Cultured Cooking

The project, Cultured Cooking was actually a good project that really caught my attention, and I am not saying that because of the food that was provided. The idea of having people become exposed to different cultures while helping those in the process is actually an amazing idea. As it has been mentioned, there are many Americans who have never truly experienced any other culture outside of what they are accustomed to. For example, this was the very first time that I myself have ever tried a Mexican and Colombian empanada. Not only was it delicious, but it also made a good first impression on their project. The overall project was basically similar to Blue Apron, but for a better cause. The money that is earned will be sent to those in need of food.There would be a country of the month which would determine what type of food would be delivered to your home. Within that theme there would be four meals that would be sent to your home which fall under breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. In addition to that, there are ingredients that are listed that are provided in order for people to know what they are consuming, and if there is something that can’t be eaten, then alternatives are available. Personally, I think this is a great idea, but there are a few concerns I did have.

My first concern was certain ingredients. There may certain countries that serve “unique” dishes that other people would not be willing to try ( trust me, I don’t think many people will be wanting to try warthog anus any time soon).  People can change a few items on the menu, but there can be no significant change or else it would take away from the purpose of the program. I suppose this does make sense since the purpose is to get people to expand their boundaries, but you can’t bring in much money if people won’t want to try it. However, this does sort of prepare those who do want to travel abroad, because there are certain restaurants that won’t appreciate ingredient changes all that much. Aside from that, another concern is cost. I know that some of these ingredients can’t be cheap, especially if there are certain foods that are only in another country. However, foods here ain’t so cheap either. Prices are rising and organics were never something that was of little value. Therefore, I don’t think that $50 bucks a month would cut it. Overall, I still think that it’s a good idea with the for the dauntingly adventurous.

Blame

Catfish. What is a catfish you might be asking? It is a freshwater or marine fish with what school are you barrels around the mouth, typically bottom dwelling. Basically it’s a fish. The meaning of the word changed completely in the 2000s. What is the new meeting meaning you ask? Well a catfish is someone who doesn’t appear the way that they said they were online. It was a lure. They blatantly lie and trick you into a relationships or friendship by means of a fictional online persona. Then the most prominent platform to get catfish is social media. Networks like Facebook, Twitter,or Instagram allow people to hide their true self with the mask of a person. In the documentary, Catfish, you see a woman called Angela manipulating a man named Nev. She uses her daughter to get closer to him. They then proceed to message each other to discuss Angela’s daughter fascination with Nev and the photos he captures. The relationship blossoms into a friendship. Discussions lead to talk about her family life with Nev. He seems to be more comfortable with the family and their life. This leads him to get closer with someone by the name of Meghan. Meghan is supposedly Abby’s older sister. As things started to heat up, the relationship started to get deeper and it turned from friendly to intimate. Nev starts to realize that somethings just don’t add up in the web of lies that the family has spung. However, Nev ultimately decided it is time to meet the family and get to the bottom of these lies. It’s scary really. This is how today’s society really is. We never know if you are a real friend, real person or genuine with your feelings. These situations almost make you scared to become close with anyone. After this documentary, I’m sure the Nev became less trusting of people. With today’s society it is hard for us to truly trust someone. We don’t get close to people so we become detached. And in certain situations we do not know how to react. We often downplay the situation or turn it comical because we don’t know how to react anymore. Society needs to work on this. Maybe it’s from social media. You have this screen that allows you to be anything you want and say whatever you want without consequences because no one knows who you are. We become these giant asshole of people.

Cultured Cooking Review

Cultured Cooking was an absolutely amazing idea, especially since it was inspired by the different people that made the group up. The idea of having a different meal, from a different country every month sounds amazing. Like they started off their project, who doesn't love food? I loved the way they started out with saying that when anyone goes to a different part of the world, or just a different region, the first thing you pretty much do in any country is try out the food, get to know what the people there eat daily. There would be so many options with this idea, there is a variety of countries, and each have a few signature dishes, so it would be a while before they ran out of options. I also enjoyed tasting the dishes they prepared for us to enjoy while they presented, it added a nice little touch to it. Their idea was great in the first place, but it got better when they mentioned that with each "box" that each family purchases, another box goes to another family that is considered to be "low incomed." In this sense not only are people getting to enjoy other food from around the world, but they are also helping lower the hunger statistics. Their website was nice and simple, self-explanatory which was great. 

The front page mentions the country of the month, and what would be included in your box. A neat thing that they would also incorporate past recipes from the past countries to its members. The Website was very simple, but elegant in a way, it wasn't bland. Some of the problems they would run into were discussed, and from this they took suggestions on how they would make that better, or how they would incorporate it into the program.

The presentation of the project was great, each member had equal speaking opportunities, and each were familiar with the project to the best of their knowledge. On the website, there was a page that shared a bit of information about the "founders" of the program, and I found that neat. Everyone got to write a short biography about themselves and read it to the class. They were also pretty good at answering the questions the class provided them with, and they also took suggestions from the class. Overall, I believe this program would be amazing if it were to be up and running once it figures out the minor problems, because like stated before, who doesn’t like food? 

Group Sync

I thought that this was a good presentation. I thought that the group was well prepared and had a lot of useful information. I thought the idea itself was great. I would have never thought of creating an app like that. It was almost an obvious idea but it's not really something people would think about.


There was an issue that I had with the app. I didn't understand how the app could bring together people from other classes. Group projects are specific to each class and the students within that class. So I didn't get how other people from other classrooms (and other schools) could work together on a group project. It just didn't make sense to me. I think the app should be specific to each individual classroom. And then the app will be more successful. I think it would be awesome if I could go on an app and be put in a group based on everyone's skills and personalities. It really is an interesting idea. I also think that the students should be able to be rated by other students.


Overall, I thought this was a good presentation and idea.

