The Next New Thing

I think in the future there will definitely be an innovation that makes the web more collaborate with a smaller cost to all, more access to apps without paying for everything, and increased ability to be creative. I think there will be more apps that do not require a payment, and more ways to combine devices/programs. For example, we used to have to carry an iPod for music and a cellphone to communicate with others, now we have our music on our phones through iTunes. In a few years, we will most likely have another combination of devices.                 I think a new device that should be created that does not already exist is a device that has a phone, ipod, and keys to your house/car inside of it, not physical keys, but a way to open your car door and drive and get into your home without carrying so many things. For me, if I go on a run, its annoying to hold onto my phone for music and my keys in my other hand, its too much to carry. Keys are pretty much the only thing that do not have an app, so I think this would be useful to many. It would be great to go to the store and carry one item, rather than a something in every finger like  we sometimes tend to do. 

Wiki so far

 

Unfortunately, I have not yet contributed to our class wiki. However, I did some research and know what I plan on contributing. I want to discuss the importance and impact of new media in the fitness industry, because it has impacted most of us greatly weather we know it or not. Also, I want to discuss the impact that new media has on the news. Personally, I never really watch the news because it is time consuming, but I know what goes on because of the media. During my commute, I scroll around Instagram, and sometimes Facebook, and see the different current events. For me, Instagram has a greater impact because it is easier to follow, more private, and simpler, so I enjoy it over Facebook. For example, I found out about the events in Paris because somebody posted a photo of it on Instagram, and after that many other people did the same, with the same hashtag.

PTP File Sharing

File sharing is sharing various types of media (music, software, applications, movies), through technology and digitally. I would say the most popular one is illegally downloading music, because who do you know that actually still pays over $1.00 for each song on their ipod? Some artists, like Taylor Swift, got extremely annoyed with it that they took their music off of Spotify. PTP is a type of file sharing, but it has to happen between two peers, it stands for peer to peer. Often times, peer to peer sharing can be illegal, such as illegally downloading movies that are still in theatres, and not paying for them. Another example is peers copying exams or homework off of each other. There are many different uses and it is important to understand which ones are authorized and legal. One type of sharing done that has caught attention of many is Gmail enabling their images by default. Previously, they would disable many inappropriate images in order to protect their users, but now they are enabling them all (Econsultancy).

https://econsultancy.com/nma-archive

Privacy and Confidentiality

The internet is the farthest place from private. On Facebook,Instagram, and Twitter there are settings to make yourself appear "private" to people that are not your friend or follower. How private can this actually be? Once something is on the internet, it is there forever. People show their friends, screenshot it, plus, anything and everything is searchable. There is a very little privacy on social media. The Washington Post article discusses that 300,000 personal records were leaked from the University of Maryland when the system was hacked. Students and previous students social security numbers, grades, and personal records were all released, which is huge. As we all know, a social security number is everything in itself. Things happen at any given time, no matter how much they are protected, they are never truly safe. The only way information can be kept private is to keep it off the internet and any social media sites.

Advice to Baruch College

Every student that attends Baruch is on some type of social media. I think they should make a place to communicate for students in every grade level and in the same major, maybe a twitter or Facebook page would be best. I meet people in my classes but I know that having another way to talk would just widen the horizon, and it would be nice to get advice from others. I think they could also make a useful Twitter page for us all to follow. Most professors want to communicate through email, but I dont even have my Baruch email on my phone, so I am not constantly on it. I have to go log onto a computer if I am at school and check it periodically, but it is not instant like my other emails that come to my phone. Sometimes this is a hassle if a professor cancels a class or emails something meaningful before class or a big exam; it would help to have another form of communication like a Twitter page. Also, I think there should be a way to communicate with other students in our classes through Blackboard. I know that there is a way to email the whole class, but there should maybe be an instant messenger or something faster on it. I think these changes would highly benefit Baruch because students would be more in-touch with each other and their professors.

Creativity and New Media

I created a movie with imovie, and then put it on Youtube. I thought the park in my town looked awesome during this time of year, especially since it is on the water. I stood there for a few minutes, just observed what went on, and took videos of the scenery. Then, I uploaded them to my computer and converted them, and made an imovie by merging them together. It was just a short few second movie, but I thought it was interesting and wanted to learn how to use imovie.

Creativity

New media is clearly causing an impact on technology. It is enabling creativity largely because there are a tremendous amount of different sites that can be used.

The New York Times article, Twitter serves up ideas from its followers explains that Twitter is not competing with any of its  competitors. Instead, it is coming up with new innovative ideas. It is easier for startup companies to engage in this creativity, and rather more difficult for older companies. Twitter was first to come up with tagging someone with the "@" sign, once they are mentioned. They also use hyperlinks so that users can click on the trend mentioned, and explore more about it.

