Reading Rainbow

       LeVar is hoping to make ''Reading Rainbow'' episodes available online. Although "Burton says a shift in education philosophy during the Bush administration is to blame for the show’s ultimate demise," children would still be able to watch the show (Grabert).
   
     Shows are already available online for various television programs. It seems almost like common sense to revert to the Internet in cases such as LeVar's.
   
     The Internet has become an incredible instrument in education. Not only does the Internet host a plethora of scholarly resources, encyclopedias, and 'how to' videos, it is slowly becoming the new classroom.  Not only are college courses available online, but middle, and high school courses are also being offered.

     If LeVar's intention is to educate the Internet is certainly the way to go.  When people have a question, their first instinct is to "'Google' it". The advantages are endless. If episodes are available online not only will "Reading Rainbow" be watched, but the books it references will be available to viewers right then, and there. LeVar can get immediate viewer response; in turn, he will be able to cater his work to the specific needs of his viewers, ultimately, becoming a more effective educator. Additionally, children would be able to view what episodes they wanted when they wanted, and parents would be able to dictate the episodes their children view in accordance to what their children would be learning in school.  

     Fun, educational programs such as "Reading Rainbow" are beautiful resources. They need to be available to children, and if television will not approve them, the Internet will.

http://www.cinemablend.com/television/Reading-Rainbow-Heads-Online-With-LeVar-Burton-Website-Kids-39406.html

It's a Phone...No, It's an iPad...No, Its an iPad Mini

There is a negative connotation that associates middle children with being neglected; they are not the first born, nor are they the baby. They are a well rounded combination of the two: They have pressing expectations to be a good example, but they are also given mercy, and a share of the gos, and gawks from being one of the babies. I suppose the invention of the iPad mini is a desperate stretch to find middle ground. It is not a phone, not a laptop, and it certainty is not an iPad.   

The iPad mini is "as thin as a pencil and weighs 0.68 pounds, half as much as the full-size iPad with its 9.7-inch screen"(Svensson). In comparison, to other devices, the Ipad mini is "0.5 inch[es] larger than most full-size mainstream tablets and 0.9 inch larger than the iPad's screen" (RT Review).

I do not have an iPad Mini, a tablet, or an iPad. I think they are practical, and I understand why they sell as well as they do; personally, I would prefer to put money into building a computer that is capable of holding raw footage, and hosting film editing software. Also, when I go on a trip, I like having the excuse that I did not have access to the internet. I do not like having one foot plugged in, and the other out. I think having iPads, and even mini laptops obligate us to check Facebook, email, twitter, and blogs.

Granted, I think unlike the stereotype of the middle child, these mini's are doing quite well for themselves:
"Apple has sold more than 100 million iPads since their debut in April 2010. Analysts expect Apple to sell 5 million to 10 million iPad Minis before the year is out" (Svensson).

They are definitely striking some consumer interest. As stated in a Microsoft review "If you're an early adopter willing to forget everything you know about navigating a computer, the Surface tablet could replace your laptop. Everyone else: wait for more apps" (RT review).

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20121024/us-tec-apple-ipad-mini/

http://reviews.cnet.com/tablets/microsoft-surface-rt/4505-3126_7-35332494.html

Technological annoyances

     According to Roberto Baldwin the Twleve most annoying technologies as chosen by wired commenters are (1) Voice recognition (2) Car alarms (3) the iPad Camera (4) Fax machines (5) Touchless bathrooms (6) Credit Card Machines (7) QR Codes (8) Alarm clock Snooze Buttons (9) Subwoofers (10) Captcha (11) Facebook (12) and Technology Writer Roberto Baldwin.
    I found the results very ammusing. I think to some extent or the next we can all nod atleast in understanding of how these technologies could annoy someone else. However, I think my personal list would differ greatly.

The Good:
  To me, fax machines, credit card machines, and facebook are entirely to practical to complain about. All technology comes with a few corks. Touchless bathrooms still make me feel like I am in some kind of futuristic spaceship. I enjoy the experience! The alarm clock snooze button gives me five more minutes to sleep; I embrace that kind of technology!

The Bad:
 If someone does not like voice regognition, technology writers, and QR Codes they do not have to use, or encouter them. They are such aviodable annoyances; whereas, car alarms, subwoofers, and captcha, on the other hand, invaid your entire environment.

The Ugly:
    I think that the motion censored commercial-screens in Walmart, and in other shopping centers are incredibly annoying. One step, and the screen speaks: a poreless women telling us how beautiful are skin could look: another step,  hamburger helper oozing from a warm kitchen pan: another, world music breaking out from ill speakers. AHHHHHH!!!!! Now that is annoying!
    
   

Foxconn Attack

In the last discussion about Foxconn factories I was roped into siding with a lukewarm approach. One of the earlier articles claimed that Foxconn employees were enduring the long work shifts because they wanted to be able to earn more money. However, after reading about the mass riots in the Foxconn factory, I am quite sure that the employees were misrepresented. 

Riots broke out in the Foxconn factory that involved "2,000 workers" (Kan). It was said that the "incident first started as a “personal dispute”, and then escalated" (Kan). How a single personal dispute escalates into a 2,000 person riot is more than suspicious. Although the workers might have had bitterness towards their working conditions, if their need was only monetary, than why would anyone jeopardize their means of income for someone elses 'personal dispute'. The article even stated that "According to police, some 40 individuals were taken to the hospital for medical attention and a number of individuals were arrested...”(Kan) As a news article quoted labor experts,"Foxconn is not entirely transparent about the worker disputes that occur at the company’s factories in China." ...'NOT ENTIRELY!!!!?'

