Reading Assignment # 4
The Infodiet
I mostly agree with this article, I believe our generation of students has become lazy when it comes to researching. I am a Google searcher myself, but that’s only when I am not given the challenge by my professors. When my art history teacher gave us our syllabus last semester, I saw that our final project was a research paper/ presentation. What put me into panic mode was that we had to get our sources strictly from the library, no internet citing. This seemed like the most awful thing to me at first, but when the time came to start researching, I found myself not only reading up on my subject, but so many others, and fully enjoying it. Now when I’m assigned any research paper, I try to find actual books to get my information from. There’s no doubt its not credible, and I always end up actually learning and enjoying the assignments. I liked in this particular article how librarians were the original search engines. That is so true. I couldn’t believe to hear that students actually responded to a question with “our campus has a library?” and “can you Google-ize that for me?” This is embarrassing for our generation. I have never really used the library database, only because like he says in the article, it is quite confusing. I use it to look up a book I need, but never have messed around with search databases, or catalogs. So I do agree that that could be made a lot simpler, then more students would rely on databases instead of always counting on google.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
News Report 3
"Facebook turns 5- but can it survive?"
Simon Hooper, CNN
2/4/2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/04/facebook.anniversary/index.html?eref=rss_tech
The extremely popular website, “Facebook.com” celebrates its 5th year of success. This billion dollar global phenomenon was created by a nineteen year old Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg. When he launched the website from his dorm room in 2004, it was just simply for the purpose of keeping in touch with classmates; within 24 hours, over 1,000 of his classmates had signed up for the site. It quickly gained popularity, and half the campus had logged on to the site in a month worth of time. Now, five years later, the website has more than 150 million users worldwide. Zuckerberg was named youngest billionaire alive by Forbes magazine, with an estimated fortune of 1.5 billion dollars. Though Facebook has some competitors such as MySpace and Bebo, it holds its own with its revenue of social networking for the mainstream. Everyone, including politicians, companies, and celebrities have jumped on the Facebook bandwagon. Facebook is credited to helping Barack Obama get elected this past November; It allowed him to connect with younger, previously disengaged voters. Zuckerberg claims that Facebook is a safe way for people to share their information and interact more online. He also states that the site gives people a chance to express their ideas, and initiate a change. A Fortune magazine employee says that he is still not sold on the whole success of Facebook. He doesn’t believe it is bringing in profitable revenue through its advertisements. Zuckerberg is committed to making sure Facebook remains just as relevant in the future.
I was first introduced to facebook by my cousin who is one year older than me. She was in her freshman year of college, attending NC State, and wanted to show me a picture of a guy she liked. When she opened the website and started browsing through all of her “friends” I was shocked to see how many she had. Later on during my sophomore year at college is when I realized that you could add just about anybody to your “friends” list. But to say the least, my first impression with facebook was a good one. To think that the creator behind the phenomenon was just a young freshman away at college is incredible. For something so simple to grow into what it has become is amazing. Just about everyone and their brother knows about facebook, and they get recognition all over the world; commercials debuting new technology even refers to the website. It seems to me that facebook has been around a lot longer than just 5 years, but in those 5 years it has evolved so much. I think it is a wonderful way to keep in touch with family and friends, and share pictures and messages. I think that the media and press that are dissing the website and its creator need to realize that it was us, the users who made it what it is today. Mark Zuckerberg is just one lucky guy who wanted to keep in touch with his friends. It’s because of us that it has turned into a gold mine.
"Facebook turns 5- but can it survive?"
Simon Hooper, CNN
2/4/2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/04/facebook.anniversary/index.html?eref=rss_tech
The extremely popular website, “Facebook.com” celebrates its 5th year of success. This billion dollar global phenomenon was created by a nineteen year old Harvard student named Mark Zuckerberg. When he launched the website from his dorm room in 2004, it was just simply for the purpose of keeping in touch with classmates; within 24 hours, over 1,000 of his classmates had signed up for the site. It quickly gained popularity, and half the campus had logged on to the site in a month worth of time. Now, five years later, the website has more than 150 million users worldwide. Zuckerberg was named youngest billionaire alive by Forbes magazine, with an estimated fortune of 1.5 billion dollars. Though Facebook has some competitors such as MySpace and Bebo, it holds its own with its revenue of social networking for the mainstream. Everyone, including politicians, companies, and celebrities have jumped on the Facebook bandwagon. Facebook is credited to helping Barack Obama get elected this past November; It allowed him to connect with younger, previously disengaged voters. Zuckerberg claims that Facebook is a safe way for people to share their information and interact more online. He also states that the site gives people a chance to express their ideas, and initiate a change. A Fortune magazine employee says that he is still not sold on the whole success of Facebook. He doesn’t believe it is bringing in profitable revenue through its advertisements. Zuckerberg is committed to making sure Facebook remains just as relevant in the future.
