Nick Taylor's Blog

NFL Week 1 Predictions

2008-09-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

So the first week of the NFL is upon us…finally!

Every week I am going to make my NFL predictions and keep a running total of my prediction Win-Loss ratio at the bottom of the following outcome post every week (like every other NFL fan with a blog). Am I destined for greatness or am I a no talent hack? We shall see…

Redskins @ Giants
While the Super Bowl hangover can be hard to overcome, the ‘Skins are a new team, with a new coach, and too many question marks on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Can Jason Taylor still perform well and provide the pass rush the Redskins so desperately needed last year? Will Jason Campbell be able to pick up his seventh new offensive system and lead his team to victory?
Redskins 14 – Giants 28

Seahawks @ Bills
I have never been high on the Seahawks and think that they play in the weakest division (NFC West), in the weakest conference (NFC). While they do have some weapons, their receiver core has been decimated this year by injuries while the Bills were plagued by injuries and a rookie quarterback under center last year. The Bills look healthy this year, Edwards has more experience, and while Jason Peter will not play due to his recently ended holdout, the news of the holdout ending should boost the morale of the offensive line. Leodis McKelvin is an instant upgrade to the secondary and is a dynamic addition to the special teams.
Seahawks 21 – Bills 24

Buccaneers @ Saints
Last year was a fluke for the Saints and they will be back in step for the NFC South title. A healthy Deuce McAllister will mean Reggie Bush will be hard to contain and Sedric Ellis will center a struggling offense. While Gruden loves his quarterbacks, he has a game manager rather than a game changer in Jeff Garcia. Look for the Saints infamous high powered offense, especially with the addition of Jeremy Shockey, to take over.
Buccaneers 17 – Saints 35

Jets @ Miami
This is going to be the game that everyone is watching and we will have to hear the commentators talk about for the next month because the Jet’s new quarterback’s name begins in F and ends in E. The drama of this story is admittedly good though; Brett Favre leaves his Depends and walker behind with retirement, signs with the Jets, and leaves the Jets starting quarterback Chad Pennington, without a J-O-B. Pennington then signs with the Dolphins who went 1-15 last year. Pennington is the obvious starter and should mentor both Beck and Henne who are the quarterback(s) of the future. While it is almost guaranteed that Miami will double their win amount of last year (2 wins this year!), the Jets have been aggressive in the off-season and look to threaten Buffalo for the second spot behind the Patriots in the AFC east.
Jets 28 – Miami 16

Texans @ Steelers
The Texans are an up and coming team in arguably the toughest division in the NFL while the Steelers are proven playoff contenders year in and year out. The Steelers look to have two good high draft picks in Mendenhall and Sweed that should contribute immediately. While it looks like the Texans have not made any huge splashes in their own off-season, their drafted defense started making waves last year and should improve more this year. Look for this to be a hard hitting, punch you in the nose, run it down your throat game.
Texans 14 – Steelers 21

Jaguars @ Titans
The Jags have proven that they are here to stay with a pretty young team that is extremely physical on both offense and defense. Gerrard, while no game changer, is the perfect manager for the Jags two headed run first and last offense. It looks like everyone is starting to jump on the Vince-Young-is-a-bust bandwagon that I’ve been saying since day 1. Young is a quarterback that plays like a fat running back. While his moves worked great in college, this is the NFL and you need to pass first. His mechanics and stats are both horrible and look for him to be a back-up in 2-4 years. I was hoping that Chris Johnson would be picked up by the Broncos late in the draft but instead he went to the Titans in the first round. While Johnson is potentially a game changer, was he worth a first round pick?
Jaguars 28 – Titans 14

Lions @ Falcons
Ugh and Ugh. I don’t care what people say about the Lions; neither team is very good. The Falcons will be a lot better this year despite what everyone says. The Lions will limp their way to a victory however in a mistake and turnover filled game.
Lions 31 – Falcons 28

Chiefs @ Patriots
While the verdict is still out, it looks like the Chiefs pulled off a blockbuster draft this year and potentially drafted 4 starters in 1 year; that’s huge. The Chiefs will struggle this year but their young team will gain invaluable experience. This one isn’t really a contest at all but the Chiefs may surprise a few people with how well they play.
Chiefs 14 – Patriots 35

Bengals @ Ravens
I really like the AFC North because every time likes to play smash mouth football. While Cincy thinks they can play smash mouth football, it should be fun to watch the Ravens beat up on the Bengals both offensively and defensively. Chad Johnson (I mean Ocho Cinco since he just had his name legally changed) will be hampered as he adjusts to playing with a brace this game but will do fine the rest of the year. Look for Johnson to play all well this year and keeps his mouth shut a little more as he tries to build up his trade value. The Ravens offense is aging but should still beat up an aerial Bengals offense.
Bengals 10 – Ravens 16

Rams @ Eagles
The Rams were a fluke last year and should be back to their normal high powered offense. Look for the play of Bulger to be solid this game and year as a weak performance could prompt the choice of a high draft pick being spent on a quarterback. Who knows what will happen out of McNabb this week / year as his game play needs some Prozac to regulate it; it’s either phenomenal or horrid. While Westbrook is always solid, look for a recently drafted Desean Jackson to help out McNabb but to little avail as Stephen Jackson’s new contract makes him play like a man possessed and the Rams take out their frustrations of last year.
Rams 35 – Eagles 28

Cardinals @ 49er’s
The battle of the 1st round bust quarterbacks. The Cardinals are coming to the realization that Leinhart is a bad choice just as the 9er’s are realizing that Alex Smith is a nobody. Neither quarterback is going to start and look for the 49er’s to draft another one this year and the Cardinals to soften the blow to Leinhart by drafting another one the next year. Both defenses look fairly solid though but while San Francisco has the edge on the defensive side, Arizona has a larger edge with their offense with Warner at the helm
Cardinals 28 – 49er’s 24

Panthers @ Chargers
The Panthers were bad last year and the Charges were great. While the Chargers will never be a dynasty like the Patriots or Colts because of the lack of good leadership on and off the field, they are still good; just not good enough. The Panthers have been running the ball like it’s the new thing to do in the preseason; but against the vanilla defense that everyone runs. The loss of Steve Smith for two games will not be a big of a loss as everyone thinks with the emergence of the running game the Panthers boast. Still, the Chargers are explosive offensively and solid defensively.
Panthers 13 – Chargers 28

Cowboys @ Browns
The Cowgirls are just like the Chargers in loaded with talent, but lacking in leadership. The Browns have really shocked everyone with their play of late but I guess that’s what happens when you have so many high draft choices for so many years in a row. I think that Derek Anderson was a fluke last year and look for Quinn to start towards the end of the season. The Cowboys will still win with a high powered offense and strong defense.
Cowboys 28 – Browns 18

Bears @ Colts
The Bears are looking to be horrible this year and should end up with a top 5 draft choice; hopefully they will spend it on a quarterback as they should have down 2 years ago. The offense is lacking weapons, the line is already crippled with injuries, while the Colts look strong. The only question mark on the Colts side of the ball is Peyton Manning and his recent knee surgery. While Peyton Manning could come off the couch at 50 and play in a Super Bowl, he will not be in top form as he hasn’t practiced at all this year. This one will be closer than people think.
Bears 17 – Colts 21

Vikings @ Packers
The Vikings were solid last year and will be even better this year. While Adrian Peterson played phenomenally last year, he did make some big mistakes that he will not make this year; that’s right look for him to play even better even if his stats don’t reflect it. While Peterson will have less of an individual performance, look for his contribution to team performance to be much better this year i.e. blocking, catching passes, and making smart decisions. The Packers have lost a great quarterback in Favre and just because I like drama, I think that Rodgers is going to struggle and there will be riots in Green Bay.
Vikings 35 – Packers 21

Broncos @ Raiders
What would the week be without some smack talking against the Raiders because I am truly a Raider Hater and I think that the faders are run horrible by the Corpse, a.k.a. Al Davis. The Raiders will struggle again this year and probably fire Lane Kiffin from his head coach position while he has done as best as possible with putting up with Al Davis. The Broncos are a real sleeper this year and everyone is overlooking them. While the Broncos will be without star receiver Brandon Marshall this game, it shouldn’t matter with the emergence of Eddie Royal, a solid receiver core, a vastly improved defense and defensive system, and a beefed up O-Line.
Broncos 24 – Raiders 16

Discussion Question: Project Management

2008-07-29T14:20:00.000-04:00

Think about how we use project management at work and in our personal lives. Is it necessary to plan complex projects differently than simple projects? Why or why not?

Project management is something that everyone uses in their professional and personal lives without even recognizing the use of the skills at the time. At work, even if you are not a project manager, you often manage projects, even if you are simply managing yourself and how the project is completed.

In your personal life, project management can be translated to something such as a move across country. You have a date in mind that you have set when you want to move. In order to meet that date, you need to pack your belongings, arrange for the movement of them, shuttle yourself and family across country. Now in order to make sure that the move across country is successful, you need to make sure that your property is sold or available for rent, you need to have a new residence lined up, and you need to have a job when you get there. Everything that you as an individual need to accomplish to make all of those goals happen is project management.

So far as care taken into planning simple versus complex projects, the approach should be the same, just the workload should be different. That is, the same overall goals are the same regardless of the complexity of a project – budget, success, deadline, and specifications. The only element that changes is the amount of work that goes into planning to make sure these goals are met.

MHR Radio - July 9

2008-07-28T14:42:00.001-04:00

I am a fan of MileHighReport. While this is a blog about the Denver Bronco's and probably very biased, for the most part they do an excellent job of objective reporting and their weekly Podcast is pretty decent. Check out the one for the week of July 9, 2009.

MHR Radio Episode 42 - 7/9/08: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Critical Thinking Assignment: Argument Evaluation

2008-07-14T00:28:00.001-04:00

There is an interesting article in the weekly reading titled “Controlling Irrational Fears After 9/11”. This is an essay in which the author is trying to “downplay” the public’s reaction and outcry to the terrorist attacks of 9/11. In this essay, the author makes several arguments with the purpose of showing how these outcries and reactions were more than warranted.

On page 456 of the text, the essay claims “It is unlikely, for example, that many Americans remember that, earlier in 2001, an earthquake in Gujarat, India, killed approximately 20,000 people. One might explain the difference in reaction by saying that we naturally respond more strongly to the deaths of Americans closer to home than to those of others halfway around the world.” To preface, the author provides statistics of the 9/11 casualties at 2,800 deaths. The premise of this particular argument is when the author states “It is unlikely, for example, that many Americans remember that, earlier in 2001, an earthquake in Gujarat, India, killed approximately 20,000 people”; the conclusion of the same argument is “One might explain the difference in reaction by saying that we naturally respond more strongly to the deaths of Americans closer to home than to those of others halfway around the world.”

The premise of this argument does support the conclusion of the statement by using several key words. For example, in the premise of the argument the author uses the word “unlikely.” While this is a fallacy in itself, it does pair well with the conclusion of the argument in the way that the author distances the plight of another country – the author states “we naturally respond more strongly to the deaths of Americans closer to home than to those of others halfway around the world. By using words like “naturally” and “we”, the author has separated “us from them” and “drawn a line” in the sand and distanced the reader mentally (rather than the obvious physical distance of geographical location) from the plight of the Indians.

This argument is inductively strong in several aspects. The argument is strong because it is well written and evokes feelings and emotions of patriotism because of the “us and them” aspect of the argument – adding strong emotions to an argument seems to usually make an argument strong. Also, the argument is inductive in the way that it uses the words “unlikely” and “naturally.” These are words used when the reader comes to a conclusion of truth rather than the premise and conclusion being entirely truthful.

Finally, the premise of this argument is plausibly true, rather than being difficult to prove or definitely true. From the beginning of the premise uses the word “unlikely”, it shows that the author does not necessarily have the research or statistics on this claim; if the author did have the appropriate evidence then the word “unlikely” should be removed as it would now be likely. However, this premise is fairly simple to prove or disprove as the author could conduct a simple poll and calculate the findings.

In another argument on page 457 of the text, the author of the essay claims “One might say that it was the malice of the perpetrators that makes the 9/11 deaths so noteworthy, but surely there is plenty of malice present in the 15,000 homicides that occur every year in the United States. And while we have passed strict laws favoring prosecution of murderers, we do not see the huge and expensive shift in priorities that has followed the 9/11 attacks.” The premise of this argument is “One might say that it was the malice of the perpetrators that makes the 9/11 deaths so noteworthy, but surely there is plenty of malice present in the 15,000 homicides that occur every year in the United States.” The conclusion of the same argument is the second sentence: “And while we have passed strict laws favoring prosecution of murderers, we do not see the huge and expensive shift in priorities that has followed the 9/11 attacks.”

While the premise of this argument supports the conclusion of the same argument, I do not feel that it supports the conclusion of the entire message and essay. The premise of the entire essay is all of the evidence, proof, and comparisons that the author makes between other events (primarily automobile casualties) and the deaths of 9/11; the conclusion of the entire message is the claim that American’s reactions are not warranted if strictly adhering to the death count. The author seems to take the opportunity to point out flaws in National Defense rather than support the overall claim that Americans have overreacted to 9/11.

This argument is weak and invalid; the author seems to be picking all of the “beneficial” things that support his claim and omitting the “negative” things that would discredit his claim rather than taking evenly from both positive and negative. The author provides support of the proportion of deaths from 9/11 and the annual homicide death count in the premise but then does not provide any concrete evidence to support the conclusion of “we do not see the huge and expensive shift in priorities…”; there have been in fact many large and expensive shifts in priorities in National Defense – specifically the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

The premise of the argument is true however; the author does provide evidence supporting the premise by quoting the figure of 15,000 homicides annually in the country.

While full of fallacies and slanters, the essay was a very interesting read; the author made many strong and valid arguments supporting the claim why Americans have overreacted to the terrorist of attacks of 9/11.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Argument Validity

2008-07-07T18:48:00.001-04:00

Given the premises, discuss whether the conclusion of each argument that follows is (a) true beyond a reasonable doubt, (b) probably true, or (c) possibly true or possibly false. You should expect disagreement on these items, but the closer your answers are to your instructor’s, the better.

1. The sign on the parking meter says “Out of Order,” so the meter isn’t working.
The conclusion of this statement is probably true. While the sign on the meter currently says “Out of Order,” there are few things in life that are true beyond a reasonable doubt. The meter is probably out of order.

2. The annual rainfall in California’s north valley averages twenty-three inches. So the rainfall next year will be twenty-three inches.
The conclusion of this statement is probably true. While the region has averaged 23 inches of rainfall a year, this is just an average. For example, 2 years ago it might have rained only 22 inches and the next it rained 24 inches making it a 23 inch average.

