kenji

last one - TEN

2006-05-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

I had no idea at all how important the Internet is to society. I knew it was convenient and whenever I use it I always benefit from it, but it just never clicked that it was such a tool and resource for everyone, every business, government, etc. Stupid me, how frickin' obvious.

I thought I was more intuitive than that, so I guess it would be safe to call me naively ignorant or ignorantly naive. Does that make sense? Even a little? Anyway, yeah, never realized there was an open source software movement. I hardly knew what a podcast or blog was. BUT! I did know that the Internet was called an information super highway. Haha. At least I got something. Oh, and I knew about the Chinese intranet and that Jesse Ventura used the net to win his campaign. So I guess I wasn't totally oblivious to what was going on, just partially. You could call me semi-clueless. But now, with everything I have learned I feel like I'm ready to take on the world. Time to become a capitalist and take your money!

Selfish, I know, but I wished I had learned more about FREE software and where to find it. Like anti-virus software or any kind of up-to-date system to make my computer invincible. Or more about new technology such as the VoIP technology. It was interesting to me how the revolutionary telephone system is heading for a make over. I wanted to know more about these things so I could be at the head of the pack, change from being a "mid" to late majority adopter to an early adopter.

I wasn't particularly uninterested in any of the topics but some aspects of each topic turned me off. My attention span couldn't keep up the technical jargon of the readings. And the readings all had a dry and/or boring part at some point or another. Other than that, each topic was of some interest to me.

nine

2006-05-22T14:36:00.000-07:00

Interesting stuff. I once talked to a friend overseas using the computer but it was so long ago I don't know if it was the VoIP technology. Yeah, it might not have been but if it was, it must have been the first version ever because I didn't hear a response for like two minutes. By the time I got a response, I was already talking over him saying "hello, hello, you there?" It was pretty lame, it took like ten minutes just to hear how he was doing.

Given that it was more than six years ago, I'm sure by now the technology is more advanced. But based on the cons, I still would take the safe route and stick with the conventional phone. I don't mind paying a little more for something that I can rely on. Not to mention, I think I only pay like $15 a month for my land line. It's worth it. But if the price was anything near Comcast prices, I might have to reconsider. I guess you could call me a "mid" to late majority adopter.

How do you expect VoIP to impact cable and telephone networks (both are regulated infrastructure industries) . Good question. That I do not know. Hopefully cellphone companies will adopt the same system so all the phone lines can be used in instances like 9/11 or 12:00am on New Years. They probably will have a bidding war to try to attain the rights of the technology. I do know that those guys will find a way to make money off it. And not just little money, "cable" money. That is especially if Comcast has anything to say about it. Mo fo's.

DQ's:
1. How has this service remained free of charge since its debut? I am in disbelief.

2. Is it compatible with cellular telephones? And has there been talk about incorporating the system if it isn't being already used?

3. IF computers with Wifi could use VoIP with no reception problems, could this be possible for cell phones as well?

eight

2006-05-15T16:28:00.000-07:00

I often take for granted the many extra paraphernalia I own, which in many countries would be considered a "luxury". I realize this all the time but soon forget and return to my normal state of thinking that I'm poor compared to the super rich. The fact is that I am blessed to come from a extra middle-class family in America. I need to cherish the fact that I have many many things that people do not have in other countries. I cannot even imagine what it would be like to live without a computer or even better, a laptop, a telephone or cellphone, the Internet or wifi. We have been spoiled. I think that should be the new reality show. Not like Survivor, but one where an American who is used to having all the luxuries, is thrown out into a big foreign city and not allowed access to any type of communication medium. Everyone around them would be able to use modern technology but not the contestant, frustrating him/her even more. The only exception: face to face communication. And the reward would not be money. But without money there would be no contestants. Isn't that sad how the only thing that gets poeple moving is money?

