The Next New Thing

        Something new and improve that maybe beneficial to society are that cars can be equipped or made with the technology that enables your vehicle to drive for you. This would be very useful for drivers who travel long distances everyday and may get tired  and want to take a rest. It would most likely decrease the chance of you getting into an accident and even shortening your estimated time of arrival of your desired destination. How this may work is by using GPS technology synced with other types of technology to program your car to where it is going. Also technology may have to be put into place to figure out how fast the car should be traveling and to keep into consideration other vehicles in the area.

New Media and Society

     New Media has helped and improved society in many ways such as time reduction, use of it may be more efficient and effective and may also have reduced cost for certain transactions. New media has been used for innovative ideas and creativity to help with the disabled and the mentally impaired. It is also used for education, globalization; keeping everyone together no matter where they are and entrepreneurship; helping business people get started in their career life. New Media has a lot to offer but there is a bad side to it such as internet addiction, sexual predators, stalkers, privacy issues and I believe the top one should be laziness.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

     I chose the topic new media and gaming systems to work on. I have talked about the first generation of Xbox and its competitor PS2 and will continue to talk about the Xbox in how it evolved to Xbox 360 by showing different pictures of the system itself and the different accessories. There will be an explanation on what the 360 has to offer as it is not only a gaming system.   

P2P File Sharing

     The practice of publicly or privately sharing various or different types of computer information over a given network is called file sharing. A number of files can be shared over the Internet such as audio files, video files, images, documents and even electronic books. P2P file sharing also known as peer to peer file sharing is basically a system where files are directly shared between network users. This is done without the assistance and interference of a central server. P2P file sharing is said to be easily accessible and more redundant than a centralized file sharing system. There are also known to be very resistant to legal attacks because there is no one entity to file a law suit against. According to the article "Content Producers should take advantage of P2P, not fear it" by Jamie King, it uses P2P file sharing to broadcast their documentary Steal This Film. While using this system, they were able to reach more than 2 million downloads and have about 3 million viewers in the past 18 months to watch their documentary. They use this idea of P2P to predict how they will be able to earn revenue in the years to come.

Advice to Baruch College

     Some ways that I will use new media to improve Baruch College are:

• Use the Internet to find a way to get more affordable tectbooks for the students.
• Use the Internet to advertise the clubs that are available for students.
• Research information on how the school can complete construction when students are not i n school.
• Find more ways to make the school more creative so that it can inspire students.
• Develop a better for students and teachers to interact with each other rather than making appointments.
• Find a way to better get academic advisment rather than waiting for hours.

Privacy & Confidentiality

      In today's society, people use new media for everything such as shopping, online banking and posting personal information for certain people to see but are their credit card information and private stuff really hidden? New media allows for creativity and a means to put an ease on one's life but others use this as a way to hack into to other people's computers and steal their information for their own good. As much as new media tries to keep certain information private with all the software that is available for one's use, there is always a way to get around it as hackers or cyber thieves are still able to see your encrypted and confidential files.

About My Term Research Paper

     The title of my paper is "The Internet: Success or Disaster", it talks about the use of the Internet and its impact on society. I also went through the pros and cons of the Internet and how it first came about and its evolution in today's society. Most of my research came from websites but I have also incorporated my own opinions and what I have seen on television into this paper. I believe that my topic is important because the Internet is basically part of one's life as it has become a tool of necessity.

Creativity and New Media

    Using my X Box 360 has eliminated me from going to the movies with my friends too often. While using my 360 I am able to stream movies form Netflix while still interacting with my friends. I have created an avatar of myself and use it to enter a virtual movie theater where we all sit and watch any chosen movie. Here we can chat, make funny emotions and at the same time watch the movie. Below are some sample pictures of a day at the movie theater on my X Box.