Cultured Cooking

This is a great idea and I believe the thought of culturing the world through the dishes and culinary enlightenment from nations worldwide. I do believe that cultured cooking can help solve the larger problem of racial ignorance and prejudice, mainly here in the US and from those across seas. One question that have is how can this prove to culture someone? First ask yourself the question o what is culture? Is it food? Music? Activity? However, personally I love food and even if there was no moral or social issue this was trying to cause I would still support just because of the great food I would be able to try. The PowerPoint and the idea was well-organized and the group was very knowledgeable of their subject and were prepared. I find it fascinating how they were such a diverse group that made a great idea involving something we that we have on a daily basis. The videos they showed were visually pleasing even though it made me super hungry. The food the group prepared was delicious and was great way to introduce their topic. I believe that the food boxes make a great way to outsource cultures to everyone but the 50 dollars a month is too low of a price to start the company off. A more appropriate price just based on the price of maybe the food, shipping, and delivery would be in the $120-170 range and that's probably even with donations and four boxes would just cost too much. Even if they were to partner with local groceries and a combination of donors, that would just be a smaller piece of the larger economic struggles. 4 boxes a month , just like Dr. J said, I also think is a bit excessive and just making the company work harder and lose profit. The fact that for every box someone buys, they would send one to a poverty stricken family in the Memphis area is very wholesome and can alleviate one of the underlying problems in Memphis with kids not having a meal and going to bed hungry.  This was my favorite project and it's a great plan to both better introduce people from foods all around the world , along with the culture behind the food, and help the poor have a nice meal every once in a while.

Nirvana

I think it's great that this group decided to talk about mental disorders. I feel like it's a subject that isn't always talked about and it is dismissed. I really appreciated that they surrounded their entire project on this matter. Anxiety and depression are more common than people realize, and I think it's important to talk about.


Design wise, I think the website could have been a bit better. The background was pretty busy. I think it was way too busy for a web site that is supposed to be calming for people with depression and anxiety. There was just too much going on. I like the idea of having music on the web site. I am an avid music listener and it always helps me when I'm stressed. I also appreciate that the music on the site varied, because not every person will be calm from the same type of music.


I think the group should have focused on depression and anxiety. I don't think that adding information about autism. Because I feel like it wasn't really the appropriate platform for people with that condition to use and benefit from. 

2nd WIn

The second wind presentation was one of my favorites out of the class and I believe with enough work and effort, it could be a real thing to help homeless people not just around Memphis, but nationwide. I know everyday that I drive from my house to campus, I see at least one homeless person usually sitting on a street corner or as I get off/on the interstate begging for anything to help them get by another day. It really is disheartening to see and I try to help with anything I can whether it be spare change, snacks, money or just some kind words. Some of these people are our veterans who fought and risked their lives for the freedom or you and me and I know they deserve more. The second wind program I believe is well thought system that, with a little work, can be great. I say this because it seems to be the case that the program can get jobs and help homeless people both manage and find jobs along with places to stay, but not live. The system overlooks the problem with finding homeless people housing so that they can get a job. The most major problem with people finding jobs are housing. You have to have an address to get employed, otherwise what's the point? Other than that, the idea was extremely nice, well though out and could prove to be beneficial to Memphis area along with places worldwide. The program seems heavily dependent on sponsors and very intricate to say the least. As for the presentation, the group was quite knowledgeable of the subject and a lot of research was done to make this a reality. The video of the homeless couple on S. Parkway helped get a visual interpretation of what homelessness is and a story of a couple in Memphis living it and how the program they have could help them intensely. The group seemed to have thought out what everyone was going to say along with all the avenues on how the system would work except for the finding a home part, but overall was really nice. I feel that this idea tackles a huge and growing issue around America as the poverty rate increases drastically in Memphis, and all around with unemployment still high. This system with little more productivity and research on the behave of the group to find or introduce programs that could also help homeless people finds jobs along with housing could be a million dollar idea that could greater help this country in both dropping unemployment rates and helping people who have fallen have a second wind.

Nirvana Review

Nirvana was a great project that would help people with anxiety disorders, depression, autism, and just stress with all the relaxing techniques they have available on their website. From games to music, and from advice to soliloquies, there's a different range of options that the website offers for not only anxiety, but other disorders as well, such as stress and depression. The idea was great, and I would definitely use this website if I was ever under a significant amount of stress. I thought it was a great way to kind of relax in a way, because it offers different copping methods, whether it be by listening to music, or watching funny videos or videos of puppies, all of which help the person with one of the disorders they mention. If this website were to actually launch, I believe that it would help a lot of people. Also, I would love to learn how they would incorporate autism into the spectrum of the services they would provide to aid with that area. The website was nicely put together, each compartment was organized and had plenty of options to choose from, for example the music portion and videos have a variety of topics or genres for each and every person. 

The group did a pretty good job in presenting even though I feel as if one person did the majority of the talking in the presentation. They all did seem familiar with their project, and they were open to suggestions on how to incorporate things. They did run out of time to present the whole website in a timely manner, but in the end, everything was explained briefly and simply. Over all this project would be a great use, for a good cause. I really enjoyed this project even though one thing I would change about the website would be the background, because it is a bit crazy and distracts the person on the website. The quote of the week was also a clever thing to do, because every now and then people need a bit of positivity in their life. Everything about this project is unique in it's own way, and that's what captured my attention. Also, I like the name choice of the website, it's different. Over all, this group project was one of my favorite ones, it was presented in a nice manner, and provided evidence for their research. 

