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Melissa Yu

How Evil Is Your Smartphone? - 0 views

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    When we're looking for new smart phones we often look at things like speed, convenience, size and other features. When we see all these new smart phone products in stores we don't really stop and think about who made it. All we see is this polished, new phone and that's all we ever try to see. However, this article forces you to look past those pristine products and see the hidden reality. This post shows the rankings of various phone brands based on their impact on human rights, animal rights, the environment and other ethics. Out of a possible score of 20, all the brands fell quite short with the highest score being 10.5. It brings up the various human rights violations of different companies and makes you wonder why such successful companies like Apple are still setting such a low standard for labor conditions. Living in our comfortable first world country, we don't see all the human rights violations and abuse that occurs in other countries. I was surprised to learn that in a Nokia factory, many people were hospitalized for lead poisoning after being told that lead wasn't harmful. The lives of these workers are put at risk every day, as they work to create our smart phones. This article makes you think a lot about our world's reliance on technology. In our country, we only see the positive side of technology. Around the world though, there's a whole other side to the story. People work in dangerous conditions and are abused often while they create our smart phones. It really makes you see these products in a whole other light. After reading this article, I see more when I look at a smart phone. I wonder what happened to the people that made this phone or how they're living now. Our world is changing because of the introduction of technology. It has made our life so much easier, but we have to remember that this can sometimes come at the cost of another human or animal's dignity and sometimes even their life.
Melissa Yu

Is It Immoral to Own an iPhone 5? - 0 views

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    With the thin, sleek design, the shiny screen, and the convenient touch screen, the iphone has grown to become one of the most wanted phones in our country. Behind the high-tech phones and tablets though there's a much more serious issue. Iphones are often created in factories in China that exploit their workers. Things like child labor and abuse are practiced often in these factories. However, this article didn't only bring up the issue of human rights violations, but also our role in it. In the past, companies like Nike have been forced to improve the quality and treatment in these factories after many people boycotted the brands once discovering the ethical issues in the production process. We have not let the exploitation of workers in China pass before, so why are we doing it now with these Apple products. Every time we lay down our money and pick up a new iphone or ipad, we are encouraging this type of production and becoming a part of it. Even our simple, silly complaints about the Apple products can make the conditions worse for those poor workers. They are forced to work even harder and longer, no matter how tired, underpaid and overworked they already are. Has it become important for us to own the best phone, that the rights and sufferings of other human beings no longer matters? Why are we not taking the action necessary to help those workers and send a clear message of opposition? Before, reading this article I also wanted an iphone. It's a great phone, very convenient and high-tech. Knowing the conditions these phones are made in though has started to really make me doubt what I used to consider an amazing phone. It's an ethical issue. Do I want this phone so badly that I'm willing to turn a blind eye to the places it came out of? What scared me was that as much as I knew what the clear answer was, it was still a hard decision to make. Exploiting other humans is wrong and no matter how big Apple is, they are not an exceptio
anna karbasi

Steelcase Gesture chair adjusts to support our smartphone slump (video) - 0 views

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    your mother was right- Posture is important! In this article, a new innovating chair has been introduced to the market, Gesture chair. Ever since the progression of technology in the last decade, tablets, smartphones and computers are everywhere- including the office. These new technologies, and their frequent use have uncovered nine new postures that have never been seen before. And with these new postures, a new chair is needed for the proper support. Many overlook the importance of posture in you health but good posture is as imperative as eating right, exercising and so on. For example, when we are sitting at a computer much like you are now reading this, you are most likely hunched over with you head and neck tilted forward.This hunched over position creates an imbalance between your head and your spinal column forcing the human body to stretch certain spinal ligaments to support your head. This can eventually cause fatigue and pain. However, this is where Gesture comes in; this chair has the ability to support you body's many postures and movements through out the day. Its features include movable arm rests, fluidity in the back that cradles your back and more. This chair encourages movement rather than restricting the body to a certain position. Overall, it is something that can positively affect your health, and shares new ideas regarding the chair and how we can use technology and kinesiology to improve our lives.
Nicked -

