Session 10 Reading Reactions.

This week our readings are covering the Internet and its impact and interaction with economics of the world and the work force. I felt this week’s readings accurately reflected the reality that we are faced with today with economics and the workforce and the involvement with the internet. There was one article that I was primarily interested in; “It’s a Flat World, After All”. In this article it discussed how exactly the world “got flat”. I didn’t really think that some of the events they listed were the ones that had the most impact but apparently they did. They listed the introduction of Netscape to the computing world which it turn kicked off the .com boom and revolutionized India in a way providing more jobs, some of which we see today in everyday life, usually customer service roles. But whatever happened to some of the more significant influences of the internet. I think one of the biggest creditors to the evolution of the internet was the modem; yes the old dial up modem. A network would not be complete without a modem to encode a digital signal. There are other unrecognized contributors to the evolution of the internet that I believe have not been properly recognized, some others might include the telephone industry, the creation of a microprocessor, or the creator of a simple hard drive. When people look at the internet they look at it like a whole, the same as a computer, when you talk about a computer what do you talk about? The computer itself, you don’t reference a hard drive, or a microprocessor, or a motherboard, or RAM. Even the IPod would not be out there if there was not something called a microprocessor, or even silicon for that matter (which is what most chips are placed on today). I think that the article proved a point, but it did not give proper credit where due. It did what most other people do. Look at the internet as one functioning piece without breaking it down.

Session 9 Reading Reactions.

This week’s readings were centered around Government and Politics with relation to the internet. I myself really enjoyed reading for this week since I am myself a Political Science major. I especially enjoyed the read on the impact of the internet on politics. It talked of how the internet has been used to further political campaigns for example. I think after reading this article one might as themselves, does the internet present more of a threat, or more of an advantage to politics. I believe it is both, the internet helps to raise campaign awareness through a more broad audience; it helps to raise funds for campaigns. It also helps to raise campaign funds and get more word out to the voters and general public. It brings new voters to the polls and acts as a general conduit for all political activity across multiple cultures and societal levels. The internet also has its downsides, it can sometimes bring false information to light which may lead into mass publication, it may cause great security concerns for some. I think the greatest concern is what’s next? If the internet is already doing this much with the power given (the campaign awareness and funding, the mass media publications), what will become of the internet and politics in the future with more power? The article talks of something called the “googlebomb” which in concept is a great idea for debates, but I believe that it could be bigger than that, much bigger. What if there was a general “online only debate” where candidates compete in a online chat with a selected number of voters, sort of an open playing field with no scripting, no set questions, kind of a “answer to the people” type of discussion. I would like to hear your thoughts and an idea on what you think is next for politics and the internet.

Here is an article I found. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-et-cnn15jun15,1,4845386.story?coll=la-headlines-business-enter

Session 8 Reading Reactions

This week our readings discussed the different realms of health and welfare, both personally, and socially. The readings discussed many aspects of health, from forming partnerships and relationships between countries, and religions, to the use of the internet for a personal health resource by patients around the world. The article that I most enjoyed was “Generation RX”. In this article is conducted a study to find out how much the youth of the world use the internet for health related searches and information use. Some of the facts I found pretty surprising, for example, 69% of those who go online use it for the retrieval of health information. I find that very hard to believe, I don’t think that I have ever used the internet for any kind of health related search, except when it was required by a class for a research project or something of the sort. Another surprising example is that only 47% of people use the internet for weight loss information. I would have thought with weight loss and fitness being a part of everyday life for most Americans that it would be one of the most popular search topics on the internet among those inclined for healthy lifestyles. But I was wrong; apparently 84% of those who search the internet use it to find out about sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy, and AIDS. This leads me to believe, against my own beliefs, that America is more sexually active, or concerned with STD’s and AIDS, than they are about their own weight or personal image. Surprising huh? It also seems according the results of this study that more and more people are taking the information they are discovering online for granted and believing everything they read, which should not be the case. People should be overly cautious about what they read on the internet, especially when it comes to health. The study found that those who retrieved information about health online talked with friends more about it than any other source, not even doctors to confirm their findings. I think this could lead to misinformation on a major scale, with friends believing anything they hear from other friends, this could have a snowball effect and lead to false information and potentially threaten the health of millions. Even you yourself could be one of those millions.

