Blog 20: MCS 370 Overall

Last blog...finally. Anyway, coming to the end of the semester, I wanted to blog a little about what I thought of MCS 370 as a whole. At first, I was a little skeptical about taking the class at night because I did not know if I would be able to sit in a classroom for two and a half hours. I thought the class would consist mainly of topics concerning facebook. I was surprised when we started learning about other technologies and found myself more and more interested with the course texts. I had never thought about half the stuff we learned about until this class. For instance, I had never wondered how powerful a crowd could be or actually how much we are under surveillance in our every day routines. I thought our teacher was a huge help in making the classes go by faster. She could draw our attention and get us on interesting topics we were willing to discuss. Watching Charlie Wilson’s War was a bonus. I had not seen the entire movie from start to finish until the class. I had never had a course that I was required to have a facebook account. It was interesting how our teacher communicated through messages on facebook, as well as Blackboard. The class challenged us to compare and contrast the differences in the media from the past and present. It is impossible to dictate where technology will go in the future, but I found it an interesting topic to discuss. I would definitely recommend MCS 370 to students at UMBC.

Blog 19: Online Shopping/Ebay

Ebay was a website that started out small and eventually took off. This goes to show how far we’ve come with safety and satisfaction on the Internet. I remember my first purchase off Ebay. I was skeptical at first because I did not want to get scammed and send money to a stranger receiving nothing back. I also did not want to purchase something and have the sender send me something in poor condition. Now, I am not afraid to purchase something on Ebay because the websites have added applications to make the buyer more confident in their buy. We can now rate the people we buy or sell to and they receive a score for their exchange. I am surprised how fast the online shopping has become today. I rarely leave my house to go shopping because it’s just as easy to do it online. We can now get the same stuff in stores, sent to us in the mail. We may have to pay a shipping and handling fee but if we drove to the mall, we’d be paying for gas money anyway. I usually don’t like giving my credit card information to strangers but feel that most sites are reliable. I have yet to have someone take my money without sending me my purchase in return (knock on wood). It would just be a hassle to track someone down on the Internet to get your money back. Unlike malls, online shopping never has a line. Most of the time, we can find what we’re looking for the same price or even cheaper than it is in stores. Online shopping is one of the best technologies I use regularly.

Blog 18: Ipods in Cars

Ipods are one of the most popular technologies in our society today. Not only do the younger generations have them, but our parents as well. I bought my mom an Ipod for her last birthday and she won’t stop asking me to put new songs on it for her. One of the problems with the Ipod is that Apple now makes devices for the car. We can now listen to our Ipods while driving. Although Ipods have playlists and other hands free accessories, many of us today do not use them. Personally, I had to stop listening to my Ipod in my car because I could not keep my hands off it while driving. I would hear a song and want to change it, forcing me to look down at my Ipod. I was in a lot of close call accidents because of this. I now only use CD’s in my car and control other driver’s Ipod’s while they drive. Also, I have seen many people with Ipod headphones in while driving. Is this really a good idea? I think it may even be against the law but I saw at least two people today with them in while driving. What if the driver has the music on so loud he or she cannot hear an ambulance trying to pass? I think Ipods are dangerous in cars and we should not be allowed to play with them while driving.

Blog 17: Texting/AIM Problems

Cell phones are now more popular than ever. Everyone has one, from children to grandparents. This technology has grown so fast that we are no longer able to function without one. Personally, I know whenever I leave my cell phone behind I feel like I am naked. I’ve become so used to texting my friends that I can now do it without looking. The problem with cell phone texting is that many of the words are misspelled. Children are loosing their vocabulary and spelling techniques. I believe a lot of it has to do with our new technologies like cell phones and AIM. I can remember growing up and abbreviating every word I typed online. The numbers even show SAT scores going down and students no longer writing legibly. This is a major problem that we tend to overlook because of how advanced our technologies are. We have become so accustomed to the devices we use daily that we now do things without thinking. The majority of us can now type on the computer much faster than writing with a pen and paper. I think this is an interesting problem we are facing because it won’t be good when the young generations can now longer spell words with spellcheck.

