Week of 11/12 Question 2

One time that I drew an incorrect conclusion based on an observation alone was at my job a couple of weeks ago. There was a person who was walking towards the desk that I work reception at. He seemed really angry and was walking rather fast. I have had my fair share of angry customers, so I was preparing for whatever was going to happen. It really surprised me when he was one of the nicest people I had ever helped. He was polite and kind and was really understanding about the answers that I was giving him. I drew the conclusion that he was going to be difficult to deal with based on his facial expressions, but I ended up being wrong. I think that because I don’t really encounter people who “look” angry being nice, I ended up assuming he wasn’t going to be any different. 

Week of 11/12 Question 1

After reading my horoscope on horoscope.com, I have found that this could possibly be more accurate than what I first expected. I am a cancer, and it suggested that I take a look at my life and see if I am where I want to be. This is rather accurate because of what I am currently going through. I am going through the process of applying for graduate schools, and I think that I have fallen a little bit behind. I think that it is right that I should make a list and stick to the plan. This is my dream and I need to get it together. However, I do think that this prediction could be falsifiable. I now have everything in line and in check to graduate and go on to apply for new schools. I believe that we may also try to make our lives fit into what these horoscopes tell us. 

Chapter 11 Question 3

A topic that I really enjoyed learning about was social media/networking and how it works/affects our world. I understand that it hasn’t been around for too long, but I cant imagine my world without it. Ever since I was in middle school, we all had Xanga blogs and stayed connected to people through there. Today we have things like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and many other forms of staying connected. I have noticed that this has gone super mainstream, and is used by major companies, corporations and even smaller businesses to sell their product and get connected with their customers. I think that while it is a really cool thing to find people that you haven’t seen for ages, I think that it makes us all a little disconnected from what is actually happening in our present world. I think that we could do a much better job at living peaceful and successful lives if we just stayed away a little bit from all of the artificial lives that happen on the internet.

Chapter 11 Question 2

Brook Sadler brings up some very good issues in the article “The Wrongs of Internet Plagiarism: The Quick Arguments.” Sadler says that plagiarizing could be considered somewhat of a theft. One person is taking away, or one could even say that they are robbing, somebody else’s intellectual property. They are stripping them of the hard work that they have made and claiming it as their own. In “Four Reasons to be Happy About Internet Plagiarism,” Hunt believes something a bit different. Hunt believes that students should be able to plagiarize because it will help them pass and be successful in classes. Sadler has the best argument of these two for a few reasons. Sadler gives reasons and support as to why it should not happen and even offers possible solutions. Hunt seems to only state where he stands. I believe that plagiarism is simply unfair to people who put in a lot of hard work and effort into their work.

Chapter 11 Question 1

I think that it is very easy to get carried away with what the media portrays and what you are made to believe by it. It is also, however, one of the only outlets or sources of information that is really and readily accessible and doesn’t take too much work to learn from. One experience that thoroughly reinforces my world views and values is when I saw a commercial that was against smoking. It featured people who had to suffer through lung cancer in it. It make me realize exactly to what extent/circumstances could exist if someone were to smoke. It reinforced the fact that I already felt strongly about-nobody should smoke. It made me realize that more people needed to be educated about this issue just like I was educated. It challenged my views, however, in that it featured mainly white, older victims. I think that this commercial should have been more inclusive of all the people that it happens to so it doesn’t give any idea that certain people don’t have to worry.

Week of 10/24: Question 1

This week, I have encountered quite a few marketing strategies that have come up. Having only two days before the elections, there is a lot of marketing out there for different propositions and candidates running for different governmental positions. I am an avid user of Youtube and go on there to distract myself. I like to watch different channels for different reasons. Some offer humor, some are simply video diaries of different, very interesting people. Before a lot of the videos I’ve watched this week, there have been 15-30 second commercials that pop up. Most of them have been advertisements pro-Mitt Romney. Being that he is a more conservative candidate, the way in which he is portrayed says otherwise. I think that somehow Youtube collects data as to what kind of videos I watch, and therefore categorizes me. Then, they put advertisements before the videos that fit the type of person they are trying to persuade. I think that this method is rather ineffective because it simply is annoying. They are not swaying me in any which way.

-CesarCOMM41

Week of 10/24: Question 2

Chapter 10 poses a couple of good arguments when it comes to children’s food advertising. Both Wootan and Liodice take their time in elaborating what they say and why it is that they are saying it. Wootan takes the stance of agreeing with government regulation of advertisement aimed towards children because there is the belief that it is a positive stride towards ending childhood obesity. Liodice on the other hand takes a very different approach. He argues that stopping or regulating a certain kind of advertisement is a violation of rights. It also wont be a solution to the problem. While I do believe that it might be impeding against a certain group’s rights, I believe that it is really important to take into consideration the future of the children and what society looks like as a whole. There are a lot of factors that contribute to childhood obesity and if getting rid of one of them will help, why not do it?

-CesarCOMM41