Group 1

The first group gave an awesome presentation. They were all very well prepared and they presented a great idea. They gave great statics and background information on the way people react to group projects. Some people enjoy group projects while others do not. And how everyone has faced that one person who does not do anything. The person who does all the work or bosses everyone around. Everyone is different so with their app it could help people find someone they actually want to work with.  I also think this app could work for people not working in a group. If you have an individual project to work on ands need help you could use their app to find someone who is also working on the same topic. And you could exchange information. It could also be used to get help on projects or be recommended information that could help you with your project. It's also a great advantage that their websites works worldwide and it is not just limited to a small area. You can also meet new people and essentially make new friends which is most definitely a plus. This group did an amazing job and obviously took the time and effort to come up with this idea.

Cultured Cooking

Cultured Cooking is an awesome idea. At least I think so. We live in a world filled with different cultures from all around. We try food from different backgrounds but don’t actually know the background. Everyone loves food its part of being human. So I believe using food to educate people about different cultures is a great idea. People would be able to enjoy delicious dishes from all around. And at the same time get a brief summary of where the dish originated from. Being able to actually taste something from a different culture while reading about it can stimulate more interest in a person. Educating people about different cultures could be the next step for people to accept cultures other than their own. The US is considered one of the most diverse countries. Yet many people are not opened minded about the people surrounding them and their cultures. People will eat food from different backgrounds but not “accept” the culture and the people who created the food. Food can not change someone’s point of view but hopefully it can start by opening peoples’ eyes. With the help of the food we can help cultures be known.

Although this project is a great idea it does have one problem. The price they have set is essentially to cheap. $50 a month for four boxes would not be sufficient amount to cover all four boxes and to give the unfortunate a box for every box bought. $50 a month would be ideal for one box a month. Vegetables and meats can get very expensive so $50 might barely be sufficient amount to cover one box. And one the one box that is bought I do not believe it would cover the cost for the purchased and given box. That price could be the right price if what you are receiving in the box is only enough for one person but most households have more than one occupant. And is the $50 the final amount or will there also be a shipping and handling fee? Everything about the project was very well thought through except for the fees. Besides the price I believe this project could actually work out and produce a lot of attention. Congratulations to the group for coming up with such an amazing idea!

Cultured Cooking Review

            The cultured cooking project was great! I absolutely loved the food they brought to sample and thought it was a good way to introduce people to a new more culturized way of cooking. I thought of it as an opportunity to tasting all the delicious food you might see on a cooking show, tourist show, or even on social media. It could also help bring people out of their shell by getting them to try new things. They’re presentation, power point, and website was well organized and there was only one concern as to how the cost would supposedly cover 4 boxes of food. Other than that, it was a good idea of theirs as well for them to deliver some of their food boxes to homeless shelters/food kitchens so none of the food would go to waste. In addition, I liked their promotion that they offered in which a family would buy one box and they would give a low income family a box of food as well! 

Helping Hands

Helping Hands was a great presentation. Nationwide, we have a ton of single fathers that don't get enough attention as they should. Most people just think of single moms trying to raise children, but it's also the fact that single fathers are now facing those issues as well. I think Helping Hands is definitely a great start to that idea. There's a lot that could be added, but I think their current additions to the idea are really great. The fact that there is a resource for dad's to go on and chat with other dads, get some help from the government, and get advice from the website is definitely a great benefit.

Nirvana Review

The third group caught my attention with their focus on the mental health awareness of people. Not many people truly understand a person with mental health issues and how they cope with it. My sister has anxiety and I didn’t quite know how she actually felt about things and why she acted the way she did because to me she was being dramatic all the time or overreacting to little things. Thanks to some research I’ve learned how to help her deal with it. I felt like Nirvana was a really good project to help give people an insight as to how people live with mental illnesses.

             I felt like the whole group was good at doing their job even if they didn’t get to meet together. The project was very well organized, and it had lots of funny memes. There was too much information on their slides and they did handle criticism very well. 

PLACES App

The PLACES app presentation was really great. The fact that it could help prevent child abductions is definitely a great benefit. I think it will be of great use for parents who are worried about their kids, and they can see their location, see if a predator is in their area, etc. I think overall that the presentation went really well, and that they definitely worked out many kinks that would normally be in an app like that. They chose to hide the transponder in a necklace or watch, which is discrete and normally not thought of tracking someone. I think the fact that there is no real age limit, leaving that to the parents, is also a good idea.

2nd WIn

2nd Win is designed to help reintroduce homeless people, veterans, and low-economic status people back into society. The link for our PowerPoint, Website, and App is down below.

Check out our PowerPoint!

2nd Win App!

2nd Win Website!

Smiley

Project Smiley was one of the projects we had in class that was the idea that students could get more involved with other students while they were in school.  I think it smart to only center around college students because frankly, high school may be hard, but college is harder, especially here at CBU. I do think that this website that acts on a blog post will be used to cheat most likely. Still the idea is good to get students who sometimes cannot make it to class for whatever the reason. The website or blog system I would think would be used correctly at the beginning of its origin but somehow, don't know how, but someone will figure out a way to use it for something it wasn't meant for. The idea of having our professors have access to it is smart and something that should take into action, like Dr. J said, if it were real she could give access to some of her powerpoints and I think other teachers would as well because they just want the student to do well. In the terms of using it to cheat, that might be an issue to the builders of the project, but I don't think the professors could figure that out or if they would even care about it. Most teachers aren't worried because if a student is going to cheat they will find a way to do it no matter what, and also most professors just need you to get a good grade and they aren't too worried on how you are doing that. Smiley is a good idea and could possibly, or might be already, something to create and actually operate for students to get in touch with each other. This project is one of my tops, I agree that sometimes things come up so it is hard to get to class so to have access to other students and the notes and it’s a quick easy way to get them can be very helpful and any or every point in college. Smiley is also a cute name for this project I really appreciate the creativity there.  

