4/10/14 My Digital Life

Kids, I'm going to tell you an incredible story, the story of how I met technology.  Twenty-five years ago, before I was Dad, I had this whole other life.  Before your time, there were computers, but touchscreens, retina displays, and digital personal assistants were new.  Today, of course, we have exceeded vastly beyond those days of technology.  Back then, we could not imagine what would evolve, we could only guess.  We tried to come up with broad ideas of what technology would be like in the future.  There were experts, like there are today, that predicted the future with scientific ideas and what not, but they never could have conceptualized what we have now.  Our place in that future was to decide if we wanted to embark on a career in technology and hand-pick the classes in high school and college that would assist us in exceeding towards our goals.  There are many careers in technology.  Say you want to work in a S.T.E.M. career.  S.T.E.M. stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.  Any career that works with any one of these is considered a S.T.E.M. career.  Professions such as forensic scientists, doctors, marine biologists, biochemists, and architects are included in that range of jobs.  If you wanted to work in a S.T.E.M. career, taking, algebra, biology, information technology, and computer science in high school would be for the best.  These classes would prepare you for whatever job you ended up with.  S.T.E.M. careers require classes prior to them to teach the basics of the material.  Graphic design is one that can used for a wide variety of different careers.  It can be used for advertising, comic books, and magazines.  Digital marketing allows for a wide variety of careers as well.  Software engineering is another example.  It deals with video games and various different types of experiments, such as a television show demonstrating the calculation of wind speed on the glossy exterior of a car.  Technology has changed nearly all jobs at least a little bit.  Teachers can now automatically track attendance electronically.  Gradebook software automatically calculates grades.  Teachers use multimedia to format fun, interactive presentations and set up online discussion boards, post due dates and schedules, and email additional information to their students.  Writers get in on the fun as well bending technology to their will putting to use their incredible imaginations.  Many of the typewriters of the past have been replaced by computers and other digital devices.  Business people can communicate with others all around the world.  Now products are available worldwide.  A larger audience means more demand, therefore more mula.  As you can see, technology has made a huge impact on careers today.  So much more can be accomplished in so little time.  I am grateful for technology and I hope you are as well.  I acquired much of my information from https://buttonwood.s3.amazonaws.com/ignition/1_0_3/wrap.html?modIndex=8&activityId=22&studentId=1684386.

4/2/14 My Digital Life

Cyberbullying is serious.  You might think that it is not a big deal, but it can be drastically change peoples' lives.  Many teenagers agree that it is a problem and should be stopped in its tracks, in fact, sixty-eight percent.  It is literally hazardous for your health.  The cyberbullied feel disattached and self-conscience about themselves.  The cyberbully is either doing it because he or she feels bad about him or herself or he or she is kidding or getting back at a friend.  The victim's grades usually drop.  He or she normally feels angry, sad, or mad.  Cyberbullying lowers self-esteem and spreads like mold on rancid cheese melting on a sizzling-hot, humid summer day on newly paved asphalt.  Results do not end there.  Some victims hurt themselves or worse.  Cyberbullies do not get away with it, though.  Detention, suspension, and expulsion from school are waiting for them alongside justice.  Some states even have misdemeanor charges or felony criminal charges.  The victim normally knows the cyberbully.  Eighty-four percent of the time, he or she is a friend or acquaintance of the victim.  One out of five times, you once considered the cyberbully your best friend.  Remember that if you are cyberbullied, it is not your fault.  Nobody has the right to criticize you.  You do not want to respond to the cyberbully.  You may say something you did not mean while caught up in the moment.  Blocking the cyberbully keeps their messages from reaching you.  Though, it can help to save copies of the hateful messages as evidence for later.  Screenshots are great evidence.  If necessary, take legal action, and contact the police.  If you see somebody else being victimized by a cyberbully, step in and help.  Tell your parents what is going on and let the victim know that you are there for them.  Try not to retaliate.  It would be to no avail.  The same defenses go for this occasion.  Take screenshots as evidence to help your friend and prove the situation credible.  Facebook, tumblr, twitter, kik, and ask.fm all come with risks.  Do not post any personal information.  Social predators are on the prowl for accounts with such information.  If it still happens to you and you become a victim, the same rules apply.  Do not react immediately, tell your parents, and have evidence.  If you witness somebody else being cyberbullied, tell your parents, send an email to the website officials and block the cyberbully's account if it is possible.  Refrain from posting your feelings or emotions on social networking websites and applications.  They are invites to cyberbullying.  If you are a victim and the situation escalates quickly, delete your account.  Cyberbullying is a genuine offense and should be dealt with using the appropriate actions.  Whether you are the cyberbully or the cyberbullied, be careful.  Social predators stalk their innocent prey for eternity.

I used https://docs.google.com/a/peninsulacatholic.com/document/d/1cAwdVgj-wz5LiCYJa77bUHIvVoRB5uT1K8ty56U1BpU/edit and https://buttonwood.s3.amazonaws.com/ignition/1_0_2/wrap.html?modIndex=7&activityId=21&studentId=1684386.

