Saturday, October 18, 2014

Netiquette IQ Blog of The Day - Plagiarism, Is it Wrong to Post From An Email?


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Is it wrong to plagiarize from an email?

By Adam Grant February 25, 2014

"Copy and pasting emails is still copying." Reuters/Nir Elias
 
This post originally appeared at LinkedIn.

Last year, before the launch of my first book, I promised my publisher that I would send an email about it to my friends, colleagues, and former students. I spent hours agonizing over the wording of the first draft, wanting to make sure that I wasn’t spamming the people close to me, but sending something they’d be happy to read. After several days of tinkering, I finally sent it out.

A few weeks later, I was in for a surprise. A colleague had written a book, and he sent an email announcing it to his network, using the text from my message… verbatim.

I was taken aback, but I didn’t say anything. I like and respect the guy, and after all, it was just an email. I didn’t want to embarrass him or damage the relationship; I’m sure he meant no harm by it. You could even make a case for interpreting the event as positive feedback. As Charles Caleb Colton famously said, “imitation is the sincerest [form] of flattery.”

Later that month, I received an email from a different friend who was releasing a book. He had reproduced my message too, word for word, with a few minor adjustments to reflect the content of his book. How could this be? I would never use someone else’s sentences and pass them off as my own. Plagiarism is a cardinal sin in academia, and one of the perpetrators is a fellow professor.

Maybe I was overreacting, though. If two different people found it acceptable to use my words, I might be in the minority in thinking that it crossed an ethical line. The authors clearly didn’t think it was wrong to copy my email without rephrasing it: if they had any qualms, surely they would have removed me from their email lists!

I decided to let it go, but it didn’t go away. In recent months, it has happened three more times. When I described the situation to people close to me, they were mad. As a psychologist who studies motivation, it’s my job to analyze situations that make people angry and approach them with curiosity. To understand it better, I began reading about plagiarism.

Traditionally, courts of law have distinguished between two ways that people can plagiarize the work of others. One is kleptomnesia, a lovely term coined by the psychologist Dan Gilbert to describe accidental, unconscious plagiarism. It occurs when you encounter someone else’s idea, forget the source, and come to believe it was your own. Kleptomnesia has many famous victims, from George Harrison of the Beatles to Helen Keller and Robert Louis Stevenson. In my situation, kleptomnesia clearly wasn’t the culprit, since only people with an eidetic memory—or a freakish amount of free time—would commit more than 400 e-words to memory without realizing they came from someone else.

The other kind of plagiarism is intentional: it’s a conscious, deliberate attempt to steal someone else’s ideas and get away with it. This doesn’t seem like a plausible explanation either. My colleagues copied an email, not a literary masterpiece.

The Internet has cracked down on kleptomnesia and intentional plagiarism. Now, online tools can instantly crawl through millions of records to see if your writing is authentically yours. Yet the digital era has opened the door for a third kind of plagiarism. It’s what I suspect happened to my friends.

Let’s call it cut-and-paste plagiarism. They started out by copying my email as a template, edited it a bit, and then moved on to other tasks. When they came back to it, they genuinely didn’t remember how many of the sentences weren’t original.

It’s all too easy to make this mistake. Most people are careful with books and articles, recognizing that the safest way to avoid cut-and-paste plagiarism is to not cut and paste at all. But email is a gray area. If you like a phrase that a friend coins in an email, can you start using it? Is it wrong that I started signing emails “Cheers, Adam” without acknowledging that I was following the lead of my favorite professor, Brian Little? If I cite him below each signature, should I also clarify that I became especially fond of the habit after spending a sabbatical in England, and list the names of the colleagues who also favor this bit of British cheer?

When I shared a draft of this post with another author I know, he replied that e-plagiarism happened to him recently too, and he felt I was “being too charitable.” After he sent a note announcing his book to an email list, another author “ripped off most of my email word-for-word,” laments this author, who asked not to be named:

“I complained—to her, to the publication that sent it on her behalf, and to her book editor. She didn’t respond. Her publication said it wasn’t a big deal. And her book editor apologized profusely. Strange.

You’d figure a writer ought to know better. Plagiarism is a no-no. And an email sent to several thousand people isn’t private communication. It’s much closer to something that’s published. The funny thing is, if she had asked in advance to use some of my language, I likely would have said yes. But since she apparently tried to pull a fast one, I didn’t shed any tears when her book turned out to be a huge flop.”

Where should we draw the line on what counts as email plagiarism? Needless to say, I think a single word is fair game for the taking. Here’s my proposal:

If you use a full sentence or more from an email that someone else wrote, quote it and attribute it to that person. Otherwise, take the high road and rewrite it from scratch in your own words.

If you’re one of the authors who borrowed my email message, I don’t hold it against you. In fact, I’m grateful that you provided the fodder for this post. I couldn’t have written it without you.

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In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki

 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ. 


