News Report #5

"Twitter Race Between Ashton Kutcher and CNN Narrows"
By John D. Sutter
Thursday, April 16, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/16/ashton.cnn.twitter.battle/index.html

This article posted on cnn.com this morning by John Sutter, updates us on the supposed race between Ashton Kutcher and the CNN network to be the first to reach one million followers on Twitter. Twitter is the newest social network online and it is a little different from Facebook, MySpace, and the other networks that have taken over the web recently. Twitter allows people to constantly update their status and let anyone who wants to know exactly what they are doing and where they are doing it at any time of day. Your “followers” can read your status and comment on it and begin a conversation with you. Apparently people love knowing what Ashton Kutcher is up to in his daily life because he has over 900,000 followers on the site, more than any other individual on Twitter. The social network recently opened up to news broadcasts, such as CNN, to release up to the minute news to their followers.
I can’t believe Twitter is as popular as it is, and the fact that almost a million people want updates on Ashton Kutcher’s whereabouts absolutely amazes me. I have never considered making an account on Twitter, and to be honest I’m kind of done with the whole social network sites phase of my life. I haven’t logged on to my Facebook account in months, and I’m sure there are a few of my friends that are little irritated that haven’t responded to their wall post or wished them a happy birthday with a message. I just woke up one day and realized how much time I was wasting looking at pictures and reading statuses on Facebook everyday so I stopped doing it. And to be honest I haven’t missed it too much. I hope people who Twitter can have this same realization sometime soon and understand how ridiculous it is to know what their favorite celebrity is doing at every moment of every day.

"Ten Things (OK, 9) I Love About Telecommuting"
By Chris Pirillo
April 2, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/02/pirillo.telecommuting/index.html?eref=rss_tech


This CNN article, written by blogger Chris Pirillo, is about the option of working from home (aka telecommuting) instead of going into work everyday. Pirillo argues that a lot of money can be saved by working from home. Many large companies offer this option to their employees for a lot of different reasons. He is trying to get to the other companies who do not offer this option to their employees and entice them to change their minds. He lists nine good reasons why telecommuting is a good idea, including saving money on gas, free internet connection provided by your employer, and some online programs that make it easy to connect remotely with other employees.

I have a job at Booz Allen Hamilton, a large firm outside of Washington DC and I will be starting in June. They believe strongly in “work-life balance” and a large part of that is being able to work from home from time to time. I think Pirillo makes a good point in his article about responsibility. Adults who have stable jobs at large companies like this have a lot of self responsibility and should be trusted to get their job done on their own. I know that a lot of people at the company I will be working at usually take one day a week to telecommute from their home, and everything runs very smoothly anyway. I think if anything, telecommuting helps things to run smoothly because there is trust that everyone will pull their own weight and get the job done.

Reading Report #5

This article deals primarily with the issue of information literacy among college students across America. It basically is telling us that even though many college students use the World Wide Web for a wide variety of things, there is one area that many students are a little incompetent. Most students do not know how to fully use the tools in their libraries to find reliable sources of information (i.e. scholarly journals), and this is an issue that simply has to change. Many professors and librarians at Cal State Fullerton University are pushing to make information literacy instruction a course in all colleges and universities across the country.

I completely agree with what this article is saying and what it is striving for. Information literacy is a serious problem on campuses everywhere and it really does need to be fixed. I know that throughout my college life I rarely have used the databases offered in Randall Library unless I was forced to do so. I simply used Google to find what I needed, and I after taking this course I realize I would have been much better off had I taken advantage of the resources around me. I feel a little regret in this regard as I am graduating in a few months and I can’t go back and write papers with more reliable sources than I did. I just wish I took this course earlier, and I think it would be a great idea to integrate information literacy instruction into the core curriculum here at UNCW. I think more could be done to raise awareness of the great sources of information that are right at the fingertips of every student at this school.

Reading Assignment #4

This reading talks about the challenges libraries face to get students to use their high tech and sophisticated databases for finding information, instead of getting on Google and finding it within seconds. University and college libraries across the country are facing this problem and it is becoming harder and harder to make young adults “information literate.” The writer of this article proposes a good idea and it goes along with the saying, “if you can’t beat them, join them.” He thinks libraries should “Google-ize” their libraries and make them easier to use for students. Instead of putting together very complex and specific queries to find a journal article, students should be able to type in simple key words and phrases to find what they are looking for. But he argues that by doing so it would be much harder to find credible and reliable sources on the web.

