Technology Usage Broken Down by Country Shows Surprising Percentages

In the article titled "UK Housewives Rule in Online Time" off of the BBC news website (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7789494.stm) , the percentages shown seem surprising.

The survey, consisting of 27,000 web users in 16 different countries placed China at the very top of their list. China's percentage of leisure time spent on the computer was 44% which is nearly three times that of a web user in Denmark.

The survey also broke respondents into age categories with an average of all countries' users under 25 spending 36% of their time online. On average, China's under 25 users spend 50%.

Along with the age category, results were also broken down by occupation and focused on the UK which showed that students spend 39% of their time online which is more than those who are unemployed at 32%...yet was less than what UK housewives spend on the Internet.

Along with these findings, the U.S. spends 30% of it's leisure time on the Internet and in response to the second question, which was "Have you ever met in person a person who you first met online?". The answer from the U.S. was a meager 56% that said yes. Compared to Germany, France, and Sweden's 75% that said yes, it was surprising that only 56% of Americans had done so. China's answer was even lower at 40%.

Overall, each country answered in it's own way and after looking at the findings carefully, i can start to understand why the results came out the way they did. First of all, the volume of people survey was not really a huge amount considering how many people live in just the U.S. and China alone. The U.S. answer of 56% could be more like 75% had more American's been surveyed. Second of all, the social and political conditions in any given country would affect the findings of this study given that not all people own computers or have regular computer access everyday. There are many different factors that could prove this study of technology not so accurate and therefore, I'm not sure i completely agree with it.

I do feel that this study is significant because it puts things into perspective for everyone, no matter what country you are from. Technology has really changed everything from economies, politics, and education to health care, communication, and relationships...the real question is if it's all for the good of everyone.

I can relate to this study just in thinking about how much time i spend on a computer. I use it for homework, research, a way of contacting old friends and family, and i even use it at work. There are not many places that you can go nowadays that doesn't have a computer of some sort. I remember being in 6Th grade and being forced to take a typing class. I remember thinking how stupid it was...now I'm so grateful that they forced it on us. The younger generations are becoming more and more technological everyday. As i watch my 7 year old niece play games on her computer, it all seems a little surreal. When i was her age, i was being old fashioned and playing with Barbies and My Little Ponies...so much has changed just in the last few years. It just reminds people that things never stay the same for too long and because of these strides in technology, we are able to live the lives we live.

Digital Dogs

Who thought it would come to this? The picture on your left is featured on http://hubpages.com/hub/High-Tech-Gadgets-Dog-Lovers and is a "pet cell phone"(bottom picture). The device enables dog owners to actually call their dog and talk to it on speakerphone. Now, for those of us that don't talk to their dogs, it also has a "call owner" button and a GPS tracker just in case your lovable pooch decides to have an adventure. As extreme as the phone part seems, i think i would definetly consider the other features for my dog. (top picture).

Other items included on the webpage were similar to the cell phone except one was exclusively a GPS tracker, one was a PDA to use to organize your dogs appointments and important phone numbers (groomer, vet, etc), and the last one, my personal favorite was the "doggy doorbell". As goofy as this idea sounds, it's pretty smart. Some dogs don't really let you know when they need to go out but training combined with this device make it easier for them to give you a heads up. The device is a wireless remote that sets off a doorbell chime when the dog steps on it, letting you know that they need to go for a walk.

Although these devices may be a little too far fetched for people who don't own dogs, I can see fellow dog owners who are completly obsessed with their pets rushing out to buy these items. I think they're significant because there are alot of people devoted to the well being of their pets and especially since many people now work long hours and aren't home as much as they'd like to be, it's important for them to stay organized with their pets' care. (for example, the pet PDA device) Due to how busy people have become, any device, whether it be for a dog or human, that is going to create conveinence is going to be beneficial.

The link below is an interesting youtube video showing a pug using the doggy doorbell.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=975pBcPGTew

Laptops for Those Who Have Less

In regards to the article, "One Laptop Per Child: Then What?", many issues were addressed. There were two sides featured within the article which gave the reader a chance to see both pros and cons of the laptop program. This program, which gives out free computers to children in third world countries in Africa mostly, aims to educate the children who are severly disadvantaged in our world. A noble cause yet is it technologically unequal?