IDroid

Helping Hands sounds like a very resourceful tool. I saw the struggles that my mother went through as a single mother and occasionally saw the struggles that my father went through when he was left with the tasks of raising us for a few days or weeks. I have seen firsthand the difficulties would be even greater as a single father. Many preparation tools exist for single mothers on how to cope with the problems that come along with it. Not many of those resources exist for single fathers. Therefore, the struggles are even greater because there is no preparation tool. The group for this project was extremely helpful as well since they had good experience with being raised by a single father. This really gave those who had no prior knowledge of being raised that way insight on being raised by a single father.

The information and statistics provided also gave a new prospective on single fathers. Most people stereo typically think that when parents’ divorce, the mother gets custody rights. Unfortunately, that trend has been on the serious decline. More and more fathers are becoming the sole guardian of the children. And that doesn't seem to be changing. That's where this can come in handy. How can you become learned in something that neither you nor most fathers have the experience in to share? Therefore, turn to this tool. This allows fathers the opportunity to receive information that is tested and can not only help raise their children, but cope with the stress and other emotions that deal with it. Let’s admit, most parents don't know how to raise a daughter because they were raised as a son. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction.

Helping Hand Review

Helping Hands sounds like a very resourceful tool. I saw the struggles that my mother went through as a single mother and occasionally saw the struggles that my father went through when he was left with the tasks of raising us for a few days or weeks. I have seen firsthand the difficulties would be even greater as a single father. Many preparation tools exist for single mothers on how to cope with the problems that come along with it. Not many of those resources exist for single fathers. Therefore, the struggles are even greater because there is no preparation tool. The group for this project was extremely helpful as well since they had good experience with being raised by a single father. This really gave those who had no prior knowledge of being raised that way insight on being raised by a single father.

The information and statistics provided also gave a new prospective on single fathers. Most people stereo typically think that when parents’ divorce, the mother gets custody rights. Unfortunately, that trend has been on the serious decline. More and more fathers are becoming the sole guardian of the children. And that doesn't seem to be changing. That's where this can come in handy. How can you become learned in something that neither you nor most fathers have the experience in to share? Therefore, turn to this tool. This allows fathers the opportunity to receive information that is tested and can not only help raise their children, but cope with the stress and other emotions that deal with it. Let’s admit, most parents don't know how to raise a daughter because they were raised as a son. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction.

Idroid Review

Dear God, throw it away. I-droid, in theory, could work. Yes there exists the "3 Laws of Robotics" that aren't actually established laws, but we know humans. Robots CANNOT replace humans. Robots are programmed to know what they know. They don't have human capacity. So these "Perfect machines" can only progress as far as we PROGRAM them. I-Droid is the WORST way to fix world problems. Firstly, this is not going to fix overpopulation. Yes, you can hump a robot that sounds and feels like the real thing, but how many men with a large ego are ACTUALLY going to give up real females for synthetic skin? If that was the case, self-pleasure tools would have fixed that problem long ago. Then, most children aren't even born because the husband wouldn't wrap it up. Some are born for tax and welfare benefits, some are born because for the sole purpose of work, and some are even born so the parent has a higher chance of having a successful child. Robots cannot fix this. Second, robot brothels are just creepy and unhealthy. All those fluids in one place? Gross. And imagine being the person whose job is to clean up after those things. That is ABSOLUTELY disgusting. The only robot I could see being useful are the robot assistants, They are more efficient thatn actual humans and are actually "robotic', which means here to do something over and over again without thinking. Sex robots should just be trashed. If you can't get any play, then you should probably just step your game up and stop hugging the wall at every party you go to. Confidence is key. And if you feel more confident around metal and fake flesh instead of real skin and bone and warmth and a real beating heart, then you belong at the NSA instead of with society. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE technology. But never once has it crossed my mind to make love to my computer hard drive. Seriously, get out the house. Make some friends. Get a life. And Japan, stop being so creepy about women. They've contributed to the world just as much if not more than men. So just let them live and you wouldn't have to turn jamming yourself in your auxiliary port for pleasure. Weirdos. Just please, throw the whole project away. It's weird.

Pantry Vending

Pantry Vending

Pantry Vending is smart idea to feed the hungry and the less fortunate. I feel that eating healthy is very important and even better for the less fortunate, because it gives them a chance to eat healthy as well. The idea of having healthy food items in a vending machine is unique. It's also a very considerate idea compared to various donation companies that are already out. The idea of having a vending machine is very considerate for those who may be embarrassed or ashamed to be less fortunate and not have as much food. With this being a vending machine, how would a lot of people know about this. How will they gain more knowledge of how they can eat healthy and for what prices. Therefore, I don't recommend that this be a discrete idea. There are too many people that do not eat every day for this to be discrete. These Pantry Vending machines need to be everywhere, especially in rural areas. If many people don't know about this service, then this would be irrelevant and not very helpful. In today's society people are already embarrassed of receiving any type of helpful aid. With this machine services, I feel that people wouldn't mind using, due to people's lack of knowledge of others knowing what they are doing at a vending machine. The machine will increase one's confidence knowing they can't be judged knowing their life is different from others. This machine needs a lot of information that can be hard to acquire which is why this is going to be very impactful in the world. I do have a lot of questions, like how much food is going to be distributed from the machine? How much food is one allowed to receive from the machine? Exactly what foods would be distributed from the machine? How would the machine know who's who and their economic background and situations? It's a lot more research that I feel needs to be required in order for this idea to be a success. Overall, I feel as if this idea in general is amazing. To even think of such an idea says a lot about how considerate the creators are. With more research and business partners, this idea could be next level. I really want to see this in the future. The outcome of this idea could shape the world in various ways. 

Helping Hands Review

Helping Hands sounds like a very resourceful tool. Though I have no prior experience being raised by a single father, I saw the struggles that my mother went through as a single mother. I can only imagine that the difficulties would be even greater as a single father. Many preparation tools exist for single mothers on how to cope with the problems that come along with it. Not many of those resources exist for single fathers. Therefore, the struggles are even greater because their is no preparation tool. The group for this project was extremely helpful as well since they had good experience with being raised by a single father. This really gave those who had no prior knowledge of being raised that way insight on being raised by a single father.

