Creative Chaos!

Readings for 5.18.05

2005-05-17T22:52:00.000-07:00

I think the relation between cyberspace as public space and accessibility standards is fairly simple. If a space is going to be considered public, then it needs to be accessible by all. The construction of public places in a city take certain codes and regulations into consideration when they’re being built, so why shouldn’t a public space, like a webpage, on the Internet? I think of the wheelchair access requirements … why shouldn’t online webpages, especially those by the government and businesses be held to a similar standard? I agree with the stipulations established by the government because it promotes equality and it is inclusive of disabled individuals, which is necessary.

Readings for 4.11.05

2005-05-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

I think that Internet technology encourages political activity, especially as seen through the Dean campaign this past election. It allows politicians to tap resources and voters across the country without the concern of a spatial boundary. The Internet also provides all sorts of real-time information that we as voters never had access to in the past, even through television. I can only speak for myself, but I personally think the Internet has encouraged my interest in politics, just by having more information AND tailored information readily available. Unfortunately though, I also think the Internet allows politicians to be slimier than they already are. I’m already skeptical enough of the entire campaign process, from the public relations firms that are employed to the plain and simple deception, so I think that the Internet, and computer technology makes voting very dangerous, especially without checks and balances.

Readings for 4.9.05

2005-05-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

I think the first two readings were very interesting, because they discussed the filtering of Internet content in international countries. Before I had read either article, I didn’t even realize the extent that other governments were regulating Internet content. Some of the software alternatives, as discussed in the Hacktivist article sound like positive ways to empower citizens in foreign countries, in order to overcome government firewalls and other content blocking software. The third article added a different dimension when looking at cyberspace as public space, by discussing advertising and its ability to clutter up public space both online and offline. One of the examples, which Lindsay will use in our presentation, is that of Google’s AdSense, which targets ads to content on websites, and the owner or webmaster gets paid each time the links are clicked.

Midterm Report

2005-05-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

After having completed the Search assignment, it allowed me to sharpen my focus for my upcoming individual project. It also gave me some good resources to continue my research. I have decided that I’m going to focus more on the applications of the iPod, and its future uses, rather than the design and usability. I’ve already found two strong examples, in use at universities, and in the medical field, so I feel like I’m on the right track. In the following weeks, I will continue to find more sources that are scholarly, which is the most challenging aspect of researching a new technology, and also begin gathering it together and developing the final product. I think the second assignment that is due soon will also help contribute to my upcoming research.

Readings for 5.4.05

2005-05-03T16:14:00.000-07:00

Similarities between the open-source movement and the articles read..
I see some limited similarities between the two articles this week, and the open-source software movement. I think the most striking of them is that each form of new technology/software, whether it be Friendster.com, blogs, linux operating systems, and the “second superpower” all depend entirely on the internet for community connectivity. Each depends on a group of people or community online, joining together, to support one another and their interests. Linux/Unix wouldn’t be nearly as successful without an online community of programmers who can alter the code and improve the software. The idea of a “second superpower” also relies entirely on the world of Internet users, to spread their ideas and encourage participation. Friendster.com couldn’t exist without members inviting other members to be their virtual “friends” via email. Another similarity between the open-source movement and the second superpower is founded on activism or rebellion. For the software, the programmers were tired of major corporations putting license restrictions on programs and charging too much money. For the second superpower, citizens are upset with the United States government and the way its functioning.

Readings for 5.2.05

2005-05-01T15:47:00.000-07:00

Blogging Software and Community

Blogging software definitely facilitates community in the sense that its reach is very deep. Blog entries can be seen and read by anyone with access to the Internet, which isn’t limited by physical boundaries/space. Communities can be established through blogs when users read news or opinions that have their interests in mind. I also think that blogs encourage others in the assumed community to participate, by commenting or adding information to the entries. On the other hand, I think the biggest challenge of facilitating community through blogging software is being able to find a particular blog online that parallels your personal news interests, whether it be sports, world news, fashion, local news, etc. There are so many blogs that exist for families and friends, that its hard to decipher all of the blogs online in order to find information relevant to what I’m interested in. I also think that blogs require many to participate, and not everyone is comfortable with the fact that their personal thoughts/opinions are published online to be read by all. I think blogging will be made most popular by the younger generations, even though it wasn’t established by them.

Readings for 4.27.05

2005-04-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

I think Wi-Fi technology opens up an entire new realm of study for communication scholars, because universal access to the Internet could potentially bring hundreds of different cultures and ways of communicating online. The ability to interact with these people would allow communication scholars to look at different dialects, and also how new users communicate via technology. It would be interesting to study how email is used in rural third-world countries. More dependent than we are at a university in America, or less dependent (?) etc.

