Automobile Body Styles and Design

Automobile Body Styles

SUV's or Sports Utility Vehicles are often offered with four-wheel drive and are designed for both on and off-road use.  Some SUV's offer the passenger carrying capacity of a mini van or large sedan (6-7 people).

http://www.affordablerentacarandsales.com/suv-rental/

Coups are often the sportier variations of saloon cars, but instead of four doors they have two. Styles can vary for different manufacturers though, as some newer styles do have four doors. They are deigned for style and comfort.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2013/04/top-10-cheapest-coupes.html

Convertibles are cars with retractable roofs, and are typically made for warm climates. Most appeal to luxury car riders and performance car fans.

morguefile.com

Trucks are light-motor vehicles with open air storage compartments known as "beds".They are often available with two or four doors for the passenger compartments. 

http://www.bristoltruckrentals.com/vehicles/trucks/pickup-trucks/

Crossovers are a unique body type. With the height of a truck built on a a car like body, crossovers are typically less fuel consuming while still providing four-wheel drive. They are typically designed for light off-road riding

http://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-11-crossovers-and-suvs-with-the-best-highway-fuel-economy-for-2014.html

Automobile Design

Starting with the sketching phase, it typically takes three years to create and design a car. They call car designing problem solving because the designers have to design a car within an engineering restraints or criteria. They can't do whatever they want, they have to create something that is ascetically pleasing yet still meets that criteria. 

The feasibility stage is the largest part when it comes to designing a car. It is when they take the sketches that they really like, and evolve them into something that maintains the theme of those sketches, but then fits over top of the engineering car points. It is also where the most negotiation takes place, and everything (design, engineering and marketing) come together to get a car on the road. 

Although it definitely wouldn't be my first choice, or even in my top ten, car design would be an interesting job to have. It would be cool to create new designs and then have the public using them in their day to day life. I don't think I would ever seriously consider this as a career choice, but if it was the only job I could have, I wouldn't be completely disappointed. 

Careers and Certification in the Automotive Industry

Careers in the Automotive Industry

There have been a lot of  advancements in the automotive industry, especially recently. There are many high-tech systems on our vehicles today that were never heard of only 30 years ago. Some of these are stability and traction control systems, adaptive cruise control and variable valve timing.

For young people to have a career as an automotive technician, they should have some math, science, communication and technical skills. Some advantages of obtaining an education in this field is, unlike other hi-tech educational options, it only takes two years to become certified, leaving you with the chance to get out into the "real" world faster and less college debt. It also won't be very hard to find a job once you are out of school. It is expected that the automotive repair and maintenance industry will add over 237, 500 new jobs, and have a 30% growth rate right through until 2020. That makes technicians one of the top 20 jobs to have over the next decade, and with many other careers like computer programming, customer call center work and accounting services all going over seas, it is safe to say that the automotive repair and maintenance industry is immune to such moves, and not threatened like how many other career choices are today.

There are so many jobs and positions those who are certified as an automotive technician can look forward to. There is work in technical areas, there's the growing field of high-performance machining and building, there is collision repair and painting, there are also positions with high schools and community colleges plus so much more. You could even start your own business if nothing seems to work for you, or if you just enjoy the challenge. In fact, there are so many different career choices and opportunities, that the role as an automotive technician is seen as a sort of "portal career". So many people have started their careers in the automotive aftermarket, especially as an automotive technician, that it definitely deserves the title.

I think I actually wouldn't mind being an automotive technician. I have never been extremely enthusiastic about cars, but my father is a mechanic, which I know is not the same thing, but i don know a little bit about how they work. I think I would enjoy the challenge of being an automotive technician, and how it is almost always a learning experience. Everything you would do, every new problem you would face, you would learn form it, and that's what I think I would enjoy.

A couple things from the video that I found interesting was definitely the Hybrid. I have never really had the opportunity to see what they look like and how they run, and I never really thought about researching or bothered to looked into it. It was cool to see under the hood and how there is a rather large battery in the back. I also found the device they used to find the problems interesting. Although it's a little weird to think that a car is completely run by computers and electricity, it was interesting to watch them plug a handheld computer into the car and have it tell them what was wrong, instead of the tedious process of having to figure that out.

To be an automotive technician, you are committing to a life time of learning, which isn't that much different form any other job or life that you are going to live. As humans, we are always learning. Our brain is like a sponge that is continually picking things up, and especially as an automotive technician, this is necessary. With the continual advancements in the technological, mechanical and electrical worlds, you will be expected to know how to run and maintain the new products. That is why it is important to remember that you have to learn. Without that, you'll be left behind while the newly developed world keeps developing.

When considering a career as an automotive technician, I think it is very important to have patience and communication skills, along with the ability to decipher and locate problems to fix them. Math, English and some electrical/technological sciences would definitely be helpful as well.

Certification in the Automotive Industry

NATEF-  National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation, it's primary focus is to improve the quality of automotive technician training programs nationwide at secondary, post-secondary, public and propriety schools.

SGS- Help you to manage your supply chain, provide safe and reliable vehicles, improve quality, efficiency and safety, and reduce environmental impact.

ASE - National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence, it's primary focus is to improve the quality of vehicle repair and service by testing and certifying automotive professionals.

Jobs in the automotive Industry

Out of the top ten jobs in the automotive universe, I think I would like to be a car designer. Although I am not extremely artistically inclined, I think it would be fun. The job I would like the least is surprisingly enough the automotive journalist. Although I love to write, I am not that good at journalism and it's not something I fairly enjoy, especially if it would be primarily about cars.

Emerging Technologies and Automobiles

Technologies in Development

Out of the six developing technologies that I read about here, I think the Terrafugia and the T-FX  are the least likely to happen. They just seem impractical to me, and the thought of having cars flying above my head is a little unsettling. Will there be an age restriction on who can drive one of these cars, or can a 16 year old use one? Will there be a separate license to test for, will you have to know how to fly a plane or helicopter in order to fly one of these vehicles? I know that it is supposed to be autonomous, but things can happen. There can be glitches in the system or a malfunction where you have no choice but to switch it to manual, and then what? There are just too many variables, and I think it would cause more problems than the ones it seemingly will solve.

Out of the six though, they did have some interesting and kind-of-smart ideas, like what the article says under the "Next-Gen Active Safety Features.". Especially in Canada, the visibility, or the lack of, is not rare. The idea of being able to see through the storm and have your car tell you where objects and other vehicles and people on the road are, is incredibly cool and would be incredibly useful. It would be amazing if this technology was introduced into modern day cars, so I am more hoping than anything. I don't think this technology will be introduced soon, but I do think it will someday.

