John's Blog

Final Post

2006-03-12T14:49:00.000-08:00

I believe the most interesting thing we covered in the class was the movement in the world and especially the U.S. to tailor news to peoples' liking. I thought it was very interesting that so many media companies had begun sending specific aspects of news stories and information to people while disregarding other aspects. I really would have liked to study that situation more as well. I personally believe that it be possible to teach an entire class specifically about that. It is very important for people to realize when things like that are going on in our country. It makes people better observers and listeners. The least interesting aspect of the class was information about the blogosphere. I really dont use blogs so that may have contributed to my dislike for that part of the course.

Week 9 Reading Post

2006-02-28T20:10:00.000-08:00

I think that VoIP sounds pretty interesting and handy to use. I also like the fact that it is free even for extremely long distance phone calls. Also, the article indicated that people are able to buy minute plans much like a regular telephone but at fairly cheap rates and can call anyplace in the world. The problems I see with VoIP in the future is convenience, accessibility, and practicality. It sounds like the technology is become more convenient, but many things like technology size, computer use, internet connection etc. are still in the way. Also, I think that most people don't know that this technology is out there and available for use. Most people simply wont use this for phone calls. I think it also plays heavily into the digital divide in the world. Many of this issues feed into the practicality of the technology. I have never used it before so I have no first hand experience with its ease of use etc. It sounds like the technology is still new enough that many aspects may still be fairly impractical. I think telephone and cable networks will scramble to offer their own version of the technology. I don't think it is an immediate threat because of the reasons listed above. However, I think companies will eventually learn to capitalize on the technology and eventually add it to what they offer customers.

Questions:
Is there any information comparing VoIP use and the digital divide?

What is the average hardware cost to use the technology?

How many people are currently using VoIP?

Week 8 Response

2006-02-19T15:02:00.000-08:00

I found this article to be more interesting than most of what we read for this class. I've also had discussions, seen TV shows, read magazine articles, and talked to other people about wireless internet connections etc. before. I saw a show made by National Geographic about bringing internet access to rural villages in Vietnam in an effort to educate rural farm workers. The plan was to also expose villagers to other aspects and contacts within their own country. It was hoped that doing so would help spark business relations within Vietnam. I didn't know that the IEEE set the guidelines for wireless connections. This is especially strange because my dad is a member and attends numerous meetings for them. Also, while reading the article I sometimes wondered if it is good priority to set up internet connections in places that barely have running water, electricity, adequate medical care, etc.

Questions:
Are these internet connections installed and maintained by American held companies?

Can Wi-Fi networks become bogged down by users?

Is there an effort to install Wi-Fi in rural areas of the U.S.? if so, how much headway has been made?

Week 7 Extra Credit Post

2006-02-12T16:38:00.000-08:00

Before reading these articles I had taken several communication classes that hard large sections focused on the impact of the internet on politics. What I find to be the most amazing is how quickly the technology has become a strong factor in politics. The internet went from a new, yet blindsiding factor in the Jesse Ventura campaign to a crucial and extremely important part of President Bush's campaign. It is unfortunate however that such an opportunity to expose more people to information has become such a venue to slander and insult politicians. We are just in the beginning of this technology and I really cant wait to see what the internet will have to offer in the coming years.

Week 7 Response

2006-02-12T16:22:00.000-08:00

I think the Internet is the new frontier for political campaigning and setting a political agenda. The past two presidential elections have shown how powerful and vital a well designed internet campaign really is. The internet is a place where messages can be completely shaved, shaped, toned, and honed to a specific audience to achieve a specific agenda. Interest groups are also able to reach a large audience with a fairly targeted message. There are also no restriction to what you can put in a message over the internet and that has lead to extremely powerful interest group campaigns.
I also believe that the internet has hurt politics and political campaigning. The past elections showed a pretty much ruthless attitude used by campaigners to get their officials elected. It often lead to absolutely mean spirited, hurtful, and un-true information being reported about political candidates. Like the authors, I notice myself using online news for finding national and international news. I rarely use it to look at local news, crime reports, etc.

Questions:

Have there been any measures implemented to protect politicians from interest groups' online campaigns?

What are some new website formats being used for political campaigns?

