E-Portfolio

http://dhsla101h.weebly.com/index.html

World's Worst Website

http://www.angelfire.com/super/badwebs/ 
 

This link is to the “World’s Worst Website,” created by a blogger who wanted to demonstrate just how badly a website can be designed.

If want to click on the link, you can see just how annoying and ugly it is. The wallpaper is distracting and the orange is not really that pretty of a color for a website. Speaking of colors, there are many clashing shades of blue, yellow, red, orange, lavender (I think), and others that just should not go together. The gifs and thumbnail graphics are so overused and distracting that it gives someone a headache after 30 seconds of looking over the page. In addition to the horrible visuals, the repeating music adds another layer of annoyance to the point where I had to mute my computer while writing this post.

One thing that amused me about this site is that it was created solely for the purpose of educating people about web design. It has a great number of do-nots incorporated into it so that people who are interested in web design have a good idea of what not to put into a website. Plus, the site gives the viewer tips on how to improve or fix errors that have probably been committed already.

So I suggest that if you want to get into web design, look at sites that are designed to inform and educate you about what to do and what not to do, like this one.

Snuggie

 

Ah, the Snuggie – the blanket with sleeves. We all know what it is and how ridiculous and unnecessary it is, but now that we all can see infomercials and commercials in a new light, it’s kind of entertaining to watch the commercial for the rhetorical devices it uses. So let’s explore them, shall we?

Right off the back, the commercial addresses a problem that affects many Americans today: the cost of living. It somehow links the ineffectiveness of regular blankets to heating costs. This is an example of the commercial outlining a problem that the consumer hasn’t thought about: your blanket doesn’t work, you’re forced to turn up the heat, and the heating bill gets more expensive. I bet none of you have ever thought of your sleeveless blanket as being a financial hazard. The ad forces you to make that connection so that the solution of buying a different type of blanket doesn’t sound like such a bad idea.

Throughout the ad, they mention problems that could be seen as minor inconveniences caused by sleeveless blankets, but nothing that seemed too troubling, such as the blanket slipping off (but notice how the woman is awkwardly trying to get covered with the regular blanket… she’s horrible at it!), the inability to hold a baby, the inability to hold a dog, the inability to eat or walk, etc. By outlining all of the things you could do with a backwards robe/can’t do with a blanket, the viewer is forced to see what could be slightly better and is automatically dissatisfied with his/her current blanket situation because the audience is being reminded of the minor inconveniences that don’t really cause many troubles. The more we think about them, the more bothersome they become.

At the end, the commercial tries to seal the deal with a free book light that’s given to anyone who calls within a certain time span. The company doesn’t want the audience to (understandably) double think their decision of buying a Snuggie, so they give an extra incentive to convince the consumer to buy.

I guess infomercials are kind of fun to watch now.

Dented Head Girl

                                          source: desigg.com
 

This is an advertisement trying to convince drivers to drive more safely in neighborhoods and towns. I don’t know about you, but I find this to be very effective because of the imagery and the look of plain sadness on the child’s face. This ad relies a lot on pathos and also requires the audience to think about what it’s saying, which leads to a more effective message.

First, let’s look at the text: “In town, car accidents don’t just happen to cars.” What this does is cause the audience to think about what or whom else it could affect. In this case, it’s little girls like this one pictured. The viewer now understands that cars could cause harm to children if driven too fast or recklessly. This leads to the image of the girl… and the giant dent in her head. The metallic indent is supposed to be like a dent in a car after an accident, which is kind of a cynical way to look at these kinds of collisions -- the girl is like a car. But it gets the point across.

The imagery is disturbing to say the least, and I think that’s what the makers aimed to do. Whenever we think of car crashes and accidents, we think of car-hit-car instead of car-hit-small child, and that’s what is being discussed here. One of the most disturbing things in this ad, besides from the gaping crater in the kid’s skull, is that this cute little girl is being looked at as a damaged car or a car part. The cuteness adds to the pathos because no one ever wants to see something adorable hurt or mistreated in any way.

OMG Santorum Actually Said that?!?!?

                                            Source: Facebook
 

THIS IS RIDICULOUS! HOW CAN ANY PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE SAY THIS… oh wait… it’s not real.

That was my reaction when I saw this ad because, as much as I dislike Santorum, anyone who would make this statement is mentally unstable. I thought this until I saw who the creators were: Americans For A More American America (a political satire site); however, I actually believed that Santorum said this for a second, just like a lot of other people on Facebook.

But I’m smart enough to point out satire when I see it, so why did this take me a while? This is because Americans For A More American America was clever when parodying Santorum. For the first part of the statement, the group used language that was similar to the way Santorum spoke. He actually said on his website that the Obama Department of Justice “seems to favor pornographers over children and families.” This is almost word-for-word with the first sentence of the parody, making at least the first part of it very believable. After that, the message becomes exaggerated with emphasis on gay pornography and calling the gay lifestyle a “deathstyle.” But what really made me feel stupid after realizing that this was fake was the last sentence: “This is the one of only a few things I see eye to eye on with the Taliban.” That hit it home for me and turned my rage into laughter. He’s crazy, but he’s not that crazy. But given what people already know about Santorum and his gay bashing and views on homosexuality, the statements aren’t that unrealistic. This causes people to think, “Yeah, he would say that,” which leads people to believe that the quote is real… that is until they read the last sentence… hopefully.

The thing I find interesting about this is that AFAMAA (I don’t feel like typing out the whole name again) was very sneaky in this parody with the gradually increasing exaggeration. This makes the audience not fully aware that what they’re reading is really a joke, thus causing anger in those who haven’t caught on yet.

