Future of Information Access

It amazes me how quickly I can find information. If I need directions..Google maps. If I need recipes...Paula Deans website. If I need retail therapy...online shopping at Forever 21. There are an infinite amount of benefits the internet will offer you, and technology is advancing everyday. I can not imagine my life without the internet. Many countries referred to as the "Global South" such as Africa and Latin American have not yet been globalized. We are working toward a globalized world, which will allow everyone to communicate and interact. Not only will the spread of internet help communication, but it will also have an impact on the economies of these different countries. By opening up internet connections to Global South countries, we are nearly tripling the information that can be found online. This will increase our job market and competition, which will lower prices for consumers. 10 years from now I see every country in the world having complete internet access, along with strong relations between countries. To learn more about the Global South visit this website. http://www1.american.edu/academic.depts/acainst/cgs/about.html

Perceptions of Plagiarism

In the article, “University Students’ Perceptions of Plagiarism”, it is made known that many students do not understand what it means to plagiarize. As a college student, I have had a rude awakening when it comes to copyright laws etc. In high school we briefly covered plagiarism, mainly in English classes. In other classes such as biology, you are taught to go through your book and copy exact answers onto worksheets. I was taught to regurgitate information in high school, while in college, professors focus more on critical thinking. In high school, it was always about “teaching to the test”. In other words, all that was taught was for purposes of state testing, ACT, and other standardized tests that didn’t include critical thinking. It is very important to be taught rules over plagiarism in high school, where you will already be familiar with it in college. Visit this website to learn the latest on what is considered plagiarism. http://www.plagiarism.org/plag_article_what_is_plagiarism.html

I love my dog!

Now that I am not in high school anymore, I am usually not home very often. When I do go home, I really look forward to seeing my dog, Coco! When I come home she always runs up to me and jumps up and down...she's always so excited!!! But I really don't like it when she rubs her wet nose all over me. So this led me to my next question..why are dogs' noses always wet and slimy? According to pets.ca, their noses are wet for 2 reasons. To stay cool, and to help them smell. The nose allows a dog to shed heat in the form of mucus. Also, dogs that are alert and sniffing tend to have a wetter nose than a dog who is sleeping. A common misconception is that a dog with a dry nose is sick. This is not true because this dog may be just inactive for the time being. Sick sogs will usually have more severe symptoms when they are not well. Although my dog wipes her wet nose all over me, I am still happy to see her everytime I go home! This dog kind of looks like mine!

Citing Sources

Starting my senior year of high school, I really began learning the importance of citing your sources. It became even more important in college because of all of the research papers you have to write. Citing your sources is very important because it shows where you got your information from, and you aren’t claiming it as your own ideas or work. I believe it is very important to give credit by citing your sources. Someone, depending on where you got the article, worked very hard on writing and doing research themselves to find that information and put together a journal, magazine, or newspaper article, and they deserve the credit. Having a citation page also allows your professors to go to the certain website you got your information from, and make sure you aren’t making it up. Here is a good website to use if you need help citing sources!   http://owl.english.purdue.edu/

The End of Software Ownership

I probably have over three thousand pictures I have taken over my lifetime. Over half of these are in “hard copy” form, because I have a fear of my computer crashing and losing all of my photographs. But on the other hand, the other half may disappear one day without any warning. I definitely see the importance in having hard copies, and not just the software. Once again, when talking about software or almost anything else that can be reproduced, we get into copyright laws. For instance, my dad’s work allows their employees to buy the Microsoft Office package for a discount price. If he ever quits his job he is supposed to take it off of his computer, but they don’t truly enforce this rule. You can also go to a half-price book store and buy and trade books without paying a copyright fee that you would initially have to pay if you bought the book at a bookstore. Copyright laws are hard to defend because there are so many exceptions and all people value certain material differently. Visit this website to learn more on software ownership specifically.  

http://www.ahinc.com/hcopyrig.htm

Hurricanes on the East Coast Vs. West

Have you ever realized that the U.S. will have atleast two or three hurricanes a year hit the east coast or in the Gulf of Mexico region? But we rarely ever hear about hurricanes in the west coast. There are two reasons this occurs. First of all, hurricanes in the northern hemisphere form at tropical latitudes, the move west which is away from the U.S. This same movement in the Atlantic ocean forces hurricanes in our direction. Also the water temperatures in the eastern coast are much warmer which allow the hurricane to keep its energy as it is moving toward our coast. On the other hand, the western waters are much cooler which slows down the hurricane and it ends up being very mild or disappearing completely. After researching this topic, I have decided that I would much rather live out west on the coastline than down south or east. You will still have a warm climate, but without the constant fear of being hit by a hurricane! For more information on hurricanes visit this website. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-do-hurricanes-hit-the

Why is Yawning Contagious?

