Digrevo template 092305 Digrevo: October 2007 .comment-link {margin-left:.6em;}

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

 

Reaching the Other side of the Chasm...Successful or Not?

The power of the digital revolution demands that people all over the world should have some sort of technological access. This idea that Sarah Lacy's article, "Help for Info Age Have-Nots" is brought across. While reading this article, I came to the conclusion that the information age is requiring all societies, even the undeveloped, to have computer access not as a luxury but as a necessity. According to the article, the Advance Micro Device Company (AMD) aims to get fifty percent of the world connected tot he internet by 2015.
While this is a good venture for AMD and a benefit to economically challenged societies, it is hard to bridge the gap of this digital divide and fulfill the needs to underprivileged countries. Lacy raises it's because of several issues; one of them being that some tech companies find it difficult to raise money to provide for the lesser developed countries and they have to be motivated to invest.

"After all, growth for computers, software, and other consumer-electronic
devices is stalling in North America, Western Europe, and more developed,
affluent parts of Asia, such as Japan. Real growth will come through reaching
the next billion customers, and while it will take a lot of upfront investment
and creating new types of affordable products, it's in companies' self
interest. "

Another issue that is raised, is a social issue. Adults in these societies are not too fond of the digital world. As a result, there are obstacles in reaching almost everyone in having technological access. At the end of the article, it is summed up that it is not an easy road for bridging the gap. It's a gradual process that takes social and economic steps and will not happen overnight.


posted by K.J. McIntyre @ 6:49 PM 1 comments permalink

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

 

Intel Says Big Tech Should Provide

Marguerite Reardon, "For Intel, the business side of doing good," ZDNet News.

ZDNet News has an interview with Intel Chairman Craig Barrett in which he discusses the role of tech corporations in global development. He is also the "chairman of the United Nations' Global Alliance for ICT and Development."

Here is one question that Marguerite Reardon asked the Intel Chairman:
Reardon: "How do you think the Internet and, more specifically, wireless broadband technologies such as WiMax can help reduce poverty around the world?
Barrett: The Internet and computers are tools. And the impact they make depends on how intelligently those tools are used. We believe that intelligent use of technology can make education better. You'd be hard-pressed not to say that using broadband wireless or some wireless technology and remote diagnostic equipment will not improve health care. You'd be hard-pressed not to say that bringing farmers in rural environments more information to help them figure out how to sell their products at a market themselves, and eliminate the middleman so they could keep more of the transaction value for themselves, doesn't promote economic development. You'd be hard pressed to say that a kiosk in a small village or community in a remote part of the country that helps people remotely register or sign up for certain government programs rather than (them) traveling to the big city to do that, doesn't offer a value.

So in areas of education, health care, economic development and e-governance, these benefits are no-brainers. But it has to be the intelligent use of technology and not just throwing any technology at the problem that makes a difference. I can guarantee you that a farmer in central China is not interested in reading about what's happening on Wall Street. They aren't interested in Silicon Valley content. They are interested in content which relates to them and solves the problems they have. So local content, meaningful content is the key to all of this."

posted by A. Mattson @ 11:42 AM 0 comments permalink
 

Digital Revolution takes a role in Politics

With the 2008 Presidential Election coming up, many supporters have used technological media to get their message across. These candidates such as Hilary Clinton and Barack Obama can now hold fundraisers and gain support through online communities. An article i found Searchles TV Channeling Social Media and the Voting Public in 2008 http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070823/neth015.html?.v=18 shows us how online campaigning has influenced us and allowed a younger generation to follow the presidential election. The articles states

"The social media phenomena has enabled the lesser known candidates to
effectively get a campaign off the ground and compete with the well-
established candidates "

The online community allows any candidate to speak up and promote their campaign. Searchles T.V has allowed viewing of different campaign videos as well as speeches that took place during various debates. You Tube has also had a huge impact on the different candidates running. I myself never realized just exactly who was running for the Presidential Election. Going on You Tube allows you to view the debates and find out exactly what each candidate stands for or disagrees with. http://www.youtube.com/youchoose This new form of media can deliver the message not just to our fellow Amercians, but to those around the world.


posted by ajaggi @ 11:15 AM 1 comments permalink

Monday, October 29, 2007

 

Second Essay Assignment

The second essay assignment is available on Blackboard. It is due in class on Tuesday November 13th.

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posted by A. Mattson @ 11:12 PM 0 comments permalink

Saturday, October 27, 2007

 

Free Brazil


"Brazil: Free Software's Biggest and Best Friend", written by Todd Benson is about how Brazil's President is trying to create a program where all Brazilians can have access to computers and internet in their homes.


"Looking to save millions of dollars in royalties and licensing fees, Mr. da
Silva has instructed government ministries and state-run companies to gradually
switch from costly operating systems made by Microsoft and others to free
operating systems, like Linux."



Once they have a significant number of agencies using the free operating systems, the general public will have equal access. The program is called "PC Conectado".Microsoft does not want to see this happen because they need to make their money so they are trying to work with the government to help without making it free.


"We're not going to spend taxpayers' money on a program so that Microsoft can
further consolidate its monopoly. It's the government's responsibility to
ensure that there is competition, and that means giving alternative software
platforms a chance to prosper."

The main focus of the article was to put computers into the homes of Brazilians but critics say that the focus should be to put computers in the schools. I think that there should be a combination of both but if I had to choose, I would say to put them in the homes only because it would provide more access to everyone.


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posted by Supa Starr @ 10:00 AM 1 comments permalink

Thursday, October 25, 2007

 

Give Us Wi-Fi

Wi-Fi for all. Thats something i agree with and i hope more and more people fight for it. I believe that Wi-Fi will help this country gain some ground in the digital revolution race. We are behind other country's and there is no reason we should, but one reason is the political garbage that goes on over companies and money.

Reading the article by Robert MacMillan about the future of Wi-Fi and how it will be the next great issue to hit the supreme court got me thinking. Why does Optimum Online charge $40 a month plus tax for access to the internet? The internet was originally designed as free ware yet we have a few major companies charging us for it. But in order to be constantly connected, we must pay. Thus a constant flow of money into their pockets and for what? I have a cable modem and the service they provide for me is something you cant even see! It comes through my almost 30 year old cable wires.

We are not paying for the internet but rather access to it, and yes some companies have better set ups and offer faster speed but you cant tell me it cost Optimum Online $40+ to run the internet to my house. And now these companies are getting annoyed that certain city's and towns are talking about basically free internet access for anyone with a PC. This is called Wi-Fi. certain stores and chains offer free Wi-Fi in their buildings such as Starbucks and even Macdonald's, yes you can get a big mac as you download your music.