3. You expect to get forty miles to the gallon in that? Why, that old wreck has a monster V8; besides, it’s fifty years old and needs an overhaul.
The conclusion of this statement is probably true. The speaker makes valid points arguing against good fuel economy i.e. the vehicle having a V8 engine, the vehicle is old, and it needs an overhaul. While the speaker’s comments are biased, emotional, and possibly exaggerated, they are most likely true.

4. In three of the last four presidential races, the winner of the Iowa Republican primary has not captured the Republican nomination. Therefore, the winner of the next Iowa Republican primary will not capture the Republican nomination.
The conclusion of this statement is possibly true or possibly false. While some states have more emphasis than others in the primaries, it appears that the winner of the Iowa Republican primary not winning the Republican nomination is more coincidence than anything. It is possible the winner of the primary this year may not win the nomination but not necessarily probable.

5. The New York steak, the Maine lobster, and the beef stroganoff at that restaurant are all exceptionally good. All the entrees are excellent.
The conclusion of this statement is possibly true or possibly false. While the steak, lobster, and stroganoff are all exceptionally good, it does not mean that all of the entrees are going to be excellent. If the chef cooks the steak, lobster and beef stroganoff well, it is likely that they also cook the other entrees well; however taste is a matter of opinion and the reader might not like the same entrees, let alone all the entrees.

6. The number of cellular telephones has increased dramatically in each of the past few years. Therefore there will be even more of them in use this coming year.
The conclusion of this statement is true beyond a reasonable doubt. It only takes one person to purchase and use a cell phone for there to be more cell phones in use than the prior year; the odds of this not happening are astronomical therefore it is true beyond a reasonable doubt (the key word being reasonable).

7. Since the graduates of Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and other Ivy League schools generally score higher on the Graduate Record Examination than students from Central State, it follows that the Ivy League schools do more toward educating their students than Central State does.
The conclusion of this statement is probably true. While there can be other variables taken into consideration (i.e. the demographics of the students attending either school or taking the test), there are not enough concrete variables to swing this to either true beyond a reasonable doubt or possibly true or possibly false.

8. Michael Jackson has had more plastic surgery than anybody else in California. You can bet he’s had more than anybody in Connecticut!
The conclusion of this statement is possibly true or possibly false. While it’s not confirmed exactly how much plastic surgery Jackson has had, it is doubtful that no one in California has had more than him. However, it is proven that more people have had plastic surgery in California than Connecticut.

9. Although Max bled profusely before he died, there was no blood on the ground where his body was found. Therefore, he was killed somewhere else and brought here after the murder.
The conclusion of this statement is possibly true or possibly false. Murders are one of the most investigated events in the world; tragically some of societies most creative moments were in murders. There could be any number of reasons to explain why there is no blood on the ground i.e. the victim was killed on a tarp then the tarp removed.

10. When liquor was banned in 1920, hospitalizations for alcoholism and related diseases plummeted; in 1933, when Prohibition was repealed, alcohol-related illnesses rose sharply again. Legalization of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana would not curb abuse of those substances.
The conclusion of this statement is probably true. While you can compare different variables such as the presence of speakeasies was a fraction compared to the current drug and drug trafficking empire, the results are still fairly straightforward.

11. Relax. The kid’s been delivering the paper for, how long? Three, four years maybe? And not once has she missed us. The paper will be here, just wait and see. She’s just been delayed for some reason.
The conclusion of this statement is probably true. While anything is possible and the “kid” could have quit, have been injured or worse, the fact remains that she will likely still deliver the paper. Again, there is little in life that is true beyond a reasonable doubt therefore this is not a satisfactory option.

12. First, it seems clear that even if there are occasional small dips in the consumption of petroleum, the general trend shows no sign of a real permanent decrease. Second, petroleum reserves are not being discovered as fast as petroleum is currently being consumed. From these two facts we can conclude that reserves will eventually be consumed and that the world will have to do without oil.
The conclusion of this statement is possibly true or possibly false. It seems that this text was written before our current oil crisis and in March 2008, Americans drove 11 billion less miles than they did in March 2007 – the largest yearly drop ever recorded since 1942. Also, while reserves are not being discovered as fast as petroleum is being consumed, the reader has to reflect on the age old adage “quality over quantity”. Rather than being concerned with the number of oil fields being discovered, one should look at the size of oil fields being discovered. However, there is no way to tell whether the world will be required to become completely oil free or not.

Critical Thinking Discussion Question: Deductive vs Inductive Logic

2008-07-07T17:08:00.001-04:00

Imagine your child is trying to prove that she did not steal chocolate chip cookies from the cookie jar, so she makes this argument: “There are no chocolate stains on my hands, so I couldn’t have stolen the cookies.”

Does this example require deductive or inductive logic? What are the premises? Are the premises stated or unstated? What is the argument’s conclusion? In your opinion, is this a convincing argument? Why or why not?

The above example requires inductive logic rather than deductive logic. Deductive logic is where if the premise is true, then the conclusion must also be absolutely true. Inductive logic is defined as the premise supporting the conclusion rather proving the conclusion.

A premise is the reason to believe the conclusion; therefore the premise of this argument is “There are no chocolate stains on my hands.” The conclusion of the argument is “…so I couldn’t have stolen the cookies.”

Unfortunately, I do think that this is a convincing argument. While this argument is not convincing to me, this type of inductive logic is used every day in business and politics. Take Johnnie Cochran’s famous inductive logic quote, “If the glove does not fit, you must acquit.” Or from my own “neck of the woods”, our North Carolina Governor has recently been questioned on his lavish spending of tax payer dollars - $64,000 for a chauffeured Mercedes on his “recruiting trip” to Europe.
"If you go overseas, that’s what you see. You don’t get off the plane in Rome and tell them you want a Crown Vic. The taxis are Mercedes. Now it sounds like a big deal here. And somebody’s got to drive it. If you’re in Ireland, or Belgium, or England, they drive on the other side of the road. We don’t know how to do that."

The inductive argument is that all they have in Rome is Mercedes and they don’t know how to drive on the other side of the road, therefore they need a chauffeured Mercedes on taxpayer money.

Critical Thinking Discussion Question: Valid vs Sound Arguments

2008-07-07T17:06:00.001-04:00

Of the two arguments provided in the digital story, which is valid and which is sound? When you are building an argument for an issue that is significant to you, do you think it is more important to be valid or sound? Explain your answer.

The digital story has both a valid argument and a sound argument. A valid argument is an argument that in which the premise is true, the conclusion is true. In the digital story, the vacuum salesman’s argument was a valid argument.

Anyone who wants a comfortable, clean home needs this amazing vacuum cleaner.
You certainly look like someone who likes having a really clean home.
So, you definitely need this vacuum cleaner!

Another way of looking at a valid argument is to think that if A is true, and B is true, then A+B = C which also must be true.

A sound argument is an extension of a valid argument; not only must an argument be valid in order to be sound, but all the premises of the argument must also be true. The salesman’s argument is not sound because in his first statement he claims that “anyone who wants a comfortable, clean home needs this amazing vacuum cleaner.” That particular vacuum cleaner is not the one and only product a consumer needs in order to have a clean home. The wife makes a sound argument.

Our carpets are clean.
We have a working vacuum cleaner.
We don’t need a new one.

Whether an argument be more valid or sound for an issue that is significant to me is dependent on the situation. A sound argument is definitely more accurate and truthful. However, a valid argument is more persuasive. The type of argument that should be used is dependent on the situation and should be addressed in a case by case basis.

Quick Thoughts on Ryan Clady

2008-07-01T10:18:00.002-04:00

I just have time for a few quick thoughts on the Bronco’s new starter at Left Tackle, Ryan Clady. The kid’s talent has never been an issue and I am thrilled to think of him anchoring the left side of our offensive line for the next 12 or so years. Mike Mayock was critical of Clady when he was drafted but I think that all of the “negatives” that Mayock talks about are unwarranted. Watch the video first…

Now that you have watched, note these items.
1. In the beginning, Mike shows clips of Clady being beat by pass rushers. This footage is from the first or second game of the year. Towards the end of the clip, there is footage of Clady excelling at pass coverage – this happens to be at the end of the year. What does this mean? Clady learns from his mistakes and improves.
2. Mayock talks about technique issues versus talent issues; you can’t teach talent but you can teach technique. This is legitimate as Clady did have some technique issues but if there is one thing the Bronco’s excel at its taking nobody offensive linemen and nobody running backs and turning them into Hall of Famers. With the talent but lack of technique that Clady has, he should dominate.
3. The most important thing to keep in mind when you watch this video is that Clady was recruited to Boise State as a defensive linemen. He didn’t even play offensive linemen, let alone left tackle which is the most difficult and demanding of the 5 positions until his Sophomore year in college. You see the footage of him being oblivious to the line calling audibles as a knuckle head move but I think that is more of not being familiar with the position. Expect Clady to be on top of things the day the Broncos face the Raiders to open the season.

The thing that I like about Clady is his attitude. Today it seems that so many athletes have this “urban culture” mentality. I don’t agree with many people calling it “black urban culture” because Whites, Mexicans, and Asians are all part of as well – it’s just urban culture. Clady is not like that – he is very humble, soft spoken, and classy. If I had to describe the Bronco’s with only one word, I would use classy. You always see the players joking around and talking with other teams, you never see the Bronco’s talking smack nor having stupid Personal Foul penalties assessed. With so many of today’s emerging athletes having this type of mentality, it’s nice to see the Bronco’s draft someone who already fits the team psyche. Check out this interview of him recently at the NFL combine; none of that urban or thug culture is apparent.

On a side note, did anyone else notice how much he towers over Adam Schefter, the interviewer? In fact with the hair and the deep voice, he is a little reminiscent of another great athlete…

Critical Thinking Assignment: Identifying Fallacies

2008-06-27T10:15:00.000-04:00

2. Letter to the editor: “Andrea Keene’s selective morality is once again showing through in her July 15 letter. This time she expresses her abhorrence of abortion. But how we see only what we choose to see! I wonder if any of the anti-abortionists have considered the widespread use of fertility drugs as the moral equivalent of abortion, and, if they have, why they haven’t come out against them, too. The use of these drugs frequently results in multiple births, which leads to the death of one of the infants, often after an agonizing struggle for survival. According to the rules of the pro-lifers, isn’t this murder?”
— North-State Record

I feel that the above question could actually be several different types of fallacies – namely “Poisoning the Well”, “Straw Man”, and “Perfectionist Fallacy.” A “Poisoning the Well” fallacy is defined as “encouraging others to dismiss what someone will say, by citing the speaker’s defects, inconsistencies, circumstances, or other personal attributes” (Moore-Parker, 2007, p. 189). The author discredits Andrea Keene by suggesting her “selective morality.” A “Straw Man” fallacy is defined as “rebutting a claim by offering a distorted or exaggerated version of it” (Moore-Parker, 2007, p. 189). While the effects of fertility drugs are not exaggerated, suggesting that one or more of the infants dies “agonizingly” every time is exaggerated. Finally “Perfectionist Fallacy” is defined as “arguing that we either do something completely or not at all” (Moore-Parker, 2007, p. 189). The author suggests that that even something as seemingly “un-anti-abortionist” as fertility drugs should be outlawed according to abortionist policy.

3. In one of her columns, Abigail Van Buren printed the letter of “I’d rather be a widow.” The letter writer, a divorcée, complained about widows who said they had a hard time coping. Far better, she wrote, to be a widow than to be a divorcée, who are all “rejects” who have been “publicly dumped” and are avoided “like they have leprosy.” Abby recognized the pseudoreasoning for what it was, though she did not call it by our name. What is our name for it?

The above selection is an example of a circumstantial ad hominem fallacy. This type of fallacy is defined as “thinking a person’s circumstances refute his or her beliefs” (Moore-Parker, 2007, p. 189). It seems that the original author had a tragic experience of being divorced – the other author is arguing the side of being a widow. Because the two authors have had different experiences, their personal beliefs should not be refuted.

5. Letter to the editor: “Once again the Park Commission is considering closing North Park Drive for the sake of a few joggers and bicyclists. These so-called fitness enthusiasts would evidently have us give up to them for their own private use every last square inch of Walnut Grove. Then anytime anyone wanted a picnic, he would have to park at the edge of the park and carry everything in—ice chests, chairs, maybe even grandma. I certainly hope the Commission keeps the entire park open for everyone to use.”

This letter to the editor shows an example of poisoning the well. The author is discrediting the advocators of closing North Park Drive several times stating “for the sake of a few joggers and bicyclists”, “so-called fitness enthusiasts”, and “their own private use.” By doing this, the author is making the reader be “against” the fitness enthusiasts and breeding animosity.

6. “Some Christian—and other—groups are protesting against the placing, on federal property near the White House, of a set of plastic figurines representing a devout Jewish family in ancient Judaea. The protestors would of course deny that they are driven by any anti-Semitic motivation. Still, we wonder: Would they raise the same objections (of unconstitutionality, etc.) if the scene depicted a modern, secularized Gentile family?”
— National Review

This selection was almost “fallacy-free” until the author stated that “The protestors would of course deny…” This is an example of circumstantial ad hominem fallacy because the author suggests that the Christian groups “would of course” deny any anti-Semitic motivation because they are Christians. The author continues and suggests that there would be no debate if there were a modern Christian scene depicted.

8. From a letter to the editor: “The counties of Michigan clearly need the ability to raise additional sources of revenue, not only to meet the demands of growth but also to maintain existing levels of service. For without these sources those demands will not be met, and it will be impossible to maintain services even at present levels.”

I do not detect any fallacies in this excerpt. There are no innuendos or subliminal persuasion taking place.

9. In February 1992, a representative of the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico gave a radio interview (broadcast on National Public Radio) in which he said that the Church was against the use of condoms. Even though the rate of AIDS infection in Puerto Rico is much higher than on the U.S. mainland, the spokesman said that the Church could not support the use of condoms because they are not absolutely reliable in preventing the spread of the disease. “If you could prove that condoms were absolutely dependable in preventing a person from contracting AIDS, then the Church could support their use.”

This is an example of “Line Drawing Fallacy.” A line drawing fallacy is defined as “requiring that a precise line be drawn someplace on a scale or continuum when no such precise line can be drawn; usually occurs when a vague concept is treated like a precise one” (Moore-Parker, 2007, p. 189). It is common knowledge that condoms, like everything else in life, are not absolutely 100% dependable; however, it is proven that they do help against STD’s immensely. By stating that the Church does not support condoms because they are not absolutely dependable, the spokesperson is drawing a line and creating a standard that will never be met. There will always be a small percentage of failure due to imperfections of materials, improper use, etc.

