The Cost of Security

        This Modules scared me more than others. Reading about how Google and Facebook do very little to protect my information online. I just saw an ad for Facebook’s Portal, which is like facetime in your home on a big screen that follows you around in your home. Letting Facebook have such a personal connection in my home seems a bit creepy now. Growing up we only used apple products, so it did make me relieved that they do more to protect my information. I will continue to fully support Apple and exclusively buy their products knowing they are able to take the extra step and do not sell your info which is what happens with other tech companies. Apple seems to be the top tech company as far as security. I know a lot of people brag about Google and android phones, but I wonder if they would feel the same way if they knew how superior Apple was on security. It blows my mind that Google Wildly profits off of its users and most people (including myself prior to this week) know nothing about Google’s business. Will I stop using google? Honestly probably not, but I still plan on staying informed. For me choosing Google comes down to convince. I used to think people were wild or paranoid for not using Google, now I feel that their beliefs are very much validated.

I have always been careful about using public wifi and what I decide to do on public Wifi. I use to think that anything could be tracked and hacked if I was simply on a public Wifi. I recently learned that Http sites encrypt what you do on their site. I also learned from The NY Times that apple does the same thing with iMessage ( https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/04/smarter-living/10-tips-internet-privacy-crowdwise.html   )

 

After this week’s reading I think that I will probably stop signing any though Facebook for all my apps. I was honestly shocked to read how little Facebook does for its users. I will continue to use Google products like Gmail and their search engine. I exclusively own Apple tech products and never planned on changing but after this week and reading about how much they look out for their customers I will continue to stay loyal for life. Social media and the internet are very helpful and gives us more information at our fingertips that whole generations have had before, but at what cost? Google and Facebook might be financially free for anyone to use, but it does come at a cost. It amazes me that all of this information is available to the public about how big companies are using the public’s information and not that many people seem to be concerned. Big tech company’s really do have a monopoly on the industry because consumers will sacrifice anything for the fastest, sleekest, and cheapest tech products. I would include myself in that category where I will definitely be more  conscious about how I interact with Facebook, but I am not willing to change too much out of convince.

 

My solution to the Grandmother problem was positive education in and a rule of thumb which was if you are posting about something, only post if you feel confident about the subject that you would print out the post and hand it out in person, fully prepared to have a conversation about the topic. This past week I saw a very close friend of mine post an article about how planned parenthood hurts more woman than it helps. The article was obviously written to scare woman away from the non-profit that helps thousands of women get birth control, get tested for sexually transmitted illneses, and preforms abortions. The article was written by a christian mommy blog that focused on opinions of the writer. I usually just ignore ignorant articles like this but I decided to responded via text message. I reached out to my dear friend who is very confused and asked them if they had actually researched anything about plan parenthood. My friend responded and said no, but that the article stated all of the reasons why she did not even need to waste her time on research. I responded by saying that if she wanted to truly educate people on her opinions about planned parenthood she should really look into the group and have the knowledge to back her beliefs. I share my own beliefs about the group and that because I knew how much they helped so many people I decided that it was a group I supported and valued in society. She was very polite and responded and said all she needed to know was that they preformed abortions an that was enough for her to dislike the group.

While we can agree to disagree I would say my solution to the grandmother problem kind of failed in this situation.

 

Online Journalism, and the lack of, has become quite the crisis. In 2019 where even the President of the United States is known to share false information, fake news and false facts spread like cancer across our nation where political tensions are at the highest they have been in over 20 years. Buzzfeed has reported that both the left and the right has been known to share fake news at times. So why is this happening so much? Some would say it is because people are not media literate and rely too much on strangers on the internet for their daily news. Others would say it is because journalism is not what it use to be. While both answers might be right to an extent, it is a blessing and a curse when anyone can say anything about anyone, anytime online. Most fake news articles are shared from less than reputable news outlets that are more blogs than professional press.

In this crazy fake news age social media just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and the laws and legal system in this country sadly have not adjusted too. I really enjoyed reading about Victoria Rubin, a professor who had a class develop and algrithim to help detect fake news https://phys.org/news/2017-02-fact-fiction-fake-news-algorithm.html. While I sadly believe it will be a while before we legally catch up to the age of the internet, it is great to see citizens working on ways to combat it. Fake news is a very tricky topic because on one hand, we all  are protected to some degree by the first amendment. However there can be big ramifications from sharing fake information that comes with serious issues (take the anti-vaxx movement for example). Should people be held responsible for spreading false information that can cause bodily hard? Or should those who choose to disagree with science and medicine be soley accountable for the actions they chose to make. I believe we are still at least 10 years away from laws changing to hold fake news accountable. That being said I do hope that people become more media literate and go back to trusting creditable sources and not blogs or opinion pieces that are not backed by facts. Some false information spread can be held accountable due to it being libel. However when it comes to opinion pieces that do not attack others but simply spread false information there is not a lot of accountability. I hope as we continue to use the internet as our information outlets we all take action even if the laws have not changed. We are fortunate to live in a country where speech is so heavily protected. At the same time we also must address the fact that false information has real affects on our society and our safety. I also respect the different media outlets that are taking it upon themselves to help address the issue by debuking a lot of fake news. The laws right now protect many kinds of speech almost to fault where we have taken things too far by sharing seriously dangerous ideas and ways of thinking with little to no consequences.

