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