Blog 16: YouTube

What we fail to look at pertaining websites like YouTube are the dangers these sites create. Anyone can create a fake account and post whatever they feel like. On the other hand, anyone can also create an account to view videos they should not be watching. In other words, would you want your ten-year-old child looking at street fights or videos of girls dancing? Although there are parental ways of canceling the account, it is just as easy to jump on a friend’s computer to watch them. I am not saying YouTube is a bad thing because I understand it is a way for people to express themselves to the public. Like many technologies we have in the world today, we often fail to look at the negatives sides and only focus on the good that comes out of them. Most children are more advanced with computer than their parents. What does this say about parental control that cannot even be used by many adults? We have to be more safe on the computer and make sure young children are not viewing things they shouldn’t be. The Internet is not the safest place and I think parents allow their children way too much freedom surfing the web.

Blog 15: Facebook

What is the purpose of Facebook now? It started as a means of connecting people outside their social groups. We could now be in contact with people we would have never seen again before the website. Personally, I did not have a Facebook site until college and only joined because of peer pressure. Now, I find myself on it at least once a day. But what is the market doing with sites like Facebook and MySpace pages? Companies no longer have to step outside their office to figure out the interests of their intended audience. These sites contain so much personal information that the media can now maximize their time attracting specific people interested in their products. Companies have jumped on the chance to market their products and cut out wasted time bothering people who are uninterested in their sales. All age groups and generations have personal sites like these and are still growing in population each day. We now see different tools and advertisements on the side when logging into our accounts. It is important to be careful of what information we are putting out on the Internet because it can be easily accessed by anyone.

Blog 14: Technology in College

College students share many of the same habits involving the media. The majority of us all have televisions next to our beds and computers at our desks. I am surprised how important my laptop has come in handy throughout my college career. Before college, I rarely used to the computer unless it was to occasionally check and email or chat online. Today, I find myself surfing the web constantly every time I get bored. Another technology that has become very popular among college campuses is the iPod. Personally, I do not use mine as much as the other students unless I am exercising. I see hundreds of students walking to class with the apple headphones in their ears. The apple headphones have become somewhat like a fashion and easily recognizable. Our technology is growing rapidly and forcing us to adapt at the same pace. If we do not own these technologies, we will be left behind and in the past.

Blog 13: Last Required Blog

Throughout the semester, we have read various texts challenging the media and pushing the reader to take another look at our society. I found Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics the most relevant this semester. It was perfect timing with the 2008 Presidential Election at hand. The class could relate to the book because it focused on our generation, the Millennial generation. The text focused on how technology would influence our generation and the upcoming elections. We have so many useful technologies at hand that we rarely think about life without them.

The text I would most likely not recommend again was James Surowiecki’s The Wisdom of Crowds. I did not find this text as interesting as the rest because I often disagreed with his arguments. There is a social structure that involves education for a reason and I believe than an expert will have more knowledge about his studied field than a group of diverse individuals. I had a hard time agreeing with many of his points throughout the book.

I think it would be interesting to learn about the dangers our technology possesses. We rarely admit to these flaws because we are generally scared of confrontation with technology. I would have like to read more about crimes and scandals that the Internet entails and see more of the dangers that come with the positives.

Blog 12: Too Much Surveillance?

After reading iSpy, I find myself online remembering how many companies are collecting information about me without me even knowing. Whether I’m purchasing a song on iTunes or voting for my favorite Pro-Bowl players, I am putting my interests out into the world. I found it disturbing that in our era we are constantly secretly monitored. Emailing and Internet surfing are the two technologies that stood out the most serving as models of surveillance and control. The author of iSpy, Mark Andrejevic, argues that these and other highly touted benefits are accompanied by hidden risks and potential threats that tend to be ignored by mainstream society. Before reading the book, I did not think twice about what I was doing online because I figured nobody cared. It will be interesting to see where our technologies takes us next and if our lack of privacy will become an issue down the road.