Have you ever noticed that every time someone else yawns, no matter how hard you try, you will always yawn as well? This happens to me day after day so I finally decided to research and find out the reason behind this.

Not only do people catch yawns, but chimpanzees do as well.  They say that yawning is usually a very unconscious action in which we have learned to replicate others if they yawn. Sometimes you do notice it, and that is the fine line between conscious and unconscious thinking. After studies were conducted by the Finnish government, they found that yawning is definitely and unconscious action, that somehow bypasses the brain circuitry for mimicking other people’s actions. Mirror neurons usually play a role when someone copies the action of someone else, but they have no part in the yawning contagion which makes it so mysterious. To find out more information on the brain functions included in yawning visit this website. http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/050309_yawnfrm.htm

Requirements of LOR 101

As far as this course is concerned, I have enjoyed all of the assignments and in-class activities. Having us blog for our final project was a very creative idea, and I have learned a lot from this task. Before this class, I wasn’t familiar with “blogging”, and now I am a regular! The response papers are a great way to let us further explain our thoughts and feelings on a certain topic we have discussed in class. The reading material in class was usually pretty interesting until the last few pages of each packet where I lost concentration. Overall, LOR 101 has been a very helpful and successful course for me, and I am so glad that I chose to take this class in my first semester of college. I would recommend it to anyone! To check out another school offering the same class follow this link!http://hslibrary.ucdenver.edu/education/library-orientation-tutorials.php

Information Seeking Behavior

I have always been a strong believer in using Wikipedia for most of my papers up until high school. It was then that I realized that information you find on the internet is not always reliable. This is where my researching became very difficult. Not only did I not understand where I was supposed to look to find this valuable information, but I had no idea how to use it or cite it once it was found. Having this library class in the first semester of my college career has been a great opportunity to get familiar with the library and all of the resources available. We have learned how to tell a reliable source from a useless one, and how to use the information we obtain. As I move on in my college career, I will remember back to this class for all of my research needs, and I know college will be a lot easier now that I have had this course. To get a better idea of information seeking behavior, visit this website. http://www.librarysupportstaff.com/infoseek.html

Copyright Laws Class Discussion

Before the discussion in class, I had never realized how many copyright laws there were concerning books, movies, dances, songs, and ideas. Just a simple song like “Happy Birthday” has copyright laws! So yes, you may think that you don’t, but all of us have broken a copyright law sometime during our lifetime. Copyright is a very good thing to protect authors and artists, but it makes a student’s job a lot harder if they are writing a research paper. One way you can follow copyright laws, is to cite all of the sources you use in a paper as in text citations as well as on a bibliography page. This helps give credit to the main source of your research, and shows that it wasn’t your idea. There are many grey areas within copyright laws, which make it hard to determine when they are being broken. Government is the main source of regulation, but it is easier to be familiar with them yourself. Here is a website that will help you cite your sources where you do not break copyright.

http://library.duke.edu/research/citing/

Copyright Laws

Copyright laws are very controversial issues. It is hard for the government to regulate these laws without being too strict or too lenient. After reading the article in class, I began to think about how easy it would be to break a “copyright” law and not even realize it. A copyright will last your entire lifetime, as well as 70+ years after your gone. People value information differently. Some may think copyright laws should be tightened on books, but not as strict on music...or the other way around. But government has found that it is easier to draw a strict line than assign different types of information certain copyright laws.  I believe there is too much of a grey area to determine when someone is “stealing “someone’s idea. Copyright should be determined by morals and your own judgment for most cases, and others you may have to turn to the law. Visit this link to refresh your knowledge of copyright laws. http://copyright.gov/title17/

What causes bad breath?

