Our Class Wiki - So Far

So far I have contributed some information to the class wiki.  It has not been substantial enough to be graded but I plan on adding a lot more.  So far I have been working on the Cyber bullying topic because it is something I have been interested in for a long time, also it has been highlighted recently in the media.  Based off of my term paper, I have gotten some extra information to add to the wiki.  I also intend on choosing another topic to elaborate on, but what topic I will choose is a mystery. 

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is a self explanatory term; Sharing files.  File sharing is defined as the electronic sharing of digitally stored information, which are usually, documents, pictures, videos, and music. P2P file sharing is a system of file sharing by various amounts of people. Some of the big P2P file sharing systems which have been exposed via the media are Limewire and Napster but there are others that exist and others that have been shut down by the government.
The act of downloading files, particularly music, is very controversial because of the argument of it being ethically wrong and considered stealing.  This brings me to the article released last year about the Minnesota mother who was fined $1.5 million for downloading 24 songs off of this P2P file sharing website called Kazaa.
I personally do not see anything wrong with using file sharing websites or systems.  If you cannot afford buying an actual album of an artist you are a fan of, why not download it?

Privacy & Confidentiality

New Media devices have created new ways for our privacy and confidentiality to be compromised. The more new media devices created, the skill people have to hack these new media devices increases. High skilled hackers have the capability to enter into your actual computers and see your online activity. 

While doing research for my term paper, I read an article that mentioned that at least 200,000 Facebook accounts are compromised everyday. New media devices such as social networking sites, puts privacy into question because people tend to share so much information about themselves to the point where you wonder if such a thing as privacy should exist on these devices. A quote I took from the New Media wiki is:

"People who live in glass houses should dress in the basement." -Jeff Neuburger

This is why information that people tend to share on social networking sites can get them into trouble in there real lives.  I heard of an employee at my friend's job that was fired for making derogatory comments about her manager on Facebook.  This really makes you wonder about where the line is drawn when it comes to the privacy of your social networking page.  I feel as though if you share information for everyone to see, it is no longer private and you can not argue for privacy.  

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Advice to Baruch

The use of new media is becoming increasingly important in people's lives. Most college and university students use some form of new media device in their daily activities.  Thus far Baruch has done a good job in using new media devices.  Baruch has both Twitter and Facebook pages.  Baruch also has an Apple app geared around student life.  If I were hired by Baruch, I would have someone create a website where all the professors have an account so that students can instant message their professors and classmates.  This way if there is an urgent class related issue, the professor can respond right away.
Another new media system I would have created if I worked for Baruch is something similar to Facebook, where the professors have a profile and students can look at these profiles, particularly during registration time.  These profiles will include information about the professor such as their teaching style, how they grade their classes, their plans for the class, etc.  Inclusive to reading reviews on RateMyProfessor.com, these profiles will help students choose a class with a professor that will suit them.
As a student these are 2 systems I would be interested in.

Creativity and New Media

In my personal time I enjoy dancing. It is a talent I was raised into. I love to watch my younger cousins  dance and correct them where I see it is needed. This is a video I recorded and edited myself in highschool of my cousin that has no rhythm.  Excuse the shaking at the end, I literally could not stop laughing.

Creativity

New media devices such as YouTube create avenues for creativity in allowing users to create a wide range of videos expressing ideas, giving out knowledge, providing comedy and many other things. Mashups such as turning Disney's Winnie the Pooh into a Soulja Boy rap video (Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why? article).  Mashups are so common in comedic videos.  I have watched videos of Dora the Explorer in so many accents other than her own. 
YouTube users are allowed to show their creativity in creating lavish videos for the world to see. I frequently watch the video blogger Ray William Johnson on YouTube to get up to date with funny videos circulating the Internet.  Within the first hour of him posting a video, he has about 100,000 views. By the end of the day he has successfully achieved 5 to 6 million views.  People comment and post video questions frantically to get their responses featured in his videos.

The use of videos to me expresses the largest amount of creativity.



Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds create oppurtunities to simulate a lifestyle for themselves they would not otherwise have. If I decided I wanted to be a pirate with a beard, I can make this my alternate reality on websites such as SIMS and SecondLife.  For people like David Savill who uses the website Naughty Auties for people with different forms of autism where they can have social interactions with other people with similar conditions and find out information about their condition. 
One of the problems I have seen in the news involving virtual worlds is that some men and women can get extremely addicted to living in a virtual world. Last month on Dateline, the addiction to virtual worlds was covered. Men and women who spent 18 or more hours at their computers just to maintain living their virtual reality. Even during the recession (No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the Real You article)people are spending lots of money they dont have in order to maintain their avatars.
In the future I think virtual worlds would be similar to the movie Surrogates, where people were able to stay in machines at home and live through their "surrogate" body. I think that would be cool.