In terms of the reading, I think that it will be hard to grant universal access without some major financial/profit compromising on behalf of the companies or government supplying the equipment. AND, once the “entrepreneurs” of the villages or rural areas realize how much money can be made on such projects, I would think they’d eventually exploit the system to profit more for themselves, than be concerned about each village’s accessibility to the Internet. It’s a pessimistic viewpoint I guess, and I’d love to see the entire world have wireless access to the Internet, but I’m not very sure how practical it is. You have to start somewhere, and if that be with wireless connections, I hope that the technology is dependable enough … especially to develop countries with.

Readings for 4.25.05

2005-04-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

GNU
I had never heard of this particular software before, but I thought that the idea was great. At the same time though, I can’t imagine its use is very widespread, especially within corporations or with major networks, since I have never heard of it (and I have a relative grasp on popular software/applications). It relates to the response question that was asked, being an open-source piece of software that can be adapted by anyone who uses it. I think the idea is great in theory, and was supported well in the reading through the questions and answers at the end of the article, but it just doesn’t mesh with the American capitalist ideal. No matter what the reason, free software/operating systems conflict entirely with the technology industry.

Markets are Conversations
When I thought of markets outsmarting the corporations, the first thing that came to mind were message boards of users/consumers in particular markets. In Communication 343, I remember learning about online message boards that were dictating character or plot changes in television shows, due to readership by employees of the television network. I frequently visit Niketalk.com, a message board dedicated to Nike shoes. On this site, users are literally smarter than the corporation, having pictures of shoes posted online that don’t release for months, or signing online petitions for certain shoes to be re-released. The Internet has allowed markets to band together, and smarten up.

Readings for 4.20.05

2005-04-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

Voting and Usability
I understand that some percentage of error is inevitable in calculating millions of votes in an election; however, I think the usability of the voting systems that are implemented could be vulnerable, or too basic for some, especially after all of the speculations of votes being found on the machines before the polls were open in the 2004 Presidential race. In the article, I also enjoyed the section about design, and the example they gave of website checkout processes. The balance in design is crucial in order to keep people interested, and I like the idea of that challenge

The Bombay Ballot
“Technological Chauvinism” is an interesting term from this reading, and I thought the idea that was presented was very true. I doubt that anyone in Congress would take the notion to import voting machines from India very seriously. BUT, rather than import them, why wouldn’t the United States just simplify the current one that they have. I personally think time should be less of an issue than accuracy in deciding a President, in terms of the network-less India voting machine. The United States have the complexity because they “need” it in order to abide by state regulations, but with all the innovative technology, I’m sure it could still be simplified, and be safer than it is now.

Before I read the articles, I was skeptical of computer voting systems, and the articles themselves just emphasized my previous feelings. To me, it seems like there are too many loop holes. I think a happy medium can be found between paper ballots and the computer voting machines, that is safe, secure, and efficient.

Readings for 4.18.05

2005-04-17T12:03:00.000-07:00

The first idea that really made me think beyond the article was in the first couple pages, when the concept of humans versus computers was discussed. Among the many differences that exist between the two, computers lack an ability to deceive, which humans have used to thrive for hundreds of years. This example/idea honestly made me stop and think about what the world would be like if computers were deceptive, or could answer our queries with “what we wanted to hear”, or something other than the absolute truth. I guess we’re lucky that computers have to be programmed to give us the responses that they do, atleast so we’re not approaching a robotic takeover like we see in the movies as quickly as we could be.

I also really enjoyed the section about sports, and what it logically takes for a game/sport to be widely accepted and played. The “exquisite mix between the doable and the difficult” is truly what makes certain sports so popular today. Sports allow someone to be good at one aspect of a game while terrible at another.. yet they still keep playing and are interested because there are so many different facets. The example sadly made me think of my NBA Live Dynasty basketball team, where I can choose specific players and focus on which skills they need to practice, eventually raising their overall “score” or player rating. Multi-faceted, yes.

Readings for 4.13.05

2005-04-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

I entirely agree with the statements made by the author in “Role of the Internet in National and Local News Media Use,” for one important reason. I can completely relate to the usage statistics that were proposed in the article because I generally use the Internet for national news knowledge (via CNN or NYT); however, more often now for local news coverage. In correlation with her findings, I read the physical Seattle Times and P.I. much more than I access them online.