What is the relationship between cyberspace as a public space and accessibility standards?
Cyberspace, is supposed to be a public space, where everyone is welcome for free. But to get there, there is an access fee. For a company, like those greedy COMCAST bastards, to take over the only entrance into a public place is just total BS. I understand that they think that they make the Internet "happen" for all of us but in reality this is not true. What do they do besides string the cable to your house and take your money? Not a whole lot. And after pocketing huge profits, they dont even have the decency to wire the rural areas of the nation and/or world. I would elaborate and explain further but I am cutting it close, so I have to leave it at this.

DQ's:
1. What ever happened to the talk about Seattle having free city-wide Wifi access?

2. Are schools and libraries in these rural areas Internet-less as well? I feel that at the very least they should be able to connect to the web.

3. If peple in these areas are computer/cellphone-less, how would they benefit from the Wifi radio signals?

cantwell v. mcgavick

2006-05-11T12:00:00.000-07:00

After reading the article, my first imperssions were contrary to what I thought they would be. I have always leaned toward the Democrat side but regarding this battle, I may be inclined to side with McGavick. The article mentioned that Cantwell had "alienated some in her party for supporting the Iraq war, and she was one of only 19 Democrats who opposed an attempt to block Judge Samuel Alito's nomination to the Supreme Court in January." Just hearing this made me not agree with her motives and beliefs. Although I do not know the whole story behind all of thins, I disliked the fact that she would "befriend" (too harsh of a word?) her own people and that she was the only one who was "anti-Alito". It seems to me as if she is a loose cannon who does not have the same views as other Democrats. To add on to this "even her allies urged her to concentrate on fewer issues" and she "has refused to characterize her 2002 vote to authorize the Iraq invasion as a mistake". I am the only one that sees something wrong here? She is obviously not a team player and won't admit to her own mistakes. I like an honest and cooperative person. As far as pros, the only thing I noticed was that she likes the Mariners, who suck!

On the other hand, although Republican, McGavick seems to live by the same rules as I do. He seems like more of a people person and even admitted Republicans "were partly to blame for high gas prices". The fact that he drives a Mini Cooper gives me the impression he is NOT a rich, vain shmuck and tends to deal with issues in a laid-back way. He seems to be the "not so Republican" Republican. He states, "I'm not asking the voters of this state to trust the Republicans. I'm asking them to trust Mike." I don't trust Republicans but I might give Mike the benefit of the doubt.

While Maria Cantwell's page is clean, simple, and easy on the eyes, I was not able to locate any opportunities for interaction with the voters. There were of course places to "contact", "donate", and "comment". McGavick's website was too concentrated and overwhelming on the eyes at first but I found "Meet Mike" and an "event calendar".

I was not able to view Cantwell's views on anything but the stances McGavick took seemed to be typical Republican beliefs.

I don't know who to trust. Take the safe route and vote for Cantwell or take a gamble and vote for a "not so Republican but Republican" Republican who lives by decent rules. I don't know!

seven

2006-05-08T16:11:00.000-07:00

Research methodology...I remember some of that stuff. Not all that fun to me. But it's amazing to me, the amount of information that leaves one's brain after the quarter ends. Anyway:

Wasn't it Jesse "The Body" Ventura who created that interactive website which helped him become Governor of Minnesota? Hey, that's weird. The state of Minnesota was included in both articles and now here I am bringing up "The Body". Back to him, I am pretty sure he was the one who responded to his supporters via his website and had a photos and a journal or something on his site which attracted many. From what I remember that was the main reason he drew so much positive attention.

I think Internet technology impacts politics in a subtle and simple but dramatic way. Politics, just like everything else in this world, is a business. Political parties are companies, politicians and their views are products, and campaigns are marketing strategies. With the Internet, what was once hard to get information about a new product out into the market for cheap is now much easier. By doing the simplest of things, Trippi made himself look like a genius. Websites, interactive ones especially, seem to be perfect ways to inform those who seek more information. By upadating and responding frequently, it lets the "customers" know you care, and that they are important to you. So simple yet so powerful.