I think what Ford is working on will definitely make it's way into cars today, although to me, I don't think it will have a huge impact on the driver. Ford plans on integrating sensors into the steering wheel and seat belt of the driver, so the car can register the driver's breathing, heart, and stress levels. If the driver is under a lot of stress, the car will be able to ignore calls and other distractions to ensure the driver will get to their destination safely. Useful, yes, it will help the driver when (s)he is in these times of stress, but I don't think it will have a huge impact on the way we drive in our society, which is partly why I think it will be the first to appear.

Like I said above, the idea of a flying car does not appeal to me at all. I don't think there are many advantages to having a vehicle that can travel by both land and air. It seems impractical and unsafe, plus many airline companies may go out of business if families can fly wherever they want on their own. Not only do they not look appealing, (who wants to drive around in a car that looks like a wannabe plane with seemingly no wings?) but they would be extremely expensive to both buy and make, and I just don't see the point. Hardly anybody would be able to buy them, so you would have just a bunch of vehicles that no one is using. We already have enough regular cars that just sit in dealerships all day. If it can't travel through time, don't even bother. That's what I think.

The self driving car has been talked about for years, and I can see both sides of the moral argument, but I think I have to disagree with it. Yes, it would cause less accidents and people who don't enjoy driving would no longer have to deal with the stress of it, but I just don't trust the technology, and probably won't until it was proven to me how safe it is. Glitches and malfunctions can happen, the sensor can be damaged, and eventually we will forget how to drive. The where will we be?  Although I can't stop the developments from happening, I know for sure I would not be a customer.

Tech for the Sake of Tech?

It does not surprise me that younger people, typically aged 21-38, do not care about having smartphone connectivity options in their cars, but I do think our generation will. Although I find it almost annoying to have all of these gadgets, apps and unneeded options within arms length while you are behind the wheel, I think my fellow peers would love it. The idea of being uploaded, connected, and online all the time seems to appeal to most people my age, and the bare thought of going for a drive in a car without that is seemingly horrible. I personally don't see what the big deal of it all is, but that's just me, and I am just one person in a world of Cybermen continually looking to be upgraded.

Although some people think the fact that many drivers are not using the connectivity options suggest they are using their smartphones while driving, I have to disagree. Yes, there are some people who do use their phone while they are behind the wheel, which they really shouldn't do, but how is turning their car into their phone going to help that? If anything, I think it will only increase the risks of accidents and the urge to drive distractedly. All you are doing is taking away the reaching for your phone. You still have to look away from the road to hit a button, adjust and use the options and settings; it's just like a really fancy radio, which you still have to look away to use. The reason people are not using these options is because there is no need for them, and they are smart enough to know that without having to ask Siri first.

Although it is clear that not many people like to use all of these new technologies, they are still important to consider when purchasing a new automobile. Not only will they make the car more expensive, but how much of it are you actually going to use, and how much of it is going to get in the way or make it more difficult to actually drive? I know many people who bought a higher tech car than what they are used to, and they still aren't sure how to use it. When there are so many buttons and so many features, it can make driving the vehicle intimidating and cause the driver to be anxious, confused and worried. Why pay more for something that makes it more difficult to do something? Driving a car is simple, and it should be kept that way.

If I had to choose one technology to have in a car I wanted to purchase, I would pick Bluetooth, which in itself has been out for awhile, and the only reason would be for the music on my phone when there is nothing on the radio. I don't like being able to receive calls when I'm driving, and I also really don't like how it makes my voice sound. It makes people sound as if they are in a tunnel and it sucks.

Going back to the timeline, I think one thing that seemed unnecessary was the Energy Policy Act of 1992. I don't know how frequently we use this today, or if that's how all of our fuel is, but it encouraged alternative-fuel vehicles, which used a combination of fuels to run the automobile.

The History of the Automobile

Part One - Carl Benz

The automobile has been around for about 120 years, thanks to the work of Carl Benz. In January of 1886, Carl Benz obtained a patent for his invention. A patent is a copyright license, that allows inventors the rights to their invention for a limited period of time. This also allows them public disclosure of their invention as well. When Benz obtained this patent, he describes the automobile with the title "Benz Patent-Motorwagen". In the summer of 1888, Benz's wife drove to Portime (sp?)

with her two eldest sons, and the first Petrol Station is born. 

Benz made a lot of different models and designs of his great invention, each with newer upgrades as the years went by. One of his inventions for the automobile was the 'Axial Pivot Steering System", which allowed the driver to turn both front wheels simultaneously, solving the problem of not being able to turn two wheels at once. 

Three years before his death, Benz & Co. merges with another company, and they become Mercedes Benz. As a pioneer in technology, Benz got to experience something that many other pioneers did not get to; he lived to see and fulfill his dream. Without Benz, automotive road travel may never have been possible, or at least nowhere near as advanced as it is today.

Part Two - Henry Ford and the Model T

Henry Ford created the assembly line, but it wouldn't have been what it was without the suggestions from three of his employees, who suggested that the line move instead of the workers. The job that a person was best at would be the job they would do five thousand times a day, and the cars could be made faster and more efficiently because of it.  

Ford was also different in his ways of treating his employees. He wanted to make sure they were treated fairly in terms of wage, paying them a more livable salary. Therefore his employees were more committed to Ford's plant and company, and stayed longer as a result. 

The Model T was the car for the common man. It was manufactured for the middle class who couldn't have afforded the previous horse-less carriage. When the first Model came out, it costs about $1000, which dropped to about $800, which dropped to just roughly over $365. I think the price dropped so much because at this point, there were over 100 000 of his cars in completion. and when their is a large quantity of a product, the value drops. He would also have a lot of money coming in from all of the purchases, so there would be no need for a high price. 

As the automobile became more popular, it allowed people more freedom and the chance to travel for pleasure. You could visit family who lived farther away without the transportation of a train. You could go where you want when you wanted, and that is why the automobile has become one of the main means of transportation today.

My Video Selections

The Assembly Line: Then and Now

Before the assembly line, it took 16 hours and lot's of men running around with car parts to construct just one Model T Ford.
After the assembly line was created, it only took men half the time to create the same car.
This worked great, but the jobs were really repetitive, making the workers act like machines.
Today, machines do most of the repetitive work with the humans working alongside them.

Tucker's Dream Impacts Auto Industry

Tucker's dream, which was to create an automobile from scratch in the 1940's, was virtually impossible.
Tucker wanted to create a car based on safety, and attempted to make the safest car on the road.
He sold shares in his company, and he sold more of those than his own automobiles.
In result, only 51 were ever constructed.

Automobile Timeline

• 1901 - The Oldsmobile factory starts production. 

Starting in Detroit, the company makes 425 cars in it's first year, and introduces the first three-horsepower "curved dash" at $650. The car is a success, and the Olds company is selling 5 000 units a year by 1905. I found this really interesting because I think it's astounding how quickly the Oldsmobile company grew and prospered and became successful. I also really like the look of their cars, and had no idea they started as early as 1901.