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This semester in MCO425 we went over the basic concepts to editing and contributing to Wikipedia. I learned a bit about what it takes to edit and add to a page and I decided to take a shot at the page all about Rag doll cats. I have a rag doll, his name is Tom Ford and he is a 20 month blue mink who is my whole world. I got him about a year and a half ago and since then he has been my best friend. I decided to edit the Rag doll page because when I was reading about the breed and I noticed in the “Pop Culture” section there was no mention of Grumpy Cat, who is part Rag Doll and a huge internet Icon. I decided I could contribute information about grumpy cat to this Wiki page because she was one very popular and while she was not full bred Ragdoll I still felt that she should be included in the pop culture area.

I first noted why I wanted to edit the page in the first place to the others who have also contributed information and time to the Rag doll page. Next I added my own fact with a link to the late Grumpy Cat’s page along with A reference to Gumpy Cat’s website where they mention that she is part Rag doll. I put my edit after all of the other pop culture edits so that everything reads in order of how they were submitted.

In high school we had to create a wiki page and I found it very interesting how the online wiki community works. I love that there are so many people willing to spread knowledge and information online for free. While most of us have endless information at our fingertips in 2019 it is still something of a privilege. Wiki gives the world a tool to work together to bring free information to anyone with the internet and that is very important. Education and information can be such a powerful tool that opens doors for whole generations and even countries when it is free. It inspires and encourages the flow of even more knowledge and bodies working to help the next generation. Bringing information to anyone and everyone is a great way to help people form their own opinions based off of knowledge they have access to. I enjoy being able to help contribute to such a mass global project, even if I am just talking about Ragdolls.

Ragdoll Wiki Page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragdoll

 

      Every single day I see tons of misinformation and fake news shared on social media by people who are buying into the false narrative coming from an unreliable source. The biggest problem with having media  anytime anywhere is information has become easy to manipulate. First of all I would encourage everyone to really analyze their news and reflect on if an article is sharing information or an opinion piece. If it is anything other than a news article I would recommend not sharing the article as a truth but rather an opinion of someone who may or may not have any insight on the topic at hand.  For example, my husband is a doctor and he constantly sees facebook articles being shared about opinions on vaccines. They may look like real news articles but when you open them they are really opinions with sources from non scientific journals. These articles are the perfect example of something that uses uneducated opinions that are spread as truths to scare others. I would also advice people not to share news they find with with no creditable sources. When we share news with no source we are backing a concept that could not hold up in a real news room. 

We find things online and share them with less creditability because it is all behind  screen. A good rule of thumb would be if you would not print this article off and hand it out to people in person fully prepared to have an educated conversation about the topic maybe sharing it online is not for you. There is power behind what we share online and with the huge crisis of false information being shared we all have a responsibility to be more aware of what we are putting our name behind by sharing opinions and so called facts on our own social media. If we are not careful we can really be hurting society not to mention those who work endlessly to bring true journalism. We also have to keep in mind that there are many people who use social media who lived most of their life without it. Older generations may find it harder to detect false information and we should be of aid to them for their own benefit. if you are going to correct someone on the news they share we can do it in a respectful way that helps the user better understand how to spot false information in a world that might be different than the one they grew up in.

 

 

This past week I have spent quite some time looking for the best media outlets for fashion.

Because fashion is not just an industry, but also art, there are tons of outlooks and views on the subject of the industry. For  this example because the fashion industry is so large I will take a closer look at the largest night of fashion 2019 saw, the Met Gala. I found not only the best outlets, like Vogue, but other outlets where common people who are not in the fashion industry were able to express their opinion on the 2019 Met Gala.

