Response to Article: New Study Probes How We Use Social Media

This was an interesting study regarding the use of social networking sites. The study focused on parents versus non-parents usage.

    Surprisingly, the study discovered that parents are more active on the computer than non-parents. Parents will use their Facebook and Twitter to play their games and keep in touch with friends much more than people without children. I'm sure that most people are surprised to learn of this since I assumed that non-parents would have more time to visit social networking sites.

    I can't personally comment on the fact that I use the Internet more often as a parent than I did when I did not have kids since the Internet was introduced when I was a parent. It makes sense though that parent may spend more time on the computer since kids are at home. This gives the parents time to social network since they are in the household. Non-parents may be out doing things and therefore, not being captivated or influence of using a computer.

   One final entry was a bit scary in the article. I'd like to mention it here. It is stated that adults have found that social networking sites are so important to them that they spend around 1/4 of their time on them. Not good for the mental or physical health

Response to Article: The Technology and the Society

     This article asks the age old question. The question of if technology has inluence on us in regards to progress and social change when introduced or if the conditions of social change would have occurred or occuring without the introduction of technology. These two terms of thought are referred to as Technological determination and symptomatic technology.
     The article focuses primarrily on the introduction of the television set and the question of its influence on us. It is my opnion that television has had a huge influence upon us, culturaly . For example, The Rodney King dilema comes to mind. I believe that the reaction to the incident would not have reached the national level if it were not the influence of the television. Remember, this event occurred prior to the internet becoming a main stream tool. I believe that the riots would not have occurred if not for the "broadcast" of the Simi Valley court decision in support of the Caucasian police officers that beat up Rodney King, unjustly.
     This event is very supportive of the the cause and effect of television even though this is the only evidence that I have offered in support of the influence of the dynamics. Social justice and progressive moment may not have occurred without the advent of technology such as the television.

Response to Article: Just Like Me Only Better

     It appeared that this article would be more interesting to me at first glance since there was mention of avatars. I learned something new here since an avatar is a mythological charecter. Interesting stuff.. Unfortunately, I found the remainder of the article to be extremely dull. Well, I'm sure that my son would have enjoyed it a lot more than me since he is probably aware of creating an avatar since he is a gamer.
     Studies have shown that most people create an avatar(an avatar is a charecter that represents a person in a game) in relationship to themselves. Most people create their avatars to have the same racial charectarestics that they would have. Of course, some people enjoyed placing cat ears on their characters for fun. That finding was not suprising at all to me since I would probably create my avatar in the same manner.
    One interesting fact was that both genders augment their figures when creating a character. Women have hour glass shapes and are slender. Men have large chests and well pronounced biceps. This is how I would create my character if I was to do so. It would feel great to stand behind a character and dream that I did not have a bulging belly for a while.
     
     
     

Response to Article: Full Tilt Poker Cheats Customers

Response to Article: Community Media

     Community media is a means for means for the under represented to have their voice heard. All media is a way in order for us to gather information and help us form our opinions. Community media generally speaks outside of the usual pro-establishment means. Community media is a way for everyone to be heard.
     One part of the article that I found to be interesting was the question if community media helped make our democratic society work better. I feel that the perspective of the community media is to compliment the structured mainstream media. Community media appears to be counter-culture in a way. Offering different view points. View points that would otherwise not be heard, muddled. The opinions or different perspectives that are offered can be looked as a different way of offering perspective. It stunts the ability of the mainstream to support an authoritarian  system. A system that can be detrimental to the populace of a free society. Community media is important to have as a resource for this very reason.

Response to Article: Why Young Adults Use Myspace and Facebook Gratification

     I found this article to be interesting. I even learned some new things about social networking sites that I was unaware of before. A new word was introduced to me tonight. I had never heard of the word "scene kids". These are people that build up there profile to appear as being more popular. They construct there online identity to be somewhat of another person that they really are. I found this avenue to be intriguing to me. Obviously, they are using the social network sites in order to feel better about themselves. They feel gratification in doing so.
     This is in contrast to how I use these sites. I tend to use them to broadcast information. Broadcatsing information to a whole mass of people. This allows me to tell people either within my hometown or across the country.
    One thing that is apparent here since I've contrasted two different groups of people here is that everyone finds their gratification on the SNS in a different way. One size does not fit all!

Response to Article: U.S. in Criminal Probe of Ebay Employees

       Ebay purchased 28% stack in Craigslist a few years back. Unfortunatley, there has been rift in the relationship ever since. Craigslist has accused Ebay on two separate occasions. Most recently, Craigslist has accused Ebay of taking confidential information in order to build a rival service named Kijiji.
      The investigation is focusing on which documents have been used. It has also been stated that certain officers of E-Bay may have been aware of the breach. Recently, Craiglist was allowed to have E-Bay's representitive removed from the board of Craigslist. They were not able to dissolve the interest of E-bay though.
     Corporate takeover or espionage? I'm not sure what it is referred to. This situation appears to be similar to what I have heard that Microsoft has done, or has been accused of. Companies with a lot of influence use their power to take over competitors or obtain their ideas. The intention of these powerful companies is not to have the company that they have influence in to survive. They basically rape them and shut them down. The finality of it all is that they are removed as a competitor.
Could this be what is happening?