• 1911 - Electric starter is introduced. 

Charles Kettering introduces the first electric starter. Until then, all motors had to be started by hand, and no one thought an electric starter could ever be made that would be small enough to fit under the hood and strong enough to start an engine. They were first in service in 1912 Cadillacs. I find this interesting because I like how Kettering proved everyone wrong, and how today, just the thought of people being concerned about the electric starter being too big to fit under the hood seems almost funny, considering all of the technological advancements we have made since then.

• 1919 - First single foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes

A french luxury car, the  Hispano-Suiza H6B, introduces the first single-foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes. Before this was invented, drivers had to use a foot brake and a hand brake simultaneously. I find this interesting because I can only imagine how dangerous driving a car before this would have been. If you didn't use both brakes at the same time, you wouldn't have come to a complete stop, which would have made accidents a lot more easier to happen.

• 1950's - Cruise control is developed.

Ralph Teeter, who is a blind man, sensed by ear that cars traveled at uneven speeds, which he believed caused accidents. Throughout the 1940's, he developed a mechanism that allowed the driver to keep the car at a steady speed. Although not very popular when it first made it's appearance in the 1950's, cruise control in on at least 70% of cars today. I find this really interesting because I find it amazing how a blind man created something that a lot of people use today, and he got the idea because he could hear the differences in the car's different speeds. I think that's incredible, and a lot of people are thankful for it and probably don't even realize that he was the one who created it.

Video Assignment: Digital Communications PSA

This is our Public Service Announcement on Digital Communications.

 

Here is our rationale.

Parts of A Computer

The CPU (Computer Processing Unit), also known as the processor, is the brain of the

computer, and is used to carry out commands. Whenever you hit a button, click the mouse or type on the keyboard, you are telling the CPU what to do. The Computer Processing Unit is a small chip located on the motherboard in the CPU pocket, which is covered by a heat sink, ensuring the chip does not burn up.  There are many companies who manufacture processors, but the two most known are Intel and AMD.

The Motherboard Is a computer's main circuit board, It is a thin plate that holds the CPU memory. The motherboard connects directly or indirectly to every part of the computer. According to Ranker.com, the two most popular manufacturers are Gigabyte Technology and Asus.

The Power Supply Unit converts the power from your wall to the type of power your computer needs through cables that are connected to the motherboard and other parts of the computer. According to Ranker.com, the two most popular companies who manufacture Power Supply Units are Seasonic and Corsair Components.

  

The RAM (Random Access Memory) is your system's short term memory. Whenever your computer does calculations, it temporarily stores the data in the RAM unit until it is needed.

Two popular manufacturers that make RAMs are Corsair Components and Crucial, according to Ranker.com.  

Your computer’s hard drive is where the software is installed, and also where your documents and files are stored. Unlike the RAM, the hard drive is your computer's long-term memory. This means that your information is still saved, even after your computer has been shut off or unplugged. The faster your hard drive is, the faster your computer can start up and load programmes. Western Digital technologies Inc. and Toshiba are two of the more common companies who manufacture computer hard drives, according to Ranker.com.

The Video card is what allows you to see what you see on your monitor. Most computers have a GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) instead of it’s own video card. Asus and EVGA Corporation are two of the main manufacturers of video cards, according to Ranker.com.

The sound card is responsible for what you hear in the speakers of your computer or in your head phones. According to Ranker.com, Asus and Creative Technology make the top sound cards.

Photo Credit: morguefile.com

The Network card allows your computer communication to networks and access to the internet. It can either connect through cablers or through a wireless connection (Wi-Fi). Many motherboards have built in network connections. Pro-Nets Technology Corporation and Samsung Electronic Co. are two of the more popular manufacturers, according to Manufacturers.com.

Photo Credit: ebay.com

The majority of this information came from gcflearnfree.org

Senior Savior

Although this stereotypes seniors as digital dummies, here is a link to a one-pager, instructing you on how to create a Spotify account.

Journal Entry #8: Digital Law

One thing I found surprising after completing this unit was just how many rules and laws there are concerning copyright-protected content. I never imagined that it was that large of a problem, and it was interesting to read what the Copyright Act had to say. There was nothing that confusing concerning this unit, and I found it easy to retrieve all the information.

I think the manual Copyright Matters! is an extremely helpful thing to read, and I strongly suggest all tecahers and students should read it, and anyone else who wants to read it just so they know what's right and wrong. NeedHelpNow was also a very helpful website to read about. I think that anyone who is being cyberbullied or harassed, or know's someone who is should definitely consider checking out this site. It provides a lot of information on how to prevent things from happening, get help when things are and how to stop them after they have.

I think the biggest issue when it comes to young people and copyright is that we don't know when it is okay to use others' works and when it's not. A lot of us are lazy people who couldn't be bothered to read all the rules and laws, and that causes problems when we ignorantly use something we weren't supposed to use.

I think the biggest issue for young people when it comes to digital cyberbullying and privacy is that we think that everything is a joke until it's not. I don't think there are many people who would intentionally continue to harass people online if they knew the damage it was going to do.  We also don't know how to stop things or where to get help when things get out of hand. We, as I assume many generations before us, feel as if we are being judged from every angle, which makes it hard for us to know where to stand. 

Assignment #2 CyberBullying and Privacy

CyberBullying has been a problem since people realized it was a way of easily harassing someone without the person seeing their face. These people are arrogant, ignorant people who are not happy with themselves, but whatever. I'm not judging (much).

Under NeedHelpNow's Law and Reporting, there are two actions that are considered as violating someone's privacy, and can be brought to the police and/or charged for. These are:

1. Non-Consentual Distribution of an Intimate Image: If a person has an intimate/sexual picture or video of you, and knowingly puts it online or shares it without your consent, that person could be charged.
2. Voyeurism: is when someone is secretly observing a person who reasonably believes their actions are private and 

• who is in a place where the person might be expected to change or remove clothing (e.g. bedroom, bathroom, change room, cabin, tent);
• who is all or partially naked or engaged in sexual activity at the time; or
• where the recording is done for sexual reasons.

There are four other sections about the law in Canada, and these are:

• Illegal Pictures and Videos
• Acts That Make Others Feel Unsafe
• Acts That Hurt The Reputation Of Others
• Unwanted or Illegal Sexual Content

Acts That Make Others Feel Unsafe can be things like harassment and threats, blackmail and intimidation. Anything that makes a person feel unsafe or harms them in any way. 

Acts That Hurt The Reputation Of Others can be publicly saying something that could harm a person's reputation or cause people to judge, ridicule or think badly of them. This could be claiming someone is racist or homophobic. 

On NeedHelpNow.ca, there are eight different sections to help you for your different, online situations. One of them is Removing Pictures/Videos. It explains the steps of how to remove any unwanted or illegal pictures from social media and even a person's phone. The social media websites they have listed are Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Google, and a page on how to contact the people at NeedHelpNow if you are having problems on a website that was not listed there.