I agree with many things in the article. I believe that every child should be given a chance to thrive and succeed. Yet, because of the way these children have been raised, socialized, and educated thus far, throwing an odd contraption into things and claiming that "this is your future, you must learn it" seems slightly arrogant of technology and doesn't take into consideration the long term affects of a child who will learn these skills in order to gain employment as an adult. The child will learn quickly, as many children do, and as the child matures into an adult, what jobs will be available for him or her? In a region devasted by so much economic decay, technology is a nice and cheery thought but it really means one of two things; the individual will realize that they have no where to use these skills and leave the country in search of applicable jobs elsewhere adding to the original economic decay of the country or the individual will have spent all this time trying to learn the ways of the computer only to realize that he or she really doesn't get it. These two examples i just named were mentioned in the article as happening in Peru. These are issues that are not only predicted, they are actively happening.

I also disagree with the fact that if the computer breaks or is in need of repair, the family has to pay for the repair. Many of these families simply cannot afford to fix them so the generous gift bestowed upon them becomes a piece of junk causing disappointment to those who created the computer and those who were destined to use it.

This article was significant because it addresses the huge divide between the "haves and have-nots", a age-long battle. Everyone should have equal access to technology yet because of the extreme divides between societies, cultures, and countries, that access is going to be harder to provide to everyone. This laptop initiative is a valiant attempt to "close the gap" but there are still major issues to address in order for it to work and unfortunetly, addressing issues costs money. All that one can hope is that this is a step in the right direction.

This article is directly relatable to me due to the fact that I am fortunate enough to be reasonably well educated in technology yet that is part of the problem. I know for a fact that there are 21 yr olds out there that have no idea how to use a computer, although they may not be in the U.S. That constant divide, which occurs in all genres of life, is what creates prejudice and misunderstandings among cultures. I believe that everyone needs to get on the same page yet the question is how? Chances are, technology is a good start but there needs to be some new developements in society as well.

The Two Towns of Jasper; Deep Print V.S. Intense Television

With such an intense tragedy such as the one in Jasper, it is hard to convey feelings in any way simply because there are so many of them. Fear, anger, resentment, guilt, sadness, etc.
The written accounts covering the death of James Byrd, i believe, show more depth to the story simply because the second article related the story to the whole town in interviews with neighbors, a teen he was teaching piano to, and his family. There were also comments about Byrd's close friend who was supposed to take him home from the party he attended on the night of the incident. As far as these things go, the print version gave a good review of the community's reaction. Some things that the print version lacked was an intense description of what actually happened to Byrd whereas the television version was very descriptive and actually followed the road that it happened on. This is only because of the difference in media though, obviously you couldn't take numerous pictures of the road for a newspaper and expect them all to be published. Theres just something more intense about a sheriff walking down the road of a scene of a crime and trying to re-live what happened. It's not easy to convey those kind of feelings in print.
Although the television version had it's strengths, it also lacked in the personal relationships that Byrd held with his community (for example, the girl he was teaching piano to and his close neighbor and friend). These relationships are good to display because it's one thing to cover the emotions of a grief stricken family but to also cover community members who are just as upset, wether they personally knew the subject or not, brings more to the story.
I would say that the print version had good depth but the television version was more intense and although both of these are great strengths, i would personally pick the television version over the articles simply because of personal preference and interest in seeing emotion on peoples faces and how they convey themselves and their emotions.

Hot air carries journalism to new height

In review of Malkin's website Hotair.com, i found three things; opinion, new perspective, and suggestions.

I really like the main part of the site that has the headlines. i like that they picked out what they thought people would be interested in and advertised them in a way that people could choose what they wanted to read within the site. these suggestions right of the bat present people with a choice in what they want to view and it's nice to be able to do that. everyone has the freedom to read whatever they want but newspapers usually throw the subjects right in your face on the front page, this site doesn't do that so if you feel that all the headlines sound like they're "garbage" then you can skip them and get to whatever it is that you are interested in. It's a delightful option.

The layout of the sight presents a new perspective. It's cutting edge and presents information in a way that would appeal to ages 18 to 40. That wide range is very beneficial to the success of the website. I like that there are 3 blog writers that write from different perspectives and that you can tell which ones are doing a great job in the way they present their "top picks" according to number of comments, etc. Allah Pundit and Ed Morrisey do a great job in blogging about issues. (examples: "fox news drops another load of dirty laundry on palin" quote= I assume this is a sign that Maverick’s headed back to the center, because if he thinks the base is sore at him now, wait until his cronies’ attempts to scapegoat their idol start percolating.) That example made me happy. It's creative writing meets politics.

Of course there is opinion. Blog pretty much equals opinion..but the difference with this site is that it doesn't throw the opinion in your face and force you to believe it. It's presented as being accompanied by information designed to back up the opinion which makes it better than a weightless statement like "i hate palin" or something similar to that.

