Reflection

Creating this weblog was a new experience to me, as I have never considered starting a blog before and have had no prior experience to blogging. In the beginning it was hard, but as I used the blog more the process became easier. Due to my lack of experience in blogging, I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to have a complicated design so I decided to make my intended audience an older age group. This explains the plain layout and the more formal conversational tone of the blog entries. The standpoint that I adopted as a blogger is a neutral tone, not creating too much biased or putting my own view forward, only in the short paragraphs at the end of each post. My aim was to be informative to the reader, not overcrowd them with just my point of view. I chose bold colours on a white space background, which I think coincide nicely with the chosen image.

I thought overall that making a weblog is seemingly easy once you get the hang of it. There is obviously a lot more that I can learn about blogging. Honestly, it doesn’t really appeal to me as a writer, I would rather see my work published in print, or at least on a professional news website. I don’t think that there’s much respect for the average blogger on blogspot.com in reference to hard news stories, however I do think that it is a good medium where people can express their thoughts and opinions to the wider public. I think it acts more as a public web journal more than anything, and that’s fine if that’s what somebody is looking for.

Woman hit by car is suing Google maps

image: google maps was being accessed on a blackberry

We’ve all heard of the stories where the small man sues a big company for millions, but did we ever think a woman would sue internet mogul Google? It’s possible, but we would have never fathomed these circumstances. Californian woman Lauren Rosenburg is suing Google after claiming their online map service caused her to be run down by a car, not because she was concentrating more on her blackberry than where she was walking.

In an article on ninemsn.com.au, it states that the woman claims the phone advised her to walk along Deer Valley Drive, where she was struck by a car. Was Google providing unsafe directions, or was she just an idiot to not look where she was heading? She blames Google Maps for not warning her about the dangerous highway where she got hit, resulting in severe permanent physical, emotional and mental injuries. However, the plot thickens as a Google Maps warning has been issued on personal computers, and does not appear on mobile handsets. In a wiser move she is planning legal action against the driver of the vehicle.

Personally I think that the woman was in the wrong. Yes today’s society has grown more and more reliant on technology, but use some common sense! Nevertheless, following this unfortunate incident Google Maps should in fact work on presenting the same information on mobile handsets that is available on personal computers, as this information could determine whether somebody gets hit with a car or not.

Unknown, 2010, ‘Woman hit by car blames Google Maps’, ninemsn.com.au, 1 June, viewed 1 June, 2010