#The hardest part of making this post was finding diagrams that show all the relevant bits in a way that's legible to the layman

[osterby]

Anatomy diagram time! Here's one I pulled off Wikipedia (for some reason it's ridiculously difficult to find a diagram that shows the reproductive and digestive organs in relation to one another, so we're going to just have to use several).

The big unlabeled white thing that folds to the right side of your screen is part of the intestine.

I've drawn a green circle where the belly button should be. Use that and note the shape of the figure's hips to orient yourself in re scale and position.

This one shows where the bladder is, and also shows skin and belly button so it should be good for understanding scale

The bladder is between the uterus and the skin, here's a side view

All this together should demonstrate that the uterus is very low in the abdomen and pretty small (according to wikipedia, "7.6 cm (3.0 in) long, 4.5 cm (1.8 in) broad (side to side), and 3.0 cm (1.2 in) thick:). I'm pointing out the uterus because it's bigger and more in the way in this context, but the prostate is down near the bladder in this same area on folks who have one of those.

There is also a pubic bone in front of all this. You know how a pelvis is kinda bowl shaped? The bladder and reproductive bits rest in that bowl.

So from all this, we can see that there's a whole lot going on in the lower abdomen. With the bladder, pelvic bone, and [optionally] uterus in the way, it would be hard to see a dragon dick bulging stuff out down there, and getting the bladder and other bits mashed wouldn't feel very nice except for the most specifically kinky among us.

You're not going to see a bulge from doing stuff with the normal sexy areas of the intestines or vagina with an object that can actually fit in there.

****

But, here's the whole digestive system.

That sticky-downy part in blue at the very end is the rectum, it's the part that's involved in buttsex with a realistically sized human penis and is crammed in there with the urinary and reproductive parts. There's a lot going on in that area (which is probably why a lot of people find it fun to stick stuff up there).

Look how much more room there is after it, though, and how the colon goes off to the side. The sigmoid colon is the curving part that leads into the rectum.

Lets go back to the first diagram. Note how the sigmoid colon (the horizontal portion of the white unlabeled intestine) is both above and to the side of everything else.

There isn't much else going on there. The kidneys, liver, stomach, pancreas, spleen, etc. are higher up around the top of the intestines, and all the reproductive stuff is lower. The small intestine (the ropey coiled stuff) is packed in tight behind the colon, but intestine is about all there is in this part of the abdomen.

So if you get an arm or a dragon's entire hemepenis all the way past your rectum and into your sigmoid colon, the only stuff between that fist or hemepenis and your skin is going to be the wall of the colon itself (very movable and squishy), some thin membranes that hold things in place, and a layer of muscle and fat.

A significant amount of fat would hide the movement, and particularily strong muscles won't be easy to squish and wiggle, but on your average twink? Belly bulge is realistic.

https://www.tumblr.com/olderthannetfic/765788712654225408/httpswwwtumblrcomolderthannetfic764421845841?source=share

About seeing the dick bulge through the other character's guts, that seems like it should be unrealistic, but with anal with an unrealistically gigantic dick it might be perfectly feasible.

I once found some anal fisting porn with exactly that. The one chick had half her forearm in the other's ass and was moving her hand around in there so the camera and the chick bottoming could see it. It wasn't dead center the way you see in hentai, it was off to the left because that's where the sigmoid colon curves.

--

I have to admit I have gone on pornhub to research exactly this question. I was surprised at just how many amateur videos of Bad Dragon owners demonstrate that you really can see something.

[streamacademe]

Bonus post: Thesis writing.

This post will be a combination of tips and tricks I have received from numerous sources, with the majority coming from Shinton Consulting and STREAM IDC staff. 

The big T

If you’re anything like me, just the word ‘thesis’ can instill a sense of dread in me. However, the best way to deal with a phobia is to face it head on, so let’s do just that, both in a literal and metaphorical sense. 

What a thesis is and what to expect...