Session 7 Reading Reactions

This week our readings discussed education in many forms. From online learning, to the roles of higher vs. Lower education both in the real and virtual worlds. I found the reading on “Mobile Learning” the most interesting. This reading discussed the role that evolving technology is having on our role of learning in education. It covered items from the IPod to the Flash Drives and Smart Phones (PDA’s) and Blackberries, to the common day laptop or tablet PC. I think after reading this article that it’s evaluations of each device seem to be right on with the current and possible future uses that we currently use or may have use for in the future as technology evolves. I think that some of these devices in the right hands can prove to be dangerous devices. Such as the IPod or even a Smart Phone. I have myself seen the use of these to the advantage of students during exams for the purposes of cheating. Students can easily write out crib notes on notepad and copy them onto their IPods; they can make self recordings with their wireless devices, such a Smartphone, and play it back through a Bluetooth headset without anyone knowing. These devices can also and have already led to numerous violations of copyright law with different types of media. For example, the USB drive makes it even easier for students to swap and exchange, notes, video files, music, or other types of media which may be copyrighted. Most students assume that if it is used in class for the purposes of education that it is alright to share with anyone. Wrong. I have seen/read/heard of students being charged with sharing of media that was copyrighted and then mass produced/shared with others for what they thought was just harmless education but was in fact used for other purposes. Just shows that electronics and education can also prove to be dangerous when mixed.

Here is an article that demonstrates just how technology can be used in the wrong way and can prove to be dangerous.

Session 6 Reading Reactions

This week’s articles we covered were on entertainment and access to music, software, books, and other electronic media. One question presented by these articles is should the access to these types of media be free or charged for? Personally I think it should be charged for, as much as everyone likes free stuff, it is our duty as the society of not only the internet but socially to support the makers of music, software, and books. How else would they continue to exist without our monetary support? Simple, they wouldn’t. In my honest opinion, I believe the record labels, software manufactures, etc, pushed the internet to this distribution. With the high prices that they were charging back in the day ($18.99-$22) for a CD was ludicrous back then. They tried to capitalize by lowering CD prices to a average of $9.99 but I believe it was too late by that point, everyone had already adopted the internet distribution system and no one was willing to revert back to purchasing CD’s once they realized they could download for free. I myself purchase a majority of my music, I use Rhapsody to listen to the newest CD’s out there for free, then if I like them I’ll buy the entire CD, not only to ensure quality (as burned CD’s quality is never as good as the real thing), but also for the lasting factor (burned CD’s deteriorate a lot faster than other mediums used). Software is another issue, I myself am guilty of downloading software but it was only for the better. Back when I was getting into designing websites (around 14 years old), I did not have the money to purchase a piece of software that cost over $300 for one specific task, it was a lot easier for me to just download it and learn. Today I have legally purchased all of these titles as Web Design is one of my major sources of Income. But downloading the software to learn on and get a feel for without spending $300 worked to my advantage. I am sure a lot of other people do the same thing. The readings also covered MashUp’s and Copyright Law. Mashup’s I believe are a way of the future and can only get better. Although it presents many legal hurdles which can be overcome with the right legal means, I support the right to trademarks and copyrights held by parties involved but I believe for the betterment of internet technology these companies and holders should be open to new software and internet application development and be compensated as such if they wish. I think copyright and trademark law is a good thing, those holders of the rights are certainly entitled to them but I do not think that it gives them the right to “price gouge” their competition, or others who are only trying to better their software. For example, a holder of a copyright wants an absurd amount of money for the rights to their software or material just to make the quick million when it is obviously not worth that. Just something to think about or kick off some kind of discussion. How much are the holders of copyrights or trademarks allowed to charge or value themselves? Should there be a mandatory appraisement? Should there be any type of standard for a type of copyright?

I found this and thought it would be interesting. It is 10 Myths about copyright on the internet.

Session 5 Reading Reactions

For this weeks thoughts and reactions, check out our course wiki.

Session 4 Reading Reactions.