Another section they have is Helping A Friend, which talks about the warning signs of an emotionally in distress person, and how to help. I think this is very helpful because a lot of people are going through major and heavy things, and you might not even know about it or notice that they are not doing so well right now. It's good to know that there is a place where you can get advice on how to help a friend in need, especially when you know that person is not looking for advice or trying to get help. 

#ChangeTheStory is a campaign NeedHelpNow has started that fights to get your life around after you have been harassed, especially after a picture or video of you has been taken and posted without your consent. in one of the videos on their site, you get to see the process of how it affects a person. You see pictures of a girl with her friends, and they are smiling and laughing, but slowly you see her alone, in emotional distress, looking worst and worst because of the mental trauma she is going through, but then it starts to turn around. You see her start to look and feel better, and then her friends come back, and everyone is smiling. Things can get better, and this video symbolizes that. 

Ways you could help promote the #ChangeTheStory campaign could be to share it on social media, show it to people who you know need it. Most people who are going through things feel pathetic or stupid if they go on a website like NeedHelpNow, and therefore wouldn't know what the campaign even is. It might also make those who would post pictures and intentionally or unintentionally ruin someone's life, think twice before they hit send. 

 

Assignment One: Copyright and Copy-wrong

 Fair Dealings protects a person when using others' materials or works for the purposes of research, private study, criticism, reviews, news reporting, education, satire and parody, but only in short excerpts. A short excerpt means up to 10% of a copyright-protected work or one chapter of a book, a single article from a periodical, an entire artistic work, an entire newspaper article or page, an entire single poem or musical score, or an entire entry from an encyclopedia, bibliography, dictionary or similar reference work. You are not, however, allowed to use multiple short excerpts from the same copyright-protected work. So sharing 10%, and then another 10%, and then another and another would be punishable by the copyright law. A fee can be charged when presenting others' copyrighted work without permission, but must be intended for covering the costs of the institution and overhead costs, and not for profit.

Teachers can copy and use others' works for the purpose of teaching and tests, but only for the purpose of education and training, and it is not already available in an appropriate format for the purpose. Although there are many exceptions and rights to students who have perceptual disabilities, a school or any other educational institute can not make a large-print book for a student without the permission from the copyright owner. Students and teachers can use audio and video in class and for projects, but only if under the following conditions:

•  it must take place on the premises of an educational institution; 
•  it must be for educational or training purposes; 
• it must not be for profit; 
• it must take place before an audience consisting primarily of students of the educational institution, persons acting under its authority, or any person who is directly responsible for setting a curriculum for the educational institution; and 
• it must not involve a “motive of gain.“

This only applies to radio and television as they are being transmitted live, and not media that has already been recorded.  These rules also apply when performing a play on school premises. Students can perform a copyright-protected play, but only under these conditions. Performing a play for drama class would be an example of this.

SOCAN is an organization that can provide licenses to schools and school boards across Canada to allow them to use live and recorded music not permitted by the Copyright Act. It is illegal to use these music files without permission from SOCAN when used for school dances, sporting events, as background music and at events when the admission fee is intended to make a profit. The key questions to ask when video and music use is legal to use by staff and students are:

• Did the music use occur during school hours?
• Will the student be graded on the activity involving the music use?
•  Does the music use involve a demonstration by a student or
• teacher for other students, teachers, assessors, or parents?
•  Is it reasonable to consider the music use to be for educational
• purposes? The phrase “educational purposes” is not defined
• in the Copyright Act but can be described as an activity that is
• planned and where the objective is for students to meet one or
• more subject or program outcomes.
•  Was the music used on school premises?
•  If admission was controlled, was it free?
•  Was the music use for a non-profit purpose?

Teachers, students, and any other person who wishes to create new works using copyrighted works is allowed to, and is protected under the Copyright Act, but only under these circumstances:

• It can only be used for non-commercial purposes. 
•  The original source must be mentioned, if it is reasonable to do so. 
•  The original work used to generate the content must have been acquired legally. 
• The resulting user-generated content does not have a “substantial adverse effect” on the market for the original work. 

This permits students to create DVD's, mashups, or videos as long as the conditions above have been all met.

 

Teachers can rent or buy a DVD and show it to their class as long as it is not an infringing copy. This can be a rented or purchased DVD, a copy borrowed from a library or friend, or a YouTube video. Teachers cannot, however, make a copy of a DVD, video or show at home and bring it to class. Only if the works is obtained legally can a teacher show a movie to their class. 

When pertaining to computer software, the owner of a computer software can make a single copy for only two reasons.

1. As a backup copy
2. For modification, adaptation, or converting the program into another language provided that:

                           i) the reproduction is essential for the compatibility of the program with a particular computer 

                          ii) the reproduction is solely for the person’s own use

                         iii) the copy is erased when the person ceases to be the owner of the copy of the program from which the copy was made.

Once the owner of the software is no longer the owner, they must prove that the copy was erased.

Teachers and students are allowed to copy publicly available images and works from the internet, but they are required to site the source of the content.

 Any works created by a student, whether it be video, essay, art work, web posts, ect. is protected by the Copyright Act. The student or the student's guardian must authorize the further use of their content. I am glad to hear this, because students create a lot of things and they can be taken advantage of because of this, as if just because we are students and had to do the work for our grade means we are not proud of it and wouldn't be upset if it was stolen. Well, we are, or at least I am. I am proud of a lot of the projects and assignments we are told to do, and I would be deeply upset if I seen my work signed with a name that wasn't mine. I am glad that all of the work I create while in school or for class is automatically protected, although putting a copyright sign for good measure wouldn't be a bad idea.

(Example of a book reference)

Keenan, Jules (2015)  Interviews With My Late Night Self  New Brunswick: Jules Keenan, $15.99

Journal Entry #7: Digital Access

The most surprising thing I found from completing this unit was just how hard some countries are working to get to at least sort of where are in the technological world. Living in this country where we don't have to work for anything can make you forget or not realize that the world as a whole is not like that. There are some countries where the majority of the population do not have an access to the internet, which can be kind of surprising to those who use the internet for hours everyday.

I found nothing confusing, and the only thing that was slightly difficult to locate was just bits and pieces of the information that needed to be located in the article.

I think that the internet is a tricky thing. Yes, it is unfair how some people can just logon to one of many home computers and just surf the net, while others would be lucky to even see a laptop, but I think the internet can ruin you. It is so easy to get caught up in it and to get addicted to the videos and the likes and the easy and quick connection you can have with almost anyone in the world. So to say that everyone should have a reliable and a fast access to the internet is a little hard, because when it is fast and reliable, it is easy to pay more attention to it and get sucked in.

