Document Aesthetics

Appearance is very important in almost everything we do. Advertisements and commercials are designed to catch viewers attention and draw them in. Attractive people are used as models because people would rather look at an attractive person trying to sell them something. This also applies with documents.

I never realized how much though goes into designing a web page or document until I read our assigned reading by Rundle. Nor did I realize how intricate and detail-oriented the thought process going into design was. But after reading Rundle's blog post, it does make sense that people would put so much effort into making their pages aesthetically pleasing.

I believe it is incredibly important for documents to be attractive. No one will want to read an ugly, disorganized document. Or the reader may become confused or lose interest. Good, organized documents can hold a readers interest and make them want to read it.

The Rhetoric of sXe

For my student-selected reading, I chose to read several academic journals over the straight-edge punk movement. The styles of writing and rhetoric differ from article to article, however the ideas stay the same. These journals, however biased, did not try to persuade their audience as much as inform the readers. I did not find myself more inclined to "claim edge" after reading these articles, however I did feel more knowledgeable about and had more respect for the subject.

Straightedge is a concept that began in the punk scene in the 1980's that revolves around abstaining from three main things: alcohol, drugs, and casual sex. The idea behind abstaining from these substances is to go against the rock n roll dream of sex and drugs. Straightedge has also widened its views to go so far as to support veganism, animal rights, and anti-racism and anti-homophobic views.

Since the straightedge concept is to be open and accepting, and not to condemn others for not adopting an sXe lifestyle, these articles also do not set out to convert outsiders to claim edge. Also, these articles are not written by edge claimers, just people who are interested in the culture and have conducted extensive research and interviews to learn more about the community.

The Political Game

Politicians will be politicians. Their main goal during campaigns is to win over the public and therefore get more votes. And they will stop at nearly nothing to accomplish this. This is the main cause of any misinformation given out during presidential campaigns.

Campaign ads have gotten to the point where they will boast twisted, or even completely untrue, "facts" or statistics about their opponent. Each candidate will claim that the other is spewing lies and misleading their audiences, when both do this. This has been going on since the beginning of politics, with Thomas Jefferson and John Adams attempting to get their people to believe each of their lies.

There has been an increase in fact checking during the last presidential campaign, which is a step in the right direction. However, these fact checkers cannot catch every piece of misinformation and the candidates can usually find a way to get their point across anyway.

In the end, people will believe whatever they want to believe. I'm not exactly sure if there is a solution to getting rid of the misinformation that is out in the media during campaigns. People who are loyal to their party will find ways to forgive their party's fibs.

Tech Savvy?

Technology is an incredibly important part of our everyday lives. With recent advancements such as the smartphone, tablets, and other portable, on-the-go devices, some people can get a little carried away with how hooked up they are. I know several people who cannot get their eyes off of their screen, whether they're tweeting, texting, or updating a status. We need to realize that we are in control, not our social networking profiles.
While I do not believe that technology will one day take over our lives, although it may seem that it already has, it is important to stay up to date. Smartphones are definitely replacing multiple household electronics, such as alarm clocks, calculators, cameras, etc., but I believe it's for the best. Why wouldn't you want all of your electronics to be in one device? It makes life much easier.