Zach's Com. 300 Blog

Final Response

2006-05-24T17:09:00.000-07:00

The most important thing I learned was the abundance of some new forms of communication, primarily blogs. I thought we had some very good discussions on the blogosphere and we were able to look at some local ones through the second assignment. Also, searching Technorati was interesting. Being able to see what others are talking about is pretty cool.

I would like to have looked a bit more as to where technology might go. We certainly explored emerging technologies, but to see what this would mean for certain jobs and industries would have been interesting. Though I think we did a pretty good job at studying a wide variety of new media.

I didn't find the online politics to be very interesting. It could just be that I'm not into politics as much as most people, but I thought the articles and discussions were relatively obvious. However, online politics is something that will be showing up more and more, so perhaps it is good we discussed it.

Week 9 Reading

2006-05-18T17:25:00.000-07:00

"How VoIP Works" by Robert Valdes gives us a relatively clear explanation about how Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) works.

VoIP seems like a pretty neat technology as it will make long distance calls free. It also has some advantages over regular phones, such as it being much more efficient than regular phones.

Though I'm skeptical about the phone service being connected to the Internet. With frequent glitches and outages with cable internet, that would mean the phone would not work. Not having the use of a phone in an emergency would not be good.

VoIP seems like it may take over the phone market within the next few years, but I think normal phones are fine as is.

1. Do you use VoIP? If yes, do you like it?

2. Why will this technology take over?

3. What do you think is the biggest upside of VoIP?

May 11 - in-class excercise

2006-05-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

Cantwell's first impression on me was that she was not against the Iraq War. As a Demorcratic incumbent, that struck me as strange. McGavick's first impression was that he was a rich guy with little political background.

There does not seem to be much interaction on either candidate's website. There are ways to join email lists, send emails, and, of course, donate money, but there are no blog posts or ways of two-way interaction. Neither site seems particularly user-friendly.

The Iraq War is an important topic and it is much easier to find McGavick's position on the issue than Cantwell's. McGavick's site has a whole section titled, "Issues" where he shows what side he supports on critical topics. Cantwell's page does not have such a clear section detailing her position on those crucial issues. McGavick certainly makes his political stance more clear than Cantwell does.

I trust McGavick more because he seems to be coming out with what he believes. Cantwell is not quite as clear with her opinions. Does this mean I support McGavick over Cantwell? Certainly not. Though McGavick's website is more inviting than Cantwell's.

Week 8 Reading

2006-05-09T22:45:00.000-07:00

"Wireless Revolution and Universal Access" from Trends in Telecommunications Reform 2003 by Michael L. Best, MIT makes an interesting point about "hotspots" emerging at fast food restaurants, coffee shops and airports:

"While the concept of a wireless hotspot inside a fast food restaurant is unlikely to conjure images of enhanced universal access, Wi-Fi and related terrestrial wireless technologies have actually been used to build network “infrastructure,” such as the point-to-point and point-to-multipoint links discussed above."

It's unlikely that the rise of these "hotspots" can lead to universal access, though it is a step in the right direction.

The article shows that it is possible for small, entrepreneurial rural service providers to employ low cost wireless connectivity to achieve financially sustainable operations. This is good news for rural countries to connect and seems succssful for those companies that are bringing wireless to small, undeveloped nations.

1. How essential is wireless internet in you life?

2. Do you take the internet for granted? Explain.

3. Describe some experiences using the internet in other countries.

Week 7 Reading

2006-05-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

"Organization Man: Joe Trippi Reinvents Campaigning" from The New Republican Online, by Noem Scheiber has an interesting quote that I think relates more than to just politics. The article says,

"But Trippi is first and foremost an organizer--a man who has spent much of his career making sure the right number of bodies turn up on Election Day. 'That's the way [organizers] think,' says Beckel. 'They think about moving votes. In his case, where do you find [the votes]? Who are they? Where do they stand? If they're with us, get them; if they're not with us, forget about them.'"

This can also relate to any business. Companies want people to buy their product, owners want fans in their stadium and TV producers want people watching their show. It's interesting how this strictly discusses politics while it can really apply to all aspects of the marketplace.

It's amazing the success that Trippi and the Dean Campaign had with the internet. As a good way to compile names and raise the necessary money to try to win a major election, the internet has become the primary medium to reach voters.

