The Next New Thing

Technology is constantly changing and it is very hard for some of us to keep up with. By the time we get used to one thing another comes on the market. New Media is the future and we can expect great things to come. I'm very happy to be in this generation of technology users. I gave some thought as to what I would have the next new thing be. I realized that that most of what we need is already out there. So what seems to be most popular are social networking sites. There is only one professional networking site that is popular, that's LinkedIn. I would develop a better site that is more interactive and that can better assist in helping people find jobs. Besides sending emails of suggested jobs, which most of us don't even bother to open. I would set up my site to allow users to create a profile where they  have an option to allow us to automatically apply for jobs we think are best suited for them. Saving them the time of logging in and applying themselves. Their resumes will be analyzed and suggestions made to improve them as well. The types of jobs being applied to will have to be preset by the user at the time they change the settings. They will also be able to apply to jobs within a certain salary range and in areas they approved. This is something I wish that was in place now as I get tons of emails everyday for open positions. Most are irrelevant and not within my location or field of interest. I think that many people would be appreciate something like this.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

I haven't added content to our class wiki yet. I have however done research on how to navigate the wiki and make edits. This would be my first time doing something like this and I wanted to make sure I understood what I am doing. I would like to focus on Education and how it affects New Media. I did research on on Educations impact on New Media and how it can be of benefit. Education is important to me and I would like to show New Media can help educate us. The Environment is a topic I would like to address as well. This is something I am very interested in and did my research on it as well. I focused the impact of New Media on the environment and how it be used to spread information and awareness. I think that New Media will help to preserve our environment and will show this in my contribution. I will also make some graphic edits and insert some art work.

P2P File Sharing

File sharing is the sharing of computer data or space in a network publicly or privately. File sharing has different levels of access privileges. Files can be shared easily outside of a network like by sharing files on a flash drive. File sharing can be used by a number of people who can copy, modify or print it. P2P file sharing is peer to peer networking. This type of network enables computer hardware and software to function without the use of certain servers. P2P is a popular file sharing network for applications like Ares, Emule or Edonkey. P2P technology enables the P2P client applications to upload and download files over the P2P network services.

Applications like Limewire and Kaaza are no longer in operation and shut down. They both were entwined in copyright lawsuits. In the NY Times article Digital Pirates Winning Battle With Studios by Brian Stelter and Brad Stone. The New York Times, Feb 5, 2009, p. A1.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/media/05piracy.html we see that studios struggle to protect illegal copies of movies from being pirated. With the large increase in streaming sites and the internet it is extremely easy to watch pirated videos online. While these sites make these movies available for free, it hurts the movie industry. Not only movies are pirated but shows and songs. It is very difficult for artists to keep their songs from being illegally released. File sharing is not entirely illegal it is the data that is being shared which may be illegal. Using programs like Bittorrent or other such programs to download a software patch or update a game demo or movie trailer is legal. However, using the same program to get a new movie still in theaters or a new song is illegal.

Privacy and Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality is a major concern today. With the growth of new media there was an increase of hackers. When an online profile is created we are subject to privacy issues. Most people don't fully understand the dangers of posting every detail of their personal information online. For example a person's Facebook profile can be compromised and used to send out spam. I remember getting a message from someone of my family members asking for money. When I contacted them they said they were on vacation. This I'm sure happens to millions of people and many are duped out of their hard earned dollars.

The more we are online the easier it is for others to gain our personal information. I suggest limiting the amount of information we share. Most sites ask your birthday, you don't have to put the exact date in or you can choose to hide the year. Some people don't use their real names others use only a part of their name. Once something is online it doesn't matter if it was removed in a split second someone out there saw it. I tell everyone to be careful where they check in on Facebook because they can easily become prey to some psycho.

No matter how safe we try to be there will be some site that abuses our right to privacy and confidentiality. We all just want to enjoy being online and connecting with friends and family, we just need to be careful of everything we do online. We need to be aware of what is posted and how it is being used.

Advice to Baruch College

As a new employee of Baruch I would do my best to use new media to improve the college. The old way of running a classroom in terms of spoken lectures and a list of readings is something that is fast becoming extinct. With the improvement in technology I feel that it is fitting that the college grow at the same pace in order to stay abreast with what's happening in the world. Many students today don't read books we are on our phones or computers constantly making it hard to sit down and read an actual book. Instead of giving a student a physical book to read. We can recommend e-books which can be downloaded on many new devices today. It's more convenient and students won't be able to make any excuse like the book is too heavy or I forgot it home. It is more cost effective as well and environmentally friendly.

Instead of typing up papers students will probably be more willing to make an audio podcast or post videos on various topics. This will make it easier for grading and less time consuming for very busy students and professors. Anyone can make a video or audio recording now we no longer have to be professionals. There is no doubt that students will spend more time on these audio/video responses than writing a short paper. It is fun and it wouldn't be limited to the eyes of the professor. This would make it even more challenging knowing that others will be viewing your work.

The incorporation of visual illustrations in teachings I think would be beneficial. It can help students to understand a concept better, it can help them to remember better and can make learning more interactive. Having a simple text book won't achieve this and can be boring. Having visual displays will be more exciting and encourage students to be more open to learning.

Creativity and New Media

I signed up for Second Life a few weeks ago having seen it on a TV show. I can see how addicting it can be! I selected and designed my avatar and embarked on my teleporting journeys. At first I didn't get the whole gist of this Second Life phenomenon. I was just walking around a destination for new comers. I found a store and went shopping, which was fun! Afterwards I continued exploring and met and conversed with some new friends. We danced and partied together which is something I would never do in real life after having met strangers.

I can see how someone who feels rejected by the real world would find comfort in this virtual life. I made alot of interesting friends from all over the world literally. I teleported to Italy, did some more shopping and played some games. I was in so caught up that I spent like two hours there! After that I teleported to the US again and went to club. The music was good and I did some hanging out.

    
 I got bored at the club and decided to hop over to Jamaica! I felt like I needed some sun and sand. I ditched my jacket and explored away. I am still trying to figure out some of these features and will be upgrading to the premium package for an even more awesome experience. It really is amazing of the possiblities we have in this virtual world. I can't wait to get started on creating my home and trying out some of the other cool features.

Creativity

New media has helped to foster creativity. With the growing number of technology users comes a surge of creative users as well. Each person brings something new and different to every aspect of new media. I can be sitting down for hours trying to come up with an idea for a new project and not come up with anything. If I just peruse the internet I would always find inspiration. What I love is the fact that I can search for a particular topic of interest and in navigating different sites I would almost always stumble on something totally unrelated and different. New media can be used as a means of gaining information from users and consumers for new ideas for new features of existing products or software. For example in Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers by CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, the New York Times, October 26, 2009. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html where Twitter watches how users use the site and what ideas they catch on. This helped them to create the list and retweet features. I think that this is the best way of getting the right products out on the market. With users input the need for trial testing is eliminated. This saves time and gets the job done much faster. People can share ideas on the internet in masses and can improve on each other's ideas. This is very cost effective and encourages more production.