Writing a thesis could take anywhere between four weeks to a whole year, and sometimes even longer! The worst thing you can do is compare your progress to that of others; setting a benchmark is one thing, but beating yourself into a panicked pulp because you haven’t written as many chapters as a fellow PhD/EngD won’t do you any good. The best thing you can do is have regular discussions with your supervisors on how long your thesis will take and plan accordingly. 🕖

Your thesis has to be fit for purpose (that is to pass), which means that it has to:

Satisfy the expectations of your institution and industry sponsor (if applicable).

How did you solve the problem that was proposed to you?

Contain material which presents a unified body of work that could reasonably be achieved on the basis of three years’ postgraduate study and research.

Show you have done the work and impress your examiners.

Allow your examiners to confirm that the thesis is an original work, which makes a significant contribution to the field, including material worthy of publication.

Research your examiners and quote them where possible, especially if they’re relevant to your field.

Show adequate knowledge of the field of study and relevant literature. 

Make sure you read all of the key papers in your field. 

What were the gaps in knowledge?

The ‘references’ section is very important as this sets the scene and examiners will read this. BUT, don’t have too many references. 

Demonstrate critical judgement with regard to both the candidate’s work and that of other scholars in the same general field.

Compare approaches and conclusions of others.

Note potential conflicts of interest.

Why did you use this method/approach?

Is your interpretation the only possible explanation?

Be presented in a clear, consistent, concise, and accessible format. 

Make your examiners lives easier. 

Make your viva as pleasant as can be!

Basically, you need to know why your project was important, be able to explain the key work that has already been done in the area and how it relates to your research aim. You should then be able to explain what you have done during your research and how this contributes to your field. 

Note: Keep checking university regulations! Each university should have their own code of practice for supervisors and research students, which will look something like this. 

Picture: A short summary of the above. Source: Tumblr.

Planning and writing

I’m not going to lie to you, it is not going to be easy. I have only just embarked on the journey myself and am already overwhelmed. However, with the right preparation, coping mechanisms in place, and a tremendous amount of self-discipline, we will get through. ☕

Getting started

You need to practice writing. That’s as simple as advice gets. 

You need to practice reading other PhD/EngD theses, mainly to understand what to expect, and to experience what being the audience for a thesis is like. 

Create a thesis plan... 

To start the mammoth task that is thesis writing, it needs to be fully understood and broken down into manageable chunks.

Make a plan (perhaps based on the table of contents of another thesis) of all the sections and chapters in the thesis.

Then break these into sections and keep breaking it down until you are almost at the paragraph level.

Now you can start writing!

Where to start the actual writing?

Start with the most comfortable chapter, such as a previously published paper, a set of results that are straightforward and can be easily explained, methodology/methods, etc. 

Create a storyboard for your thesis and write as if you are telling that story.

If you’re not sure what comes next, refer to previous theses and back to your plan and storyboard. 

Be ready to amend the plan for future chapters as each is completed and you become more aware of what the thesis must contain.

Remember: THINKING IS HARD, WRITING IS EASIER. 💭

Organisation

Develop and maintain a logical filing system.

Improve your back up technique; if it’s not saved in 3+ locations, it is not safely backed up.

Back up every day.

Never overwrite previous documents, just make many versions. It’s not worth the risk of losing a valuable piece of work from a copy and paste error.

Copy any key parts from your lab/note/field books as these can get lost/damaged.

Keep a file/folder of thoughts, references, etc. that you are not including in your thesis; these may be useful to refer back to for ideas and information.

Effective writing

Establish a routine, don’t be distracted, take breaks.

Set clear and realistic goals for each week/day. 

A GANTT chart is very good for this; use it to keep on track and measure progress.

You just gotta start. The hardest part is the beginning.

Don’t stall on details, walk away for a short break to clear your mind.

Get formatting correct from the start (check your code of practice/regulations).

Be consistent with references.

Seek help from the experts - supervisors, postdocs, online sources/training programmes etc.

