Monday, October 28, 2013
Advertising Resources and Topic Ideas
What products use the most advertising? Why?
Some products have clear and concrete distinguishing features.
Many products do not.
Brand licensing is a scary technique.
The reasonable person standard is a scary legal principle.
An example of the standard is the Pepsi Harrier Jet Case. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdackF2H7Qc
Vitamin Water Health Claims
Words used in tricky advertising
"Up to" "Like" "Helps" "As if"
http://the-print-guide.blogspot.com/2012/05/marketing-101-weasel-words.html
The Language of Advertising Claims
http://home.olemiss.edu/~egjbp/comp/ad-claims.html
Five Outrageous Lies Companies are Legally Allowed to Tell You
http://www.cracked.com/article_19485_5-outrageous-lies-companies-are-legally-allowed-to-tell-you.html
Products that Advertisers Pretend are Complicated
http://www.cracked.com/article_20189_6-simple-products-that-advertisers-pretend-are-complicated.html
Advertising Words
http://www.advertisingwords.com/
Food Advertising Tricks
http://www.coachcalorie.com/food-advertising-tricks/
Clio Awards- These are the yearly awards for the best advertising
http://www.clioawards.com/
Adweek- A Magazine for Insiders in the Advertising Industry
http://www.adweek.com/
Adbusters- A Magazine For People Concerned with the Effects of Advertising
https://www.adbusters.org/
Truth in Advertising.Org- A Great Site With Descriptions of Deceptive Advertising Practices. It also lists current ads which seem deceptive.
FTC.gov- This is the government organization which protects America from deceptive advertising and unfair business practices. (If you have done business with a company that has deceptive practices, this is where you can register a complaint.)
Better Business Bureau- This is an organization which collects consumer information about businesses. If an ad seems too good to be true, this is an excellent resource. Check the company's reputation before believing a company's claim.
Online Resources for Comparing and Contrasting Two Ads
http://brainstorm-services.com/dccc-comp1/comparison-contrast.html
How To Spot Fake Online Product Reviews
http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57554335-285/how-to-spot-fake-user-reviews-while-shopping-online/
Sockpuppet Accounts
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sockpuppet_(Internet)
Walt Whitman did it! Anthony Burgess did it!
Fictitious Online Reviewers- David Manning
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Manning_(fictitious_writer)
Honestslogans.com
Four Reasons to Forgive Yourself for Being a Bad Speller
http://www.cracked.com/blog/4-reasons-to-forgive-yourself-being-bad-speller/
Bizarre History of 10 Common Sayings
http://www.cracked.com/article_16108_the-bizarre-history-10-common-sayings.html
7 Commonly Corrected Grammar Errors (which are not mistakes)
http://www.cracked.com/blog/7-commonly-corrected-grammar-errors-that-arent-mistakes/
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
if a corp was a person
it would never tip
it would always take a penny and never leave one
if it found your wallet, it would keep it, and feel no guilt
it would cheat on its girlfriend
it would lie without remorse
it would never ever let a car merge in traffic
it would not give on its seat on the subway to an old lady, even if it was your grandma, even if it was it's own grandma.
It would root for the yankees
It would be very concerned with it's reputation
It would feel no remorse for any wrongdoing.
It would feel remorse for being caught.
It would never eat.
It would never drink.
It would never sleep.
It would never have sex.
it would never tip
it would always take a penny and never leave one
if it found your wallet, it would keep it, and feel no guilt
it would cheat on its girlfriend
it would lie without remorse
it would never ever let a car merge in traffic
it would not give on its seat on the subway to an old lady, even if it was your grandma, even if it was it's own grandma.
It would root for the yankees
It would be very concerned with it's reputation
It would feel no remorse for any wrongdoing.
It would feel remorse for being caught.
It would never eat.
It would never drink.
It would never sleep.
It would never have sex.
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Crime Chapter Resources
Crime Chapter Resources
Notes
How does politics affect crime and criminal justice?
Some laws are tough because they are popular, not because they are effective and/or just
Examples: gun laws, terrorism laws, drug laws
Politics determines police funding, police training, and police priorities
Facts do not equal guilt. Facts plus due process equals guilt.
As of 2000-
-African Americans are 12 % of the pop, 40% of all arrests, and 50% of the prison population
-disparities in crack vs cocaine sentencing are a sign of racism
-the best sources of information are the UCR (from the FBI) and NCVS (from the DOJ)
-Dare has little evidence to show effectiveness.