IT Communication Assignment: Documentation Conventions

2008-06-26T09:35:00.001-04:00

Identify the four most widely accepted style conventions for professional paper documentation. What purpose does each of these conventions serve, and which is most appropriate for technical writing? Explain why.

There are primarily four accepted style conventions for professional paper documentation. The four main style conventions are the American Psychological Association (APA), Modern Language Association (MLA), various Number styles, and Chicago Style.

APA formatting is used in most academic writing and is the most preferred writing documentation style. One of the main stipulations of APA formatting is the use of the author / date system; this is a method of organizing citations in a paper making everything uniform. APA is used for social sciences, biological and earth sciences, education, linguistics, and most importantly, in business.

MLA is a format that is used primarily in writing in the humanities, especially literature and language. MLA is typically simpler and more economical than other documentation conventions.

There are numerous different sub-categories of the number system of citation including the American Mathematical Society (AMS), the Council of Biology Editors (CBE), the American Chemical Society (ACS), and finally the American Institute of Physics (AIP). As the title of each organization suggests, these documentation conventions are all involved with math and the sciences with each writing format being curtailed to the specifics of that organization.

Finally, the Chicago style of formatting is a variant of the APA format and is used primarily for the humanities and fine arts.

The style that is the most appropriate for technical writing would be APA format. While this style is used for education, it is also used for many sciences (both physical and social), languages, and is widely accepted in the business sector – where the majority of technical writing occurs.

IT Communication Assignment: Documentation Discussion Question

2008-06-24T15:07:00.000-04:00

Why is documentation important in the technical writing process? What positive and negative occurrences have you run into while using different documentation styles?

Documentation is important in the technical writing process because it adds two specific elements to your writing: professionalism and credibility. I feel that technical writing is read by a certain target audience; these are people that are reading your writing to be informed of something. Technical writing is not something that is used to be read casually – it is either written for work which demands professionalism, or it is written for some sort of educational purpose which also demands professionalism.

By using the correct documentation and “giving credit where credit is due”, it also gives your technical writing credibility. No longer is the reader reading the mad ranting of Nick Taylor; now they are reading a form of writing that there has been some form of collaboration on. It changes your writing from being the possibility of being opinion, to factual technical writing.

An obvious positive effect of using documentation in your technical writing is the fact that your writing is suddenly professional, credible, and “legitimate” whereas it might not have appeared so previously.

One negative occurrence that I had before was trying to document everything correctly. It seemed like such a hassle trying to remember every different rule, method, and format – similar to math! However, Ms. Troxler posted a link that I was unaware of that I think might be one of the best resources out there for correctly formatted papers – the Citation Generator. I’ve explored this tool a little bit and it is a life saver. It made my negative of documentation obsolete.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Prejudicial vs. Nonprejudicial Statements

2008-06-19T14:49:00.000-04:00

How can a person distinguish between the prejudicial and nonprejudicial use of rhetorical devices? Provide an example of each and comment on the examples posted by your classmates.

I think that a person can distinguish between the prejudicial and nonprejudicial use of rhetorical devices by trying to determine the purpose of the message; why is the author telling you this message? Is it simply to inform you of something or is the purpose of their message to persuade you into a certain school of thinking? I think that it can be very difficult to determine if a message is prejudicial or not; I think that people as a whole have their minds made up already about different topics. I find myself going into situations already resolved about the outcome but “allowing myself” to hear the other side of the conflict. Sometimes I am persuaded but often I find my thought process is, “Alright I already feel this way but let’s just see if this other person can make me feel differently.”

Prejudicial statement: Javon Walker is another former Bronco that head coach Mike Shannahan dumped that turned out to be a bum – good thing the Raiders picked him up!

Nonprejudicial statement: While Javon Walker currently got into some trouble, the jury is still out to determine whether head coach Mike Shannahan did a good thing by releasing the player due to character flaws.

Thoughts About Javon Walker

2008-06-18T15:48:00.004-04:00

Javon Walker – where does one begin with him. Being a diehard Bronco’s fan, I had a lot of hopes for Javon when he came to Denver. He did pretty well when he showed up but it seemed like the death of his best bud, Darrent Williams, changed his life. Truth be told, I think he probably always has been a punk ass. If you haven’t heard the news about Javon Walker being beaten and robbed yet, I will fill you in. Perhaps at the end of this blog, you will not necessarily be pissed at Javon but disgusted with his behavior as I am. While I do not advocate violence and a beating, I think that Javon got what was coming to him – ever hear the saying “you reap what you sow?”

To begin, I should discuss the latest events with Javon before delving into relevant history. On Monday morning (6/18/08), Javon Walker was found beaten and robbed in the streets of Las Vegas. At first, no one was none the wiser as to what caused this seemingly random and heinous crime. It seemed that Javon was another victim of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. His orbital socket was fractured, $3,000 in cash was taken from his wallet, and over $100,000 in miscellaneous stolen from him.

Javon Walker currently is stable and was released from the hospital and recovering from his “significant injuries.”

Poor innocent Javon Walker…oh wait, hold on; stop the train. Then a certain video and reports of Javon Walker’s activities a certain club in Las Vegas started to leak out. Javon was apparently spraying champagne all over the crowd in a club and needless to say, someone got pissed. After watching the video of Javon Walker merrily spraying champagne over everyone, I probably would have been pissed as well and maybe looking for a little ass-kicking. Look below for the video courtesy of YouTube.

So what happened? How was Javon robbed, beaten, and left for dead in the cold dark streets of Las Vegas. Well, Javon had this to say about his experience:

“I was just back at my room and at about 5:30 in the morning I got a knock at the door. I opened it and 3 guys with guns were there. They cracked me in the head a few times, knocking me unconscious. They then robbed me of everything I had; my watch, money, everything! Somehow they got me to a car and dropped me off in the street. That’s what happened.”

So let me get this straight; Javon Walker is a household name in the professional sports industry, and is staying at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas. So Javon is saying that he foolishly opened the door on 3 people with guns, they beat him on the head knocking him out, then they dragged him to a waiting car PAST ALL OF THE SECURITY CAMERAS, GUARDS, EMPLOYEES, AND FELLOW GUESTS AWAKE AT 5:30 IN THE MORNING ON A WORK DAY WITHOUT ANYONE SAYING BOO?!

Okay, I just wanted to make sure that I understood that right. Just wanted to make sure this was another classic example of someone minding their own business in their expensive hotel room when, “Holy crap I’m just minding my own business and someone is trying to kick my ass and take my money! What did I do?! It’s not like I was spraying champagne on anyone minding their own business!”

So besides Javon’s thinking that everyone is as stupid as he is to buy that kind of story, why should you be as worked up about this as I am? Well that’s where we get into a little history concluding with why Javon left Denver and found a job in Oakland.

On New Year’s Eve, December 31st 2006, The Shelter, a club in Denver Colorado, found teammates Darrent Williams, Javon Walker, and Brandon Marshall partying and having a good time. Upon celebrating the new year, the group perhaps had a few too many drinks and was having too much of a good time, and they started spraying champagne over the crowd. There were a few Crips gang members in attendance that night, and apparently, they don’t like to have champagne sprayed on them. After a brief altercation at the club, everyone in the Bronco’s entourage thought that peace had been made. The offended gang members obviously thought differently; there was a drive by shooting on Darrent Williams and company’s limo as they were leaving the club.

If you look closely on the ground, you can see blood by the door where the limousine was attacked. Tragically, Darrent Williams was fatally shot in the neck, and died in Javon Walker’s arms. The following picture of Javon Walker was taken after the tragic event; the blood on his shirt is that of D-Will.

Javon Walker was apparently so torn up about the fact that his best friend, Darrent Williams, had died in his arms, that he was too emotional to attend his funeral. That’s convenient considering that funerals are typically filled with people delighted at another’s passing and are all happy and merry. In order to escape his emotional and mental anguish, Javon Walker retreated to LAS VEGAS AND WAS SEEN AT THE TRYST, PARTYING, which as you guessed it, is also the club where he was seen spraying champagne the night he got his ass kicked. I guess this is how Javon deals with grief.

Javon then adopted a “fro-hawk” in memory of Darrent Williams who also sported one. Apparently the bond between these two was something special.
After a turmoil filled 2007 season with Javon Walker being injured and a disappointing season overall for Denver, the Bronco’s head coach Mike Shannahan released Walker. Apparently, Javon Walker was upset that he was not going to be number 1 on the depth chart anymore after being surpassed by Brandon Marshall; he also cited too much of an emotional past in Denver being associated with the death of teammate Darrent Williams.

After the Raiders picked Javon Walker up, they gave him a huge contract: $55 million over 6 years. Javon apparently needed to celebrate this with the fellow club goers of the Tryst in Vegas by spraying champagne on them.

The thing that burns me up the most is Javon’s actions and attitude; he does not learn from his mistakes. One would think nothing would shake the soul to the foundations and call for a personal reform than having your personal actions cause the deaths of one of your best friends and to then have that friend die in your arms. But Javon repeated the same exact actions that caused the death of a teammate at another club. I think that Javon is lucky to have only gotten his ass kicked.

I am not pissed at Javon so much, just incredibly disappointed and disgusted; these are not the qualities that we need in today’s football players and hero’s. Javon’s on the field exploits and achievements made him the type of player I would have admired and aspired to be like when I was younger. His off the field exploits are perfect for the role model for 12 year old aspiring gang bangers. These are not the type of players that we need to have in the NFL as the sport gains more recognition and a stronger fan base day by day.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Persuasion

2008-06-17T16:24:00.000-04:00

Copy and paste the example into the body of a forum message and include your response to this question: Why does the example affect you, and what is the statement’s persuasive motive?

Open this envelope and you’ll get a check for three million dollars, if your name appears on our list of winners.

This example affects me because this is a classic example of the “read the fine print.” While the catch phrase “…if your name appears on our list of winners” is not literally in small print, the intent is the same. Reading is a progression of left to right, top to bottom; the authors want you to be so excited about reading the phrase “Open this envelope and you’ll get a check for three million dollars” that the last phrase with the stipulation will go right over your head and not even be recognized. This is a ploy that is used in a lot of online pop-up ads and other mailers that you get in the physical mail.

The reason this ad affects me is because it plays on the emotion and rash decisions that people as a whole make. “Wow you mean that I do not have to save up and save for a house with a down payment?! I can just start making payments now and pay 21%?! Wow great; sign me up!” People seem to focus on the carrot at the end of the stick without realizing how far they have to walk to finally get it. In this specific situation, the reader most likely opens the envelope and sees a list of names, then rereads the stipulation, sends in $20 to get their name put on a list, and then receives another envelope without their name on it.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Analyzing Credibility

2008-06-17T16:22:00.001-04:00

Source 1: CNN – Larry Kind and Rudi Giuliani Interview
Source 2: Volkswagen David Hasselhoff TV Spot

Answer the following in regard to each of the two examples in a 100- to 200-word response:

Who paid for each example to be created?
CNN obviously paid for the interview with Rudi Giuliani; or I suppose that you could boil it down to the commercials that air on CNN, ultimately pay for the interview. Volkswagen pays for the commercial with David Hasselhoff.

Can you detect a slant—that is, a secondary opinion conveyed by the examples’ creators?
I could detect a slant in the CNN clip; it seemed to me that Larry King was trying to bait Giuliani to be political in the interview. Controversy sells and it seemed that King was trying to get Giuliani to contradict and not support President Bush. I did not detect a slant in the Volkswagen commercial – I thought it was very witty and humorous.

What does each example reflect about society at large? Is it credible? Explain your answers.
The CNN clip reflects society’s dilemma of one major element and one minor element; the major element would be the war in Iraq and the minor element is what needs to be done at the sight of the World Trade Center. Both of these issues are credible due to the fact that these are dilemmas that society is struggling with; the clip did not offer any solutions to these two issues which would have jeopardized its credibility. The VW clip reflects society’s focus on the entertainment world – this commercial might not have been humorous to someone who does not know who David Hasselhoff is. However, since America in particular seems to be heavily focused on celebrities and Hasselhoff’s previous and current “limelight endeavors” the commercial is humorous – it compares a German-American to a German made car.

Answer the following in regard to the news clip in a 50- to 100-word response:

Are you skeptical of the sources’ credibility? Why or why not?
So far as the CNN clip, I think that with today’s news media, you always have to be skeptical as to what you hear as many of the outlets are very biased as to one party or the other. However, this particular Larry King interview was simply and interview of Giuliani’s experiences from 9/11.

Do you detect any bias? Why or why not?
I did not detect a bias with the CNN interview – it was just an interview and did not broadcast any particular message.

Answer the following in regard to the video ad on one of the links above in a 100- to 200- word response:

Does the ad make a claim?
The ad does not come straight out and make a claim; in fact it does not even say anything about a specific product but just about the company.

What fear or desire does the ad play into?
The desire that the ad plays into is two-fold; it plays into the humor aspect and plays into the “star power” factor. This particular VW ad shows Hasselhoff; other ads show other celebrities including Heidi Klum. By showing people that are easily recognized and are household names, individuals assume that “if David Hasselhoff likes it then it must be good for me!” Humor is another marketing technique because it lightens the mood and makes the company or entity seem human and genuine.

Does it target an existing fear or desire or does it try to create a new fear or desire?
Another one of the desires that this invokes is popularity; this is certainly not a new desire. This compares how popular David Hasselhoff is in other countries to how popular Volkswagen is in other countries. This also plays on the “if it’s good enough for him, it must be good for me!”

Does it try to invoke feeling, use admirable people to persuade, or describe a common situation?
This ad does invoke feelings and uses admirable people to persuade the audience to purchase a Volkswagen. Some of the feelings that the ad invokes are humor, the desire to be popular, and the cliché phrase “keeping up with the Jones’s.” The ad also uses a number of admirable people to persuade the audience as well.

Would you make a purchase based on the information presented?
I would not make a purchase based on the information presented if nothing more due to the large investment a vehicle is. Also, I think with how good marketing has gotten in today’s world, almost all commercials have to be looked at skeptically and research has to be done on the specific product. I will admit that the ad made me look around their website at the product they are releasing, the GTI mkV and look at all the specifications for it.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Argument Credibility Peer Evaluation

2008-06-17T15:51:00.002-04:00

One of my assignments was to evaluate a peer's assignment. The first section in italics is hers (or his) assignment. The second half is mine.

Title: America's Oil Crisis
Source: CNBC.com
Link: www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=766289001&play=11.