One aspect of the reading that I thought was interesting was that they did the study in Minnesota (I’m not personally familiar with the location), and those results would vary heavily across the country depending on where the research was conducted. I think its safe to say that Seattle and even the surrounding Metropolitan area is much more Internet-oriented (and politically active) than many places in the country, thus the results from this area in terms of Internet-usage and online news would probably be striking. In the same sense though, the results would probably only further validate the hypotheses that were made, in that the Internet, as a news source, is definitely becoming more of a challenge to the standard print media.

I think that age is a major factor in determining the use of online news sources. The initial results that were found in the study had Internet news at the bottom of the barrel, in terms of use for political news, by the survey respondents. How old were the respondents? I know age was mentioned as a factor, but could have been critically downplayed, as the Internet is attributed to the younger generations. News and information about the 2004 Presidential election was probably most accessed online by younger users, and even middle-aged users. I love online news, and the ability to tailor stories to your personal interests via hyperlinks. Bring it on.

Readings for 4.11.05

2005-04-10T12:32:00.000-07:00

We Have the Info. You Want …
Since the article was written in 1997, I felt that the content was somewhat outdated. The “current trends”, to navigate links through gopher-space is well utilized by a major e-commerce company, Yahoo. Also, the natural language processing systems, which were seen in the article as promising technology (which they proved to be), have taken over information searching on the web, through Google, Lycos, Ask Jeeves, Altavista, Dogpile, etc. Since the article was written, it has gotten incredibly easier to obtain relevant information; however, the amount of information online has also dramatically increased. I think ‘search methods’ should be a course taught at universities (and it probably already is), because students at this level are already very information literate … we just need to learn some “application usability” in order to be most efficient in gathering information.

Information Overload
Two things. First of all, relevant to the previous leading, I agree completely with the final statement in the article, which reads “Excessive emphasis on technology-based solutions should definitely be avoided”. The author perfectly suggests that we should be trained and educated in how to search most efficiently, rather than depend on innovative technology to mindlessly find it for us. Secondly, I thought the discussion of the “Deep web” was very interesting, and wanted to know more about it. If it takes up so many more times the space of the surface web, then what is all the information pertaining to, and how can the websites be accessed? Also, depending on when the article was written, do search engines and databases of 2005 have the power to penetrate into the deep web? I’d like to know more.

Readings for 4.6.05

2005-04-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Networks of Remediation

Maybe its me, and I don’t at all understand the concept of the “male gaze” proposed in the article, but we as viewers of film are not “gazing” at anything or anyone that wasn’t handpicked for the role by a producer or director. Gaze or not, “beautiful” people are intentionally chosen to create or imitate an imagination that the writer once envisioned. The article didn’t even address how the “male gaze” affects the writer of such media content. Then again, to be honest, I had a hard time understanding exactly what concepts from the article we were supposed to grasp, so I don’t expect my interpretation to be very precise. ; )

Principles of New Media

Strangely enough, the “automation of media creation,” as examined in the article, is being taken one step further with Apple’s new OS X Tiger operating system and a new application called Automator. The program allows you to set up a task list like, for example, pulling each image off of a certain website, make them all a standard size and color, and rename them sequentially in a folder on your desktop. If anyone has ever built a website before with a row of images, you’ll know how long it takes to edit each one in Photoshop to the right size, and rename them in the right folder, thus Apple has simplified the process dramatically and automated our media creation on a “low-level”. Crazy!

Internet Infrastructure and Institutions Reading

2005-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

2 'A-Has' for 4.4.05

The first aspect of the readings that fascinated me was the way information (webpages, audio, video, emails, etc.) was broken down into "packets" to be sent and receieved. When I think of sending a file over Instant Messenger, or an email attachment, I imagined it travelling from my computer to its destination in one nice chunk, which I now know is not the case. It was interesting to read how the information sent via TCP/IP is broken down, and then regrouped in proper order for the receiver's use. The efficiency and timeliness of the internet infrastructure is incredible.

The second aspect of the reading that I found most interesting was the technology of IXP's, and their ability to provide internet access domestically to developing countries without the data having to leave the country. It would seem that the most obvious solution to bridging the digital divide would be to provide IXP's in developing countries to cut the costs of satellite transmissions to core countries; however, with the local telecom monopolies and the government regulation of the internet, it isn't very practical. Sounds like some sacrifices need to be made.

TESTING

2005-03-28T19:24:00.000-08:00

Post # 1 for the Com 300 Blog.