Reflection 5

I Mapped the following websites, “Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus” and “Dihydrogen Monoxide” and was I ever taken for a ride! Times 2!

At first glance I thought the website on the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is interesting. The home page is striking. It contains information about a topic that is new to me. And why wouldn’t I believe it?  I don’t have any prior knowledge on tree octopus. The domain indicates it is a network and there is no personal name in the URL. I searched for the main idea, tree octopus, in several search engines and each one took me to the original home page. But, if it wasn’t for the activity in this lesson on Mapping I wouldn’t have known differently.  A research of the website in “Whois” and also into the author led me to learn that the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus is a science fiction parody website that has existed since 1998 whose inventor is an author and web publisher by the name of Lyle Zapato, also known as a hoaxer!

The URL address of “Dihydrogen Monoxide” looks authentic. It ends with “org,” which stands for an organization. Everything about the home page looks real, but, once again, if it wasn’t for this activity on Mapping I wouldn’t have known differently!  After going through the steps outlined in the activity I learned Dihydrogen Monoxide is a synonym for water and the website is based on an urban legend founded by college students and in circulation since 1988. I also learned the host of this website is a Hollywood filmmaker!

This activity makes me think twice about information found in the Internet, but, it gives me the tools I need to authenticate a website from now on.  I am not worried about articles I download from college databases, but I am concerned (and not feeling very confident) about Internet websites I have used in the past to prepare college work.

This activity on Mapping is a must-have tool for any Internet user, starting from Pre-K (not kidding).  Without this knowledge on how to authenticate a website, believing anything is very possible. I am sure the Holocaust and Martin Luther King websites discussed in this activity are only two of the many that exist in the Internet.

My Delicious account is http://www.delicious.com/ygarciaetec524. I am not sure if I correctly linked to Dr. Wickersham, although I clicked on “RSS Network” and I inserted her Delicious account name. I did sign up for various stacks and are shown on my “Feeds,” but once again, I am not sure how this works.

I am in the learning phase for bookmarks. I think websites that become “bookmarks” are invaluable to people who are linked together for the purpose of sharing their bookmarks. Certainly this is another great way to interact in the Internet with people of similar interests.