What claims are being made?
There are two claims being made in this video. The first is that the cause of high crude oil prices is due to stagnant supply rather than supply and demand and speculation by investors. The second claim is that the price of crude oil will markedly and rapidly decrease within the next two years.

Do the claims conflict with your personal observations?
The information in this video paints a very different picture of what I am used to hearing and reading. For almost two years now, in regards to crude oil prices, I have heard everything from supply and demand issues to speculation. This individual is explaining the problem in a way that I haven't heard yet. In essence, I would say that it is a conflict but not in the true sense of the word.

What background information do you have about the claims?
The claims are coming from the World Bank, which has been a reputable source of information for almost half a century. Economists have looked to the World Bank's Global Development Finance Report for over forty years now for strategy and information. The claims they are making seem to coincide with how the Energy Market's have been acting in regards to the price of crude oil. (source: worldbank.org)

What is the expertise of the author, if any?
The individual providing the information in the video is Dr. Uri Dudash, the Director of the International Trade Department of the World Bank. Dr. Dudash has been with the World Bank for 16 years and in the field for more than a quarter of a century. He has a BA and MA from the Hebrew University and a PhD from Harvard University. He is defined as an expert in international trade (source: worldbank.org)

Is the author biased and untrustworthy, or unbiased and trustworthy?
I find Mr. Dudash to be very unbiased. He makes the claim that the oil market's are being affected by stagnant supply, but does not discount other areas of concern such as supply and demand and speculation. I have done background research on him, and based on his credentials and reputation in the field, I find him to be very trustworthy.

Do you think your classmate accurately identified the claims? Explain your answer.
I think that the classmate did a great job of identifying the claims of the video. I watched the video several times and could not find anything that I would have commented on differently.

Your classmate has compared the claims against his or her personal observations; how do the claims agree or conflict with your own personal observations? How are the observations made by you and your classmate the same or different?
I would respect anyone’s response to the original question as it is simply asking for input and asking for an opinion in response to a certain topic. I do think that this is an interesting different point of view as to the “oil crisis” but I do not accept it; it is an interesting theory but I side with the supply and demand theories.

Your classmate has compared the claims against his or her background information; how do the claims agree or conflict with your own background information? How are the background analyses of you and your classmate the same or different?
The only background information that I have on this specific topic is what I read about online, what I see on the news, or what I hear about on talk-radio. I applaud the classmate on researching the source of the information; that is the best way to determine the accuracy of the source.

Do you feel your classmate made an accurate judgment about the author’s bias or trustworthiness? Explain your answer.
I think that the classmate made an accurate judgment. Not only did they take what the interviewer said as trustworthy, they researched the author’s credentials and past history.

Which concepts from the feedback tutorial did you use to conduct this peer review?
I feel that being positive is the best way to give constructive criticism. As soon as someone senses a hint of negativity, they become very defensive and it is likely that any criticism, even if valid, will “go in one ear, out the other.”

Critical Thinking Assignment: Argument Credibility

2008-06-17T15:50:00.000-04:00

http://www.nfl.com/videos?videoId=09000d5d8083e831

The above link is a video report from www.nflcom about the Denver Broncos and their outlook in 2008.

What claims are being made?
The claims in this video are that the Denver Broncos will be a better team by improving their run game. The reporters, Solomon Wilcots and Rich Eisen, suggest that the lack of a good running game is what has been affecting the Denver Bronco’s lack of success.

Do the claims conflict with your personal observations?
The claims do not conflict with my own personal observations. The Denver Broncos have always been known for running the ball well with anyone. While the Bronco’s have still run the ball better than a lot of teams in the league, their running game has not been up to the Bronco’s expectations.

What background information do you have about the claims?
I am an avid Bronco’s fan and have been so for many years. I follow several Denver Bronco blogs (www.milehighreport.com primarily) daily, and am a youth football coach. I do consider myself somewhat familiar with football.

What is the expertise of the author, if any?
The two authors are very experienced. The NFL Network (the source of the video) has found a niche in only reporting in the NFL. Solomon Wilcots is a former player and Rich Eisen is one of the, if not the only, anchors of the NFL Network.

Is the author biased and untrustworthy, or unbiased and trustworthy?
I think that the main reporter of this video, Solomon Wilcots, is neither of the two above options; I think he is biased but trustworthy. He is reporting not just facts but things that he personally feels. However, he does not report things that are inaccurate or true; he takes what has been proven with facts and offers his interpretation.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Revising an Inadequate Message

2008-06-17T15:39:00.001-04:00

Identify areas of vagueness and ambiguity and discuss how you could clarify the email’s message using the writing principles addressed in the text.

Hi class,

I don’t have a lot of time to explain but off the top of my head answer is as a reader critical thinking affects me all ways. Not just reading but writing too. Sometimes what I read I must write about later like this discussion question so clearly I have to read. Clear writing is the hardest thing in the world. Though I don’t the average writer has to write business rapports which can build report and be inter personal. In critical writing, writers construct sentences with clear intentions. Business people write fast because the business people I know are always in a hurry. Business reading is reports, memos and articles. My aunt is a university professor and she writes articles for journals. She is smart and a better writer than my uncle who is a businessman. So critical writers are better than business writers. But critical writing like argumentative essays have structure, so business writing has structure too. It’s not a matter of one kind of writing being harder than the other it’s that the structure is harder.

Thanks,
Owen

Personally, I do not feel this is a very well written as there are many areas of ambiguity vagueness within the text. Owen, the author, seems to jump around from thought to thought without explaining his thought process or using evidence to support his points. For example, “Sometimes what I read I must write about later like this discussion question so clearly I have to read. Clear writing is the hardest thing in the world.” We, as readers, can only guess as to how you go from talking about the necessity of reading to clear writing being the hardest thing in the world. Owen’s writing is also very vague at points: “She is smart and a better writer than my uncle who is a businessman.” Why is the aunt a better writer than the uncle? Is this because she is a professor and instructs others on writing or is her writing just “better” than the uncle’s? The whole message in general is also not grammatically correct which when reading is the same as listening to a conversation with someone who cannot construct a complete sentence. For example, “…has to write business rapports which can build report and be inter personal”; this should be written as “…has to write business reports which can build rapport and be interpersonal.” This whole message seems more like a rough-draft than the final product. Almost every individual sentence can be taken as a separate talking point; after writing this, Owen should re-read what he has written and analyze every sentence and think where he can go with that message.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Critical Thinking and Writing

2008-06-17T15:38:00.000-04:00

How does critical thinking affect you as a reader and writer? How can thinking critically improve your writing?

I think critical thinking can affect an individual both as a reader and a writer. As a reader, thinking critically can allow you to get more information from what you read. Instead of just reading what is actually put in front of you and “in one ear and out the other”, using critical thinking while you read can allow you to appreciate the reading on different levels. Utilizing critical thinking, you can now digest what the purpose the author had to write that specific selection: was their purpose to persuade you or to inform you and why do they want to do that? You can also analyze the message: was the author using a lot of emotion to stir up feelings inside of me or do they not seem so enthused and there are required to write this for work?

Critical thinking can also benefit you as the writer and not the reader. Knowing that you utilize critical thinking when you read about something, you should plan that other people that read what you have written will use critical thinking. The readers will be analyzing what you wrote and why you wrote what you did. Knowing this, you can plan ahead to make your writing as effective as possible.

IT Communication Assignment: Ineffective Presentations

2008-06-17T15:36:00.000-04:00

Provide an example of a presentation you viewed but felt was ineffective (the presentation could have been a TV commercial, a speech, an instructor’s lecture, or another type of presentation). What would have made the presentation more powerful? What are some key elements you will consider when designing a presentation to give in front of a future boss or manager?

Being in the military, I cannot even begin to imagine how many classes and presentations that I have witnessed and were ineffective; I think a lot of the problem is forced creativity. The most effective presentations, especially ones that include visual concepts, are the ones where the author has had a passion or desire to complete the project. I compare it musicians and artists; they started making art and music because it was something they loved and enjoyed. However this quickly becomes a job more than a passion. While in the military, you are often forced to give a class or a presentation that not only you have given hundreds of times, you have witnessed others give hundreds of times. The thing that could have made the presentation more effective is some passion from the speaker.

If I were incorporate key elements when designing a presentation to give in front of a future boss or manager, not only would I incorporate the appropriate visual elements for the type of presentation, I would inject a little life and passion into my presentation. No one, whether a CEO or a mail clerk, wants to see a presentation given by someone who talks like Ben Stein.

IT Communication Assignment: Benefits of Visuals in Technical Writing

2008-06-17T15:35:00.001-04:00

Describe some of the benefits of utilizing graphic design or visual elements in a technical document. Identify at least three types of graphic or visual elements that can be added to technical communications. What must a technical writer consider in order to use these elements effectively?

There are many benefits to utilizing graphic design or visual elements in a technical document. If you have ever heard of the saying “a picture is worth a thousand words”, it is absolutely true. Personally, I am part of a team developing a web application; a lot of our time so far has been in developing effective interfaces and graphics and then coding around this framework. With so many different web applications that essentially do the same thing, the consumer will pick the one that is the most presentable and does everything they want it to do.

You can also think of an instruction manual. You can write 1000 words on a specific step of removing some item, modifying the hookups, and installing an OEM part. After reading those 1000 words, the reader might only know as much as they did before reading; however with a few images demonstrating the step, you can almost entirely remove your written instructions now that the reader can see exactly how this is done.

Finally, using images rather than words is sometimes just the most efficient, effective, and cost efficient way of information. Think of a consulting company that needs to be a produce a document explaining what computer hardware their client needs. No one likes to read through pages of documents describing hardware components and their network connections. Instead, you can make a single page visual diagram listing each machine, the hardware, and their network connections. This is an easy to look at and understand document, most likely it took less time to produce than writing something, and the customer better understands what they need.

To effectively utilize any of these methods or reasons for using graphic design or visual elements, I feel that the technical writer needs to have a good sense of empathy. The writer must become the potential reader for a moment and to read (not proofread what they just wrote) and look at the images that they have provided. If the images are effective, the point is made, then the writing is a success; if the images are lacking then they need to be revised.

IT Communication: Writing for an Audience

2008-06-17T15:26:00.001-04:00

The following is another homework assignment. This assignment was to draft an email that was basically demonstrating how you can make chicken s#$t into chicken salad.

Good Afternoon!

I notice that everyone has been having a very productive quarter so far. At Panther Brass, we can notice the increased sales on our client (you!) end and can infer that business has been good for you – congratulations! At Panther Brass, we pride ourselves in always being able to supply companies with the highest quality brass and copper plumbing fixtures that we can manufacture; if we wouldn’t want it in our own homes or businesses, we won’t make it! We applaud the companies that we supply as having the same standards that we have.

Unfortunately, we have discovered a critical flaw in a key brass part that we manufacture. This flaw originates in one of our furnaces and has resulted in a bad “mixture” of brass that is actually within standards of other name brands but fortunately, not within our standards. This faulty brass mixture results in improper expanding and contracting with water temperate and potential failures along the life of the fixture or valve.

At Panther Brass, we have a strict process from the sale of the specific item to you as a customer all the way to the delivery of the ordered item back to you as the customer. Once you have placed an order and submitted it to your Panther Brass representative, they then submit the order to the closest geographical manufacturing plant. In the event that your order is a custom order, it will be produced within 24 hours of being received at the plant. This 24 hour buffer period allows us to make sure that all measurements and specifications will work in both yours, our and our, intended use. If your item is a stock order, then more likely than not we already have your specific fixture sitting on a shelf “with your name on it!” Unlike other companies that spot check items to check for faults, we thoroughly check each individual item. We do this to ensure that not one item slips through the cracks. Once we have your specific item you have requested, we then ship it as per your shipping instructions; whether it be individually or in combination with another order to minimize shipping. We believe that as the customer, we are here to serve you, not the other way around which is many company’s business models. However and whenever you want an item shipped, we will make sure that it happens. We follow this strict procedure of sale, production, and delivery as we believe that it results in the best product for you.

During our last production cycle of item number 55573 (temperature control valve), we noticed that the furnace where these items originate was malfunctioning. These valves are located on all of the CV, CW, and CX models which translates to 76% of our production. On Thursday 6/5 we submitted item 55573 for extensive testing; upon in depth testing of item 55573 by our Research and Development department, we have noticed that the brass does not adhere to the heating and cooling expansion mandates that we have set aside for this item. When you have a soft metal, such as brass, in contact with water at differing temperatures, the metal needs to be able to be adaptable for the water. For example, when things get hot, they expand. Normally this is not a problem; you have hot water in a pipe, it causes the pipe to expand slightly, and the fixtures that connect the different pieces of pipe expand at the same ratio and there are no leaks. When cold water runs through the pipe, the pipe and fixtures all contract at the same ratio maintaining no leaks. This elasticity (expansion to contraction) is crucial in plumbing fittings; it is the reason that these fixtures are made out of a soft metal such as brass. If we made them out of anything else, such as something more brittle, the part “wears” out over time and cannot stretch or contract like it used to and you result in leaks. The amount of elasticity versus durability of the fixture is controlled in how we “cook” and mix our brass in our furnace. Our inspection of the furnace resulted in the realization that the temperatures it was reporting to our monitoring computers was in reality 30 degrees cooler. This allowed in brass that feels the same, looks the same, and seems the same, but that troubles might result from in 5-10 years.

We apologize that we first discovered this problem yesterday (Thursday) and are reporting this to you on Friday, the end of the work week. While we understand the complications this might have in affecting your anticipated delivery dates at the beginning of next week, we at Panther Brass thought it would be wiser to present the solution to this problem along with the problem. There will be a short delay in all CV, CW, and CX fixture models; we anticipate an extra 10 day lead time on your orders. This lead time will allow for possible replacement of the furnace, testing of brass it is producing, and manufacture of item number 55573 along with other items.

We do want to alleviate any concerns over other materials that have already delivered with this same defect. We tested all CV, CW, and CX models and found that only 60% were defective, we still had an earlier 40% that were the “oldest” that were fine that had not shipped yet. This tells us that this problem has occurred between that 60 and 40% mark and that none have shipped.

We appreciate your patience and understanding while we work to resolve this problem. We deeply apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you and hope that this will not result in any sort of financial or customer service loss to your company. We understand that the needs of many businesses are different from each other and this momentary loss in production will not affect you; we also realize that this could be a huge problem for companies who do large volume orders. Due to the differences in our clients, we will be handling each situation in a case-by-case basis; we understand that the concessions that BusinessA requires are not sufficient nor practical for BusinessB and vice versa. We hope that this personal approach shows our commitment to each business. If you do require some form of allowance, please contact your sales representative.