I like the idea this guy proposes to libraries. I know that is one of the main reasons I never really used the library databases for my research papers or projects (unless my professor made me). The library databases were simply too difficult to use if I was doing it on my own. If they were more user-friendly and I could find information a little easier, I would have used them more often. I also like the idea of everyone who is associated with these databases getting together and getting this done. The producers of the databases need to commit to this too. It is obviously a daunting task and one that would take a lot of effort and creativity, but it can be done and judging by this article, I believe it needs to be done.

Reading Assignment #3

This reading starts out by telling the importance of libraries throughout history. It gives the story of Leonardo da Vinci’s paintings being kept and preserved by libraries across the world for over two hundred years. The purpose of libraries is changing with today’s society, mainly because of the wide use of the internet. People don’t need to go all the way to the library to find information when they can simply type it into Google and find everything they need. The site refers to books as a technology of information, and, “every technology has a limited lifespan.” It also tells us that the importance of librarians will grow as technology gets more complicated. Random people are not going to know how to work these incredibly advanced machines to find what they are looking for, and librarians are going to have to be there to help them. The article ends with encouraging libraries to “reinvent” themselves and move with society. They need to change services they offer to the public and keep up with the technology around them.

A new library just opened in my hometown last summer and when I compare that one to the old one, it is like night and day. I think there might have been two or three computers in the old library, but the new one has a few computer labs as well as individual computers scattered thoughout. I think this is a sign of libraries changing their services and keeping up with technology in my community. The first thing people use nowadays to find information is computers, and I think it is important for libraries to embrace this. I am glad libraries across the country are following these trends of technology and I look forward to what more is to come from libraries in the future.

News Report #3

"Should Motorists Ever Talk on the Phone?"
By Stephanie Chen
Monday February 16, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/16/cellphones.driving.safety/index.html?eref=rss_tech

This article is about the effects of talking on cell phones while driving. Countless studies have been done recently relating to this problem that causes many accidents on the road, and the majority of them return the same results. According to professor David Strayer, talking on the phone while driving is, “just as bad as driving drunk.” One thing I found interesting about these studies is talking on a headset or other device where you can put both hands on the wheel doesn’t effect your attention to the road. Even though you may look like you’re focused on driving, you still do not have full attention on what you are doing.

This article brings forth many truths about driving while talking on the phone. In today’s society, nearly everyone has a cell phone and nearly all cell phone owners use it while driving their car. The article noted that four out of five people talk on their cell phones on the road. I think this is a major problem that is being overlooked in today’s world. There have been so many car accidents relating to cell phone use, and all of them can easily be avoided. I am from Washington, DC and up there they have a law against cell phone use while driving. You can be pulled over and given a ticket for it, and although it does get annoyiing when someone calls me while I’m driving and I can’t answer it, I know it is the right thing to do. I believe more cities should adopt such laws and make these unnecessary accidents decline for good.

News Report #2

"Facebook turns 5 -- but can it survive?"
By Simon Hooper
Wednesay February 4, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/04/facebook.anniversary/index.html?eref=rss_tech

This article from CNN marks the five year anniversary of the social networking site Facebook, created by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. This site has revolutionized the way people interact with each other, and it has given millions of people of all ages a platform to voice their opinions on the internet. Although the article notes that Zuckerberg is worth over a billion dollars for creating Facebook, that number could be decreasing. With the economy in a recession at the moment, the market for online advertising (Facebook’s number one revenue source) has taken a major hit. Many businesses are cutting back advertising costs, causing sites like Facebook to become much less profitable then they once were. Still, Facebook continues to be a monumental online site for this generation and its popularity will keep it around for a while into the future.

I started using Facebook when I first got to college, about four years ago. The site was much different then than it is now; it was much simpler and not nearly as many people used it. Back then, it was limited only to college students and there were no “statuses” or things like that. When I think about how much Facebook has changed and improved over the past five years, I see no reason why they can’t come up with new and interesting features to enhance the site and make it last another five years. I will admit I don’t use Facebook nearly as much now as I used to, but I still think it is a great tool to keep in touch with friends back home that I haven’t seen in a while. I don’t think I will ever go away from Facebook or delete my account like some of my friends have. I see it now as a tremendous stage for young people to interact with their peers or even people older, in a way that did not exist five years ago.

