I chose Jo?s report because she came from the first generation, or the first year of this class. On her home page it says in bold letters Josephine Allen: Disciple of Jesus Christ. I am a Christian also and was interested in hearing the opinion of a fellow Christian on the topic of driving.
Selection Process
I found Jo's page by first finding Dr. James' home page . from there I clicked on the heading Student Generational Reports, then clicked on generation 1 under the Traffic Psychology heading. From there I clicked on Jo's name which was listed first in generation 1.
Summary of Report
The topic of Jo's first report was child molestation on the internet. This topic interested me because it is a problem I hear about often in the newspaper, on tv, and in magazines. With the widespread use of the internet and its accessibility there is always a possibility of the internet being used with harmful intent. Although it is unfortunate that some children are victimized by predators on the internet, parents can take measures to childproof their computer systems to avoid having their children at risk for danger. The simplest way for parents to avoid having their children get into trouble is to install a password on the computer. Without this password the child would not be able to use the computer. This way the parent can enter the password each time the computer is used allowing the child?s transactions via computer to be supervised.
My Reaction
I liked the content of Jo?s report but the patterned background made it hard to read. I think Jo could have focused more on how to prevent children from falling prey to molesters on the internet. I think she brought up an important issue regarding potential danger lurking on the internet but she failed to elaborate or offer a solution.
Comparison
In addition to reading Jo?s home page, I also took a look at Kevin Bogan?s home page, also in generation 1. Kevin?s page was interesting because he included a photo of his cyber psychology class on his web page. Also, Kevin used a plain white background which made the text much easier to read than Jo?s. However, I like the content of Jo?s reports better than Kevin?s. Jo?s reports are more psychological while Kevin?s are more technical.
MY SELECTION #2-Curtis Niakao G2 Psych 409
Why I Chose This Report
I chose Curtis Niakao?s page because he titiled it ?Learning the Internet? which is a title ia can relate to since I had no computer knowledge whatsoever prior to taking this class. When I read over his table of contents I saw his report on technophobia and knew I?d found my man!
Selection Process
I found Curtis? page by first finding Dr. James? home page. From ther I clicked on generation 2 under the ?What is Cyber-Psychology? heading. Then I clicked on Curtis Niakao?s name which brought me to his home page.
Summary of Report
In curtis? group reports he discusses becoming familiar with the internet and the resources he found to help him with his homepage. Additionally he included a section on technophobia which was humorous and well written. Curtis dicusses his fear of technophobia and offers solutions to technophobia including gathering as much information about computers as possible, always saving your work, and practice, practice, practice!!!
My Reaction
Curtis? report helped me because like curtis I suffer from technophobia. For a long time the thought of coming near a computer has left me terrified. The hardest thing is facing the fact that unless your name is Bill Gates you are never going to know everything about computers so you just have to master what you can. Curtis? report made me feel better because I realized that there are MANY MANY others out there with the same technophobia that I have. It was encouraging to find that curtis had the same technophobia as I have and was able to find ways to manage it and continue to face the world of knowledge the computer presents. While it is easy to succumb to technophobia by putting your computer in a closet, doing so simply deprives you by closing off an important resource for gaining knowledge.
Comparison
I compared Curtis' homepage with Christina Kealoha's homepage. While Curtis' page was simple and easy to read because he used simple black font on a plain white background, Christina's page was colorful and had many interesting Disney characters on it. Curtis' page did not have pictures.
MY SELECTION #3- Travis Abe of G7 Psych 459
Why I chose this report
I chose this report because it is absolutely hilarious! Travis" report has a humorous audio message which warns the reader that "Due to violent content, parental discretion is advised." There are skulls all over the background and red smears that I assume are supposed to be blood. The combination of black background and white lettering makes this report very easy to read.