This week we covered readings involving online communication and relationships based on the internet. The readings covered many types of online communication and types of services offered from Instant Messenger & Email, to online dating sites such as MySpace, E-Harmony, and Match.com. It was my general impression after reading these articles that America is more dependent upon the internet and more specifically these web sites (such as MySpace, match, and eHarmony) for social interaction and more dependent for the love connections. The reasons for the need of social interaction online I believe are as the article “Identity Production in a Networked Culture” stated, “the goal is to look cool and receive peer validation” and also being a new form of “identity production” which I think is one of the main reasons kids turn to the internet for socialization. It is just another outlet for them to fulfill their own “ego boost” due to children naturally being “attention seekers” as the article put it. As far as love relationships go, I believe that people turn to the internet as a better form of refinement in the person that they seek. Also makes it easier to pick people out of a crowd and gives them overall more access to people than a single night out at the bar or club might do. The article of “online personals: an overview” support this. It stated that “people are generally attracted to others who have demographics, attitudes, values, and personality traits similar to their own”. These internet sites provide very powerful search tools and functions which help to identity people who match the traits that a person looks for”, the main reason why these web sites are so popular. The question that I leave you readers with comes from that of our article on “Technologies of Cooperation”, “Do new modes of communication change the way we see ourselves and how others see us?”. I’d like for you to address this as I will most likely bring it up in class.

Here is a news article I found about a single parents stating how online dating saves them trouble and time.

http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20070531/LATH04331052007-1.html

Session 3 reading reactions.

Hi guys, this week we covered 6 readings. Our readings covered readings involving different identities involved in the internet, internet law (who should govern), internet rights (rights to ownership of property), and crime involved in internet communities and relationships.

Overall I think that these readings painted a pretty mysterious and nasty picture of the internet world. When we use the internet, well most of us, we view it from a common perspective, that being the perspective of just accomplishing a task. For those of us with a deeper involvement (for example this class & some professions or hobbies) in the internet we dig deeper than just the surface and get to see the underlings of the internet and communities. With reference to some of the readings for example the one written on Gender-Switching on the internet. I know it happens on occasion. I know I myself have not run into this problem, but I never believed it would be as much of a common problem as the article describes. Let alone the male gender to be the one to be doing most of the switching. This I believe paints a disturbing picture and potentially hurts the reputation of the male gender.

Another interesting article that I took particular interest in was the one written by Mathias Klang on “Avatar: From Deity to Corporate Identity”, in which it was argued who has the right to online identities, online Avatars in MMORPG’s to be specific. I believe personally that the person has the right to their online identity and any notoriety that might be come of it due to actions or accomplishments achieved throughout the use of the internet. This article paints a different, lawfully confusing interpretation as to ownership. The involvement of EULA’s (End User License Agreements) makes it increasingly difficult to retain the ownership of your online identities, specifically in the use of 3^rd party software such as MMORPG’s. Even though the software might be the companies, any byproduct produced with the use of their software I believe should belong to the creator. What the software companies are doing to their users is downright wrong. For example, that is like writing an entire book using Microsoft Word and then Microsoft coming along and saying that they own the book because you wrote it using their software. Another example would be the website, people use WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors to create the millions of websites that comprise the internet. If the software companies who produced these editors were to come along and claim ownership to the creations because they made the software, the internet would be owned by primarily Microsoft (makers of FrontPage), and Adobe (formerly Macromedia, owners of Studio software including Dreamweaver/Fireworks/Flash).

It is my impression after reading these articles that the internet can be a very intimidating, misleading, and demanding marketplace, both on the professional, but also the personal level.

This is not a news article, but it was a interesting blog from a professor at the University of Washington on gender switching: http://www.scienceblog.com/community/older/2000/F/200005126.html

They found that "most people are honest about their gender the vast majority of time. If you are talking to someone who says she's a 22-year-old woman, the odds are that's what she really is." which argues directly against the claims made in the reading "Do boys (and girls) just wanna have fun?"

Word Count: 486 (just thought I would save you time George)

Introduction.

Hi Guys, This is my blog that I established to post my reactions to our readings that we will be covering throughout the course of the summer in Sociology 416, Cyberspace Culture. I encourage your thoughts, criticisms, and critiques. Thanks!