“The Role of the Internet in National and Local News Media Use” from Journal of Online Behavior suggests that the internet has become the medium that more and more people are using for their political information. The Internet's takeover of basic print media seems inevitable in all facets and will eventually wipe out the print media.

1. How will the internet continue to play a role in political campaigns?

2. As a voter, what is the most effective way you are reached by a political campaign?

3. Is the Internet now your source for political information? Explain.

In class excercise - May 4th

2006-05-04T12:49:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Times' website has many RSS feeds. They have feeds for their top stores, the entire site and each section. Within each section -- say the sports section -- there are RSS feeds for each local team as well as feeds for certain sports categories. There were no blogs mentioned at this site and there was no registration necessary.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution website is much like that of The Seattle Times. There were RSS feeds for nearly every aspect of the paper. Each section had its own feed and there were sub-categories of each section with an individual feed. Unlike that of The Times, the AJC had many blogs -- written by their staff -- that all had RSS feeds. There was no registration for this site and the blogs all seemed internal -- written by their writers.

When searching "Steven Colbert" in Technorati, there were thousands of results. Filtering by "truthiness" or "funny stuff" narrows the seach. Also, when giving the search less authority, it greatly widens the seach, while giving the search more authority narrows the search.

I typed in "newspaper decline" and Technorati found over 13,000 results. Clicking tags and blog finder yielded no results. www. blogcritics.org gave over 100,000 results -- many more than on my specific search for my project. The blogs I found have very few links, meaning they likely aren't too credible. Searching on Google found far less results for blogcritics.org. It's less on Google because these are the sites that are linking to it.

Week 6 Reading

2006-04-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Dan Gillmor's, "We the Media," brings up a really good point about the emergence of blogs and self-publishing. Before the internet, communication consisted of the printing press and broadcasting (one-to-many medium) and telephone which is normally a one-to-one medium. But as Gillmor says, "now we had a medium that was anything we wanted it to be: one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many. Just about anyone could own a digital printing press, and have worldwide distribution."

Gillmor also uses the Sept. 11 tragedy to illustrate the immediacy of blogs vs. traditional media. People in New York were able to publish their views of the city as the attacks were happening. With instant access to the sites, sounds and smells of the city, bloggers were able to tell their accounts of the attacks to an audience, while traditional media did not have the same access. While not discussed, Hurricane Katrina likely had similar effects on blogs and the media.

Mark Glaser's article on NPR's podcasting brings up a valid point about advertising. While still ironing out some kinks, advertisers need to find out who is listening and how often they listen to these podcasts to determine if a particular podcast is a worthy advertising vehicle. Podcasts are gaining momentum, but still seem like they need financial backing to be successful.

1. How will mainstream media react to the emergence of blogs and compete with this immediacy?

2. How do you think 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina would compare in the use of blogs to publish information?

3. Will podcasts eventually eliminate radio? Explain.

Week 5 Reading

2006-04-20T15:45:00.000-07:00

"Markets are Conversations" from The Cluetrain Manifesto: The End of Business as Usual by Levine, Locke, Searls & Weinberger makes a good point about the effectiveness and worth of actual people doing the work. The article says, "They (corporations) will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf." Companies can be very sterile and monotonous without real people. The article continues, "Most companies ignore their (people's) ability to deliver genuine knowledge, opting instead to crank out sterile happytalk that insults the intelligence of markets literally too smart to buy it."

"The Second Superpower Rears its Beautiful Head," by James F. Moore raises an interesting argument, but makes a claim that I disagree with. Moore says, "Thus the new superpower demonstrates a new form of “emergent democracy” that differs from the participative democracy of the U.S. government." With the recent immigration marches occurring for civil rights, I disagree that "emergent democracy" differs from participative democracy. I'm sure there was text messaging and blogging going on here.

The GNU Manifesto has some interesting discussion about programmers and their role in the development of Linux. There seems to be talk that programmers are losing their jobs and there is little value for the. Today though, it seems that programmers are doing well and there is a growing market for people entering this profession.

1. The Clutrain Manifesto says, "Corporate firewalls have kept smart employees in and smart markets out. It's going to cause real pain to tear those walls down." What are some ways to start tearing down these walls?

2. Explain some ways the individual contributes to this "second superpower."

3. Has the development of modern and current operating systems led to similar effects as the development of Linux did in the 1980s?