Netiquette IQ Technical Term of The Day - Smartphone Sensor


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smartphone sensor
A smartphone sensor is any one of a number of different types of sensing devices installed on a user's phone to gather data for various user purposes, often in conjunction with a mobile app.
Here are a few examples of smartphone sensors and their uses:
  • An accelerometer detects acceleration, tilt and vibration to determine movement and orientation.
  • A gyroscope identifies up/down, left/right and rotation around three axes for more complex orientation details.
  • A light sensor detects data about lighting levels in the environment to adapt the display accordingly. 
  • A proximity sensor detects when the the phone is held to the face to make or take a call, so the touch screen display can be disabled to avoid unintended input.
  • A fingerprint sensor can enable biometric verification for secure device and website authentication as well as mobile payment.
  • A magnetometer detects the direction of magnetic north and, in conjunction with GPS, determines the user's location. 
  • An infrared sensor can be used to identify user movements for gesture recognition.
  • ===========================================
    In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

     www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki


     If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

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Netiquette IQ Quotation of The Day on Disease From Maimonnides


With the world talking so much about Ebola, here are some wise words from the scholar and physician, Maimonides.
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Maimonides-2.jpg
 “The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it”
Maimonides

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Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ
·         Get more email opens.  Improve 100% or more.
·         Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.
·         Be better understood.
·         Eliminate indecision.
·         Avoid being spammed 100% or more.
·         Have recipient finish reading your email content. 
·         Save time by reducing questions.
·         Increase your level of clarity.
·         Improve you time management with your email.
·        Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.
Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.
===========================================
In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki


 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

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Friday, October 17, 2014

Netiquette IQ Blog of The Day - Role of Universal Internet Access in Global Demographic Equality

 The Head of the FCC spoke to some significant issues of equal Internet access recently. This is encouraging in light of what can happen with deregulating what Service Providers can some day begin to implement. As I have mentioned time and after time, all of us as net citizens need to keep aware and contribute to keeping the Internet available globally to all demographics!
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Austin Allen, Broadbandbreakfast October 10th, 2014

Hearkening Back to Civil Rights Era, Wheeler Discusses Role of Universal Internet Access

 WASHINGTON, October 10, 2014 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said Tuesday that access to high-speed broadband is crucial to civic and economic participation in our society, his remarks at the 32nd annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture.

This year’s lecture celebrated the 50th anniversary of Rev. Dr. Parker’s petition to the FCC to revoke a television station’s license because its coverage of events during the civil rights movement in the South didn’t meet “public interest” requirements.

Wheeler emphasized the analogous circumstances of the past and the present. In the 1960’s, TV and radio most powerful sources for information, news and entertainment programming. Today, the internet is not only the most powerful source for information and news, but also for entertainment programming, education services, health care, social networking and economic opportunities.

“Access to broadband internet,” Wheeler said, “is critical to full and fair participation in our society and our economy.” People of color and low-income individuals are underrepresented online as a result of cost and lack of digital literacy, and the FCC’s push for universal access underscores their belief in providing every American with the ability to participate.


He also reaffirmed the five principles of his recently-announced Network Compact, which include access to and on networks, interconnection, consumer protection, public safety and national security. These principles, Wheeler said, should continue to help keep the nature of the internet democratic during the move from analogy networks to internet protocol networks.
The FCC has also been continuing to promote and protect diversity. During his remarks, Wheeler cited the FCC’s move in March to ban sidecar agreements used by broadcasters. Wheeler recently blogged about the importance of diversity in media ownership on the FCC website.

Wheeler ended his speech by praising Everett Parker as an individual motivated by a dream that the principal means of communications in this country should serve everybody, regardless of the color of their skin or the size of their paycheck.
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Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ
·         Get more email opens.  Improve 100% or more.
·         Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.
·         Be better understood.
·         Eliminate indecision.
·         Avoid being spammed 100% or more.
·         Have recipient finish reading your email content. 
·         Save time by reducing questions.
·         Increase your level of clarity.
·         Improve you time management with your email.
·        Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.
Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.
===========================================
In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

 www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki


 If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

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#Netiquette IQ Security Alert - Phishing Scams About Ebola - Via US-CERT





National Cyber Awareness System:
10/16/2014 04:31 PM EDT

Original release date: October 16, 2014
US-CERT reminds users to protect against email scams and cyber campaigns using the Ebola virus disease (EVD) as a theme. Phishing emails may contain links that direct users to websites which collect personal information such as login credentials, or contain malicious attachments that can infect a system.
Users are encouraged to use caution when encountering these types of email messages and take the following preventative measures to protect themselves:
  • Do not follow unsolicited web links or attachments in email messages.
  • Maintain up-to-date antivirus software.
  • Refer to the Using Caution with Email Attachments Cyber Security Tip for information on safely handling email attachments.
  • Refer to the Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks Cyber Security Tip for information on social engineering attacks.
    =======================================
    Great Reasons for Purchasing Netiquette IQ
    ·         Get more email opens.  Improve 100% or more.
    ·         Receive more responses, interviews, appointments, prospects and sales.
    ·         Be better understood.
    ·         Eliminate indecision.
    ·         Avoid being spammed 100% or more.
    ·         Have recipient finish reading your email content. 
    ·         Save time by reducing questions.
    ·         Increase your level of clarity.
    ·         Improve you time management with your email.
    ·        Have quick access to a wealth of relevant email information.
    Enjoy most of what you need for email in a single book.
    ===========================================
    In addition to this blog, I have authored the premiere book on Netiquette, " Netiquette IQ - A Comprehensive Guide to Improve, Enhance and Add Power to Your Email". You can view my profile, reviews of the book and content excerpts at:

     www.amazon.com/author/paulbabicki


     If you would like to listen to experts in all aspects of Netiquette and communication, try my radio show on BlogtalkRadio  and an online newsletter via paper.li.I have established Netiquette discussion groups with Linkedin and  Yahoo I am also a member of the International Business Etiquette and Protocol Group and Minding Manners among others. I regularly consult for the Gerson Lehrman Group, a worldwide network of subject matter experts and I have been contributing to the blogs Everything Email and emailmonday . My work has appeared in numerous publications and I have presented to groups such as The Breakfast Club of NJ Rider University and  PSG of Mercer County, NJ.

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