Websites

This week, we were instructed to review the Mission Critical and Causal Argument websites and discuss the usefulness of them. Each website provided text-full, informational pages with exercises to review the material. For me personally, I think the websites could use a little editing. On the Mission Critical website, each page provided plenty information on that subject, but the pages were sometimes hard to read due to the amount of text and that some of the text went outside the designated area. However, most of the pages gave great examples and I found it very convenient to have the exercises on the same page as the text, so I could always scroll up and review if I was unclear on a question. For example, on the page discussing Loaded Questions and Complex Claims, the text was interesting to read ("Sometimes, answering a loaded question with another loaded question is the best reply") and right below was the exercises. On the website about Causal Argument, there was a lot of reading of text and on some parts I got lost. But jut like the other website, the text included great examples that help me connect to what is being explained. For example, using and analyzing the argument regarding who is to blame for a car accident which included a illegally parked car, a bicyclist, an incoming car, and the car who failed to break. By using this example, I was able to follow the lesson easier because I was applying it to real life. However, the exercises where on a separate page, which made it hard to review before answering a question if I wanted to.

Whether the Weather Be Cold..

Last weekend was really warm down here in San Jose, if you all remember. The temperature was in the 90's and everyone was either at the pool or heading to the beach. I myself enjoy both of those activities last weekend to take advantage of the warm weather. When Monday was coming up, I had expected that the weather then would be warm as well. When friends asked me what the weather will be like Monday, I would reply with, "Warm of course!" Little did I know, I had filled not only my mind, but my friends’ minds, with incorrect information and misled them into thinking the Monday was going to be just like the weekend. I had made the observation from previous days and concluded that Monday will be like the days before. This kind of weather forecasting is named Persistence, where we believe tomorrow will be like today. I discovered that my observation was misleading when I walked outside the next day to significantly colder weather compared to the weekends. I was prepared for hot weather and dressed accordingly. Scientific knowledge taught me that my observations were not a strong enough argument for my conclusion. My hypothesis was incorrectly formed from a wrong analysis, leading to a false conclusion. Next time, I will form a better hypothesis by using correct experimentation SO I won't be wearing shorts in the cold wind.

Libra Love?

Libra Horoscope
You can normally appreciate the smaller things in life, but it's perfectly understandable if you draw the line at small minds. Some petty people will irk you to no end today, even though you're going to impress the heck out of them. Make sure that your pride doesn't stop you from dealing in a constructive way with one of these people -- remember that you don't have to have everyone like you, especially someone who is interested in you only for what he or she can get out of you.
In my humble opinion, I do not think this horoscope prediction was very accurate at all. So yes, it is falsifiable. My day has actually been the completely opposite. This morning I drove home to my brothers and sister to spend the weekend with them as my parents were traveling. I have spent the day appreciating my family and the "smaller things in life". I was definitely not trying to impress anyone, just enjoy the company of my siblings and spending time with them. All of us kids went to both of my sister’s softball games, then we went out of Slurpee’s, made dinner together, and now we are bonding over video games. Maybe somewhere out there there is a Libra that this horoscope applies to, but not in my case. Rarely do my horoscopes apply to my life, nor do I actually try to follow them. They supply us with very obvious advice and do not always to the reader’s current situation- like mine.

Sensationalism

In this chapter, the book discusses sensationalism and the News as Entertainment. It covered how many stories are chosen because of their entertainment value rather than the "newsworthiness". This topic was very fascinating because I started seeing this happen and notice this as I read or watched the news. It is very interesting how the media plays on our human tendency to engage in the memorable events. The book used the example of the news stations cover the story of Michael Jackson's death week after week when it happened, while much more important news was being neglected by the media and people. I personally saw some sensationalism of the news when "Snooky" revealed she was pregnant, or when Jaycee Dugard was found. Jaycee story lasted for weeks, and although we were fascinated by her story, they was much more going on around the world that the people should have been informed about.