DQ's:
1. With the media becoming more vulgar over time (i.e. the use of words such as "ass", "bitch", etc on TV, radio), and political campaign ads on politician's websites more controversial and hostile than on TV, how do you see these campaign ads evolving over time?

2. Given that the print, radio, and movie industry, which was thought to be on the brink of "extinction" with the debut of television, adapted, evolved, and fought to survive, won't newspapers somehow do the same with their coverage of local and national political information to combat the Internet?

3. Was what Trippi did to win the straw poll for Walter Mondale at the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner in 1983 legal? If no, how did he get away with it?

RSS...

2006-05-04T13:22:00.000-07:00

The Seattle Times offers 47 (I may have counted wrong…) RSS feeds pertaining to these topics:

seattletimes.com, Business & Technology, Columnists, Entertainment & the Arts, Health, Living, Local News, Nation & World, Opinion, Politics, Real Estate, Sports,Travel & Outdoors, and Additional feeds

The Miami Herald offers many more RSS feeds than the Seattle Times, which are included under these topics:

NEWS, News Columnists, Editorial Columnists, Editorial Contributors, Features, Columnists, MIAMI-DADE NEIGHBORHOODS, BROWARD NEIGHBORHOODS
BUSINESS, Business Columnists, Technology Columnists, SPORTS, High Schools, Youth Sports, Sports Columnists, ENTERTAINMENT, Arts Columnists, LIFE & STYLE, and CLASSIFIEDS

I was not able to locate any blogs sponsored by The Seattle Times, however, The Miami Herald had two links; to Dave Barry's Blog and Liz Donovan Inomaniac

I cannot generate any concrete theories of why the Herald adopted this technology faster than the Times. However, there are many geographical differences between the two cities which may be contributing factors. Miami is in the Southeast, and there probably is much more pressure from the many other East Coast cities to offer the latest technology. Miami is a very large city with many upper class and lower class citizens. The gap between these two classes seems huge which might be reason for more RSS feeds. This is my sorry explanation: lower class citizens tend to not subscribe to hard copy paper which makes delivering an enormous activity due to the vastness of the city. The many upper class citizens are up to date with the latest electronics and demand more of the services that cater towards these technological advancements.

While RSS feeds help those who know exactly what they want bypass all other information, at the same time it might miss articles and posts that the reader would have been interested in. Because a story might not have any relevance to a topic a person has subscribed to, it would be overlooked and never seen or heard about. Thus, many stories, articles, or posts which do not have a concrete topic, or only labeled "miscellaneous", are probably not seen as they once might have been. Sometimes

It is free to view the material on both of these sites.

Will edit and finish soon...

six

2006-05-01T16:51:00.000-07:00

What are the implications of blogging technology on established media? I see blogging technology creating competition for established media. Although established media is by far the victor in this battle, it seems that blogging has the potential to take away some audience from big media. On top of that, bloggers seem to give real viewpoints, those of the everyday man and woman. I would think that this may (or has already) cause the media to direct some sort of animosity towards bloggers, simply because of what they write. Besides stealing one’s "thunder", bloggers also tend to speak the truth or at least they seem real, almost like listening to a human being as opposed to a machine. Their perspectives are ones that everyone can relate to and often are not covered up and summarized in short by the media. By writing in blogs, people are also able to express whatever and however they want. The media can not use foul language, which may help express issues, they have to be politically correct, and are often swayed by the views of the owners, the government, and those who have money. Since blogs do not have to abide by any of those so-called rules, this makes the media seem fake. Of course bloggers are biased about most subjects, but the reader has the option to search freely for another blog which he can agree with. Am I making sense? Sometimes I don’t know if I even know what I am talking about…

DQ’s:
1. What are a few ways advertising can be incorporated into podcasts?
2. Will podcasts still exist and be popular enough to produce if webcasts can be viewed on a cellphone's LCD?
3. In the future, if every radio set came with a screen and radio stations began filming radio programs (like ESPN's Mike and Mike radio show), would that be the equivalent to the end of radio? Explain please.

five

2006-04-24T16:46:00.000-07:00

Wow. I didn't realize people with a non-capitalist mentality still existed in this day and age. Not only am I stunned, I am ecstatic. I was ready to throw in the ol' towel and hang up the gloves. Not anymore, at least not just yet.