-Neighborhood watch has little evidence to show effectiveness
-Federal speedy trial laws (arrest to indictment, 30 days. Indictment to trial, 70 days.)
How do types relate to this issue?
Types of crimes, of courts, of criminal defenses, of prosecutorial misconduct, of laws....
Issues and Examples:
Whitey Bulger Case- Victim's Rights. Some murder charges didn't stick. Those victim's families still get to give victim impact statements
Consider jaywalking... Why is it against the law?
Virginia Cohabitation Laws- http://digitaljournal.com/article/344367
Links and Resources
An example of word magic: "Do you work for the Department of Justice or do you work in law enforcement?"
The reasonable person standard
The McDonald's Hot Coffee Lawsuit
Google's post about privacy rights
The ability to tap cell phones
Stop and Frisk
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/13/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-stop-and-frisk-and-why-the-courts-shut-it-down/
Stop and Frisk
Tuesday August 13th on the daily show. It explains the data, then shows the problem with a comparison. This focuses on 1) the problem of discrimination in CJ and 2) the concerns of the crime prevention perspective.
Compare this to a policy of stopping every person who goes even 1 mile an hour over the limit.
Compare this to Giulianis policies
Raisin laws
Tuesday August 13th on the Daily Show. This is a classic example of the conflict perspective on criminal justice.
Gun Laws
About firing a gun
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57594370/wash-mans-gun-shooting-defense-just-following-joe-bidens-advice/
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/top-news/Florida-Mom-Gets-20-Years-For-Firing-Warning-Shots-During-Confrontation-With-Husband--215667471.html
Trayvon Martin Case
About self-defense rights? About due process for Zimmerman? About the crime funnel (because the cops didn't want to prosecute)?
Sentencing Disparities
http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/page.cfm?id=120
100 to 1 Crack vs Cocaine Disparity
http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform/us-supreme-court-weighs-100-1-disparity-crackpowder-cocaine-sentencing
6 legal ways the cop can screw you
http://www.cracked.com/article_18620_6-completely-legal-ways-cops-can-screw-you.html?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=companion
Notes
How does politics affect crime and criminal justice?
Some laws are tough because they are popular, not because they are effective and/or just
Examples: gun laws, terrorism laws, drug laws
Politics determines police funding, police training, and police priorities
Facts do not equal guilt. Facts plus due process equals guilt.
As of 2000-
-African Americans are 12 % of the pop, 40% of all arrests, and 50% of the prison population
-disparities in crack vs cocaine sentencing are a sign of racism
-the best sources of information are the UCR (from the FBI) and NCVS (from the DOJ)
-Dare has little evidence to show effectiveness.
-Neighborhood watch has little evidence to show effectiveness
-Federal speedy trial laws (arrest to indictment, 30 days. Indictment to trial, 70 days.)
How do types relate to this issue?
Types of crimes, of courts, of criminal defenses, of prosecutorial misconduct, of laws....
Issues and Examples:
Whitey Bulger Case- Victim's Rights. Some murder charges didn't stick. Those victim's families still get to give victim impact statements
Consider jaywalking... Why is it against the law?
Virginia Cohabitation Laws- http://digitaljournal.com/article/344367
Links and Resources
An example of word magic: "Do you work for the Department of Justice or do you work in law enforcement?"
The reasonable person standard
The McDonald's Hot Coffee Lawsuit
Google's post about privacy rights
The ability to tap cell phones
Stop and Frisk
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/08/13/heres-what-you-need-to-know-about-stop-and-frisk-and-why-the-courts-shut-it-down/
Stop and Frisk
Tuesday August 13th on the daily show. It explains the data, then shows the problem with a comparison. This focuses on 1) the problem of discrimination in CJ and 2) the concerns of the crime prevention perspective.
Compare this to a policy of stopping every person who goes even 1 mile an hour over the limit.
Compare this to Giulianis policies
Raisin laws
Tuesday August 13th on the Daily Show. This is a classic example of the conflict perspective on criminal justice.
Gun Laws
About firing a gun
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57594370/wash-mans-gun-shooting-defense-just-following-joe-bidens-advice/
http://www.indianasnewscenter.com/news/top-news/Florida-Mom-Gets-20-Years-For-Firing-Warning-Shots-During-Confrontation-With-Husband--215667471.html
Trayvon Martin Case
About self-defense rights? About due process for Zimmerman? About the crime funnel (because the cops didn't want to prosecute)?
