Author: Cody Stajcar

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Week Eight

Security – Final Post

All my life I have grown up in a world where digital and smart objects are incorporated into my every day life. From smart phones, smart fridges, smart cars, even a smart building security system for my apartment. The world around us is filled with all of these information-recording devices and this is getting sent and sold to companies for millions upon billions of dollars and it is not slowing down. As a kid, privacy was never was in my scope of beliefs or worry because I thought that these corporate businesses held me in their best-interest and wanted to protect me and my information.

hacking passwords
(Image via The Hacker News)

 

Data encryption is a first-line of defense, but it can be decrypted and it is in our best interest to keep our information safe.

 

I would not say I was naïve, but definitely not the most informed person out there as I grew up and out of these ego-centric idealisms. The world is a scary place and it is filled with creatures that just want a social security number to provide their luxuries. Learning this, I did have some basic privacy systems in place to ensure I would not be hacked or stolen from. Luckily, these have not failed me.

Now, after learning about how quickly the thieves and marauders are able to code and steal information from anywhere in the world, I want to start updating my current protection system. One thing that stood out to me during the lecture was two-factor authentication. This is not “new” software but I still think that more companies should adopt this if they have not already. For example, even with social media, Instagram is using the same service Arizona State uses for their employees to log in to their account. The only downside I can see to this is having a redirect number to have the authorization code being sent to the hacker instead of the intended user.

Image result for two-factor authentication
(Image via Secret Double Octopus)

Two factor authentication can be used in many forms from personal to professional information, and should be a standard second preventative measure. More and more businesses are creating or utilizing programs which allow their users to use this security device.

Besides two-factor authentication, I would also like to update my passwords as using the same password (or similar variations) is something which allows hackers to easily get into all of the sites they are looking for such as banking, emails, and credit card access. While looking for useful ways to better manage passwords and data privacy, I found this article from NBC News. The article also talks about two-factor authentication. However, the tips I found most useful were password managers and how those can help protect data as well as to make sure passwords use a mix of letters, numbers, and special characters.

Besides two-factor authentication, mixing passwords, and password managers, I think the world is becoming aware of the imminent danger their information is in. Additionally, I believe people are becoming more aware of   how valuable information is, previously seen as unimportant, can be to trained, malicious hackers. I want to make sure my information, as well as the people I care about, do not have to take retroactive actions and instead take precautionary measures to ensure their data is held securely.

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EXTRA CREDIT

Extra Credit – Grandmother Problem

Hello all!

This week, in addition to all my other activities, I spoke to my “uncle” Dave. He’s more like family than a friend. But, Dave is a very active member of social media and he shares articles that interest him. Typically, I do not have too many issues as they are Buzzfeed or games. However, sometimes he does get a little political. We have talked about this in the past as sometimes they interest me; during the political race last term.

Dave has told me that if he reads the article, he shares it. This is good because he actually reads them, however, I have seen some sites that are less than suitable: The Onion, for example. Here is a fun Onion article!

I spoke to him about knowing what credible sources that he could reblog from.  I went in depth by saying that there are people who create amazing-looking articles that can be so far from the truth that it often slanders other parties.

After our talk, he seemed more surprised there are articles which look like news and are still allowed to remain in publication. We went over a few stories he had on his wall; which he politely asked to keep at least one or two.

Overall, I would say that this went over pretty successfully because Dave knew that some things people share are nonsense, but didn’t know he was also a part of the problem. Following our talk, he recently shared one of his articles that were not deleted and even urged some of his friends to do the same and spread awareness of how harmful these fake news articles were.

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Week Seven

Media and Law

This week I want to talk about censorship. Censorship can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Some typical ones that people know of is “bad books” such as To Kill a Mockingbird or The Catcher in the Rye. But, censorship can be anywhere. It can be shown in social media to this day because Instagram, for example, has started a new algorithm to locate and analyze photos based on the amount of skin detected. This can apply to fitness gurus or perhaps athletes; and their photos are getting flagged. A person knows there is not a naked person in the photo but to Instagram it is deemed as inappropriate. The algorithm makes sure that less people see these posts once they’ve been analyzed by the algorithm.

