Weekly Blog Post

We didn’t have any terms that we learned this week. We usually do, but not this week for some reason.

The web 2.0 tool we used this week is  Mind Meister. We used this to create a web chart sort of thing to help us understand "A.S.P.E.C.T" of evaluating websites when researching. Authority, sources, purposes, evenness, coverage, and timeliness are all a part of the "A.S.P.E.C.T". If you foolow the aspect rule, you'll be able to find out if the website you are using when you are researching is reliable, because you can not trust a lot of websites these days. 

Some positive things about Mind Meister is that it helps you understand what you are doing much better. A lot of things do not help you understand what you are doing, but Mind Meister does. It's fun to use. You can make it any color you want, any font. 

Some negative things about Mind Meister are that it gets kind of boring at a point. All you are doing is making a map. I like Animoto because at least you can make a video and make it fun, with music, and pictures and such. But with Mind Meister, I do not think you can add music.. which makes it boring. 

The digital literacy component we learned about this week is the "A.S.P.E.C.T". This helps me evaluate websites better when ever I am researching something for school or something. The A means authority- Who wrote it? The S means sources- where did they get their information from? The P means purpose- what is the purpose of it? The E means evenness- it needs to be evenly covered. Finally, the T means Timeliness- it needs up to date information. Now, why should you evaluate websites when researching? Because anyone can put anything on the Internet! 

All this new information helps me personally because whenever I am researching, I can evaluate it better so then I can make a better grade on my paper because I evaluated my website and got some better information. It helps me academically because whenever the teacher asks me to find my sources, it'll be easy because I will know what to look for. Like, the author, date and title and URL. It will help me with my interactions online because whenever I am researching, I won't have to worry about trusting the wrong websites for my information. 

Overall, my week has been average. I was out on Monday because I had surgery last Friday. It's been a painful week, but I'm alright now. 

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Wednesday Current Event Look-Up

1. Topic:  Smartphones killing boredom

2. Article Title: Have smartphones killed boredom (and is that good)?

3. Article Source: CNN News

4. Summary: Everywhere you go, you will probably see a majority of people with a smartphone in their hand. Smartphones are beginning to kill boredom. Getting on Facebook, checking their Twitter, checking up on family and friends is easy when you have a smartphone. That's all some people seem to do these days.

5. Reaction:  I feel like this world has came a long way with technology; smartphones, tablets, and such. It's a great thing that it's killing boredom, because boredom sucks. Nobody wants to be bored. This event doesn't effect me because I don't have a smartphone, or tablet. But I'm getting one for Christmas, so if this article is true, all my boredom will be gone!

6. World Impact: This event impacts the world because pretty much everybody has a smartphone these days. Everywhere you go, you see people with either an iPhone, Android, or HTC. Yeah, it's a great thing that boredom is getting 'killed', because I hate boredom. Some people have their paperwork for work or school on their phones, so that's how they keep up to date with a lot of events and such. Smartphones was a great invention.  

                     http://applenapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/iphone_4_colors.jpg

Thursday Current Event Lookup

1. Topic:

• Commenting On Twitter

2. Article Title:

• How To Comment On Twitter Without Making Enemies

3. Article Source: 

• CNN News

4. Summary:

• Don't ever call someone bad names on Twitter because that will make them hate you. Especially to your favorite band. Just be calm to them and that way you won't make any enemies.

5. Reaction:

• I feel pretty positive about this event because it is trying to help you become a nicer person. Twitter connects people all around the world, like Facebook, and you don't want to start any drama on there, because it gets out of control fast. This event effects me because sometimes people want to start drama with me on Facebook and I have a bad temper and I argue back with them. I don't know why I do, it's just me. But this Twitter current event gave me some advice. 
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6. World Impact:

 This event impacts the world by trying to make the world a nicer place online. People just get on there to start crap with other people and that is not right. You should never comment on anything to try to make an enemy. Just be nice to everything you comment on. That way you won't make any enemies.

Weekly Blog Post #3

Some new terms I learned this week are privacy, self-expression and identity, connected culture, respecting creative work, and ethics. Privacy means respecting privacy of others. Self-expression and identity means presenting yourself in an honest & genuine way online. Connected culture means treating others in a kind, respectful manner-not cyberbullying. Respecting creative works means giving credit to others or asking permission. Finally, ethics mean a set of principals & morals that govern people's behavior.. for example, honesty and respect.

Some new web 2.0 tools we used this week is Animoto. We used Animoto to make a video about being a good digital citizen. It's really cool because you can put some cool music on there and it's kinda like a music video but you make the video however you want. My video's at the bottom of the page.

Some negatives to Animoto are that sometimes I get confused and I don't know what to do on there sometimes. Sometimes, I'm trying to find out how to delete something and I couldn't figure out how. But anyways, some positive things about Animoto are that it's really cool and fun to use. You don't ever get bored making a video on Animoto. They're fun, that's why I like Animoto.