Yes I know that if you eat a whole onion on your cheeseburger, or if you douse your cheesy bread with garlic, you are going to have bad breath and others will suffer. But what causes other types of bad breath…like morning breath? After researching this topic, I found that while you are sleeping your mouth becomes very dry which is called xerostomia. Your salivary glands are much less active while asleep and the bacteria flourish causing gross morning breath. Other causes of bad breath besides food of course, are bad oral hygiene, things such as tobacco and cigarettes, and also other health conditions. For information on foods that help fight bad breath visit this website. http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Important-Foods-To-Avoid-Bad-Breath&id=5270506

Why is the sky blue?

Why is the sky blue? I know this is a question everyone has asked sometime in their life. I just now decided to research to find the real answer.
When sunlight reaches the atmosphere, all of the light is spread apart by particles in the atmosphere. The blue light is scattered more because of the shorter wavelengths it possesses. On the other hand, when the sky is a reddish orange color during the sunset, the blue light is spreading apart further to allow the red and yellow wavelengths through.
Also, when you are watching a sunset from the beach, it is way more vibrant because the light from the sun reflects off of the water vapor in the air making it bigger. I guess my next question will be…Why is the grass green? Visit this website for more information on sunlight. http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/blue-sky/

Evaluating Internet Resources

How many times have you heard a teacher or professor say, "Wikipedia is NOT a source!!!!"? This is partially a true statement because anyone can get on the website and write anything they want whether it be true or false. This is why it is important to know how to evaluate your resources before using them. You need to make sure your resources are reliable, relevant, and have authority. For a resource to be reliable, it needs to have cited sources of where the information came from. Also, be sure and check to see if the resource has a bias. When looking for relevance, you need to check the date the article was published, and also when it was last revised. Lastly, when checking for authority, you need to know who wrote the article. Are they experts in that certain area? Are there ways to contact them that give their area of expertise? These are the three most important things to look for when researching, and they will all help you have a better paper over your certain topic. Here's another teacher's thoughts on reliable sources. http://imet.csus.edu/imet5/koreen/284/index.htm

Information Cocoon

Have you ever been on a YouTube and noticed all of the comments at the bottom of a video? They are way more interesting to read than actually watching the video. People tend to stay in their own information cocoon. Once someone says something out of the box online or during a meeting, and then everyone has the courage to say how they feel. Sometimes this can get out of hand on certain websites such as YouTube or Facebook. I am very bad about staying in my cocoon and sticking to my own beliefs. In reality, we all need to be familiar with how everyone feels and their beliefs. This will help us become better well-rounded and allow us to expand our knowledge. Most people surround themselves by similar people to be comfortable. Sometimes you need to speak up and give your opinion. Visit this link to find how some people feel about sharing comments.   http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-41705

Chemical Free

Did you know all physical objects consist of matter? Matter can be objects you can hold, or things you can't even see such as air. Did you also know that all matter is made of chemicals? Yep..it's true. All of those products you have been using on your face and in your house that are supposedly “chemical free” have chemicals in them. Not only that, but the companies that sold these products to you were lying when they said they are chemical free. Now what gives them the right to claim this of their products? Most of them probably aren’t chemists and have no degree in the chemistry field to be able to prove this statement. You as a consumer need to know that ALL things in the entire world are made of chemicals or chemical groups, unless it is a air tight vacuum made of nothingness. So next time you visit a website or see a infomercial on T.V. about a new chemical free face wash, you will know they are lying. Here is a perfect example of a website that says their products are chemical free. Look at the ingredients and you will find citric acid etc.     http://www.organicexcellence.com/

Endless Information

The World Wide Web has no filter. This makes it very easy for us to find any information we could ever want.  It is limitless! There are many different endings which help categorize websites. Most commonly used is .com, but others are .org, .edu, .net, and .gov. For research purposes, you would probably find more scholarly reviewed information on a edu or gov website. Other information can easily be found on all of the others. Some people have even mentioned that a triple x website (.xxx) is being formed for uncensored websites such as pornography. How surprising! Knowing the different endings to certain websites, is one way you can self-filter all your searches. Here are some reliable websites to find research information. http://www.usa.gov/ http://www.murraystate.edu/

World Wide Web of Change

As our country is expanding technologically, the world is changing around us. Technology is

changing the way we communicate, and allows us to talk to others in a different country within seconds. Internet has changed, and also parts of computers. It seems like just yesterday we were listening to the dial up tone for our internet to connect.  The desire for community is what the internet feeds off of. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites are vital to communication between countries. For more information on how the web has changed visit this website. http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/08/06/20-years-ago-today-the-world-wide-web-opened-to-the-public/

Databases

As most of you may know, researching is a major part of college. Knowing how to navigate through a database to find vital peer-reviewed research material is very important to formulate a reliable paper. Being a student at Murray State University, we are all allowed to use hundreds of databases that the university pays for.