I have never really been concerned with my privacy online because I always activate my privacy settings, which in a way means I am concerned. A way to prevent your privacy from being invaded online would be to activate the privacy settings that many people seem to forget about, and to not over share and post personal information about yourself that people really don't need to know.

I have never been worried that what I posted as a younger person and what I continue to post as a young person will come to bite my in the butt when I am older. I don't post a lot of things now, and those I do are mostly pictures of  the moon or how pretty the sky was. When I when I go back to the beginning of my Facebook when I was thirteen, all I can do is face palm because of how annoying I realized I was, but I doubt that will cause me any harm in my future.

I think the biggest issue with young people when it comes to digital access and privacy is that we don't realize that not everyone is like us. Just because you have a fast and reliable access to the internet doesn't mean everyone else does, and just because you would not invade someone else's privacy doesn't mean someone won't. 

Assignment #2: Privacy Please

There are always two sides to the story and two sides to an argument, no matter the topic. Technology and  digital society makes no exception. 

(Topic 2) "Voting should be done 100% online for both provincial and federal elections starting in 2017." 

This could be a good, helpful thing because:

• It would make votes and data easier to collect, therefore we would know who is elected sooner.
• More people would be likely to vote since they no longer need to wait in lines outside of their home.
• Saves paper, time and money 

This could also be bad because:

• It would be harder to prove your identity, so those who are Canadian would find it more difficult to vote, and those who are not Canadian could try to manipulate their way into the polls.
• Excellent hackers could try to manipulate the data or the polls
• Slow internet connection and'or corrupt data could cause problems
• Those without internet would find it difficult to vote

(Topic 4) "Schools in 2020 should be closed and teachers and students should begin learning in virtual classrooms using digital technology at home."

Positive effects of this could be:

• Students could attend classes from any location
• Students who are sick could still attend classes and do their work
• It would save money and paper resources
• Teachers could work from home

Negative effects could be:

• Hands-on learners would find it difficult to learn the work
• Teachers could find it harder to teach and explain the work
• Cafeteria, janitor and other staff members would be out of work
• Students who do have a computer of an easy access to internet would fail to attend classes
• Some students would see this as an easy opportunity to skip school

(Topic 1) "Our medical records should be all digitally stored online for all medical professionals to access within the hospital when needed."

This could be a great thing because:

• Medical files could be accessed from any hospital or clinic with internet access.
• It would save space, paper and money
• Files could be easily and quickly found 

This could also be a bad thing because:

• Files could be lost or deleted
• Files could be hacked into or interfered with, which could be a danger to our privacy
• Slow internet access could cause a delay in an urgent situation

Assignment #1: Open The Door To Ecuador

As of now, the country of Ecuador makes most of it's income by exporting natural resources, but they seek to become a digital and knowledge-based economy, which is what could change in the future. ICT, or  the Information Communication Technology has become an increasingly important source of growth for many Latin American countries.

If Ecuador increases their connection to the internet, it will help to further strengthen their economy and educate their population. Since 2008, the government has established over 473 infocentros, which are public spaces that provide computer training and internet access to rural communities. I think that infocentros could be helpful even for places like rural New Brunswick. We may be better off than some people in Ecuador, but a lot of households still can't afford internet access, and not all those who do know a lot about computers and would appreciate a place they could go to to acquire the training.

Yachay is the country's first planned city designed to become a hub for technological research and scientific infrastructure. Yachay University, located in the city, is not the Ecuador's first research technology institute. The University offers degrees in life sciences, information and communications technology, nanoscience,  renewable energy and petro chemistry and others.

I think Ecuador is doing the right thing in trying to become more independent in science and technology, and you can tell by their efforts that they are serious in what they are trying to do. I think it will work for Ecuador and I hope it does. I think New Brunswick is doing okay with the technology we have now. Most people do have internet and are capable of using it, and almost all schools have computer labs and internet access. There are many people who can't afford it though and are uneducated when it comes to computers and digital technology. If we had more infocentros, and followed some of the examples Ecuador is setting, I think it could change New Brunswick's economy for the better.
  

Journal Entry #6: Digital Business

The most surprising thing I found from doing this unit is just how many people use PayPal. I knew it was popular, but I never imagined it would have more than 100 million users. I did not find much confusing about this unit, but I did find some information on PayPal a little harder to find. once I found the Protection Policy and a blog post discussing it though, I was fine.

Both I and almost everyone I know has purchased something online, but so far everything has been fine with no crazy instances. my aunt uses PayPal and has for a while, and she loves it. It's an easy way to purchase things online, especially if you don't have a credit card. I have never sold anything online though. The only thing that could even resemble that would be the few ads my dad has had on Kijiji over the years, but the buyers always came to us with the money. They never payed online.

After looking reading some additional digital business tips, I think both tips number three and four were important. Some items seem to have a low costs that is too good to be true, but have a very large shipping fee that tricks the buyer into paying the actual desired price. Also when buying things from Kijiji, make sure to make the transaction is a public place, and to never send the money in the mail or online. These are both good to know because these things happen all the time, and are waiting to happen to you.

I think the biggest issue for young people when it comes to shopping and selling online, is that they don't think about what could happen to their money, items or information. All they care about is how quickly they can get the item they want or the money they need.

Assignment #2: PayPal

PayPal is an online service that allows you to easily use your money to purchase items online without disclosing any of your information or charging any fees, and this is why it is widely popular.

PayPal keeps you safe while shopping online, because it keeps your credit, debit, and bank account information safe. It does not disclose any of the information that is necessary to give for the use of their services, and it does not charge you any fees for using their website. They say that, "You never pay any fees when you buy with Paypal. Because it shouldn't cost you money to use your money."

PayPal does not charge the buyer for their services, but the seller, and that is how they make money. On some transactions, PayPal charges 30 cents, with a 1.9% to 2.9% surcharge fee. This does not bring in a lot of money though, and is only applicable on some of their transactions. blog.udemy.com wrote a blog post titles How Does PayPal Work?, where they discuss the topic of Paypal and positive and negative effects of it. They say that Paypal makes most of their money by earning interests against the money you have sitting in your account. With over one hundred million users, even if everyone had as little as five dollars or less, that is a big profit.

The PayPal Protection Policy allows you to be fully covered for your loss if things end up not going as planned. This  can be for items that you payed for but did not receive, and items that you did receive but were not as they were described. It does not cover items that you were just disappointed with.

If I started a business, I would allow accept PayPal transactions and their services into my company. It seems like an honest, safe to use company that is fair with it's services, and if my customers would feel safer paying online through that, I would allow it.

After looking at Google Wallet and comparing it to PayPal, I think I would be more comfortable using PayPal. It has more users and therefore must be liable, and the Google Wallet page says nothing about whether or not it charges you fees, which probably means it does. A company that doesn't would say that it does to ensure their possible costumers. PayPal charges no fees and is easier to use online.

