Christy's Blog
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The Next New Thing
A software
that allows you to add
money to your
metro card from online, can
be an example
of a new
media. Instead of waiting on
lines to purchase
a new metro
card, you would
be able to
easily add money
to your card
from online. All you
would need to do is install
the software, setup
an online account, and
purchase a metro
card that you
can customize. The metro
card will include
your own personal
Identification code, that you
alone will have
access to. If
you lose your
metro card, or
it gets stolen,
you can log
onto your account
and deactivate it, or
track it down
with the online
tracking software.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Peer- to- Peer File Sharing
What is
File sharing ?
File
sharing is defined
as the practice of
distributing or providing
access to digitally stored
information, which may
include, multimedia ( audio,
images and videos),
documents, or electronic
books. Some common methods
of storage, transmission
and dispersion of
information, includes centralized
servers on computer
networks, manual sharing
utilizing removable media,
World Wide Web- based
hyperlinked documents, and
the use of peer – to – peer networking. File sharing
allows multiple users
to use the
same files, giving
them the ability
to read, modify, copy,
and print it.
What is P2P
file sharing?
P2P or peer- to – peer file sharing is
defined as the
downloading of a
computer file to
a user’s computer,
using software. This software
technology makes it
possible for users
to share communications, processing
power, and data files with
other users, or ‘’
peers ‘’. Peer-to-peer file sharing
has become very
popular, due to its
easy to use
convenient setup. The easy
to use setup
makes it possible
for file sharers
to make file
available to each
other around the
World.
The only
requirements for a
computer to join
a peer-to-peer network
are an internet
connection and P2P
software. P2P software
programs include kazaa, FrostWire, BearShare,
Morpheus, and Acquisition.
These programs connect
to a P2P
network, such as ‘’
Gnutella ‘’, which gives
the computer access
to other systems
on the network. When
the P2P software is
installed, a user
has the ability
to share files
located on the user’s computer. These files
on the user’s
computer includes, music files,
video files, software
applications, e-books, and
text files. Other users
on the network
can search for
files on your
computer, but usually
within a single
folder that you
have designated to
share. When launched on
the user’s computer,
the software will
automatically connect to
a peer-to-peer network,
making any shared files
available for transfer to
any other user
currently connected to
the same peer-to-peer
network.
Although peer- to- peer networking
makes file sharing
easy and convenient,
it also has
caused a lot
of software piracy, illegal music
downloads, along with
other problems. According to
an article from
The New York
Times, ‘’ The
Perpetual War: Pirates and
Creators ‘’, piracy effects
the economy as
a whole and
is very hard
to measure. Studies used
by supporters of
the defeated piracy
legislation, determined that
entertainment industries lose
money every year,
because of easy
access to, and
downloading of copyrighted
materials.
The biggest
problem of P2P
file sharing is
the ability to
commit copyright infringement. Copyright infringement
can occur when
movies, songs, games
and copyrighted materials
are exchanged. For example,
many users of
FrostWire, are able search
for songs, and
videos, download it
onto their computer,
and then transfer the
downloading materials onto
their iPods, or
other electronic device. This
process takes minutes,
and is a
cheap way of
getting your favorite
song on your
iPod, instead of
buying it from
ITunes.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Privacy and Confidentially
PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALLY
Privacy and confidentially is
a major problem
facing new media
of today. With the continuous growth
of internet users
from all over
the World, social networking
sites have to
find new ways
of protecting their
users. Popular social
networking sites such
as , Facebook, Twitter,
Myspace, and Youtube, have
to protect their users against, hackers, Identity thief, stalkers,
and other negative
attacks. Users of
these sites also
have to make
sure that, they don’t
disclose
to much personal
information about themselves. Some users
are unaware of
the harm there
placing themselves in
when they disclose too
much personal information about themselves. I’ve noticed
many times , that
people will put
their telephone numbers ,
address to where
they live, and post inappropriate pictures of
themselves on social
networking sites. I
strongly believe that
these people are
making the wrong decision
, and
their behaviors are
putting them in harm’s way.
There’s been numerous
times where I’ve
heard of news
stories where people
have been harmed
on social networking
sites. These people
usually fall victim
to predators who
pretend to be someone there
not. When your communicating
with someone over
the internet, you always
have to make
sure not to
give out too
much information about
yourself. Some people even
set up fake
websites, where they
claim they can
help you, but
in reality there
only motive is
fraud. Identity thief is also
a growing problem,
because of advancement in
software technologies that
can be used
to steal your
identity.
Creativity and New Media
Creativity and New Media
I was recently browsing the Internet and I came across a site called Meez.com. Meez is an community that combines a social virtual world with social networking, gaming, multimedia sharing, along with other features. In this virtual interactive environment, users can express their personal taste by creating unique avatars, share fashion, music, videos, and information with each other.
I was recently browsing the Internet and I came across a site called Meez.com. Meez is an community that combines a social virtual world with social networking, gaming, multimedia sharing, along with other features. In this virtual interactive environment, users can express their personal taste by creating unique avatars, share fashion, music, videos, and information with each other.
While I
was on the
site I decided
to create an avatar.
