Artifact #8

This video was very interesting because searching for health tips online is becoming very popular, but also, according to this video, interactive website to help with health related issues and games to learn about these issues are also pretty popular today.  Turning issues about health into video games for kids to learn about issues they have or need to be informed about is a great idea because, like they said in the video, it makes kids less scared of the "big doctor." I think this is a very good idea and makes learning about health facts fun for kids.

Another topic the video talked about was health tip apps that are available 24/7 on smart phones that are pretty popular today.  These apps are interactive, some you even get feedback from an actual doctor, and all are pretty reliable apps.  These apps are making it easier to find out information that is usually only available by going into a doctor's office.  But one thing I wondered about this is, are people making fewer doctor's appointments because they simply turn to their apps to find out what is wrong with them?  The video was not exactly about that, however, that could soon become the case. More and more useful items become available almost daily, and these two, the apps and the interactive games for children, seem pretty helpful and very educational.

Artifact #7

This article "Professors Use Technology to Fight Student Cheating " talks about the things professors have started doing to prevent so much cheating in their classrooms.  A cheating rate of 50% is a little too large for comfort, in my opinion.  Yes this data was from 2002 and the percentage has dropped a little recently, but I still think that cheating is a serious issue.  I, personally did not see an issue in my high school with cheating by plagiarizing for papers or looking answers up online for tests, but then again we never had online tests, so I guess that was a way for my school to eliminate the problem of cheating in that way before it even started.  But then again I know cheating by copying homework, looking off of other people during tests, etc. does happen, which is still a serious issue.  Noone is benefiting from someone else's work, but that obviously will not be realized until one day they are struggling through their job that they cheated through college to get.  Cracking down on students is a great thing that needs to be done for students to learn their lessons.  It is unbelievable the ideas kids have come up with just to cheat.  If they would spend that time studying or actually doing their homework, they would be a lot more successful in their academics.  

Artifact #6

This video "I am anonymous" was a very interesting video and some interesting information was included with this video. Anonymity is very important and is seen less and less today.  Very rarely can someone post something on a website without having to be a member of the site, which means having a username, which is viewable by anyone who looks at the article or whatever it may be that someone commented on.  Speech is a big part of our freedom and if someone does not want to be known for saying something, they shouldn't have to be.  But also, there are so many people on a website that some people may think, why does it matter if we have to put a username by our posts because it is not like people would know who we were or anything?  But the example of the guy who abused his cat is a great example.  If something is said that could result in serious charges or get someone in big trouble, they can be tracked down and found.  This is scary to think about, but it is also very interesting because it is good to know that people who think by putting stuff online cannot be tracked down actually can be tracked down and hopefully punished for whatever they have done.

This site that the video talked about is a great site because people can say whatever they want, but it can be deleted if it causes any conflict.  People are free to say what they want, in limitation, and it gives people a great feel of having this freedom of speech.  I found this website very interesting and it put some interesting information out there and made me realize a few things about anonymity I had not realized.

Artifact #5

As I listened to the video "Thank Sex for Making the Internet Hot" I was pretty struck by the different facts that were stated.  First, it doesn't surprise me that Facebook and MySpace, social network sites, are the top visited sites on the Internet today, but what did surprise me is before they became the most visited sites, pornography sites were the top viewed sites.  Another thing that surprised me was how online shopping and pornography are sort of related and how one led to the other.  I never thought of these two as being sort of related because, in my opinion, they don't have much in common at all.  Pornography is not commonly heard about except for maybe on the news or something, but it still does exist which is scary because it means people are still watching and viewing it, but most likely keeping it a secret.  I mean, who would want to be out in the open about watching porn, but it is still scary to think about since it still is pretty popular.  Social networks are not pornography sites, but some people do go too far as far as what they are posting on there.  This is unfortunate, too, because social network sites are designed to keep in touch with others, but of course it has to be taken too far and inappropriate things are posted there. It is unfortunate how popular pornography still is today.  Also, it's weird to think that pornography influenced sites like Facebook and MySpace to be created, and that it sort of started online shopping.