I was always aware of websites online that are beneficial to your health. Sites like WebMD have a feature where you type in your symptoms and then the "online doctor" gives you a couple of different options on what your symptoms could be. I personally am not a user of these types of websites, but it seems to me like it could be fairly accurate if you list all of your symptoms. The only problem is that the site is not an actual doctor, so it can not prescribe you with any medication.
The amount of people that actually check these kind of websites surprised me a lot. I did not think that many people would really take the time to type all of their medical problems out knowing that they will not be able to receive any medicine plus the website may not even be right in what it says is wrong with you. There have also been a lot of applications that you can download on your smart-phones that help with medical issues. There are some that are like WebMD, and others that have specific information about types of medicines. I think having apps like this is a very good thing considering the cost of a doctors visit.
If these websites really do help people then I believe we will see more and more people not going to see a doctor about any medical problems. Obviously this could pose a problem if the person needs some sort of medical assistance. People have to realize that going to the doctor is still going to be a lot more beneficial to a person than simply letting the Internet diagnose us with something that we may not even have. I also think if enough people get diagnosed with things that they do not have, we could see these sites die out, but I could also see the opposite side, being the websites work so well that the companies start charging a fee to receive answers about their medical problems. If it costs money to use the sites I think we will see a decline in the usage of them.
I'm not saying I do not agree with these sites, because I do see a lot of positives in them. I do, however, think if you have some sort of illness that it would be the best if you went to see an actual doctor, instead of relying on something that may not be as accurate. It is really your own opinion as to if you need to see a doctor or not, and I can understand that some people do not have the money to pay for a doctor visit and the medicine that could come with it. If they can figure out what their symptoms are, it could be a lot cheaper for people to use these websites.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Artifact 7
Cheating is something we see very common in high school and college today. With devices like cell phones and blue tooth, students find many ways to cheat, and they do it rather easily. However, I was not aware that some people go as far as they do to cheat. The article mentions students using labels from soda bottles and bills of their hats to write notes on. Student has also hid blue tooth pieces behind their hair and chew gum so no one could tell they were talking. These measures of cheating seem a little drastic to me, but they all are creative and I guess if they work then students will continue to use them.
Teachers are also becoming more and more creative with the types of anti-cheating software they use. There are now websites that students have to post their papers to and the website uses thousands of documents and journals and scans them for matches with the students paper. Teachers then log into the website, look at any highlighted marks on students papers, and determine if the highlighted section is plagiarized. Also, universities now have testing centers in which students are not allowed to bring any devices, food or drink, and hats must be turned around backwards. Another way mentioned in the article is that students must download a special software to their computers and get a 360 degree web cam, in which teachers can see the entire environment that the student is taking the test in. All of these ways seem to be helping with the cheating numbers, as percentages show cheating is going down in many universities that have been using these new anti-cheating methods.
One teacher at IUPUI has gone so far as to create fake websites that specifically answer her tests and homework wrong. Her websites usually are the first thing that comes up in a Google search if the student just copies the question and posts it in the search box. She also has created a fake email account as a student in her classes so she sometimes receives message that other students send out. It is an easy way to catch students sharing answers from her tests. Personally, I think this is a little extreme. Students will find ways of cheating to get good grades, and I do not think it is necessary for teachers to go this far with trying to catch people.
After reading this article I was not surprised that cheating numbers are very high in colleges. Students everywhere cheat, and I do not think anything will completely stop it. However, teachers using these new ways to prevent cheating are dropping the numbers, and making it extremely hard for students to cheat. Using these new methods will make the students who really do study shine, and those who rely solely on cheating fail. I think anti-cheating software is a big step for colleges in decreasing the number of students plagiarising, but again I do not think it will ever be stopped.
Teachers are also becoming more and more creative with the types of anti-cheating software they use. There are now websites that students have to post their papers to and the website uses thousands of documents and journals and scans them for matches with the students paper. Teachers then log into the website, look at any highlighted marks on students papers, and determine if the highlighted section is plagiarized. Also, universities now have testing centers in which students are not allowed to bring any devices, food or drink, and hats must be turned around backwards. Another way mentioned in the article is that students must download a special software to their computers and get a 360 degree web cam, in which teachers can see the entire environment that the student is taking the test in. All of these ways seem to be helping with the cheating numbers, as percentages show cheating is going down in many universities that have been using these new anti-cheating methods.