Other forms of social media censorship is something that may actually happen in terms of the government and what they allow on social media. For example, if you go to China you might notice that there are certain things that do not come up on your social media or online search results. Because of these strict rules, even media found online can be blurred or blocked out entirely because it goes against their laws. If found posting this contraband, it can be punishable by jail time.

Another example would be Tumblr. This one has stirred up some headlines recently: Tumblr is censoring posts which contain female-presenting nipples. This was created to help keep pornography or inappropriate videos that people would report or find disturbing.  However, since this is affecting users who also do not post nude images. But, this change effected people who are trying to promote fitness, athletes, models, and even just regular people on vacation at the beach. There have been multiple times when this algorithm flagged post of people working out, doing yoga, and it kind of leads consumers and users of the platform to believe that even though its intentions are good, it is censoring their users.

Image result for female-presenting nipple
(via Google)

Due to the errors of these algorithms, posts that are G-rated have still been taken down. Memes have started to arise and bring some fun into the whole situation, though.

In the future, I probably will not make much change because I was not effected by this, however, I know one day I will be. When this day comes, I am going to fight back against the capitalistic-nature of companies deciding what I can and cannot say on my page. If that means that my account is banned, then that is when it is going to be my time to push harder. I believe that everyone should be free to speak their mind, even if it opposes someone else’s views.

I think it is weird how laws also effect what is put online. In a world where everyone can be in contact with anyone else, there should be some universal laws of the internet. These “laws” should not allow the voices to be oppressed, but instead, encourage those people to speak their minds. Nobody should be censored, be slandered, or put down in a place where knowledge should be shared and enjoyed for all.

 

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Week Seven

Wikipedia Editor For Hire

Hello all!

So these past few weeks I have been training how to edit Wikipedia articles. The training part: not so fun; the editing: better than expected. Needless to say, I think it is worth everyone’s time to at least try something new today (like editing a wikipedia article).

From start to finish I have to admit I did not enjoy it at first. The beginning part was slow and confusing dealing with the basics and all of the bells and whistles. However, once I started trying to find articles that needed assistance, I jumped right in! There are hundreds of pages that I looked at from “AT Edits” to “Zuber, Florida”. Finally, I thought, “what am I interested in?” and I came upon the conclusion of a TV show I watch. This was, however, harder than it looked because everything about every episode was already on there.

I dove deeper into my own mind and came upon my fraternity. I looked at the fraternity’s main page and everything I knew was already there. I thought I was out of luck, but then I figured I might as well try a sub-page from Beta Theta Pi. I looked at the list of chapters and noticed a banner saying, “This article needs additional citations for verification.” So, I scrolled down the table and found Arizona State’s row, and there was info, but no reference. I did some digging and found a website that has every Beta Theta Pi official newsletters.

Before just editing every piece of that page that I found, I did go to the talk page. I sent my first message to fellow Wikipedians and not a single reply back. I was kind of hoping someone would have responded but no luck. I checked back nearly every day for a response and still nobody had said anything or had asked questions so I clicked my way back to ASU’s section and started my first edit.

This was just the beginning because I knew that if at least one wasn’t done, there had to have been more without sources. Without even thinking about it I had found myself getting at least 2-3 sources for other colleges. I knew that this is what I wanted to edit for this project. All in all, I had fun because I know that if someone else from Beta comes to the page, I want them feeling happy knowing someone was caring about them and their school.

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students Week Six

Helping Solve The Misinformation Problem

This week, I am doing something a little different. This week, I am going to be sharing tips I think help with being real online as well as learning the importance of sharing true information on social media.

First, I think it is vital to understand the internet is a huge place, bigger than what most people even can comprehend. There is something out there for everyone; places where people can express themselves freely, communities for specific interests, and even places where people can communicate halfway around the world.

However, there is a downside with the internet being so huge: false information. I have found social networking sites are the channels where people spew their opinions on social and political issues, and their personal issues as well. The problem I find is most people, without researching, click a lovely, little button called “Share”.

Image result for share buttons

(via WarfarePlugins.com)

I found an article called “Social Media: Fake News” from Dickinson College I used to help me think critically on fact-checking my friends’ posts. I think the best way to approach a friend or family member who just shares willy-nilly would be to approach from a non-aggressive angle. Ask them questions about their beliefs of the fake sources without accusing them of being wrong, unintelligent, or not heard. I have found when people are being treated nicely, they will typically be nice back. It is important to take an informative approach because if the friend is viewed as having to take defensive measures, it can lead to a friendship being broken.

