Brita Stream

This water filter system is so much better than the first one! I am able to fill up the whole pitcher and not have to wait for it to filter out! It's also a very nice color and style. You can tell it's been updated. I received this product free in return for my honest review. Thanks Influenster!

ePortfolio #3

Artifact 8 - Thursday, March 31; 10:07 p.m.

http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/03/artifact-8.html

http://hargatec.blogspot.com/2011/03/artifact-8-health-online.html

Artifact 9 - Thursday, April 7; 10:56 p.m.

http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/04/artifact-9.html
http://cerutti102.blogspot.com/2011/04/artifact-9.html


Artifact 10 - Friday, April 15; 8:34 a.m.

http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/04/artifact-10.html

Artifact 10

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/miss-g-a-case-of-internet-addiction/?emc=eta1

In the article Miss G: A Case if Internet Addiction, I was shocked. It was surprising to know that Dr. Young actually made this internet addiction quiz in 1998, before people were really using the internet that often. Of course, some people probably were online nonstop, but the number of addicts today has skyrocketed. When the author of this article talks about Gabriela sleeping with her laptop, staying online until 4 a.m., and thinking about the internet when she isn’t online, I immediately thought, “Wow, she is addicted.” That is why I was confused that later in the article when she explains that her behavior usually isn’t considered addictive. I have never heard of anyone sleeping with their laptop every night. The reason that some people feel the need to stay online so often is because of psychological issues and issues at home that they cannot seem to escape from. This is why Angela from the movie Catfish decided to create someone new. Usually addicts will begin by ignoring normal household chores, specifically laundry, just to stay on the internet later. They will loose track of time and next thing they know, it’s 4 a.m. Gabriela’s online cycle seemed to be very predictable. She sees a status of song lyrics, googles them, checks out the music, looks at pictures, and then posts them to Facebook again. No wonder she stays awake so long on the internet. I was surprised that she is very religious, and doesn’t use the computer on Sunday, the Sabbath day, but she spends most of her time thinking about the internet. I think internet addiction is a real thing that can break some people apart including relationships. If two people are on a date, yet one is obsessed with their phone because they are chatting with people on Facebook or texting often, the other person will not be happy that they are being ignored. At this point, I think most people would be considered “addicted” mainly because of how often we use the internet. While I check my school email, home email, and Facebook daily (on average) I could live without it. On weekends I usually do not use the internet that often because I have other things to do. Some people, like Gabriela and Angela, use the internet as an escape because they can have a different personality and be someone that they can’t be in person. I am considering about writing my 4th essay on internet addiction because I would like to know more about it. How many people in the world today are considered addicts? How many more are there now compared to 1998 when the internet addiction quiz first came out? It doesn’t really seem that this is a big problem to be addicted, but that is probably because I am not therefore I would be fine without internet for a day. I feel bad for people that can’t get away from technology at all because I look forwards to days when I can sit and just turn my phone off.

Strand 4 Topics 1 and 2

Topic 1 - Political Communication in CMC

This topic talks mainly about the pros of communicating political issues and elections online. It gives people freedom to communicate across national borders without having to travel or show a passport. It also allows people living under representative governments to express their views more easily and freely. Being online, it can reach a wide audience across the world, speaking for an underrepresented group, or challenging the authorities because they may want you to think a certain thing. It confronts the authority of governing powers and resists the dominant political ideas because it lets people to think for themselves. It allows us to view current events from more than one perspective. Finally, it enables us to participate actively in political processes. They like active participation and resistance within websites. These websites can be used to set up information sites or to resist government authority. Either way, you are free to have your own view. E-democracy is governments, elected officials, media, political organizations, and citizens use the internet to engage in debates. Any political information on the web is considered to be e-democracy. Cyberactivism is the use of email, news groups, and the web to address a large audience and communicate with their supporters. Cyberactivists use the internet to promote human rights, animal rights, environmental issues, and the rights of communities to create social change. These people live for issues that are talked about online. CMC can increase political awareness, participatory democracy, mutual tolerance, and more open, peaceful dialogues between people. I always thought that political issues were a hot stove issue that really couldn’t be peaceful, but I am sure it isn’t as heated as a F2F debate. Not only do people agree with what is being said, they also resist it. In the first week of the 2003 Iraq War, 1,000 websites including U.S. Military websites were hacked by anti-war activists that didn’t like what was being said.