I think this is good and the only con is that if Wi-Fi does catch on in city's and towns across the nation, competition may be lost and service may suffer. But then again, there is no real competition now between ISPs its either $40 or more a month. If internet access was offered for free or at low cost i would be on board and i know any other American who isn't so oblivious to the robbery thats going on would be too.

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posted by S. Colgan @ 12:29 PM 1 comments permalink

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

 

``Broadband Gap'' widens "Digital Divide'!

Mike Langberg published a story in mercury news in 2005 discussing government involvement in the distribution of Broadband Internet Services. The article covers TechNet's annual innovation summit held in San Jose in 2005. At the summit many supporters called for the involvement of Washington through ,"setting aggressive pro-broadband policies and possibly even doling out subsidies." These TechNet members , many of whom are in the business of providing broadband services believe that through lower prices and better technology Washington can help bridge the "broadband gap'"and digital divide.

I think that this is logical reasoning on the part of the TechNet members. there should always be some government regulation or input in big business. And right now the business of providing Internet access is on top of the heap. With the advancing of the digital revolution their must be government checks on Internet providers or the rates they charge will be out of hand. To make matters worse there is no push right now by the government to provide more advanced and faster service to the general public, putting the citizens of the United States in a bad position and adding to the digital divide between the U.S and the rest of the world.

posted by jboone1264 @ 8:35 PM 1 comments permalink
 

$100 + New Laptop= good or bad?

Nicholas Negroponte, the founding chairman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab, has a plan to make a $100 laptop that will be distributed to millions of young people in poor countries around the world. Even though he is admired by some, this plan still has its ups and downs because there are many factors that can turn this into a disaster.

"Any time someone comes up with an improved technology or a technology that sells at a low price, society benefits....Not just people in poor countries, but also people in richer countries, would benefit."

Having a Laptop that has all the essential qualities for just $100 is a great enhancement to any poor community but the author David Henderson raises interesting questions as to is it really going to be used for what the company intends. He asks the questions "Who hands is it going to end up in" because that is something that really needs to be thought about. If its intended for the poor will it really end up in the hands of the poor or will the wealthy just steal the good deal? Then there is the idea as to how would you ensure that all the poor children receive the laptops? would you hand them out in schools? out of school? bring them to the home? It is very hard to judge a good distribution method. Then there is another good argument as to will the poor community really spend $100 on a laptop or will they use their $100 for necessities. Money could eventually be taken out of that places government as fund for the new cheap laptops, which is money that could be used in other ways.
"So what started off as a completely innocent, let's-help-the-poor-in-poor-countries proposal will end up, with government involved, as just one more way of government using force against its own people to buy goods for them that they regard as luxuries, preventing them from buying the goods that they need to make it to next year. That's a tragedy."

posted by Kpeyton @ 7:23 PM 1 comments permalink
 

iPod: Classroom Necessity?

I really didn't believe the article as I was reading it but the more I read and got in depth into the article, the more it made sense. Having an iPod as a main schooling device. It seems to be a ridiculous idea at first but once you think about it, it actually makes a lot of sense.

At the Brearley School, a private girls school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the iPod was actually being incorporated in foreign language classes, as well as classic courses. The iPod has now become a requirement for the girls to be able to do their school work as well as their homework and, in my opinion, I think it's a great idea.

Sure the iPod costs a lot of money ($299 for the one the school was using; $269 with the school discount) but it is proven to be very useful in the classroom. As stated from the article:
" Last week, two students in Roberto Lazo's tenth-grade Spanish class were asked to read sections of a poem into iTalk microphones, devices compatible with the iPod that let users make digital recordings."

"Six other students in Mr. Lazo's class took live dictation, then listened to the tracks to check their work."

" In Jian Gu's Mandarin course that afternoon, one student played snippets of her Chinese diary entry, while another student translated it aloud. Three advanced students transcribed the recording in Chinese characters. As the class ended, they all listened to Chinese rhythm "

As you can see, the iPod is not only a device used for one's musical or video pleasure anymore as it is being utilized in more functional and effective ways for children and is now becoming more socially accepted.

posted by DImondi @ 5:43 PM 1 comments permalink
 

iPod: Classroom Necessity?


posted by DImondi @ 5:37 PM 0 comments permalink
 

Current Event Blog: October 25th

In looking for a current event's article that has to do with things we have talked about in class, I was able to stumble along an article in the New York Times about the ongoing battle for a stake in Facebook and in this article, it goes on to say how Microsoft won that battle with a bid of $240 million.

In a battle staged against Yahoo and Google, Microsoft won the battle with an offer of $240 million. In spending all of that money, Microsoft will receive a 1.6 % stake in Facebook and will also get the opportunity to sell banner ads appearing on Facebook outside of the US, splitting the revenue with the previously mentioned company. This will add to the agreement already in place between Microsoft and Facebook which is a contract through 2011 which allows Microsoft to run banner ads on the site but only in the United States.

It only goes to show you how a free website, created for advertising and social networking (ala MySpace), can create such an astronomical amount of revenue by virtue of the public's reaction to the website and company, thus forcing larger and more powerful companies to get involved and expand their industry, creating more of a money making opportunity for the little, free to sign up social networking website. Just think about this. Mark Zuckenberg, the 23 year Harvard drop-out who is also the founder of Facebook, owns a 20% share of Facebook, which is valued at about $3 billion. Unbelievable.

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posted by DImondi @ 5:13 PM 2 comments permalink

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

 

Who's Watching You on the Web

I read who is watching you on the web? by PCworld.com. The article is about how your history online is being tracked. Many different companys are getting accustomed to our surfing habits today. Many people who use the web know about cookies, although their are many people who dont have knowledge of cookies and are not aware of what it can do. Cookies is when little file websites store on you computers hard drive to identify you. Cookies can track your log in process and more. Double Click is similar to cookies, its an advertisement. This tracks your browser activity on all sited which it will pop up in many different banner ad's. When you are online many times advertisers are building profiles of you and your online habits. This article made me realize that you will never have any kind of privacy when surfing the web because the majority of the time when your online your running into new pop ups.

posted by TBlackwood @ 12:54 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Dataveillance?

Here's another buzz word: Dataveillance

Check out this short video of an interview with Dr. Nick Begich discussing the implications of dataveillance.

posted by A. Mattson @ 11:55 AM 1 comments permalink
 

Sousveillance Video

A Technorati search for "sousveillance" yielded the following short videos. Check out the video posted by icedude678

posted by A. Mattson @ 11:46 AM 0 comments permalink
 

I know where you are . . .

Today's New York Times has an article about the new cellphone services that use the GPS tracking capablities in you phone to help people find out where you are at this very moment. Some critics are concerned about the potential loss of privacy:


"[. . .] such services point to a new truth of modern life: If G.P.S. made it harder to get lost, new cellphone services are now making it harder to hide.

