The Next New Thing

For a new media form not yet invented, I would suggest an implementation of a computerized, virtual fitness trainer.  This idea would be similar to the automation of call centers in the business world - you would not actually have to have a real human to train you.  Instead, you'd have a virtual trainer that would work with you to manage your health and fitness such that it is fit uniquely to you.  With people, time is money... but we're not dealing with people here are we?  Say good by to expensive trainers. 

Our Class Wiki - So Far

For the class wiki, I will be contributing to "New Media and Bullying".  

I plan to discuss:

- the gates new media opens to bullying, as well as how it differs from traditional bullying.
- specific instances of bullying in new media, and support them with documentaries on the subject matter. 
-  tragedies that have resulted from bullying via new media forms, specifically social networks
- address the psychological aspect of new media, and its effects on individuals (bullies, those who are bullied, and regular individuals and their use and effects.)

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is simple the exchange of files, multimedia, software, etc.  P2P is a file sharing method which is usually done over a peer to peer client network in which multiple computers can participate in the exchange and distribution of content. 

Some p2p file sharing application examples are:

-  BitTorrent *
- Kazaa
- Frostwire
- uTorrent

 BiTorrent is probably one of the fastest, and well-known p2p applications.  Unlike other p2p programs, BiTorrent breaks files into multiple pieces- uploading pieces of a file becomes much quicker, as opposed to uploading a whole file.  Down-loaders are expected to upload as well in order to avoid leaching. 

* The BitTorrent Effect by Clive Thompson, Wired, January 2005. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.01/bittorrent.html

Privacy & Confidentiality

In New Media today, matters such as privacy and confidentiality are a top concern.  For example, one is never too sure how much should be kept visible online.  And how "invisible" is personal data?  It seems now, you not only have to worry about whats visibly posted, but also what is not visible to the public.  Facebook can serve as an example.  They are notorious for how frequently they change privacy controls.  Luckily though, Facebook has recently warned employers against asking for user passwords.  What?!  How employers could dare solicit passwords is beyond me.  Simply, in today's world, privacy is overrated, and possibly non-existant.

* http://www.ucsdguardian.org/home/item/25504-quick-takes-employers-asking-for-facebook-passwords

Advice to Baruch College

If I were to offer advice to Baruch, advice that would better Baruch in terms of New media, I would offer the folowing:

-  Design, and implement a WIKI that supports students from all departments, disciplines and courses, and classes to freely share course materials, notes, advice, etc.
- Internal social network functioning to unite students of similar interests and goals.  This could also support student organizational activities.
- Get rid of Blackboard!  Its way too unorganized, cluttered, and old.
-  Freely accessible knowledge base in which current Baruch students, alumni, professors, any one really, can contribute to any subject matter, career possibilities with in related matters, and "what you need to knows".

Creativity and New Media

If you've ever been in the mood to play Pictionary, but did not have your friends nearby, do NOT despair!  Thanks to the new game, Draw Something, you can play the Pictionary-like game when ever the mood strikes.  Draw Something has really taken off, with about 25 Million people, and like most social-network related activities, it is quite addictive.  This specific form of new media, is quite creative, in that users can play their beloved Pictionary-like game when ever, with out ever having to have any friends physically present.  And of course, friends can express their creativity by drawing something, as the name suggests.  To play, one user will simply continue to draw until the other user guesses correctly- its that simple.

Creativity

New Media, no doubt, fosters creativity both on the back end and user-end of most any media in question.  An interesting example is noticed in how Twitter has come to what it is today.  Twitters design development is 'outsourced' to the end user.  Users decide what works best, and with that, their preferences are developed into the different tools on Twitter- RT being an example.*  Many new media sites, in fact, are lucky enough to have the opportunity in having end-users shape their services.  Flikr is also a great example, for they had once been a a smaller part of a larger online game.  Noticing that Flickr's users mostly used the photosharing feature, Flickr focused their service on that particular feature.  Imagine the savings on research and design development!  It is safe to say that it is, in fact, a win-win situation.

________

* Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers by CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, the New York Times, October 26, 2009. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are interactive computer-based, online communities in which users may interact through avatars.  Though they can be used for fun and games by some, virtual worlds can also be used to:

- help those that are physically disadvantaged to engage in activities they wold otherwise be unable to in the real world (i.e. run, dance, swim, etc)
- train employees
- simulate medical emergencies*
- help those with Autism and Aspergers to interact socially**
- serve as a haven for those who have Social Anxiety Disorder
- replicate former real-life venues that no longer exist
- and much more...

The above list can serve as a few of the 'pros' of virtual reality.  On the other hand, some 'cons' include:
- online relationships that may be inescapable
- feelings of worthlessness, and insignificance
- addiction, and cut-off from reality
-  deceptive behaviour
- venue for online criminals
- confusion as to the approaching and correcting of unethical acts in the virtual world (i.e. virtual rape [ LambdaMOO])

Like any matter, virtual realities have their pro's and cons.  But if utilized correctly, they can aid in the expansion of creativity as we have explored.  I do believe virtual worlds will continue to expand, for they are great tools to aid various aspects of learning, working, and overall productivity.  If this route is taken, then I would also say it is a cheaper route to many other alternatives.

* "Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, The Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2010 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703909804575124470868041204.html?KEYWORDS=avatar+ii+the+hospital

** iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction by Nicole Saidi, CNN, March 28, 2008. available from: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/conditions/03/28/sl.autism.irpt/index.html#cnnSTCText

Social Networking sites: A comparison

Today we have various social networking site that may differ in use, but they all have on thing in common:  connection.  I will be listing my impressions.