The more innovative technology that comes out, the easier it is to get creative. Some companies just copy what others have started, but Twitter has been the first to create tags, which are now being used on Instagram and Facebook as well.

Blog: Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are definitely interesting. New York Times says, “In most virtual worlds, memberships are free, but players trade real money for virtual currencies, used to buy products, save up in an account or eventually redeem for real money”. People are finding themselves spending a lot more money virtually, indulging in their favorite luxurious brands. On the plus side, shoppers have significantly cut their spending in the real world. In the Forbes article, they explain an interesting fact that virtual worlds can help bring people together. They feel isolated on their own, but in this world they won’t be fully alone, they are still connected to others. So far, there are about 2 billion accounts in around 100 virtual worlds, which certainly connects many people.
Virtual worlds foster creativity by bringing people together and allowing them to engage in activities they wouldn’t in the real world.I think virtual worlds will increase in the future, but I cant see them exponentially expanding. There is only so much people can do on them, ofcourse for the shopping addict they are great, but there needs to be more variety. I think they will look like our reality, with more color and enhanced features.

 

Social Networking Sites

Facebook is clearly very popular, whether we like it or not. Personally, I get tired of it, I like it because it keeps me updated with things, but I dislike it because the "Facebook World" is not everything. It is great that its probably the best way to keep in touch with former friends, collegues, or just people that you do not see everyday but still care about.
Twitter, is more of an instant site. It is mainly for updating current statuses and following others, to see what they are thinking or up to. It is great for clicking on hashtags and finding your interests on the web.
Linked-In is becoming more and more popular. It is vital in order to get a job in the business world for some companies. It is a way to post your job experience, personal interests, and mainly build your network. Building a network is vital in order to get a job. It is great to be able to connect with others from the same company, industry, field, college, etc.
Pinterest is another great site, a little different than the 3 listed above. It is more for hobbies and interests. It has everything on there from recipies, healthy eating tips, fashion, home decor ideas, workout tips, etc. It can be very addicting for people, once they get into "pinnning" ideas, it is hard to stop. The way it works is you "pin" something that you find interesting or wish to keep as a reference. I got into Pintrest a little while ago when I wanted to redecorate my room. It was extremely helpful and got great ideas from it. It can be time consuming since it is so hard to stop.

Blog About Twitter

Twitter and Blackboard are similar in the way that they encourage people to post their opinions and views. Twitter has a character limit of 140, which does not allow that much room for opinion and detail. Blackboard however, makes it a lot easier to open up the discussions with the unlimited amount of characters. Twitter is very useful with the hashtags, that allow you to look up what you are interested in by category or word. It is a simple way to find similar interests with others. Blackboard is great, but it is very in-depth and might be very wordy depending on what people wish to express.
In-Class-Discussions allows students to feed off of eachothers opinions and get a better sense of their perspectives. However, they might be time sensitive, and some people might not like to share out loud to the class. Twitter and Blackboard allow you to think of your thoughts prior, write what you have to say, read it, and then post it for people to see.
All in all, Twitter, Blackboard, and In-Class Discussions are great ways of communicating. Twitter is the most up and coming, Blackboard is more educational, and In-Class Discussions should be regulated, or may become far off topic/run out of time.

Blog: Social Net'g

Social Networking can be used in a positive way. In the corporate world, it can be very beneficial to use sites like Linked-In, where it helps form connections with people, which is what the corporate world is all about. It widens peoples networks tremendously, and may even help people get jobs. As seen in the NPR article, "Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting", Linkedin is a good way to see more about someone. However, there is a dark side to social networking. Sometimes it may display too much content that not everybody is meant to see. Sites like Facebook and Twitter should be a little more discrete to the public eye, because once something is on the internet, it is there forever. I do not believe that it is all bad, but I just know that it is very important to be careful about what is posted. It can help if used in the proper way, but with caution. In the article, "Is Myspace good for society? A freakonomics Quorum", it explains that even though we are networking to "friends" that we dont even know, it is a way to keep smaller ties with people and serve as learning tools, because they have information that we would not read about in the news. 

Blog Vs. Wiki

Blogs and Wikis are similar in the fact that they both have peoples opinions. Blogs are usually created by one author, whereas wikis have multiple people commenting their varying opinions. Wikis tend to grow faster than blogs just because they have a lot more sources and comments. Comments on a blog must be approved by the author, but anyone can say whatever they want on a wiki. 

Blogs can be very helpful in solving unseen mysteries. As seen in the New York Times, a blog helped lead to a drug raid. Additionally, blogs helped obtain information about Afganastan in 2009, which was extremely helpful (NY Times). They are a great way to keep us updated about the current news in a more interesting format than just watching it on television.