Create SMART objectives for your writing process:

Specific - e.g. “I will complete chapter 3/collate all diagrams” rather than “I will make good progress”.

Measurable - e.g. “I will write 4 pages today” not “I will try to write as much as I can”.

Achievable - e.g. “I will complete the first draft for my supervisor” not “I will get it perfect before he/she sees it”.

Realistic - e.g. “I will complete the introduction today” not “I will complete a chapter a week”.

Time - it can be useful to set yourself deadlines e.g. tell your supervisor you will hand in a draft on a certain day - that way you are sure to have it done.

Finally, find a balance between being tough with yourself whilst protecting your well-being the best you can. I wrote a post a little while ago that covers managing your mental health during a PhD. Read it here. 

GIF: Anna Kendrick dishing out some top advice. Source: Tumblr.

A few more tips

Supervisor management

Establish what you want to cover in each meeting.

Keep a record of the outcomes and actions from those meetings.

Make your supervisors lives easy; they’re very busy humans.

They are unlikely to judge work unless it is presented completely (i.e. fully written with tables, figures, etc.).

Give them a neat, complete version of a chapter at a time (proof-read thoroughly and spell-checked).

It is in your supervisors interest for you to complete in good time; they are experts and will offer a lot of support.

To summarise, a good thesis:

Has an appreciation of what came before.

Focuses on the interesting and important.

Is well reasoned.

Will change the way people think.

Will teach your supervisors something. 

Has publishable results.

Is logical in presentation, analysis, and arguments.

Is well illustrated with tables, figures, graphs, summary flow charts etc.

It is worth spending a lot of time on these. 

Is written without grammatical and spelling errors.

Has an appreciation of what comes next.

I hope that the above was helpful! There are many resources out there, so get exploring if you need more advice!

I’ll soon be writing a post on how to survive your viva! So, watch this space. ✨

Photo: Make this your phone/desktop/laptop/everything background when you’re writing, I know I will! Source: Tumblr.

[michaelandy101-blog]

The Maker SERP Squeeze: Why Ought to SEOs Care?

New Post has been published on https://tiptopreview.com/the-maker-serp-squeeze-why-should-seos-care/

The Maker SERP Squeeze: Why Ought to SEOs Care?

Hey people, that is Russ Jones, Adjunct Search Scientist right here at Moz and Principal Search Scientist at System1. I need to discuss at present a few long-standing concept in search engine optimization, which usually goes like this: reviewers, aggregators, and non-manufacturing retailers will, over time, push makers and producers out of the SERPs. The latest Google Product Reviews Update is only one additional step down this lengthy path main away from makers and producers. Let’s dive in.

Who’s who?

Earlier than we get began, we’d like at the very least just a few definitions. What’s the distinction between a reviewer, aggregator, distributor, non-manufacturing retailer, and a “maker”?

Reviewer: A web site like Tom’s Information or PCMag makes use of its trade credibility and writers to provide comparability guides for merchandise. They’re usually funded by promoting or affiliate agreements.

Aggregators: Whereas I’ve no clear sitewide instance, these are content material suppliers that depend on the rankings of different websites to find out the content material, complete material.

Non-manufacturing retailers: Whereas there may be some overlap right here as many retailers have gotten into the manufacturing sport, these are websites like Finest Purchase, Amazon, Walmart, and Overstock.

Makers: These are companies that each make and promote their merchandise. They are often huge manufacturers like Blue Buffalo and Apple, or smaller companies like Hardcore Hammers or Eley Hose Reels.

Why ought to we care?

This can be a truthful query. Do we actually care in regards to the efficiency of maker/producers on Google as some form of ethical or moral measure? I feel we must always, so let me provide you with only a few temporary the explanation why earlier than inspecting the proof of the squeeze:

Bias filtering: Every class of web site (reviewer, aggregator, retailer, and maker) have a unique set of biases that may solely be overcome by weighing every one towards one other. Reviewers and aggregators are usually paid by advertisements or affiliate agreements, which might incentivize dishonesty. Retailers are paid by the sale of merchandise on their cabinets, thus in addition they have an incentive to be dishonest in rankings. And makers themselves have a self-bias. It’s the center of the Venn Diagram of those knowledge sources that makes good choices attainable.

