"Googleable"

In Will Richardson's article, "Footprints in the Digital Age", Richardson talks about how it is good to be "googleable" and how many young kids are on the computer alot. What exactly does it mean to  be "googleable"? What I got out of Richardson's article was that being "googleable" meant that when your name is searched on google, links will come up that have something to do with you. When the ten year old girl was mentioned in the article about how she has her own blog about doing a good deed for 25 days and how many other people has subscribed to it really amazed me. I just learned how to do a blog this year. Richardson says that being findable on Google is a good thing. Many people from all over who have the same interests as you can search you and find out alot about you that many people may not know. Yes, i do think that having web links and pictures of you on the web is really cool but its not very safe. Being "googleable" is actually really dangerous. Before i started this blog I googled myself and many things came up. Articles about me being on swim team and articles about soccer came up for me. I think that is kinda weird how my personal info can come up for anyone who types "Taryn Pilkington" into the search box for google. All in all , the this public info on the web we call "footprints" can make you known or ruin you life because of predators.

A Great Influence

Do you remember years ago when your friends and/or parents used to say “monkey see, monkey do”? In the article”Sesame Street's Cleavage Problem” by The Daily Beast, it mentions how the new episode; that was supposed to come out on television but never did because the parents who watch this show with their children didn’t like Katy Perry revealing outfit choice. During this scene, Perry sings a parody version of her song “Hot and Cold”, she wears a veil and a “low-cut, tight dress” throughout it. Even though she is wearing a nude colored mesh fabric that covers the majority of her chest, parents still feel it is to inappropriate for their 2-6 year olds to be watching. Most children around the preschooler age tend to mimic what they see.

                My opinion about this is pretty strong. I know when I was around a preschool age, shows like Sesame Street, surely did not even think of having pop stars like Katy Perry on them. She isn’t exactly the best role model for younger children or really even teenagers my age. She doesn’t give off a very good impression. If you have ever really listened to her lyrics or even watched some of her music videos you would get that she is a “naughty person”. By “naughty person” I mean her lyrics are not exactly “Ring around the Rosy”, which is appropriate for younger children, they more about sex and going to clubs. Her music videos are for sure, not even close to appropriate for preschoolers. For example, in her “Teenage Dream” video she is in her under garments most of the time and her and her “guy” are doing inappropriate actions.. I am just saying that children shows, that should be fun and educational for the viewers, should really only contain puppets and good role models that “cover up” while on T.V. or out in public.  

Dumbing Us Down

Do you get distracted easily? Have you stopped reading books and articles because they take to long to read? Well in Nicholas Carr’s “Is Google Making Us Stupid? What The Internet Is Doing to Our Brains” article in the Atlantic magazine, he states numerous details about how Google and the internet in general is making many people less focused and more lazy.

            Throughout the article, it states that the internet is making humans less literate and more apathetic about getting things done correctly. The quote “We are not only what we read, we are how we read,” said by Maryanne Wolf, means that if you read short crappy pieces of literary works you aren’t trying as hard as possible and by reading below your standards, you wont get much better at reading. It also says that Google is making researching easier. Instead of sitting in a library for hours looking for the information you need, you can just open up the internet and go to Google and search whatever topic you’d like. The article also says that the internet can be very distracting.
            Thoughts of mine about this article are close to the same as Carr’s. When ever I am doing an assignment on the computer, like this one, I often stop many times and check my Facebook, my grades, get on iTunes, and check many texts. Im petty positive that I read more texts chat messages and Facebook profiles (as said in “A Vision of Students Today” ), I also get up and “get a glass of water”, not really.  Thanks to the internet, its made reading books (that are long) a lot easier. The internet provides websites like spark notes, even with that I barely read books, I more like skim them. Also when I read books, I normally read a few paragraphs then stop because I would just rather be on the web. Personally I do think that google is making a lot of people stupider. But if people just cut back on how much they use the computer they won’t be tempted as much to be distracted by the web.

The Ways of The Wise

Some people have their own ways of starting off a new school year and new season but in Barbara Guggenheim's “10 Tips to Start the Fall Off Right”, you can gain new helpful ways to get your Fall season started off right. Tip number one tells you to make a list of chores and everyone’s activities so that you can keep organized during times when you are busy. The second one advises you to make a list of all the important numbers (medical insurance, car insurance, parent numbers, and ect.) in your family just incase anything life threatening occurs. Number three tells you to clean out your house so that anything left over from summer is gone and then restock you cupboards with new food and drinks. Tip four says to refresh you bedrooms and bathrooms and make them up to date with the new holidays coming around. Half way there, number five advises you to make a list of helpful and important items that need to belong in the glove compartment of your car. If you child has graduated from high school and is now moving on to college, make a list of what he will need to get by when he/she in on his own is what tip number six tells you to do. If you need a home office, you can rearrange furniture in your house so there is room; tip number seven informs you of this. Its time to clean out your drawers and closets of summery clothes and replace them with long sleeves and jeans. Tip number nine delegates you to clean out your old toiletries and replace them. Lastly, tip number ten suggests that you get new sheets for your bed, make your bed, then lie in it for the first time and relax.

Each and every tip that I said is very useful. The tips are good but for most people twenty years of age or older. The tips really are not that good for teenagers and kids just like me. I will most likely never think of any of those tips when ever fall comes around. When fall comes around, I think of school, soccer, friends, and family. If someone ever came up to me now and told me to go and make a list of chores and activities I have during the fall, I would probably just look at them and walk away. When I am about to go to college or maybe when I am out of college I will use those tips to my advantage. But right now, they are dead to me. Are they dead to you? Do they apply to you? Will you ever use them now or maybe even later on? Oh, the questions you ask yourself as a your adult.

Technology: Helping The Students of Today?

   Is today's technology helping students or hurting them? In "A Vision of Students Today", created by Michael Wesch in collaboration with 200 students from Kansas State University, Wesch has his students take a small quiz that show how much time they spend on the computer, sleeping, on the phone ect.
  
       Many times students may be caught with cell phones, I-pods, computers and calculators during class. These devices, while used during class when not supposed to be, are very distracting. They take away from the learning environment and cause students with great grades to achieve less then expected grades. Cell phones, I-pods, computers and calculators can help though.

   The technology of 2010 is very downgrading to some people and very upgrading to others. Personally I think technology helps out very much. With out technology, i would have a computer, so i wouldn't be able to type this paper.