Scott's Class Blog

Final Blog Post

2006-03-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

1. The most important thing that I learned this quarter was the ongoing digital divide that exists in our world. We studied the importance of technology and how it is changing our world. The western world has been greatly influenced by technology such as pod casts, blogs, ipods, HDTV, etc. However, does the implementation of wireless Internet need to happen in Africa if they have more pressing issues like running water and civil war? It really is a tough question to answer and one that will be interesting to note in the future.

2. One thing that I would have liked to study more was the evolving world of online politics. At times, I feel that I’m not up to speed on the political activities in our country. However, with more and more politics being discussed in a forum on the Internet it would give people like me who spend a lot of time online more chances to express my political beliefs.

3. For me, I thought the Human-computer Interaction was some of the driest material in the quarter. I didn’t like learning about computers and how they change people lives. I would have rather spent more time on new emerging technologies.

Readings for Monday February 27

2006-02-25T23:16:00.000-08:00

Voice over Internet Protocol or VoIP is rapidly changing the telephone industry. The new technologies is by passing the use of telephone companies by enabling computers to have phone access. It’s turning digital information that can be transmitted over the Internet. There are 3 ways to make calls through the ATA, IP phones, and computer-to-computer systems. By the year 2006, it is expected that VoIP will reach 5 million homes. One of the most important components of VoIP is packet switching, which frees up computer space in computers. The greatest advantage of VoIP is that it is reliable. It vastly improves phones in turns of efficiency, cost, and flexibility. I foresee financial problems for cable and phone companies in the future with the addition of VoIP in the telephone world. A large majority of companies may become bankrupt or lose their businesses. They only way that some of them could survive is they converge with VoIP and market and sell the new technology in sort of a ultimate phone reception and performance on one machine.

What will VoIP cost in the year 2006?

What will the impact be on the cell phone world and industry?

Is packet switching the most effective way to transmit the frequencies and what will supercede packet switching in the future?

Readings for Wednesday February 22

2006-02-21T20:55:00.000-08:00

As I read the readings for this week I was quiet surprised to find that the relationship between cyberspace and accessibility to cyberspace is on the rise. There are many new technologies that are being created to grant radio, voice technologies, and the Internet to people all across the world. Additionally, with new technologies being invented at a rapid pace it drops the prices on relatively old, but not obsolete technologies like radios. A few of the “new” technologies that are being brought to the forefront include systems called corDect and UAP or Universal Access Provider. Local communities are taking charge of directing the movement to get these systems put into place amongst the people.

The greatest challenge of granting accessibility to the public sphere is to reach rural areas that don’t have the benefits of the big cities. Problems exist such as rural areas don’t receive data connectivity. However, recent projects in Bhutan and Sari in India are proving that wireless cyberspace can reach far stretching areas. Researchers have found that small scale entrepreneurial operators have the best success implanting systems such as corDect and UAP. Ultimately, it is believed that cyberspace will be granted to all people in various areas of the world through hard work and small networked based groups working together.

How will countries with not a large economic base be able to have the newest technologies flowing into their communities?

What if a communist government will not allow for the wireless technologies to be put into place for fear of upheaval?

What role does the U.S. play in helping distant lands such as Bhutan with their cyberspace problems?

Readings for Monday February 13

2006-02-11T23:33:00.000-08:00

How does Internet technology impact politics?

Both of the articles addressed the issue of the impact of the Internet on our political landscape. To begin, as the article about Joe Trippi points out is that the Internet expands resources for political candidates. Not all politicians have unlimited funds for a campaign so it makes financing things a lot easier. In essence it can offset costs. Additionally, the Internet can allow people to discuss politics on the Internet. For example, the meetup website created by Howard Dean enabled citizens to forma group of supporters from around the country talking about one single topic. Additionally, it allows candidates to gauge the support or non-support of their campaign without having to call people or conduct interviews. It saves people time that they can focus on more pressing issues.

Do you agree with the premise of these authors?

I do agree with the main principles of these authors. Many of their ideas and concepts are similar, however I noticed one common theme between the two authors. To me, I noticed that there is a shift occurring away from more traditional media such as newspapers and magazines to the Internet. More and more people are getting their news and their political news from the Internet. I agree in that 20 years the Internet may be the largest source of information for all people. However, I also agree that some use of the Internet does depend on economic status, age, and education but the shift has already occurred and will continue down the road.

Will the Internet be a main source of campgain information for political candidates in 5 years?

How will the political candidates give access to those who don't have a computer?

Will the Interent allow elections to be an international event for all countires?