Sentencing Disparities
http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/page.cfm?id=120
100 to 1 Crack vs Cocaine Disparity
http://www.aclu.org/drug-law-reform/us-supreme-court-weighs-100-1-disparity-crackpowder-cocaine-sentencing
6 legal ways the cop can screw you
http://www.cracked.com/article_18620_6-completely-legal-ways-cops-can-screw-you.html?wa_user1=1&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=companion
Visual Aids- The Wanted Poster
Wanted
For confusing students
For wasting the reader's time
For making the audience bored
The words
Good
Bad
Interesting
Difficult
Easy
Here is a website that allows students to create them.
http://www.glassgiant.com/wanted/
For confusing students
For wasting the reader's time
For making the audience bored
The words
Good
Bad
Interesting
Difficult
Easy
Here is a website that allows students to create them.
http://www.glassgiant.com/wanted/
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Typo Hall of Fame
"The meanings most of the time are something to do what their government is doing or what other governments are trying to do to their countrys."
"After reading the comments of the first drafts I "re-saw" the errors well and it showed in my final drafts so my; ability to take teaching points was and is very useful in my writing so far."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/business/worldbusiness/25comma.html?_r=0
"After reading the comments of the first drafts I "re-saw" the errors well and it showed in my final drafts so my; ability to take teaching points was and is very useful in my writing so far."
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/business/worldbusiness/25comma.html?_r=0
Sunday, July 7, 2013
Audience Notes- June 2013
Before getting started, I've got a concept I need to explain. There are different types of things in the world and different types of experiences.
Singular Plural
I It
tastes,likes and dislikes An object and its properties
We Its
Values Relationships between objects
Good writing requires an author to stay focused on all of these things, but the primary two are the audiences tastes and values. To some extent these can be safely assumed. There are certain universals about human beings, and there are certain "safe assumptions."
assumption one: It is very difficult to change anyone's mind about subjective things.
assumption two: It is very difficult to make a clear point about subjective things.
assumption three: Most emotional responses are based on individual tastes, group values, or human universals.
Consider writing a paper on family values. What would you say to an atheist about the importance of family values?
Values only apply within the group that shares those values. Common traits are one thing. Common interests are another thing. Self interest is the thing.
Writing for an audience is an art of educated guesses. There is very rarely the chance to do market research. There is rarely the chance for audience based revision. The common experience is shaping the next assignment based on the information about audience gained from the last assignment.
Some examples and concrete details have an effect on anyone: sex, food, fear, surprise, pattern recognition (something familiar). John Medina calls them evolutionarily competent stimuli or something like that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I overheard someone who doesn't know anything about sports watching a baseball game with another guy I didn't know. The friend who didn't know sports saw a Cincinnati Reds player make an error and he said "that guy needs to go back to training school."
Immediately the man he was talking to knew that he didn't know baseball.
If you talk in the right way, the audience will conclude that "the writer is one of us." If you talk about foreign concepts in terms of unfamiliar experiences, the audience will conclude the opposite.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Caesar wrote a book detailing his own conquests in foreign lands.
What was his purpose? (We don't know.)
What is a VERY safe guess? (He wrote to make himself look good.)
So how do you make a story of conquest impressive?
1. The people you conquer must be in need of "civilization" (conquering). This can be in terms of technology, culture, religion, etc...
2. The people you conquer must be great warriors (impressive to conquer)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Athletic Coaches
Purpose and Audience
When a coach talks about a team before the game, does he say "this team is terrible" if a team is terrible? Nope. His purpose is to motivate his audience to try hard during the game and to prepare hard before the game.
When a coach has lost an important game due to the mistakes of a single player, does that coach throw that player under the bus? Does that coach clearly and publicly criticize the player? Nope. The coach is critical is practice, but understanding in front of the media.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine a comedian appears and offers you a thousand dollars to make an individual laugh. Wouldn't you want to know who that individual was?
Imagine a thousand to cook a delicious dinner...
Imagine a thousand to write a song that an individual will love...
Imagine a thousand to write a commercial that an individual will respond to....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealing with audience, there are only two methods.
1. Market research
2. Educated guesses
If it is a situation that permits revisions, there is a third method: responding to audience reactions.
