Thursday, April 22, 2010
Next New Media
Ever since the movie The Surrogate, I've always thought that the movie will become real life. Basically in the movie, everyone has a robot. Everyone in the world controls their own avatar/robot through a pod, very very similar to the movie Avatar. You have total control over how you look. You can look like Brad Pitt in the morning and become Angelina Jolie by night. They can feel, smell, see, touch, and taste everything the robot does. You're basically living your life through a robot. Living your life this way, you will not face the physical harm of everyday life. For example if you get hit by a car, only your robot is damaged. The actual person is safe and sound in their pods. Although this might sound scary, I can see this being a realistic feature of everyday life in the future.
Privacy and Confidentiality
With our technologies getting more and more advanced, we should be feeling safer and safer right? However, we're not. It's almost the opposite. The internet is probably new media's biggest component and with it's existence, there is literally no privacy anymore. Nowadays we do everything on the computer. We can pay our bills, shop, even make phone calls. There are traces of our lives on these computers and anyone can access them.
Social networking is also an invention that forces us to give up our privacy. Friends, family, organizations, and even strangers can find information about anyone through social networking sites such as Facebook. Other websites like Twitter allows people to update their exact location or activity. Why in the world would people want to do that? It's almost as if having no privacy or confidentiality is normal now.
We have to understand that the internet is a powerful force. It's easy to upload information but we need to know that it's even easier for a GREAT number of people to view that information. There is no doubt that privacy and confidentiality is a right we have to give up when we are on the internet. We just have to be more cautious.
Social networking is also an invention that forces us to give up our privacy. Friends, family, organizations, and even strangers can find information about anyone through social networking sites such as Facebook. Other websites like Twitter allows people to update their exact location or activity. Why in the world would people want to do that? It's almost as if having no privacy or confidentiality is normal now.
We have to understand that the internet is a powerful force. It's easy to upload information but we need to know that it's even easier for a GREAT number of people to view that information. There is no doubt that privacy and confidentiality is a right we have to give up when we are on the internet. We just have to be more cautious.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
My Presentation Summary
I am proud to say that my presentation is about 98% done. I just got to go over a couple of things and really try to perfect it. As I posted up earlier, my topic for my project is New Media and Teens. Here is a summary of my project.
Within the last five years, media exposure for teens has increased dramatically. Between the years of 2004-2005 the increases were as followed: music audio: +47mins, TV: + 38mins, computers: +27mins, video games + 24 mins.
Not only did media consumption increased, media ownership increased as well. Ownership of laptops increased from 12%-29%. Cell Phones increased from 39%-66%. Ipods/mp3 increased from 18%-76%. This really aids the increase of media consumption because with these mobile devices, new media can be accessed anywhere teens are. Another reason why media exposure increased is because of the increasing number of internet access at home.
We all know that video sites such as Youtube and social networking sites such as Facebook are major contributors to new media. Video sites and social networking has become the top 2 activities on the computers by teens.
So with all the availablilty of interent and other sources of media, how does it affect teens educationally? Well, from information given by the Keiser Family Foundation, we see that people who spend more time on computers are more likely to recieve poor grades. 47% of heavy users of media claim that they recieve poor grades at school. (C's or lower) 31% of moderate users claim they recieve grades while only 23% report recieveing poor grades. Although it's easy to see that there is a correlation between time spent and poor grades, researchers have yet to find out why this is so.
Concerning teens social behaivor, 55% of teens say they use social networking sites. Most girls say they use it to keep in touch with friends while boys say that they use it to meet new people and flirt. Also, heavy users of media are more likely to be sad or depressed, get into trouble, and have conflicts with their own family.
Within the last five years, media exposure for teens has increased dramatically. Between the years of 2004-2005 the increases were as followed: music audio: +47mins, TV: + 38mins, computers: +27mins, video games + 24 mins.
Not only did media consumption increased, media ownership increased as well. Ownership of laptops increased from 12%-29%. Cell Phones increased from 39%-66%. Ipods/mp3 increased from 18%-76%. This really aids the increase of media consumption because with these mobile devices, new media can be accessed anywhere teens are. Another reason why media exposure increased is because of the increasing number of internet access at home.
We all know that video sites such as Youtube and social networking sites such as Facebook are major contributors to new media. Video sites and social networking has become the top 2 activities on the computers by teens.
So with all the availablilty of interent and other sources of media, how does it affect teens educationally? Well, from information given by the Keiser Family Foundation, we see that people who spend more time on computers are more likely to recieve poor grades. 47% of heavy users of media claim that they recieve poor grades at school. (C's or lower) 31% of moderate users claim they recieve grades while only 23% report recieveing poor grades. Although it's easy to see that there is a correlation between time spent and poor grades, researchers have yet to find out why this is so.