One teacher at IUPUI has gone so far as to create fake websites that specifically answer her tests and homework wrong. Her websites usually are the first thing that comes up in a Google search if the student just copies the question and posts it in the search box. She also has created a fake email account as a student in her classes so she sometimes receives message that other students send out. It is an easy way to catch students sharing answers from her tests. Personally, I think this is a little extreme. Students will find ways of cheating to get good grades, and I do not think it is necessary for teachers to go this far with trying to catch people.
After reading this article I was not surprised that cheating numbers are very high in colleges. Students everywhere cheat, and I do not think anything will completely stop it. However, teachers using these new ways to prevent cheating are dropping the numbers, and making it extremely hard for students to cheat. Using these new methods will make the students who really do study shine, and those who rely solely on cheating fail. I think anti-cheating software is a big step for colleges in decreasing the number of students plagiarising, but again I do not think it will ever be stopped.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Artifact 6
I was never aware of there actually being totally anonymous websites before I watched this video. Now that I think about it, I could see how something like this can be a positive. By having a social network site that is totally anonymous, obviously there would not be a need to enter any of you personal information into your profile. Without having all of your personal stuff like phone numbers, addresses, and various other things, it would make it harder for people to steal identities and it would reduce the need for people to hack profiles as well.
There are however, a lot of negatives that could come out of totally anonymous websites. Because there are no names or any personal information listed on your page, people can say basically say whatever they want and no one will know who they are. I think if everything is done anonymously, people will say even worse things then they already do, and they will also do it more often. When you do not have your name on things, it makes it a lot easier to say things that you would not normally say in person or if you had your name in front of it. Having everything anonymous just opens the door for people to do what they want and say whatever they want to.
After seeing this video I can definitely see both the good and the bad sides of having anonymous websites. It makes for easier communication between people and it also has no need for personal information to be on profiles, but it has the possibility of increasing some of the nasty things people say about others online.
There are however, a lot of negatives that could come out of totally anonymous websites. Because there are no names or any personal information listed on your page, people can say basically say whatever they want and no one will know who they are. I think if everything is done anonymously, people will say even worse things then they already do, and they will also do it more often. When you do not have your name on things, it makes it a lot easier to say things that you would not normally say in person or if you had your name in front of it. Having everything anonymous just opens the door for people to do what they want and say whatever they want to.
After seeing this video I can definitely see both the good and the bad sides of having anonymous websites. It makes for easier communication between people and it also has no need for personal information to be on profiles, but it has the possibility of increasing some of the nasty things people say about others online.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Artifact 5
One of the most looked at things online is porn. The porn industry is one of the biggest money makers to date. This industry produces movies, they have specific stores, and it is available online at any time. This podcast talks about how the industry has developed since the early nineties.
Porn websites can be accessed from anywhere in the world. When online pornography first started, websites required users to put in there credit card number and subscribe to the site before they could view anything. The industry has made so much money that they now are putting out websites that are free for anyone, with no age restrictions and obviously no charge to a credit card. This makes it available to anyone.
The porn industry has recently gone down in how much it is being viewed, however, the only reason is because the new development of social networking sites. FaceBook and Twitter now are at the top of the most viewed list, but porn is still very high. I was actually surprised that it dropped. I believe this industry will remain one of he biggest money makers because of the fact that so many view it. The podcast said that most of the users of these sites are young males, which I can definitely see. Young males go through puberty and become interested in this kind of thing, so it is easy to see why they would be the people more prone to view these websites. So to me the number of views these websites get is not surprising.
Porn websites can be accessed from anywhere in the world. When online pornography first started, websites required users to put in there credit card number and subscribe to the site before they could view anything. The industry has made so much money that they now are putting out websites that are free for anyone, with no age restrictions and obviously no charge to a credit card. This makes it available to anyone.
The porn industry has recently gone down in how much it is being viewed, however, the only reason is because the new development of social networking sites. FaceBook and Twitter now are at the top of the most viewed list, but porn is still very high. I was actually surprised that it dropped. I believe this industry will remain one of he biggest money makers because of the fact that so many view it. The podcast said that most of the users of these sites are young males, which I can definitely see. Young males go through puberty and become interested in this kind of thing, so it is easy to see why they would be the people more prone to view these websites. So to me the number of views these websites get is not surprising.
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