Free Speech in the Age of YouTube - NYTimes.com - 0 views

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    This article, by Somnini Sengupta on the New York Times, is an in-depth look on free speech on the internet, and drawing the line between free expression and hate speech. An anti-Islamic video recently posted on YouTube has brought up the debate over where internet companies decide to draw that line. After the killing of a US ambassador and three other Americans, Google has restricted access to the video in Egypt and Lybia. Google continued to restrict the video in five other countries where it violated local laws. The question about free speech proves to be a problem where it can lead to hate speech. There are continual debates over whether hate speech includes speech that can lead to violence, or demeans a group by race or religion. Politically unstable countries, such as Pakistan, have blocked YouTube altogether. Many internet companies such as Facebook and Twitter, receive the same problems on content as well. Social networks of communication and freedom of expression can also become outlets and channels of hateful and demeaning speech. However, it is also difficult to screen such large amounts of user uploaded content at a time. Although these social networking sites may not condone the views expressed by their users, they can do little to prevent the upload and viewing by hundreds of millions of daily active users. As represented by the anti-Islamic video, these views can affect events, actions, and the lives of people the world over. This can relate to us as students because we can see how widespread the internet is, and how much larger it will become. Everything we post online is recorded and forever preserved; once it's out there, it's out there. Whether what we post reach the desired recipient or a nation, words, coupled with the internet, have immense power, and should be treated with respect. This reflects on smaller scale issues such as cyber bullying, where what we post may intentionally or unintentionally harm our peers. Yes, I believe that free spee
Anthony Dao

How is Facebook Addiction Affecting Our Minds? [INFOGRAPHIC] - 0 views

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    Social networking is a very big thing in today's society.  there are many social networking sites on the Internet, but none as big as Facebook.  With approximately 1 billion users, it is no wonder why it is so successful.  But with everything comes a consequence.  There are many downfalls to using Facebook.   One reason why Facebook is a problem to today's society is because since we are so addicted to Facebook, it can damage our minds. Receiving and answering a notification results in a hit of dopamine, a chemical neurotransmitter associated with the motivation and rewards response in the human brain.  Dopamine is also released when we consume drugs, etc.   This seems foolish right?  well In China, Taiwan, and South Korea, "Internet Addiction Disorder" is already accepted as a psychological diagnosis.  Facebook and other social networking sites can have damaging effects, such as a decrease in our attention span.  Since 2000, our collective attention span has increased by 40% It effects our lives because since almost everyone is on Facebook, or any other social networking site, almost everyday, we start to become distracted, less focused, and have a shorter attention span, which could potentially mess up future generations.  For one, we become distracted in class, and instead of listening to the teachers, we're always on our phones (or any other devices) checking our notifications. Now that we have learned what Facebook and other social networking sites can do to us, is there really a way to resolve this issue?
Winnie Huang

Emoticons Are Reshaping Our Brains, We Now Process :-) As A Human Face - 0 views

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    Because of social media and texting 24/7, our minds have become accustomed to emoticons and what they represent. For example, our brains now register the colon - dash - close - bracket as a real smiling face. This phenomenon has been studied by scientists and this break through is not only interesting but also dawns upon the fact of how people right now are beginning to be taken over by technology. If just seeing a few markings of type makes one remember a face, then what more weird things will we be able to connect with text to in the future? It's not just smiley faced emoticons people register as well - there are thousands of emoticons that people now understand are pictures that are smaller versions of a bigger idea such as, OTL representing a person kneeling in failure and even, (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻, to represent the action of flipping a table.
jonathan molloy

constitution supports smoking - 0 views

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    This video describes how the constitution of America opposes those warning labels on cigarette packaging. Although many believe the warning should stay, judges oppose by arguing that preventing companies to properly advertise a legal drug is against freedom of speech. 1/7 people smoke and I can emphasis with the judge in his decision.
Michael Cambare

PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP.COM - 1 views

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    This website is THE best website in the history of all mankind. Billions of years from now after the 16th nuclear war wipes out humanity again, our descendants will look to and praise this website as they believe it is the most wise being in the world. When I assigned this link the task of redirecting users to my site, it refused because it is just way too epic. Its link people actually believe that this website serves somekind of divine purpose and that we regular people have no right to meddle with these matter, that all changed however with a handsome enough sum of money.
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    nice try. i don't think bookmarking your own site (THAT I HOST!!) counts
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