 

Vogue :“Met Gala 2019: Everything You Need to Know”

 

Vogue is referred to the bible of fashion. In this online article that gave the perfect breakdown of everything involving the 2019 Met Gala. Voguestates that “ While the particulars of the guest list are kept secret, the co-chairs are not: In 2019, Lady Gaga, Harry Styles, Serena Williams, and Alessandro Michele of Gucci (which is serving as a co-sponsor) will join Anna Wintour at the top of the museum steps, greeting guests as they arrive.” https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-the-met-gala-everything-we-know

 

Instagram : @KimKardashian

Days after the 2019 met Kim Kardashian shared a picture of herself wearing a custom dress made by Mugler. Kim wore a nude skin tight dress that had jewels dripping from the dress. Kims look was very popular as people wondered how she contoured her waits to look unusually small and almost disproportionate. Kim Kardashian served one of the most talked about Met looks of 2019 and she shared a wonderful picture of her look on her Instagram. https://www.vogue.com/article/what-is-the-met-gala-everything-we-know

Youtube : Met Gala 2019: Sasha Velour’s Critical Camp Eye

WWD Shared a Youtube video of Drag Queen star Sasha Velour’s top picks and notes on the most talked about looks from the Met. This years theme was Camp and there is no better person to judge camp looks than Sasha Velour who notes that the queer community invented camp. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu3CfYb3osY

 

Refinery29: “The Met Gala Goes Camp: Here’s All The Over-The-Top Looks From The Red Carpet”

 

Refinery29 is a blog and lifestyle website that covered all the looks from the Met Gala. Refinery29 is different from Vogue because the voice is more of an outsiders opinion on the fashion from the night rather than someone that works in fashion. Refinery29 gives an almost comic and confused take at the best of the Met. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/05/231448/best-dressed-met-gala-2019-fashion-looks

 

Twitter: @rangashree1910

 

This twitter user tweeted a picture of Kylie Jenners Met look poking fun at the fact that her look is so similar to another by saying “Can I copy your homework? “Yeah just change it up a bit so it doesn’t look obvious you copied” “Ok” https://twitter.com/rangashree1910/status/1174711296618446848

 

 

In late July of this year Barneys department store filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. I read an article by the Wall Street Journal that discussed the details of the bankruptcy and the potential buyers of the remaining stores that will be left open. Barneys is a staple department store in the fashion world. This article sites many quotes including those from the company’s attorney Joshua Sussberg. There is no indication as to if this was an interview with Barneys attorney or if he gave those quotes to a different outlet. There were other outside sources where facts about designer sales came from and the sources where clear. There was also a lot of data shared about how department stores are sinking in 2019 and examples of other stores that have lost their hold. It was easy to find the other sources because they were shared in the article in green print and all I had to do was simply click on the green print and I would be taken to the direct source of the fact. I love when thinks are linked this way because it makes things easier for the reader to find more in-depth information about what the article is about and where the author’s mind was when the article was being written. It makes everything stream perfectly when the reader can go down a rabbit hole of information simply by clicking on the highlighted sources if they choose. I believe the article showed a clear path from start to finish of what the author’s purpose was- which was to inform about the bankruptcy status of Barneys. This article gave good information of the logistics as to why Barneys was filing for bankruptcy and was not a personal statement as to what the author believed about the business management of Barneys and what they should or should have done. A real look as to how the fashion market is changing based on facts about other big department stores was presented which is also important given Barneys is following in the footsteps of many other stores to close doors. I think this article gave a very well-informed view of where Barneys Bankruptcy status is at and what would happen if someone bough them out and what they plan to do currently with the remaining stores open. This article gave a good glance at what the future holds for Barneys. I do believe this article should have touched a bit more on what chapter 11 bankruptcy is and what it means for businesses. The general public is not familiar with the different chapters of bankruptcy’s and what the process typically looks like. The map of chapter 11 could be beneficial to a reader who is interested in the financial aspects. I would give this article an A- because there is a lot of good facts and sources to other articles that go in depth to certain topics touched. I do believe the quotes need to be explained where they came from and I do believe Chapter 11 bankruptcy could be addressed a little better since it is not in most people’s common knowledge but overall, I believe this author did a good job giving a brief of where Barneys as a company is.

 

 

This week we are taking a look into articles and the difference between opinion driven and analysis driven articles. My three favorite sources for fashion news are Vogue.com, Forbes, and TheFashionLaw.com . With New York Fashion week happening it was a perfect time to dig into the world of fashion and see what the internet is saying about the industry.

http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/michael-kors-is-the-latest-brand-to-take-on-a-flea-market-in-counterfeit-case

The first article, from The Fashion Law I found was an analysis about how Michael Kors is handling the counterfeit crisis and starting with little flea markets in the country instead of online sales. This article is driven by actual legal facts and quotes from owners of the flea markets, lawyers, and the Company of Michael Kors. This article also breaks down the exact case that was filed (  Michael Kors, LLC v. Cheslock et al, 3:19-cv-01364 (D. Conn.)) The author of this article is not trying to convince the reader of opinions about the defendant or the plaintiff  but covering facts about the laws broken, and what this means for other brands who face the same counterfeit issue at hand.

http://www.thefashionlaw.com/home/a-7-year-old-fashion-rental-company-is-buying-193-year-old-lord-amp-taylor