But, what if the friendly approach doesn’t work? Well, then, I resort to what I affectionately call “Plan B”. My secondary plan is to help them find flaws or holes in their argument. I do this by asking questions that are designed for simple yes or no answers.

“Do you think X has a point?” or “Will this really help?”

Once the other person can point out the flaws in their own argument, they might just start researching on their own and start sharing right information instead of spreading the misinformation to all their friends and family, making the world a better place.

Last, if none of the above works… sometimes, letting people figure things out on their own might just be the only solution for them.

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Week Five

Deaf Representation – Curation

I am a part of the hearing community and  I am a student learning ASL, so I do not know everything about Deaf Culture. This blog is my freedom of expression and I only wish the same for the Deaf Community as well.

This week, I am writing about media sources I found while searching the web and other platforms. I compiled a list of six different sources that I think you all would like!

Vlog- ASL Stew

ASL Stew is a YouTube vlogging account ran by a husband and wife team. With over 16 thousands subscribers on YouTube alone, this couple uses their channel to advocate for Deaf education, culture and awareness. What I love most about this channel is that not only do they share inspiring and information content, they also share hilarious videos about some of the complications coming from one partner hearing and the other being hard of hearing.

Instagram – Equal Access Resources (@EqualAccess)

@EqualAccess is an account founded and ran by Brent Tracy. As a CODA (Child of a Deaf Adult) his first language is actually ASL. Due to this, he shares a truly unique perspective into the more particular and special aspects of ASL like the grammar as well as its quirks. His content is helpful, informative and gives a perspective one does not usually have access to when learning ASL.

News Source – Sign 1 News

Sign 1 News is an ASL based news broadcast powered by CNN. Like any televised news source there are photos, videos and more the difference being the anchor is signing. While this source does not only focus on deaf news it provides a unique experience and perspective into how the Deaf community and others are able to consume news in an accessible way. Additionally, each video broadcast uploaded includes a transcript below. Personally, I have been able to use these to quiz myself and practice my own understanding of ASL and feel beyond consuming news, it serves as a language enhancing tool for myself and others.

Image result for sign 1 news

Huff Post – American Sign Language Section

While the Huff Post covers various communities news, pop culture and more, they have beens sure to include that of the Deaf community as well. On their website they have an entire page dedicated to sharing only stories on the Deaf Community, its culture and more. Checking in here is a great way to ensure the news you consume surround the people and the culture extends past nightly news-like topics and extends to include the arts, celebrities, intersectional news and more.

Instagram – Matt Maxey @maxeymaxey

Matt Maxey is another Instagram account I came across in my research that connect ASL to other aspects of culture. He is a hard-of-hearing music lover who has made it his life work to unite ASL and Hip Hop Music. He has and continues to interpret concerts and awards shows such as seen on MTV. On his page he shares his journey and truly embraces all aspects of his identity including both his abilities and passion for music. As someone who is interested in interpreting at music and cultural events he is particularly inspiring.

Instagram – Stacey Abrams

Stacy Abrams is a deaf woman who has dedicated a lot of her adult life supporting and connecting hearing communities with Deaf communities. In starting the #WhyISign campaign, she has continued to include videos of ASL (and other forms of sign language) users from around the globe connecting many on this online platform. Her account is particularly special in that she includes the experiences of a vast variety of folks including parents, CODA’s, students (both hearing and Deaf), professionals and celebrities.

Let me know your thoughts which you found the most interesting.

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Week Four

Deaf Representation in Media: Architecture

I am a part of the hearing community and  I am a student learning ASL, so I do not know everything about Deaf Culture. This blog is my freedom of expression and I only wish the same for the Deaf Community as well.

This week, I analyzed an article published by The Washington Post. Posted within the last few days, Matthew Davis’ article, “The Rise of Deaf Architecture” delves into the connections between architecture and functionality, specifically for the Deaf Community. Specifically, Davis focuses on the work of DeafSpace. DeafSpace is architecture of a building’s design so that people with different auditory abilities can still communicate without the need for vocalization.

