I've responded to your first essay and uploaded the responses to webct, with the exception of those who were locked out of webct and had to upload late. Please bring an electronic version of your draft to class Monday.

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Here is the next spyware scrubbing utility we'll be using: spybot seek and destroy.

Gotta love those macho titles.

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Australian IT - Man fined for downloading music (, MAY 14, 2004): " US federal judge has ordered a Bristol man to pay more than $US4,000 ($5,817) for downloading five songs from the internet.

US District Judge Janet C Hall Wednesday directed William Martinez to pay the minimum statutory damages of $US750 per song for infringing a copyright as well as $US289 for the costs of bringing the lawsuit.
The judge ruled because Martinez failed to answer a civil complaint brought against him or appear in court for the hearing.
Martinez was the second Connecticut resident caught up in the lawsuits filed by the recording industry ordered to pay for illegally downloading music.
Jennifer Brothers of Andover was recently found in default when she also failed to answer the complaint or appear in court. Brothers has been ordered to pay $US6,000. "

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The Corner on National Review Online

Loads o' controversy in here.

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Kinja, the weblog guide

Here is a great source of links to good topics for the doubting/believing game.

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topic: what do you think about the Iraqi prisoner abuses? Who can we blame for this?

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topic: are we justified in damaging Iraqi holy sites during the war?

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The Australian: Rumsfeld rolls with the punches [May 15, 2004]:

"FRESH from his flying visit to Baghdad, Donald Rumsfeld looks more secure at the Pentagon than he has been in the two weeks since the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal first broke.

The 71-year-old US Defence Secretary apparently has no plans to heed the advice of critics and quit. 'I've stopped reading newspapers - you've got to keep your sanity somehow,' Rumsfeld told the troops. 'I am a survivor.' "

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Ad-aware

Please open this link and install AdAware, then run the program. Our technician hasn't been able to get to the labs for the past week.

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Hey!

Please make a blog entry today. Your choice of topic.

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Today in class we are going to:

1. fine tune blogger
2. sign up for presentation groups
3. discuss chapters three and four
4. do some informal writing
5. read each other's stuff
6. discuss assignment #2: believing and doubting
7. go home

Assignment #2: The Believing and Doubting Game

Your assignment is to choose an interesting engaging, problematic statement, preferably taken from an actual newspaper or editorial, and hopefully connected with a local issue or concern, and play "the believing and doubting game" described in our text in chapter two. In essence, you will write approximately a page stating why you believe the claim and provide supporting evidence. Then you will spend approximately a page (250 words per page) writing as if you don't believe the statement, and arguing against it using clear examples. For the remaining half to full page you will explore the issue at greater length without passing judgement either for or against it. I should not be able to tell what your real opinion is by reading the paper, at least not until I get to the last section. In the last section you can describe if your opinions changed, remained the same, were called into question, etc. You may also wish to answer the question, "How is this issue connected to my identity? How is my identity connected to what I believe?"

This is somewhere between "open" and "closed" writing. Have fun with it. Include pictures if you'd like. Double space the entire thing. Use a legible font.

First draft due: 5/17/04 (Wednesday) by 5pm. Bring an electronic version to class.

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If you have any comments about the course, please use the anonymous feedback link on the right------->

There are also comments available after each blog entry. If I can get them working.

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CourseInfo @ UVSC

This is webct

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