The information and statistics provided also gave a new prospective on single fathers. Most people stereo typically think that when parents divorce, the mother gets custody rights. Unfortunately, that trend has been on the serious decline. More and more fathers are becoming the sole guardian of the children. And that doesn't seem to be changing. That's where this can come in handy. How can you become learned in something that neither you nor most fathers have the experience in to share? Therefore, turn to this tool. This allows fathers the opportunity to receive information that is tested and can not only help raise their children, but cope with the stress and other emotions that deal with it. LEt's admit, most parents don't know how to raise a daughter because they were raised as a son. That's what they know. They can only raise their daughter on what not to do because they know what they don't want their daughters to do. This is not an effective way to raise a girl up. This tool can help guide them in the right direction.

Helping Hands

Helping hand is a website designed for single fathers to lean on when they are in need of help of their children, mainly daughters. Growing up without your mother is a hard thing to do, due to the fact that your major points in life involve your mom. Without your mom, you’re still lucky to have your dad. Although dad’s don’t know how to handle every situation or how to react to every situation and that’s what the website is made for. Additionally, the Helping Hand service has cons to it. First off, Helping Hands may not fit every family because every family is different. Helping Hands hits the broad key points for fathers and their families on the other hand some father’s just may give up if things don’t go right. I personally enjoy the website Helping Hands because it is not only a guide by also it allows the father to know he is not the only one in the predicament by himself. No one should ever feel alone in a citation and no child should ever feel like they can’t talk to their parent.

Pantry Vending

Pantry vending will defeat a nationwide issue, poverty. Pantry vending in my opinion is a very creative and unique way to help those who are in need. I feel as if the pantry has the right restrictions for those who like to become selfish and not think of others when it comes to food. On the other hand, my only concern is for those who won’t have transportation to the vending machine or the store. For those who are really in need, have no electricity, no transportation should be involved in the same opportunity as the others. The fact that the machine will be shatter proof is another great idea for those who again like to be selfish and want everything for themselves. Like the group stated in their presentation, another concern they would have is the consistent amount of food they would have coming in for the store and the machine. Due to the fact, you can’t always depend on the community to provide for your business.

Project Smiley

Project Smiley is a website that is set up to help students specifically at CBU with their classwork and homework. I think that this is a great idea and could definitely be useful to the school. As of now, the way the website works is that any one can comment on the home page asking for help on assignments or sign up for a tutoring session. I like the fact that the group is working towards making the log in attached to the students ID number. I think that this cite would work better if they we're to directly partner with the schools tutoring schedule so that people can make sure they are getting help from qualified people. The main concern with the website it figuring out how to stop people from abusing the website for cheating. One way to maybe decrease the chance of people posting photos directly on the cite is to only allow typed notes to be posted. This might lower the number of people who use the cite but it could make it a more credible place to go. It would also be useful to make it to where people could make groups for their classes. That way when there is a certain class that not many people are taking, you can directly ask your classmates. It might also be a good idea to go to the professors for suggestions on the youtube videos over course materials. As discussed in class, some of the things taught online is not the way a professor will teach it in class. You definitely don't want students trying to blame your website on bad grades or other students will not think its a good tool to use. Another think mentioned in class is that students can ask questions anonymously. I think this is a good feature because sometimes people want to go to a specific person for answers but are to embarrassed to do so. On the other hand, if you were to take that feature away, students seeing other students openly ask questions could potentially encourage them to o the same. This would be helping students not only with their work but also eliminating their reasons to be embarrassed to ask fro help. I think that this is a good idea because of how much help it would bring to students but keep in mind it requires lots and lots of administrative regulation.

Pantry Vending

With our group projects throughout the last couple of weeks, one of my favorite ones was the project called Pantry Vending. The project is based on trying to end or at least decrease the families in poverty who cannot afford food. This idea is very smart since being based in Memphis there are many families below the poverty line. I think it is so true what Erica spoke of during her part, that even those who need help are sometimes too scared to ask for helping, so the idea of making the machine a common thing so people won't feel anxious using it. Having a finger print scanner is smart too since obviously if you were to use like a certain card or id, people could just share them all the time and try to trick the system. The big issue on the table would be how to make sure the machines will not be broken into, Nick mentioned that they were be like plated to the ground which is smart but no matter what the security I think some way or another someone will try and succeed. I think this project was one of the better ones in our class and also this kind of thing does exist, or at least I don't know anything equivalent, so I think Pantry Vending is something that could actually happen and be a successful way to come close to ending poverty. During the presentation it blew my mind that the poverty line is around 26,000 dollars for a family of four, when you think about it after taxes and paying for water, electricity, heat, etc. there really isn't much left over to feed the entire family with that kind of income and it's heartbreaking to know that even here in our city that it is the case with some families. I also really like the idea that the vending machine won't only have junk food but actually have healthy items so then people aren't abusing the machine and when they are using it they are getting the things they really need when that sort of thing may not be provided to them. If possible I think Pantry Vending should happen or at least try to happen for the families, not even in Memphis, but everywhere around the country, this is something that could actually help the world around us and something good would most likely come out of it. This idea of ending poverty is something the country should take ore seriously and start taking actions on it yesterday.