I was first introduced to facebook by my cousin who is one year older than me. She was in her freshman year of college, attending NC State, and wanted to show me a picture of a guy she liked. When she opened the website and started browsing through all of her “friends” I was shocked to see how many she had. Later on during my sophomore year at college is when I realized that you could add just about anybody to your “friends” list. But to say the least, my first impression with facebook was a good one. To think that the creator behind the phenomenon was just a young freshman away at college is incredible. For something so simple to grow into what it has become is amazing. Just about everyone and their brother knows about facebook, and they get recognition all over the world; commercials debuting new technology even refers to the website. It seems to me that facebook has been around a lot longer than just 5 years, but in those 5 years it has evolved so much. I think it is a wonderful way to keep in touch with family and friends, and share pictures and messages. I think that the media and press that are dissing the website and its creator need to realize that it was us, the users who made it what it is today. Mark Zuckerberg is just one lucky guy who wanted to keep in touch with his friends. It’s because of us that it has turned into a gold mine.
Reading Response 3 - "The Future of Libraries"
It frightens me to think that these predictions of our technological future are more than likely true. I would be perfectly fine with the technologies having stopped upgrading in 1995. Not only libraries, but personal communications are going to be non-existent. I am a strong fan of libraries, and without them, people will become just downright lazy. The article says that technologies have a limited lifespan, and that books and writing are a technology. I hope I never have to see the day where books actually disappear for good. I don’t understand how the keyboard is going to be done away with. What are we going to do, talk at the screen as it types? Some things should just be left manual. The idea of computers having personalities and traits is the most frightening thing of all to me. That will literally be the day when the world will soon end, and computers take over. I hope this never happens, but with the way the technology keeps evolving, it’s not impossible. It’s crazy to think that paintings and documents that were made in the 1500’s are still around today, due to good conservation and libraries. You can’t store original copies of items in a computer; the whole experience of searching for a hard copy of what you need will be overthrown by the click of a button. Libraries are the original storehouses of important documents, and with the web having all the counterfeit websites and unreliable information, it’s a shame this is what we have to look forward to.
It frightens me to think that these predictions of our technological future are more than likely true. I would be perfectly fine with the technologies having stopped upgrading in 1995. Not only libraries, but personal communications are going to be non-existent. I am a strong fan of libraries, and without them, people will become just downright lazy. The article says that technologies have a limited lifespan, and that books and writing are a technology. I hope I never have to see the day where books actually disappear for good. I don’t understand how the keyboard is going to be done away with. What are we going to do, talk at the screen as it types? Some things should just be left manual. The idea of computers having personalities and traits is the most frightening thing of all to me. That will literally be the day when the world will soon end, and computers take over. I hope this never happens, but with the way the technology keeps evolving, it’s not impossible. It’s crazy to think that paintings and documents that were made in the 1500’s are still around today, due to good conservation and libraries. You can’t store original copies of items in a computer; the whole experience of searching for a hard copy of what you need will be overthrown by the click of a button. Libraries are the original storehouses of important documents, and with the web having all the counterfeit websites and unreliable information, it’s a shame this is what we have to look forward to.
Second Life - Extra Credit
When I signed up for second life I was pretty excited about exploring this new program. I love the Sims games so I figured any computer game that is similar is worth giving a try. I logged in with my name, which I got to choose from a list of last names, but could create my own first name. I decided on Sol December, not sure how but I just thought that sounded different. So I picked my Avatar, the basic girl with the polka dot dress, figuring I could spruce her up later as I played. When the game started, Sol landed on the sidewalk of a little community with a few other people around. Immediately I tried to learn to walk around, and jump, and any other thing I could think of. I didn't really know where to start, and this box kept popping up telling me I had notes from people. I went to the community area where there were more people, much cooler looking people, so I began trying to fix up Sol's appearance. There were hardly any options, and I assumed it was because I just started, and hadn't done anything special yet. I went up to an Avatar with a huge Mohawk and asked them what I need to do to get more clothing, and they told me to go to this large board with a bunch of simulated posters all over it. I started to click on the posters and pick out items such as clothes and houses. I was very confused and getting discouraged. I tried to see where my inventory was, and desperately wanted to change the look of my person. I didn't know how to use all the icons on the menu, and on top of that, the program was being slow on my computer. I got frustrated with it all, and just closed and un installed second life from my computer. Maybe I’ll give it another try in the future, but for now I think I'm sticking to the Sims.
When I signed up for second life I was pretty excited about exploring this new program. I love the Sims games so I figured any computer game that is similar is worth giving a try. I logged in with my name, which I got to choose from a list of last names, but could create my own first name. I decided on Sol December, not sure how but I just thought that sounded different. So I picked my Avatar, the basic girl with the polka dot dress, figuring I could spruce her up later as I played. When the game started, Sol landed on the sidewalk of a little community with a few other people around. Immediately I tried to learn to walk around, and jump, and any other thing I could think of. I didn't really know where to start, and this box kept popping up telling me I had notes from people. I went to the community area where there were more people, much cooler looking people, so I began trying to fix up Sol's appearance. There were hardly any options, and I assumed it was because I just started, and hadn't done anything special yet. I went up to an Avatar with a huge Mohawk and asked them what I need to do to get more clothing, and they told me to go to this large board with a bunch of simulated posters all over it. I started to click on the posters and pick out items such as clothes and houses. I was very confused and getting discouraged. I tried to see where my inventory was, and desperately wanted to change the look of my person. I didn't know how to use all the icons on the menu, and on top of that, the program was being slow on my computer. I got frustrated with it all, and just closed and un installed second life from my computer. Maybe I’ll give it another try in the future, but for now I think I'm sticking to the Sims.
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