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.