User Experience Guidelines

Apple's IOS Human Interface User Experience Guidelines gave me the information on how to successfully create and manage an app for any IOS device. It gave me tips on how to make the app user friendly for example, having tappable controls, clean and easy structure, the design should be for touch, and it should be easy to read and understand. The article helped me structure my ideas for my app project by telling me to focus on the primary task, analyze what is needed in each screen, focus on what is important for the users, and how to structure the information and graphics within my app. This article is very useful for my app project because it gave clear instructions and tips with pictures to follow too.

Reading:
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/ipad/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/UEBestPractices/UEBestPractices.html

App Design Strategies

The app design strategies article was very informative and important when considering my app that I am creating. The article gave me a list of steps to follow when creating my app definition statement. It gave me tips and ideas on how to target my certain audience and how to be clear and concise  The article was very informative to me. I will keep the article in mind when I create my app definition statement for my project.

Reading:
http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/ipad/#documentation/UserExperience/Conceptual/MobileHIG/AppDesign/AppDesign.html

Texting and Driving Worse Than Drinking and Driving

I am guilty for texting and driving, but I have rules for myself. Whenever the car is in motion I do not pick up my phone, sometimes I will glance down at it where ever it is sitting but I won't pick it up while driving. I guess you could say I text while I'm stopped at red lights, stop signs, or whenever I'm idling. I used to pick up my phone and send a text a lot by driving. I really stopped doing it when my state created a law against texting and driving.

The article discusses texting and driving and how it is unconsciously more acceptable than drinking and driving. While drinking and driving can be very dangerous and deadly, texting and driving impairs your ability to work a vehicle just as badly. People die or get injured all the time while they text and drive, yet they do it anyways. The whole concept of texting while driving impairs your ability to focus on the task at hand, and if anything unexpected were to happen while you are driving. I truly believe more states should adapt a law against this to help stop people from being careless on the road. When you text and drive not only do you put yourself in danger, you put me in danger too.

Reading:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/31545004/Texting_And_Driving_Worse_Than_Drinking_and_Driving

I h8 txt msgs: How Texting is Wrecking Our Language

hey hw r u? :)  2day was 1drfl...i hd a gr8 time @ the prk..there ws 2 many ppl tho lol :P
i will c u 2moro asap.. ttyl luv ya!!! <3

Honestly, if I ever saw someone texting like this, I would never respond back to them. I understand when people use some text message lingo or abbreviations like "lol" but to talk like that? Okay, maybe I'm a little guilty for texting like that, but that was a long time ago.

When I was younger in middle school, I used to text like the first sentence. Whenever I could, if I didn't have to write a full word or sentence I wouldn't. I would text my friends all the time using as little characters as possible. Granted at the time I had a box for a phone that only allowed a certain amount of characters. Now when I text, I am very formal with coworkers or professors, and a little informal with my friends. I will add an "lol" or a few smiley faces, but do I text as bad as the lingo above? Absolutely not. Why? Well, I'm older now, I have a iPhone that has autocorrect and allows a lot of characters, and I know when it is acceptable and when it isn't.

The article "I h8 txt msgs" talks about how language is being ruined by text messaging. But I don't necessarily agree with that. Just because we use emoticons and certain lingo while texting, doesn't mean we will forget and move away from our normal language. Language changes every day. Text message language will become adapted into our society, but will never replace the way we speak and communicate with others.

Reading:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-483511/I-h8-txt-msgs-How-texting-wrecking-language.html

Help! My Smartphone Is Making Me Dumb- or Maybe Not

The articles main topic is multitasking and whether or not it is making us dumb. People all around the world multitask and with new technology that is available at the tip of our fingertips, it makes multitasking a lot easier. I don't necessarily think multitasking makes people dumb, but I would say it makes people very careless. When people do more than one task at a time they have a hard time concentrating on that one specific idea. I find it also depends on what kind of multitasking you are doing. I know when I do homework and watch TV I don't retain any information. When I'm reading articles and watching a movie, I have to re-read sentences to understand what they mean. However, I can listen to music and do homework because I can tone in and out of the music when needed. I would disagree with the article, multitasking doesn't make people dumb, it makes them careless.

Reading:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/10/multitasking-studies/all/1

Mexico Turns to Twitter

Social media such as Facebook and Twitter are used for social interactions among friends. It gives the ability to talk among each other and share information about oneself. Social media can also be used to share hot topics and need-to-know information from your area or around the world. The article discusses how Twitter can be helpful to warn people about incidents or disasters, and how it could be harmful because people can spread false information creating chaos. I don't see the problem when people post about something important going on. I think social media can be very beneficial to citizens to learn about whats happening in the world. I don't read or watch the news very often, but when there was an earthquake that hit my home town at 12pm a few weeks ago, I knew about it at 12:05pm. I learned about the earthquake faster than I could find it online. I was able to call my family  immediately to find out if they were okay. Although some people may exaggerate the truth or lie about certain events, I think social media is more helpful than harmful. If you don't believe what they are saying you can always back it up by looking online.

Reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/world/americas/mexico-turns-to-twitter-and-facebook-for-information-and-survival.html?ref=facebookinc&_r=0

About Wikipedia

The reading is a Wikipedia page that talks about itself. It describes the history of Wikipedia, the copyright information, how to use the site, the benefits of the site, and  much more. They discuss the weaknesses and strengths about their site as a source for information. They don't sugarcoat the negative things about their site either.  It's kind of humorous to me that there is a Wikipedia page about Wikipedia  because if you didn't know how to use it then you wouldn't go to that site in the first place.

Reading:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/facebook_inc/index.html

Colbert Report: Wikiality

Colbert uses his sarcastic comedic tone to describe Wikipedia and how easily one person can change the information on the site, and with enough people to support it, it will become "truth". Colbert continues his rant about Wikipedia and describes how Wikipedia is used for resources and how unreliable the information is. I didn't know you could easily change the information on the site, but maybe now I will test that theory and try changing the information to my personal opinion and ideas.

Video:
http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/72347/july-31-2006/the-word---wikiality

A Stand Against Wikipedia

The article discusses how academia believe Wikipedia is not a reliable source for information and how some believe Wikipedia should be banned from colleges as a resource. I would agree to say that I would never cite or use Wikipedia as a source for a college essay, or ever. However, I do use Wikipedia as a starting point sometimes. When I'm beginning a new essay, I start with Wiki to learn basic information. I also use Wikipedia when I am home googling and searching random topics, such as actors biographies, music artists, movies etc. I believe Wikipedia is a good starting point for information and is a good place to learn about extracurricular activity but I would never use it as a main or reliable source for any college assignment.

Reading:
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/01/26/wiki

NY Times: Facebook

This article discusses when and where Facebook was created and the variety of ways it can be used for. I use Facebook to share my life story to the world, a.k.a my friends. I upload photos, make statuses, and write comments. To me Facebook is a way to keep connected and to stalk or creep on your random friends. While Facebook is used for this reason for me, some use it as advertisement, which is one of the many uses for Facebook. These ads are located wherever I look on my homepage. Companies buy ad space which thus helps pay the company. Most of the times these ads are relevant to things I am interested in, or have Googled in the past. Do I like these ads bombarding me as I try to gossip? No, however if it keeps Facebook free for me, by all means keep on advertising!

Reading:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/business/companies/facebook_inc/index.html