Topic 2 – Legal Communication in CMC

            Today is said to be a golden age for lawyers. Online scams, hacking into bank accounts, and intellectual property concerns are all keeping the net legal experts busy. Why? Because of a concept called online libel. Cyberlibel is a false and damaging statement made about someone online. It is worse than flaming, which is harmful and negative language said to someone during CMC. In order to claim libel, the statement made must have clearly identified the claimant, have lowered the claimant in society’s view, have been punished by the person being sued to a third party or the public, and be provably false. It is a crime that results in the commenter being sued. Some advice that Walmart Canada gives is “you can make general critical remarks about rival major retailers on your website, but mentioning a specific company could get you into legal trouble.” The internet service provider would be responsible for the comment if they are aware that is happens, but they wouldn’t admit it even if they do, therefore the commenter is to blame. Cyber-crime and internet fraud are very common these days which is another reason why lawyers get involved. The Nigerian email scam was one of the longest running international scams ever. This scam promised a percentage of cash if you assist in illegally removing extra money to the U.S. because it was left over from a government funded project. All they needed was your banking information; bad idea. It completely drained some people’s bank accounts while others actually went over to Nigeria and were held captive, beaten, or even murdered. It resulted in 2,600 people filing complaints with $345,000 being stolen and never returned. There were also cybersquatting disputes made popular through court cases. Cybersquatting is buying domain names using well known brand or celebrity names in the hope of selling them to companies or people who probably should have secured them in the first place. A popular dispute was with Steven Spielberg who sued a company in India for having a website dreamworkzweb.com because it was too close to the name of his company; DreamWorks. The company had to forfeit their name instead of going through with the case. In a case with a popular fashion industry, Armani, they had a website Armani.com. Unfortunately, a man by the name of Mr. A.R. Mani wanted to website because it was his name. In this case, the little guy won. Lawyers are getting paid more because internet spam is becoming more popular.

Article about Political Communication
http://www.barackobama.com/obama-for-america-2012-campaign?source=OM2012_LB_G_obama2012-search_barack-obama-broad&gclid=COTKkquomqgCFUkZQgodT00rDA
This is obviously a good example of politics online because it is a campaign for the 2012 presidential election. This website is made for supporters of Obama which is made easy to tell because the home page makes you click "I'M IN!" before you can even read anything else. The government is using the internet to promote the president.

Article about Legal Communication
http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud
This website tells about the Nigerian Email Scam because it was the beginning of more internet scams. Fraud is such a big deal that the FBI is warning people not to fall for it or to give out any banking/personal information.

Artifact 9

Usually, art museums aren’t a very interactive place. People go there to view art and possibly discuss it with one another. This has changed thanks to Shelley Bernstein. She constantly updates Facebook and Twitter accounts telling about the newest art. Websites for museums usually were for advertisement including the hours, admission, and directions to get there. Now people can view the art from the website. While some may not agree about art being viewed online, the opinions of the people are taken into consideration. Bernstein explains that when new art is posted, they see how many people “like” it. This pretty much determines whether or not they choose to show off this new piece of art. She likes to hear the reviews of people, whether good or bad, because it just makes the museum a better place to be. This website is used to know what the people are thinking. Bernstein’s main goal is to get people to come and come back to the museum. Personally, I like to view the art in person rather than online because the atmosphere of the museum puts me in a creative mood. Because technology is always growing, the museums also have to grow. They have wireless internet so that people can even comment right as they are in the museum. Since people don’t always have time to go to the museum, I am really not surprised that the art can be viewed online. I think someday any and everything will be accessible online one way or another.

Artifact 8

Many people in the world today have smart phones. Those smart phones come with applications (app) that can be downloaded to the phone for a specific use. There is a new app that is WebMD. Instead of going to the doctor’s office to get questions answered, you can go to the WebMD website to ask the question. Usually this response is exactly what the doctors would say except the app on the phone is more convenient, saves you a trip to the doctor, and doesn’t necessarily cost any money. Sometimes there may be an emergency when a question needs to be answered right away, and the trip to the doctor may be too late. I also really enjoyed hearing about the video game that some cancer children played because it was their chance to kill the cancer. The game is called Remission. I like it so much because it gives the children hope of killing their cancer with the help of chemotherapy. Someone I know has cancer, and when I told them about the game, they were thrilled. I’m not sure if they ever actually downloaded the app, but it is a good way to keep spirits high. The website, patientslikeme.com, was very interesting to hear about. I never knew there was a website where patients can talk about their problems. The doctors then look at the website to see what the patients are talking about to try and make their visits better, Technology is helping patients and doctors with the problems they have. 

ePortfolio #2

Artifact 4a & 4b - Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011; 8:32 a.m.
http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/02/artifact-4a-4b.html


Artifact 5 - Friday, Mar. 4, 2011
http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/03/artifact-5.html - 8:26 a.m.
http://hargatec.blogspot.com/2011/03/artifact-5-thank-sex-for-making.html - 8:44 a.m.


Artifact 6 - Thursday Mar. 10; 9:52 a.m.
http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/03/artifact-6.html


Artifact 7 - Wednesday, Mar. 16; 9:45 p.m.
http://marissa-simon.blogspot.com/2011/03/artifact-7.html