Assignment #1: Shopping Carts?

Ever since online shopping has become popular, there has been this controversy between physical and digital stores.

Although some may disagree, I think that physical stores will not be going out of style any time soon. Reasons for this are that you can't try clothes on online, neither can you try on shoes or jewelry or glasses or any other pieces of apparel or accessories. People like seeing how they look and knowing they look okay before they leave a store with a purchase in hand. it's hard to do this online, even if you upload a picture of yourself, the result is never the same. Another reason is that I don't think many people would be comfortable buying food online. If we are talking about physical stores, we mean all physical stores, right? I would not be comfortable purchasing my groceries via the internet. The thought of possibly not knowing where the food is coming from or being lied to about the place is slightly unsettling. Also, for both of these reasons, there are shipping fees and extra taxes on some items that you buy online. Everything just seems a lot simpler when you can actually walk into a store and see the merchandise in person and not on a screen.

There are reasons people enjoy shopping online though, and those reasons are many. One could be how seemingly easy it is. You don't have to leave the house and you don't have to go to a bank, sometimes you don't even have to use a credit card depending on how you are choosing to send the money. It's effortless, and your purchases just arrive at your front door or in the mail, which is another reason why people may enjoy online shopping more. You never have to leave the house. You buy the merchandise online, and it arrives at your door in a few days. No clean clothes or gas required.

If I had to choose which one I would use all the time, it would probably be physical shopping and actual buildings that are the stores. I like being able to browse among shelves and racks and walk through isles, not scrolling on a screen. Call me old fashioned,but that appeals more to me. I only shop online when the store that I want to shop at is far away, or the object that I want to buy is not available anywhere else.

In the near but distant future, like 2050, I think it will still be similar to how things are today, with a balance of both online and physical stores. There is no way that physical stores will become a thing of the past and just cease to exist. There are people who still prefer physical stores over online ones, and because of that, I can't see how we could just put everything online and stop using them.

Canada Post has started sending less letters after the development of email, and now they are sending more packages and shipping products from online stores. I think this is a very smart business plan change, because a lot of people have been doing more of their shopping online and need a way to receive their packages. Being the one who sends them their products is a way to ensure business.

When something is wrong with your product or you are not happy with it, it is much easier to return it to a physical store. If online stores wanted to attract more customers, they could create some ways to make it easier to send items back. One way would be to send a receipt and a return address with the package, so the customer can easily send the item back if they are not happy with their purchase.

Journal Entry #5 (Digital Wellness)

The most surprising thing about this unit, to me anyway, was how far your car travels in one second, and how many seconds people look away from the road due to digital things like texting, or answering calls, or looking at a picture someone on the passenger side saw on Facebook. It's frightening, really. Even on rural roads when you are going the speed limit, (which usually people never do) your car goes about 14 meters in just one second. Answering a text takes more than just one second.

There wasn't a lot that was hard or confusing for me. The little bit of math that we had to do to convert kilometers into meters and hours into seconds was easy as soon as you knew what you were doing, so this unit came easily to me.

I think the biggest issue for young people when it comes to digital wellness is that we don't think.We have that mindset where we are invincible, and that these stories that we hear tell of would never to happen to us and we will stay that same way we are until we hit our thirties. Because of this, we pursue the world with this reckless abandon which can sometimes prove to us how fragile our bodies actually are. 

Assignment #2: The Pledge

• I pledge to shut off all devices and refrain from using the internet any time after 10 p.m to ensure I get enough sleep.
• I pledge to limit my cellphone time to two hours a day, to ensure I get my work done.
• I pledge to have a day once a week where I unplug, so I do not get caught up in the digital life and forget about the human life.
• I pledge to try to refrain from texting, for it is only a way to pass on information and not to have a conversation. If digital communication is necessary, I will call said person on my cellphone or home phone.
• I pledge to limit my social media time to a few hours a week, so I do not get caught up in the likability of my posts and online statuses. 

Assignment #1: One Mississippi

I was not here the day this assignment was to be completed and my house is definitely nowhere near 40 meters long, but I do know how much that is, and it's a lot to be not looking at the road for. In a way, it's like someone blindfolding you and then telling you to get in your car and  drive 30 to 40 meters. In another way, people are doing this, they just don't see it like that.

When you look away from the road, even for a second, your car doesn't stop moving. It is still going at the same speed as it was and will continue to until you hit the brake, and if you are not paying attention to, than people can die. You can die, the other passengers of the car can die, kids playing on the street, a mother pushing a stroller, an older man walking his dog, it doesn't matter. Anyone and everyone on the street or in a passing car as you look away from the road to answer a text or switch the station on the radio is in danger. On the highway, you travel over thirty meters per second, and that's when you are not speeding, as we all know most of you do. It is important to pay attention and not let things distract you. If it is something you feel can't wait until you get to where you going, it only takes a few minutes to pull over and do whatever it is that you have to do.

After watching this video by Volkswagen, I think it would be very effective to at least the people in the audience, because we were not told what was going to happen when the video started. They were not informed about what was going to happen when they sat down to watch a movie. It was unsuspected, and it surprised them, you could tell. It's effective because it is an interactive video, which means that it is shot in the first person and it looks as if you are the one in the drivers seat, not just some actor, and it will hopefully be remembered next time they are driving and a text alert goes off.

Sadly enough though, this video could also be ineffective because some people are just stubborn like that. They would see it as just an interesting or stupid car commercial, and never think of it again. Or they just think that it wouldn't happen to them. "Oh, but that wouldn't happen. You know that wouldn't happen to me."they say, but it does. Those who think they are invincible are sadly the ones who find out they're not.

A lot of newer cars already have a helpful invention, which is the Bluetooth that connects your cellphone to the vehicle, but that has it's own problems as well. I think the best thing is for cars and vehicles to have nothing, no Bluetooth, no internet, no cellphone service. That way, you have no choice but to pay attention to the road and your surroundings. It would also give you a chance to unplug and really connect with the other people in the car with you. If I could invent something to help stop distracted driving, it would be a jammer of some sort. Something that stops all airwaves and wireless access while the ignition is running. That way, you have to pay attention, and if you're not you shouldn't be driving.

I have been in a car with a distracted driver before, more than once actually, and I have said things and told the person to stop texting or stop talking on the phone. So yes, next time I am in a car with a distracted driver, I will speak up and say something again. Sometimes it doesn't work though, which is understandable. People are stubborn, and who's going to listen to a fifteen year old girl? I do offer to send the text or tell someone over the phone what the person driving wants to say, but sometimes that doesn't work either. Don't get me wrong though, there have been many times when they do put it away when I ask them to, or they do get me to type out and send a text, but it is only sometimes, and I wish it could be all the time.