“There are massive changes going on in society, particularly among young people who feel comfortable sharing information in a digital society,” said Kevin Bankston, a staff lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation based in San Francisco.

“We seem to be getting into a period where people are closely watching each other,” he said. “There are privacy risks we haven’t begun to grapple with.”"

Many people see only the convenience and security of knowing where their friends and family are at every moment. Parents can track children, husbands can track wives, friends can know exactly when you will be arriving:
"Kyna Fong, a 24-year-old Stanford graduate student, uses Loopt, offered by SprintNextel. For $2.99 a month, she can see the location of friends who also have the service, represented by dots on a map on her phone, with labels identifying their names. They can also see where she is.

One night last summer she noticed on Loopt that friends she was meeting for dinner were 40 miles away, and would be late. Instead of waiting, Ms. Fong arranged her schedule to arrive when they did. “People don’t have to ask ‘Where are you?’” she said.

Ms. Fong can control whom she shares the service with, and if at any point she wants privacy, Ms. Fong can block access. Some people are not invited to join — like her mother.

“I don’t know if I’d want my mom knowing where I was all the time,” she said."

posted by A. Mattson @ 11:19 AM 0 comments permalink

Monday, October 22, 2007

 

Is There Such A Thing Called Privacy Anymore?


I read Take My Privacy, Please! which was written by Ted Koppel. The article talked about how we have to give our privacy away to have certain luxuries in today's world. Onstar, which helps drivers get directions from their location and calls for help if you're in any kind of accident seems to be a luxury, especially when you hear about the people who accidentally drive off of a cliff. But when you actually think about it, the person on the other end of the phone can track you down without you even knowing it. And that's basically what the article talks about. There are so many devices that we use that other people can use to track where we are, where we've been and what we like to watch and eat. Sometimes I think that these things are good for us and the only reason someone would have a problem with them is because they may be doing something wrong. On the other hand, the government has a tendency to go overboard with the things they say and do and all of these tracking devices can be used aganist us.

posted by Supa Starr @ 6:41 PM 2 comments permalink
 

DNA!! IS ANYONE ELSE CREEPED OUT?

Biometrics, or the technological use of DNA is the subject of the article "A Trail of DNA and Data" from the Washington Post. The article starts off with an interesting scenario about a person being pulled over by a police officer and his information being looked up using his DNA.The whole scenario is pretty creepy. The officer is able to look up everything there is to know about the driver from a simple lick. The article goes on to give facts about the direction that law enforcement and companies are using DNA to find out things about people in an attempt to make their jobs easier. What I found even more disturbing than the above scenario is the fact that people such as hackers and scam artists will be able to have access to your personal information due to its use b7y major companies and organizations., they wont even need to get your DNA themselves. All the info it provides will already be out there in cyberspace. I must admit that this is not an aspect of the digital revolution that i like. Its like something from a science fiction movie like Fahrenheit 51 . can Are companies and organizations actually allowed to do this stuff? Is anyone else creeped out by this?

posted by jboone1264 @ 12:17 PM 1 comments permalink
 

AMERICAN CENSORSHIP AID TO CHINA HOT TOPIC ON NET

After reading the article "China: western companies under fire over media controls" in China South China Morning Post I think that it is appalling that the United States , which is suppose to be the epitome of democratic ideals is selling censorship tools to China and its repressive government just to make a quick buck.

"In their quest for profits, Western companies are selling press-muzzling equipment to China, censoring their search engines or blog tools and even passing on information that may help reveal the identity of journalists critical of Beijing, media freedom groups say."

It makes absolutely no sense(except economically). We are supporting a governmental regime that stands for the complete opposite of what we do.I began to research this selling of censorship software on the net and I came up with lots of interesting stuff. Apparently this is a hot topic on the internet! Here are some links to give you all an idea. They make for interesting reading.
Angry Chinese Blogger, Georgetown Journal of legal Ethics, US Congress Grill Internet Companies, American Censors In China, Exporting Censorship: New York Times, Legal Affairs Debate

posted by jboone1264 @ 9:34 AM 1 comments permalink

Sunday, October 21, 2007

 

Escaping China's Firewall

Living in a communist country create many set backs in freedom of expression. in China, for example, authorities play a crucial role in controlling web accessibility to their citizens. This substantive argument is found in the article "Reporters without Borders" in which the author explains the extent of China's net firewall. Being that most of China's technological influences derives from the west, and being that it has just become a country that gained technological advancement, it is ironic that China's stern control over the net is so far-fetched and isn't remotely close to that of the west. Harsh punishments are proposed if web user's desires to defend their human rights, or if they generally wish to express themselves on a sensitive issue. Talk about consequences you face in a world of central government!! it even gets worse. there are many western web intervention that takes place to alleviate the tight control that China has over its web users, but if a user from China subscribes to a proxy web address, it is open to the public. As a result, a Chinese agent can act as a cyber-dissident and become apart of the website gaining tons of the information and survelling the net. This goes to show there is no easy way in escaping human injustice, such as freedom of expression in China.

posted by K.J. McIntyre @ 7:04 PM 1 comments permalink

Friday, October 19, 2007

 

Blogs Around The Globe


During class yesterday, we discussed how internet use around the world is controlled and how people in different countries handle it. We briefly talked about Iran and how they use blogging a lot. That raised a question for me and I decided to look it up. My question was, What were Iranians blogging about. I did a short search on yahoo.com and the answer became obvious right away. They are using blogs for the same reasons that Americans use them. They were talking about the politics in Iran and the Iranian government. During my search, I stumbled upon a great blogging website called Global Voices Online that takes you to different countries and their blogs. You can choose any country and look at the different blogs from that country. I think that this website is very interesting and useful not only to Americans but people around the world. We are able to exchange ideas and maybe get information that we wouldn't get from our own media.

posted by Supa Starr @ 1:45 PM 1 comments permalink

Thursday, October 18, 2007

 

The Unflat World

This is a response to some of the things i thought were interesting. First. was how he was talking about how technology interferes with everyday life and how it makes to world place where there isn't privacy. Talking about how because cell phones have cameras people are taking pictures of people in locker rooms and what not. " Whatever the innovation, people will find a way to use it and abuse it." I FEEL THIS STATEMENT IS ABSOLUTELY TRUE, AND WHEN I FIRST GOT MY CAMERA PHONE I CANNOT LIE AND SAY I WASN'T ONE OF THE ABUSERS! It's funny but true!
But later down the page, page 534. He also says "things aren't all bad with this new technology," " Cameras were not allowed, (in certain places) but cell phones were." Talking about a concert he went to and and everybody took out their cell phones to take pictures of Jimmy Buffet.

posted by Anonymous @ 11:05 AM 1 comments permalink
 

China's Golden Shield


China has been connected to the internet for about twelve years now, yet they still aren’t. What I mean is that the Chinese people are constantly watched and spied on when they are online. Reading the article entitled “China’s Internet Dictatorship” will give you a better sense of this. The Chinese gov’t constantly watches every word that is sent across the internet and blocks or filters search engines. They essentially have erected the Berlin Wall 2.0, except this wall is in China and its digital and not made of stone and brick.

