Post about Blog

I do like writing blogs for this class. I thought it was a lot of fun how we had to blog about certain things and see what others thought about them. I think it was a lot better then having to turn in a paper because it saves paper :) and because its a lot more convenient. As well, other see your blog, and comment on it, so it helped me to learn and see better ideas that helped me with our current assignments. The blog sometimes were very entertaining to read and see what other people were doing, saying, and thinking. It helped me understand that i was not the only one struggling with this part, and gave me a better way to find help and examples. With all of our blogs, we gave everyone ideas, and together, we helped each other out. If we didn't have the Blog, we wouldn't be able to help each other out, and we wouldn't be able to expand our mind. 

Analysis: Pandora is Awesome

I was going to do my analysis of Apple, but since we talked about it in class i decided to do PANDORA.

The main reason this website is efficient is because it is so simple. The website consist of one page to keep its focus on it main purpose of playing music. Because the website is only one page, the music continues to play even when you search for new music stations or even read the lyrics or information about the band/singer. Another nice and efficient features is the search bar. Its up in the left corner right under the logo. That is the spot where most people look because its where the logo is at and because people read from the top to left to right. Profile information is up in the right corner, which as become the common spot for the button to view and edit profile information. If its your first time on pandora, you will view the search bar in the middle of the screen with a "white space" around it. Techically its not white, but blue, yet it makes you focus to the middle. It makes it simple for first time users to search for music and to get started with using pandora. One part, which is my lest favorite, is the rule of thirds that pandora uses. 2/3 of the website is about it main purpose, but they use a right side column or 1/3 of the website for advertising. Its annoying sometimes, yet it fulfills their purpose because they want to make money and attract their audience to that space. Pandora is very efficient with their advertising. They track what you listen too, and as well use google ads which track your searches, so that they can efficiently advertise things that interest you(most of the time). The play and pause features are the 2nd most important part, and are place center on the website, or just right of the search bar and left of the profile button. This is a pretty good spot because its near other important parts of the website.

PANDORA IS AWESOME!

Solution | Websites

Solution

I was having a hard time finding quotes from my sources. I realized that I just need to spend more time reading and looking through them. Skimming through the paragraphs and looking for the main points also helped me find the important things instead of just reading from the beginning.

Effective Websites
1. www.apple.com
its simple, beautiful, and just awesome

2. www.google.com
its google! lets all admit it... its simple.. and its completes its main purpose which is to search.

3. www.pandora.com
Easy. Simple. awesome.

4. www.washingtonpost.com
Show informational and important news on home page. Show most popular pages to the side and trending new on top! My favorite political news website.

Ineffective Websites
1. www.drudgereport.com/
I can't believe this was on page one of google. I searched news and this site came up. Its horrible. Its not appealing to the eyes(my eyes want to burn). Organization is horrible. No main menu bar. Too much text links.

2. www.dpgraph.com/
Wow... the background is a bunch of crappy moving graphics! I want to have a seizure!!!

3. www.sixtiespress.co.uk/
was this made in the sixties?!? disorganized. distracting.

4. www.monster.com/
I thought I do a kind of popular website for the last one. I feel its distracting with all the things around its main search bar. It also has WAY too much advertising around it! I hate annoying advertising... especially pop-ups or in this case where the it sides the page down and a ad comes down from the top. The other content on the home page is small and doesn't stand out. It should be a important part and be more simple.

Paraphasing

The word "Myth" is usually referring to something historical and knowledgeable but recently has been used as a expression and saying. This has destroyed its significance with history, culture, and religion. (Bacchilega 25)


Honestly... Im struggle with every part of this paper... hahaha... but I think more then anything is I struggle finding quotes and sources that i can use in my paper and figuring out the best way to bind them or used them in my paper. I have a bunch of great ideas, some quotes, and arguments, but I have a hard time organizing it and writing about it without being boring or just stating things. Otherwords, Im struggle with Analysis. 


:/

Library Research :)

Heading to the library last Monday was helpful in many ways. I learned many things that will help me find sources for my issues paper. I think the most useful thing i learned was the tools and resources that they gave us. I learned where to find websites that had useful information and books on my topic. I also learned that our class(WRTG 150) had its own website with other useful information. Another thing I learned is that we can't use a encyclopedia as a source. I knew that we couldn't use wikipedia as a source because its a public encyclopedia but I had no idea that a real encyclopedia couldn't be used. They also taught us how to find books at the library and how to find out where they are in the library. They also taught us how to get help at the library and online.

I think this visit to the library mainly helped me find tools and resources to use in my paper, but Im still pretty confused on how to find useful sources. They gave us the tool, and how to search for documents and books, but didn't give us enough help on how to narrow it down. I could search my topic and find thousands of books but obviously i don't have enough time to read through them all. Im still confused on how to find the right books and sources and how to skim and find the specific parts i need for my paper. In other words, Im still confused how to effectively find good sources. I feel that i have the tools.... great... but now i need to know better how to use those tools to find the specific quotes i need for my paper. Overall, it was useful because now i know where to find researching tools.

My Proposal

So I think I'm going to do my Issue Paper on the general idea of Ridiculous Laws. I recently saw a report on the Fox News Network about Ridiculous Laws. Children were getting fined for having a lemonade stand on their front yard without a business permit. They also gave another example of a farmer who cleaned debris out of a ditch without city permission. Another Law in New York which stated that only taxis with a badge on their car had permission to use taxis to transport people. The Badge cost hundreds to thousands of dollars to own and doesn't allow small business or personnel to start their own taxi business. I believe this is wrong and limits creativity, progress, and entrepreneurship. Im really not sure if I can do my Issue paper on the topic in general which I would like.

I Think a research question could be: "Should their be a yellow line in Laws protecting monopolies, unsafe environments, and property." "Is laws and regulations limiting progress, creativity, and entrepreneurship." "Why does government make such laws and regulations?" "Should government enforce such situations?" I care about this a lot because I think were limiting the creation of something bigger and better. For example, I recently learned in history that religion and the old way of government was the main reason why the industrial revolution didn't occur until the last 300 or so years. Religion leaders believed that science would disprove of a God. Old government didn't allow entrepreneurship and the free market. Everything was control and was governed by the government. More laws and regulations have been created in the last 30 years then in the entire 200 years and more of the existence of the United States of America.  Many people who created the greatest inventions on earth would be sued and fined to DEATH for the experiments they did. If it was chemical they used on animals, the lighting of a field on fire, or cutting down a tree, either way, it would limit them of their creativity. We are too harsh today and I think it will limit my creativity, especially since Im not super rich to be able to buy all the permits and stuff required today to do anything!

SO... I kind of rampaged about this and I still not sure if I have a issue here. Maybe one of you guys can help me narrow it down... I don't know.

 :)

20 Interests

1.  2012 Presidential Election 
2. Renewable energies
3. BCS in College Football
4. Effect of Web Advertising 
5. Google Privacy Agreement
6. Media favoring in Politic
7. United States Foreign Involvement
8. United States Debt/spending
9. Outrageous/Ridiculous Laws/Regulations(i.e. Government laws limiting creativity, freedom... Business licenses)
10. Professional Sports in small states(like NFL in Utah)
11. Government involvment/ownership of Businesses
12. Cyber-Warfare (Cyber attacks)
13. Democrats(or Republicans) voting in a Republican(or Democrat) primary
14. State vote vs Population vote
15. Monopolies
16. Viewing violence leads to violence
17. Youtube Copyright Policies(i.e. showing someone else without permission or showing property that is not yours... etc)
18. Copyright policies
19. Fireworks
20. Effects of technology on the younger generation