3/21/14 My Digital Life

Multimedia products are a terrific way to present information in a fun and informative format.  Use all of the various types of software.  Make the presentation visually interesting and fun for the audience.  This makes the presentation entertaining and informative for the viewers.  Cite  the sources you use.  You can tell if you are illegally stealing the information or if it is fair use because fair use information is commonly used in education. Photos and videos can be copyrighted making them off limits for the public for a certain number of years. There are numerous websites that legally provide photos and videos that are free.  It is important to give credit to the creators of art that you use in a presentation.  Many of them make a profit off of that art. He or she probably does not want you to steal their work and distribute it to others for free. They can put a copyright on it locking it for only their use for a number of years.  Multimedia products are a fantastic way to teach various topics.

This video explains multimedia products, http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/dida/multimedia/productsrev1.shtml.

This video, http://www.powtoon.com/p/bBDidn7vVsg/, is mine.

3/12/14 My Digital Life

In a world of thieves, credible sites that do not try to scam you can be hard to find.  Especially in the digital world of today, using and citing credible sources is imperative.  It is very important to cite the source for the person that wrote the information you are using.  Not only does this give them credit for their work, but it shows where you got the information from and if it is credible.  There are many bogus sites out there today.  Wikipedia is a wonderful website, but anybody can edit the information.  This causes it to be risky to pull information from.  Websites that were created or updated recently by an expert are the most credible sources.  Decent websites have authors and/or sponsors.  It is a good sign if the editor has a description of who he or she is, what college degrees he or she has, if any, and whatever hobbies he or she has.  This helps to guarantee his or her authentification in the subject he or she is writing about.  Check the website ending.  The most credible sources have .gov and .edu at the end of their URLs.  Credible websites do not have any bias towards one side or opinion.  Read the entire article, and check other websites to make sure there is no prejudice or error.  The website should have a professional look to it.  There should not be any misspelled words, formatting or design issues, or broken links.  Compare the information on the website to another credible website in order to check the accuracy and facts.  This is a crucial step to finding a credible source, the most important in fact.  The video found at this URL, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQXe1F8LWw, is extraordinary.  It tells how to evaluate online resources.  In fact, this is where I acquired my previous information.  I cited it as one of my sources at the end of this blog.  Another source is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrGsxSpM5E&feature=youtu.be&scrlybrkrx=c197937e&scrlybrkr=5ba99451 talking about whether or not Wikipedia is a credible source.  Wikipedia is a ¨ladder¨ to finding out other information.  It is great for finding other sites that are more reliable.  Each of their pages has a list of their sources at the bottom below the article.  As Mr. Pilola once told my English 9 class, he uses Wikipedia to look up various questions he has during the day or to learn about something new for fun.  I do the same occasionally.  When I have a random question or want to look up something, I usually use Wikipedia.  It is a terrific website, but it is only the start when writing a paper.  Finding credible sources can be difficult, but when it comes to acknowledging others' hard work, it is important.

I acquired much of my information from the websites https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtQXe1F8LWw, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrGsxSpM5E&feature=youtu.be&scrlybrkrx=c197937e&scrlybrkr=5ba99451, and Mr. Pilola.

3/6/14 My Digital Life

Viruses are pieces of code that are capable of copying themselves.  They usually have detrimental effects like corrupting the system or destroying data.  Viruses are nasty.  People should know how to protect themselves against them.  The best defense against viruses is by keeping your computer software up to date at work and as well as at home and getting anti-virus software.  This helps you recover and closes your computer's back doors preventing viruses from sneaking in.  Do not click on links, attachments, or downloadable files unless you know for certain that they are legitimate.  Another thing computer users should look out for is identity theft.  There are five simple steps to guarding yourself from identity thieves.  Keep your eyes peeled for skimmers.  Skimmers are nearly undetectable devices are commonly placed on credit card machines, ATMs, and gas pumps.  Pay in stores and recieve change at the register rather than at ATMs.  Change your usernames and passwords often.  Do not respond to phone calls, texts, or emails including personal information.  Check your online account balance and transactions frequently.  Finally the most crucial tip to protecting yourself from identity theft, obtain identity theft protection.  Recovery is a drawn out, nitpicky process without insurance coverage.  It can even take years to clear your name.  Security First identity companies identity theft coverage comes with protection for you family too.  Before jumping into a coverage company, review them all.  Different companies have various levels of coverage.  Security First Insurance Company Identity Theft Protection twenty-five dollars annually with monitoring services included.  They work all day every day to keep your identity secure.  That is a modest price for a service so valuable.  Think of what you already have standing between your private information and creepy criminals, your password.  Many of them are great at guessing passwords.  Others have computer programs that make millions of guesses until it is cracked.  It is even simpler if the criminal knows things about you.  It is not a good idea to use very simple around-the-house possessions or pets.  Your password should definitely not contain information about you.  The most effective and memorable way to make one is by coming up with an easy-to-remember phrase.  Take the first letter of each word in it.  Capitalize a few of them.  Then add some special characters of your choosing.  Be cautious if you write down the password.  Somebody could easily catch a glimpse or find it in the recycling.  Also remember to logout of sites you cruise through on foreign computers.  Random stranger passerbies could easily scroll through your personal messages.  There is an extremely educational video behind this mystical arrangement of letters and special characters.  It goes by the name of https://www.ted.com/talks/mikko_hypponen_fighting_viruses_defending_the_net.  It speaks of it being twenty-five years since the very first PC virus, known as Brain A.  Mikko Hyppönen, computer security expert, tells how to stop today's new viruses in their tracks before they attack our beloved internet.  Thank you oh so very much!  Good whatever it is for you!

