On The Media

1) Our Privacy Delusions: The part I found most interesting about this segment was about the third party providers subject of it's terms. It basically explained that they own your data and can do with it as they please. A provider such as Google has a terms of service and privacy stating they won't give up your data, however they are not required to do so. I think this is important because even though a person may think their data/ info is safe the provider can do whatever they want to with it.

2)How to Sort Good Information from Bad on Twitter: I found a statement made during the segment to be very true and interesting; "Twitter is only as useful as the people you follow." This is true because usually people follow just their friends or other people that post nonsense half of the time. The guy that made the statement had a friend that was trying to find out where would be losing power during a storm. His friend had been calling the company all day long, but after he tweeted to the company's twitter, they responded within 5 minutes. I think is it good for people to know that certain people or companies you can follow can give you good, helpful and reliable information, opposed to normally just following friends or celebrities.

3)Facebook's New Social Search: Something about this segment I found most interesting was the fact that Facebook has quietly updated their privacy rules so that no one is allowed to avoid searches. There has been one bata testing company that has used this. There is now a graph search on Facebook meaning that other users can find people based on their likes and declared interests. This is good to know because instead of people having to know your name to find you or search for a person, they now have the ability to find anybody based on things they have like, and it is good for a person to be aware of this new change to watch out for people they do not know wanting to request a friendship.

4)Facebook vs. Europe: The part about this segment I found most interesting is that even when a person clicks to delete something, the info or data is not truly deleted. This is good to know because it should make people more censored and think twice about what they are posting or uploading because it is truly not deleted if they decide to take it down. Also in Europe, Facebook gives people the option to opt out of tag suggest, but after asking 3 times it will automatically opt a person in. This is good to know because even if a person doesn't want it, they will have it regardless and may be tagged or tag people in something that isn't even them. It isn't such a big deal because it is in Europe but should definitely be monitored.

5)That Little Thing Called "Like": Something I found interesting about this segment are the analogies used to describe the reason people use the like button on Facebook. It said people use it as a self presentation. It related this to a person smoking one brand over another or reading one magazine over another. The statement it is a means of of projecting yourself as you wish to be understood. This isn't too important for people to know, it just is an eye opener as for people to watch out for what they like because it could possibly be portrayed as something about their character.

** The two segments I found to be most related were "Our Privacy Delusions" and "Facebook vs. Europe". Although they do not go hand-in-hand with one another, they both make references to info posted by and uploaded by media users. In "Our Privacy Delusions", third party providers have subject to it's terms and privacy policies stating they won't give it up, but they are not required to do so. In "Facebook vs. Europe", it explains that any info or data posted that you wish to delete and may think you delete, really is not deleted. These 2 segments relate because even though people think they have privacy and control over their information or accounts, they really truly do not have half the authority over it. People just need to be a lot more careful and censored with what they put online.  

In Class Post #10

There have been many skills covered that will greatly benefit my college years. I have learned about so many new search engines that Ihonestly did not even know existed. These would include the databases within Galileo and Galileo itself. I had heard of Galileo but never really knew what it was. We have leanred how to determine whether or not a source is reliable by using the CRAP test. This was extremely helpful to me because I had never paid attention to any of the CRAP test evaluation: dates, author, information within, ect. It has helped to me find the most valuable, reliable, and credible sources pertaining to my research topic. Learning how to do and actually writing an annotated bibliography helped greatly. It made me understand each of my sources in a better manner and helped narrow down or decide which sources would be of full help to support my research. Another aspect of the class that has been taught is presenting the information that has been found. We have already had one presentation and by doing so, it helped me to hear my research out loud and get feedback from co-classmates. All of the skills and tols we have aquired will definitely benefit me in the future and another classes. When writing papers in English, I now can determine whetehera source is good or bad to use. Also when starting my graduate classes, the tools will help me to use reliable sources, dig much deeper into my research, write annotated bibliographies, and will help with presenting the information and research i have found.