Blog 11: Blackberries

(New Blackberry Storm)

We see them everyday walking throughout campus. They are becoming more and more popular in every age group in the country. It is now longer a phone that only business men have, but college students, high school students, and just regular people. Cell phones have allowed us to be contacted via voice or text messaging. Blackberries brings unique features that create an office like atmosphere. It is scary in a way that we can carry our office wherever we go now. These smart phones are like little computers allowing us to access the Internet at a touch of a button or sending an email to co-workers. The media sees the rapid growth in Blackberries and advertises them to all people now, not only larger companies. Many of my friends have Blackberries and receive information faster than me. We see touch screens on cell phones more now and is only one step our technology has made. Technology will continue to grow as well as putting out smarter phones each year. It will be interesting to see some of the new cell phones that come out in the future and what features they will have.

Blog 10: Charlie Wilson's War

I was excited when I found out we would be watching "Charlie Wilson's War" in class because I had never seen it yet only heard good reviews. It was set in the 1980s without certain technologies that we have today. Charlie Wilson would not get away with half the stunts he pulled today. I believe that he would be thrown out of office is the public knew the other side. Charlie Wilson was a womanizer and heavy drinker. The media would be able to capture this easily with the cameras on our cell phones. Anybody could take a picture of this and simply use it as black male. Charlie Wilson was partying with the wrong people and would have gotten him into trouble today. We see many professional athletes today hanging around bad crowds and eventually getting caught up. The movie opened up with Charlie in a hot tub surround by strippers and cocaine. In the end, it would be interesting to see a person in the United States House of Representatives act like Charlie Wilson today.

Blog 9: Obama and Technology

(http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wypr/local-wypr-792818.mp3)

After listening to this podcast, the main question is what will change technology wise for the presidents down the road, especially with Barack Obama? It was interesting to listen to how a Blackberry cannot be own by the president. I understand this because Blackberries contain so much information and would be too risky to have floating around. These Blackberries can receive emails and IM's with other Blackberries. I could not imagine what kind of information would be on a president's Blackberry but if somebody got a hold of it somehow or could tap into it, we would be giving up a lot of important information.

Blackberries are becoming more popular each day. Not only companies are giving them to their employees but also students who want to keep organized. These Blackberries are like an office or computer and helps store information. Our technology will continue to grow and I believe we will continue to have to make new rules for presidents because of technology. Even four years ago, Blackberries were not around or as popular. That was just four years. I could not begin to imagine what we will be capable of further down the road. It is important to realize how strong our technological growth is and must be careful in what we put out in the world.

Blog 8: Webcam Suicide

After reading the article about the 19-year old college student who killed himself on the Internet last week, all I could do was shake my head. It is a sad thing when people take their lives but I do not blame this on anyone. It is not the fault of the viewers who were trying to contact somebody to let them know what was going on. Even though viewers may have got in touch with an authority to find his location, police get pranks all the time and do not want to waste their efforts. It's sad but I do not think it is fair to blame someone else or technology for a suicide. People commit suicide all the time, it was just a unique way of doing so.

This incident reminded me of the movie "Untraceable". The movie was about a murderer who would kill people on a website. He did it live and the more viewers watching, the more poison would go into the body. I did not think it was a good movie but the idea was interesting. I do not know if our media could control something like this because people always want to see it for themselves. Even if police officers are waving you on to pass an accident, it is almost impossible to drive by without slowing down to look, knowing that it is only going to slow down traffic. In the end, it is a sad story but I do not think we can blame other people for trying to help. Even if the court wanted everyone who was online at that time, it would be impossible to trace down everyone with anonymous screen names.

Untraceable Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLYo5tMylQM