Ricky Gil 10/24 blog post

Ricky Gil

Cas 283 Lab

10/24/2014

            Do you trust me? Do you trust the person next to you? How about yourself, do you trust yourself? Trust is reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. No matter what you do or talk to in life, trust is a huge part of the relationship. It doesn’t matter if it’s a friendship, partnership, marriage, etc.  Trust can either break or make a relationship.  Trust does not coming easy either, according to USA Today, only one third of Americans can be trusted.  Only a small part of people believe that no one should lie. It is quite crazy to think most people lie, want to lie, or having no guilt in lying. Lying sometimes works out in great ways, just look at politicians. High paying jobs and benefits and most of their job is lying. 

            Even though lying is common and sometimes necessary, it will still put some type of strain on the relationship. Whether you may know or not, sometimes credibility is what gets hurt the most. " Once a liar, always a liar". Once you go down that slope, It is hard to stop. The trust bias is the idea that we are more likely believe that the truth is the truth. Without it, we would always be doubting what others say and would be spending much more time researching things to ensure it is true.

            Deception is beguilement, deceit, bluff, mystification and subterfuge are acts to propagate beliefs of things that are not true, or not the whole truth (as in half-truths or omission). Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda, and sleight of hand, as well as distraction, camouflage, or concealment. There is also self-deception, as in bad faith. Deception is miss leading and can cause confusion and even humiliation. Sometime deceiving people is a lot worse than lying to someone. There are also cues that can tell if someone is trying to lie or deceive such as no eye contact, negative responses to everything, repetition of answers, and even tone of voice.

            Even though its bad, I believe everyone will or does lie. No matter how small or irrelevant, lying is lying and everyone does it somehow. Even if it is to ourselves.

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                Ricky Gil

Cas 283 Lab

                What is that one thing we use every day? What is one of the first things you see when you open your eyes in the morning? Something that we can listen to music on, give us directions, communicate with people across the globe, and a million other thins it can do for you. This piece of technology will make your life easier and sometimes even more difficult.        

            The cell phone is what I'm referring to but it's not just the cell phone, its all the extra stuff they can do today. Cell phones are used by billions of people every day, all across the globe. These little pieces of metal or plastic, define my generation. I feel proud and disgraced but that’s what it comes down to I guess. We have lost touch with communicating with friends and family face to face, but we have also made it easier if they weren't in the same area as us.  Communicating with friends but text, videos, and pictures have become easy and quite popular. Snapchat and instagram are two of the biggest apps known to man. Facebook bought instagram for like a billion dollars. Billion. BILLION. My generation of peers are obsessed with their phones. It is just what we do. The interent on our phones makes life easier in a sense that we basically have a hundred tools in the palms of our hands. From music, gps, flashlights, calculator, wallet, video recorder, bible, translator. Our phones are extremely important for school and jobs as well.

            To conclude, it is not just about what they can and cannot do, it is also a way of life for our generation. It is the biggest technology device that we use every day. It is made to help us succeed and communicate at all times of the day.  The best part of having this technology in our devices it that it changes as we do and as the world changes. It is constantly making efforts and progress on changing with time.

Internet the best invention ever

When you think of all things that have ever been invented throughout all of the years and you try to decide which things was the best,or smartest invention, usually it could be a hard choice for anyone and it is something that makes you ponder for a little. For me, the choice of which invention is the best just so happens to be very easy. I think that the best thing that has ever been invented is the internet and for many reasons. With the invention of the internet, your always connected and in the loop when it comes to anything, gossip, news, and you can stay in touch with your family as well, and never have to worry about not knowing anything. It is a great resource for anything and can be used with all ages, that is if you know how to use a computer which most people learn how to do really young nowadays, but depending on the age you use it for different reasons.

The Internet will never die and it is universal in the sense that everyone can use it if they know how ti use a computer. In an age where we are more depending on things like the internet and where technology is growing and inventions are becoming cooler and harder, more and more young people are using things like the internet. The age at which kids are learning to use a computer is getting younger and I can prove that with a personal example of how, when I learned to use a computer and the internet I was about six, almost seven years old, but my younger cousin now uses the internet and knows how to use a computer and she has just turned five. Although she would use it differently then I would now, the moral of the story is that the internet is just becoming more and more universal, which could help make it one of the best inventions ever because of the fact that it does not only fit one audience. Granted some third world countries do not have computers so therefore they can not access things like the internet, it is not like they would disagree (i think). There are a bunch of programs that bring computers to these third world countries and teach them how to use them so that they can become more educated and hopefully have a better life. The internet is allowing for anyone and everyone to be able to know anything and if you do not know about it then literally all you have to do is look it up, and it is allowing for the world to become smarter because of the fact that people can educate themselves. Along with the world becoming smarter, it is helping the economy in the sense that everyone is getting an education which can lead to them getting a job and then helping the economy because they become a part of the money exchange. With an invention like this it is so hard not to like because of the fact that it can do so many things and keeps people going, since they know all the information, and with time it will only get better.