You may think that the Chinese gov’t is behind all this, and they are. But the technology supplied to them to form this shield against the outside world comes from the west, Companies such as Nortel, Cisco, and Sun Microsystems. These companies supply the software and ideas needed to suppress any sense of individuality or revolt on Chinas web. Web sites are shut down very fast and outside web sites are blocked and the Chinese people are put in a position to be fed whatever the gov’t chooses to feed them.

The “Golden Shield” as it is called cost $800 million dollars and is designed to keep the people of China from getting any kind of new information.

“Eleven years after its initial connection to the World Wide Web (WWW), China's access to the Internet is still guarded by firewalls, embedded in its proxy servers, which have proven to be more practical and impenetrable than the Berlin Wall. Moreover, an increase in the demand for broadband connection has triggered the launch of an $800 million "Jin Dun (Golden Shield) Project," an automatic digital system of public policing that will help prolong Communist rule by denying China's people the right to information” (Ma Jain)

I wonder if one day our internet will be like this. If our gov’t will want to have such control over everything we do online. It really is the last free frontier of this country and it can open the flood gates for so many different things both good and bad. It gives the people power and that’s a scary thought when you’re the gov’t governing them. China has a lot of control over its people but I feel one day it will fall. There are always cracks in software and people always find them. As fast as technology is progressing today I believe China will some day soon be open and free, at least internet wise.

posted by S. Colgan @ 12:35 AM 1 comments permalink

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

 

Cuba Tightens it's Control Over the Internet


In reading the article I did about Cuba and it's control and tight lipping of the internet in Cuba, I found it to be somewhat of a smart decision and somewhat of a stupid decision.
" But President Fidel Castro's government, in power since a 1959 revolution, maintains that restricting access to the Internet is necessary for the social good in poor developing countries where the telecommunications infrastructure is insufficient. "
In this instance, I have to agree. Put yourself in Castro's shoes. If you're a leader of a country who is trying to establish your own way of governing and the people you're trying to govern don't know any better, why make available an outlet for them to be able to see that there is better out there. Why make available an outlet to your country's people that could possibly show them a better life, thus revolting against you and everything you've been trying to preach to them. It is in that case which I agree with what Castro and the Cuban government did back when they did it.
But, on the other hand, I also think that this is also quite the dumb move. Now sure it's hard to build a poor country into something and you want to mold them so such a revolt isn't possible but sooner or later, the things you hide from your people will be made evident and will only result in a bad ending so, in this situation, making different types of technology available from the get go might be beneficial to you and your country not only in the short run, but in the long run as well.



posted by DImondi @ 6:26 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Cracking down on Bloggers

The current events article I found is from the Washington Post tech area. I thought it was an interesting article. Basically its saying how now normal media outlets are becoming more and more having their place taken by blogs and that sort of internet media. To go along with the rise of blogs many countrys are cracking down on blogs and less so now on conventional journalists. There are rankings that show how free a countrys press is and belive it or not the U.S. only comes in at number 48. The reason the U.S. didn't make the top 30 is because a blogger named Josh Wolf was held in jail for 8 months for posting a video on his blog of a protest in San Francisco. Currentley some countrys out to get bloggers and sending them to prison are Egypt, Jordan, North Korea, Turkmenistan, and Burma. With a new voice which blogs have provided, new laws come along with it. Bloggers to many are looked at as a new type of journalist and the censorship goes along with it. The article also says that in many of these countrys a journalists fate in jail winds up in their death.

posted by ZSpagnuolo @ 3:08 PM 1 comments permalink

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

 

China's Great Wall Communications

For centuries the Chinese have greatly valued their isolation. Always looking to improve with in their vast borders while avoiding assimilation with surrounding countries. They have also historically shown that they are a nation capable of great change. The backbone of their success during these times of change was always force. Governments have consistently valued the success and happiness of the nation way over that of the individual. Today these statements ring loud through china's current status and behavior. However today instead of building a vast wall, legendary in both height and length they have built a communications wall. Perhaps even more of a feet then the massive wall the Chinese Communist regime has been is able to monitor and control nearly all aspects of the Internet. The Internet which is known for its vast nearly infinite nature is heavily policed by this totalitarian government. Due to the wall's success China has managed to stay isolated in this ever "flattening world". A feat unmatched by any regime large or small in the world.

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posted by BT @ 12:19 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Wal-Mart and Globalization

Wal-Mart have grown to be the most popular company in over two decades. Some company are mad that Wal-Mart became successful. Wal-Mart low prices benefits millions of American consumers. Wal-Mart created suppliers that produce goods cheaper than they ever could before.Wal-Mart is the best company of its kind in promoting efficiency, low-cost sourcing. Gary Geferri was talking about how the flip side of that model is that this has come at the cost of U.S. jobs that are actually moving offshore, and even Wal-Mart's own suppliers are concerned that by pushing costs down so low, companies can no longer be profitable. So in a sense, it's like we have two models in the world economy.

posted by A Phillips @ 12:13 PM 2 comments permalink
 

Is Violence in game is a good thing?

Some people might disagree that violence isnt a good thing. The violence in the game is all about excitement because people who play these violence games loves to see people getting murdered or burned. Brooks Brown's "Violence in games is a good thing article", he talked about when he was playing Grand Theft Auto, he have sex with a hooker for the first time and he also said that he laughed when he killed her to take the money back. I believe that playing these games brings excitement and also letting you have the freedom to play these games. Some people tries to blame the videogames for them murdering someone.

posted by A Phillips @ 11:58 AM 2 comments permalink

Monday, October 15, 2007

 

The Unflat World

In reading "The Unflat World", I stumbled across a line that caught my attention that I absolutely agree with. It was the first sentence of the second paragraph on page 536. It says " I believe that capabilites create intentions". I couldn't agree with that more. It is so true, that, if we are capable of doing or using something for one specific purpose, it will be used for many different purposes, including things that it wasn't meant for.

You see, technology is a weird thing. We have the privilege of being able to use such advanced forms of technology that people thought they would never see and, of course, when these forms of technology are introduced to us, we as people sometimes take advantage of them in the wrong way. Also stated in this paragraph is a quote that backs up my opinion and agreement with Thomas Friedman.
" If we create cell phones with cameras in them, people will use them for all sorts of tasks, from cheating on tests, to calling Grandma in her nursing home on her ninetieth birthday from the top of a mountain in New Zealand."