Again, we at Panther Brass deeply apologize for the inconvenience this has caused your company. We ourselves started out as a small business with 15 employees 32 years ago. We understand working with supplying companies that have many contracts can sometimes be a headache. Being a former small business, we strive to give our clients the type of attention that we wish we had 32 years ago. We hope that your commitment to Panther Brass as your supplier remains as solid as our commitment to your company. If you have any questions comments or concerns, you can contact me directly and I will do everything in my power to satisfy your needs.

Nick Taylor
Chief Production Manger, Co-Founder Panther Brass
123.456.7890 – Direct Line
nickt84@gmail.com

Vista M1530 to XP Pro M1530

2008-06-17T15:16:00.000-04:00

I am the owner of a Dell XPS M1530. If you were to follow that link, you would see all the wonderful things that being the proud owner of an M1530 would get you; sleek design, speed (3GB RAM), big monitor, etcetera etcetera. There is one bad thing about M1530 though; it comes default with FREAKING VISTA!!!

I enrolled in college in January of 2008 and needed a laptop to do all my schoolwork on. If I was going to have to fork over some of my hard earned cash for a laptop, I didn’t want a crappy one; I figured I’d go all out (a restrained all out) and get something newer, nicer, and something that would be relatively top of the line for about 90 days. I had never delved into Vista and heard all the horror stories but, at the time, the world seemed to be embracing Vista. I figured that being with me being an IT major, I ought to at least know a little bit about Vista.

Whenever I go out on a limb and go against the grain and embrace something that everyone else is knocking, I tend to get a little defensive. So when my Vista “crash-proof” laptop had the blue screen of death in less than a week, I conveniently deleted the event from my memory like everything else that was on the computer. After a complete reinstall of OS and everything, I was on my way. Well, on my way except for several Dell components which took a little longer to catch up; for example I had to type in the WEP key every time I changed from one wireless network to the other – regardless of how many times I had been on it before, regardless of the countless network card driver installs and reinstalls.

Miraculously, one fine morning 4 months later, my laptop remembered a WEP key and I only had to re-enter everything 1 more time. Isn’t it amazing how you do the same exact process over and over again to a computer expecting results and nothing happens. Frustrated you give up resigning yourself to the fate of doing things the long way (like entering a WEP key every time you change networks) when computers are supposed to enable you to do things the fast way. Then one day, on chance, you repeat that step that has become so familiar to you and, miraculously, the computer accepts it and it works. Albert Einstein once said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” It’s apparent to me that Al was fortunate enough not to have lived in the modern computer era.

Other than my brief early confrontation with Vista, I was fairly impressed. The GUI had a nice sleek design, and it was very easy to pick up the new way of doing things. I was so used to navigating easily and flawlessly through XP, it took me a little bit to learn the in and outs of Vista. Finally I realized why Vista was so easy to learn.

Vista, apparently, was created for people over 58 (no computer knowledge) and children under 3. There is not one advanced thing that you can do efficiently on Vista. Vista was made for not even technologically challenged people, but technologically retarded people. I would laugh to myself before cursing under my breath for 5 minutes while I read all these comments about the “ease” of networking Vista with XP machines.

Finally, upon chance when I was bitching about Vista to my brother-in-law, we decided to “evolve” (or is it reverse evolution?) from Vista to XP Pro. I had to blather about something to warranty a blog post on this but I cannot steal someone else’s thunder; they have done a fantastic job describing the steps to doing this migration at this forum post.

The thing that makes that link so great, is the availability of the drivers. It took me maybe 2 or 3 hours to uninstall Vista and install XP, maybe an hour to install all the drivers, but it took me 3 hours just to find the drivers. The problem I had was that since M1530 only comes to the factory with Vista, I couldn’t find any XP drivers for it. This forum poster has conveniently put together a package of all required drivers for converting a Vista OS M1530 to a XP Pro OS M1530.

Good luck and congratulations on your evolution!

DreamSpark

2008-06-06T15:15:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to make sure that everyone eligible knows about DreamSpark. This is a package that Bill Gates / Microsoft has put together to offer a lot of programs to college students to stimulate the mind. I recently participated and got some GREAT programs out of it. The programs and the links are:

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
XNA Game Studio 2.0
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
Microsoft Visual C# 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual Basic 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft SQL 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual Web 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Visual J# 2005 Express Edition
Microsoft Virtual PC

All of the above programs can be found on the DreamSpark website here. Keys for the programs that require them are also provided and they work. You got to love it when you have so much money you can “throw it away” so that in 5 or 10 years you’ll have people that are familiar enough with what you threw away that they will come work for you and make you lots of money.

So in order to be eligible you need to be able to prove that you are a college student. There is a list of colleges that if you coincidently attend you can type in your IRN or SSN and they can verify you that way. I personally attend the University of Phoenix and it was not provided but I simply had to take a screen shot of my schedule and IRN and email it and they verified me. Since this is Microsoft, you will need to have a Microsoft email whether it is Hotmail, MSN, or Live.

I believe this promotion is being offered through different scholastic sites but the one that I used was JourneyEd which was very easy. If you take the link I provided, it will take you right to the DreamSpark checkout page or you can search on their website for Item Number 11111726.

You got to love Bill Gates; I added up the actual retail value (ARV) of everything he is giving away and need to post how much it is on its own special separate paragraph. I just want to remind you this is the value of what you get for FREE!!

MORE THAN $2,856

IT Communication Assignment: Collaborative Writing vs. Individual Writing

2008-06-05T14:12:00.001-04:00

Identify and explain at least three advantages and three disadvantages of the collaborative writing process. In what situations might an individual writing process be preferable?

There are situations when writing collaboratively seems to be much more beneficial to writing a major document than writing one individually. One advantage to writing collaboratively is “Collaboration offers wider expertise and skills than just one writer may possess” (VanAlstyne, 2005, p. 25). The fact that there are more people’s personal experiences contributing to a paper is beneficial in that there is that much more experience to write about. Another advantage is “A group will offer divergent opinions, raise more questions, and point out more problem areas than a single writer will” (VanAlstyne, 2005, p. 25). This advantage is basically summarized by the saying “two heads are better than one”; the more people you have, the more fresh ideas your group and your document will have. Finally, “Collaboration offers the opportunities for co-workers in business and industry to know and respect each other more intimately and thus work more productively. Differences in length of company tenure, gender, and multicultural concerns should be brought to light and worked out democratically toward a shared group and organizational goal” (VanAlstyne, 2005, p. 25). This advantage will benefit the paper in the fact that it is much more likely to be written critically and account for a larger percentage of the target audience’s concerns.

While there are definite advantages to writing collaboratively, there are disadvantages as well. One key disadvantage is “Unless the contributions of each are clearly appreciated, members may feel that they are just replaceable nonentities in the scheme of things, and the document will be of low quality” (VanAlstyne, 2005, p. 26). This is appreciable in the fact that one must stop and think of the entire group and take pride in a group effort rather than an individual effort. Another disadvantage is “A group may tend to emphasize getting along together rather than being critical of other’s opinions or concentrating clearly on the subject, which may lead to groupthink, the negative flip side of teamwork” (VanAlstyne, 2005, p. 25). I think that this is a very easy to accidently accomplish in today’s “politically correct” workplace; everyone is so afraid to step on someone’s toes or offend them that the document that the team is collaborating on to construct may suffer. One last disadvantage of writing collaboratively is “There may be disparities in the workload, and some people will inevitably have to work harder than others, causing resentments that must be addressed and mollified” (VanAlstyne, 2005, p. 25). I think that this is the biggest disadvantage to writing collaboratively; while someone might simply have high goals and is working very hard to contribute to the team, another individual could misconstrue this “sucking up.”

There are many times when writing an important document might be easier if it were written individually rather than collaboratively. A school assignment is a great example of a situation when individuality might be better. As a student, I do not want to be responsible for other’s ideas that I do not personally agree with but am forced to document as it would be a group effort on the paper.

VanAlstyne, J. (Ed.). (2005). Professional and Technical Writing Strategies: Communicating in Technology and Science, Prentice-Hall.

Critical Thinking: Discussion Question

2008-06-05T10:30:00.001-04:00

Identify areas of vagueness and ambiguity and discuss how you could clarify the email’s message using the writing principles addressed in the text.

Hi class,

I don’t have a lot of time to explain but off the top of my head answer is as a reader critical thinking affects me all ways. Not just reading but writing too. Sometimes what I read I must write about later like this discussion question so clearly I have to read. Clear writing is the hardest thing in the world. Though I don’t the average writer has to write business rapports which can build report and be inter personal. In critical writing, writers construct sentences with clear intentions. Business people write fast because the business people I know are always in a hurry. Business reading is reports, memos and articles. My aunt is a university professor and she writes articles for journals. She is smart and a better writer than my uncle who is a businessman. So critical writers are better than business writers. But critical writing like argumentative essays have structure, so business writing has structure too. It’s not a matter of one kind of writing being harder than the other it’s that the structure is harder.

Thanks,
Owen

Personally, I do not feel this is a very well written as there are many areas of ambiguity vagueness within the text. Owen, the author, seems to jump around from thought to thought without explaining his thought process or using evidence to support his points. For example, “Sometimes what I read I must write about later like this discussion question so clearly I have to read. Clear writing is the hardest thing in the world.” We, as readers, can only guess as to how you go from talking about the necessity of reading to clear writing being the hardest thing in the world. Owen’s writing is also very vague at points: “She is smart and a better writer than my uncle who is a businessman.” Why is the aunt a better writer than the uncle? Is this because she is a professor and instructs others on writing or is her writing just “better” than the uncle’s? The whole message in general is also not grammatically correct which when reading is the same as listening to a conversation with someone who cannot construct a complete sentence. For example, “…has to write business rapports which can build report and be inter personal”; this should be written as “…has to write business reports which can build rapport and be interpersonal.” This whole message seems more like a rough-draft than the final product. Almost every individual sentence can be taken as a separate talking point; after writing this, Owen should re-read what he has written and analyze every sentence and think where he can go with that message.

Critical Thinking: Discussion Question

2008-06-04T16:28:00.001-04:00

Critical Thinking: Supporting a Position

2008-06-01T17:04:00.000-04:00

Should the U.S. continue to use capital punishment?

The debate about capital punishment has been an ongoing debate for more than 100 years and the debate still is as heated now as it was when it first started. When the foundations of this country were being laid, one of the documents that were laid out was the Bill of Rights; many of the 10 Bills of Rights were adopted from the English Bill of Rights. The eighth Bill of Right pertains to capital punishment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.”

I am a big believer in keeping the policies and laws of this country as they were intended. For instance, there was a core belief for separation of church and state and for the most part this has been upheld. There are other rights, such as state rights, that have been infringed upon in large part. Many of these rights have been purposely left ambiguous, such as cruel and unusual punishment.

There are certain instances when it might be best to take someone’s life away from them. When there are people out there who kill just to kill, they have no remorse, and they will do so again, is it not better to take their life away from them to preserve the lives of others? In the most recent parole hearing of Charlie Manson, he denied that he murdered people but he said that he is capable of doing that. Using inductive reasoning, to me this means that if Charlie Manson is ever paroled, he would not baulk at the opportunity to kill again should the opportunity present itself. However, right now he is just locked up for life and not on death row.

Also, who are we as a society, to say whether someone should live or die? Is it not very animalistic to kill other creatures as a form of punishment? What qualifies a person to be able to pass judgment on whether an individual should continue their life or not?

I myself am an advocate of the death penalty however I think that there should be a reform. I believe that there should be set in stone criteria that a defendant has to fill to be put to death. This will be beneficial in that there will not be so many loopholes where someone can kill another individual, and basically plead insanity and escape the death penalty. If the prosecution can prove that there was premeditated murder, then that would be a “checkpoint” and if someone had enough checks then they would be eligible for the death penalty but not necessarily required to be put to death.

Another issue of reform needs to be in how death is administered. The NPR Podcast obviously brought up the horror of a botched death penalty administration: the needle was inserted in the flesh and not the vein, over 14 vials of the chemical cocktail had to be administered, and chemical burns resulted. Personally, I feel that death should be professionally, painlessly, and instantly. I think new ways need to be developed so that when this steep penalty is administered, it needs to be done with as much dignity as possible to the convicted person. I also think that the processing of a convicted death penalty receiver needs to be sped up. I do not think that they should pine away for months on death row as this is a drain both on the convicted individual and on the state and taxpayers. I agree with the death penalty but as the NPR Podcast shows, this is a policy that is in need of extensive reform.

Critical Thinking Assignment: Taking a Position

2008-05-29T12:05:00.002-04:00

State the key issue from the comic strip.
The key issue from the comic strip is an ethical issue about salary. The two co-workers are debating about increasing their salaries through a “glitch” in the system essentially giving themselves raises that only costs the company a fraction of a percentage of their gross profits. In the end, one co-worker reports the other to the Human Resources Hotline.

Does Anita suspend judgment before taking a position, or does she immediately take a position on the issue? Explain your answer.
Anita does suspend judgment before she takes a position on the matter. She tells Tanya (the other co-worker), “I’ll have to think about it.” This shoes that she is undecided on the matter and is already aware of the ethical situation.

Does Anita use logic when looking into the issue, or is her position based on a moral value judgment? Explain your answer.
At first Anita uses logic when looking into the issue. Her comment is “I dunno. Sounds risky…” which shows that she is more concerned about getting caught than the moral issue of costing the company money. However, in the end she uses moral value judgment when she “turns in” her co-worker Tanya because although it is something that is not right, it does not affect the main character, Anita, other than her conscience.

Does she solve a problem, make a decision, or take action as a result of taking the position she did? Explain your answer.
Anita solves the problem, makes a decision, and takes action as a result of taking the position that she did. She made the decision that what Tanya was doing was ethically wrong; she then both solved the problem and took action at the same time by calling the HR Hotline. She solved the problem in that she made the glitch aware to Human Resources and she took action about Tanya’s embezzlement.

Recall a situation in your life in which you took a position on an issue. The issue could concern a political matter, a family or community topic, or a moral or ethical problem.

State the issue, the position you took, and the considerations that helped you determine your position.
I have a very similar situation to the comic strip; I was overpaid recently by $45 when the accountant miscalculated my overtime. In the end I reported the error to accounting but I almost did not. I figured what’s $45? I can take my wife out to dinner with this? However in the end I wouldn’t feel right about it and I think I would constantly be thinking about it.