Creativity

      Society uses various new media such as their phones, computers and the Internet to create just about anything. The imagination is a very peculiar thing, which people use to come up with extraordinary ideas to create incredible things. Take a look at a simple photograph that someone took of a person; using the computer people can manipulate the image whereas they can put words in it, cut off the head and put it on another person's body or animal body. This creativeness is often use as a joke and put on the Internet for everyone to view.
      Another example of creativity is that Internet users are able to make an avatar, which is suppose to be a representation of their ideal self. They use this avatar to chat with others, play games or just interacting anyway possible. The Internet allows users to create or build anything that one's mind comes up with, a prime example of this are virtual worlds; this is where you can duplicate an existing area or create something that nobody has ever seen.
     In the article "Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers" by Claire Cain Miller, it talks about how the company observes how people use their service and looks at what interests them to see what ideas catches on. The company then uses this information to develop new features on twitter. The article also talks about the Internet being a tool or a means to exchange ideas/information . This being done allows others to incorporate this information into something creative.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

    A virtual world is an online community that often takes the form of a computer based simulated environment through which users can interact with one another. Virtual worlds can be used for creativity as users can create a fantasy life such as what they see the world as and control certain situations. Also, a duplicate of the real world can be created where you can go to places and meet with people instead of physically being there. While in these virtual worlds people tend to play numerous games (3D games); a site called http://www.whyville.net/smmk/nice (Game Site) allows users to own land, build houses, help the community, win prizes and chat with others.

Pros of Virtual Worlds

• It is more personal than e-mail, instant messaging and even a telephone call.
• People are drawn together by similar interests instead of geographical location.
• An opportunity for every user to find his/her discipline(what they are really into).

 Cons of Virtual Worlds

• Can lead to low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness and even self-destructive acts.
• Provides communication environment in which dangers of deception and misinterpretation can occur.
• There is a higher proportion of predators in the virtual world than the real world.

     In the article, "In Room 100, It's Sid and Nancy All Over Again" by Saki Knafo it talks about how a manager of  the Hotel Chelsea was replaced and that major changes took place which took away the true essence of the hotel. An online version or virtual version was then created to bring back the originality of the hotel so that customers or people that used to like the hotel can now enjoy these good times again. I believe this is creativity at work.

      In the article, "'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction" by Nicole Saidi it talks about how people with autism can benefit from the virtual world by practicing social interaction and finding more information about the condition. Virtual worlds are a fantastic tool to bring people together; a statement used in the article displaying how it felt about virtual worlds or second life as they called it.

    I am not too sure of what the future holds for the virtual world but I believe it can be used as a practice tool to carry out experiments, certain procedures and may be a better way to communicate with others. My feelings about the virtual world is that I would never use it.

Blog about Twitter

     Twitter is a real-time information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find interesting. It enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters.
Comparison of Twitter, BalckBoard and an in class discussion

Twitter	Blackboard	In class discussion
140 words per tweet	As long as you want	No writing, strictly speaking
Up-to-date information	Up-to-date information	Up-to-date information
Customization  allowed	No customization	No Customization
Speaking through internet	Speaking through internet	In person conversation
Meet new people	No socializtion involved	No socializtion involved

Social Networking Sites

Here are my impresssions on four social networking sites.

MySspace.com

• MySpace gives you frredom over your page or profile.
• Allows for customization of background, music, photos and words.
• Enables one to sort friends according to top 100 friends depending who you talk to mostly.
• Conveniant mostly to the teenage generation.
• Have multiplayer turn based games.

Twitter.com

• Able to get latest feeds, broadcast, information etc...
• Can only use 140 words a tweet at a time.
• Use as a news channel and to post up to date information.
• Customization of background and motto.

Sconex.com

• Basic and primary, updates for high school students.
• Limited communiction to others as it is for students attending specific schools.
• Not eye appealing.
• Not for people who are creative as their is no customization involved.
• Not really a good source for socializing.

Facebook.com

• Everyone uses it from children to adults.
• Good way to keep  in contact with friends, family and is great for socializing.
• No customizations other than adding photos and videos.
• Numerous games are available for one to play.

      Out of these four sites I prefer to use only facebook as my only intentions for using a networking site is to keep in contact with friends and family overseas.