In Class Blog Post #9

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-owens/608945297/

This photo was uploaded from a user by the username of Paranoid Black Jack. The real name of this user was not given. The uploaded picture was taken by the actual user, making him the photographer. The title of the photo is "Snow Lepoard." The restrictions state that some rights are reserved; attribution, non-commercial, and no derivative works. The attribution restriction does not allow me to use the photo without citing the source of the picture. The non-commercial restriction on the picture does not give me the right to use the photo to make a profit. Also, the non-derivative restriction given means that I cannot build upon or alter the work. Each restrictions can be waived, but only if permission is given by the photographer/uploader of the picture.

Snow Lepoard [photograph]. (2007). June 18, 2007. http://www.flickr.com/photos/mike-owens/608945297/

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is basically a summary of the sources a person has used for and in their research. Summarizing can entail assessing, reflecting, or evaluating the sources that have been used. Writing an annotated bibliography in class will greatly benefit our research for each topic. Instead of just having the citations and information of sources, there will be an actual summarization of the sources so more information and details can be drawn from each source. Writing an annotated bibliography can also help to form a strong argueable thesis, that can be better supported. It can help a person to better understand their topic and the different aspects or opinions of the topic they have. I belive annotated bibliographies will be greatly helpful to my research now and also in the future, and I am glad we are learning how to do them and what they are about.

In Class Blog Post #8

Special Collections is an area located on the bottom floor of the Ingram Library, that basically has different materials (articles, newspapers, photographs, ect.), that are very rare from different places. Special Collections would be useful or beneficial to a research project because you could find different sources that may not be found somewhere else, or that has very specific details or information of your topic. Along with usuing Special Collections for a project, primary sources could be very helpful as well. Primary sources would give you first hand, unedited information of your topic. This could benefit your research because you know for a fact the data had not been altered or changed. Even though the primary source material may or may not be old, it is still the original source and is where any other information or details, elaborating on that source, came from. These sources could help to answer questions relating to, but not restricted to, how something started?, the origin of a certain topic, person, place or thing, or it could give you photographs that have not been altered or edited throughout the years. Primary sources and Special Collections could definitely benefit a person doing a research project, and it may be something I look into throughout any research I perform.

In Class Post #7

The two databases I examined today were ERIC (at EBSCOhost) and ABI/INFORM COMPLETE (at Proquest). My groups topic is bilingual, and my individual topic if marketing. Therefore, the two words I chose to search for were bilingualism and marketing. Although most information was of the same sort, I did find some different varieteies of information throughout my search. For the most part, the abstracts of articles I read from ERIC included articles about British students giving a presentation to French people, the relationships between bilingual and marketing from women in two different countries, and the relationship between bilingualism and international trade. This database did not give me any subject filter options. However, when looking at the database ABI/INFORM COMPLETE, there were many subject filters given: bilingualism, studies, hispanic americans, target market, marketing, advertising, consumer behavior, and many more. The inforamation from the article abstracts of this database included codeswitching, effects of using a second language in the brain process, and how when translating a marketing message, it might not have the same meaning. Each databaseincluded information on the relationship between bilingualism and marketing, but had different approaches to the topic. I felt that these databases gave more direct information to my search topic, and was more helpful. It narrowed down the results to a lot less than the other day.  Using each database would differ for the assignment or topic. However, I would definitely use the two databases my group looked at today for my research because they had very helpful information related to my research topic.

Filter Bubbles

I believe that filter bubbles can be good, but can also not help you too much at the same time. The filters only give you results based on the information the filters think is what you're looking for, when in reality may not be exactly what you were wanting to search for. if you were searching for non-academic information, then the filters would definitely be helpful. However, when it does come to academic researching, research usually requires looking through mostly all and any information to make sure you get the best research of all the information needed for your topic. if filter bubbles are present, it will only show sites such as most recently viewed and visited or only the supporting sites of your information. This limits a person to finding the most accurate and best information for their research. By popping the filter bubbles, this might greatly help a persons research. I can definitely see how each of the ways explained to pop the filters(burning cookies, deleting history, making information more private, ect.), can benefit the reseacher greatly. I believe it would be a good idea to try these in the future to help with my researching and not limit me to certain sites.