Are newspaper websites used more frequently for international news? Or do people use national TV News websites?

Week 6 Response

2006-02-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

I thought these readings were fairly interesting. The first article gave a good history of how the media has evolved through technological innovations, changes in politics, changes in time, etc. I had no idea podcasts were so popular, nor did I know NPR released them. Podcasts are something that I am still not clicked into so its kind strange to hear how popular they really are.
I think the established media should be utilizing blogs but also be aware of how biased, amateur, and sometimes wrong they can be. I think blogs add tons of personality to information which is sometimes lacking in the established media. They also discuss, give research, and debate sometimes very important issues that may not even be on the established media's radar. I think they can often keep the established media fairly honest as well. They are place where poor stories, bias, incorrect facts, etc can be discussed and highlighted which established media rarely does.

Questions:
How many people download podcasts each day?

Is there any agency, group, or company that monitors information from blogs that reaches the established media?

Are blogs generally free? or are some companies charging to use blogs?

Week 5 (extra credit)

2006-01-29T14:55:00.000-08:00

I thought this article was pretty interesting. My final project is about a type of social software called MMO or massive multiplayer online game. Programs that use the internet to allow people to both talk and interact with each other across continents are amazing. Advanced communication software has revolutionized business world by destroying time and distance constraints etc. It is true that although the technology has been widely available for about 10 years or so, its impact is already amazing. It has become something that I believe the world would find difficulty to function without.

Week 5 Post (Open Source Software)

2006-01-29T14:33:00.000-08:00

Communication Scholars should make an strong effort to study the open source software movement. Articles such as the one about the GNU program indicated that the open software programs have a legitimate chance to reach a large amount of people. It sounds like the software would be distributed through a chat room like system and involve multiple publishers and receivers. Also, comm scholars might be interested in what the legal issues surrounding the open software movement. It would seriously affect an very large and profitable software industry etc. Unfortunately, I had a hard time understanding some aspects of the readings. For example, the reading about GNU was very hard to follow and I really never got a complete idea what GNU was and how it worked.

Questions:

What are the legal implication for the open source software movement?

How many people are trying to develop systems like GNU?

Are there any scholarly papers or assessments of the open software movement?

Week 4 Post (Human Computer Interaction)

2006-01-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately these articles did not really change my opinion on man-machine relationships. I believe that technology progresses much like the nature does. I am not alarmed when emails are used with such frequency that people begin to question whether face to face interaction may be becoming dangerously rare. Also, I do believe it is unfortunate when people lose their jobs to cheaper and more efficient automated machines but I also see it as the natural process towards a more efficient and streamlined lifestyle. The internet has been one of the most revolutionized and amazing technology developments in the past century. It has changed business, communication, information access, etc. So much for the better it is almost immeasurable. The article focused mainly on the internet did not really give me new information. It was interesting to see how simple the breakdown of messages into data packets by IP and TCP etc. Man is extremely dependent on machines and machines are still extremely dependent on man. I don't see this changing in the near future and the dependency may become even stronger.

3 Questions:
How would others feel if humans dependency on machines was to greatly increase?

what's the next great leap in internet technology? or what would people like it to be?

Do you feel that technology advancement has become almost like natural evolution? Where progression and advancement is almost natural and smooth?

Information Overload (week 3)

2006-01-17T19:22:00.000-08:00

Question: Use the readings to explain how your life is affected by information (too much?, too little?, just right?).

When I originally read the question for the readings this week I immediately answered that I believe I recieve too little information. However, after reading Nelson's information I changed my response slightly. I believe I recieve too much information but most of it is of poor quality such as advertisements, propoganda, opinionated or slanted news, etc. When it comes to valuable and needed information I believe that not only I but most Americans receive way too little.
Carlson's paper had an interesting topic about information literacy and is something that is extremely valuable to teach. I was taught the "bare bones" of this skill while in high school and would have liked to have obtained more experience before college.

Questions:
- How much effort is there being given to enhance childrens' information literacy?

- Does information overload change with economic status?

- Do others believe they are recieving too much information on average but far too little information with any value?

Hellos

2006-01-04T22:18:00.000-08:00

Hello All