Social Networking

   Social networking is used in today's society by almost everyone. It is used to get into contact with friends, family and people you may want to get to know. Social networking sites are places where you can share interests, photos,and other information that you night have to put out  there. These sites are often used for work, as a hobby, playing games, sharing interests, health and medical reasoning or just for purely social use. A few examples of social networking sites are Facebook.com which may be the most popular, Twitter.com, Hi5.com, Tagged.com, etc...
   Social networking are also used by corporate businesses to get into contact with other companies across the globe instead of having to travel from country to country personally to get the necessary job done. They also use it to share or exchange certain types business related information and for recruiting and job application measures. An example of businesses using social networking is seen in the article, "Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting" by Frank Langfitt. It talks about how social networking technology is great for recruiting because it allows employers to look at a person's profile to see if they can be a candidate for any position that they might be offering. It also enables employers to create profiles to market themselves to people and whoever is interested can contact.
    Although, social networking may be great, it also has a bad side to it. All the information and pictures that is being posted can be manipulated or used by others to falsify identity. Social networking can also be used as a means for sexual harassment, abduction crimes and even cyber bullying. People who use social networking are known to be teens from the ages of 12-17. This information is shown in the article "Teens getting savvier about MySpace, especially girls" by Alex Zaharov-Reutt. This article basically shows you the statistical information of who uses social networking sites and the comparison of females to males relevant to their apparent age groups.
    My reasons for using social networking is to keep in contact with friends and family overseas. Really and truly, I can deal without having Facebook or any other social networking technology as I only use the computer for job related activities and school.

Blogs vs. Wikis

    Blogs and wikis enable communication of information by a person or groups of people and provide a platform for feedback. Blogs do this in the form of comments while wikis do it by letter, letting users directly edit content of any given page.

Usage of Blogs
a) Alternate way or complement to publishing.
b) Limited Collaboration.
c) Regular dated posts.
d) Links to news articles and other blog posts.

Working with Wiki
1. Communication
a) Posting is relatively easy.
b) Everyone can contribute.
c) Wiki can adapt to company changes.

2. Collaboration
a) Idea generation.
b) Technical support.
c) Product design e.g. software products.

3. Community
a) Decentralized control.
b) Wiki represents grass roots approach.

Pros and Cons with Blogs and Wikis
Blogs                                                                                            Wikis
a) Information is controlled                                                        a) Your voice will be heard
b) Keeps away internet predators                                               b) Easily accessible to internet predators
c) Comments can be screened                                                    c) Freedom of speech
d) No freedom of speech

     Convergence in today's society is very important as combining information may become of great value to people. Convergence ensures that things or information is legit and not a fake as there would be backup information readily accessible to prove one's point.

    Blogs can be used for collaboration as the information being posted can be very useful to others in a number of cases. An example of this is in the article " Brooklyn Blog Helps Lead to Drug Raid" by Michael Wilson. In this article it talks about how people were making posts about suspicious activity going on at a house in the bay Ridge area. As the posts accumulated it reached the authority which lead to a drug raid and the arrest of three brothers who were faced with drugs and weapon charges. After reading this article, I figured this is a prime example of collaboration being used.

    In the article "How To Use Wikis For Business" by Ezra Goodnoe it talks about when you should consider implementing a wiki and when a wiki might not be right for your organization.
Consider implementing a wiki if:
a)  You want to establish a company intranet quickly and cheaply without sacrificing functionality, security or durability.
b) You want to manage and organize meeting notes, team agendas, and company calenders.
c) You need a central location where shared documents can be viewed and revised by a large and/or dispersed team.

A wiki might not be right for your organization if:
a) The collaborative format is not appropriate for your group or workplace. Peer review is not always the best solution for content management.
b) You are looking for an exchange of views.
c) You need to use complex file formats as some wiki platforms can support only text or HTML files.

The Internet: Success or Disaster

      The title above is what I plan on working on for my project. Here I will be talking about both the pros and cons that the internet has on society. Major points that will be brought up are the effects of social networking, how business relations are handled, hacking, identity theft crimes, research made easier, scams etc... These are some of the few things that will be mentioned. The purpose of talking about this topic is to show if the internet has truly help society in making life easier or is it an invasion of personal space and has destroyed humanity's way of living.