The next article is also from the Fashion Law as well and its covering the news that Le Tote, Inc. is buying Lord & Taylor, a famous department store. Le Tote is a new brand that focus’ on renting clothes rather than retail. The article discusses 100 million business deal and that it is a first of it’s kind ( new rental company buys staple store). Without sharing opinions about why older departments are struggling it rather looks at the number on the market and financially which companies are thriving. There is mention of what has been proven by data to be failing but there is no opinion of why, only facts.

https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/kaia-gerber-fall-cardigan-trend

The Next article I found was from Vogue. When most people think of fashion media- Vogue is the first to come to mind. Vogue is all about the style or trends happening right now in the fashion world. Anna Wintour often decides what is in vogue for each season. While fashion is covered and discussed in Vogue, the opinion of the writers and ultimately Anna Wintour are clearly heard in every article. In this article the trend of wearing an button up cardigan with nothing on underneath is discussed. Kaia Gerber is featured wearing a short sleeved beige cardigan with a bralette on under. The article states that It “seems the case is now closed: the summer cardi is officially extending into the fall season.”  This may be true, but it the opinion of the author of this article that the cardigan trend is a good one and that it should stay for the fall. The article is written for the purpose of sharing with others that the author believes cardigans are on trend.

https://www.vogue.com/vogueworld/article/bella-hadid-vintage-vivienne-westwood-corset

The next article found of vogue is about Bella Hadid who stepped out in a  Vivienne Westwood corset during NYFW. The corset in my opinion is very divine. The idea that Bella Hadid is wearing “the hottest corset of the season” is based on Christian Allaire, the authors taste. While I can assume Christian Allaire has renowned fashion sense due to the fact that they write for Vogue, there is no proof in the article that this corset is without a doubt the hottest corset of this season.

 

Because fashion is art and art is subjective I believe there is room for both opinion and factual reporting in this industry and i very much enjoy reading both.

I am picking Designer fashion for my topic to blog about this semester. I have always been interested in fashion since I was a little girl. Fashion means a lot to me because it is a beautiful way for individuals to express themselves. Each day we are putting clothes on our body that tell stories how we want others to view us. On a large scale designers each season put out collections that they feel will speak to their consumers. From there typically styles and colors will trickle down from Christian Dior and Tom Ford to Target and Macy’s. Fashion is one of the most covered Art industries by media. From the Met Gala to New York Fashion Week there is always press talking about different designers and what they are working on. Different fashion events throughout the year typically get lots of publicity in the press. Fashion is very powerful in our society because it is a reflection of society and evolves with our society at the same time that it is shaping our society. The media always is covering fashion because fashion is always changing and like most art forms, is always pushing the envelope. Fashion evolves which means there is always a new story.

 

 

Saturday August 24th was a pretty busy day for me so I did not spend a lot of time online. I was busy visiting with friends and family for my birthday and when I am with others I try to live in the moment and not be on my phone as often as when I’m alone. I do always start my day on my phone, Saturday was no different.

6am- woke up and checked Instagram and Twitter. Watched a video on CNN about our Trump. Watched all my friends Instagram stories from the night before. (Typically I go to Twitter for all my news. I always check what is trending)
7:30am- driving in car to my parents I checked my emails and Facebook. Read a couple school related emails and clicked on one from lululemon about a sale. Went to their website to look at some pants but didn’t order them
8:00am- checked Twitter again. Read an article about Tom Ford that Vogue had tweeted about. Decided to share it via iMessage with my husband.
8:15am- my husband and I listened to an interview from Elizabeth warren on CNN.com we found on Twitter. It was about 8 minutes long.
11:36am- bored right before lunch. I checked Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook- scanned all my close friends posts. Spent about 20 minutes on social media. Liked 7 on Instagram and none on any other platform. Clicked on a link Marianne Williamson shared on her Instagram that took me too her website
3:00Pm in the car driving again. I opened Apple Music and streamed Taylor Swift’s new album Lover for 1 hour.

6:30pm- at dinner with friends. I posted a pic of our private room on Instagram to my story and shared our location. Then I checked my feed. Liked 1 picture
10:46pm- shared a video of my friends and myself at Topgolf to Snapchat and Instagram.

12:30pm- got home. Watched Netflix before falling asleep

Throughout the day I used quite a few different places to gather news from, on a sale from 1-10 this is how i rate their creditability.

Twitter – 4 – Twitter is a great place to find what people  saying but that doesn’t alway been everything is true. Anyone can say anything on twitter and it could become viral.

Facebook-3- Facebook like Twitter, is a place where people got to share their opinions more often that facts or the reality of things. A lot of fake news is shared on facebook.

CNN.com -9- CNN is a professional network that pays experienced journalists to report on facts from an unbiased point of view. I love CNN and typically turn to them for my news daily.

MarianneWilliamson.com – 6- Marianne Williamson is a women who is running for president in 2020. Her website is ran by her staff and while I am sure they share true facts it comes from a bias background.