People do not join riots with so much to risk unless they believe the risk is worth taking. The workers are doing all they can with what they have. The people in China are not being treated justly, they are being misrepresented, and articles are being published to make all of their abuse look justifiable. They are sacrificing their jobs, and their health to make a stand. What are we doing to help? Are we a part of the problem, or the solution?
 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2010498/mass-riot-erupts-at-foxconn-factory-in-china.html

Memory

      It was once hypothisized that "there was no way that the motors and platters and flying read/write heads of memory could possibly keep up with the blinding pace of semiconductor logic." Fortunately for us, this position is far from reality.

     I found the article "Remembrance of Computer Disks Past" a thought provoking read. The article spoke about the desperate search for memory, and the progression from floppy discs, to tiny disc drives found in the Apple IPods, today. Although the tranformation through each memory host was interesting, I thought that the timing in which such great inventions had been marketed was very impressive. In just sixty-years memory has advanced from "24 stacked disks, each two feet in diameter and weighing more than 20 pounds each," to "tiny, silver-dollar-size"(Malone).

    This article made me think about, and appreciate memory in general. We record information every single day. Even in-class notetaking is a luxury that once did not exisit. There was a time when memory was restricted to the human-mind... frightening! Now, we can record data anywhere, anytime: cell phones, flashdrives, sticky-notes, voicemail, even the internet is a data recording system.

    As stated in the article, "Computer memory is the forgotten story of the electronics revolution. Yet it may be the most remarkable of all" (Malone).

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n6XBdsEdK20J:online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444100404577641254037608474.html?mod=googlenews_wsj+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk

Connected

An article published September 9th, 2012 stated that, "35 percent of the U.S. Internet population is not on Facebook or Twitter, and of those who are, nearly half are scared of scams."( mail online).

Social Media is an incredible tool. Although only 65% of internet users are on Twitter, or Facebook, I would not doubt that %100 of internet users know of these social networks. They are powerful, and they do connect the world in ways that we've never been connected before. 

Thirty-five percent really is not a terrible loss, either.  If an approximate 17% of internet users are afraid of scams, and 11% claim that the sites are too difficult to use there is still only a remaining 7% of internet users to consider. Of this 7% I think that it would be safe to assume that although these people do not have a Facebook, or Twitter account now, they might have in the past, or will in the future. There are young teenagers who use the internet for school, and perhaps gaming, but do not have their parents permission to start social networking, yet. Alternatively, there are people who have had accounts on these sites, and later decided that it was too much of a distraction. Furthermore, the 11% who claim that the sites were too difficult had to have tried them in order to make their assumption. This being said although only 65% are on Facebook or Twitter, it seems as though statistically speaking closer to 85% of the population has been, or will be a part of these social networks.

Eighty-Five percent of the U.S.internet population is huge! This statistic indicates that Facebook, and Twitter holds a greater turn-out than the U.S. Presidential Election voter turn-out! (infoplease)

Social Media can be used for almost any kind of promotion whether it would be a website promotion, business promotion, product, or personal promotion. The moment we connect through social media, we reach %65 of the U.S.internet population if not %85 in due time. Perhaps this November Twitter, and Facebook will be used as election promoters and for the first time in years our polls will overflow because of the power influence of our social media!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2200880/A-THIRD-U-S-population-refrains-using-Facebook-Twitter.html
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0781453.html

Suicide Factories

The news reports about the Samsung, and Apple factories are stomach twisting. It makes me feel like a cannibal. We are literally consuming these people for our own gain:  “Wang Ling's… was the 15th Foxconn employee reported to have committed suicide since the beginning of 2010” (Garside). Although these facts are heart wrenching, these conditions are being brought to the light, which means hope is on its way.

 These reports remind me of the conditions in early 17^th century American factories.  A historical website declares, “Children as young as six years old during the industrial revolution worked hard hours for little or no pay. Children sometimes worked up to 19 hours a day, with a one-hour total break… They were in horrible conditions. Large, heavy, and dangerous equipment was very common for children to be using or working near. Many accidents occurred [causing] injur[ies] [and] kill[ed] children on the job” (Galenet). In 2012 two articles were published that noted uncanny parallels concerning factories today. They explained that “46% of the workforce clocked up to 70 hours per week”  that  ” 43% of workers reported experiencing or witnessing an accident”, and that “health and safety breaches found by auditors …included blocked exits, lack of or faulty personal protective equipment and missing permits” (Garside).  Four centuries later, and we still have these working conditions!

I really do believe that I could pledge today to stop using products such as the iphone; however, I think in a desperate act to demand change I would hurt the same people I was trying to help.  The most disturbing part of this report was that “a third of employees surveyed wanted to work more hours so that they could earn more, and half felt their hours were reasonable” (Garside). These people want to work, and if I were to boycott their products, I would be denying them their will. So what do we do to help?

The fact that there are being articles published, and blogs posted about this issue means that people are becoming more, and more aware of what is happening. Awareness is the first step to resolution.  If no one knows what is happening, then no one can react to what is happening.  Eventually in American history the Factory Act was passed. In the same way, Chinese laws will be passed, and enforced. Although it took longer than anyone would have liked, “ Apple [has] recognized the need for independent audits and appointed… [the] Fair Labour Association… to clean up the garment trade, [and] is now turning its attention for the first time to the electronics industry “ (Garside).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/30/apple-factories-china-foxconn-audit

http://gizmodo.com/5940903/report-worker-abuse-and-underage-employment-at-six-more-http://www2.needham.k12.ma.us/nhs/cur/Baker_00/2002_p7/ak_p7/childlabor.html

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