When using a database, you first want to know which one to use for your topic. There are a variety of databases. Some may be general, or some may be arranged by topic. Depending on what you are researching, that is one way to narrow your search automatically. Also, once you choose a database, you will need to enter multiple search terms for better results. You can also change different options. For example, you can check a box if you want only peer-reviewed articles, or you can check PDF only. Understanding how to navigate around a database is vital for surviving college. For a look at a database visit this website! http://plants.usda.gov/java/

Copyright Issues Addressed

In a recent article in The Chronicle, there has been a lawsuit against the HathiTrust digital repository and also many other universities. As a student, I understand how beneficial it is to have online documents for research that are provided by the college or university you are attending.

The lawsuit was filed by the Authors Guild, in attempt to revoke all online materials that had a copyright. They do have a good point because many of these authors' works are being put online without permission. But it also says in the article, that these digitalized works have very strict procedures to be able to access the material. Also, the University of Michigan has an Orphan Works Project which recognizes books that have unidentified authors, or were written anonymously, and they make them available for use. If one of the Orphan’s authors is found, they will remove it from the collection and the author will have copyright. The Orphan program seems very fair and useful for researchers, and I disagree with the lawsuit against this program. I do understand the complaints about the other online sites though, and I believe they do break copyright laws. For more information of copyright laws view this website.   



http://www.copyright.gov/

What is planking?

I am a frequent user of Facebook, and a lot of my friends have been making comments and statuses on “planking”. Apparently this is the new trend, but I am completely lost and have no idea what planking means. According to the San Francisco International Business Times, planking is defined as a game where people, known as plankers, lie down on the ground and post a picture of it on an online community such as Facebook.  To plank you must lay down face down in an unusual place with your palms attached to your side.

From the little research I have done on this topic, I find that it is very simple and not as important as I once thought it was. Also, while doing research I found that some people actually view this game as dangerous because people have fallen off a balcony and died because of it. Some have even been caught at work planking, and have been suspended. For further details on planking visit this website.
http://sanfrancisco.ibtimes.com/articles/153492/20110527/planking-what-is-it-and-why-it-is-popular-facebook.htm

Tag Your It!

When I think of Murray State University there are certain words that pop into my head- Navy, gold, racers, college, and many others. Until class discussion yesterday, I never realized how differently people viewed certain objects or topics. When searching for something online or in a database, everyone will type in different words for their search depending on how they think of the subject. If you do not find search results, you automatically type the search a different way to see if you get more results.

While doing the activity in class, I noticed that everyone looked at the racer photo differently. It also made me realize that I shouldn’t be discouraged if I don’t find results on my first search because the person that tagged it might have thought differently. What words would you use to tag this photo?  

Dewey vs. Library of Congress

Elementary school seems like so long ago. But I still remember our librarian explaining to us the Dewey Decimal System which we would be using to find library books. Now that I am in college, it is time to convert to the Library of Congress Classification System, unless I am planning on reading a Junie B. Jones book (which I would greatly enjoy).

There are some major differences between these two systems, and each one has pros and cons. The Library of Congress Classification is definitely much more extensive, and has twenty six different categories with subheadings under each. In contrast, the Dewey Decimal system has ten categories with a much broader range of options. The Library of Congress Classification has much more material to be classified, but it can also be confusing and misleading. For instance, under the language and literature sections you may find various journals written over literature, and then mixed in with it you may find a fictional book. It can also be misleading because of the way subjects are classified. They use the alphabet as a numbering tool, but only a few of the letters actually match the heading they are paired with. This can be confusing because they are user intuitive. The Library of Congress Classification can be a bit confusing when you first start using it. Get a look at it for yourself! http://education-portal.com/articles/Dewey_Decimal_System_vs_Library_of_Congress_Whats_the_Difference.html

Why Are Bugs Attracted to Light?

Last time I was at the dentist, sometime between counting the ceiling tiles and eyeing the instruments that would soon be in my mouth, I looked up at all of the black spots in the fluorescent lights. This instance, and many more, leads me to wonder why are bugs attracted to light?