It is very true that in the world today, there will always be opportunities and many things are very capable of happening and when they do, you will always have people out there who will look to use that form of technology the way that it wasn't supposed to be used but as long as their are capabilities, which there are, it will always happen.

posted by DImondi @ 2:27 PM 1 comments permalink

Sunday, October 14, 2007

 

Wal-Mart and Globalization


Wal-Mart has become the biggest company in the U.S. and arguably the world. This fact has created controversy about how much power Wal-Mart has and should have. I have done some research on why people have problems with Wal-Mart and globalization seems to be the biggest one. According to a PBS frontline documentary, "Is Wal-Mart good for America?", Wal-Mart is forcing companies to take their manufacturing plants to other countries where the labor is cheaper which helps to keep product prices low. That is called off-shoring which is different than outsourcing. Though the affects are very similar because their are still many jobs that are lost in the U.S. and are given to other countries. I feel that a lot of companies are upset because they are not as successful as Wal-Mart is and try to supply any negative information they can find. As negative as some aspects of Wal-Mart's business practices are, they provide the public with low prices and keeps them happy. There are so many stores that are similar to Wal-Mart, just not as successful. I feel as though Wal-Mart did not invent globalization, they just perfected it.

posted by Supa Starr @ 8:30 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Come on Wal-Mart

After watching the video about wal-mart in class, i went home to finish it because i was interested about the topic. I do shop at wal-mart a lot because they do have low prices on the basic things i need, things like q-tips, deodorant and soap etc. Even without watching the video about wal-mart i knew of some of their policy's and practices because they were in the news a lot. Then after watching the video in class and finishing it at home, i watched the other wal-mart video called "The High Cost of Low Price", which was along the same lines of the PBS video just more in depth.

So i watched both these videos and i was shocked at the way employees here and over seas were treated but i also knew that this was common practice with many other companies. The labor laws overseas are much different then the ones here and companies recognize this and take advantage of it. I don't know what can be done to correct the overseas practices and also if there was some sort of universal minimum wage then companies like wal-mart who deliver the lowest prices would be useless and price competition would be far less i believe.

But something has to be done about employees who work here in America, where there are labor laws. I think its crazy that a majority of wal-marts employees are either on welfare or some form of a gov't assistance program. To be fair, those types of programs are supposed to be for people who may not have a job or who are going through some very hard times, and they are not designed for people who actually have a job. Wal-mart makes billions of dollars a year and they should be forced to pay their employees more money or at least offer them some good health care programs. They can afford it.

Wal-mart's new slogan by the way is "Save Money, Live Better"

Ironic

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posted by S. Colgan @ 5:21 PM 1 comments permalink

Thursday, October 11, 2007

 

BACK TO BANGALORE AND THE REVERSE BRAIN DRAIN!!

In a 2005 article , written by Tim Sullivan for the associated press entitled "The Road to Bangalore", it is explained that natives of Bangalore who are knowledgeable in the tech field are going back to their own country. Why you might ask? Because today , for those in the middle class, living in Bangalore can be just like living in the United States. The technological boom in Bangalore has sparked much change for the better. In the case of those citizens returning to India this means making Bangalore more like the United States.

In his article Sullivan says, "In a nation where success used to be defined by how quickly a university graduate could snare a British or American passport and where up-and-coming doctors, bankers and software engineers often did all they could to get somewhere else, India's best and brightest are coming home."

He also mentions that the economy is growing at a pace of over 7% a year. That number is astronomically fast and this is whats causing people to go back to Bangalore.
"From September 2001 to March 2005, about 30,000 Indian information technology professionals returned from overseas, according to a study by the country's main software trade group, the National Association of Service and Software Cos. (NASSCOM). The Indian press call it the "reverse brain drain."

I think that this is smart on the part of companies back m in India , they are outsourcing the very brains that we stole from them in the first place. By making Bangalore and other such nations like the United States it makes it less desirable for these tech wizards to leave their families behind for a whole new country. Instead of them going to America to work for luxuries that living in America affords you they can do it from India. Their own nation prospers and everyone involved is happy,except maybe the American companies that desire these wizards!

posted by jboone1264 @ 4:44 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Globilization Also Government Issue.But not in Friedman?

Just a response to the book by "The World is Flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. The idea of Globalization is not a concept that I have ever really put much thought into. Looking back maybe I should have because it is changing the way people do business and compete in an ever increasing job market. The fact that most of the time I call any kind of customer service line I get someone of a different nationality answering all my questions shows just how globalized the world is becoming. These huge companies are looking for ways to minimize expenses and increase profit. What better way to do this than by hiring people from second and third world countries who work for one third of what you would have to pay an American worker. It is easy to train them and If they have complaints about their job they will not speak out due to the lack of other opportunities they have in their countries job market. To me globalization is smart buisness by large companies, although it does stink that it hurts the American job market and economy.
In his book ,Friedman suggests that the world has become flat in the sense that competing markets in other countries are now at an even playing field with our own. This suggests that people can not live in America and yet still be afforded all the same opportunities as an American would have in the job market. perhaps that may explain the current American governments Laissez Faire approach to regulating businesses. They are afraid that more and more jobs opportunities will leave our country and go to people in other smaller countries. I would like Friedman to explore governments role in globalization in his next edition. For me this is an interesting topic.

posted by jboone1264 @ 12:23 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Ch. 9-10 Response

" I beleive we posses all the resources and talents necessary" "But the fact of the matter are that we have never made the national decisions or marshaled long-range goals on an urgent time schedule, or managed our resources and our time so as to ensure their fulfillment." (President Kennedy). Now as i flip back a couple of pages with that being said lol it was funny to me that it was said that "For a counrty as wealthy thatwe are, it is amazing how little we are doing to enhance our natural competitveness" said by Dinakar Singh. Its not really funny at all because as American people we do need to get smarter in math, science, and engineering so we can teach the new generation and create more American jobs! Because there is always the scare of um-employment because of outsourcing.

posted by Anonymous @ 10:55 AM 1 comments permalink
 
As I began to read chapter eleven of the book "The World is Flat" I felt that what was being said was very true.

"Everyone wants economic growth, but nobody wants change. Unfortunately you cannot have one without the other, especially when the playing field shifts as dramatically as it has since the year 2000"


As a response to the world becoming more "flat" CEO's and Entrepreneurs were developing new ways to keep their companies under wraps as things were rapidly changing. To businesses and companies alike, this new world was a totally new environment, like a fish out of water. In the end the companies that survive are the ones that are the most prepared for change. They adapt easier and faster.

"Just in the last couple of years they had been able to do thing they had never dreamed possible before, or that they were being forced to do things they had never dreamed necessary before"

posted by Kpeyton @ 12:42 AM 1 comments permalink

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

 

How is Outsourcing Beneficial to Bangalore?