Selection Process
Travis examines how video games can potentially lead to road rage. Travis discovers that video games these days are violent and graphic and the goal of most driving games is to drive as poorly as possible. Travis includes links to show the reader actual pictures of the games. The pictures show an old woman, a cow, and pedestrians about to become roadkill. Travis expresses concern that the more graohic video games such as Carmageddon should not be available for children to play due to their violent content.
Reaction
Travis' report on road rage in video games is by far the most interesting of the reports I have looked at. It is obvious that Travis enjoyed his research. He must have! His research was done by playing video games! Travis attempts to determine if video games depicting graphic roadway violence will promote poor driving. I think that if young children around the age of eight are permitted to drive and then play violent video games, perhaps they may be more inclined to run over a squirrel However, I do not think that an individual who is old enough and mature enough to have a driver's license is going to run over a pedestrian because he runs over pedestrians while playing video games. Most individuals understand the difference between reality and make believe. If not the person should probably be locked up anyway.
Comparison
I compared Travis Abe's homepage with Brandi Ashby's homepage-G7 459. Brandi's page hurt my eyes and gave me a headache just looking at it. The titles for her assignments were written in a bright teal font on a pink background which really hurt my eyes. When you get to her actual report it is not as hard to read because it is standard black font on a white background. It is just unfortunate that her opening page is such a turnoff.
MY SELECTION #4- Brandon Suetsugu of G8 Psych 409b
Why I Chose This Report
I chose this report because Brandon Suetsugu is always really nice about helping me in the computer lab so I wanted to check out his homepage. When I arrived at his homepage it was very simple and the colors were not offensive to my eyes so I proceeded to read what Brandon had to say.
Selection Process
I found Brandon's page by first finding Dr. James' homepage. Then I clicked on Student Generational Reports. From there I went to Generation 8 where I found Brandon's homepage.
Summary of Report
In his report titled DWI activism, Brandon discusses drinking and driving. Brandon does not advocate drinking at all but urges readers if they must drink to do so responsibly. Brandon feels that people who drink and drive lack the life skills necessary to make responsible decisions. He discusses how our youth are bombarded with advertisements glorifying beer and social drinking to excess. Interestingly, Brandon points out that 62% of the driving public believes that most people who drink and drive are people we call problem drinkers or alcoholics. Brandon offers tips on how to spot a drunk driver and urges those with cellular phones to report drunk drivers. As a solution Brandon suggests a massive media campaign to eliminate drinking and driving. He also suggests that as a society we need to stop the mentality that everyone needs to drink. Lastly, DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE UNDER ANY CONDITIONS!
My Reaction
Brandon's report, although it has a good general thesis, is a bit too general. He states several times that we need to implement a massive media campaign to curb and eliminate drinking and driving. I feel we already have this. Everyone has heard the slogan, "friend don't let friends drive drunk" and messages roll across the television screen constantly urging people not to drink and drive. Brandon mentions that youths need alternatives to drinking and parties but he offers no specific alternatives. I feel Brandon's report would have been stronger had he come up with more of his own solutions on how to combat the problem of drinking and driving. For example I will address the problem of youth drinking at parties. As a high school student when we went to really large parties where all the teens were drinking, as soon as we arrived at the party we had to surrender our car keys to the owner of the house until morning. I thought this was a great idea because we could drink ourselves sick yet still be alive the next day to drive home sober- albeit hungover!
Comparison
I compared Brandon's Suetsugu's homepage with Brandon Lee's- also G7 Psych 409b. Their homepages were both simple in structure. Brandon Lee's contained a cool Sonic the Hedgehog icon that I liked. He also did a report on virtual online communities which I do not find as interesting as drunk driving. However, I did like the icon at the top of Brandon L.'s page. It is an icon of a separated heart with two individual faces.
Opinions of Classmates
I liked everyone's use of icons and I liked seeing how different all the pages were.
Suggestions for Future Generations
It may seem tough at first to get started on your web page if you have no computer knowledge but keep trying. You will learn more than you expect!