Thoughts on Helping Hands

I really liked the idea of Helping Hands. I was surprised to find out that there was not a service like this for single fathers, especially when you consider the amount of ones out there for single mothers. I feel like this is definitely important and needed because guys sadly just are not raised the same way that girls are and they aren't taught to be nurturing, they really just start learning once they have their own kid and they learn through their spouse in a way. But if they are a single father, than there is really no way for them to learn how to do it; this Helping Hands service would actively work to eliminate this issue. It's also going to become increasingly important as more states and their governments start becoming less biased towards parental gender in court; we talked about this recently in my Sociology class, some states such as Tennessee are pretty good in giving rights to the father, but even in those states that rarely give rights to the father, we are seeing a change in those numbers, meaning more and more fathers are getting custody more frequently. As we move forward, I can only assume that the amount of single fathers with primary custody will continue to rise as well as the need for a service similar to Helping Hands.  One thing that I definitely think needs to be implemented which was brought up in the presentation was the inclusion of a forum for single fathers where fathers can ask questions that they don't know the answer to and it can be answered by other single fathers who might have had to deal with the exact same situation, or at least a similar one. Granted, I have never made a website or a forum of any kind to say the least, but I wouldn't imagine that it would be that hard, especially since you already have the foundation for it in your website and would only need to add the feature to it. If this was implemented, I could see Helping Hands really become a household name to single fathers. Another thing  that I wanted to add that's not related to the website or service necessarily is kudos to the group for going first and still doing a wonderful job. I definitely think that this group set the bar high and did one of the stronger presentations even when they had to go first and had no one else to go off of. Overall, good job on the project and the presentation!

On Target with College Central

As a college student it is very hard being involved in most college community events. The reason being that i never know when stuff is happening. Because of this I have trouble working around my work schedule. I think college central would be a great idea if it was actually released. An all in one platform for college campuses is something that should have been done years ago but here we are with like 3 different websites that we have to log into everyday. If the creators of college central could implement a way for me to input my school and work schedule and then notify me for events that i could attend that would be great.

The book trading feature of the website is a nice idea but i don't think it could be a possibility of saving money right now. Classes are always requesting the newest version of the book and sometimes books come with access codes for an online activity that if bought alone cost almost the same as the books. So unless colleges start to move away from  publishing companies that rip students off i don't see book trading as a possibility. 

The study group idea would be great for me personally because i can never seem to organize enough people to study with. the study group feature could even help freshman students meet new people in there major and help them make new friends. This is probably one of the best features of college central because it is completely student based and voluntary. 

The events feature of the website is a good idea but i feel that it still needs some work. The way in which people sign up for events lends itself to be full of irrelevant and fake events. there should be a verification process  to make sure that there are no bogus events. There should also be someway of organizing group outings to certain events  since most people don't want to go to an event by themselves. 

The food feature of the app was in my opinion unnecessary and just provided filler. The school would have to be on board to make cafeteria food better and that doesn't seem likely. Its nice that the page shows deals of the day at restaurants but as college students most of us are trying to save money. Going out to eat seems like it goes against that.

College central is great idea overall. If colleges implemented a one stop shop for everything college based there would be less confusion, more involvement, and most importantly, less passwords!

Thoughts on Pantry Vending

I really liked the idea of Pantry Vending. I feel like it would help a lot of people in metropolitan areas like Memphis if this were to become a real organization. One thing that surprised me was the technical income level you need to be at in order to be considered impoverished; I would've thought it would be higher because while basically no one can live decently off of the income level associated with poverty, basically no one can live comfortably even if you are above it by a couple thousand. So I definitely think that the income level in which you can be considered impoverished should be changed or the federal government should have classifications of impoverishment based off income, location, and how many you need to provide for. Another reason I liked the idea of Pantry Vending was because the poverty levels are only going to continue to rise.We discussed it in class when we were talking about Karl Marx and it definitely seems like it's the way we're headed. So as more and more people presumably more impoverished, this would be an increasingly more helpful tool, especially in regards to eliminating the stigma associated with receiving help in this sort of way; I say this because as more and more people become impoverished and the poverty rate rises, more people who were once moderately financially stable will have to start getting help, so eliminating this social stigma will benefit so many people. One thing that was brought up in class was where to put these vending machines. I think that the best place to put the vending machines would be in churches. Since this would currently be a Memphis based organization and you can't drive five minutes down the road without running into a church, I feel like it would definitely be the best option. Not only would most, if not all, churches be willing to go through with this idea, but it would also be another source for donations. If you were partnered with churches, you could also put a drop box near the vending machines in the churches so that members of the church could easily and directly donate to the organization rather than have to drive to the store location. Overall, I really liked the idea and wouldn't be surprised if this became an actual organization as the need for this type of service is only going to keep rising.

KeCa Review

I found that KeCa was a very helpful app to help with stress and anxiety but I also felt that I could have done most of that on notes on my iPhone. KeCa said that it could help with anxiety but simple things like making a checklist of things I need to accomplish could've been done on my phone. blogging or posting my daily activities could have been also done on a regular social media page like Facebook or Instagram. The only thing that caught my attention was that you can talk to a therapist to help overcome the anxiety that you are dealing with at that moment. KeCa can help but what also confused me was how they were going to use ads to pay for there app. I didn't like the idea of how they were going to help pay for the app but it is understandable that the people who are talking to the people going through the anxiety attack have to get paid. The colors of the app are very soothing colors but the setup was something that I didn't like it looked messy and unorganized. The KeCa logo and meaning is very pretty and nice to hear something almost fancy. The feature that KeCa added by being able to listen to music while being in the app looks very useful and was very thought out. KeCa could help someone out with anxiety and help overcome many obstacles especially with social anxiety helping someone come out of there shell. Me personally a person who dealt with social anxiety in high school would feel that an app couldn't help with my problems I would have to go out on my own and deal with the problems that I had. In college, i have gone through many breadowns and the only way to calm myself down was through music KeCa comes with that feature and also having the feature to upload my own was very thoughtful. Even though I had many bad things to say about the app I overall liked the project it was one of few that made sense. KeCa was very well presented and even though it had some mistakes it was still very well presented adding in educational videos helped us understand anxiety even better. Overall the colors and the music feature and also the ability to speak to a professional was something that I loved about the app.