Readings for Monday February 6

2006-02-04T22:16:00.000-08:00

The Blogging technology isn’t the first non-mainstream media to exist in our country. For example, there were Pamphleteers who mud racked before the drafting of the constitution and first Amendment. Gradually, our media as evolved into newspapers, magazines, and now the world of television, and of course, the Internet. Blogs are not really a competitor to established media; rather it serves a unique purpose. It provides links to small news organization from personal sources that are better than what traditional media offer. A great example that the article “From Tom Paine to Blogs and Beyond” discusses is the impact of September of 11th. Bloggers posted reports and facts that the mainstream media were unable to report or didn’t choose to report. Also, information was put on the net in a faster, more economic way.

Blogs look beyond the usual fare on what established media concentrate their reports on. In the article, “NPR pod casts birth a new business model for public radio” it discusses an alternative option for people to obtain their media. One advantage of the Blog model is that information is shorter and more concise. Additionally, Pod casts have great potential for advertisement revenue in large sums of money. Thus, it could take away money from big time media conglomerates. In conclusion, the Blogging technology will not alter the importance of traditional media on our society. On the contrary, it seems that it will simple give people an alternate source of news and information. Establish media may suffer an initial hit from advertising loss, but it will still serve us in an effective manner for society to gather news.

What kind of advertisers will Pod Casts and Blogs target in the future?

Does society have confidence in these Blogs that all information is credible?

Will the government and military allow people to blog about issues of national security?

Extra Credit Monday January 30

2006-01-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

“Social Software and Politics of Groups”

As humans, the Internet is a never foreseen technology in that we have no experience with it. The Internet is creating new social patterns. Software specialists are still learning how to build software for conferences around “tables” and “campfires” for discussion. Additionally, the aspect of social software is developing slower than single user software. There are lots of questions regarding social software. For example, testing the software. The organizers must encourage tangents rather than focusing on one thing. Lastly, the most important thing is improving the online environment for brainstorming about software.

Readings for Monday January 30

2006-01-28T22:21:00.000-08:00

Communication scholars must take an active role in the software movement. As society expands, it has become more and more important that we are computer savvy. Participation by scholars in the field would only help the movement. As in the “GNU” article, restrictions can’t be placed upon our technologies. We must have a freedom of expression right granted to us by the First Amendment. Additionally, scholars would provide better education to the general public such as Universities. Lastly, the GNU article states that although people may lose jobs suggested by their free software, they still want people to work towards the general cause. In essence, the more people working, the more people can help the cause.

In the second article, “Second Super Power” it states that intranet work employees can work with internet work markets. Hence, the article believes that scholars should study the software movement because it can combine man and computer into one force. As of right now, man and machine are competing in some respects and may be damaging the technology field. It also mentions that society must remember, “Sound of voice,” or in other words the people. Scholars should research how man feels about the software movement. In the final article, “Second Super Power Rears Ugly Head,” it believes for ultimate success in technology we need to have a planetary society, for long term well being, encourages broad participation in democratic process. The Second Super Power is access through web enabled initiatives. But, the greatest success of the Second Super Power is that the ants or people rule from below, not the government. So, it remains crucial that communication scholars study the software movement in order to ensure the government does not gain too much power.

How will the U.S. government react to the software movement?

How are employees getting hyperlinked?

If Unix isn’t the ideas system according to the GNU creators, then what is the ideal system?

Readings for Monday, January 23

2006-01-21T22:53:00.000-08:00

“Being Analog”

The evolution of computers is changing our everyday life. Machines are mechanical, human beings are biological. Now, as machines have taken over we are able to receive rapid transformation of information at once. There is a preconceived notion that “digital” is good and “analog” is bad. However, this interpretation is not necessarily true. Yet, as humans we are digital slaves to accuracy. In addition, we are able to adapt to the new technologies being presented. Also, as a student in school I am able to apprentice information faster than my parents. But, in the end the goal is to redesign the system in order to fit the people. Hopefully, people will become flexible in their dealings with machines.

“Intro to Internet Architecture and Institutions”

Internet communication has been accomplished by miracle and the Internet protocol. There are 3 parts of the Internet that make it a successful technology. They include: efficiency, medium independence, and application support. All three are very powerful. Another component of the Internet is Hypertext Makeup Language or HTML. Domains are considered to be things such as .com, .net, .gov. As we learn more about the Internet we believe it to be a networks of networks. As the United States, we have a duty to allow all countries across the world to have equal access to the Internet. It is important to improve the quality of Internet service for these countries. Some difficulties include government restriction and cable ownership in foreign countries. However, opportunity for Internet service across the world improves all political arenas.