Overall, the headlines are strong and unique, the graphics and set up of the site are done well and appeal to the reader, and the modern views and look of the site makes it marketable to a large range of people. it's the perfect example of a young entrepreneur doing business in a journalistic way.

The NY Times - Quality at it's best.

A little late but worth the wait.

A review on the NY times showed me that they do everything well, whether it be their short, informational articles or their more in depth, multimedia articles. All are organized well and cater to the readers needs.

My first article was about the TV anchor in Arkansas that died of "Beating Wounds" and although meaty, it was a bit short but i think that is mainly because not much is known of the case yet. There was a good flow of info and was obviously organized in inverted pyramid style which provided the reader with what was most interesting first off. the quotes from the victim's parent's display emotion which keeps the article from being too cold or generic which contributes to the story telling of the piece. Overall, it was well written and gave you the info quickly.

The second article i took a look at was "For some in the Military, Danger is Seen Off Duty" by Sarah M. Richards which was about armed forces individuals dying in motorcycle crashes when they're off duty. This article also had good organization yet seemed more informative than personal in comparison to the previous article. I believe that this is only because it's on a broader subject matter than an individuals occurrence. there was a good and vast flow of beneficial info from how many have died, to which armed force they were in, to what program is being developed to prevent the deaths. There were many different informative facets to this article which made it seem credible and interesting to read even if the subject wasn't related to anything in the readers life. there were also good examples of real people that currently fall into the "at risk" category and good forms of storytelling throughout.

The last article i looked at was a multimedia PowerPoint called "A Retirement Chasing Butterflies" (see photo above) which was about an retired gentleman who has devoted 14 summers to chasing and classifying different species of butterflies. One element that stuck with me was the fact that it was a personal story of one man's life after retirement from a company and desire to do something completely different than the job he left behind. The photos in the PowerPoint gave a face to the story being told and served as an emotional appeal. I honestly feel that pictures make you think more deeply about the subjects that the article is about because a photo proves to your mind that there is a "real" person going through this. the only thing i would say was a weakness was that there wasn't that much info about the subject and i would have liked to have seen more pictures. Perhaps that's just because I'm a visual person but there are lots of others like myself.

overall, the website was organized well and i think it was very easy to navigate without being annoyingly like an advertisement site. MUCH better than the huffington post, but i wouldn't expect any less.

SI on Campus A.K.A. super crazy college sports E-party!

So....I just finished looking at Sports Illustrated on Campus and I came to one conclusion. They created a CD rom that was the exact crazy, sexist, sports oriented male paradise and inserted it in the CD drive and POOF! SI on campus was born.
Besides being completley not interested in sports, I have tried to hold that opinion aside and look at SI from an unbiased point of view. I found that it was put together well and it had plenty of interesting topics about every male sports genre'. It has a "something for everyone" approach that seems to be geared to young males in college or sports die hards. They offer evaluations of teams, comments about their coaches or schools, and even ticket sales for the next big college game. Their approach is also very "shock and awe" with pictures of intense fans and action going on everywhere on the site. They also appeal to the young man's mind with the stereotypical cheerleading pictures because..hey? what guy doesn't like a dumb hot chick? They even have an article featuring Miss October who is a junior Public Relations major at Gainsville who suddenly found herself on the front cover of playboy and felt that it would be a great time to take a "haitus" from her college education to live the Playboy mansion life. Lets just say that it's interesting that this is a CNN affiliate. Kind of makes me giggle...so much for being conservitive.
I would say it was an accurate news source because you do have many columnists on the site that have very well informed articles that they've obviously worked hard to publish their pieces. I believe that they are devoted to their passions and the guys that take the photos of the ditsy cheerleaders are probably pretty devoted too although they completely demean the women they're reporting about...but i bet they don't make as much money as the guys that actually work hard to produce a good, juicy column. Also, the whole exchange between the demeaning of women and women being demeaned doesn't happen unless one of the two parties allows it to (the women! come on girls, you can still be gorgeous and super smart too!)
Overall, I liked SI because they were smart about what appeals to young men. I'm sure the website was created as way to reach the demographic they were having the most trouble reaching and i'm sure it worked. Girls, sports, and tickets to games...sounds like a internet paradise except for the young mens inability to E-Drink at the same time. I'm sure theres ways around that though...like doing it in the real world while you take in the glories of SI on campus.
My Vote; smart website. :)