Helping hands discussion

Helping hands the project about helping single fathers households. This group really nailed it on the head with this one. This is becoming more and more of a problem in the united states. More and more dads are getting custody of the moms these days in court.  I think the way they set up their website was very creative into those three sections. “Lifestyle Assistant and Future” The website list ways they think are the best ways things should be done when parenting. Parenting is probably the hardest thing most people will have done in their life and websites like this will make it easier for single father households to thrive with websites like this. The websites have a whole page dedicated to ways to build relationships between the parent and the kid. It wasn’t the same for each gender too. The website breaks it down by what gender your child is. Showing what to do based on the gender is so much smarter. We both know boys and girls don’t operate the same way, so the way you would bond with either of them would be different.

I should it was cool when the group presented how they used their stories to help sell the website. Just how the problems they had faced when they were growing up with single fathers and how each problem relates exactly back to one of the points on their website. The lifestyle page is what a lot of Americans need to use apparently. The lifestyle page gives a bunch of tips of things to go to, places to join where your child can exercise and stay in the best shape. Stating pleas like the boys and girls club of Memphis. The group also listed the Kroc on their website. I think the Kroc is a good one to say because I see tons of kids there after school when I’m trying to play basketball. They are so many kids out there it is almost impossible to do anything. The group could have put the first tee program in Memphis on there. The first tee will help children in almost every aspect growing up.

               The assistant page with the health care options is a game changer too. Healthcare cost single parents a lot of money and any way they can save on that is amazing. The activities listed for families to do is a pretty good list of top things to do in Memphis if you are a kid

P.L.A.C.E.S. discussion

The PLACES device would be a great idea to tackle child abductions all over the world. I was surprised by what makes you qualify as a sexual offender. Kids are kidnapped every forty seconds. The designs for the necklace and bracelet the app is very cool. You can track your kid in compression to where sexual offenders stay at. I really loved the one click calling that is there to help you out in sticky situations. Thought it was funny how the group said they accidentally called 911 twice just using the app and getting used to it.

            The useful links tab on the app is very useful too. Allows you to get access to a plethora of resources from just one click in the app. I think the necklaces and bracelets will be a good idea. I think they will sell across the US if the price is right for the people to buy it with.  One of the problems one family could face is that their kid might forgot to put on his device before the leave the house that day. This program also alienates sexual predators who try to come back to American society from prison. The good thing though is that the device looks like somethings kids would wear. The device doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. One thing that can come wrong from this is parents abusing the tracking system and taking it to a whole another level.

            I think this device has the potential to make change across the US. All it takes is one predator to snatch a kid while he is wearing one of these. The success stories will sell the item itself. I think the map is the best aspect of the whole app. It lets you track your kid along with see where the predators are at. It shows on the map the houses of the predators. It will alert you when your kid is so close to a sexual predator. The app could be a nuisance too. Imagine if your kid went to a festival or just the fair. The app would be blowing up left and right alerting you about all the sexual predators around your kid.  If they wanted something serious they would need the app to be available on more than just the android platform. Look for a partnership with the government was listed in the future additions slide and that is a sketchy thing to do

Pantry Vending

Review of Pantry Vending

One of the projects that caught my attention was that of the Pantry Vending. This start-up idea was aimed at fixing the problem of hunger that is caused by poverty. The idea behind this is all in good faith, and I can definitely see this helping the local community here in the city of Memphis. There really isn’t anywhere you can go without seeing the problem of hunger effecting someone, even if it is just one person. I a lot of positives about this, which I will cover in this article, but before I do that, I want to take the time to discuss the issues that can arise with this.

I know that one of the things that was stated was how the actually vending machine that would provide the food would be bolted down to the ground tor prevent theft, and the glass that would be on the machine is intended to be shatter proof. While those are good precautions to take, one major problem that would still arise is the fact that some people will still go to great lengths to take the contents of the machine. There have been plenty of instances where somewhere has taken a truck or car, hooked it up to a machine whether it was a vending machine or ATM, and used it to pull the machine out of the ground. Some people have even been braving enough to drive their vehicle into the machine. Another situation is dividing the food amongst possible consumers fairly. One of the things decided about this was that the application form would provide a section asking how large your family was. Obviously one thing that can happen would simply lying about how many people they would be feeding. I think a solution to this problem would be creating a check-up division of your company. Have a number of people check out the applications that have been filled out in person. Go visit the addresses given and see the situation in question. Have a representative check the status of these homes and decide if they very well need the service as they have requested.

I really liked that there will be a possible connection with churches. I think that keeping this idea locked together with faith will encourage many people across the city to want to help out with the cause, and even donate food to Pantry Vending.

College Central

website-https://donterriotate.wixsite.com/collegecentral

presentation-https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1egIWsiDRJdz-qCTDHg07UcWOFQleXUbKz8nlv_lTKzI