2/28/14 My Digital Life

Digital communication is essential in the world of today.  Of course, digital communication is the sharing of information digitally through technology.  Something with so much influence must have a substantial risk of danger.  Many people don't know that what they do on the internet can dramatically impact them.  It's on the web, right?  It's just a computer.  This isn't so.  Not only on the internet can you be in danger, but also when using digital devices in the real world.  Texting is a great example of this in action.  Though the majority of people don't text while they're driving, it's still a major issue causing numerous car crashes every year.  Many people think that it will just take a moment to respond to a text.  Though this may be true, that fact doesn't take away from the danger of doing it while driving.  When texting and driving, your brain can only focus fifty percent on each.  This does not result in doing a good job at either.  This can quickly and easily result in disaster.  The best thing to do is put your phone out of reach, turn it off, or ask someone in your family or a friend driving with you to text for you.  You are also in potential danger online.  Whatever you upload or send can never be deleted.  At least, it's so extremely unlikely that it is almost impossible to get rid of it.  People save photos, share videos, send texts, repost audio files, and reblog things all of the time.  If any of your friends or family are ever in trouble on the internet, you should talk to them about it immediately.  You should also inform an adult, preferably the victim's parents, so that they can offer any assistance they can to help fix the problem.  Let's say somebody sends an inappropriate, revealing picture to a close ¨friend¨.  The ¨friend¨ might send it to some of his or her friends who could send it to their friends.  Eventually the picture could be spread out across hundreds of people.  Everyone digitally communicating must be careful with what they send and receive on their digital devices.  Many things can very quickly get out of hand.  I found a video called A Brief History of Communication at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDkxsNmKDGk&scrlybrkr=5ba99451 that, like the name alludes to, illustrates communication from the beginning to the communication of today.  It explains how people first shared information through speech with each other.  Later they write it down, sharing the information with others.  Then a man communicates through a telephone to a person that broadcasts it on the radio.  A baby and grandmother here it over the radio.  A couple sees it on their television.  A man prints out a fax of it.  Another man sees it on his computer and calls a friend to tell him or her amidst a world full of technology where everybody is connected.  I agree with binjder, the person who posted the video, ¨Live life unmuted¨.

2/21/14 My Digital Literacy

Computers are becoming more and more important as time goes on.  All computers are made up of three parts.  There is the hard drive, RAM, and the processor.  The hard drive stores all the things you need for later.  RAM, or random access memory, makes some information quick and easy to access.  The processor is always completing tasks and making things work together.  In the past, computers were solitary workers that worked alone in homes and businesses.  Though in today's modern world, the internet allows us to use our computers in the cloud.  Cloud computing secures and backs up your information at other locations.  It enables your work to be accessible through the web.  The cloud companies have nearly unlimited storage and resources so that the user can continue to add to it without worry.  The information is backed up at numerous locations promising protection.  The user only pays for what they use.  The user can also use new kinds of services that live in the cloud that are available on the web.  Email, word processing, and photo sharing can all be used in the cloud.  Cloud computing is efficient for businesses as well as people like you and me.  stored in the cloud, are always backed up, and accessible from any internet connection.  I think that computers will improve at an extremely fast rate.  Think of how long it took for Apple and Microsoft to become what they are today.  Apple was established on April 1, 1976.  Microsoft was established on April 4, 1975.  In about thirty-nine years, computers have evolved from the Altair 8800 in 1975 to the 2014 iMac.  I think that in the next five years, more computers will have slightly curved screens.  Game systems will be faster and be able to hold more information.  I think that in the next ten years, computers will be able to run much faster, charge much faster, and hold more information.  In the next fifteen years, I think that computers will be even smoother, thinner, durable, faster, lighter, and be much more versatile performing tasks nearly unimaginable today.  Just like last week, I found a wonderful TED Talks video that explains cloud computing at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeOb0rKrt7A.  A long, long time ago, people could only share information through speaking and drawing.  The only way to share that knowledge was by showing or telling somebody in person. Eventually writing came about making information more easily accessible.  When computers were created, it made information from around the world accessible from your lap or table.  Though this is all nice and good, the information is still somewhat trapped.  Cloud computing bundles up a whole bunch of information and makes it instantly available in software service packages.  As Juan De Fuca said in his TED Talk, cloud computing is ¨a canvas for using and sharing knowledge that was previously unavailable¨.  Computers have come a long way in the past thirty-nine years, and cloud computing makes information all the more abundant and accessible. o:-)