The true silicon valley in India, Bangalore is made up of a small world of digital phenomenon. It's the ultimate computer city that is number one in outsourcing and industrialization. As clearly explained by Thomas Friedman, yes it is apart of the economy to use cheap labor and produce a number of goods and services. However, if Bangalore is one of the prime places for production success in the U.S, what is going to happen to the economy when more investors multiply? More investors means growth of the city and more space acquired. When things such as light and water are still a necessity for India, are these investors willing to contribute to the infrastructure and development for the city? Will they drawback in accommodating these luxuries for the city? Eventually, how far will outsourcing go from Bangalore if this occurs.

posted by K.J. McIntyre @ 8:18 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Google May Fight Microsoft In Battle of Cell Phone Software

After our discussion in class about the flattening of the world by corporations and globalization i came across an old fashioned newspaper article about something similar. Newsday reports that Google may get in the market of producing cell phone software to rival Microsoft's, which of course is really the only show in town when it comes to devices like palm pilots and blackberries. This may be a welcomed change and freshening up to cell phone software that is old and past its time. The new Microsoft windows Mobile 6 is basically just a smoothed out version of the previous generation for example. Like we talked about in class, America is behind the time tech wise and we need some good competition to get back in the game. I don't want to go to India for a job.

I think this would be a good idea because going on Google's reputation, it just seems like everything they touch turns to gold. And rather then creating a whole new phone and possibly service to launch this new software, they can simply piggy back on existing phone companies or service providers. Google also stated that it would rely on Linux software, which is free and open to the public. This is an important step in creating an OS that will constantly be improved, not to mention Google would be reaching out to more people then ever. I do not own a smart phone that requires a OS but if i did i don't think i would want Microsoft software on it, i would rather have Apple but we all cant afford the iPhone, so Google create a nice piece of software and bring us into the future.
"The software would challenge Microsoft Corp.'s products that run Web-browsing phones. About 1 billion of those devices will be sold by 2011, according to research firm IDC in Framingham, Mass. Google plans to let phone makers and wireless companies sell handsets based on its software, rather than creating a device like Apple Inc.'s iPhone, the Times said"(Bloomberg News)



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posted by S. Colgan @ 2:02 PM 1 comments permalink

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

 

The Clash of the Titans


Kanye West and 50 Cent will share the same release date for their third solo albums as the Chicago rapper's forthcoming project, Graduation, has been pushed back. This being 50 Cents third album by the title of "Curtis", it has high expectatoins as usual. Trying to live up to the results of his first album, 50 says he will either out sale Kanye West in the first week of album sales, or he will retire.

Kanye West's last album "Late Registration," has sold 2.8 million to date, but 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" has sold nearly 8 million.

Like candidates trying to sway voters on Election Day, Kanye West and 50 Cent appeared on BET's 106 & Park September 11, 2007, when both their heavily anticipated albums hit the stores. West and 50 Cent have hyped the albums as an epic battle of the rap titans. Kanye West album "Graduation" sold 957,000 copies, easily surpassing the 691,000 copies sold by "Curtis," according to the SoundScan.

Kanye West's total is the highest first-week sales for an album in more than two years, when 50 Cent's sophomore effort, "The Massacre," opened with 1.1 million copies in March 2005, the last album to reach the seven-figure mark. Not since 1991 have two albums registered first-week sales of more than 600,000 copies in the same week.

"Graduation" accounted for one out of every 10 albums sold in the U.S. last week. Combined, the two releases also gave some much-needed life back into the hip-hop sales, which were down more than 30% for the first half of 2007 compared with a year earlier.

posted by dropout1 @ 2:44 PM 1 comments permalink

Monday, October 08, 2007

 

More jobs to India


Are all our tech jobs going overseas to poorer and impoverished nations? Yeah, they are. Why? Well Americans are lazy I believe and we don’t feel that we are behind technology wise, but in fact we are. And if we do not get our act together, there may come a time when we may need to move out of this country to get the best and highest paying jobs.

“ACCORDING to a confidential memorandum, I.B.M. is cutting 13,000 jobs in the United States and in Europe and creating 14,000 jobs in India. From 2000 to 2015, an estimated three million American jobs will have been outsourced; one in 10 technology jobs will leave these shores by the end of this year. Stories like these have aroused a primal fear in the Western public: that they might soon need to line up outside the Indian Embassy for work visas and their children will have to learn Hindi” (Suketu Mehta)

If you have ever called up Dell for tech assistance and got someone on the phone who speaks English but with some kind of Indian accent, then you should already know where the jobs are going. And wail these aren’t the big time tech jobs that Americans would want; they are a solid starting point. Technical assistance is always needed for PC’s and Servers and companies like IBM and Dell are outsourcing more and more jobs. They don’t have to pay as much and they get the same service from there employees. India is not a super power like the United States; in fact 40% of India’s population is illiterate and lives below the poverty line.

But in Bangalore, property is selling high and people have jobs and the tech businesses is booming. It is a sharp contrast from one section of India to another.

“Over the last quarter century, as hundreds of corporations have moved in to take advantage of Bangalore's temperate and dust-free climate, cheap housing, and work force educated in information technology (or IT, the popular shorthand here), economic growth has bred a new set of woes. In that time, the city has quadrupled in size, real estate prices have quintupled, and a once gracious metropolis has begun to choke on its own pollution and gridlock” (Richard Rapaport)

Sounds familiar, it sounds like any major US city during the industrial revolution. And this is India’s revolution, it’s not industrial but technical and many US industries and companies are helping by outsourcing jobs there.

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posted by S. Colgan @ 11:28 PM 1 comments permalink
 

The Bangalore Experience


Bangalore seems like a nice place to live and work aside from the poverty at your front door. "It's mayhem once you leave the gates of the neighborhood". People from Indian descent must be pleased that they can accomplish the American dream in their own country. The United States outsources many jobs to India and their people are benefiting tremendously. As I was reading the article, "M.B.A. Students Bypassing Wall Street for a Summer in India", I could not help but think of how Americans feel about Mexican immigrants. I know it's a seperate issue but one of the reasons why people feel so strongly about immigrants from across the border is that they are taking jobs away from American citizens. That sounds like outsourcing except that the workers come here and live among us. Which made me think of a good question... Why India? There are plenty of countries that could use the money. They may not be as populated but none the less needy.

Students are now getting a global perspective of economics and travelling the world to gain experience. However, is this how it's going to become in order for these same students to get jobs? With American business expanding, what is going to happen to Americans and their jobs?

