Author Archives: 0alloldusers

Capstone Project: Cultural Differences In Business Environments

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The topic that I chose for my Capstone Project is present day cultural differences in business environments. For many individuals who work for/with multinational companies, learning how to anticipate and adapt to cultural differences within foreign countries’ corporate settings is a vital and necessary skill to possess. From obvious differences such as verbal language barriers and outward presentations such as dress and attire standards to more nuanced contrasts such as body language and social ques, each culture possesses a set of norms and expectations that are expected to be recognized and followed by both locals and visitors alike. My website topic will delve into some of these general workplace behaviors and expectations in a broad manner, designed to inform a casual reader. The information presented is neither new nor groundbreaking, but it is a cultural/social topic that holds increasing relevance as more companies and businesses are widening their global operations than ever before. The site is not intended to nor will it include any commentary or opinion on the topic, but rather will act as more of an informational resource. My two media objects consist of an infographic and a short video. The remix is shaping up to cover the topic broadly, while the infographic will be more narrowed in focus and contrasting in content. The remix video will probably have a small amount of animated content. The site layout will comprise of 4 pages (an introductory page, a video page, an infographic and text content page, and a source page).

 

 

Capstone Project Proposal

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I want to do my project on personal digital privacy and security. I’m not talking about huge hacks of major corporations or government’s looking into people’s communications as it is about individuals being smart and safe in their use of technology. Every time we use a device or the internet we run the risk of being attacked. These attacks can come from the opposite side of the globe or someone in the same room. I work in an IT department and see the effects of these attacks all the time. The good thing is, there are some relatively easy steps users can take to keep themselves and there information more secure. While it certainly doesn’t hurt to be technically savvy, many of these tools and techniques are just based around common sense. For example, passwords are meant to protect much of our data, but many people use the same password for all their accounts, never update them, and pick ones that are easy to guess.

To communicate these ideas, I am going to provide statistics and information regarding different types of attacks as well as measures users can take to protect themselves. This information will live inside two media objects, hosted on a website that encompasses the entire project. One of these media objects will be an info-graphic, created in Adobe Illustrator. The other will be a video, most likely showing footage from computer screen with a voice over to augment what’s happening on screen, similar to an instructional video. The video will be hosted on Vimeo and embedded in one of the webpages on the site.

PS. The twitter handle I created for this project is @digsecurity101

PTSD and Mild TBI in returning soldiers

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America has been at war for 14 years. The longest sustained engagement on foreign soil in the history of America. For my capstone project I will be exploring and discussing the resulting diagnosis of PTSD and TBI related injuries on American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. I will be discussing the unintended consequences of PTSD and Traumatic Brain injuries in these technology driven wars and combat zones. I will be constructing a video and an info graphic of pictures of my personal experiences and those of my Platoon members of our time in Iraq and the city of Baghdad in 2004.
There have been roughly 1 million Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines that have been deployed to Afghanistan, and or Iraq over the last decade and a half, many on multiple tours. The resulting diagnosis and mental health condition of these service members is extremely high. Higher than projected before the wars and increasingly higher than the Veterans Administration ever intended or prepared for. The Department of Defense has estimated that 22% of all combat casualties are brain and mental health injuries. This compared to 12% of all combat related injures of the Vietnam War. It is also estimated that 60% to 80% of all blast injuries resulted in traumatic brain injuries (TBI) The unique combat climate of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars as well as the IED and close quarter combat experiences have lead to larger PTSD related stressors on soldiers.

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Technology and Education

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For my Capstone website project, I will be discussing the benefits of advancing technology and education, and the untapped potential of current technology in schools. My focus will primarily be on video games, AR, and VR. I will be looking into the use of evolving software and social media in schools as well as other types of, perhaps more obscure technology that can be used in for general education. I’ve looked into this subject a bit in the past, especially in regards to educational reform. A lot of my existing knowledge comes from the Extra Credits informational YouTube videos and some game theory books, such as How to do Things with Video Games by Ian Bogost. I’m interested in expanding this knowledge to include relevant real world examples as well as researching other types of technology.

