TED Talk Jonathan Harris: The Web's Secret Stories

I loved Jonathan Harris's presentation, "The Web's Secret Stories". He is an artist, story teller and Internet Anthropologist. He stated that people have a lot in common, but they also have gaps, like language, gender, age, money, and religion. He spoke about how people have taken traditional forms of self expression such as writing, art, and poetry on to the internet. These moments of self expression are leaving footprints.

In his project "We Feel Fine" he scans the world's blogs to collect snapshots of the writers feelings, and in the "Universe" he turns current events into constellations of words. His computer programs build graphic interfaces that help us visualize his data. He makes online art that show the world's expression and gives a glimpse of the soul of the internet.

When I saw the huge display of pictures on the planetarium-like screen, I was moved by the pain, sorrow, and happiness of these people, these souls floating through space. I felt a great connection with these people because I am them and they are me. I think this mode of art does create coherence from the chaos and will bring people from all over the world together.

Blog b Class Content Phishing and Internet Scams

The word phishing comes from the analogy that Internet scammers are using e-mail lures to fish for passwords and financial data from the sea of Internet users. The term was coined in 1996 by hackers who were stealing AOL internet accounts by scamming passwords from unsuspecting AOL users. Since hackers have a tendency to replace "f" with "ph", the term phishing was derived. http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/2005/phishing.asp

The Webopedia Definition of phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a Web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as password and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user's information.

I have received odd e-mails over the years at school and home but so far I haven't been scammed. I remember being warned about certain Internet Scams and told not to open the e-mails. My school system does have a system in place to block e-mails that shouldn't be coming through. The article "All About Phishing" says the golden rule to avoid being phished is to never ever click the links within the text of the e-mail. Always delete the e-mail immediately. Once you have deleted the e-mail then empty the trash box in your e-mail client as well. You can also visit the Web site of the company from who the e-mail appears to be from and notify them of the suspicious e-mail. Many companies do want to know if their company name is being used to try and scam people. You can also report phishing to the Federal Trade Commission, or the Anti-Phishing Working Group who is building a database of common scams to help inform people of the risks.

My thoughts on this topic are that there have always been scam artists who try to steal from people. This is just a new method, phishing, an outcome of the advancement of the internet. People do need to be informed of these
scams and know what they need to do to protect themselves from identity theft. We need to constantly be on the lookout to safeguard ourselves against the evil forces that permeate our society.

Surfing the Net 3b

I surf the web about 20-30 hours a week. The main websites I went to this week include:

http:dozier.nn.k12.va.us This is my school Website. I go here each day to check e-mail and keep up with the daily instructions from the principal, technology people, related service teachers like adapted P.E., Speech Therapists, and Occupational Therapists.

http: abcteach.com This website has worksheets for elementary students. I was looking for pictures for a cowboy theme and found a good picture of a cowboy boot that I used for names tags for the kid's desks.

http: edhelper.com I am a member of this website. It has great reading and math worksheets for many levels.

http:www.rcc.vccs.edu I have spent most of my time here can you believe it!

http: ted.com I viewed the Tony Robbins presentation this week. These lectures would be great for teachers staff development meetings because the speakers are so great.

http:vcu.edu My son goes here and I am able to keep abreast of his financial needs and courses he needs to take.

http: news.com.com I read a good article here by Declan McCullagh called "Should the United Nations Run the Internet?"

http:www.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2w4FH34kgQ I am taking a sign language class and wanted to use the story, "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly" for my presentation and I found this on youtube.

Tony Robbins TED TALK Why We Do What We Do

I was deeply touched by Tony Robbins, "The Why Guy's" presentation. He said that emotion is the force of life. He asked why is it that some people who are raised in a good family and have everything end up in rehab when other people who have had bad childhood's and pain in their lives contribute most to society? No matter what happens, they find a way to be happy. They have developed psychological strengths and resourcefulness using their emotions in creative playful ways to make decisions that shape their destiny.

Mr. Robbins stated that emotion creates action like Rosa Parks refusing to sit in the back of the bus which changed society, and Lance Armstrong beating cancer and winning the Tour de France six times. Again, these people overcame pain and used their emotions to achieve greatness.

In the model of the World, Mr. Robbins named six needs: avoid pain, variety, money, prayer (needs of the spirit), need to grow, and the need to contribute beyond ourselves. He asked, What's driving you? and said explore what you are doing today.

I have known people who had it all and lost it, and I have known people who have suffered great pain and made it. For myself, I do believe that times of trouble and pain caused the force of life (EMOTION) to kick in and made me do everything I could at the time and throughout my life to improve, strive to experience variety, address my spiritual needs and enjoy the total satisfaction of contributing beyond myself.

The Internet and Education

I didn't use the internet in my education, I actually went to a library and used books and magazine articles for my research project, "Sugar and Hyperactivity in Children." I was teaching when the internet came into being and I have used it for many years and have searched and found zillions of great websites and kept current with articles and organizations pertaining to special education and anything else that struck my fancy. I have used websites like starfall.com and kidport.com with an s-video cable to my TV and the kids are able to see, hear, and interact with the program. I have taken my kids to a computer lab each day where they are allowed to surf the net and play games on websites like funbrain.com, primarygames.com., and kizclub.com.

In five years students will all have their own personal computers in the classroom where they will participate in creating presentations with information from the web,choosing what type of teaching methods they prefer, communicate with other children around the world, begin studying what they are interested in and explore what they will do in the future.

There should be a World Wide Education System where all people can access
the knowledge of the world from birth to 99 for free and get college credit for it.