Image result for deafspace
Photo taken from Google Photos. (via University of Notre Dame)

In examining the article, both in content and technicality, there is much to be gathered. First, I find it important to mention the sources informing the article. A majority of the sources mentioned in the article are from first hand interviews done by Davis. These sources are directly involved in developing the connection on Gallaudet’s architecture and the Deaf Community. Beyond these primary sources, however, these is no real attribution outside his touring, interviews and first-hand research. In some ways I believe this has heightened the quality of the piece in that it speaks to what is actually happening at the source of the topic. On the other hand, this may also shorten the credibility of the article in that it remains in it’s own bubble. To that extent, however, it should be noticed that due to less coverage, interest and so forth of the Deaf Community, perhaps there was not so much mainstream, reputable sources to connect to?

In connection to that thought, I found it interesting there were no links in the piece. Unlike many articles or media I typically read about news where there are at least one if not dozens of links, this piece does not have a single one. Again, I wonder if this is due to the specific nature of the topic or rather the typical oversight of the Deaf Community in learning and living spaces such as journalism and the media. Due to this lack of external sources I would argue nuance is lost on this piece for the most part. While there appear to be various ins for new ideas or tackling issues- such as how the school and community will handle the supposed, toward the end, Maiwald speaks about the impending issue that hipsters will take over. There is no further analysis or even a link to something that could be interesting or further informative to the readers about this issue.

Overall I would not say this is a biased or persuasive piece- more of an informative one on a topic few make connections between or rather know about at all. Additionally, I find it important to mention the lack of bias in the piece may simply come from the fact the author is not a part of the deaf community. In small instances, as noted by commented “HobbertTheCat”, there are instance he miswrites in ways a member of or someone familiar with the Deaf Community and Culture would not.

Overall, if I were teaching media literacy to the journalist I would assign a C+ letter grade. I would grade accordingly because of the fact the spin on this story is almost lost due to oversight of the original idea. Additionally, there are no external links and only first-hand experiences, which is moderately concerning. However, the article is informative about what is going on with the plans for these new building designs, so I decided to add the additional points for the +/- system.

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Week Three

Deaf Representation Analysis: News vs. Opinion

To begin this week’s post, I want to make sure that everyone reading this knows I am a part of the hearing community and that I am only a student learning ASL. This blog is my freedom of expression and I only wish the same for the Deaf Community as well.

This week I decided to study news or opinion/analysis articles and connect and elaborate on my previous ideas. Below I am putting two categories: news and opinion.

News:

  1. Time USA’s, “The Society’s Sean Berdy on ASL Representation, Teen Activism and His Buzzy New Netflix Drama”

  2. NBC’s, “The Hearing World Must Stop Forcing Deaf Culture to Assimilate”

https://www.google.com/search?q=sean+berdy&client=safari&rls=en&sxsrf=ACYBGNSeX7Gb2E8dDf-IUADLADqQNdyyGA:1567919674949&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=tsJOC8H5aV5RbM%253A%252CDh7m_7-z1fuDqM%252C%252Fm%252F0gytgrt&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kSS-eXm8E8WGf2Ju22JPxvs_sTGoQ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjOw4v6u8DkAhU2CjQIHRKYBFcQ_B0wHHoECAkQAw#imgrc=tsJOC8H5aV5RbM:
Sean Berdy (via Google Images)

When reading the first article, I thought it would have been slightly more opinion-based, but as I read further it talks to how he feels and about how people in the Community are not to be treated like aliens, but like humans because we all go through this life one day at a time.

The second article, while I found a little difficult to read because of how many different topics were in the post, however, I did thoroughly enjoy reading it and how the author connected other similar occurrences in Hollywood to how the equal representation movement should also stretch to the Deaf Community as well.

Opinion:

  1. UC Santa Cruz’s, “Student Pushes for Authentic Representation of Deaf Community”                                                                                                                  **The video related to this link can be found at the bottom of the post. I definitely recommend viewing as it is informative and can shed a light on some Deaf Community do’s and don’t’s.
  2.  Verywell Health, Melissa Karp Aud, “Ways Deaf and Hearing Culture Are Different“

If you go to my YouTube history, you’ll find that I watch many ASL videos (mostly song interpretation). I have seen Chrissy Marshall’s videos before. Because I already had a connection between the video creator and the article I felt that it was challenging to distinguish it from opinion and news. I decided on opinion because the lists that she provides is in the ASL community and not so much universal. When detailing the differences in the Deaf Community vs. the ASL Community, there will always be minor differences in how the Community views themselves individually.