After researching the topic, I found that all organisms have phototaxis, which is their movement to or away from light. Most bugs you find in light fixtures etc, are positively phototactic. Other creatures such as cockroaches are actually opposite and have a negative phototactic. People also have these similar traits (some like being alone in the dark while others like being in the “limelight”).  There are many different reasons bugs are attracted to light, some like it for the actual brightness and some like it for the heat. Bees orient themselves with the sun, nocturnal insects use the moon to navigate, and bugs such as fireflies are lucky because they have a traveling lightbulb. I am so relieved to finally understand why so many insects are attracted to lights. It still BUGS me though, when they fly inside when I leave the door open on a nice summer night. To learn more in depth details about different species attracted to the light visit http://sciencebits.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/why-are-bugs-attracted-to-light/

Valuing Information

-The Patriots won 1^st game of the season.

-Marshall County schools will be closed today.

-CSI Marathon on Fox at 5 p.m.

All of these sentences are random information that may or may not pertain to you. Whether it be of value to you is for you to decide. Value of information can be described as how important it is to you, or how important it is to everyone else. The value of information will be different for a variety of reasons. The source you received the information from, how you interpret the information or how relevant it is to you, and how credible it is will all contribute to the value of the information. In the article we read for class, we discussed what “valuing information” means, and also discussed how quickly information spreads with new emerging technology. Some people even refer to something as “traveling at the speed of information” because it moves so quickly. Information can have personal value, scientific value, economic value, or community value. Subjective information which involves personal value, usually involves emotions or opinionated information. On the other hand, objective information is completely opposite. Scientific method is definitely objective, and they believe it should have no bias. With the speed of information being so fast, community values will decline and community memory will be lost.

We are so reliant on one type of technology. If the internet ever shuts down or is disabled, most American’s won’t even have hard copies of pictures, videos, or documents that were saved on their computers. Is technology moving too fast for the country to keep up? Too much information can be a bad thing. For other opinions on valuing economic information visit this website! http://mike2.openmethodology.org/wiki/Economic_Value_of_Information

Which Resource Should I Use?

As we saw in our article from last week, information spreads fast! But which source will get you the hard facts the fastest? For example, after 9/11, who do you think recieved and had information posted on the exact same day it happened? Who are you going to go to when you want to know what the heck is going on? This is where we can categorize our different sources.

If you want to know a general idea of what happened and some main facts about the event, you will be able to go to the TV, internet, or radio and they should already have the information posted. Don't get me wrong, the information may be skewed or exaggerated, but atleast you will have an idea of what happened. On the day after an event, newspapers will be added to the above list. They are very quick, considering they have to write an article over the event, and have it printed for the next day. After a few weeks, magazines will be a source you can use to find the information. After this long, most the information posted will be more accurate because someone will analyze it and know more of the facts by this time. After months journals will contain information. These will also be analyzed, and they may have a bias depending on who published them. Lastly, years after the event, books and movies will be made either for entertainment purposes or for factual information. There are many ways to obtain information, and you choose which sources you get it from depending on how fast you want the information. Here's a popular site people in Marshall County go to for their daily news. http://www.wpsdlocal6.com/ 

Why Do Ladybugs Have Spots?

I have had quite a history with ladybugs. Apparently they are very popular around my house because every time spring comes around they cover my windows. So while I am doing my spring cleaning, I have always wondered why ladybug's have spots.

After research, I found that some lady bugs actually don't have spots at all. Some aren't even red! There is no actual scientific reason of why some have black spots. Those who do have them, the purpose is merely for the fact that they use it as a way to scare off predators. Also, ladybugs are somewhat poisonous and have a really bad taste. So when a bird or other predator eats a ladybug, they correlate the bad taste with the black spots on a red background. If you want to learn about other creatures with this same trait, and other facts about ladybugs check out this website. http://www.ladybug-life-cycle.com/ladybug-spots.html

MSU Information Landscape

As a freshmen at Murray State University, the library is a place that I visit very often for studying and researching. Understanding the information landscape at MSU is vital to my survival in the next four years. Until the discussion in class, I never knew how much the school had to offer!