Reading Report #2

This article discusses the very prominent and popular online encyclopedia called Wikipedia that anyone can edit and enhance (or worsen). This has stirred up a lot of controversy and discussion over whether this should be allowed. Many professors believe only experts should contribute to the site to ensure authenticity of the information presented on Wikipedia. The article gives an example of Mr. Halavais, a teacher who purposely put misinformation into Wikipedia just to see if anyone would take it down. To his disbelief, the made up facts were taken down within a few hours, as the online encyclopedia apparently has a program that allows expert editors to read the most recently added information and can change it right away. This article then adds to the perception that Wikipedia has a tendency to give misinformation by telling the story of Mr. Seigenthaler. He was a journalist who had his own page on the site that gave some serious misinformation about him for over four months. The article admits that situations like that are very rare on the online encyclopedia and that it will never be entirely perfect.

I use Wikipedia on a regular basis and I like to think it is a relatively reliable source for information. I usually do not use it as a primary source for research paper s or anything like that, but I will use it whenever I need to find out random trivia facts about a certain person or place. After reading this article, I am much more aware of the problems that could arise from a site like this. I will definitely be a lot more careful when I use Wikipedia. One thing I did not know about Wikipedia was the program that allows their editors to change recently added information. I think this is a great idea to try to ensure authenticity. Still, it may be a good idea to find another source about the same topic somewhere else on the web that can verify the information found on Wikipedia. But for the most part, I will continue to trust Wikipedia as a reliable source of information because it is easy to use and I can find just about anything I think of on the site.

Reading Assignment #1

This reading was very informative about something I never knew too much about. It delves into the world of counterfeit or fake websites that give what the article calls, “disinformation” to viewers. Most of them tend to be for comical purposes, while others attempt to be so real that many misconstrue them as authentic websites. The reading even gives one account of a site seeming to be so real that a trade group contacted the site’s creators to see if they would give a presentation on the World Trade Organization. The site sponsors sent a Dr. Bichlbauer who gave the trade group a presentation they were not exactly looking to hear. A serious quarrel ensued and the representative of the site was hit with a pie. This shows the serious effects these so called comical sites can cause. The reading discusses the impact of these sites on the daily news, and how we must be careful to find trustworthy sources. It is vital to look into the creators of websites we view and trust to make sure they are legit and not trying to accomplish their own agenda. This news disinformation stems out past politics and daily routines, stretching even into entertainment where sites give fake endings to movies and phony plot lines. This has enormous implications with the production teams of these shows and movies, as their sales and ratings would go down if many people view sites giving away false information.

After reading this, I have grown aware of a lot of bad things that are out there on the internet. I knew about counterfeit websites, but I had no idea it was this vast and threatening underworld. I think the worst part about all of this is that innocent people that are simply curious about a subject can be so easily misguided by these sites without even knowing what they are viewing is false. I’m sure some of these sites are humorous and I can understand that but I think many of them take it too far. I don’t understand why anyone would want to spend so much time and effort making something that is not even real and try to pass it off as a legitimate source of information. It doesn’t really make any sense to me. I just hope that somehow we can find a way to stop these sites from going up and keep the mass of internet users from seeing them.

News Report #1

"3D is Coming to a Living Room Near You"
Marguerite Reardon, CNN
1/15/09
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/15/3d.tv/index.html?eref=rss_tech


This CNN article, by Marguerite Reardon, discusses the innovation of three dimensional televisions. With the recent use of 3-D in movies and entertainment, TV manufacturers are looking to come up with the best way to bring this to television sets. This is a move to boost new TV sales, as the growth in sales has declined this year. Most big manufacturers (Sony, Samsung, and Panasonic) are looking to have three dimensional TVs by the end of 2009. While 3-D has never been seen as a true improvement of the quality of what is being watched, as with movies, these manufacturers are looking to enhance this classic gimmick with new technology and more special effects to maximize the potential for 3-D TVs. Ms. Reardon wrote of her own account looking at Panasonic’s version of this innovative television experience, and said it was “phenomenal.” The user has to wear special glasses that make whatever you are watching seem very realistic. This three dimensional television idea seems to be a pretty important one and something that manufacturers hope will not only make them some money, but revolutionize the television industry.
I personally do not think too highly of three dimensional entertainment. I think that it is just a gimmick for people to sell something that may or may not actually enhance the viewing experience. Until I see one of these 3-D TVs and experience it for myself, I will remain skeptical that this new innovation will ever truly catch on across mainstream America. The article admitted there will not be technology advanced enough to have 3-D television without glasses for about ten more years. The picture shown of the customers watching the 3-D television looked very goofy and I just can’t picture myself sitting in my living room watching TV with those on. However I hope these new televisions prove me wrong in 2009, and mark a huge success in the industry. I am always one for new innovations that improve already great technology, and it will be very interesting to see what will happen in the coming years with 3-D televisions.

my first post

My name is Jimmy and I go to UNCW.