Journal Entry #4: Netiquette

The most surprising thing I found when it comes to Netiquette is how similar it is to how you would expect people to act like in person. It's really just plain common sense, and for some reason I din't realize that until completing this unit. although some of the Terms and Safety agreements were surprising, I always knew there were concerning things written in the fine print.

I don't think many internet users bother reading the Terms of Service/Use agreements, a lot of the times I don't. It is just so many long paragraphs filled with minuscule writing, which looks menacing and time consuming. People tend to be intimidated when faced with such things, so just hit "I Agree", or "Accept" instead.

On a scale of one to ten, I think I would rate my behavior as a nine. I always try to be respectful out of habit, and although I don't read all the terms sometimes, I think my behavior is at least acceptable. The only reason I say nine is because I don't follow all the rules all the time. There have been times when I have illegally downloaded something (although it was probably unwise to admit that on a public blog), but I have never used it for any personal gain, and I usually end up deleting the media afterwards.

One thing that I know I will most likely take away form this unit is to know to be more observant, which I usually try to do anyway, but this unit helped to put that into perspective. It is important to try to pay attention to the terms of service agreements and when in an online discussion board. Just like in real life, people appreciate it when you are aware of what's going on and when you listen and pay attention to the conversation.

I think one of the biggest issues when it comes to netiquette among young people, is that they do not want to take the time to read and pay attention to things. We are in the generation and time where faster is better, and that can sometimes lead to consequences and misunderstandings due to things left unread.  

Online Discussion Boards (Assignment Three)

After reading the Rules of Netiquette for Online Discussion Boards, I noticed that a lot of them are similar to how we expect people to act when face to face. It's just manners, and manners are manners no matter the time, place or context.

I think that rules two, three, six and 15 are very important when it comes to online discussions, especially six. Number six talks about respectfully disagreeing when you don't agree with a statement. So many people break this rule, and it really makes the internet a nasty, rude place to be. Statement two talks about staying on topic, which I think is important because irrelevant pictures, links and comments can be annoying and look like spam. Rule three tells you to NOT TYPE IN ALL CAPS, because it looks like you're screaming and not a lot of people appreciate that, and rule 15 is just about grammar. Proper spelling is a must to me, because it really makes me cringe when I see someone trying to sound intelligent with a misspelled, not punctuated paragraph.

I have commented on discussion boards before, and when I am disagreeing with someone, I always try to put it in the least negative way possible, even if the other people or person is being extremely rude about it. I have had both positive and negative experiences, because it depends on how the other users attitudes are, and especially the topic of the discussion.

Although I don't mind discussion boards, I don't think I would enjoy participating in an online course where I would be discussing issues with other students. I find it can get hectic, especially since you have no way of knowing who is about to speak. I also enjoy having in class discussions where everyone is in the same room. I find them educating and entertaining, and I think I would miss that too much to be able to enjoy an online one.

Do As I Say (Assignment Two)

The old saying "Do as I say, not as I do" can be strongly related to the internet and the way people use it. Adults tend to tell you not to do things, but they can be seen doing those same things and it can be conflicting, especially to youth. Some of these things can even be illegal. Here are a few reasons why I personally would not do as they do, and download content illegally or harass someone online:

• I don't want to go to jail.
• I know how hard people work on their content and how unfair it is for it to be used without credit and without the owner being paid.
• Harassing someone online is not helping anything, so it is pointless and cruel to do so.
• You could end up getting involved with something serious, even if you just thought it was fun or a joke
• I think you should treat people the way you want to be treated, and that goes for online too. 

Online Standards of Service Use: Assignment One

These are a few online companies that use the terms and service agreements, or get you to agree to other major conditions before use.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Snapchat
• Youtube

There are many more though, for  almost all social media and media sharing websites (like Youtube or Flikr) have these terms. Because of this, there are a lot of forums discussing a websites terms and service agreements, and I think some of them should be payed attention to.

The Google Privacy Policy states that they will be collecting your information to provide better services for all  of their users, not just you. When you create a Google Account, the collect information about the services you use and how they use them, selling that information to companies who will bombard you with relatable ads.

Youtube's Terms of Service states, like many other terms do, that Youtube is may modify their terms, and by agreeing to these terms, you are bound to the modifications. Even after you have already made your account and read and agreed to their terms, they can change these terms and you will still be bound to them.

The Microsoft Services Agreement lists the rules they wish you to follow and the consequences for not following them, but then they state that they cannot monitor all of the services and therefore make no attempt to. I guess I can understand this, because there are a lot of users to monitor, but when they say that they do not attempt to, it makes me feels as if people can easily break the rules and not get caught, which can endanger you as a user.

Twitter's Terms of Service state that by agreeing to these terms, you consent to the use and collection of your information, including transfer of your information to other countries. They take your information and sell it to third parties who store it in different parts of the world.

SafetyDawg's Terms and Conditions say that some of their content may contain viruses and corrupt data, but they are not responsible for any computer viruses you may obtain from downloading data from or through their site. This is definitely something to be worried about, especially since they know that there are viruses on their site, but they are not trying to contain them. Viruses can lead to leaks of personal information and can hurt your computer.

Journal Entry #3: Digital Rights and Responsibilities

The most surprising thing I found when it comes to digital rights and responsibilities was how many of them there were. It seemed that every website I went to, they had their own lists and paragraphs of what they thought was considered an internet user's duty.

 I don't think many people act responsibly online. Have you forgotten about the privacy settings almost all social media sites offer? Over sharing is a problem too that not just youth partake in. There are many adults who feel the need tell the world about everything they are doing, have done and are about to do. People post selfies and write posts about their personal life, and then wonder how everyone knows why and when they are upset. They put almost all of themselves out there for the world to see, which to me is not using the internet responsibly.

The one commandment that I find most important out of the ones I have created is the eighth one. "Thou shall respect one's right to privacy". I find this important because privacy is important. There is nothing worst than having private and personal information leaked because you weren't careful enough, or someone felt the need to exploit what wasn't theirs to know in the first place. People have the right to privacy in their lives, and some people need to realize that it is okay if they don't know something about someone, that if people wanted you to know something, they would tell you.

I think the biggest issue around digital rights and responsibilities among young people is that they don't realize what their responsibilities are, and that there are people out there who will violate their rights, even if it doesn't seem like it. 

Assignment: Digital Rights and Responsibilities

The Ten Commandments of the Internet according to me, apparently.

Journal Entry #2 (Digital Communication)

Digital communication is exhausting, and that's what I find most surprising about it. You would think that talking to someone digitally would be the same as talking to someone in person, but it's not, and it affects a lot of things differently when you choose to communicate digitally over verbally.

After watching a video on email etiquette, I learned that it is considered rude to not respond to an email after 24 hours. If people wanted to wait a week for your reply, they would have used snail mail. Also that you shouldn't type in all caps because people will read it as if you are yelling. Signing your email is important too, so the receiver knows who is sending the message.