Still, the name, Americans For A More American America, should trigger some questions about the legitimacy of the quote.

r/Atheism

I am addicted to Reddit.com. If you haven’t heard of it, it is basically a website where users submit links to share with the world. The links can be sad, funny, serious, stupid, political, religious, etc. Within Reddit are “subreddits,” which host links that cater to certain audiences. For instance, there is r/Gaming for video gamers, r/Politics for government nerds like me, r/Nosleep for those who like scary stories, and many others. There is one subreddit, however, that just doesn’t sit right with me. It’s called r/Atheism, and it’s exactly what it sounds like plus some.

Usually I don’t have a problem with atheists or agnostics, but some of the links on r/Atheism are just plain insulting and some of the users are straight-up bigots. Instead of talking about secular subjects (like perhaps public policy, scientific theories, or whatnot), they dedicate their time to bash and belittle anything religious with snarky and insulting messages. They generalize the entire Christian community by focusing on religious lunatics and non-mainstream Christian groups. In my eyes, this group of users is a bunch of bullies; they try to make themselves look smarter and better than everyone else by trying to break the spirits of everyone else.

Don’t believe me? Check out this picture that was posted 15 hours ago on r/Atheism and has gotten 565 up-votes since:

This is insulting because this guy thought that religious people were simpletons before visiting the site, and now he wants to avoid them like he’s afraid of them. Religious people aren’t idiots and we shouldn’t be feared, or avoided, or whatever that Yao Ming face means. R/Atheism creates bigots and this is an example of such an instance.

So, instead of bashing people of faith, why don't these people talk about useful and productive things? I know some religious groups give Christians/Muslims/etc a bad name,  but you're not doing any favors for the reasonable atheists' and agnostics' name, either.

If you want to check it out for yourself, here’s the link: http://www.reddit.com/r/atheism

Controversy! Woot!

So this week we read about controversy, and since I’m bored with advertisements, I’m going to give my two cents on some hot issues that have Americans talking these days.

Gay Marriage:

            Why not? What’s so wrong about it? As far as I’m concerned, I haven’t heard a single, valid argument that proves same-sex marriage is perilous to the United States. Well, I haven’t heard any arguments that didn’t hide behind religion. Many of these Republicans and conservatives that oppose gay marriage are backed by religious-right groups and only state religious reasons for their political actions. Under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, this is not acceptable in American politics and I don’t see why they can’t see that. I have a friend who is fairly conservative and he said that he doesn’t support gay marriage only because it’s not what the word means. Please. Words change all the time (I won’t go into details because I’m lazy). Also, marriage itself is viewed differently, culture by culture; some people have more than one wife/husband even though it’s not as usual as a union between one man and one woman.

            I don’t really understand why Republicans are so caught up on this issue. Instead trying to figure out a way to make health care affordable (they complain about Obamacare… what’s their suggestion?), or bringing jobs back to American soil (because “job creators” are so reliable on that), they are trying to fix social issues that have no effect on the well being of the country.

Abortion:

            I don’t like it, but that doesn’t mean that it should be illegal, at least not during the first trimester. By this time, a woman should be able to decide whether to keep the fetus or not if she is at all questioning it; however, in cases of incest and rape, there should be no restrictions on a woman’s right to choose. But then again, I am not a woman, so I have no credibility to voice my opinion on the matter. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: this is a woman’s issue. It’s not a politician’s and not even the government’s.

Immigration:

            Immigrants built this country, and it’s dumb to forget that fact. This is why we should welcome anyone who wants to live here by giving illegal immigrants a way to gain citizenship instead of threatening them with deportation.

Medical Marijuana:

            There have been studies that prove that marijuana does have some beneficial properties for people with certain medical conditions. If people have good reasons for using marijuana for medical purposes, I have no problem with it. In fact, I support the legalization of marijuana with government regulation (similar as with alcohol). Not only would it cut crime rates, but also drug cartels and drug rings would die off because of lack of business. Plus, think of how much tax money the government could make from marijuana sales. A lot of people have a bad image of marijuana because of the perceived health risks involved, but the fact is, no one has ever died from an overdose, nor have any non-chronic users developed health issues from it. You know what’s a lot worse for people? Alcohol… people have been known to overdose on alcohol and that’s legal. Cigarettes are legal as well, even though there’s a strong connection between those and lung cancer. Let’s get away from rumors and misperceptions and look at the facts.

Contraception:

            It prevents the spread of STDs/STIs and it prevents unwanted pregnancy. Sounds pretty good to me! It should be taught in schools because kids are kids and they’re going to do what they’re going to do. I don’t believe an abstinence-only curriculum is effective because it doesn’t recognize that fact. Over 50% of people between the ages of 18 and 25 said that they have tried marijuana at least once in 2004 and that number is growing, and they have been told to not do it at all numerous times by schools. Just telling people to not have sex at all does not work. Yes, I know that the only 100% effective way to not get pregnant/contract an STD is to not have sex. Duh. But if I’m feeling stupid enough to try it anyway, I should probably know about the next best option.

            On the question of whether birth control should be covered by insurance companies, I believe it should. Besides from being a contraceptive, birth control pills can be an effective medication for certain health conditions. So, for the sake of health, not contraception, insurance companies should cover “the pill.”

Wow. This is a long post… so I’ll stop here. If you want to read more of my ranting, go to my passion blog. If you want, you can even start an argument with me! Those are always fun. :)