Can You Spot a Cyber Terrorist?

A cyber terrorist is someone who tries to infect your computer or phone with a virus that will cause your device to stop working or that will leave your device open to snooping.



from World Terrorism Blog



Skim these sites and write a blog post called "Top 10 Things You Didn't Know About Cyber Terrorism". Your post should teach young people how to detect and avoid viruses. Do NOT just copy and paste; use your own words. Make sure you cite your source.

1. What is Phishing?
2. Phishing in Emails
3. Common Facebook Scams
4. Scams on Mobile Apps
5. Protect Yourself on Wi-Fi

Own Your Stuff!

from JustTrademarks

Plagiarism is a very serious offense. Imagine if you spent a long time creating something that may even be worth a lot of money, and someone stole it, put their name on it, took credit for it, and took the money you could've been paid. How would you feel?

You don't want anyone to steal your blog posts or use them without your permission, so you have to protecto your work. Likewise, you don't want to steal anyone else's stuff. Copyright is the way to protect work. Go to Creative Commons and choose the copyright license for your blog. Also, while you're researching, do not steal anyone's writings or photos without saying directly where it came from.

Check Up

1. Make sure that you have completed all of the assignments on the Homework page.

   

   from iconfinder

2. Make sure you have included all of the requirements for your blog posts.
3. Make sure you have clicked spell check before publishing.
4. Make sure you are tweeting about your blog and tweeting other people with your same professional interests.



Annotated Bibliography

from zagoumenov.com

Find 2 blogs for each of your interests (college, career, and passion). Write an analytical review of each site and post on your blog. Your review should include:

1. Logo or photo from site
2. Site's name and url
3. Your rating on a scale of A-F
4. Statement of intended audience (age group, interests, culture)
5. Summary of what the site does
6. Your opinion of the site's aesthetics and ease of use
7. What you learned from the site
8. How the site could improve

You should have reviewed 6 websites total.

Are you a Flamer Troll, Lurker, or Contributor?

from Ebay Images

Do you ever comment on other people's pages? Are you a flamer troll, lurker, or contributor?

A flamer or troll is someone who attacks, bullies, and insults others online, often while using a fake name.

A lurker is someone who doesn't comment; he/she only watches.

A contributor is someone who adds to the conversation with questions, praise, intelligent constructive criticism, and a positive tone.

Check out this story of an online contributor who earned a job because of his comments.

Let's see which category you fall in. How would you solve these scenarios from Good Work Project? Before you decide on an option, ask yourself:

• Will what I do have any effects on me? How will I feel about what I choose?
• Will what I do have any effects on others? On their feelings? On what they choose to do in future? 

Situation 1
A person you don’t know, “AnnaBanana,” posts a story to a fan fiction website. There, anyone can post stories they write for other people to read. Unfortunately, AnnaBanana’s story is really, really bad. You read it, but you wish you could get a refund on the time you spent! There’s a box for “reviews” where you can send AnnaBanana your comments on her story. People who are looking for reading material can use these reviews to help them decide which stories to read. What would you do?

• You could bluntly tell her how you feel about her story.
• You could offer constructive criticism about her story.
• You could tell your friends not to read her story.
• You could find a different story to read and not respond to AnnaBanana’s at all.
• Or, you could do something completely different!


Situation 2
Over the course of a few days, two of your Facebook friends get into a fight over a controversial subject. You don’t have any opinion on the subject, but they’re really, really angry with each other about their differing views. You’re not very close friends with either of these people, but because their notes and status updates appear on your news feed, you’re exposed to their argument. 

What would you do?

• You could leave a comment on one or both of their profiles.
• You could send an email or a private message to one or both of them.
• You could update your status message and ask them to stop.
• You could ignore their updates until they cool down.
• You could defriend them.
• Or, you could do something completely different!


Situation 3
One of your friends sends you a link to a YouTube video. Your friend is really offended by it: She says it’s very, very offensive, and she just wanted to vent about it to you. Naturally, you’re curious about what made your friend so mad. If you click the link and watch the video, though, the creators of the video will see that you chose to watch it. Unless you choose to leave a comment or a rating out of five stars, they won’t have any idea what you thought of it.

What would you do?
• You could watch the video and, if you were offended, leave an angry comment.
• You could watch the video and, if you were offended, give it a low starred rating.
• You could watch the video and not leave a comment.
• You could refuse to watch the video.
• Or, you could do something entirely different!


 Homework
In your Google Reader, you should have subscribed to 10 professional blogs and all of your peers' blogs. Your job now is to contribute to the conversation on these blogs. Comment on 5 professional blogs and 10 peers' blogs. On your own blog, write a post that shares the links to each of your comments. Be sure to post using your real name and link to your blog address.

Have you ever had Digital Drama?

MTV created a film called Disconnected about the many ways our online activities can harm us. It's about an hour long, but it's really good. Let me know what you think about it.

Disconnected: Four teens connected by a live streaming site struggle to balance their digital drama and offline lives, but a tragedy causes them to reconsider what connects them.

Get More:
DISconnected, Full Episodes

Wanna Be Blogalicious?



from beblogalicious.com

 Here are 6 rules to help you have a great blog.

1. A blog is not a diary; it is a public document. Recognize that you have readers and you want to converse with them, not just yap. Ask questions. Stir controversy.

2. Show your personality in your writing. 

3. Use plenty of pictures and/or videos. Find good pics at Flickr, Photobucket, Jupiter Images, Google Images. You MUST hyperlink to your source.

4. Write killer headlines. Would you rather read an article titled, “Spaghetti Recipe” or “Make Sexy Spaghetti Tonight”?

5. Use proper grammar and spelling.

6. Hyperlink your source and add the source to your Works Cited page.

BONUS TIP: Enumerate. People like quick lists. For example, “6 Steps to Passing the SAT” is better than just “SAT Tips”.

Homework: While researching for this class, I found this student’s blog. Do you think an employer or college would find her photo troublesome? Get a professional profile photo and post it in your blog sidebar. 

By the end of the semester, complete the following blog posts:

1. Story Behind My College Choice; Questions I Want Answered
2. Story Behind My Career Choice; Questions I Want Answered
3. Story Behind My Topic of Passion; Questions I Want Answered
4. 3 Website Reviews Related to My College
5. 3 Website Reviews Related to My Career
6. 3 Website Reviews Related to My Topic of Passion
7. 3 Posts Related to Something You Read in Google Reader or Twitter
8. 3 Free Posts Related to Your College, Career, and/or Passion
9. Works Cited
10. Research Reflection