberg about how he changed the world with Nabster. Parker describes to Zuckerberg how Nabster  got him in trouble with almost every major recording artist. Parker advised Zuckerberg to take the  out of “the facebook” “just facebook, drop the the, it’s cleaner”

    The film does not have a clear outcome of the trial but the audience is left with the impression of how powerful technology is. First Zuckerberg damaged the reputation of his girlfriend with his blog post. Second he was put on academic  for hacking and violating the privacy of other students. Then he was in a long legal dispute over intellectual property. The social  really portrays how technology is always changing and how it can be exciting for the public, but also how it can be harmful on a personal level. network probation   

First Reading

The beginning of Computers: The Life Story of Technology, talks about early computers. This goes back further then the actual machines in the 1950s, but to almost pre-historic times. Some of the earliest computers were the abacus and notches. The book also talks about counting sticks and bones, which the early banks used, to keep record of loans and accounts. Some thing I found interesting, were the different numbering systems of different countries. We use the Arabic number system which has a base of ten, but not every number system uses this. An example of a different system would be the Mayans, who have a base of twelve. Before the Arabic system was widely used, Roman numerals were very common. Officials did not want to use the Arabic numbers because they felt these numbers were too easy to forge.

            Tally sheet are a paper way calculating. It has lots of rows and column for long digit numbers. Starting in 1840 to 1880m, the United States Government used these to form a population census. This would be useful because they are taking a survey of the amount of citizens in multiple categories such as gender, age, race, and location, along with other categories. Rows and columns are a theme throughout these precursors to the calculator.  They are used in abacuses, notches, and even graphs. In 1880, John S. Billings suggested that this process was too much to be done manually, so he suggest for an automated machine. Between 1880 and 1890, Herman Hollerith made a prototype mechanical tabulating machine.

week 1 "take2

    Over the past two weeks I have been tracking my use of the internet. My results were not the exact same as a normal two week period because my computer was being repaired. What I noticed is that I usually go online in the after noon, around noon and then again right before dinner at around Six or seven o’clock. Sometimes I am on and off during the afternoon. Usually I use the internet for personal use such as talking on aim, going on Facebook, or playing online games. A small percent of my time this week was for school, looking up books and classes. As the school year goes on, I will probably be spending more of my online time doing school related things bbutt since school just started it only takes up a small amount of my online time.  Looking at this pattern did not surprise  Me, I figured I spend a lot of time online and more for pleasure than for work related things. Also I should have more time devoted to reading email, but Hotmail has been having server problems, so I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like emailing.

this pattem for pleasure than for work related things. Also I should have more time devoted to reading email, but Hotmail has been having server problems, so I have not been able to spend as much time as I would like emailing.

Week1 Internet use