Innovation: I wouldn’t be the primary to level out the perverse system of startup funding, which has — at finest — an unbalanced affect on who and what will get produced. If startups that produce a really wonderful product should pay their pound of flesh to the gatekeepers (reviewers, aggregators, and retailers) from the offset as a result of direct, natural e-commerce is not an choice, there’s an unnatural filter on what’s produced and by who.

Lastly, and that is an important motive we must always care: Google has a vested curiosity in pushing maker/producers out of their natural outcomes as a result of they characterize an enormous promoting market. I need to be clear, right here: I’m not accusing Google of deliberately doing this. Proving intent is among the hardest issues you are able to do with out precise admission. Nevertheless, if it is a part of a rising sample of Google pushing companies out of natural, making them depend on advertisements, we must always listen.

Now, I would be the first to confess that this isn’t probably the most thrilling topic. Most web sites aren’t maker/producers, so you might be tempted to dismiss this analysis as merely irrelevant to your actions as an search engine optimization or webmaster. Nevertheless, I feel that it’s vital we perceive directional developments which are pushed economically and algorithmically in Google — it’s a mind-set and planning, a technique wrapped in a cautionary story.

Is the development actual?

Whereas entry to knowledge on Google and its algorithm has by no means been straightforward to acquire, there are good sources for historic SERPs. As a quick aspect notice, I need to emphasize the significance of rank monitoring, because it stays a main supply of knowledge properly past the place your web site at present ranks for a key phrase. It permits us to research a lot bigger developments, behaviors, and updates, all of which assist us do our jobs higher.

So, what does the info present? I took 50 singular, superlative product phrases within the type of “best product type” and accessed the highest 10 search outcomes for that time period within the month of January over the past 9 years. I particularly selected singular phrases like “best blender” in order to not deliberately bias the search outcomes in direction of rankings the place the intent was clearly for comparisons. (Asking “what is the best blender?” versus “what are the best blenders?” is a vital distinction.)

Thus, we’re 500 knowledge factors for every year from 2013 by way of 2021. Every web site that ranked in these cohorts was labeled by hand to determine whether or not a web site was a reviewer, aggregator, non-manufacturing retailer, or maker/producer.

I compiled quite a few statistics with relation to the categorization of a web site and its chance to rank. The primary, most simple query to ask is whether or not there may be any “squeeze” in any respect, so to talk.

Are maker/producers much less more likely to rank for singular product phrases in 2021 than they had been in 2013? The outcomes are, frankly, gorgeous.

Between 2013 and 2016, roughly 50% of the SERPs collected in January included at the very least one maker/producer. This can be a crucial knowledge level, in my estimation, as a result of it reveals that the search consequence was — at the very least in precept — able to delivering the person to the reply of “what is the best product” slightly than by way of an middleman (non maker/producers). Given the expectation of at the very least some variety in outcomes, an inexpensive person ought to count on that on some events, Google may truly determine what’s (primarily based on some set of metrics) the perfect product of a sure sort and embrace it within the high 10.

One thing dramatic occurred between January 2016 and 2017, however there aren’t any clear updates that might goal simply one of these web site and sort of question, at the very least from a cursory assessment of replace histories. Nonetheless, we see a shocking drop to simply 15% (from 50%) in a single 12 months. The development continued such that by 2020 and 2021, out of the 50 phrases and 500 rankings, just one was a maker/producer. One. 

To be able to additional verify the development, I adopted the common (imply) rating place for maker/producers that had been within the high 10 over that very same time interval. What’s attention-grabbing on this equation is that we see a a lot smoother line between 2017 and 2020 in rankings drop for maker/producers. Whereas many simply dropped out of the highest 10 within the first 12 months (2017), the losses had been regular over the following few years.