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posted by Supa Starr @ 7:58 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Welcome to Bangarang

I really liked the article about Bangalore that was entitled"Indian Slum Dwellers Given a Voice". This is just another example of people gaining a voice that they would otherwise not have if it weren't for technology and todays rapid growth of it. Poor people all over the world usually don't get a voice, or are never given the opportunity to have it heard by anyone outside the slums. But now in Bangalore word has risen out of hardship and now people are aware. "Published in the local Kannada language, the black-and-white monthly journal has caught the imagination of young and old slum-dwellers not only in Bangalore but also in towns like Mysore, Mandya, Davangere and Hospet.The circulation has touched 2,500. The response is very encouraging"(Beary) This reminds me of reading about the first newspaper to come out of the ghettos of Jamaica in the early 60's. This newspaper in Bangalor is also kind of like the blogs that we saw from Burma. It is giving an unspoken people a voice to be heard.

posted by ZSpagnuolo @ 4:28 PM 1 comments permalink

Sunday, October 07, 2007

 

SMART MOBS AT OLDWESTBURY

After reading book SMART MOBS there is much to be considered here at old westbury. The book smart mobs is basically talking about the use of cell phones through texting and computers as a means to communicate and organize protests, events, etc. I think that something like this would be useful at old westbury. A lot of people feel as though administration keeps to tight of a lock on whats going on on the campus. students are not given a voice and decisions are made using our money without any input from the students. social networking through smart mobs could be a way to combat this problem. Imagine if administration was having some sort of meeting that students were not told about AND OUT OF KNOW WHERE ABOUT 100 STUDENTS JUST SHOWED UP!!.We have a right to be at a lot of those meetings, but we are no told about them.On page 160 of smart mobs Rheingold quotes Prof Vicente Rafael of the university of California as saying,
" The power of the crowd thus comes across in its capacity to overwhelm the physical constraints of urban planning in the same way that it tends to blurr social distinctions by provoking a sense of estrangement. Its authority rests on its ability to promote restlessness and movement, thereby undermining the pressure from state technocrats, church authorities, and corporate interests to regulate and contain such movements"
If this is true than Old Westbury students could use this form of social networking and communication to bring about some changes on campus. If done the right way we could be a force to be reckoned with. JUST SOMETHING TO CONSIDER ONCE THE TOWERS GO UP.

posted by jboone1264 @ 8:34 AM 1 comments permalink

Thursday, October 04, 2007

 

Handling Business


"I learned of a start-up that is using the Business Web to sell organic vitamins. This guy pays Yahoo! a fee every month so that anytime anyone searches for the words "organic vitamins" on Yahoo!, one of his adds pop up."

While reading the book "The World is Flat" by Thomas L.Friedman, the passage above caught my eye. It was interesting to see how technology has really evolved into what we know it to be today. Even though this is a good way to start a business and make alot of money there are alot of things to think about because in todays day and age there are so many people doing the same things. So the real matter at hand is to do it in the cheapest way that will bring in the biggest profit. The amount that it cost to produce anything can always be done cheaper somewhere in the world. So no matter how much money you think you can make by sitting at home and having an online business, you have to think at a larger scale. It is in this way and ways alike that the world is becoming flat.

posted by Kpeyton @ 4:40 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Monks Are Silenced, and for Now, Internet Is, Too - New York Times

Monks Are Silenced, and for Now, Internet Is, Too - New York Times

The Times reports that the government of Burma has solved the problem of bloggers posting embarassing images of political repression. There was a steady flow of video, photos reaching the outside world:
"But then the images, text messages and postings stopped, shut down by generals who belatedly grasped the power of the Internet to jeopardize their crackdown."

posted by A. Mattson @ 1:00 PM 0 comments permalink
 

If The Worlds Been Flattened Then The U.S. Is The Roller

The World Is Flat by Thomas Friedman gives u an explanation as to why the world is metaphorically shrinking. All in all i feel it's a good book with minor flaws. The main flaw is in Friedman's presentation of the information. Way to many words and run on sentences. I feel you really have to search for important points in the book. After reading this book you can't help but think Friedman believes that the earth has been flattened by the U.S. It's U.S. companies that are creating the new world economy. In my opinion that is just not the case. The U.S. may be at the fore front of this evolution put are not the sole participants.

posted by BT @ 12:45 PM 1 comments permalink
 

How Does UPS Make The World Flat?

As I was reading a few passages from Thomas L. Friedman’s book “The World Is Flat” and I don’t understand why or how the world is flat. Well maybe I do. He lists 10 reasons the world has become flat and the one I really read into was reason # 8, which is Insourcing. In short, insourcing is the opposite of outsourcing which im sure most of us are familiar with. Friedman talks about UPS and how they have synced up the world. I was amazed to learn that UPS does much more then just ship a package; they have many distributing centers with the products in them ready to go. I was under the impression that when you bought an item, that item had to be shipped to USP then to you but I was wrong. UPS has worked together with many companies to help them with there distribution of products, this helps take some of the burden of shipping products to buyers off smaller and even larger companies. If the products are already at a UPS warehouse then they can just be shipped right away. To just get an idea of how much product UPS basically controls on a daily basis, take a look at this…

On any given day, according to UPS, 2 percent of the world’s GDP can be found in UPS delivery trucks or package cars. (Friedman 173)

I get the basic idea in this passage about UPS becoming one large distributor of all sorts of products but I don’t understand how it contributed to the world being flat. Now I haven’t read the rest of the book so maybe the answer is in there but as of right now my best guess is this…these new technologies are linking the world together so much, that there is really no boundaries for anything anymore, and the world being flat means that everything is streamline.

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posted by S. Colgan @ 12:15 AM 1 comments permalink

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

 

New Useful Link: Paleo-Future

A new useful link has been added to the sidebar: Paleo-Future.

The Paleo-Future blog is an archive of visions of the future past. This media history blog has a lot of archival documents, images and video foretelling the future of technology and society. For example, check out The Classroom of the Future (1987) or Connections: AT&T's Vision of the Future. These videos were marketing the digital future.

posted by A. Mattson @ 4:02 PM 0 comments permalink
 

Is Challenge a Good Thing?

" Tom, the playing field is being leveled."

And with that sentence, Thomas Friedman was challenged with a thought.

"America was going to be challenged, but, he insisted, the challenge would be good for America becuase we are always at our best when we are being challenged."

America was not going to be challenged physically via war or anything like that. We were going to be challenged technically. We were being challenged by other countries, including India, who would now be able to compete for global work knowledge like they have never been able before. We were going to be challenged by other countries who have never been able to challenge us before and this was going to be something new to both us and them and, according to Nandan Nilekani, we would be fine because "we are always at our best when we are being challenged." Well, are we? Sure, we are probably the strongest and most powerful nation in the world today but how often do we as a nation get challenged for anything? Sure with things in the past such as wars and situations like this, we've been able to rise up but look at other things that have happened. Questionable decisions have been made in the past such as the one that has us still in war right now, the nuclear war that wasn't but was on the verge of happening, etc. The United States has risen up in the past in challenging situations, but to say that we're at our best when a challenge is proposed, I'm not to sure about.