I was
asked to create
a user account
before I could
use the site
features. I was very
impressed by how
many different options
I was given
in the customization
of my avatar. I
could customize the hair
color, eye color, skin
color, basically the entire
features of the avatar. I
was also allowed
to pick out
outfits , and change
the background, and
body movements of
my avatar. This site
reminded me a lot of
second Life, but
it is aimed
towards younger users. Overall, I was
real impressed by how creative
social networking sites
have become.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Creativity
Creativity
plays an important
role in new media,
since users are
constantly looking for
something new and
exciting. People tend to get bored
easily, and when they
do , they look for something new
to occupy their
time. Social networking sites,
is a great
example of how
New Media fosters
creativity. I remembered
when Myspace used
to be a
very popular social
networking site, all
of my friends
had an account. After a
while Myspace lost its popularity,
and Facebook came
to replace. Facebook was
able to attract
millions of users,
due to its creative features,
and constant innovations. Facebook knew
that in order to
keep the millions
of users happy
it would have
to provide them
with the best creative
services possible.
Some sites
are using Facebook
success as a
way to become
more creative. According
to an article
from The New York Times, ‘’ Twitter Serves
Up Ideas From
Its Followers ‘’, Twitter
watches how people
use their services
and which ideas
catch on. Then its
engineers turn the
ideas into new
features on the
social networking sites.
Companies also monitor
Twitter to find
out what customers
like or dislike
about their products
and services, and they
use this information
to improve it.
In order to
gain an advantage you
will have to be
creative. More and
more companies are finding new
ways to stand
out from the rest and attract
potential users. Facebook has
defiantly made a
name for itself,
and proved to
the World, that
a small site
can expand into something
bigger, with the
help of a
creative mind.
Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds
A virtual
World is defined
as an interactive
Computer- based simulated environment,
which is accessed
by multiple users.
Virtual Worlds are
also referred to
as ‘’ digital
worlds ‘’, ‘’simulated worlds ‘’,
and ‘’ MMOG’s
‘’, which stands
for ‘’ Massively
Multiplayer Online Role Playing
Game’’. Although there are many
different types of
Virtual Worlds, they all share
similar features. In all Virtual words , multiple users
can participate at once,
interaction takes place
in real time, users
can customize content, In world
social groups are
usually formed, and
Virtual worlds depicts
space visually, usually
in 3D environments.
Virtual
Worlds can be
used for many different purposes. Some of
these uses include,
commercial gaming, educational
purposes, socializing / Online
community building, political
expression, and military
training. Commercial gaming worlds
focus on a
singular fictional theme
and consistently follow
formal conventions such
as character- focused
avatars, progression through
an interactive narrative
storyline, and a
series of competitive
events. Examples of commercial
gaming worlds are,
MPOGD.com, Gamespot, and Gamespy. Virtual worlds
created for educational
purposes, are sponsored
by academic institutions
or nonprofit organizations, and
also corporations. Educational
worlds include, 3D
recreations of museums,
computer programming tutorials,
virtual libraries, and
meeting spaces for
online University courses. Examples of
virtual education worlds
are, Active Worlds
Educational Universe, Adobe
Atmosphere, and Mokitown.
Virtual worlds for
political expression have
been built for
the purpose of
political debate or
even experiments in
various types of
self- governing online communities. An example
of virtual world
with a political
focus is Agoraxchange. Virtual worlds
for military training
is being used
by America’s Army
as a tool
to recruit potential
soldiers, while companies
like Forterra systems
are working with
military groups to
develop training simulations.
Virtual sites
for socializing is
defiantly one of the
most popular Virtual
Worlds. One example of
a virtual socializing
site, is MTV
2006 creation of
Virtual Laguna Beach,
a 3- D world
meant to simulate
the southern Californian
beach community. According
to an article
from the New
York Times, ‘’ I’ve
been in that
Club, Just Not In Real
Life ‘’, for more
than two years
the channel has
been building a
collection of Second
Life – style virtual reality
web sites to
compete with social
networks like Myspace
and Facebook.
Virtual worlds
have both positive and negative attributes. One
of the positive
attributes is , getting to
opportunity to live your
life how you
want to in
a Virtual reality world. In
the virtual world,
you can be
anyone you want,
and create your
own lifestyle. According to
an article from
the New York
Times, ‘’ No Budget,
No Boundaries : It’s
the Real You ‘’, in
a simulated universe
like There.com, IMVU.com, or
Second Life. Com, users can
teleport to private
islands and splurge
on luxury brands. In
most virtual worlds,
membership are free,
players can trade
real money for
virtual currencies, to
buy products, save up
in accounts , or
redeem for money.
One negative
attribute of virtual
worlds is that
users may become
addicted. Some users spend
hours in front of the
internet every day ,
and don’t realize
that this can
become a problem. Some
users may lose
money on Virtual
sites that encourages
them to spend
money for additional
products.
Virtual worlds
bring out the
creative side of
people. Through virtual worlds,
people are able
to express their ideas,
try out new
things, uses avatars
to live out
fantasy lives, and it
also allows them
to interact with
people from all
over the World. I
believe that Virtual
worlds will become
popular as the
years progress. More and
More people are
signing up to
new sites, and
wanting to be a
part of
something new and
exciting.
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