This leads to a problem. Crafting something according to an educated guess about the audience makes it very unlikely to create a total flop, bomb, mistake, ineffective piece of work. It also makes it difficult to achieve something truly great, unique, and consequential.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audience analysis is a double-edged sword. Making educated guesses drastically improves the rate of success. Making educated guesses makes genius impossible. The past is our only evidence. If we rely only on evidence, humanity is in trouble in an evolving world.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter ong says the audience is always a fiction.
---------------------------------------------------------
Images for inclusion in the audience powerpoint
animated audience gifs
The Doug Benson joke challenge pictures
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tool Potential Use
Description Spin positive. Spin negative, use emotions, give information
Compare/Contrast Spin positive, spin negative, downplay or intensify
Examples Create a vivid memory. Make a point clear. mythbusting
Singular Plural
I It
tastes,likes and dislikes An object and its properties
We Its
Values Relationships between objects
Good writing requires an author to stay focused on all of these things, but the primary two are the audiences tastes and values. To some extent these can be safely assumed. There are certain universals about human beings, and there are certain "safe assumptions."
assumption one: It is very difficult to change anyone's mind about subjective things.
assumption two: It is very difficult to make a clear point about subjective things.
assumption three: Most emotional responses are based on individual tastes, group values, or human universals.
Consider writing a paper on family values. What would you say to an atheist about the importance of family values?
Values only apply within the group that shares those values. Common traits are one thing. Common interests are another thing. Self interest is the thing.
Writing for an audience is an art of educated guesses. There is very rarely the chance to do market research. There is rarely the chance for audience based revision. The common experience is shaping the next assignment based on the information about audience gained from the last assignment.
Some examples and concrete details have an effect on anyone: sex, food, fear, surprise, pattern recognition (something familiar). John Medina calls them evolutionarily competent stimuli or something like that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
I overheard someone who doesn't know anything about sports watching a baseball game with another guy I didn't know. The friend who didn't know sports saw a Cincinnati Reds player make an error and he said "that guy needs to go back to training school."
Immediately the man he was talking to knew that he didn't know baseball.
If you talk in the right way, the audience will conclude that "the writer is one of us." If you talk about foreign concepts in terms of unfamiliar experiences, the audience will conclude the opposite.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Caesar wrote a book detailing his own conquests in foreign lands.
What was his purpose? (We don't know.)
What is a VERY safe guess? (He wrote to make himself look good.)
So how do you make a story of conquest impressive?
1. The people you conquer must be in need of "civilization" (conquering). This can be in terms of technology, culture, religion, etc...
2. The people you conquer must be great warriors (impressive to conquer)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Athletic Coaches
Purpose and Audience
When a coach talks about a team before the game, does he say "this team is terrible" if a team is terrible? Nope. His purpose is to motivate his audience to try hard during the game and to prepare hard before the game.
When a coach has lost an important game due to the mistakes of a single player, does that coach throw that player under the bus? Does that coach clearly and publicly criticize the player? Nope. The coach is critical is practice, but understanding in front of the media.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Imagine a comedian appears and offers you a thousand dollars to make an individual laugh. Wouldn't you want to know who that individual was?
Imagine a thousand to cook a delicious dinner...
Imagine a thousand to write a song that an individual will love...
Imagine a thousand to write a commercial that an individual will respond to....
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dealing with audience, there are only two methods.
1. Market research
2. Educated guesses
If it is a situation that permits revisions, there is a third method: responding to audience reactions.
This leads to a problem. Crafting something according to an educated guess about the audience makes it very unlikely to create a total flop, bomb, mistake, ineffective piece of work. It also makes it difficult to achieve something truly great, unique, and consequential.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audience analysis is a double-edged sword. Making educated guesses drastically improves the rate of success. Making educated guesses makes genius impossible. The past is our only evidence. If we rely only on evidence, humanity is in trouble in an evolving world.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter ong says the audience is always a fiction.
