Success!

I have been organised enough to sort out all my sources in the order I will use them. I've got my structure developed (I choose to keep this a secret in case I go off track, which may result to be very misleading for my tutor), and all that's left is the incorporation of my opinion throughout all my information.

Progress so far

Okay, I've managed to eliminate a few journal articles and gained another. I've also found five websites I can reference so that's exciting.

Now that I've found these sources, I've created a document with different sections of each source that I may use in my essay. It seems like an awful lot at the moment but hopefully I can cut it down.

If I don't fall asleep at my computer I'm hoping to combine my sources with my essay plan so my structure can be brought to life.

Essay

Hoorah for my internet coming back to life! I can now start assignments :)

So far I've gathered six journal articles that will help with my essay. Each article keeps in sync with my argument - that computer/video gaming does affect the health of young people. After further thought on my topic and how I'm going to present my argument I will find articles that oppose my argument to show the contrast in findings and hopefully with the presented evidence from both sides, it will benefit and reinforce my argument to a different degree. (I hope that makes sense?)

I'm currently writing my introduction and trying to construct it in a way that will allow me to follow a single direction and will not lead me all over the place.

Essay progress

Unfortunately my internet is down till the 11th, so consequently I'm unable to work on my essay till the 11th. I'm made sure to post this while at work just in case you're wondering why I'm so slack with my assignment.

Political Participation

* Sign an e-petition.
According to Wikipedia, an E-petition can also be a form of Chain Letter, so I've already done this several times! One of the most common would be the private messages women across the world get through Facebook messages. I went through my old posts and found a message which I'm going to copy and paste here.

"We are playing a game. Someone proposed that we GIRLS do something special on Facebook to help with Breast Cancer Awareness. Its easy, and Id like you to join us to help it spread. Last year it was about writing the color of the bra that your were wearing in your Fb status and it left men wondering for days why the girls had random colors as their status. This year it has to do with your relationship status. You will where you are, by posting one of the codes below. Remember - don't reply to this message just type your 1 word response in your status box on your profile. Then cut and paste this whole message into a new message and send it along to your female friends....

                                                                  American Brownies: It's complicated

Chocolate Indulgence: I'm single

Oreo Cheese: I'm a touch n go woman

Pecan Butterscotch: Engaged

Tiramisu: In a relationship

Moist Chocolate Cake: I'm married

Chocolate Banana: I'm "the other one"

Brownies Walnut: Can't find the right one

White Chocolate Macadamia: Wish I was single

New York Cheese: Can't wait to get married

The bra game reached TV, lets get this one to do the same here.

Remember: breast cancer affects everyone at every age. Self-check only takes a few minutes!"

So, by participating in this chain letter I have signed an E-petition. I also searched "E-petitions" on Google and it led me to a list of E-petitions on the Queensland Parliament website. I looked through the list and found a petition that I would gladly sign. This was the ban on the sale, use and promotion of 
prong-collars on dogs. 


I found the petitions here: 


Queensland Parliament, 2011, viewed 22nd of September, <http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petitions> 

This is me doing an essay plan.

I've finally decided on my essay topic. I've chosen the question "Does the extensive use of computer/video games have an adverse impact on the health of young people. What are the most recent papers? Clarify what both sides of the argument claim and only then offer your reasoned opinion based on facts." I've chosen this topic because I feel like I've had some sort of relevant personal experience. I guess the internet was my "addiction" when I was younger, so as a result I missed out on a lot of other opportunities that many other children would have had. So because of this I decided my position would be yes, extensive use of computer/video games does have an adverse impact on the health of young people. 


To guarantee the best mark I can get, I would have to discuss these elements: 
- What sort of games would provoke extensive use? A range of games, mainly those that have a reality component. 
- How would these games impact the health of young gamers? There's the possibility of the uncertainty of what is real and what is not. They may apply unrealistic behaviour to real life, which could be dangerous depending on the games they play. There is also the long-term risk of depression, if the child grows up playing games all the time, alone in their room, they can become very lonely.
- How do I back up my claim that their health is at risk? Find articles!
- What sort of change should be made? Awareness should be made of the risks, along with encouragement for outdoor activities and communication with others to prevent anti-social, dangerous behaviour. 


I'm hoping I stick to this plan because the possibility of me going off track is very high!

Week 8 Lecture/Readings - Free Software

This weeks readings are based on two different things, Creative Commons and Free Software. I'll be focusing on Free software.

From the readings I found that free software was defined as "software that gives you the user the freedom to share, study and modify it. We call this free software because the use is free." (Lee, 2011) So from what I gather, free software is things such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, Itunes, etc. We are able to freely use these products as we wish, but there are extra opportunities within these softwares that require payment and acknowledgement of the original manufacturer.

Proprietary software is the complete opposite of free software, it denies users the freedom and benefits that free software provides. (Lee, 2011) The businesses who produce proprietary software can sometimes "spy" on those who use their products and see whether they are using the product accordingly or going against what was written in the license agreement that the user has to accept upon first use.

Luckily for us there is an entire movement involved in the promotion of free software, the promotion of liberty! This movement is called the "GNU" which is short for "GNU is Not Unix" (Lee, 2011) The goal of this movement is to basically be... free, free to do whatever we want (in relation to software). GNU says that "'Free software' is a matter of liberty, not price." (GNU Operating System, 2010) I find it quite amusing how devoted this movement is. I've heard of other movements that support the prevention of teen suicide/harm but I've never heard of a movement so wholeheartedly committed to software, it's quite... cute in a very absurd way.


Lee, M 2011, What is free software and why is it so important?, viewed 20th September 2011, <http://www.fsf.org/about/what-is-free-software>
GNU Operating System, 2010, viewed 20th September 2011, <http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html>