Internet Plagiarism

One of the most important things to avoid in college: Internet Plagiarism. One wrong or missing citation and the student could end up failing the assignment. An already-used research paper could mislead the professor teaching abilities. Brook J. Sadler provides ten arguments as to why Internet plagiarism is wrong. Some of her arguments are interchangeable, such as the topic of students who plagiarize do not benefit from the hard work and the topic of how plagiarism prevents opportunities for the student to take pride in creative self-expression. Although some of the arguments ring true, like how it is unfair to other students and not beneficial for the student themselves, I believe she spread out the arguments too thin. Some of the arguments could have be put together while others are not strong enough to stand on their own. In the reading by Russell Hunt, he provides arguments how Internet plagiarism is an opportunity for educators to reexamine current teaching methods and to develop a new model that is more "active, cooperative, context-bound, and problem-and-project-based". He challenges the current method and explains why they are not working and actually turn students to plagiarism. What I liked best about one of his arguments was that he wanted the educators to emphasize to students the strength of their own work. What I would have liked to see in both of these articles is the discussion of how the growth of Internet had also played a huge rise in Internet plagiarism over the years.

I can kind of compare Internet Plagiarism to rape. We can blame the students or the educators, and we could blame the woman or the rapist. People can debate that it was the woman's fault for what she was wearing or how she was acting, while others can debate that she was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. It seems we live in a society where we teach women how to avoid rapist, but we don't teach men not to rape. So with that said, I think Russell Hunts argument is the strongest because I agree we should try to stop the issue instead of preventing it.

Media Experiences

Most of my media experiences come from being on the Internet. I spend most of my time on the Internet on social websites like Facebook. On Facebook, I am surrounded by all my family and friends. This reinforces my existing worldview and values because many of my Facebook friends and I can bond together to discuss an issue or an idea. An example would be if I were to bring up an incident that occurred in town, and go on about how is what horrible, many of my friends would "like" the post or comment and agree. However, Facebook can also challenge or expand my views. Being in college and lacking access to a TV and newspaper, it had been hard for me to keep up with current news going on. When the pepper spray incident at UC Davis occurred, my Facebook was flooding with status updates from friends about the subject matter. There were videos and links left and right showing or discussing footage of what had happened. On many of the statuses, there were debates between people discussing who was at fault and whether the situation was blow out of proportion or not. In this case, Facebook opened me up to a lot of information I would have not otherwise received. Also, the debates and multiple sides of the story allowed me to get a whole perspective of the pepper spray situation, and help me to form my own conclusion.

Regulating Children's Food Advertisments

While reading Wootan's and Liodice's arguments regarding the government regulation of children's food advertising, I notice that both of these authors provide a well written argument. I agree with Wootan's point how advertising unhealthy food to children can be misleading and unfair to them. Wootan's argument was valid because he used statistic and the negative effects of these advertisements. Liodice's argument was valid an effect as well. Liodice addressed the first amendment, freedom of speech, and explained how regulating these advertisements would violate the first amendment. He explained how CSPI is like the "nation's food nanny", and how it undermines parents authority for their child’s diets. Near the end, Liodice brought up that this issue goes further than just regulating advertisement by explaining that the food itself needs to be healthier and communities should ban together to bring heath into the country. I think if these two authors combined their arguments, if would make both of theirs stronger because it would challenge each other’s points, forcing a more accept solution.

Marketing Strategies

During the past week, I have encountered many different marketing strategies. First, I noticed many advertisements on my Facebook page that were placed there based on my likes and what my friends like. I found this marketing strategy somewhat successful only because I was able to see what my friends like, so I know the company is legitimate. Another marketing strategy I noticed was product placement in a music video I watched. The product was a Ferrari which the characters were driving fast. I don't think this strategy work very well because I made the product seem much more out of reach, giving me the impression that I had to be a celebrity to own the vehicle. I usually find product placement marketing strategies most effect because I do not feel like I'm being advertised to when the companies do it correctly. I almost always notice the product and I feel closer to the characters when I do because I too use that product. The least effective marketing strategy is when they use the fallacy of appeal to inappropriate authority, such as using celebrities to promote the product. It undermines the actual product because many consumers know that the celebrity is just promoting the product for the money, and not because it actually works.