Finally, the reason I chose this last article to be opinion-based was because Melissa Karp studies the Deaf Culture, and while her knowledge in the field is credible, I felt that because of the post’s length, there just was not much to go on. I felt that it was more of a top 10 tips than something where there is hundreds of participants in a quantitative study.

When writing this post, I felt it was somewhat difficult determining if some of these articles were news or opinion because the two opinion articles come from either people in the Deaf Community or they are a medically-certified audiologist. Where as the two news sources were done taking more of an analytical approach so I feel that depending on viewpoints, the news and opinions can vary depending on who is believed to be the “credible source”.

**Dos and Don’ts of Interacting with the Deaf Community [CC]

 

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Week Two

Deaf Representation in Media

When was the last time you saw a deaf person in the media? Go on, I’ll let you think. More than a month ago? Longer? With media being widely distributed between the masses and considering “nearly 20 percent of Americans live with some sort of hearing loss,” Lydia Callis told HuffPost, you would think that there would be a larger portion dedicated to representing this community and human experience.

Well-known deaf people include: Helen Keller, Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, and Marlee Matlin, from left to right.

In growing up, children consume all sorts of media. From television to books to movies, children seek to see themselves represented. Growing up, did you ever want to become like someone you saw on the media? Did you ever see someone in the media like you who made you feel better about who you are? I would guess you answered yes to at least one of those questions, if not both. Now imagine growing up seeing little to no one like you in books, television, or movies. For the d/Deaf* and hard of hearing community, this is their reality.

The representation of the Deaf Community is important to me because this is where I see myself currently and in the future as an advocate. I want to make sure that every child growing up has a role model that inspires them and they can connect to.

*d/Deaf is about self-classification and expression. When using “d”eaf, this is typically a dissociated, whereas “D”eaf is more of a community. (Source)

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Week One

Cody’s 24-Hours Consuming Media

On this beautiful morning, it concludes my 24-hours of studying my social media and news intake. In the following blog, I am going to talk about social media outlets that I use as well as how I feel they influence me and my day-to-day life. I start my day like any other day and wake up, grab my phone, and sit down to enjoy breakfast. The first thing I do is check my texts or group chat from my fraternity brothers. When I eat my breakfast I typically watch Netflix, specifically NCIS, which is a show based in Washington D.C. (Which inherintely comes with politics of some sort).

Image result for NCIS tv show logo

Typically, I watch Netflix, but, I also have a student-based Hulu account which also bundles with Spotify, my other source of media. With the student account, there are still advertisements and every so often there is one that involves something with the president, but nothing more than that. During the weekdays, I spend less time on my electronic devices, but over the weekends I have more time to myself.

As I am writing this, I struggle to find myself really being influenced or even interacting with the “regular” amount of news content. Most of my day, I try to stay off social media because I have never been a typical millennial who has to check Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram every 10 minutes.

Not being an active user of social media, I feel that I sometimes deprive myself from the current events and other newsworthy events because I am living in my own bubble of my world. During this timespan where I am being hyperaware of the content I take in as a consumer, I was able to see that I do get advertisements and some political news but they are videos lasting no longer than 30 seconds.

Whenever I have some downtime throughout my day, I like to use Tumblr and most advertisements are usually about products such as apparel or services such as auto insurance. However, I do follow some blogs there where people do reblog news posts but most blogs do not include their sources.

When I get home for the day, I typically make dinner, clean up the apartment, and do homework or I try to do something creative such as baking. For some of my baking recipes, I use Pinterest. Pinterest does have advertisements but nothing that is even close to a 2 o’clock news story.

Overall, I do not feel that news has much of an impact on me or my way of thinking. Throughout the rest of the year, I do want to increase my overall news intake to learn more about the world around me.  Because of the lack of sources for most of the news media I encounter, I would rank an average of about a 2 out of 10 for credibility because I have ran into some Onion-like articles that look so real but most of the times they turn out to be satire or fake news.

 

 

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