Why should communication scholars study the open source software movement? Hmmm. What if I went with the easy, unconventional yet conventional answer of, "uh, I dunno..."? Sorry, just one of those days where I would rather be out in the sun (because you know it ain't gonna last) than doing this. But if I had to respond, I would say something along the lines of: to observe how people without much power learn to connect and exchange information with one another to form a sense of belonging to a group while attempting to rebel against those with money, power, and the much too conventional captalist mentality. It could also lead to many revolutionary things, such as a new standard for software distribution and/or programming technology. Or maybe a simple "I dunno" would have done the job.

I found James Moore's "The Second Superpower Rears its Beautiful Head" interesting. I thought his example of the eagle and ants was amusing yet degrading. I hate to think of myself as an ant but I do feel like I am just one of a million trapped in the box trying to keep the world afloat. Like a drone. I can't wait to live unconventionally.

As I was reading the section about "your mind and my mind" and how "in traditional democracy our minds don't matter much", I wondered what he considered voting to be. But as I thought about it more he may be right, because in the election vs. Gore, our vote didn't matter to Jorge W. Bush & Co., he had planned to win regardless. "What matters are the minds of those with power of position, and the minds of those that staff and lobby them" (p. 4).

However, I have to disagree with Moore's statement about reality TV, because it is an act and it is a story played by actors and written by someone else. The people in these shows may not be real "actors" but people "act" differently when observed and the producers show only the footage they want to reveal, creating their story. Reality TV is a bunch of BS.

Last, I want to share something I heard. Not sure if it is true or not but I was told that the original name for the War in Iraq was supposed to be Operation Iraqi Liberation. Once they realized the acronym that would be used (OIL), it was changed to Operation Iraqi Freedom.

DQ's:

1. Is it realistic that the open source software movement could succeed? I just don't see the already rich not wanting to get richer. Explain please.

2. If the open source software movement does succeed and software companies only charge for service, wouldn't it be easy to assume that these companies would purposely create viruses and such to sabotage programs in order to generate revenue through service?

3. If a second super power emerges, is it realistic that the US would willingly share the throne? I would think some sort of violence would erupt.

Architecture and Analog Reflection

2006-04-17T17:01:00.000-07:00

.......

Interesting stuff. Even though the two different printers I used cut off the right third of all 700 pages of Zuckerman and McLaughlin's explanation of the Internet, I think I got most of it. Hopefully. I'll cut and paste into Word from now on.

Even after reading these two pieces, my view of the "man-machine relationship" remains unchanged. I have never really thought about it to this extent, but the author of the "Invisible World," seems to clarify what I had thought of this relationship. I wouldn't have used the term "analog" or "digital" but I think that humans and computers, although not quite complete opposites, are unique in their own way. I also think that the complexity of this issue is greater than the author realizes.

It was interesting to read about how imperfect and flawed we as humans are. I knew we had our shortcomings, but I have never took the time to examine them. The author took care of that for me. After reading the article, I pay more attention to it. I see now more and more of the deception, cultural clashes, disorganization, illogic, and the blame and train he speaks of. He makes us seem pathetic and selfish. In a way we are, the way we've handled things, treated others, and the environment. But then again, you could always look at it from the "Human-Centered View". Because afterall, we are only human.

Dqs:
1. How could we "redesign the system to fit the people who must use it?"
2. Is there really even a problem with the man-machine relationship?
3. Since we created digital technology, how are we "losing" to it?