In Class Blog Post #6

There are many different types of information sources. Four main sources we discussed in class are magazines, books, newpapers, and government documents. In a magazine, you would most likely find information on events from that month the magaizine was published. Magaizines are mostly a popluar source because people usually readthem for their pleasure. In a book however, you could find information from a wide range of dates. The book may have been published 10 months, to 10 years ago. Books always take a lot longer to publish than a magazine. These are more of a scholarly source because they usually have more facts, source looked at, and have been reviewed by multiple people and publishers. Government documents are very reliable, therefore considered a scholarly source. Most information written in a government document is all facts on different matters whithin the country. Lastly, newspapers are more of a popular source. Theyare published daily on different matters in a certain area or topic. Although the articles are reviewed by the publisher of the magazine, they do not have the time to be examied by multiple people and scholarly experts. they are more so just for the entertainment and information of the citizens within that community.

Research Question

My group's topic is people that are bilingual. We can all relate this topic to each of our majors, which range from education, pre-nursing, and business. My research question is, What are the main advantages of being bilingual in the marketing career? Each person in my group is examining the main advantages of being bilingual in their desired career field, so my research question relates very well. I developed my research question because since marketing is my major, I wanted to look further into the aspects that could help me get a job in the future. Bilingual applies to this inquiry because I might find it extremely helpful to minor in a second language to benefit my job search after college. I did not find too much new information while pre-researching, but I did find a good amount of information that would greatly help me with my topic. Therefore, there is no need to revise my research question becasue it is strong and there is plenty information on my topic. The two points I will be discussing in my paper are the benefits of a person being bilingual in the marketing world opposed to someone who was not bilingual.

In-class Post #5

There are numerous ways in which all the skills I have learned and aquired in this class can be applied to other classes I have. A few skills we have learned include citing a source, determining if that source is good or bad, and learning how to not plagarize. The main class that pops out in my head in which I could use these types of  skills would be my English class. We are constantely reading books, and having to write papers about them. In addition to the books, my professor always requires a secondary source. When choosing the best secondary source to use in my paper to determine if it is a good or bad secondary source, there are different aspects of the cite I would look at. I can look at the date of article publication, search the background of the author, check if citations are made, and if the article seems based on facts or opinion. After determining the source I would use, I would apply it to my paper. If I am usuing it in my paper, I need to make sure I am not plagiarizing. By learning how to not in this class, I can make sure I am giving credit to all information used from that article. Last, each source used for the paper needs to be cited, and by learning exactly how to do that in this class, I can give proper credit and citations to each source used in my paper.

Book Citation

Grosjean, François. Bilingual: Life and Reality. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2010. Print.

This book is about exactly what the title describes; bilingual and reality. It explains real life situations of being bilingual and using it, to many different aspects of bilingual life including a break down of each aspect. I believe the book to be an accurate and credible source due to two main reasons. A) The author, Francois Grosjean, has studied psycholinguistics and founded the Language and Speech Processing Laboratory at a university of which he was a professor at, and B) The book was copyrighted by the president of Harvard School, which is one of the top schools in the nation. Although my topic is being bilingual in the marketing career, this book is still pretty helpful. This  book is helpful to my research topic because it helps me to better understand bilingual people and how they use it in their everyday life. The different situations it is applied to gives me more of an idea of how useful and helpful it is for someone to be bilingual in just their life, let alone to assist in there career!

In-Class Blog Post #4

I honestly have never used a pulic library to do any research for papers in high school, and it was very rare if I went to my actually school library to use a book from there. I was more of an online source type of person. I can only remember one time when I checked out a book from the school library, and finding that book was alot more difficlut than finding one at the Ingram Library located here at West GA. The main source of help were the librarians at the check-out desk. However, even if you needed assistance from them, there were only two available that were most of the time busy with someone else and had a long line. There was not a library catalog that I could use to pin-point the actual location of a book. Also, the fact that there was no catalog meant that if you had a certain topic to research, you would just have to look through books to see if they could help you out. If there was a certain book you needed that was recommended by a teacher, to find out if the book was checked out, I would have to either search until I found it was not there, or ask the librarian. I have definitely enjoyed using the Ingram Library because it is a whole lot more convinient and easier to use and manuver through than any libraries I encountered throughout my gradeschool years. 