Facebook:

• Has a newsfeed
• Includes a type of friends list
• Constantly changes
• Timeline feature that allows other to revisit any moment in time of ones life
• Chat, messaging, wall
• View Profile As..
• Privacy controls seem to conflict
• Dislike it

Myspace:

• Slow, and cluttered
• Personalized Myspace pages
• Friends
• Messaging, chat, bulletin board
•  Supposed media center
• Teenaged feel

Google +:

• Similar to Facebook
• Can create friends circles
• Growing social network
• unable to post of others' walls
• A tad bit boring

Twitter:

• "Cute"
• Simple
• Over flow of tweets
• Easy to follow any posts of interest
• Unique in style from the other 3

Blog About Twitter: A comparison

The unique thing about online classes is the fact that the entire coursework can be completed with out ever stepping into a classroom, or not once meeting your professor (though we should do so, anyways! Of course), and peers.  More interestingly, our CIS 3810 class takes an additional step and involves us with various forms of social media- Twitter, Blogger/Wordpress, and even BB discussion board.  

All three of these specific media involve people into some form of communication, collaboration, creativity, and a sense of community, but do so in different ways; of course each of these three media have their strengths and weaknesses.  For example, I would select Twitter as a preferable form of communication, as opposed to blogs or Blackboard discussion board because Twitter is a more manageable approach to communicating (due to ease of tracking posts.)  I would select Blogs as the best creative media form because it is more convienient in spreading and expressing creavity and knowledge.  As for Blackboard, it'd probably be best for collaborating because it is easy to organize topics and discuss them in detail.  All three forms of media are good in creating a sense of community, though Twitter and Blogger/Wordpress has a more prefferable look and feel... blackboard feels way too 90's!

In terms of comparing these forms of media to in-class discussions, I would say:  Online media is great for combining, organizing, and tracking data, but lacks the exactness in experiences of in-class discussions.  Being able to involve more of your senses to a physical environment, with your schoolmates creates a unique experience not quite capable through on-line means.   Work wise, online media gets the job done.  But sometimes its nice to be able to attach personalities to faces, and share laughs in a class discussion.

Social Networking

Social networking is a great tool for building new connections, keeping in touch with existing friends and family, and even promoting business.  If utilized properly, the benefits are plentiful, if not, the effects can be damaging.  I will discuss Face book in particular.

A few good uses include:

• Connection with former peers/friends/workmates
• Long distance connection
• Never forget another birthday (lol)
• Up-to-date information on what your 'friends' are up to
• Availibility of information for recruiters
• Social and political advocacy and awareness
• Self-promotion for buisness with relatively low cost (to virtually no cost)
• Real-time information from your favorites shows, bands, movies, etc

A few down falls include: *

• Lack of intimacy provided in traditional, face-to-face connection
• Quality vs. Quanity of friends
• Very easy to loose track of time
• Overflow of status updates, and information on news feed
•  How authentic are peoples' Facebook profile?
• Constant changes to privacy settings
• Spam
• Shameless self-promotion
• If not invested in fine-grained refining, who see's what?  Do you want everyone on your friends list to see everything?
• Need to be hyper self-aware

From this list, it is obvious that the Face book experience will differ from individual to individual depending on their use.  Just as easy as it is to experience the advantages, it is also just as easy to experience damaging pitfalls.  Regardless, it is always important to be aware of these points.  We can also count on networking sites, such as Facebook, to evolve over time.  A great example of this :  Facebook new video chat option.  As a result of these changes, our experiences are bound to change as well. 

In addition, you can get pretty creative in how you would like to use social netowrking sites.  In india, for example, users post traffic violation photos- this in turn has greatly helped traffic regulators to take action against violators.  Drivers are also a little more careful, and perhaps India's chaotic traffic may start to organize its self over time. **



 * Stout, Hilary. Antisocial Networking?  (April 2010). Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/fashion/02BEST.html
** Timmons, Heather.  In India, Using Facebook to Catch Scofflaw Drivers  (August 2010). Available at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/technology/02traffic.html?_r=1&ref=business

Blogs vs. Wikis

 Both Blogs and Wikis are forms of new media.  Through blogs and wiki's we are able to establish community, collaboration, and communication.  However, blogs and wikis are differentiated from each other in term of how these "C's" are established.  More specifically, the way in which collaboration, and communication occurs, differs between wikis and blogs.  Communication is stronger within Blogs because users can comment on blog posts, where as wikis are not as systematic in that aspect.  However, wikis are a great tool for collaboration because users can create their wiki community, and collaborate and contribute to/with each other's work.  Nonetheless, the two are alike in that they both establish communities and can allow for creative expansion of ideas.  Blogs and Wikis have come a long way from the older way of collaborating in our networked world- emails.  Technological convergence is achieved this way, and this is important because our workflows are able to change towards higher efficiency.**  Blogs and Wikis alike, are a more organized approach to collaboration.  As for a new way to utilize wiki, I would suggest using them for class examination prep; students can share their material, and organize material by content*.  That way, students can study in a very thorough manner.

* Locher, Margaret, More on How to Build Your Own Wikipedia  (April 2008). Available at CIO.com: http://www.cio.com/article/336818/More_on_How_to_Build_Your_Own_Wikipedia
** Author Unavailible, Wiki  (February 2012). Available at wikipedia.com: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki

Copyright Law and Technology

     For the term assignment, I have decided to research copyright law, IP protections, and the way in which technology falls with in these regulatory policies. Technology, as we know, is a very dynamic field, and often times we find that lawmakers cannot keep up; this results in policy vacuums that must be addressed.  A very applicable recent situation involves the attempted passage of the SOPA and PIPA regulations.  I will weigh the advantages and disadvantages of regulatory policies, and will also address various companies that have undergone court regulations over copyright and IP matters.