Response to Article: The Medium is the Message

     This was a tough read. Honestly, it took me a while to figure out what this article meant. It was my all time least favorite article in the class so far. Not very exciting.
     The medium is the way that a thing is communicated. For example, the article uses IBM to put its point across. IBM is known for making computer equipment. However, they are actually in the business of processing information. Other examples such as how Napoleon understood the power of the newspaper as a means to to transmit ideas. This is interesting to me in a historical sense.
     I came up with a few ideas of my own. Namely, the Beatles Rock Band. The Beatles Rock band is a very good way for the kids to have fun. However, the game should be looked upon as a medium. It is a medium since it is communicates information on the history and cultural influence of the groups music in the 1960's.
    Another thought that came to mind is our school. Most of us knowingly understand the fact that we are here to learn. However, we unknowingly need to understand that society gauges us on our educational level. Certain employers will only entertain the thought of hiring students that have obtained a Bachelors degree. In other words. Our time at SJSU should be looked at as a right of passage. SJSU plays the medium in order for us to get there.
     So there it is. I'm going to end the medium of this blog and call it a day now.

Video Message-Nice to Meet You!

Response to Article: Consequences of Online Social Networking

    Consequences of Online Social Networking should be the sister article to our previous reading, Qualtity of Online Social Relationships. It seemed that both were similiar in nature to me since some of the same themes were touched upon. The study is to compare actual real life social networking with online social networking.
     Consequences of Online Social Networking attempts to document social network activities per demographics. Listed in this article  is an attempt to document the preferences of  certain groups such as women vs. men or introvert vs extrovert. The articles states that there is a correlation between actual tendencies of how individuals determine and function between real life and social networking.
     It is stated that people usually have less real life friends than they do on online social networks It also is stated that extroverts are usually more apt to use social networks. However, there is a difference in who extroverts will accept as "friends". It is also documented that online social networking is more prevalent among women.
     Now, I do not question the findings of this study. It is obvious to me from all of the mathematical equations(that I did not understand) that a lot of time and effort went into it. I do question the validity of the study since only a sample size of university students in a section of the United States was considered. The study would hold more weight if people from all walks of life were polled. This could have been easily completed since it was an online study. I would suspect that a lot of experts may fell the same way as I do in regards to this study.

Response to Article: Scotland Yard Tightens the Pincers on Anonymous

     Scotland Yard has recently arrested two suspected hackers that that were able to hack into various sensitive web sites.
     The news is always mentioning internet crimes now days. It was just last month that news was posted regarding the comprimise of information of pass holders on BART. This seems to be a world wide problem. It appears that it is being addressed according to this article.
      The article had mentioned cetain internet security compainies have been laxed in their enforcement of security measures. In fact, one of the firewall companies was aware of a breach but did nothing about it. News of this laxed attitude is extremely disturbing. Frankly, it is irresponsible. All of us assume that so called secured sites have their customers best interest as a priority. Sensitive information such as contact information, passwords and so forth must be kept secured at all costs. It is the responsibility of all internet security companies to protect their clients information and act immediately when a breach occurs. In my opinion, Scotland Yard should bring not only charges to the hackers but also to the two companies that are mentioned in the article.

Response to Article: The Quality of Online Relationships

     The results of most studies that are done in regards to online relationships do not surprise me in the least bit. I often thought that online relationships were not as strong a offline relationships. This article reinforces my initially perception. I don't think it takes a study to come up with a conclusion.
     One thing that I thought was interesting was the fact that there were a few studies done. Two studies that caught my attention were studies done between bank employees and college students. I know that both groups of people are very different. It would be like comparing apples to oranges. Both groups saw no real benefit socially in regards to a deepness in relationships.Not suprisingly so. However, it appears that the function of e-mail is a productive business tool. Just as equal to using a telephone in order to address and issue.
      Just look at were we are at with our online relationship.This online course that we are enrolled in puts us in the position of being in an online relationship. No face to face interaction since we are not all together in a class room. We read each others blogs and comment on each others entries. We don't know each other since we are operating under an alias. You don't know me and I don't know you. I think I would have more of a psychological closeness to you if I studied with you during group study or worked on a project together. However, that is not the case. I would not even know who you are if I walked by you on campus. Therefore the quality of our social relationship is actually, non-existant. I don't think we needed a study to figure that one out. Would you agree?
   

Response to Article: Man-Computer Symbiosis

    I had to actually look up the term "symbiosis" since I was unaware of the meaning. "Symbiosis" means something of a close interaction between two biological species. Well, I know that computers are not biological in nature but I got he point. Humans and computers  interract with each other and will continue to do so. It seems that they are now an inherant part of our daily lives at this point.
    I had noticed about half way through my reading of  the article that the work was published in 1960. My immediate response was that for an article of this nature to be published at that time was quite visionary. It is almost definite that computers were not even a household word at that point in time.
    The author J.C.R. Licklider mentions concepts and ideas such as "artificial intellegence". A concept of machines that make intellectual decisions. In doing so, it mentions the decline of man in favor of thinking computers. I immediately thought of the Queen song, "Machines(or back to humans) during this portion of the article. Is it possible that someday man will become obsolete?
     Most of the article reminded me of my tenure at Cabrillo College. A place where I studied computer science. I often found much of what I read to be quite a bore. I responded to sections of this article in the same manner. Sections such as Memory Hardware Requirements and Memory Organization Requirements. Sections like these mentioned seemed like an instructional handout to me. ZZZZZZZ!
     Not all sections of this article put me to sleep though. Visionary concepts such as the section on "anticipated symbiotic association" and "voice recgognition" brought a lot of interest to me. It was just a few weeks ago that a new program was introduced to the Santa Cruz Police department. The department is currently using a new "probability program" in order to help them determine where crimes will occur. The Santa Cruz Police department has seen some success with the use of this tool. Also, everyone has used voice recognition by now. I know it drives me nuts to speak to a computer when all I want to do is get in touch with a real voice during a phone call to PG and E. It is so impersonal. Of course, it is what it is and we will see more of it in the future.
     Obviously, Licklider had a great amount of insight in regards to the development of the computer. I'm not sure if he is still alive but it would be great for him to compare his initial assertions to how the symbiotic relationship between man and computers has become.