First of all, the library has a great website that will help you find major databases for research, quicklinks for popular searches, and pretty much anything else you would like to know about the libraries at MSU. It gives you access to Racer Track which gives employment opportunities, and also Racer Communication Center to help improve speeches and presentations for free! It would be a shame for a student not to utilize all of these resources as they are easily accessible. We are so lucky to have the information landscape we do, and I'm sure all MSU students benefit from the resources. Here is an article that further explains the importance of information landscape. http://www.fcc.gov/info-needs-communities

Information as a Resource

Our country could be in danger of an attack in information obesity! Who ever thought that you could have too much information? The article "Information as a Resource" gives insight on separating information from the good, the bad, and the useless. Information is very interesting how it circulates. It can be stored, transported and shared. Because of the numerous ways information is transported, you have to learn how to weed out the useless or false information that may have been passed on through a "carrier" such as the internet. Since information isn't something you can actually see, all people will interpret it differently. The article also states that human communication moves through something referred to as the noosphere. The noosphere stores information you have received over a lifetime, and it may lose or gain details of the specific information. For more information on how you can put your noosphere to use visit this website! http://noosphere.cc/

Why are Manhole Covers Round?

This question may seem very random, unnecessary, or you may think there is no real reason why manholes covers are round instead of trapezoidal, triangular, or shaped like a rhombus. But I found that the reason for a round manhole is very justifiable.

While doing research, I found that although it may not seem like it, creating a manhole cover a little bit of engineering to come up with the right measurements. One benefit of having a round cover for a manhole is it won’t and can’t fall into the hole. For example, look at a square. If you turn the square cover with a corner pointed down it could easily fall down into the hole. Same goes for ovals, triangles, and other similar shapes. Also, when cars are driving down the road, a square or other pointed shape is more likely to lift up and hit the cars tire when it is ran over. A circular cover stays in place. Circular manhole covers are also easier to roll and navigate along the street. The other advantage of having a circle cover is you do not have to line up the edges to make it fit. This may even save a few seconds which increases job productivity. As you can see, even a very trivial question such as this has answers. You just have to know how to navigate around the internet and get straight to your answer. http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/220/why-are-manhole-covers-round

Consider the Source

During discussion in class over information landscape, I became very aware of how vital the layout of a webpage is to its business and popularity. You may not notice, but some layouts are pleasing to the eye, such as headings at the top of the website and the main article on the top left corner. One of my favorite websites to find information would be ESPN. I am a sports fanatic, and anytime I miss a game ESPN always has me updated within seconds.

For instance, I wanted to know win the first Patriots game is and who they are playing. (Patriots are by far my favorite team…I get it from my dad) ESPN is very navigable because I was able to pick the tab “NFL” and then click 2011 schedule which brought up all of the games in regular season. I was also very satisfied when I found my answer because they play on Monday the 12^th , which is one of the nights I don’t have class or meetings. As for the other 99 websites I am not sure how reliable, relevant, or authoritative they are but I know ESPN has very reliable information. Also they are very good about giving the facts without bias, because who wants to make a die-hard Patriots fan upset or a fan of any other sports team?   http://espn.go.com/

Is GoOoOgle making us stupid?

You know..Google may be the most popular search engine across the country. But I don't use Google. If anything is making me stupid..it's Yahoo! You want to talk about distraction..Yahoo has ads and articles on the very first page before you even type anything in the search bar. I am quite concerned though, about our society as a whole, with our dependence on Google, other search engines, and new technology. The article from class was very interesting, and changed my mind-set on how I perceive new technology and advancements. 

I have always assumed that technology makes our country smarter and more advanced, but after reading the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” I have a different perspective. According to Nicholas Carr, the Net shapes our process of thought and withers away our capacity for concentration and contemplation. In other words, the internet is making us even more lazy by spoon feeding us the exact information we ask for when we type a phrase in the search engine. This is allowing our brain to relax, so when it comes time that we have to find the answer on our own in a book or encyclopedia, we will be expecting the answer to come right to us. I am not against using Google, but I do believe that our society today heavily relies on the internet more often than not. To find other information on the way technology affects our minds check out this website! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-565207/Modern-technology-changing-way-brains-work-says-neuroscientist.html

What's Wrong with My Face?