Week 4 Reading

2006-04-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Donald Norman makes a strong point in his essay, "Being Analog," that I agreed with: He says that, "people do best with signals and information that fit the way they perceive and think, which means analogous to the real world. Machines do best with signals and information that is suited for the way they function, which means digital, rigid, precise." It's true that people do not function in a rigid, precise manner. People do not want to be slaves to accuracy, so perhaps people function better with information analogous to the world, opposed to digital information.

Norman goes on to talk about the technological evolution. His discussion of games and how technology greatly speeds them up is a very interesting point. Using war as an example, he explains how technology has made war (as a game) unfit for humans.

"Introduction to Internet Architecture and Institutions," by Ethan Zuckerman and Andrew McLaughin attempted to show how the internet is really a very simple process. Well, it may be for people like Zuckerman and McLaughin. But for the rest of us, reading this article was nearly as difficult as reading Chinese. Though the authors did raise an interesting point about how it can take up to 70 computers just to send an e-mail. Also interesting in this paper was the discussion of the internet in developing countries. Technology has advanced so far in the last decade, but Americans likely take for granted this ease with the internet and electronic media. In many nations, such as those in Africa that were mentioned, connecting to the internet is not as simple as it is for us.

Discussion Questions:

1. Explain some ways people have adapted to the evolution of technology.

2. Will future technology make computers more human-like (creative, less rigid, etc.)?

3. Before reading this article, what was your conception of the process of sending an email?

Week 3 Reading

2006-04-06T17:35:00.000-07:00

"We Have the Information You Want, But Getting It Will Cost You: Being Held Hostage by Information Overload" from ACM Crossroads by Mark R. Nelson resonates with me perfectly: the amount of information on the web is absolutely overwhelming. Looking for a simple subject unleashes hundreds of websites with information on that given topic. Trying to sift through what is credible and what is not also plays a major role in finding the material that you are truly after.

Natural language processing systems seem like something that could help mitigate the information overload. Having a program in place that can organize and sort information that the user wants seems like a step in the right direction.

Supposedly spam isn't just bothering me. According to "Information overload, retrieval strategies and Internet user empowerment" from Proceedings: The Good, the Bad and the Irrelevant by Christopher N. Carlson, "AOL blocks 780 million pieces of junk e-mail daily, or 100 million more e-mails than it delivers." Fascinating!

Discussion questions:

1. Is there simply too much information out there?

2. How can you determine what information is credible and what is not?

3. Is the overwhelming amount of information on the internet good or bad? Do more sources = a better perspective on a topic?

Week 2 Reading

2006-03-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

In "Technologies of the Third Mediamorphosis" from Mediamorphosis: Understanding New Media by Roger Fidler, the discussion about broadcast media was interesting. As early as 1921, according to Fidler, "Americans were ready for national radio networks that could offer nearly immediate access to news, sports events and entertainment of interest to people in all regions of the country" (p. 92). Also, the author's comparison between how the news of the Lisbon earthquake in 1755 was covered versus how it would have been covered today is quite interesting. The amount of lag time between an event and media coverage 250 years ago is nearly incomprehensible these days.

The timing of the article "As We May Think" seems so outdated reading it in 2006. The discussion about recording time by the use of photography is a novel concept in 1945, but now we have digital cameras and devices that can serve as both a sell phone and camera! Author Vannevar Bush discusses the advancements of science and its contribution to the furthering of knowledge. In 2045, the internet may be even more interactive than it already is -- more blogs, podcasts, personal sites (Facebook, MySpace), etc. The advancement of the internet will keep evolving over time.

"Networks of Remediation" from Remediation: Understanding New Media by Jay David Bolter and Richard Grusin makes an interesting comparison: those who think the development of new medias, such as the internet, are great for society, while others oppose the advancement of technology. "Enthusiasts for technology such as John Perry Barlow credit the Internet with creating a new culture, while conservative politicians speak as if the Internet itself had called forth a new form of pornography" (p.76).

Discussion questions:

1. Will breaking news stories be revealed to the public even quicker in the upcoming years? Or have we seen the internet as the fastest way to share information?

2. We may think we're living in a technologically advanced world, but what new technologies and science will the future bring?

3. Are new technologies good for society?

Test

2006-03-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

We're up and running!