This extra data signifies that the development is constant, and that different maker/producers who’re holding on to rankings for these kind of generic phrases might not have a lot time left.

However there may be one other insult to harm on this development, which was properly articulated by Dr. Pete in 2015’s “The Incredible Shrinking SERP”. You see, as soon as the imply place for maker/producers handed the quantity eight spot, they had been at nice danger of being faraway from the primary web page altogether.

By 2019, for a similar set of phrases, the common SERP had 9 or fewer outcomes. This meant that the remaining maker/producer pages had been not on web page 1. Successfully, zero% of maker/producers benefited immediately from natural site visitors for these singular, superlative phrases.

Perhaps customers desire opinions, comparisons, & aggregators

When contemplating the numerous the explanation why this would possibly happen apart from the only clarification that Google determined it didn’t belief the maker/producer web sites, the thought got here to thoughts that maybe customers simply desire comparability pages. This may be a charitable clarification and, as an data question, customers would need to discover a wide range of sources that assist them make an knowledgeable choice. Nevertheless, I feel there are a number of issues with this evaluation.

Let’s take the instance of “best mattress topper”, one of many 50 queries examined as a part of this mission. The primary clue that there’s extra to the story than merely making an attempt to incorporate good assessment and comparability content material is that Google chooses to incorporate non-advertisement merchandise within the search outcomes! As a substitute of pages, they use a carousel.

There are a number of vital factors to make about this inclusion of a product carousel:

They show that Google is conscious, at the very least to a point, that customers want to know precisely what the perfect topper is and be capable of click on instantly to that product.

Two of the primary 4 within the carousel aren’t talked about in any respect, wherever, within the high 10 comparability opinions, whereas later gadgets are.

They don’t seem like ordered with any relation to recognition, ranking, or relevance to the question.

They point out that Google has vital entity data on the merchandise in query.

It’s an odd incidence that Google is aware of customers need the product (the reply to the query, not hyperlinks to pages that reply the query), and that they’ve the product data however select to not use it to both hyperlink on to the maker/producer, OR to rank the product carousel primarily based on knowledge extracted from the highest opinions and comparisons that fill the natural rankings. However I feel it will get worse.

Google’s product assessment replace

Google announced an update that might goal opinions and comparisons to make sure high quality outcomes. Among the many many expectations listed within the replace had been information in regards to the product, what units it other than rivals, and offering quantitative measures. There’s something extremely vital about one of these request of site owners:

Both Google is within the place the place it is aware of this data and can be capable of validate it in an effort to find out which opinions and comparability websites are reliable,

Or Google is within the place the place it does not know this data, and can solely be capable of evaluate this data from web site to web site so as to determine trustworthiness.

If Google is in state of affairs #1, then they’ve the aptitude to mixture the outcomes from the present assessment and comparability pages and decide the truthfulness of their statements (insofar as they don’t seem to be merely opinion). In the event that they’re in state of affairs #2, they’ve completely no enterprise judging opinions and comparability websites till they’ve elevated their algorithmic capabilities, so as to use comparative knowledge to find out truthfulness, thus warranting a transfer as much as place #1!

In any state of affairs, Google ought to be able to extracting the reply — or at the very least handful of solutions — to those queries utilizing their entity information, product information, hyperlink graph, and knowledge extraction capabilities, which permit them to ship site visitors on to the makers and producers slightly than intermediaries.

For instance, we all know that the 2 firms with probably the most listings within the high 10 opinions and comparisons are Tempur-Pedic (eight high 10 listings) and Viscosoft (7 high 10 listings). Tempur-Pedic does benefit from the second itemizing within the product carousel however that, in fact, doesn’t hyperlink to Tempur-Pedic’s product however slightly to a different Google listing of products filled with ads.