I have learned that the man machine relationship is evolving as we speak. To me, it is evident that humans are attempting to catch up to the machines being used in the world. This may be especially true for the older generations of humans, as they did not grow up using these machines and equipment. It may cause frustration for those trying to use the machines. Ultimately, I believe the “new” machines to be helpful in everyday life. For example, a computer can significantly help a business or organization. If man can understand and have patience with the complex technologies it will ultimately benefit them in the long run.

Readings for Wednesday January 18

2006-01-17T21:37:00.000-08:00

Article 1

I thought both articles to talk about similar issues. However, the first article mentioned many interesting points about the information overload. First, there are to many nuggest of information on the Internet. It is hard to sort through all the information. Also, how does one go about sorting through all the information? It is very challenging. The article mentions two techniques. First, "recalling with recognizing" and "recall with persusaision" These techniques allow us to better understand information we are reciting. All in all, the Internet is a challenging tool that we are trying to perfect as a tool to help us.

Article 2

The second article mentions how to filter throug all the information. There are 15,652 websites discussing information overload alone. There are certain technologies out there to help with information overload like intelligent agents, ranking algorithms, cluster analysis, and web mining. But, the bottome line is that these new technologies aren't solving the problem. There doesn't seem to be a foreseable change in the future for the Internet. Down the road the Internet may be our greatest form of the yellow pages.

My life is tremendously affected by information. As a student, I'm constantly doing research projects and searching for information. In addition, I need to have effective forms of research that allow me to utilzie my time in a maximum way. And, yes there is a information load placed on my shoulders. I feel like I'm missing out on quality information on the net because there is just so much info available. On the other hand, I question the validity of some material placed on the websites. There is a big difference between reputiable sources and shady websites. It makes one wonder if the information is accurate? In conclusion, I find the information overload enough for me to handle as a student because it allows me to learn as much as possible.

Extra Credit Article

2006-01-11T12:40:00.000-08:00

Extra Credit Article

The Internet was originally created by the ARPA, which was a government orginization. A large porion of its creation was to respond to the Russians launching the satelltie Sputnik. JCR Licklider envisioned a interactive community and attempted to create this world. Packet switching made communication easier. It is an approach that breaks a message down into separate, discrete pieces or packets. The first Internet connection happened on the campus of Stanford University. In the beginning the Internet was chaos and had no orginzation. Today, there is a task force that is used for suggesting, reviewing, accepting, and issuing standards for the Internet. In 1991 the ban was lifted on the use of the Internet for commercial uses. It became increasingly popular in Unitest States households and now many homes have high speed Internet.

Readings for Monday January 9

2006-01-08T18:22:00.000-08:00

There is a growing amount of research occurring throughout the world. Various mediums of technology are changing like Television, telephone, read, and newspapers. The best example may be the evolution of the camera. Now, with faster photocells and wires pictures are being taken at a rapid pace. A hopefully goal of new technology is to eliminate the math and arithmetic in science. A great example of this would be the possible invention of the credit card. Instead of a salesmen recording information from a customer after a purchase, a simple swipe of a card would charge the customer. Essentially, it removes the human element.

Bush's "memmex" may be compared favorably to the Internet and personal computer in our world today. According to Bush a "memmex" is a device in which a person stores all of his books, magazines, and communications in one setting or desk. In addition, the use of the Platen makes using this "memmex" very easy like having a keyboard of mouse with your computer. In the article Bush talks about researching the Turkish long bow and the English long bow. He mentions how easy it would be if each person who uses the "memmex" could leave their information available for others to access in the future. In essence, he has the goal of the Internet in that almost anything may be accessed in one setting. In the future the Internet may be changing. However, I believe the change to be more physical than purpose. The computers may get smaller, but people will still need to access information.

3 Questions

What media technology was most affected by the memmex?

Did Bush see the memmex as a help to all or just the ones who needed the technology?

How many years did it take for the idea of the memmex to reach mainstream America?

Extra Credit Article

The Internet was originally created by the ARPA, which was a government orginization. A large porion of its creation was to respond to the Russians launching the satelltie Sputnik. JCR Licklider envisioned a interactive community and attempted to create this world. Packet switching made communication easier. It is an approach that breaks a message down into separate, discrete pieces or packets. The first Internet connection happened on the campus of Stanford University. In the beginning the Internet was chaos and had no orginzation. Today, there is a task force that is used for suggesting, reviewing, accepting, and issuing standards for the Internet. In 1991 the ban was lifted on the use of the Internet for commercial uses. It became increasingly popular in Unitest States households and now many homes have high speed Internet.

123

2006-01-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

Testing Post to see if it works