The digital literacy component we learned about this week is being a good digital citizen. You should never, ever post inappropriate pictures online, or send them from your phone. That's disrespectful. Also, you should never post people's personal things online for the whole world to see. Most importantly, you shouldn't ever cyber bully or bully someone. That is very wrong and it's not being a very good digital citizen.

All of this new information helps me in my life because it taught me to be respectful on the internet and to the people around me. It helps me personally because I know if somebody is being disrespectful online, then I know not to do that because that's being a bad digital citizen. It helps my academic life because if a teacher ever wants to know what it takes to be a good digital citizen I can tell her because I learned that. Also, it helps my interactions online because I can tell somebody that is being disrespectful to not be disrespectful because it's very wrong and it's not good.

Overall my week has been hectic. We have had 3 tests (not quizzes, but tests). I know I passed 2 of them, one of them I made a 100, the other one an 80. The only one I'm nervous about is geometry because that is hard to understand. But my week in Intro To Publications has been very fun and exciting. I loved making the Animoto video because not only was it fun, but it helped me understand the aspects of being a good digital citizen.

http://www.istockalypse.com/Istanbul/img/sponsor_animoto_lg.gif

Thursday Current Event Look-Up

1. Topic:

• Verizon putting FaceTime on all of their data plans.

2. Article Title:

• Verizon will enable iPhone's FaceTime on all data plans, unlike AT&T
  
  

3. Article Source:

•  Arstechnica

4. Summary:

• Verizon is going to put FaceTime on all of their data plans for no extra cost. AT&T has that on their data plans, but it's required to have a shared data plan. FaceTime was originally available only whenever you could connect to some Wi-Fi, but now it's all cellular.

5. Reaction:

• I feel like this could would be a great idea because it's basically free. It comes with your data plan if you have Verizon. It doesn't really affect me because I used to have Verizon before Christmas last year but I got switched to T-Mobile because Verizon was getting too high. Mine and my brother's phone bill put together was around $200. But Verizon is already high enough, they probably will make the people who have FaceTime on their data plans' bill higher.

6. World Impact:

• This event impacts the world because some people connect with other people using FaceTime. It's either FaceTime or Skype that they use. This will also impact the world because the people who do have Verizon their bill will most likely get higher. But since it comes with their data plans, then it probably won't. But  I have a feeling Verizon will up their prices even more if they're going to put FaceTime on their data plans.

Weekly Blog 2

 Available at: http://wzyboy.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/google-reader-logo-with-text-grey-bg.png This is the Google Reader logo.

Some of the new vocabulary words we learned this week are phrase, appositive phrase, comma splice, and run-on.  Phrases are a part of speech made of some words.. not a complete idea because it is a group of words which contains no subject/predicate set and which only acts as a single part of speech. Appositive phrases are definitions that are inserted into a sentence. Comma splices is the error of joining two independent clauses with a comma. Finally, run-on is the error of joining two independent clauses with only a coordinating conjunction or with nothing. I got those words out of our grammar notes we’ve been filling in for the past few weeks.

The web 2.0 tools we used and learned about this week are Google Reader and RSS. Google Reader is a great way to keep updated with people. All you do is subscribe to the person you want to keep updated to, and then, KABLAM! You’re updated to them. Now, RSS is a wonderful way of publishing frequently updated works. 

 Some pros of the Google Reader and RSS are that it’s a great way to keep up to date with people just as simple as checking your email, and seeing what everybody has been up to. Some cons of Google Reader and RSS are that it’s a bit confusing because you got to click there, then there, and then over there just to get to where you want to go. You also have to copy and paste a lot of URL’s which can get annoying at times.

 The digital literacy component we learned about this week is email etiquette. One thing I learned about it is that don’t reply to a group email.

It helps me in my life because then I can type emails to make my teacher/professor understand it more so they won’t get confused.

Overall, my week has been amazing. It has been a fun week. Hopefully the rest of the weeks at school are this fun. 

 I just wish that there wasn’t as much online homework.

1. Topic: Scientists are looking for the smallest noise possible

2. Article Title: "Shhhh... Scientist Are Listening for the Universe's Smallest Possible Noise

3. Article Source: Discover Magazine

4. Summary: A new "quantum microphone" can measure sound waves just a few quintillionths of a meter high—"much less than the size of a proton." It could soon tune in on the phonon’s minuscule notes. Although Delsing's device cannot yet pick up individual phonons, Delsing says his team is getting close.

 5. Reaction: It doesn't really effect me at all. It would help people in the science world a whole lot. Because then they could probably come up with more protons and atoms and things like that.It might effect me in some way because then that would be another thing we have to learn in science class. I do not want to do that. If I was a scientist I would be pretty happy to be the one to say "Hey, I'm one of the people who helped find the Universe's possible noise."

6. World Impact: Phonons could contribute to future quantum computers. These powerful machines would rely on the qubit, a unit of information that can represent both 0 and 1 (the building blocks of binary computing), instead of the standard bit, which can be only one or the other. Scientists had assumed quantum computers would process information with light, but a small enough sound wave could work as well. So if they find the Universe's smallest possible noise then this could help them make quantum computers in the future. That would be super awesome.