Moral of the story is that although the way I use the internet will change as I get older, it will still be an essential part of my life because I am so used to it and it provides so many great resources. It is very hard to take away something from someone, especially if that thing makes life easier, which is why I do not think the internet will ever go away, but only be used more and more, and get better and better as time goes. As we get older and more wise the internet will only follow. 

Oatis Final Thoughts

Well folks, this semester sure has flown by!! We have talked about numerous topics, problems, and solutions all in regards to computer-mediated communication. We talked a lot about the dark side of communication and problems associated with the Internet including but not limited to, child pornography, identity theft, emotionally damaging “support” forums. However, we have not talked very much about how to defend and protect yourself from all of the above evils. I am one of the early generations to be considered digital natives. While we have grown up with the dark side digital communication, in many respects we take its defense for granted.

            The Internet is both a wonderful and terrible too. While it can be used for tremendous good and positive outcomes, there are also those who use it to produce negative outcomes. People steal identities, commit fraud, troll, flame and other such shenanigans. Out of the above, some are quite easy to avoid and some are not. However there are things that we can do as college students and young professionals to mitigate the risks of Internet usage. There are numerous companies that offer virus protection such as McAfee Security or TrendMicro to name a few. Additionally, there are several other companies that offer fraud protection, companies such as LifeLock. Now I’m sure most of us are thinking that we are in college and “it won’t happen to us” but these are the years where our credit history is only just being established. Critical mistakes now can drastically alter our future financial stability. Even every day habits such as varying your password usage and even more so, creating strong passwords can and will make the difference shouldn’t attempt to be made against your information. Naturally, nobody wants to remember 50 million passwords for each and every app that they use. How many of us just have one master password for everything?

            Many of us that are growing up as digital natives, are quick to use the same password for multiple websites or applications, however this is one of the single most dangerous things that can be done and computer security. Once that one password is compromised, nothing stands in the way of the rest of your accounts. While I know I am straying away from typical blog posting, I think it’s very important that as young adults and young professionals we understand the gravity of such simple mistakes. As digital natives, we are subscribing and have more accounts, email addresses, and passwords than ever before. Significant portions of which have phone by the wayside and have been in active for months or even years. When was the last time you checked your MySpace? I hope in the future that there are additions made onto the course about cyber security and how college age students can protect themselves. While it may not be directly related to computer-mediated communication, I still believe that is a very valuable topic and is worth a few minutes of lecture time!

Evans Blog Post 5

We now live in an age where the availability and access to different types of technology is quite widespread. This is only going to continue to increase in the years to come. This increase will lead to many people, including kids, having access to these new technologies, and ultimately the Internet. Kids’ presence on the Internet is already a controversial issue, especially among parents, taking safety and other concerns into consideration. With these new gadgets, it will be more difficult for parents to keep up and try to monitor what their kids are doing.

I understand the need for parents to want to protect their kids because I know first hand about explicit nature of what is available online.

For instance, you just gave your child a desktop in her room with Internet access. She joins a chat room and starts talking to this “boy” who she starts to become interested in. You realize the dangers of the Internet and you try to tell her to be careful about what she does online. She tells you (because she trusts you) that she met someone in a chat room to whom she has been having many conversations with. You tell her to stop talking to him and to stop going in the chat room because she’s a child and she doesn’t know if this person is who he said he is, or if anything that he said is the truth. She (the daughter) agrees after a short debate. Shortly after that you start to monitor her online activity because of what she told you, to find out that not only was she still entering the chat room, she was still talking to him. You confront her and she denies it. Then she becomes upset at the fact that you were spying on her. She is not really talking to you anymore because she feels that you are being unfair. Secretly she’s been messaging this boy on her phone (they switched mediums). She confides in him, especially about you, who’s trying to keep them apart. He tells her all the things she wants to hear to make her feel better. He suggests that they meet and she agrees. She tells you that she’s going to her friend’s house or that they’re going to the movies at that time. She meets him and it turns out that he is, in fact, not who he said he was. You later find out that your child wasn’t where she said she was going to be.

This long scenario was to illustrate why parents try to be so intrusive when it comes to online activity. As a parent you do your best to keep your child safe, teach him/her right from wrong, and hope they make good choices. You might tell them to be careful and not to go on certain sites but they will find a way if they have the desire to. That’s why I believe in monitoring until you believe the child is capable of not making stupid decisions.

