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