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posted by DImondi @ 2:16 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Are violent games a good thing??

Brook Brown beleives that violent games are a good thing.

I am drawn to these violent games because they offer more freedom. And, it may
sound naive, but i believe the vast majority of gamers play these games for the
same reason as me. Do you?

The definition of a game is the competitive activity involving skill, chance, or endurance on the part of two or more persons who play according to a set of rules, usually for their own amusement or for that of spectators. There is no part of the definition that defines violent game playing and applying that to the real world. Brown believes its freeing to kill police and rape strippers because he can not do that in his real life without facing serious consequences. Thats one thing these video games do not have is consequences. In virtual reality world, there is no right or wrong because everything is right. You want to stab five people, go ahead you'll get a bonus round and get to the next level. To some people this amusement is freeing like Brown states, allowing your imagination to wander inappropriately. But for not defining what is right and wrong may mislead many to thinking it is ok. The excitment that is recieved from murder in a game is demonstrated when a kid stabs someone to see what it is like. I beleive that these games are just for stimulating excitement and fun but it crosses the line when someone is pleading not guilty for murder because of insanity from playing videogames.

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posted by A Ruggiero @ 12:28 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Automakers Join Second Life


It looks like more and more automobile companies are entering Second Life. As we discussed second life and were given a tour of it in class I fully understood why companies would want to have accounts with second life and even offer their products both in real life and second life, this is because it is a whole new medium for advertising and sales. I thought second life was pretty cool but I didn’t feel the need to try it because I wasn’t interested in buying jeans or sunglasses or anything like that. Then I read a blog from one of my favorite blogs sites, (www.autoblog.com) and I learned that even automobile companies are joining second life.

Most create their own island and offer virtual renderings of there current line up of cars and also concept cars. This interests me because I am a big car guy and like the thought of cursing around a virtual world full of the latest automobiles and getting my information about them like that rather then reading about them.

I don’t think advertising in second life will put some car companies over the top, simply because they already advertise everywhere but I think this is a cool idea for them. It’s something new and seems like it costs them nothing and if they get a few more sales out of it then it has paid off. Second life seems to be the future of advertising but its time is not now, considering only 2 million active users daily. It is interesting however that as the users increase in second life, so does the interest in these companies. Maybe it will catch on more, as more companies join up to offer cool things.

Here is a link to a graph showing the current automakers involved in second life and also the cars they offer in second life.


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posted by S. Colgan @ 11:08 AM 1 comments permalink

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

 

Flash Mobs

Smart mobs are becoming more and more popular for many different uses. They are also making it onto television. We saw the comercial for the sidekick in class, but i also recentley saw an episode of CSI Miami that was about smart mobs. They used a different name though, for this type of smart mob. They called it a flash mob.

"A flash mob is a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, do something unusual for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse." (Wikipedia)

In the episode of CSI, cell phones were used to text messsage a large group of people to meet at a golf course at a specific time and throw golfballs into one of the sandtraps, and then to run away. When all the golf balls were found there was a body underneath them in the sand and all the golfballs had different fingerprints on them.

"Flash mobs bear certain similarities to political demonstrations, although flash mobs were originally intended to be specifically apolitical. Flash mobs can be seen as a specialized form of smart mob, which is a term and concept forwarded by author Howard Rheingold in his 2002 book Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution."(Wikipedia)

posted by ZSpagnuolo @ 3:20 PM 1 comments permalink
 

Should their be laws in Cyber communities?

In the article "Virtuality and its Discontents", by Sherry Turkle , a lot of good points about the use of virtual, online communities are made. Turkle believes that people are using these virtual communities as a substitute for the loss of community in the real world. She also makes various points about where the line should be drawn between the virtual community and the real world. She brings up points about crimes in cyber communities should they be punished and should their be a set of laws to govern these cyber communities. I think that if so many people are to become so emotionally invested in these communities that they would spend more time their than in the real world, then there should be a set of rules to govern. The example about the individual who began performing sexual acts on other members of the cyber community called MUD is a perfect example. I'm sure that many of these people are trying to escape such things in the real world when they log on under their online identity. I think that these people should be protected from such indecencies just as they would be in the real world. It seems many of these communities already have a political system, Why not laws to go along with this System? What do you guys think? Should their be laws in online communities or would that be going too far?

posted by jboone1264 @ 12:35 PM 3 comments permalink
 

Creating The Commons

Before the Internet was what it is today, things needed to be thought up and created and in reading the section in Smart Mobs on inventing the innovation commons I got a better sense of where the Internet comes from and what gives it its base. Rheingold describes how the Internet was suppose to be free from the start and how it still it today, to some extent. The Internet was created for and by people who wanted to create better technology and wanted to share ideas with one another. Of course the Internet is used for many more things today but the idea is still there. The Internet is used to receive and send information about whatever it may be. Weather its e-mails to and from classmates or friends, to software techs discussing a new innovative program, the Internet is a means of fast communication for everyone.

“The Internet was deliberately designed by hackers to be an innovation commons, a laboratory for collaboratively creating better technologies.” (Rheingold48)

This section in Smart Mob's discussed the creating of software to harvest the Internet and really get it going. The first OS or operating system was designed to be freeware, or software that anyone could use. This freeware allowed many people to use the early Internet and constantly improve on it. Had the first operating systems been private, then we may not have the Internet we have today. These first commons for inventing software and operating systems was critical for the Internet. It also being free to re-use and distribute to other people was also a big idea that would help the Internet become what it is today.
“Software deliberately created as a public good is the reason you can type www.smartmobs.com instead of a string of numbers to see this book's web site.” (Rheingold 52)

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posted by S. Colgan @ 12:25 PM 1 comments permalink

Monday, October 01, 2007

 

The Impact of New Technology


" The first signs of the next shift began to reveal themselves to me on a spring afternoon in the year 2000. That was when I began to notice people on the streets of Tokyo staring at their mobile phones instead of talking to them. The sight of this behavior, now commonplace in much of the world, triggered a sensation I had experienced a few times before-the instant recognition that a technology is going to change my life in ways I can scarcely imagine."


That, right there, is part of the first paragraph of the introduction in the book entilted Smart Mobs, written by Howard Rheingold. It obviously didn't take me very long to find something in this book that caught my eye and wanted to make we blog about but that first paragraph is so true. The impact of new technology these days all over the world is amazing. Technology that is now being introduced and that has recently been introduced is changing lives for everyone it encounters and it is quite insane. The new types of phones and features that they have are incredible and is something that has never been seen before and after reading this first paragraph, I had to write about this and agree with Mr. Rheingold 100% because he is absolutely right. Technology is growing at such a fast rate now-a-days and we are seeing things that are being done that we never thought possible.

posted by DImondi @ 4:59 PM 1 comments permalink

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