Did you suspend judgment before taking a position, or did you immediately take a position on the issue? Explain your answer.
I did not immediately take the position to report the error and I took me a few hours to mull it over. I wouldn’t say that I suspended judgment; it was more I went from the position of not reporting it to the position of reporting it.

Did you use logic when looking into the issue, or was the position you took based on a moral value judgment? Explain your answer.
This wasn’t a logical decision but more of a moral value judgment. I could always claim that I don’t scrutinize my paycheck and that they can deduct the money from my next check for their error in the case of an audit. However, I would always have that part of me nagging me that I knew they made a mistake and I did nothing about this.

Did you solve a problem, make a decision, or take action as a result of taking the position you did? Explain your answer.
I made a decision and took action as a result of the position I took. The decision was that it was morally wrong to keep the extra $45. The action I took was reporting the administrative error to accounting so they could deduct the amount from my paycheck.

Religion Final Project: Baha'i

2008-05-29T12:03:00.000-04:00

During the progression of this course in the religions of the world, I have learned a lot more than I thought I would. I thought that this course would be more about the spirituality of religion and not so much the history or teachings of the specific religions. Fortunately, I was very wrong and I prefer that I was wrong. I went into this course with blinders on; I myself am undecided about my own spirituality and I did not want to be swayed by persuasive writing; I wanted to make a decision based on facts and truths and concepts rather than interpretations and threats or bribes. The easiest way for me to do this was to compare the unknown with the known – for me the known was Christianity. I was raised a Roman Catholic and drug to church weekly and accepted this as a way of life. I knew there was God rather than believed there was God. Once out of my parent’s domain, my spirituality evaporated; there were simply too many unanswered questions out there to pursue Catholicism. So I know Catholicism fairly well, I need to compare an unknown religion that perked my interest. This unknown faith is Baha'i.
The Baha'i faith itself is very easy to wrap one’s head around. It can be summarized in a short excerpt from the Baha'i official website (http://www.bahai.org/):
“Throughout history, God has revealed Himself to humanity through a series of divine Messengers, whose teachings guide and educate us and provide the basis for the advancement of human society. These Messengers have included Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Their religions come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, brought new spiritual and social teachings for our time. His essential message is of unity. He taught the oneness of God, the oneness of the human family, and the oneness of religion. Bahá'u'lláh said, “The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens,” and that, as foretold in all the sacred scriptures of the past, now is the time for humanity to live in unity. Founded more than a century and a half ago, the Bahá'í Faith has spread around the globe. Members of the Bahá'í Faith live in more than 100,000 localities and come from nearly every nation, ethnic group, culture, profession, and social or economic background. Bahá'ís believe the crucial need facing humanity is to find a unifying vision of the nature and purpose of life and of the future of society. Such a vision unfolds in the writings of Bahá'u'lláh.”
I really enjoyed this “Mission Statement” of the faith. The religion really can be summarized in a single word – “Unification.” Something that turned me away at first was the potential of the lack of traditions due to the religion being an “infant” compared to the other mainstream monotheistic religions; perhaps it is my Roman Catholic upbringing but tradition in worship is very important to me. But as I thought more, how can you have more tradition than a religion that combines and unifies all of the other monotheistic religions? One can read all of the research in the world and that can do them well in their pursuit of spirituality; however human beings are social creatures and I felt that in order to more deeply understand Baha'ism, I needed to question and interview a Baha'i, preferably a converted Baha'i.
As it turns out, my direct supervisor at my job is a Baha'i; more so he was raised a devout Roman Catholic in a Catholic orphanage. While I was raised in nowhere near the conditions and situations of an orphan, I thought the basic concepts and key stages of life matched up the same. My manager, Wayne, mentioned something to me about his faith when I was first hired and never hearing of Baha'ism before it perked my interest. Listening with half an ear, I determined that he was more or less talking about Islam which I did not really want anything to do with. However, a year and a half later, I was taking this very course and flipping through the syllabus before the class, flipping through the hundreds of pages of reading material, when my eyes fell onto a heading called Baha'i. Remembering my boss’s faith, I read the brief two page summary and hungered for more knowledge on the topic. What better way to get this information than to ask Wayne, a former Catholic. Planning ahead and knowing what my final project for the course would be, I, Nick Taylor, decided I could knock out two birds with one stone; I could do an interview for my final project in the course and learn something that interested me at the same time. At the warehouse where I work, in my boss Wayne Shepard’s office on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at about 1 o’clock in the afternoon, we began the interview. Please keep in mind that I was typing furiously in my laptop as I asked questions and he answered; the answers I have posted in this assignment are not word for word but as close as I can decipher.
Nick: “Wayne, if you had to describe Baha'i to someone who had never heard the word before, how would you do so in 30 seconds or less?” Wayne: “I think I could probably do better than 30 seconds – unification. Everything in Baha'ism is about unification – unifying major religions such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Buddhism, world peace, male and female equality, elimination of extreme poverty and wealth, and the unification and harmony of science and religion.”
Nick: “Wayne, I am aware that you were raised Catholic. But perhaps you can tell me about your introduction in Baha'ism and how you converted from one religion to the other.” Wayne: “I never knew my mother or father as they gave me up for adoption. While I do have a brother and a sister, there were adopted by my “parents” as well. Until being adopted when I was 14, I was raised in a Catholic orphanage and things were different then. There was Jesus and God and what the Sisters told us they said was just how it is. There was no questioning why they said that or why it was that way and not this way; that’s just the way it was. I didn’t like the fact that nothing could be questioned – when I was adopted my foster parents did not push religion onto us and I quickly forgot about Catholicism. As a young man however, I had a lot of experiences that could only be described as there being Someone or Something out there. I had a friend in my band who was a Baha'i and I finally let him start talking about it to me. It all really made sense to me the more he talked. Bahá’ís want you to question things and come up with your own interpretations for things. Bahá’ís know that the times change and things that were taught thousands of years ago are maybe not so relevant now; this is really one of our core beliefs: the different Prophets and Messengers don’t contradict each other but complement each other. Each Prophet’s message over rules the Prophet’s message before his. So while Jesus’ message is true and shapes how we live, it was relevant to the time and Muhammad’s message is more accurate for today’s time.”
Nick: “What do you think the benefits of being Baha'i are? What are the negatives?” Wayne: “Well let me start off by saying that I don’t think that there are any negatives. When I was in the orphanage, I found myself saying, “Well I kind of agree with that statement but it’s not really how I feel.” Then I would just kind of go along with the flow. Being a Baha'i, there is nothing that I do not agree with. I like that there is no “wrong” religion and all of them are really the same religion just a different “dialect of the same language.” I like the fact that the religion is modern and combines science and religion; it’s not Creationism versus Evolutionism – the two exist in harmony. Being a Baha'i I really feel that a lot of the unanswered questions I had are now answered and explained.
Nick: “A lot of religions have a Book of Revelations or Armageddon or some prophecy about the End of Days. Does Baha'ism have one and if so what is it.” Wayne: “Baha'ism has an anti-End of Days prophecy; Baha'ism teaches of world peace. Wayne then showed me an excerpt from a book that he called “The Four Valleys”, one of the core Baha'ism texts. I have found the excerpt online to accurately post it (http://www.ufbahai.org/articles/new-cycle.html):
“This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous, and the world will become indeed as a garden and a paradise. It is the hour of unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes. You are loosed from ancient superstitions which have kept men ignorant, destroying the foundation of true humanity. The gift of God to this enlightened age is the knowledge of the oneness of mankind and of the fundamental oneness of religion. War shall cease between nations, and by the will of God the Most Great Peace shall come; the world will be seen as a new world, and all men will live as brothers.”

Nick: “Wayne, thank you very much for your time so far, you’ve been incredibly helpful. We only have five more questions to go. What are the key concepts of the Baha'ism?” Wayne: “Like I said earlier, you can over-simplify the key concepts of Baha'ism by saying that is all about unification. One concept is that all of mankind is unified. You and I are really brothers because we are both created out of God. Your wife is my sister and my wife is your sister. But that is pretty “standard” as Catholicism and other religions believe that as well. Another really big one is that men and women are equal which was something that was really key to me becoming Baha'i. In the Bible, there is obvious preference given to men. Now you can say that it was written originally with male preference or that throughout the years the Bible has been altered and male preference has been installed into the Bible. But if they made men better than women, what else has been tampered with the Bible? Bahá’ís teach that men and women are both equal in God’s eyes. Another one that I said earlier was the need to question your faith. Christianity asks you to blindly believe and do what God says to do. However, in Baha'ism you need to “see God in with your own eyes and not through the eyes of others.” Science and religion need to be in harmony as well. You can’t believe something spiritually and believe something factually that contradict – such as creationism and evolution because that is not synchronous. Religion and science need to complement each other. Another core belief is that there is only one God. This doesn’t mean that Baha'i’s only have one God; it means that all monotheistic religions share one God. The different religions are from God’s messengers being emphasized – Christianity has Jesus, Judaism has Abraham, and Islam has Muhammad. But there is only one God and all of these messengers “work together.” Bahá’ís also believe in world peace. In order for everything to be unified and everyone to be on the same page, there has to be everlasting world peace.”
Nick: “Why is this religion right and the other ones are wrong? Why is this religion the one to follow?” Wayne: “Baha'ism is not right or wrong just as Christianity is not right or wrong. Christianity is a religion that is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ who was the son of God. Baha'i’s believe that this is true. Baha'i’s just also believe that Muhammad was also a prophet of the same God, just as Abraham was. Baha'i just expounds and builds upon other religions combining them all. None of the religions are wrong or wasting their time.”
Nick: “According to my research, this religion originated in the Middle East. Is this confined just to the Middle East or is in the West as well?” Wayne: “-laughing- Well we aren’t in the Middle East and I’m Baha'i! I actually went to Israel to study and learn more about Baha'ism after I converted so that is obviously where the main concentration of Bahá’ís are. But yes the religion really is growing in the West. In my community I think we average a couple new people a month that join us for worship.”
Nick: “I just have one more question Wayne. What would you say to someone who was “spiritually challenged” and you could see needed some help?” Wayne: “I would tell them to come to a Baha'i meeting and give them literature about Baha'ism; that is how I got started on it and I never looked back.”
I thought that this interview was extremely helpful in learning about Baha'ism. It is always one thing to read about the religions online and in books and to compile your own conclusions but it is a whole other matter to talk to someone that is actually Baha'i and to “pick their brain” about the faith. However, I wanted to take Wayne up on his advice and attend a Baha'i meeting and learn as much as I could.
Unfortunately, attending the place of worship did not go as I would have hoped. Wayne is the treasurer of his local “chapter” of Bahá’ís. Baha'i is structured with a local committee, these members nominate and vote for a committee above them, so on and so forth until there is the final committee housed in Israel that is the governing body. Anyone that is currently a Baha'i can attend these committee meetings as anything that is happening in the Baha'i communities is everyone’s business. However, as I am not a Baha'i, I could not really see how these meetings were conducted. I could attend but they would not “talk shop” around. Instead, it was basically another interview, similar to what I had with Wayne but with the whole committee, that reaffirmed my interest in Baha'ism. The meeting was held at Wayne’s house and there were 6 other committee members present and the atmosphere was really inviting. Everyone was laughing and on very good terms with each other and really truly happy; they were more than happy to answer my questions and not act like they were doing me a religious favor but an educational favor and enlightening me. I really enjoyed that aspect of the meeting.
I keep finding how interesting it is that mainstream religions that claim to be so different from each other are so much alike. Baha'ism and Christianity are no different and the similarities, understandably since Bahá’ís acknowledge Christianity, are many. Christianity is based off of a single Prophet and Messenger, Jesus Christ. Baha'ism acknowledges and accepts Jesus Christ a messenger and prophet of God. The main beliefs between Christianity and Baha'ism are very comparable as well. Both religions have a very strong moral code such as peace, respect, and worship. The history of Christianity and Baha'ism is also very comparable; both religions were persecuted in their early years. Christians were persecuted by the Romans for many years before Rome itself adopted Christianity. Bahá'í are even now being persecuted, primarily in Iran. Wayne met his wife when he was in Israel, she had fled Iran because of the persecution and they met in Hafsa which is the seat of Baha'ism.
As there are comparisons between Baha'ism and Christianity, there are certainly differences as well. Christianity teaches that Jesus Christ was the Prophet and Messenger but Baha'ism argues that Jesus Christ was simply a Prophet and Messenger of God. While Jesus Christ is still incredibly influential and should not be overlooked, he was not the only Prophet. Baha'ism also seems make men and women equals as well while Christianity is still struggling with this. While the Vatican has said that women need to be recognized, it is hard to contradict 2,000 years of tradition. Finally, possibly the biggest difference between Christianity and Baha'ism is the obvious one; age. Christianity is over 2,000 years old while Baha'ism is a mere 150 years old.
The interview that I conducted with Wayne was possibly the most beneficial aspect of all of my research. As I have stated before, there is something that is much more convincing and charismatic about hearing someone say something than reading something that someone wrote. I feel that it is also more beneficial to hear someone else’s interpretation of a message and concept to hear another perspective.
Overall, attending the place of worship was very nice. It would have been great to see and participate in actual worship, but interacting with the committee was a pleasant surprise. Again I was surprised how friendly everyone there was; it reminds me of a trip to Thailand. When I was in Thailand where the population was predominately Buddhist, I thought that the people there were the nicest and kindest people I had ever met. This committee reminded me of that; perhaps it is because Baha'ism has also adopted Buddhist teachings and acknowledges the Buddha as one of the early Prophets of God.
It was nice to see the comparisons between Christianity and Baha'ism as well. Perhaps it is because Christianity is familiar to me and Baha'ism is not; by having Christian elements I am not going completely into foreign territory. However the contrast between the two is nice as well because there are obviously some things that I do not agree with about Christianity or I would be a practicing Christian.
I have really enjoyed learning about Baha'ism. It does seem to answer a lot of the questions and issues that I had with Christianity. The religion itself is new and therefore the concepts are modern and practical in today’s world. I also see the growth and popularity of Baha'ism growing rapidly in the near future; it might actually see me joining its ranks before too long.

REFERENCES
Baha'i Official Website. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http://www.bahai.org/
Baha'i Association of the University of Florida. Retrieved May 23, 2008 from http://www.ufbahai.org/articles/new-cycle.html

New Religion vs. Old Religion

2008-05-13T15:29:00.000-04:00

How are newer religions different from older ones? How are they similar?