Post Script:
My frustration with technology today was that while I was typing this blog post, my computer froze and before I was able to post the damn thing, 5:00 pm struck. This will most likely be "blamed on the user" (ME) so now I will go vent and "turn away from technology". I'll go hit some golf balls or something...

reflection on information overload

2006-04-10T16:22:00.000-07:00

While reading these articles, my eyes suddenly bulged to the size of baseballs and my heart began racing. At first I didn’t know why, but as I kept reading I realized it was because it seemed as if Mark Nelson and Christopher Carlson had been writing about me. I had thought I was all alone on this issue, but it turns out I am one of not just a few, but many. What a relief!

Although I would like to think the skills I possess which contribute to "information literacy", are better-than-average, I often find myself "feel[ing] overwhelmed by the amount of information to be understood, not know[ing] if certain information exists, [and] not know[ing] where to find information." I try to tell myself my "decision making, critical thinking, interpretation," etc., are up to par, but sometimes I really do feel like I am the only one who has ever encountered information anxiety.

DQ’s:
1. How can we be sure that Christopher Carlson and Mark Nelson’s statistics are reliable and valid data?

2. In the future, even if search engines are modified to the point where they can effectively separate B.S. from accurate data, is it realistic that they be able to keep up with the ever-accumulating false and inaccurate information?

3. Put aside the fact that the amount of servers will always increase, is it possible that a substantial information overload could "crash" or "freeze" the internet?

2006-04-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

Not having the biggest attention span, it was quite an adventure for me to not only navigate my way through the COM 300 internet labyrinth but also to begin reading the work of a scholar from 1945. Sensing that this would take longer than I would like, I printed out the text to save my eyes. I kept putting the reading off, finding the most ridiculous things to do other than read, until I finally forced myself upon it.

It started off slow, real slow. I must have dozed off within the first seconds. I pulled myself together and once I got through the first section or so it actually got interesting. Half the time I had no idea what the hell this guy was talking about but I somehow made sense of it. It was that old timer lingo which my grandpa still talks with. The kind where something about it is odd and the phraseology is so old-fashioned that it's difficult to comprehend.

I was amazed at the amount of detail that Bush had put into his thoughts. He seemed to cover almost every aspect of his ideas. I thought it was incredible that someone from such a different generation could anticipate future technology. I do not exactly recall which inventions were created at what point in history but to be able to read about someone foreseeing (to an extent) the technology which we use everyday is extraordinary. Although he wasn't 100%, I was also thoroughly impressed with his accuracy. Almost everything he mentioned has been made and has been used. Being from 60 years ago, it must have been even harder than a person from our time to predict what will be invented.

"Memex" reminds me of the old machine in libraries which people used to view old newspapers. The one which had a screen and each paper was photocopied onto a transparency. People used to be able to control the page turning and were also able to zoom in or out. It was almost like a picture slide (I can't remember the name of the damn thing). I wonder if those still exist. Today's computers and internet are obviously much more complex and can do a number of greater things. We rely on them so much that I can't imagine what life would be like without them.

I am not the best person to ask about the Internet in 2045. I can hardly imagine it in 10 years. However, I think many incredible technological advancements will be made. For example, since much of our life already is consumed by the web, it would probably be safe to assume that this would become even more of a problem. I use the word problem because we seem to be addicted and sometimes cannot pry ourselves away to do physical activities. I foresee everything becoming on demand in 2045. Cable television and the telephone will be run on the internet, and you can basically get whatever can be realistically sent over the net instantly. It will be our everything. Our source of information, communication, entertainment, and even socializing. I guess some of this we can do now. Forgive me, this may be a weak prediction because in a way it has already started to happen. I think I can safely say that the Internet in 2045 will make us extremely lazy!

DQ's:
-I don't remember, please remind me what life was like back before the cellphone, laptop, and cable internet.

-What is the next "big thing"?

-What do you think the biggest change due to communication technology in everyday life will be in the next few years?

com 300

2006-03-28T12:55:00.000-08:00