I mentioned earlier about the explicitness of the Internet. This brings me to my next topic of discussion, search engines and research. A search engine is software that guides you in looking for information on the Internet, such as Bing, Ask, or Google. We spoke in class about the bulk of information that is available online and the credibility of the sources. Someone brought up the fact that they don’t know how to do research any other way than over the Internet through a search engine. Then I realized that I don’t know anymore how to do research without a laptop. I grew up without access to computers and the Internet so the library’s encyclopedias and other books were my sources of information. This ignorance of other means of obtaining information is and will be the same in the kids of today and of the future. What if for six months, there was no Internet access all across the United States (the chances of that happening are very slim)? Instead of getting info some other way, people would probably try for the first three months to fix it, and then riot when there is no success. By the time the sixth month rolled around, America looks like the scene in I Am Legend after the outbreak took over everyone. I know this view is a bit exaggerated but I’m just saying, it’s something to think about.

As a parent you do your best to keep your child safe, teach him/her right from wrong, and hope they make good choices. You might tell them to be careful and not to go on certain sites but they will find a way if they have the desire to. But if you believe that you have taught them well, then it may all fine in the end.

The Dangers of being a Digital Native            

Christian Farrell

As a digital native, I have grown up in the digital age. I have never known a time where there wasn’t computers, internet, or even cell phones. There can be many benefits to growing up in the digital age. One of these benefits is the ability to multi-task. Due to our minds being constantly bombarded by technology, digital natives have adapted to be able to focus on multiple things at once. For example, some digital natives are able to listen to music while simultaneously studying for a test. Digital natives are also more aware, and able to receive more information at a time. However, even with these benefits, there are some that believe this surplus of technology is changing us, and not for the better. Some experts believe excessive use of the Internet, cellphones and other technologies can cause people to be more impatient, impulsive, forgetful and even more narcissistic. Its true digital natives tend to spend more time on our technological devices, but is it truly affecting our lives in a mostly negative way? Some studies suggest that excessive dependence on cellphones and the Internet is akin to an addiction. There is a test that can be taken on the internet, ironically, that measures if you are at risk of internet addiction. Among the questions asked are: Do you neglect housework to spend more time online? Are you frequently checking your e-mail? If you answered yes, technology may be consuming more of your life then you think.

               A study done by the University of Melbourne in Australia found that 10 percent of the students posted scores high enough to put them in the at-risk category for internet addiction. However, even though technology is clearly interfering with some student’s lives, it may be going too far to call it an addiction. The concern with spending so much time on the internet is that it can take away time spent with family and friends in the real world. Psychologist Dr. Aboujaoude has another concern with our dependence on the internet. Dr. Aboujaoude is concerned that the vast storage of e-mail on the Internet is preventing many of us from letting go, causing us to retain many old and unnecessary memories at the expense of making new ones. This basically means that we use so much of our brain remembering old pointless things on the internet, that there is no room to retain new real life memories. All these problems also show no signs of slowing down. We no longer live in a world where using technology is just a hobby or a choice. Most jobs include the use of technology and the internet, vastly increasing the amount of time we spend on the internet and using technology. Experts are recommending spending less time on the internet to try and decrease the effects of excessive use. However, it can be very hard to cut down on use of technology and internet. Giving up on technology can make life logistically difficult, and also changes our ability to connect with others. Meaning if everyone is connecting via technology, then you could be left out entirely.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brainside.html?_r=0

Internet and School

Using the Internet was always such a fun thing to do when I was younger. You could play games and chat with friends without physically being with them. You can do that and much more today, which seems great but maybe it isn't. 

Ever since the smartphones have been available people have been able to easily access the Internet from anywhere they want. One of these locations is school. Kids in school can now use the Internet whether they are permitted to or not. They can go on any website they want whether the school has it blocked or not. While 18-29 year olds are the age group with the highest rates of Internet use, 12-17 is a close second. This means students do use the Internet quite often. In my high school we all played games against each other during school. Why? It’s because we were bored and thought we didn’t need any of the information, when we did. Now my brother is in high school and he always tells me about how he and his friends always fool around in school and play on their phones. So what's the point of going to school if you spend the day on your phone? Our society is so attached to technology it is becoming a little scary. Advances in technology are great but when it takes away from student’s abilities to learn and be successful, it becomes a problem.

Not only are students on their phones in school and not paying attention but also outside of school for things like “research”. I know whenever I have research to do I just Google something, but am I really doing research? I only end up looking at the first page of results just like many other people do. Using Google to do research is good and bad. It’s quick and easy, has many resources and is self-sufficient but it is all less credible, has a small range and has too much information. Sometimes on Google, a result might pop up to your search but it has nothing to do with what you wanted and that is because your search and the result have words in common, not meaning. Using Google or any other search engine for that matter, for research hinders student’s abilities to go to a physical library and obtain the same types of information, but with more specificity. I prefer to do my research online but that is because the world we live in is so technologically advanced and revolves around technology that it is easier for me to do it online. I don’t want to go to the library if I can just Google what I need to know from my bed. This hurts my ability to do research because if I need to go to the library I don’t know what to do. Yes I have the basic knowledge of how to do it, but to do it efficiently and get the best information I can will be difficult.