Concerning teens social behaivor, 55% of teens say they use social networking sites. Most girls say they use it to keep in touch with friends while boys say that they use it to meet new people and flirt. Also, heavy users of media are more likely to be sad or depressed, get into trouble, and have conflicts with their own family.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Advice
If I was hired by baruch college, there are a number of things I would suggest to make this school better.
1. Get rid of Blackboard
2. Have all math, accounting, finance teachers post up videos of sample problem solving.
3. Send out personal texts when a professor cancels a class. Not everyone checks their email on time.
4. Have more hybrid classes. An alternative to class attendence is good for emergencies.
5. Have a link on the Baruch website for students to sell or buy used books.
6. Have programs for Scientific or Financial calulators available for students to download into their laptops.
7. Everything we need to do at the registrar should be done online. The lines are crazy.
8. There should be a waiting list for classes that are full.
1. Get rid of Blackboard
2. Have all math, accounting, finance teachers post up videos of sample problem solving.
3. Send out personal texts when a professor cancels a class. Not everyone checks their email on time.
4. Have more hybrid classes. An alternative to class attendence is good for emergencies.
5. Have a link on the Baruch website for students to sell or buy used books.
6. Have programs for Scientific or Financial calulators available for students to download into their laptops.
7. Everything we need to do at the registrar should be done online. The lines are crazy.
8. There should be a waiting list for classes that are full.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Our class wiki- so far
When we first started on our class wiki, I was REALLY intimidated. I mean I had NO clue what to do and all the codes and stuff looked very very complicated. But as usual, Professor Friedman had a great way of teaching us how to use the wiki. All we got to do is just COPY AND PASTE. Professor Friedman is right. We really don't need to know the codes or formulas for certain functions. Everything we need to do has been done already. We just have to copy the code and paste it and then adjust it to your liking.
Ever since we started working on our wiki, I've contributed to a number of things. One thing I contributed to was the New media in sports page. I'm a big basketball fan and I watch basketball often. Every now and then, I see news on players being fined because of a comment they made on twitter. Therefore, I added some information on this subject. I also added some videos on the Fun Link. I'm a huge fan of "The Office". And to the credit of Professor Friedman, I realized that there are a lot of video clips that are funny and relevant to new media. I'm really proud of that work so please check it out.
Ever since we started working on our wiki, I've contributed to a number of things. One thing I contributed to was the New media in sports page. I'm a big basketball fan and I watch basketball often. Every now and then, I see news on players being fined because of a comment they made on twitter. Therefore, I added some information on this subject. I also added some videos on the Fun Link. I'm a huge fan of "The Office". And to the credit of Professor Friedman, I realized that there are a lot of video clips that are funny and relevant to new media. I'm really proud of that work so please check it out.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
My New Media Class - So Far
I going to be honest, I really thought this class was going to be an easy A. But so far it's not! I mean lets face it, there's a lot of work in this class. The frequent blogs, twitter post, and readings. However, I love it. This class has been really fun and I'm learning new things about things I THOUGHT i knew. There are so many things to new media than just the internet and cellphones. For example second life. Learning about second life and it's benefits was really cool. However my favorite class so far was last week's class on Viral. It was really interesting and watching the videos were awesome. The wedding video from the Office made me really happy and i didn't think a class can make me feel that way. The reading are honestly a big of a drag but I can see the purpose of them. They further our understanding and they take our class content and put it in the real world.
I think my favorite feature or assignment in this class are the blogs. When I blog i feel like i can write down anything and express myself. It's a pretty good way to blow off some steam or just be myself. Twitter is kinda cool as well but i dont really see the point. However it's funny to see what some people are tweeting. I'm pretty nervous about the research project. But then again I'm nervous about every project I do until I'm actually finished with the project. I really hope i do well in this class. I need an A to boost my grade.
Professor Friedman is an incredible person. Every class she looks like she just got off the plane from Paris lol. I had a couple of professors name Friedman and they've all hated me. I didnt like them that much either. However Professor Friedman is a great professor. Not trying to suck up but she does a great job teaching us the content of this class. She gathers our attention by showing us funny videos that relate to the information of the class. That's pretty hard to accomplish.
I think my favorite feature or assignment in this class are the blogs. When I blog i feel like i can write down anything and express myself. It's a pretty good way to blow off some steam or just be myself. Twitter is kinda cool as well but i dont really see the point. However it's funny to see what some people are tweeting. I'm pretty nervous about the research project. But then again I'm nervous about every project I do until I'm actually finished with the project. I really hope i do well in this class. I need an A to boost my grade.