2 Research Books

First of all, my topic is being bilingual in the marketing career. When searching through the library's catalog for books on my topic, there were two books that stuck out from the lists above the rest. One book was called "Undergraduates in a Second Language" written by Ilona Leki and the other book was called "Bilingual Life and Reality" written by Francois Grosjean. At a first look of each book in the library catalog, it seemed as if each could help me research more into my topic in some way. However, after reading some of each of the two books and further understanding more of what each book was about, there was only one that I found could help me. The first book, "Undergraduates in a Second Language" was more about people who spoke one language, and had English as their less fluent language (i.e. immigrants and international students). Also, it only referred to these students in their English writing courses, which is not what I was looking for at all. The second book called "Bilingual Life and Reality" had a more on target topic of what I was looking for. The book basically put bilingual people into real life situations, and explained the different circumstances in which it was a great convinience to speak a second or third language. Although the author of the book did not actually apply bilingualism to the marketing world directly, putting great examples of when, where, and how being bilingual could benefit a person in a situation helped me to realize that it would be a smart idea to maybe minor in a second language. It seemed as if being bilingual helped out a lot, and would most likely greatly benefit a person going into the marketing career. Even though the second book was not directly related to my topic, it could still be helpful in my researching by using the examples and circumstances given!     

Library Ethnography

http://youtu.be/Q9US8d-A84I

100%For this project, Laiken and I chose to look up a book on Karma from the Ingram library. We first met in the library, and found a computer to use. Then, we went to the home page i-con which brought us to the library's home pa

For this project, Laiken and I chose to look up a book on Karma from the Ingram library. We first met in the library, and found a computer to use. Then, we went to the home page i-con which brought us to the library's home page. Once we were at the home page we typed our book topic into the search engine. A list of books related to the topic appeared on the screen. After deciding on the book we wanted to find, we wrote down all information about the book(name, call number and floor level), so we could find the book without having to come back to the computer. Our book was located on level 2 of the library in section D, so off we went to the elevators. Once we reached level 2, we found section D by looking at the section letter and numbers that are posted on the outside edges of each bookshelf. We found section D, and began searching for the call number, which is located on the spine of each book. Once we found out book, we were complete!
Laiken and I worked very well together in my opinion. We each did an equal share of work for the project, and did not slack off on it. We both met in the library to take the pictures, and the rest of our work was split into two parts. Laiken used her camera to take pictures and uploaded the pictures to the computer, organized them, and sent them to me. I put the pictures into a video, and added the descriptions to each image. We both came up with the steps and descriptions for each picture. I enjoyed having Laiken as a partner because we each did our equal part, which helped me enjoy doing the project itself more as well.

Research Topic

My group chose a topic from an article of an individual being bilingual. The article was based off of the question on if a person was bilingual, if it made them smarter or not. We chose this topic because it protains to each of our majors the best. Our majors included education, business, and pre-nursing. Possessing a bilingual background would greatly benefit eachof these career fields.
My major is business and marketing. The topic of a bilingual person interests me because I feel that if an individual is bilingual, it would help their job opportunities in the marketing world. Researching more about this topic will help me decide if I need to minor in a second lanuage to help my job search in the future. It might help me  to be able to communicate with a wider variety of people, including other marketers and consumers. Also, it would help me to not be restriceted to staying withing the U.S. I hope to learn alot from this research topic and project to help benefit me in the future!