Throughout my entire life, I have always enjoyed working out and staying in shape. My junior year in highschool I began running 5k's and noticed that when I would run for a certain amount of time my face would begin to get really splotchy. I would look around after a race and everyone else would have normal symptoms such as red faces or sweat running off of their nose..while my face looks like a spotted dalmation. I wasn't too worried about this problem until this semester. I have a kickboxing class every Monday and Wednesday morning in which we do vigorous workouts along with running. I then have a chemistry and english class right after. I am embarassed to walk into class with my splotchy face! :(

After researching over this condition, I learned that it is called vasodilation. As you use your large muscle groups in cardiovascular exercise, you have to breathe more deeply and the increase of oxygen makes your heart rate increase. In return your capillaries expand to allow extra oxygen through to your muscles. This expansion in your capillaries makes you appear flushed or blotchy.

Now that I have found the explanation of why I have a splotchy face after running, I will feel a little more confident when walking into chemistry class. There are other conditions that have this same symptom that can be found on this website. http://www.livestrong.com/article/308155-blotchy-red-skin-from-working-out/

Topic to Thesis Statement

I have never been one to just pick out a topic and start writing a paper. It takes me hours, days, maybe even weeks to formulate the layout of my paper, and what point I want to get across. I missed the discussion in class regarding "Topic to Thesis Statement", but I have learned from past experience that creating a thesis statement is very difficult at times, but very benficial to your paper.

My junior year of highschool, I decided to take Advanced Placement U.S. History. This area was definitely not my strong point, and I had no backgroud in this subject either. The main focus in the class was constructing superb thesis statements for our DBQ's (Document Based Questions). At the beginning of the year, I thought I would never make it through this class, and I didn't see the point in creating thesis statements for every paper I wrote. But now I realize that having a thesis not only helps you stay focused in your paper, but it also tells your reader the point you will be defending throughout your entire piece.

These skills will also be very helpful not only through the rest of my career here at Murray State University, but also if I decide to continue my education into Pharmacy school. For a more detailed description of a thesis statement you can visit this website.  
http://www.pasadena.edu/divisions/english/writing/documents/dbdistin_524.pdf

Big Questions

John Hodgman is a very curious man...and while reading his article and his "Big" questions, I realized I'm not the only one who's always asking questions or wondering how something works. It is amazing to see how rapidly technology is expanding, and this growth just adds more and more questions to further rack my brain.I have always had a specific interest in communication. It blows my mind that your voice can travel through a single cable to someone else's phone and into their receiver? Even better than that though, is how does sound that goes into a cell phone possibly travel through air and happen to land in another person's ear? I decided to do some further investigation on this subject about this same time last year when we were talking about sound waves in chemistry.

It turns out cell phones actually operate with radio frequencies. These are located somewhere on the electromagnetic spectrum between the FM (radio waves) and microwaves. Cell phones are split into different geographic zones which are called "cells". (Hence the name "cell" phones) There are base stations in each cell which assign an incoming call an available frequency channel which then receives and sends what is spoken through the cell phone.


Although I have researched this and found a great explanation, I am still slightly confused on how this could possibly work. It wasn't hard to find an answer to this question, it just wasn't the answer I was looking for. If anyone else is interested, here is a great website that explains the in depth process of how cordless, mobile, and portable phones work.  http://www.ehso.com/ehshome/cellphonetech.php

My Weird Dreams! :S

Have you ever wondered what your dreams mean? Some people dream of being chased, falling in love.. or off a cliff...but I always seem to dream about snakes. Ever since I was a child I have had bizarre dreams/nightmares about snakes slithering in my bed, chasing me in the forest, wrapping around my neck etc, etc. I have finally decided to face my fear, and find out why in the world I am always faced with these types of dreams. 

Gillian Holloway, Ph.D. wrote, "People who are dying or who have lost a loved one often dream of snakes, at or near the time of death. For whatever reason, these dreams seem involved with the psychic awareness of the transition from this life to the next....". I was hoping this instance didn't apply to me, so I did further research. Gillian Holloway also later stated in the text, that dreams about snakes can be a sign that you are trying to overcome a fear or a struggle in your life. From another website, Craig Hamilton-Parker said that snake dreams may resemble stress in your life, or being anxious about a certain event. This is most likely the reason I dream about snakes because I have always been one to stress over school. To find further information on my weird dreams you can go to these websites:http://www.dreamsnightmares.com/snakes.html
http://www.dreamsleep.net/commondreams/meaning-of-snake-dream.html