BCC, or Blind Carbon Copy, is when all of the addresses of the people who are receiving an email are not known to everyone who is receiving it. If I was sending the same email to five of my friends, none of them would be able to get an email address other than mine or their own. It would be a good idea to use a BCC when sending a business email to many people from your work, or sending an email to everyone in your class.

I think one of the most important things for young people to consider while using digital communication, is to think about how much your non-digital relationships might suffer. Digital communication can be fun and easy, but you might not realize how much of your time is being used towards that. It's okay to unplug for a little while. 

Acronyms attack (Assignment Two)

Acronyms, in my opinion, are stupid and unnecessary. They are just for lazy people who don't want to spell out words and therefore do not appreciate good grammar. I appreciate good grammar and can find it annoyingly difficult to talk to people when all they want to do is the use the first letter of words to create a bunch of seemingly random letter that only they understand. For this reason, I find it hard to think of new acronyms when a lot of them are already there. HJNTIY could be one, I guess. Standing for He's Just Not That Into You (totally not a stolen movie title.) TJK could mean Totally Just Kidding, and YRG8 could mean You're Great, which is definitely something everyone wants to hear that away.

There are many places where you should never use acronyms. When writing an email, especially a formal or professional one. When writing a school or business essay, acronyms just make you look juvenile and make it appear as if you can't spell. I doubt you would be picked for the job if you had acronyms on your resume, and I know I would not be accepting you into my college if that was the way you were going to spell.

Communication Compass (Assignment One)

If there was anything in this world that is gray, it would be the internet. The internet has never been a good or a bad thing. It has always been and forever will be the way that it is used that will cause people to believe that it is either black or white. For that reason, it is obvious that there would be both advantages and disadvantages when it comes to something like digital communication.

Digital communication is the electronic exchanging of any information. This can be anything from texting and emails to Facetime.

Of course, although some people choose to see nothing but bad, there are good things. Digital communication allows us to easily communicate with people who are far away from us, whether that be a province or a continent, it doesn't matter because distance does not matter. It allows us to easily transition files to one another, which helps us decrease our carbon footprint because it cuts down on our paper usage. We can have meetings with numerous people attending them, with none of them in the same room, and we can  stay in touch with people that we never would have been able to, because it is so easy to do.

Although all of these things are convenient and helpful, there are many disadvantages as well. I know from experience that this can cause people to be awkward when talking to people face to face. Digital communication can become an addiction, and it can be hard to unplug. People forget that there are other things they could be doing, like going for a hike instead of looking up pictures of the trails. We become a society that relies on technology, and that can be just as toxic as a society that relies on a drug.

There have been many advancements in the technological world, and because of that we have a lot of new technologies and websites that have become wildly popular. Facebook has become nothing but more popular ever since it was created in 2004. Twitter, too, was instantaneously a hit when it was out for the public. Snapchat has just been created in the last few years, and it is a very popular, excessively used app that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon. All of these three websites are a form of social media, and that's the key to popularity when it comes to website ideas and design. People love to connect to other people, they thrive for it. The idea of being able to send texts and photos to people so easily has almost moved beyond the want, and is now the need. Which is a problem in itself, but people choose to ignore that and instead partake in it.

With these advancements though, many forms of digital communication are becoming lost and forgotten, and will soon be irrelevant. Emails now are mainly used for things that require them, like signing up for a social media website. People mainly contact each other via text or Facebook. Even talking on the house phone or landline is becoming widely unpopular. People have unhooked them and have cancelled their plans. Does anyone even use a phone book anymore? Phone numbers can be so easily found online and saved as a contact on your cellphone, that I'm not surprised many children today have never heard of them. Plain old texting, too, has started to lose it's cool. With the development of Facebook Messenger, Snapchat and other social and instant messaging apps, people don't even need cellphone numbers to communicate. As long as you have an internet connection, you can talk to anyone in the world, and anyone in the world can talk to you.

It's bad enough that many of us are constantly on our phones and looking to talk to people that are not with us in person, but there are many situations that we should not be communicating digitally, but we are.

I find one of the worst possible things you could do is talk to someone via text when having an intense or serious conversation. I have done this more times than I would like to admit, and I hate it. I hate participating in it, I hate trying to decipher the context of the other person's text, and I hate worrying about whether or not said person took my words the wrong way. It is extremely stressful, and I usually feel terrible both during the conversation and for a  long time after it. I think this is definitely a time when it is worth it to pick up the phone (unless it's long distance which, again from experience, sucks).

Other scenarios where it is not the best idea to be communicating digitally could be at a funeral, because I would find that rude and disrespectful, especially for those around you who are in mourning. Speaking of that, saying that you are sorry for someone's loss via digital communication does not seem like a good thing to do either. People appreciate it more when you say things in person, the reason or topic does not matter. So when you are listening to someone talk or participating in a class discussion or a conversation with a friend, it does not look like you are paying attention when you are digitally communicating with someone else. Most cases, you aren't. So when talking to someone in person or listening to a speaker, it would not be wise to be digitally communicating also.

ugot.org discusses the topic of the many dangers of digital communication. Although they were all obvious and should be well known already, there were two that stood out to me. Those were cyberbullying and that the identity of the sender can be disguised or difficult to trace. These can actually be in relation to each other. It is very common for a cyberbully to be someone that you know, but they are using the screen to hide their face and their words to hide their voice. When using the internet and other forms of digital communication, you are willingly stepping into a shadowed room where all those who are in there have their faces obscured. Then you walk around and give them information about yourself, which they can choose what to do with. They can either ignore it, or use that information against you. In a cyberbullies case, they use that information and other bits and pieces of fabricated thoughts and they intentionally try to be cruel to you while being in the safety of that shadowed room. That's why any form of digital communication is dangerous, because in most cases, those in the room with you are mostly strangers too. Some think that a stranger is just a friend that you haven't met yet, and in a way that can be true, but not all strangers are friendly. Some will try to hurt you, and that's why you have to be cautious in these situations.

Although there is no way to get kids and people to be less internet obsessed, I think people will eventually find that healthy balance of real life and digital life. That eventually, people will realize the reason they don't feel completely themselves is because they are wasting too much of their energy on what they shouldn't be. That the connections they should be focused on are the real, human ones, not the wireless.

People do tend to worry about what should happen to the internet activity and digital accounts of those who have passed away. Some people decide to keep the accounts going, while others try to delete them and erase all proof pf digital existence, which I can understand. It can be hard to see people still trying to interact with those who are no longer here.

I think we should just leave them there. The internet doesn't seem to be at full capacity yet, so I see no reason to take them down. It lets people look back at what they did, and read about them and the things they said. It's their own personal time capsule in a way, and I like that idea very much.