News Stories

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2013/01/indiana-police-officer-wife-could-face-jail-time-for-saving-a-deer/

This article is about a couple rescuing a baby dear, and possibly receiving federal charges against them for it. I picked this because it's pretty ridiculous and I would be curious to read more into it about how it would be possible for the charges to be made.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Diet/diet-myths-pack-pounds/story?id=18337288

I am really big into fitness and always wanting to improve my diet, so I found this article perfect because it kind of protained to me. I would be interested to learn more about the dieting myths that have been discovered.

http://www.examiner.com/article/facebook-might-pay-users-up-to-10-after-lawsuit

This article caught my attention for two reasons: one, there are so many people that use facebook, and two, I got the email that was sent out by facebook. I am interested to read more into the subject to find out more of what the lawsuit is about.

Jumping Into a Convo

Being friendly and confident are always the characteristics you should have if you are approaching a group of people that you have never met before. This will make it easier for them to accept you and be more likely to let you stick around in the conversation, rather than walking away.  First off, I would never put my two cents into a conversation unless I did know about what was being said, or I had some idea of the topic. If I'm going to engage in that conversation, I want to make sure I know what I'm talking about and not stutter or have to think about what to say next. Also, I would make sure to listen and be polite while another person was talking because if you cut them off in the middle of their sentence or completely change the subject after they're done talking, that is so rude. Doing this would show that you either don't care about what they have to say, seem as if you already know everything, or just have no idea of what they are talking about in general.
The same things would apply if the situation was switched around, and a random person came up to a group of friends and me trying to talk about the topic. They need to be confident, not cocky, and polite! I am an easy going person as it is so I would have no problem with anyone approaching a conversation I was having with a group. However, if they talked down to me, stuttered and seemed as if they had no idea what I was talking about, or didn;t make any sense of what they were saying, then I would think they were rude and had no clue of the subject. Their opinions would definitely be welcome as long as they weren't biased and had a valid arguement for why they felt a certain way.
Like I said, I am an easy going person, so as long as the approacher was polite and confident, I would not mind their presence in the conversation. Also people should remember to be the same when trying to engage in a conversation with another group.

Research Interview

I did not get a chance to interview my professor, which would probably be more informative, however I did interview and upper class man by the name of Jordan. One of the first pieces of advice he gave me was to learn to communicate with my professor. He explained that each professor has their own way of grading, and will always give the criteria to you, most likely on a rubric. If you don't understand the requirements, meet with your professor to become more clear. He also said that professor require you to cite all the sources in the paper, and that his professors didn't require a particular source, just and accurate one from a good website or book. This is when I asked if he knew the difference from a good or bad website and he claimed he does. When I asked how, he stated many of the criteria we have learned in class about distinguishing a good and bad cite. He says his papers have gotten a lot longer since his freshman year, and that more research, effort and sources had to be put into it. This interview was very helpful to me, and gives me more of an idea of what to expect as I advance in my years at West Georgia.

Research Project

I have done many research projects throughout highschool. However, the project I enjoyed doing most was during the second semester of my senior year in my British Literature class. Each student in the class had to choose a topic they felt strongly about and ellaborate on why they believe the topic to be true, or why they felt the way they did, and write an essay on it. I chose to write my essay on the drinking age being reduced to 18.
The reason I chose this topic is because I felt very strongly that the age should be reduced to 18. At age 18, people are conisdered an adult. They can join the military, legally buy/smoke cigarrettes, vote, and basically resume the same responsibilities as other adults. The only thing a person can't do when they turn 18 is legally drink. If a person is mature enough to perform all the other tasks or activities listed, then why are they not mature enough to drink. I used google for the research on my entire paper. I mainly got my research from articles written by professors, statistics on drinking, and the government. All the facts and information obtained backed up all statistics found and made a very strong paper.
I enjoyed writing this paper because it portained to me, and was interesting to research. I found out many new facts on the subject, and after finishing my essay, I felt more strongly about my topic than before i started my research.

Morgan Macurak

My name is Morgan Macurak. I am from Douglasville, GA. My reasons for attending The University of West Georgia were becasue it is fairly close to my house, and it is shown to have a very decent business program(which is my major). I am choosing to major in busines and marketing, and go into the promotional aspect of business, because I am outgoing and a perssuasive person. In this class, hope to learn and understand the internet, how it works, and how to use it to help me in my classes and for research throughout my UWG years.