---------------------------------------------------------
Images for inclusion in the audience powerpoint
animated audience gifs
The Doug Benson joke challenge pictures
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tool Potential Use
Description Spin positive. Spin negative, use emotions, give information
Compare/Contrast Spin positive, spin negative, downplay or intensify
Examples Create a vivid memory. Make a point clear. mythbusting
Monday, February 18, 2013
Nutrition and Health Resources
Lies that Mainstream Nutrition Has Told You
http://io9.com/5984275/the-worst-lies-that-mainstream-nutrition-has-told-you?tag=debunkery
Creepiest Lies the Food Industry Is Feeding You
http://www.cracked.com/article_19896_the-6-creepiest-lies-food-industry-feeding-you.html
Shocking side effects of foods you eat everyday
http://www.cracked.com/article_20177_5-shocking-side-effects-foods-you-eat-every-day.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reputable Sources
Health Benefits of Exercise- The Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
The Center for Disease Control- Benefits of Exercise
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/
Pub Med.gov
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
Healthy or Hype- The Most Misleading Food Labels
http://www.cbsnews.com/8334-504763_162-57449218-10391704/healthy-or-hype-16-most-misleading-food-labels/
Center for Science in the Public Interest
http://www.cspinet.org/
The difficulty in predicting calorie counts- Calorie counts on menus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you think that taste is objective? Can words manipulate taste?
Penn and Teller Bullshit- Bottled Water Video
-----------------------------------------------------
Renamed foods-
Chilean Sea Bass- Patagonian Toothfish
Mahi Mahi- Dolphinfish
Dried plums- prunes
Calamari- Squid
Rocky Mountain Oysters- just look it up
Orange Roughy- slimehead
Freedom Fries- French Fries
Cavier--- Fish Eggs
renaming fruits and veggies with catchy names to convince kids to eat them http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/renaming-fruits-and-vegetables_n_1891562.html
---------------------------------------------------------
Is it all as simple as "calories in/ calories out?"
No. There is the example of the Michael Phelps diet. 12,000 calories a day.
Exercise alone couldn't account for burning that many calories.
Water for 8 hours a day changes the amount of energy your body expands to maintain core temperature.
Need the high science explanation http://www.livestrong.com/article/154168-how-to-lose-weight-with-cold-showers/
Tim Ferriss's idea.- Slow Carb diet
--------------------------------------------------
Genetically modified food
-----------------------------
Rob Wolf- The Paleo Diet
Rich Roll- The Vegan Super Athlete
---------------------------------------------------------
bodybuilding.com
this seems to be an attempt to sell products, but the information seems helpful
livestrong.com
-----------------------------------------------------
http://io9.com/5984275/the-worst-lies-that-mainstream-nutrition-has-told-you?tag=debunkery
Creepiest Lies the Food Industry Is Feeding You
http://www.cracked.com/article_19896_the-6-creepiest-lies-food-industry-feeding-you.html
Shocking side effects of foods you eat everyday
http://www.cracked.com/article_20177_5-shocking-side-effects-foods-you-eat-every-day.html
--------------------------------------------------------------
Reputable Sources
Health Benefits of Exercise- The Mayo Clinic
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676
The Center for Disease Control- Benefits of Exercise
http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/health/
Pub Med.gov
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/
Healthy or Hype- The Most Misleading Food Labels
http://www.cbsnews.com/8334-504763_162-57449218-10391704/healthy-or-hype-16-most-misleading-food-labels/
Center for Science in the Public Interest
http://www.cspinet.org/
The difficulty in predicting calorie counts- Calorie counts on menus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you think that taste is objective? Can words manipulate taste?
Penn and Teller Bullshit- Bottled Water Video
-----------------------------------------------------
Renamed foods-
Chilean Sea Bass- Patagonian Toothfish
Mahi Mahi- Dolphinfish
Dried plums- prunes
Calamari- Squid
Rocky Mountain Oysters- just look it up
Orange Roughy- slimehead
Freedom Fries- French Fries
Cavier--- Fish Eggs
renaming fruits and veggies with catchy names to convince kids to eat them http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/renaming-fruits-and-vegetables_n_1891562.html
---------------------------------------------------------
Is it all as simple as "calories in/ calories out?"
No. There is the example of the Michael Phelps diet. 12,000 calories a day.
Exercise alone couldn't account for burning that many calories.
Water for 8 hours a day changes the amount of energy your body expands to maintain core temperature.
Need the high science explanation http://www.livestrong.com/article/154168-how-to-lose-weight-with-cold-showers/
Tim Ferriss's idea.- Slow Carb diet
--------------------------------------------------
Genetically modified food
-----------------------------
Rob Wolf- The Paleo Diet
Rich Roll- The Vegan Super Athlete
---------------------------------------------------------
bodybuilding.com
this seems to be an attempt to sell products, but the information seems helpful
livestrong.com
-----------------------------------------------------
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