The Final Post

I was hesitant about the blog at first. I had never had one and I was not used to having other people read stuff that I had written. We never peer edited at my high school. But, the blog has given me a pleasant surprise. I think that it's super convenient to be able to 'turn in' the assignments online instead of going through all the effort of printing (and my printer can be a bit temperamental, which makes the blogs even better). I also like to read other people's responses to the prompt. It's nice to know what everyone is thinking on the subject, and reading other people's blogs sometimes helps me to understand a concept better. My one small qualm about the blogs (and it is a very small qualm), it would be nice to know about the grading. Since none of the blog-grades are posted, it's hard to know if I am getting good grades on them, or if I should change my blogging tactic to do better. Lots of the blog prompts have been fun too, which is nice. Many of the blogs didn't feel like a chore to write at all because they were such fun topics. :) Overall, I definitely enjoyed blogging. 

Analyze-ing

I'm going to analyze Google because I have a sort of love/hate relationship with it right now and it would be very fulfilling to find out that parts of it were designed ineffectively *maniacal laughter*.
1. Form: The form is pretty logical. Type in a search, get search results in eye-catching area. Additional useful links are at the top of the page, which is where the audience would usually expect to. Everything seems to be put together in a logical order for the audience.
2. Alignment: The homepage has a center alignment, which I would love to criticize, but honestly, it would probably be very odd/disconcerting for the search bar to be shifted toward the side. I guess it's part of the audiences expectations. Google was made first for efficiency and second for prettiness, so it makes sense that their search bar would be in a convenient place. The search page is aligned on the left side of the screen. Everything is aligned with something. We'll give an A for alignment.
3. Contrast: It is convenient how Google will highlight your the words you searched for in the search results. It helps you to find what you're looking for more easily. I also like the contrast of the colors of the word Google and the white screen. Their homepage does a nice job of using simplicity and white space to their advantage in a very sleek (yet fun) way.
4. Proximity: Searches grouped together. Links to other websites grouped together. Search accessories grouped together. They did a nice job of this (though I will say, the search page does look a bit cluttered for my taste. Take that Google! :) ).
5. Repetition: Google is always repeated in the same colors, which is effective. The search results are one color. The search accessories are another color with each of the group titles being yet another color. Google uses the repetition of colors to help keep the website easy to use and navigate and it does a good job of that.
6. Composition: The search results do seem like they're on one of the rule of thirds lines, which is good.
All in all, Google is still an effective site.

Websites, Good and Bad

First off, I had two problems with the issues paper that I mentioned. One was that my paper did not seem very cohesive. The way I fixed this was by rereading it and anywhere it seemed chunky, I changed the wording or added transitions. My second problem was knowing how much research versus how much of my opinion should go into the paper. I didn't really consciously fix this problem. I wrote the paper and, while writing, tried to keep a healthy research/me ratio and I think that it ended up pretty well.

Next, effective vs. ineffective websites. Some websites that I think are effective:
1. https://www.google.com/ Google. It is effective because it is so simple. Type in the clearly marked bar and you're done. It does just what it's supposed to. I also like the simple decoration. It's not too busy.
2. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/ Rottentomatoes. It sets out what it is supposed to do and does it in an easy-to-understand way. I think a website is effective if a person can figure it out without someone else explaining it to them. Rottentomatoes does this. Everything is also conveniently located.
3. http://www.yahoo.com/ Yahoo. The bar on the side leads you anywhere you want to go. The design is nice and gentle (no super bright, eye-hurting colors).
4. http://www.wikipedia.org/ Wikipedia. Another easy to navigate website. It definitely succeeds in its goal at being a universal encyclopedia that regular people can contribute to.

Finding ineffective websites is a lot harder. I chose the effective ones by which websites that I visit a lot, but I'm assuming that I don't really visit ineffective ones. Here are some possibly ineffective websites (found via the delightfully effective Google):

1. http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/archives/sts-108/flash/sts108.swf I can't figure out the purpose of this website (so it probably doesn't accomplish it). The background is also constantly doing this bouncing motion that drives my eyes crazy.
2. http://www.hrodc.com/ Too cluttered. Everything is a link.
3. http://www.creativekidscenter.net/ Colors clash. Also, says it's business was "voted the best of the Northland." What does Northland even mean?
4. http://gandwplumbing.com/pages/947011/index.htm This website has hardly any information at all on the company that it represents. Basically, all it is is a phone number/address.

Me Not Patchwriting...hopefully

My own special reproduction of *dramatic music* the original: Myth is a bad label. Calling something a myth implies that it is false, but these 'myths' are not false to the cultures that created and believe in them. Using the term myth makes the myth lose some of its cultural and historical value (Bacchilega 25).

Issues with my Issues Paper: There have been multiple hard things in the writing process. One is that I'm having trouble knowing exactly how many facts and research should go into the paper versus how much of my actual argument. It feels like my paper is much more argumentative than the example issues paper from the supplemental guide, which was packed full of information. It's also not particularly cohesive at the moment since I wrote the first draft in chunks. Hopefully that will get fixed with more editing :)

Library Day!

Basically, on Monday I learned how to use the library website. Honestly, I didn't even know that there was a library website and I had definitely never been on it before, so I also learned of the existence of the library's website. From there, I learned the series of clicks that will lead me from the library's website to the library's specially made WRTG 150 page, which is going to be very useful during the research process. They have that page set up so you can conveniently find resources about practically anything, which will be super helpful. With the click of a button, I can find thousands of articles relating to my topic and the issues surrounding it. It was good to learn that you have to email the articles to yourself. If I had tried to use the website by myself, I definitely would have copied and pasted the URL's, that's just what I do, and apparently, that would have ended badly. I also learned that you can chat with a librarian whenever you want and ask questions and that there is a taboo on using encyclopedias as sources for college papers (good to know). My biggest research-related concern is just that there weren't many books on my topic, but it sounded like that worry will dissipate come Friday and the second mandatory library instruction day. And thus, we can safely say that, I learned a lot.

A Proposal

It has been really hard for me to think up a topic for this paper. I am going to try out a topic about the physical problems caused by using the computer too much. When I'm on the computer for hours, my eyes get irritated and it seems like that must be bad for me. I've also heard that typing can cause arthritis and sitting in a chair or craning your neck towards the screen all the time doesn't seem good either. My initial stance is that people should use the Internet/ computers less because it is physically bad for you.

My research questions will be:
1) What negative physical effects does too much computer use cause?
2) What are some alternative options (like does that fancy electronic ink on Kindles make any difference? etc.)?

I'm a tad worried that I won't be able to find much information on this subject (or that it won't be able to fill up 8-10 pages), if not, I'll probably just change the whole topic to internet copyright troubles.

20 Interests and/or Possible Topics

1) Space Exploration
2) New Scientific Discoveries
3) Alternative Fuel Sources
4) Newspapers Becoming Obsolete (soon no more paper-version Daily Universe *aura of sadness*)
5) Effects of Excessive Computer Use on Eyesight
6) Evils of Artificial Intelligence (robot takeover :) )
7) Internet Privacy Policies, SOPA, etc.
8) I-books vs. Regular Books
9) Teacher's Salaries
10) Effects of Too Much Facebook?
11) Minimum Wage Raise
12) School Budget Cuts = bad
13) Wikipedia
14) People more or less informed because of Internet? (correct information?)
15) Cellphone Use While Driving
16) Headphone Use Hurt Ears?
17) School Systems
18) History
19) Political Campaigns/ The Election
20) Pretty Butterflies (or Airport Security)