I think a lot of the newer religions are different from older ones in a lot of their secondary messages. I think that newer religions leave a lot of room for interpretation for science and today’s culture to fit in whereas older religions don’t really include that. For example, the bible straight out condemns homosexuality but many new denominations and religions don’t say yay or nay about it. Also there is the controversy of science vs. religion and specifically evolution vs. creation. Many new religions allow for this.

A lot of new religions are comparable to older religions as well. Most of the mainstream new religions adhere to the same moral code that all of the traditional religions also have. Also, it is interesting to see how religion compliments science and science compliments religion. For example, many traditional religions could not explain natural phenomena so they explained it with religious stories. However now that mankind has a much deeper and thorough understanding of life and the university, there are some things that we cannot explain with science – such as the complexity of life and a smooth evolutionary chain instead of one with key points – so they explain it with divine intervention.

Internet Privacy

2008-05-08T12:51:00.001-04:00

What rights to privacy do people have when using the Internet at home? Are their privacy rights limited? Do those same rights and limits exist at work?

The privacy rights of someone on the Internet at their home is a gray area. Someone should be able to look at whatever they want to look at when they are at their home and on their time. This is basically freedom of speech – not only do you have the freedom to say whatever you want to say, you should have to freedom to see and hear whatever you want to see and hear. However, it is hard to deny that some things should be monitored. What about websites that are created to expose weakness’s in the countries defense network? Should these not be monitored and anyone who wants to read and learn how to commit treason should be allowed to? What about child pornography? Should people be allowed to view not only illegal but immoral things and potentially harm a child? If there are horrible things that can be stopped just by monitoring the websites someone views and then monitoring that person when they are flagged, shouldn’t they be watched?

At work, there should not really be any privacy rights or anything like that. You are at work to work, not do personal things. If you want to do personal things or your management says you are allowed to, then you should be able to but you are at work, using their hardware or software, and they should be able to monitor what you do with it.

'96 Corolla Audio Installation

2008-05-06T21:07:00.014-04:00

So my wife still drives her high school car; a 4 door ’96 Toyota Corolla. She has one of those removable faceplates and a long time ago she took it off and broke it and now it doesn’t display any information such as volume status or track number. Also she has audio problems due to a bad hook up in the back. So it needs to be replaced. So first things first, you need to get the overall plate off. This plate has the temperature controls, the clock, a couple vents, and most importantly, the radio “deck”. So in order to take this plate off on the Corolla, there are two screws located underneath the reveal and the upper trim plate.
There were only 2 screws, in this picture you can see the leftmost one. The right screw is just out of the frame to the right. See how dirty the underside is?! That’s a 3rd hand car for you…plus it’s 12 years old. So those 2 screws will allow you to take that whole upper plate off. You need to take out the knobs on your heat controls. Also note that you will need to disconnect the clock, the defrost button, and the hazard lights button.

This is what it looks like with the plate off, and the deck still intact. Note the 3 plugs to the right, these are the for the clock, the defrost button, and the hazard lights. The silver piece in the bottom half of the picture is the receiver for the heat controls. The white plastic box at the top in the back is actually the duct from your A/C and heater. After you get to this step, you need to take the deck out. On this model, there are 4 screws, 2 on the left and 2 on the right as shown below.

After you undo these screws, you can now take out the deck. It’s pretty easy it just slides out (that’s what she said). After it is out, you need to disconnect the cables in the back. The one with all the wires just snaps out – these wires include the power, the ground, and the speakers. Also note the thicker black cord to the right; this is the antenna cable. It’s a simple male jack, just pull it out of the female jack (that’s what she said again), and the whole assembly should come out.

This is also the point where if your wife is like mine, she will come up and ask you if you took the CD out. It’s interesting how they always nag you about the most rudimentary simple and obvious things. But if you are like me, and you DIDN’T take out the CD, this is the point where you hand her the screw-driver, mumble something about it was broken and wouldn’t turn on, and tell her she needs to break into it to get her CD (this is a Third Day CD which you will see later). Getting back on track now, in the back you will notice another connector. That needs to be disconnected as well, if you pull on the now exposed end (do I need to say that’s what she said), you will not expose 2 additional connectors that need to be pulled out and tossed aside as well. You will now take your new deck, which is shown in the picture below. It comes with the stock connector which you need to attach to the back of the deck. After this is connected you need to have a Y connector that you hook up. This will split into 2 plugs which will connect to the cords that you just pulled out behind the dashboard. The connectors I had needed to be spliced together – it’s really simple, just match up the same colored wires. Whatever the unused wires are, cover them up with tape to avoid any potential shorts. Below is the picture of everything spliced together.

Now you just need to install 2 mounting brackets to your new deck and slide it in the slot where the old one was. Simply screw the brackets in, just like they were before. Look below for further clarification.

Once everything is secured and tight (I don’t need to say it anymore), put the trim plate back on, not forgetting to attach the cords for the clock, defrost button, and the hazard lights button. Install the heat knobs again, clean everything up, and your set. Note the now recovered Third Day CD that is now installed in the newly working audio deck that displays the information on the CD. This was really simple – it took me longer to pick out the deck (note how I had to shop for the pink buttons…anything for my wife), and get the accessories and wait for a sales associate to get the deck from behind the counter, than it did to install which was about 30 minutes.

Data Security

2008-05-06T21:02:00.001-04:00

Below is a homework assignment from my IT class which is about data security.

Think about where your personal information is stored from an information systems perspective. Is your credit card information saved on file at your favorite online store? Are your medical records stored electronically at your doctor’s office? What would happen if that information were compromised? What are some of the major threats to information systems? Provide three examples to support your answer.

Data security is very important; all of the above listed scenarios can be very harmful to an individual. However, just as harmful as they can be to the individual or the consumer, they can cripple a business.

For instance, imagine that you are the owner of a small resale online electronic store. You buy common mid-range electronics ($100-$500) in bulk and then resell them individually at a higher price to the average consumer via your online store. You have such a good reputation that 30% of your business is repeat customers; they have used the “Private Account” feature on your website to aid them in purchasing another item and it stores all of their previous information: i.e. Credit Card Number, Billing Address, Shipping Address, etc. A disgruntled employee accesses this restricted information and makes some of his own purchases using the consumer information. Not only do you now have to fire an employee, you have two potential lawsuits (one against the employee and the other for the consumers against you), you have most likely lost 30% of your business which might be enough to put you out of one.

A family member of yours has a serious health issue and not only are they at the hospital frequently, they have seen numerous specialists about all of the complications. One of the specialists just runs a small private office and is not part of a larger health system. However, since they are such a small office, they do not take data security as seriously as they should. Not only does this specialist have all of your family member’s medical history, they also have all of their financial information for the insurance company. One day, your family member finds out that on top of their rapidly deteriorating health, they also have recently found that they have apparently been purchasing expensive cars on eBay and have not been making payments deteriorating their credit enough to the fact that the insurance company is threatening to drop the patient from their coverage.

Another example: you are a storage administrator for a health system. You manage the servers and make sure that the server admins can do the backups and restorations that they need to. You are backing up a very old volume of data to tape to take off site so you can delete that data from the server. However, since you are in a rush, you do not have time to validate the backup on tape (actually restore the data once to make sure it works). You just delete the data from the archive. However, due to some data corruption, the tapes are unusable. Internal or external security is just as crucial as inadvertent data corruption.

MS Walk 4

2008-05-05T14:01:00.002-04:00

MS Walk 3

2008-05-05T13:47:00.001-04:00

MS Walk 2

2008-05-05T13:44:00.000-04:00

MS Walk 1

2008-05-05T13:29:00.001-04:00

Bead Bar Network Paper

2008-05-04T16:54:00.000-04:00

The Bead Bar is a small business that is rapidly expanding and has encountered some success. However, the company has been entirely paper based up until this point; with our help, we are slowly incorporating key information systems to benefit the business as a hole. There are many improvements that we have already recommended, but there are many more that need to be implemented to maximize the potential of this business.
We have already addressed the types of computers and other hardware the business requires, the software and operating solutions required, and the implementation of a database. Now the need for a computer network is imperative to combine all of these improvements and upgrades and connect everyone together.
The use of computers, software programs, and the database will do nothing but to increase efficiency, reduce loss, and save time – all of which equal larger profits. However, by implementing a computer network, the benefits of having the existing information system will improve ten-fold now that communication will be instantaneous. No longer will the order request forms have to be faxed or mailed to the warehouse after everything has been printed. No longer will someone have to same data and information on the database on a CD and then transfer the disk to another computer to update the information. A network is imperative for the Bead Bar; especially due to the fact that the company has several different geographical locations.
The network proposal for the Bead Bar is fairly straight forward. With such a “low-tech” company, IT support and ease of use are crucial so we need to implement something that will be fairly seamless with little to no education. Also, the company has spent a lot of time on making their locations very presentable to appearance is going to be crucial as well. And finally, the need for high end equipment should be minimal as each location should only have a few nodes each. However, looking at the company history, growth is a definite probability so that needs to be accounted for as well.
I recommend that we install and implement a standard Star Network Topology for each geographical location putting each location on each of their own private Local Area Network, or LAN. We will also be implementing an overall Wide Area Network, or WAN, to compliment the numerous LAN’s. The network architecture will be a standard client / server connection connecting to the main server at headquarters. This means that we will have to implement a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, as well in order to keep data transmission secure as there will be financial data being transferred. Also for the Bead Bar on Board, we need to have a networking solution that is viable when away at sea. Distance is a major issue so a satellite connection is the best option.
The Star Network Topology is going to be the best available setup for the Bead Bar. This offers a very simple network solution for the LAN’s. Each location will have at least one desktop computer and an inkjet printer. Since the studios only have a single computer and printer currently, the inkjet printer should be a networking compatible model to allow for further expansion. This way, in the event that more computers are needed per location, a new printer will not be needed. The typical star network at the studios will consist of one desktop computer, one network printer, and the internet gateway, all of which are hooked up a wireless hub. The Bead Bar has spent a lot of money on the presentablilty of their studio’s and do not want to pull wire where customers can see it or have the added cost of labor or materials. The wireless hub also becomes very flexible for future growth and the addition of more nodes; the wireless hub will allow sales people or anyone else to be able to come in and have access to the internet and the network.
A WAN is also going to be implemented due to the different LAN’s needing to be tied together to each other, and most importantly, the main server. The LAN’s are going to need access to the main server constantly to access information on the database; corporate headquarters are also going to need access to the studios and franchises regularly. Each location, besides the Bead Bar on Board, are going to be LAN’s; all of the LAN’s that are incorporated make up the entire WAN.
The Bead Bar on Board is going to need access to the network on a regular basis. Mitch, the Vice President of the Bead Bar on Board, is going to be accessing the network on his hand-held computer. While a broadband internet card on his hand-head computer would be optimal, when the ship is out at sea, signal is not going to be available. Despite the cost, the satellite internet is going to be the only dependable internet connection. If Mitch does not plan on going to sea often, then a normal broadband internet card will work out.
The use of a VPN is going to be required as well. A VPN uses encryption that secures the data as it is transmitted along public media. Since the locations are going to be transmitting financial data, this is going to be crucial. This will also allow senior members of the Bead Bar to travel to other locations and access their applications and the database; they can also work from home which can be a very nice asset.
The network architecture is going to be a client / server setup. This will allow the majority of data to be stored on a single location which is going to be located are the corporate headquarters. Most of the information is going to be on the database, which is centralized; users will need to be able to access information that another user modified in another location just a few minutes ago. This could not be achieved in a peer-to-peer network as everyone would basically have their own database.
The Star Network setup is going to be the best setup for the Bead Bar and all of its locations. This offers a lot of room for future growth and adding additional nodes will be as simple as connecting and using another license key; most wireless hubs allow up to 255 users. This network will also be the easiest to set up and all of the components can easily be hidden. The only issue we might have is if the wireless hub goes down; all of the nodes go through this one device so if we have an issue with it then nothing can connect to anything without some low level tech support.
All of the LAN’s are going to be connected to the main WAN which will allow for quick access to any information that the end user is allowed to have. This will allow all of the LAN’s to be able to connect to each other need be to exchange some information although again, the database is located at the corporate headquarters and the data transferring on the WAN level is going to be between the studio LAN and the corporate LAN. The drawback to this is that if for whatever reason a single LAN goes down, they will be “cut-off” from the other LAN’s.

Since the network architecture is going to be client / server type, all the information is going to be sent from the studio LAN’s to the corporate LAN and visa versa. This will benefit from having all of the information in one location and ease of access. By having everything located at corporate headquarters, you can also have your database administrator and your network administrator employed at the same location. Also, due to everything being client / server architecture, the network administrator can use “push” technology in order to monitor nodes that are not operating properly and to do routine maintenance. Similarly, like the drawbacks of the WAN and connectivity, if for whatever reason the server goes down, then the end users and clients will not have access to crucial information
Having satellite internet connection for Mitch is going to be a huge help on his hand-held computer. He will be able to access the internet and the VPN from anywhere in the world. This will be ideal for Mitch as he is always on the go and does not have a standard office or localized work location. The only disadvantage to this is the cost of the connection. However, unless there is a restructuring of Mitch’s responsibilities and how he completes them, this is the only good option.
A network is necessary to the Bead Bar; it is just a matter of what type of network is going to suit the business the best. The star network topology is going to work the best for the individual LAN’s. All of the LAN’s connected in together are going to create the WAN. The VPN is going to ensure that the data transmitted back and forth is going to be secured and not able to be accessed by outside sources or anyone that is not authorized to the data. Mitch having a satellite internet connection for the Bead Bar on Board is going to make everything on the cruise ships that much more productive and financially viable.
A network for the Bead Bar is going to be crucial to make all of the prior changes we have made as effective as possible. If the whole information system is the human body, the hardware components are the physical body parts and limbs, the database is the brain, and the network is the nervous system. While these components can be individual and separate from each other, installing a network is going to compliment them and bring them all in together.

5 Pillars of Islam

2008-05-02T16:52:00.001-04:00

What are the central beliefs of Islam, and how are they reflected in the "Five Pillars” (McInerney, 2003)?

Islam seems very straight forward and only has a few key concepts that are an overview of all concepts and teachings. The following is a statement from the Nation of Islam:

“Islam is an Arabic word which means peace, purity, acceptance and commitment. As a religion, Islam calls for complete acceptance of the teachings and guidance of God.
A Muslim is one who freely and willingly accepts the supreme power of God and strives to organize his life in total accord with the teachings of God. He also works for building social institutions which reflect the guidance of God.”

