Technology
The Extensive Influence of Campus Cybersecurity
Some university students reflect on their encounters with cyber threats in a digital connectivity landscape. Ayesha, a 4th-year Biological Sciences student, recalls a campus-wide cyber-attack during the summer of 2022 that disrupted the university's main web pages. "The recent attacks in the hospitals reminded me of when I was in the middle of my summer semester a year ago. The campus cyber-attack impacted the university's main web pages as well as Uwinsite. It was very frustrating as I could not access essential information for my courses and tuition." Christian Pitre, a Biochemistry alumnus, experienced challenges during the same campus cyber-attack.
UWindsor Students Create Windsor-Specific Meme Accounts to Cheer Up Community in Covid Times
What do you get when you put together a pandemic, the ensuing social isolation and boredom, and Internet-savvy college students? Memes, of course. Assuming you don’t live under a rock, you have surely noticed that a variety of meme accounts lightly poking fun at the University of Windsor and the city of Windsor have recently cropped up on social media. These accounts have garnered the attention of thousands of students and Windsorites alike and have provided an outlet for lighthearted fun in these desolate times. The Lance reached out to the creators behind these accounts to learn why they decided
Being @arthoejoe_ : How a First-Year Art Student at UWindsor Gained InstaFame from her K-pop-Inspired Art
Joe is just your regular 18-year-old. She’s a first-year student at the University of Windsor in the Concurrent Visual Arts and Education program. She’s a big fan of Korean music, especially K-pop. She loves to create colorful pieces of art featuring her favorite artists, or ‘idols’ as they are typically known within the Korean music community. She has an Instagram account by the username of @arthoejoe_ where she shares her colorful creations with the world. Oh, and by the way, she has an Instagram following of about 40,000 people. A year ago, Joe also created an Etsy shop by the
Zoom-Trolling: A Weapon for Discrimination or a Tool for Social Change?
Rather than a mere tool for playing pranks or a weapon to spread obscenity and hatred, Zoom-trolling is simultaneously a new, accessible, and powerful tool of civil disobedience.
Some of the Most Underrated Science Electives for Non-Science Majors at UWindsor
As part of their degree requirements, most humanities and social science students at UWindsor are required to take at least two science courses. Just when you thought you had finally escaped science after getting your grade 10 SNC2D credit in high school, your postsecondary institution has swooped in and required you to once again face the world of numbers, cells and atoms! Based on personal experience, I find that most non-science students at UWindsor opt for the same science electives—usually Introduction to Astronomy I and II (PHYS-1000 and PHYS-1010), Computer Concepts for End-Users (COMP-1047), and Natural Hazards and Disasters (ESCI-1000).
UWindsor’s Student Content Creators: In Conversation with Linden Crain, Carly Coombe, and Hope Monaco
Unbeknownst to many students at UWindsor, they may be crossing paths with Internet-famous content creators in their very own school’s hallways. To discover more about what it’s like to be a student and digital creator, I reached out to UWindsor's very own Linden Crain, creator and host of the Coffee with Crainer podcast, Carly Coombe, the bookstagrammer behind Beauty n’ Her Books, and Hope Monaco, the food blogger behind Local Plant Eater. What kind of media brands do these students run? What got them into media in the first place? How do they juggle being a student and digital creator? Let’s find out!
The Rise of Discord Among Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic roughly a year and a half ago, students have had to get creative to connect with others and make friends. Lockdowns, social distancing mandates, and the transition from in-person to mainly online schooling at various colleges and universities, including UWindsor, have precluded young people from socializing with their peers in person. However, Discord, the online chatting platform, seems to have afforded them a viable alternative. THE DISCORD ORIGIN STORY According to the company, Discord was originally created in 2015 as a platform where gamers could build communities and chat but has since attracted
Screens Seen as Potentially Dangerous, Addictive
by: Mitch Stewart That screen? The one you’re watching now. Or that other one, on your phone? Or the one you’ll watch later? It turns out mom was right, all these screens in modern life may really be rotting your brain. Researchers at University College London have proposed that excessive screen time can be a contributor to dementia in people over the age of 50. “Research suggests that television is a bit of unusual activity for the brain because you’ve got lots of bright and fast-moving images so your brain is very alert,” explained Dr. Fancourt from the UCL Institute
Growing up online: the detrimental impact on children
by: Mitch Stewart As the pandemic continues to keep us locked down, what’s the harm in a little extra screen time? “Just like using substances, it activates that same reward section in your brain,” said Sheri Ongena, a Registered Social Worker with Family Counselling and Support Services in Guelph, Ontario. “You literally become addicted to being on screens.” Ongena also has her own therapy practice, and her experience has taught her that many issues in younger people are often related to screen use. The World Health Organization recommends that kids under two should not have any screen time, and kids
The Impact of Online Content on Children
By: Mitch Stewart It seems like every week there is some new cutting-edge tech that revolutionizes our lifestyle and productivity, never mind having to learn online in the time of COVID. It’s the golden age of computers and life has never been easier, right? But as technology continues to evolve, are we evolving with it? While there is no shortage of dystopias like Orwell’s “1984” and even 1984’s “The Terminator” which alert us to technological dangers of imagined futures, our present is, perhaps, the real thing. All killer robots and government conspiracies aside, the screen seems to know us more