Professor Friedman is an incredible person. Every class she looks like she just got off the plane from Paris lol. I had a couple of professors name Friedman and they've all hated me. I didnt like them that much either. However Professor Friedman is a great professor. Not trying to suck up but she does a great job teaching us the content of this class. She gathers our attention by showing us funny videos that relate to the information of the class. That's pretty hard to accomplish.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds
With the use of internet being more and more essential, virtual worlds are becoming more and more popular. There are many ways virtual worlds can be used. One of the most common way is to use it in a recreational way. For example, kids can play with their virtual toys in a virtual world. Webkinz lead in industry of virtual toys. They are plush animals that comes with a code that activates the online version of the toys. (Toys with a Second Life by Brian Hindo) In virtual worlds, it offers many things one cannot do in reality. For example, flight. In virtual worlds such as second life, one can travel to places with the ability of flight. This has a lot of appeal to many users because it provides a very unique experience. Virtual worlds can also be used in a professional way. One of those ways is training. Since virtual worlds mimics reality very closely, many companies can set a training program and have their new employees train on them. The military also has programs that train soldiers on how to act during a real life scenario.
There are many upsides to how virtual worlds are being used today. Using virtual worlds is a great way to meet someone. Now when it comes to the use of virtual worlds in the office, it is a lot easier to bring everyone together on a virtual conference meeting. This way of conducting a meeting offers a lot more functions than a video call. (Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life by Mark Tutton) Not only that, by conducting a virtual world meeting, it saves the employees time and money from having to travel to their office. Also, when their are less cars on the road, that is always a good thing. With the way military conducting their training in virtual world, not only are they saving tons of money, the are probably saving lives too. Instead of putting inexperienced soldiers in dangerous situations, they can simulate everything through virtual world.
Virtual worlds have their flaws as well. They create a world that might seem better than reality to some and that can result in some mental problems. One might get so attached to a virtual world, they may never want to come back to reality again. Also since their are really no rules in virtual worlds, one may do whatever he or she wishes to do. This behavior might translate into reality. Because they've done it numerous of times in their virtual worlds, they think it is fine to do it in reality.
I really believe virtual world can foster creativity very well. Since virtual worlds are so similar to reality, what you do in virtual worlds can be turned into reality. Because of the fact that virtual worlds are not real, one can always try to come up with new idea in a virtual worlds and see if it will have success. If the idea fails, no harm is really done because it was never applied in the REAL world.
I believe in the future virtual worlds will play a huge part. The future will be very similar to the movie "The Surrogate". Eventually we will have a robot that can look like anything we want it to look like and we will live our lives thru that robot. This way, we can never get injured because our actual self will be inside a machine while our robots take all the risk of everyday life. It sounds corny and unrealistic but just wait and watch.
There are many upsides to how virtual worlds are being used today. Using virtual worlds is a great way to meet someone. Now when it comes to the use of virtual worlds in the office, it is a lot easier to bring everyone together on a virtual conference meeting. This way of conducting a meeting offers a lot more functions than a video call. (Going to the Virtual Office in Second Life by Mark Tutton) Not only that, by conducting a virtual world meeting, it saves the employees time and money from having to travel to their office. Also, when their are less cars on the road, that is always a good thing. With the way military conducting their training in virtual world, not only are they saving tons of money, the are probably saving lives too. Instead of putting inexperienced soldiers in dangerous situations, they can simulate everything through virtual world.
Virtual worlds have their flaws as well. They create a world that might seem better than reality to some and that can result in some mental problems. One might get so attached to a virtual world, they may never want to come back to reality again. Also since their are really no rules in virtual worlds, one may do whatever he or she wishes to do. This behavior might translate into reality. Because they've done it numerous of times in their virtual worlds, they think it is fine to do it in reality.
I really believe virtual world can foster creativity very well. Since virtual worlds are so similar to reality, what you do in virtual worlds can be turned into reality. Because of the fact that virtual worlds are not real, one can always try to come up with new idea in a virtual worlds and see if it will have success. If the idea fails, no harm is really done because it was never applied in the REAL world.
I believe in the future virtual worlds will play a huge part. The future will be very similar to the movie "The Surrogate". Eventually we will have a robot that can look like anything we want it to look like and we will live our lives thru that robot. This way, we can never get injured because our actual self will be inside a machine while our robots take all the risk of everyday life. It sounds corny and unrealistic but just wait and watch.
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