We’ve a phrase for this in our marketing lexicon: nothing greater than a glorified interstitial.

Maybe Viscosoft has a extra egregious place. Regardless of practically edging out the highest place among the many natural comparability websites, their merchandise happen nowhere throughout the 24 merchandise within the product carousel, regardless of having the very best rating maker/producer page for best mattress topper at #18!

Perhaps they aren’t on this supposed “organic product carousel” due to this:

Why would Google ever select so as to add a product to their carousel if they will’t finally make money off of it? The Viscosoft mattress topper search consequence web page, as of this writing, has no advertisements.

The unhappy actuality: Google hasn’t discovered its lesson

Regardless of congressional inquiry and incredible research carried out by Rand Fishkin and lots of others proving that Google is doing the whole lot they will to maintain you on Google, it seems that they’re nonetheless intent on capturing potential prospects into a large click on jail the place the one method out is to click on on an advert. However what’s extra egregious on this case just isn’t that Google is merely preserving you on their web site, however that they’ve a non-ad-labeled carousel known as “Popular products” that clicks by way of to a particular promoting expertise search consequence (which we are able to set off with particular search parameters, all of which is documented under.

Step 1: Standard merchandise

Step 2: Specialised advert expertise interstitial

Step three: You may change the question, however retain the precise bar advert expertise.

Takeaways

I want there was some excellent news for takeaways, however I simply don’t actually see a lot in the best way of issues getting higher for maker/producers. There are methods, in fact, however most of them will contain getting different websites to promote or market your product slightly than your personal.

The brand new assessment pointers explicitly state that it is best to evaluate merchandise to their rivals, which is a large authorized danger for many maker/producers. This leaves them in a very tough scenario: both attempt to get your product reviewed by trustworthy websites (which is an extremely tough job typically requiring giving freely free merchandise that then have to be acknowledged within the assessment), or spending money promoting or promoting on main retailers and marketplaces like Amazon.

But when there may be one factor we do know, it’s that there isn’t a motive to consider that Google will truly checklist the perfect product or its web site within the search outcomes any time quickly — there may be an excessive amount of money to be made by placing Google Advertisements between the person and the product.

Source link

[aleeb4-blog]

Annotated Bibliography

G, Kiedser. “On the Relationship of Hearing Loss and Depression.” UVU Online Library, Informa Healthcare, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=06a18572-58cd-4911-884e-b6c8173917a2@sdc-v-sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#db=cmedm&AN=26070470  

This article is really interesting. It talks a lot about how depression is more common in younger people. Like people at the ages of below the age of fifty years old and more specifically in females. The article said, “Female gender has been identified in a meta-analysis to be a risk factor for depression…”. When I first started researching, I thought it would be more common in like sixty-year-old or even seventy-year-old. I never really thought about how gender could even play a part in it.  I think that is a valid factor that people don’t typically look at. As these researchers performed the study, they found that the people who were having the hardest time with depression and hearing were the people who were in denial about the fact that they may actually need hearing aids. That's why they found it’s more common in younger people. They aren’t accepting the hearing loss, so they aren’t doing anything about it. That it is a super interesting perspective. I don’t necessarily think that this means that we don’t need to help the elderly like this article was kind of entailing. This article made many great points, but I also think I can find an article that has more information about the correlation between the two and how hearing loss can increase the risk of depression.

Sandy, Fritz. “Preventing Hearing Loss.” Scientific American Mind, 2010. JSTOR Journals.