On my website, I plan to create an infographic using statistics about my subject as well as an animation expanding further upon the subject, including facts, examples, and conclusions drawn from my own research. I plan to have the infographic and animation tie in, without being redundant.

https://twitter.com/SvLuik/status/796166713947484161

https://twitter.com/SvLuik/status/796167099903131648

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https://twitter.com/SvLuik/status/796167613168513024

Air Pollution

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Air pollution is one of the most dangerous and damaging environmental factors to the health of everyone on this planet and yet, one of the most ignored. Because of these reasons, my desire is to bring this concern to the forefront and attention of others by making it the focus of my final class project. My capstone project will consist of a website I design which will include both a remixed video and an animated infographic.

Because air pollution is such a widespread problem, in order to increase people’s awareness, my video will attempt to illustrate some of the current conditions in our country and around the world and how it is negatively affecting people.

My brief animated infographic will include information to define what air pollution is, why it is (and should be) of concern to everyone, what some of its causes are, and what we can do as individuals and together as a society in order to establish solutions and help reduce the problem of air pollution. I will add additional facts and statistics to help others understand the magnitude of the issue.

Together, these two media objects will work hand-in-hand to help provide people with a basic understanding of my topic of choice — which, of course, is the overall focus of my website and capstone project. Air pollution is important because, naturally, everyone has to breathe and, as such, it is not merely someone else’s problem but, rather, everyone’s problem. Therefore, my hope is that my project will serve to motivate people to think about and consider how their actions each day can either contribute to the solution or the problem at hand.

Factory Farming

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A factory farm is a large-scale industrial operation that houses thousands of animals raised for food—such as chickens, turkeys, cows, and pigs—and treats them with hormones and antibiotics to prevent disease and maximize their growth and food output. Factory farming is not only inhumane to the animals, it is harmful to our environment. This is why I have chosen to bring awareness to this topic through my capstone project. Egg-laying hens are sometimes starved for up to 14 days, exposed to changing light patterns and given no water in order to shock their bodies into molting. It’s common for 5% to 10% of hens to die during the forced molting process. Animals are fed corn, wheat and soy that are grown through intensive industrial farming that use large amounts of pesticides, which can remain in their bodies and are passed on to the people who eat them, creating serious health hazards in humans. I understand that with our population growing at an outrageous rate farming practices have had to change, but A typical supermarket chicken today contains more than twice the fat, and about a third less protein than 40 years ago. Farming practices have spiraled out of control to feed our population. The environment is being damaged as well. Hog, chicken and cattle waste has polluted 35,000 miles of rivers in 22 states and contaminated groundwater in 17 states. If we don’t change our eating habits and how we get our food, we are facing impending doom.

Mobile Device Security

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With the 2016 election close as hand, it seems like one of the only things you can’t do on your phone is vote for the next president. That being said there is all kinds of sensitive information that is stored and processed through your smartphone. Your social security number, credit card info, health information, birthdays, and other sensitive information that you would rather not share can be made accessible to people that are looking for it. For example, if you are sitting in a Starbucks and want to check your bank account or purchase an item over their public Wi-Fi you can be putting your personal information at risk. The man sitting in the corner could be writing his own movie script or he could be searching the network looking to steal your personal data if you let him. Another concern is that the information you send over the network may not be encrypted. Data can easily be intercepted if it is transmitted over a wireless connection that isn’t encrypted. This means if you sent an e-mail to the financial aid office at your school over a wireless network that isn’t encrypted, a hacker could easily steal all the information that is normally protected by Fasfa. You essentially possess the sum of human knowledge in your hand and while this makes life more convenient, it also means you need to become more vigilant in your online activities to protect your personal data. To show the importance of this I plan to use an infographic and an illustration which are commonly viewed on mobile devices and styling them in a similar way to mobile format to merge the subject with an appropriate style.