app-https://snappy.appypie.com/index/app-download/app_id/e11ccc00c7ff

Pantry Vending

Pantry Vending is a company that is working towards solving the issue of hunger among people in need. They plan to set up vending machines around areas where many of their customers live and stock the vending machines with foods and medicines that average families need in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. They way that it would be set up is that you would have to sign up and fill out an application with information about your financial status and the Amout of people that need to be fed. Then, with a finger print scanner on the vending machines, you would be able to access foods based off your needs. The vending machines would be able to withstand break ins so that food is not stole. This group also talked about partnering with the city or with nonprofits/ churches for the location of their vending machines. I think the idea of pairing with churches would be the best option since they are welcoming areas and the feeling of embarrassment might be diminished because of the atmosphere. Another idea that they talked about incorporating in the future is going beyond what the national poverty line is. I believe in their power point they talked about how an income of 25,000 dollars was considered above the poverty line when in reality this isn't anything. It would be crucial to extend this aid to families who make more than this especially depending on how many children they have. I think that the limit should definitely be above $25,000.
This is also something that I think you guys could easily expand to different states. I think this idea is very do-able and something that would catch on quick. The only problem I see with this is that people could potentially abuse it. I am not sure how you guys would be able to make sure that a person really does have a certain amount of kids rather than just making an excuse to get more food. In the long run however you guys would still be fixing a bigger problem and making a huge impact.
Future additions could be to make the vending machine compatible for foods that need to be refrigerated. I know that have refrigerated food would also mean more potential to run into legal problems if people get sick from the foods they receive from these vending machines but there might be some way to make sure that the fridge part of this vending machine doesn't malfunction.
Overall it was my favorite project and I think you guys did an awesome job!

Project Smiley Review

Project Smiley is a very useful tool. As a current high school student, I know that we are, in a way, forced to interact with each other. We think "Hey, if we're gonna be stuck in this class with each other, we might as well get familiar with each other." You sort of see the same faces over and over again and get used to them, so know who you can go to for help. From these past two years of being a DE Student, I know that it is different. THere are hundreds of faces at school and they change each semester. So you don't have to get too accustomed to seeing the same faces all day everyday. Since "The Smart Kid" changes every few months you no longer have the go-to. This is what I feel like Project Smiley aims to fix. This generation feels more comfortable asking questions on social media platforms than face to face these days. For the time being, asking anonymously can help because yes they can judge, but who are they actually judging if you are asking anonymously? They don't know. However, at the end of the day you still get your answer.

For the most part, I only have suggestions for the tool. The first one would be to have it work in a sort of way like moodle works. It has it's home site, but then it has thousands of other schools registered to that specific school. That is sort of what Project Smiley should work towards. This way students can be sure that they are asking students from THEIR school in THEIR class. This will greatly stop miscommunication and false information. Another suggestion would be to coordinate with the student directory from each school that registers under the website. This way, students would sign up with their student I.D. and there would already be a basic profile in place for them. This would decrease spam users to the website and kill off many forms of bullying because students and admin of the site know EXACTLY who is causing trouble. However, we all know that with a site like this, there is always the possibility of cheaters, and you can't stop them all. But through regular admin checks throughout the site, a great deal of it can be prevented. Overall, Project Smiley is a great invention and a resourceful tool for the future.

Pantry Vending Review

Pantry Vending was, in essence, an excellent solution to the issue of hunger. We can all admit that while food programs like SNAP (Food Stamps) are in place, the practice of using them are not heavily regulated. Just about anyone can use the food card if they know the PIN number and have an available balance. Pantry Vending ACTUALLY provides a viable solution to that problem.

Requiring the actual weight and pressure of a fingerprint that is unique to that person and that person only prevents the problem that a card w/ PIN comes with. Even though a fingerprint can be stolen, with multiple people using the machine in a day, one solid fingerprint cannot be stolen. The Vending Machine-style vendor could present a few problems. With everyone being able to see what's inside the machine, what's truly going to stop them from going breaking in? The truth of the matter is, Memphis and other surrounding areas have a very large crime rate, and people will not hesitate to take something if they are met with no resistance. I know, because I work at Family Dollar and we have people steal things at least 4 times a day and it gets tiresome trying to do my job and watch for shoplifters. How can you be sure that the volunteers do their job correctly? With this being a non-profit, their is no financial gain for the volunteers, which means they are doing this out the kindness of their heart. But, what happens when that kindness is replaced with laziness? Some vending machines may go un-stocked. Most vending machines are constantly stocked because they are paid to do so. Money is their motivation. If the volunteers are not as dedicated are others, machines in various zip codes will go unstocked, leaving families that needed that vending machine hungry and unsure how they will feed their family. Which brings me to my third point: Zoning. From what was described, you will assign families to a vendor based on their zip code. I believe it's safe to assume that the vending machine will be restocked based on how many families in that area use Pantry Vending. Therefore, how will you prevent zone crossovers? Will there be a fail-safe feature that prevents that thumbprint from being accessed in that are code? These are just potential problems in an idea that could help thousands of families.

Project Smiley

            Project Smiley gave a refreshing update to Khan Academy, as they discussed in class. It was one of my favorite ideas discussed in class, as it is extremely beneficial to college students. I feel as if this project, if brought to the right people could wind up being a huge grade saver to all college students around the country, as this team brings all subjects together and provides great recourses that many people definitely need.

            One of my favorite parts of the project was the recourses page, as they had tons of classes listed and each link led to a useful video. Those videos, and PowerPoints that would be added, are an amazing tool in order to keep students on top of business while outside of the class. I feel like there’s a lot that could be added there too. Obviously, this is just a quickly created website and won’t have everything perfectly together, but I would like to see some new additions to this page in the future. The main addition would more dropdown tabs, which would give more specific examples of what to look for under each subject page.

            I liked the forum that people can ask questions on. It makes dealing with customer service so much easier, as it gives the users direct access to employees and other people who are capable of answering. I feel like being able to reach out to someone and ask questions personally is something that makes this website stand out over any other similar business that has already been made, such as Khan Academy. This serves such an amazing purpose to all users, and provides such easy access to help, which is something that most users want anyways.

            I really liked this presentation a lot. I definitely would see myself using this if it were able to get up and running. Though I do not know the moral issue that this is covering, it is still such a cool and unique idea. I appreciate how you all used something that has already been done, but you improved it so much and turned it into something so functional that I could actually see colleges and universities implementing it into their daily lives in the near future. Once again, I have said this too many times, but I still love the idea of allowing people to direct message ande get in touch with qualified individuals in order to get better and more personal answers to questions.