This article talks about things you can do to prevent hearing loss. It has some really valid points that I liked. It gives many statistics that can really show just how important hearing can be. According to Sandy, “By the year 2030, about 65 million Americans will be hard of hearing”. That is a wild stat and I think gives a good visual of what is happening with people’s hearing. Another stat this article gave me was “Forty percent of Americans older than 65 suffer from hearing loss”. That is another good stat that can add something to my research paper.  One thing this writing said to do that can help with hearing loss is these two certain kinds of antioxidants. These antioxidants prevent these free radicals from harming cells. When these antioxidants do that, the radicals slow down and stop harming the cells we all use to hear. The scientists tried this theory out on mice and said that the ones they fed the antioxidants to could hear “as well as a young pup. While this is good information, I feel that it can be hard to use this towards my research. The stats it gave me are interesting and like I said, can give a good visual about how hearing loss can and probably will affect most of us during our life but I’m not sure if I will use it because it doesn’t have enough to it. It’s a very simple article which is nice but also can sometimes make it harder to add to a cited paper.  

“How the Ear Works .” University of Maryland , https://www.umms.org/ummc/health-services/hearing-balance/patient-information/how-ear-works.

I appreciate this article so much. It is very simple and provides such good information. I believe that in order to understand why hearing is so important, you need to actually understand how the ear works. This has a diagram that has every part numbered so you can match the number to the numbered list they have. It makes a complicated thing not so complicated. I feel like this can be beneficial to my research because it helps me better explain how hearing works and be able to better express how important hearing really is. When people know the basics, it makes building the concept up easier and I think this can really add to my research. Here is the diagram to show better what I am trying to explain.  

Photo provided by Cochlear Ltd.  

Hansel, Jeff. “Listen up, Music Lovers.” Fulton Library , http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail/detail?vid=8&sid=d0ed29b2-6623-4c25-8a4a-60bcf6d51665@pdc-v-sessmgr04&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU=#AN=2W61562731972&db=n5h.

This article is very short but it has good information that everyone should know. It talks about how the damage of hearing loss takes place. Damage can be done to the ear by just old age or by loud noises. This article goes through and lists when you should wear protective ear gear and it is a lot more than one would think. One example it gives is when someone comes up to you and talks about a loud sound and you say, “That doesn’t bug me”. This can be concerning because that means the damage has already taken place. For instance, when you mow the lawn it’s really loud at first and as you continue to mow, the noise doesn’t bother you anymore. In the article, this says that that means that there is already damage that has happened. It uses more examples like a snow blower or a chainsaw. He also mentions an important part of this damage that happens is it’s irreversible. Like most things, you can not go back and undo it. There isn’t a surgery, you are just stuck with it. All in all, this article isn’t that helpful for my research but it does provide a lot of examples in everyday life that can be useful for others to understand why they have the hearing loss they do. It doesn’t answer everything but again, it does help people realize what could be happening to them or what has already happened to them.  

“Hearing Loss and Millennials .” Orange County Physicians' Hearing Services, https://physicianshearingservices.com/blog-posts/hearing-loss-and-millennials.  

This article gives a lot of insight into the world of millennials and hearing loss. It gives stats that can be useful for my research paper. It also gives some reasons why hearing loss is becoming more relevant in the world today which is very interesting to see the connection between that and technology. One of the most useful statistics this article gave was that 10 percent of the millennial population suffers from hearing loss. that doesn’t sound like a big portion but when you think about how many millennials there are in the US alone that 10 percent starts to add up. I think that gives a real perspective on the issue at hand. This article also said some things that made me think a little deeper about this issue. It said that the hearing loss is also being caused by things like power tools such as a leaf blower. As I have been doing my research, I had only been thinking of technology in the sense of phones and computers. It hadn’t occurred to me that things like lawn mowers or snow blowers could also be affecting hearing loss as well. I think that brings up a good point that I can look further into and add to my research. By realizing that, I think that it can really help me better understand the problem and look into more solutions for the problem of hearing loss and technology. Overall, I liked this article and it really got me thinking and I appreciate that in an article when I am doing some research.

Thompson, Rachel. “How Modern Technology Is Damaging Our Hearing.” Healthy Hearing , Apr. 2017, https://www.healthyhearing.com/report/52747-How-modern-technology-is-damaging-our-hearing.  