The central beliefs of Islam are peace, purity, acceptance, and commitment. There are also the 5 Pillars of Islam that are a roadmap to follow the central beliefs of Islam. The first Pillar of Islam is called the Shahadah – one of the key prayers in Islam: “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God.” This Pillar of Islam reflects both acceptance and commitment of the Islam faith. Chanting the Shahadah, one begins to believe and understand that there is only one god, and Muhammad is his messenger – this is acceptance. Commitment is reflected by spreading the word of God; however coercion (unlike the Christian Crusades) is not allowed. The following is an excerpt from the Qur’an – the Islam central text:

“Let there be no compulsion
In religion: Truth stands out
Clear from Error: whoever
Rejects Evil and believes
In God hath grasped
The most trustworthy
Hand-hold, that never breaks.”

The second Pillar of Islam is Salah – the requirement to pray five times a day at fixed times. This second Pillar is a reflection of all four Islamic central beliefs; peace, purity, acceptance and commitment. The reflection of commitment and commitment versus having mandated prayer daily is obvious. Peace and purity are reflected in the mass prayers. Classless, and raceless, worshipers stand / kneel shoulder to shoulder in prayer across the globe at the same times uniting the religion as a whole in brotherhood. A quote from Muhammad: “You must know that a Muslim is the brother of a Muslim and the Muslims are one brotherhood.”

The third Pillar of Islam is Zakat – spiritual tithing and almsgiving; this is basically charitable tax. Every household must give at least 2.5% of their annual accumulated wealth to needy Muslims (not to be confused with an Islamic worshipper). “Saudi Arabia devotes fifteen percent of its kingdom’s GDP to development and relief projects throughout the world. The Islamic Relief Organization that it funds makes a point of helping people of all religions, without discrimination, where there is great need following disasters.” (Fisher, 2005) The third Pillar of Islam is a reflection of peace and purity.

The fourth Pillar of Islam is Sawm, or fasting, is a reflection both of acceptance and commitment. While frequent fasting is encouraged, the only mandatory fast is during Ramadan, representing the first revelations of the Qur’an to Muhammad.

“Because Muslims use a lunar calendar of 354 days, the month of Ramadan gradually moves through all the seasons. When it falls in the summer, the period of fasting is much longer than in the shortest days of winter. The hardship of abstaining even from drinking water during these long and hot days is an unselfish surrender to God’s commandment and an assertion of control over the lower desires. The knowledge that Muslims all over the world are making these sacrifices at the same time builds a special bond between haves and have-nots, helping the haves to experience what it is to be hungry, to share in the condition of the poor. Those who have are encouraged to be especially generous in their almsgiving during Ramadan.” (Fisher, 2005)

The fifth and final Pillar of Islam is Hajj – the pilgrimage to Mecca. It is considered very important and a point of pride to have completed the hajj at least once in your life and become a hajji. This final Pillar of Islam reflects all of the central beliefs of Islam.

Which of the Five Pillars do you feel would be easiest to fulfill, and which would be the most challenging (McInerney, 2003)?

Personally I think that the fourth Pillar of Islam, Sawm, would be the hardest. That might be my largest weakness is food. I understand that Sawm is not supposed to be about the physicality of the lack of food but the spirituality of being more in tune with your body and spirit. Knowing that, I would be lying if I said that this Pillar of Islam would be easy to follow.

The easiest Pillar of Islam would be the take the pilgrimage. Now there are factors of finance, time, physical hardship, and mental hardship, but I think this would be the easiest to accomplish. It is more of a matter of what Nike is so fond of saying: “Just Do It.”

Development of Islam in the US

2008-05-01T13:51:00.000-04:00

What events and figures have shaped the development of Islam in the United States?

Possibly one of the largest motivators of the Islam movement in the United States was the civil rights movement. “The Christianity espoused by the dominant white population was interpreted as part of the pattern of oppression, and awareness grew that many of the slaves who had been brought from West Africa had been of Muslim faith” (Fisher, 2005). This is the key and most important event that has shaped the development of Islam, the fastest growing religion in the United States. There are other events that collaborate on this but the purpose of the civil rights movement was the largest motivator. There are people who also touted this message and more or less the object of their message was the same: Drew Ali (Moorish Science Temple of America), the Ahmadiyyah Movement, Elijah Muhammad (founded the Nation of Islam), Minister Louis Farrakhan (the current leader of the Nation of Islam), Malcolm X, and the famous boxer Muhammad Ali.

Network Topologies

2008-05-01T12:15:00.000-04:00

There are several different types of network topologies; a network topology is the structure and schematic of how network components are physically organized (do not confuse physically with hard wiring vs. wireless). Possibly the simplest network topology is the bus topology. In a bus, all of the devices are connected to a single central cable, also known as the bus or the backbone. This is the easiest network to set up as it is essentially “plug-and-play”; you hook up as many devices as you need too to the backbone and your set. Since this is fairly cheap and easy to install, many businesses use this topology for their networks. Another huge benefit of the bus topology is the room for growth. All you need to add another device is a couple dollar connector. However, there is one critical point in the network that can cause failure in the entire network – the backbone. If the backbone fails for some odd reason, all the devices hooked up to it will not be operating on the network. Below is a picture of a typical bus topology.

Another type of network topology is the star topology. The star network is very similar to the bus topology. Instead of a common central cable or backbone, you have a hub. A hub is a network component that receives information and then forwards, or routes, the information onto the correct destination. Star networks are very easy to install and to maintain, thus inexpensive, as all the devices are hooked up to a single location. Also, if the business grows, you simply attach one more device to the hub and you are ready to go. Like all networks, there are downsides to this specific network and that is the hub. If the hub fails, then all devices on the network do not have their data routed and nothing happens. The upside to this is that you have one simple component to troubleshoot or repair to get your network back again. Another downside is that all the information from many sources must pass through one location. Compare this to a garden hose when you pinch the end the water comes out faster; but in networking data velocity is not your friend, it takes longer to process. So at times this network can be slow if large packets of data are being transmitted from different users at the same time. Below is a picture of a typical star network.

Finally, there is a ring topology. A ring network is different than the relatively comparative qualities of the star and bus topology. A ring network utilizes devices in multiples of three; there is one device that is connected to two other devices. One of the devices it is connected to is in turn connected to two devices: one being the original device and another being a new device. Data transmission then occurs through the devices to their destination, each machine acting as a hub with only two ports. There are benefits to this type of network; if one device, or node, fails then an administrator can pass data through another node maintaining the integrity of the network. However, ring networks are difficult to install and require more specialized components, thus leading to increased costs. The picture below explains the concept of a ring network best.

This is a brief and comprehensive overview of three of several different types of network topologies. As you can see, each topology has their own benefits and negatives – each type of network is dependent on the client’s needs.

Christian Denominations

2008-05-01T12:14:00.001-04:00

How has Christianity, a faith based on the teachings of one text (the Bible), divided into so many denominations?

I think that Christianity has so many denominations because it is only based primarily off of one text. By having the teachings of such a major religion be based off of a single source, there is so much room for interpretation. There might not be this room for interpretation in other religions since there are different text’s that collaborate off of each other. Also this religion has shaped the course of history perhaps more than any other religion. Wars have been started, many unjustly, in the name of Christianity. Using religion as an excuse for human motives leads to your own partial reality, which then leads to different denominations and different point of views on what “God really means.”

Religion is also adaptive to the world around you. You try to explain things that happen in your everyday life with religion. With such a geographically widespread religion, followers need religion to define their lives in different ways; another direct cause of different denominations.

2008 Broncos Offseason Analysis

2008-05-01T11:54:00.000-04:00

So the draft is over and a whole lot of nothing happens between now and the pre-season. Sure there is training camp and possibly some late trades but all the big splash players are set in their teams; even Chad Johnson as much as he wants to go somewhere probably will not be going anywhere this season. So what do I think of the Bronco’s offseason moves this year? Overall I would grade what we have done this year as a resounding “A”.

First there was the firing of Jim Bates: Assistant Head Coach and Coach in Charge of Defense (not to be confused with Defensive Coordinator). This had to be expected even though it violates that unspoken 1 year grace period rule most franchises employ. Any time a new coach comes in for whatever position or area of responsibility, that position or are suffers for a year. There are growing pains, new coaches have different ways of doing things that players are not used to, terminology is different, and basically the whole style of play and techniques of players are different. So there is a 1 year learning curve. So in year 2, if your area is not cutting it, you’re on the hot seat. But with the Broncos, after 1 year finishing 19th overall and 30th against the run, it was time to say bye-bye. Sure we had Dré Bly and Champ Bailey in the secondary that were supposed to wreck havoc on the passing offense of other teams. But we forgot one thing: the run defense! Oh yeaaaaaaa…the run defense, I forgot about them. Instead of teams and quarterbacks challenging Bailey and Bly, they said, “Screw it, let’s just run against these yahoos.” And they did with a lot of success. So sorry Jimmy, we need to be able to stop the run. Pack your bags Jimmy, we are going to promote Bob Slowik, the Defensive Backs coach, who oh-by-the-way, has been coaching Champ Bailey who is the best defensive back in the league right now, possibly ever.

Then there was the firing of Ted Sundquist. Of course we all know that Mike Shanahan can do no evil with the Broncos and owner Pat Bowlen so this was obviously Shanny’s decision. A lot of sports writers, including the NFL Network, criticized Shanny for this move but I applauded it. Sundquist was the General Manager, or the GM. For those of you that don’t know what a GM does their primary responsibilities are bringing new players in via the trade and free agency, and drafting new talent. First of all the trading had been horrible with Sundquist driving the bus. Look at last year, bringing in a bunch of over the hill veteran players that had already been released by their original teams because they realized what we didn’t: sure these players have had great careers but they are over now. We thought we could squeeze some more life out of them (Simeon Rice and Sam Adams the most notable), and they went down in a blaze of glory. Also look at the wasted draft picks we have spent these last few years. The only highly successful draft would be 2005 when we crushed it with Jay Cutler, Tony Scheffler, Brandon Marshall, and Elvis Dumervil – all of whom are starters and in my eyes top 10 players are their position in under 2 years which says something. Sorry Ted, 1 good draft isn’t cutting it; see you later, have a nice life.

Let’s talk about some trades as well. I think that we have done an awesome job with trades this year and I am actually a little disappointed that no one else has been ranting and raving about what we have done. We took San Diego’s starting strong safety Marlon McCree away from them and added him to our roster, he should compete with Hazma Abdullah for the starting SS position; we also added Manuel Marquand for some depth at the SS spot. John Lynch has decided to stay which is good. This will be I’m sure Lynch’s last year but with him staying one more year it allowed us to address some of our core needs this offseason without worrying about an additional starting safety; we can draft one next year with our first pick and be set at the safety position for the next decade. Let’s talk about our new linebacking core, the heart of the Denver defense. Denver’s style of defense requires the need for quick, fast, and agile linebackers and we have been lacking in that department for the last few years. Think of our linebackers as barracudas where as the other teams have sharks. Most linebackers in other teams hang rush in and hit a gap hard in a run plugging everything up on the line, like a shark. However Denver needs quick linebackers: Denver’s linebackers flow as one unit hanging back until the hole opens and the running back appears and then flow to the ball carrier like heat guided missiles. DJ Williams obviously can do this and we have treated him unfairly these last few years. He is quick and freakishly fast and agile for his size but we started him at Strong Linebacker, or Sam, for a few years – then we moved him to Middle, or Mike, last year where he ranked second in the league in tackles directly behind Patrick Willis, the defensive rookie of the year. This year the plan is to start him at Weakside Linebacker, or Will, where his talents suit him best. He can utilize that blazing speed to pursue the backside and should also be picking up 5-7 sacks this year as an added bonus, something that should warrant him a ProBowl look. So now we need to shore up the vacancy at Mike that Williams has now left. Niko Koutouvides (coot-u-veed-s) ring any bells? It shouldn’t as he has been a career backup and special teams player for Seattle since he was drafted in the 4th round 5 years ago. What? How is a special teamer and backup an upgrade over our existing position? How about the fact that he was one of the Seahawks four captains as a special teamer and backup. That says something about his leadership both on and off the field; something imperative in the Mike who calls out every defensive play. And don’t ignore who he was backing up, Lofa Tatupa one of the best middle linebackers in the business. Everyone in Seattle lamented his departure so that speaks well for us. Now that leaves us the Sam position; what to do, what to do? How about Boss Bailey, our best defensive player Champ Bailey’s brother. He is big, freakishly fast for his size and strength, and very strong – the perfect components for our style of Sam Linebacker. So we went out and got him after he was unhappy in Detroit and they were not exactly enamored with him. Next we needed to address our receiver corps. No one has questioned Brandon Marshall’s ability, in fact that was the chief reason Javon Walker wanted out of town: he wants to be the number one but Brandon Marshall is already better than him as a second day pick in his second year – see you later Javon we will see you twice a year when we trounce the Raiders. Marshall will only be better if we get a viable #2 receiver to go on the other side of the field to prevent the double coverage and deep zones. So we went out and got Darrell Jackson, a starter for San Francisco and Seattle, and then we got Sammie Parker who has been the slot receiver in Kansas City and they purged him to get their bevy of draft picks for their rebuilding of their franchise. And finally our Defensive line. We are fairly well stockpiled at Defensive End although it will be interesting to see what happens with Jarvis Moss this year, boom or bust? But our D-Tackle was horrible last year. That is why we were so far behind in stopping the run, our linebackers couldn’t get uncovered to make plays and stop the run…the job of the D-Tackle. So we got Dwayne Robertson, a former 4th overall pick a few years ago for the Jets who just does not fit their system. There is nothing negative about his play, the Jets play a 3-4 defense and Robertson is no nose tackle, he plays the 3 technique primarily where your NT in a 3-4 needs to be a big body and play the 1 or 0 technique. So we snatched him up for a bargain. I loved our offseason trades and FA pickups this year.

So finally we arrive at the draft. After addressing our as many of our core needs, we have some that are left over – offensive line and wide receiver. We still need a burner that we can line up next to Marshall and challenge defenses and stretch the field. And we need a good Left Tackle to pass protect for Jay Cutler and to improve our running game which was not as great as we would have liked last year. So in the first round we pick up Ryan Clady who is perfect for the zone blocking scheme as he has been doing it for 2 years already. Next we need a WR to stretch the field and return kicks. More on returning kicks next. So we avoid the obvious DeSean Jackson because of some slight character issues and pick up Eddie Royal. At first I didn’t know who the hell he was but after doing some research I really like the guy, more than Jackson even. And check out this guy’s interview. None of that urban culture crap, just a good humble kid with a lot of talent that wants to play and do good things.

So what about a recap of the season? I have to hand it to the folks at Mile High Report. They talked about it best and what needed to be done. Check out their article.