This article provides a good opinion and perspective on the issue. One thing I really liked about the article is the simplicity of the information. It was really easy for me to understand it and start to compare it to the other research I have gathered so far. The quote I really think can provide a good perspective is when it says, “Quite often we are so concerned with trying to drown out every bit of background noise to try and hear our favorite podcast, playlist or film in peace that we are completely ignoring what those high volume levels are actually going to our ears”. This is a simple quote but talks about the problem with the new technology we are coming in contact with everyday.  When information is simple, it makes it easier to understand and put into action whether it’s putting it in a research paper or just putting it in your life. One thing I didn’t like about this article is, I felt that they left some key parts out. I feel like this article did not spend any time talking about why it affects us so much. I have found articles that have been more helpful in that sense. I do think that even though there are articles that could be helpful, I think having this different perspective can still be useful for my paper.

“Headphones and Your Risk of Hearing Loss.” Audio Recovery, Inc, https://audiorecovery.com/blog/do-headphones-increase-your-risk-hearing-loss/

This article provides a good insight on why headphones and the advancement of technology is hindering people’s hearing at younger ages than before. It says that one of the main things is having headphones in for longer periods of time with high volumes. It gives specific guidelines to follow. With those guidelines it says that wearing your headphones for a long period of time and those maximum volumes is equivalent to the sound of a jack hammer, which the volume level for that is at 95 decibels. With your iPhone or iPod, maximum volume is 112 decibels. These specific numbers can be useful for my paper because it does give the reader something specific to compare to instead of just saying loud sounds or higher volume. It gives them something tangible to see and can possibly make my point easier to understand. This article also mentioned why these technologies can be damaging to the ear. It mentions that it’s damaging because the loud sounds make the small hairs in your ear that feels the vibration from your ear and after a while these tiny hairs lose their sensitivity to the vibrations and can never gain it back. That is one of the ways of hearing loss. I think that is a very easy way to explain it and how it happens. Overall, I think the article was helpful and made some valid points that can be used to better my research and will be easy to refer back to when I am writing it all out.  

“New and Emerging Hearing Loss Technologies .” Captel , 3 Jan. 2019, https://www.captel.com/2019/01/new-and-emerging-hearing-loss-technologies/.

From a different view-point, technology can be good in the hearing world. Without the advancement of technology, there would be no hearing aids or really anything that helps people with hearing loss. This article brings up four different kinds of technology that has been helpful to those who already have hearing loss. I think that it is important to address the other side in all things and that’s what this article does. It provides four different ideas that can help show that not all technology is bad for our ears. One of the things I like most about this is when it mentions that hearing aids are advancing just as fast as computers and cell phones. I think that one thing perfectly shows how technology can help.While it does mention that one thing, it also mentions about 4 different pieces of tech that does help with hearing. I really think that’s what this article can do for my paper is to show that not all of it is bad and that even though there are so many things that can decrease your hearing, there are also so many options to assist people who have trouble with  hearing.

“Noise Induced Hearing Loss.” Dangerous Decibels , Dangerous Decibels , 2019, http://dangerousdecibels.org/education/information-center/noise-induced-hearing-loss/.

This website provides very specific information that is probably aimed more towards musicians or people around loud machinery, but I think it can be helpful for anyone. It gives a good perspective on loudness or volume of situations that can help someone be more mindful about it. For example, it says that the average conversation is usually at about 60 dB which may sound loud but if you think about your conversations you have on a regular basis, especially when you can compare that to other levels. This article has those specifics that I haven’t really been able to find yet which can add a whole lot to the essay I am writing. One thing I didn’t like about this article is the format. It was kind of set up in a weird way that made it harder to read and find the good information. It has like two super long paragraphs that go on and on. Then out of nowhere it has like three really short ones that have most of the useful information. Compared to other websites and articles I have read; it was hard to navigate and fidn what I needed. Overall, this was one of the better articles that I have been able to find that I can use towards my paper. I will use this because, like I said at the beginning, I haven’t been able to find these specific numbers.