Next New

            A type of new media that does not exist that I can suggest is a virtual way for people to see how one lives in poverty a third world country. It is very hard for people to understand how badly some other people live in this world. While they will never truly understand, by 'walking in their shoes', people could have a better idea of what someone in Sudan goes through on a daily basis to survive. It would be a 'video game' type of system. It would also be connected to a reputable charity which makes a difference in that particular area. Charities could have these 'games' customized to fit their cause and I think this would have a better effect on people donating than a commercial that tries to make them feel guilty and donate that way.

Wiki So Far

          While I got a late start working on my additions to the Wiki, I find it to be an amazing thing. It is like an organism that keeps growing and feeds off of knowledge. It is neither positive not negative, it might not always state the truth and might contain some blatant lies but it is what it is, a collaboration of the opinions and facts of many. It really is a beautiful thing.
           I have not yet contributed much but I have added some information to the P2P and Entertainment sections. I talked about the legal issues companies such as Grooveshark faces on a daily basis along with the throttling of bandwidth set forth by internet providers. I look forward to contributing a lot more to this Wiki.

P2P

           According to Wikipedia, file sharing is defined as the practice of distributing or providing access to digitally stored information, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books.
          Wikipedia also defines P2P Sharing as a type of decentralized and distributed network architecture in which individual nodes in the network (called "peers") act as both suppliers and consumers of resources, in contrast to the centralized client–server model where client nodes request access to resources provided by central servers.
           An example of P2P file sharing is BitTorrent. It allows people to download movies or shows at great speeds. In the article 'The BitTorrent Effect' by Clive Thompson, it shows how Bram Cohen, who created BitTorrent, can achieve these great speeds by using technology to download multiple pieces of a file from multiple uploaders all at once, speeding up the process tremendously.

Advice

           The wonderful thing about New Media is that it is new. It is current. It revolves around the ideas of today, not yesterday. This simple fact can help older 'beings' fit into the new world and take advantage of what it has to offer. If I was hired by Baruch College to use New Media to improve the College, the first thing I would do would be to incorporate the use of Smart Boards. I am guessing certain classrooms in the building already have them but I have yet to see one. Smart Boards are great for many reasons, it is easier for a teacher to point out and emphasize what they are trying to teach. I also believe that it is easier to keep the student's attention with a Smart Board. My generation grew up with computers and cell phones. When a teacher writes on a white board, it is in a way boring. Smart Boards make for an easier and more pleasant presentation by the teacher, along with the ability to focus more on teaching than writing on the white board and having everyone understand their writing.
           Another way I would use Social Media to improve the school, would be to create a social media platform where students enrolled in a specific class, would automatically be joined into a social media group. It can be very hard to make friends in class, some people might be shy and some might not bother with it. The thing is, knowing people in your class helps tremendously. We have all missed class before and it can be crippling. If you know someone or can get into contact with someone easily, it can save you a lot of headaches by easily catching up on what was missed.

Privacy

           Privacy is the main reason why I quit social media over 2 years ago. Privacy is very important to me. While I love to share ideas and memories with friends, the 'friends' you have on social media are not necessarily those people. I find it scary that people want to share their daily lives with the world but maybe that is just an insecurity of mine. So many times people get into trouble and lately lose their jobs over social media posts. While we live in a free country, with freedom of press, beliefs and ideas, this is not without consequence. There seems to be a group or anti-group for just about every subject out there. Someone who wants to freely share their idea with their friends or followers can be crucified over their beliefs. More than that, people's careers can end on the spot with a simple tweet. While it might be good to see who someone really is, just because I do not agree with their ideas does not mean they should lose their job which they most likely worked their whole life to achieve. We live in a very scary time as far as social media goes and it is not something I am interested in participating in.

Creativity and New Media

In 2009, I was visiting friends in Florida when Hurricane Wilma hit. I took many videos on my camera of action during the hurricane and of the damage the hurricane caused. I had recently written a song using Reason. Reason is a music software that gives you a virtual copy of instruments that would regularly costs thousands of dollars. I decided to make a video and found that the mood of this song would be very fitting to the situation that just happened. I used Microsoft Movie Maker to join my song and the videos I had and edited away. What came out of it was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lya7-pdR3f8

I hope you enjoy.

CREATIVITY

          The definition of creativity is the use of the imagination or original ideas, esp. in the production of an artistic work. New media definitely fosters creativity and we can see this in the article "The New Math of Mashups" by Sasha Frere-Jones. This article talks about DJ Reset who combines two types of songs that most people would not even think of trying to combine. In the past people did not have the technology to store or access files as easily as we can today. In today's world we have access to just about any song we want, and access to software which can edit and alter those songs. DJ Reset combined a song by Beck and Jay-Z/Pharell which kind of breaks through to a new style of music. This is the perfect example of computer music in a post-modern music world. Without new media, someone might have had the idea to create this type of music but they would not have had the tools to actually get it done.

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

           Virtual worlds are such an interesting invention. Technically the idea of virtual worlds has always existed in the minds of the people, it is just through technology that this idea became a 'reality'. There are many ways virtual worlds can be used such as for gaming purposes, personal matchmaking, meeting places for businesses and even a virtual environment to help people train for real life scenarios.
            As with everything else, there are pros and cons to virtual worlds. Some of the pros include two scenarios where soldiers can be trained and experience possible battlefield scenarios as seen in the article "After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot" by Diane Mehta. In the article "The Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, nurses use virtual worlds to help them make decisions quickly during an operation. Another pro is that people who are shy and are afraid to express themselves or simply don't know how to, can join something like the Second Life, and meet people. They can finally leave the comfort of their own home without actually leaving it. This allows people to 'live' instead of wither away in their home.
            Of course there are also cons to virtual worlds. For my last statement regarding a pro of virtual worlds, it is also a con. While it is nice to not have to leave your home and be comfortable, this should only be used as a starting point. There is only so much to be gained through a virtual world, you still have to live in the real world whether you like it or not. Getting used to living in a virtual world can actually be more damaging in the long run as you can get so used to it that you really find no reason to try and adapt to reality.
             Virtual worlds foster creativity because they allow one to express themselves more freely. They  have to worry less about people directly laughing at them, they can only get laughed at virtually. Virtual worlds also allow people in far away lands to communicate and collaborate more easily. This alone will bring forth a much more creative experience whether is be in something like composition of music, political ideas or even just everyday conversation.

Blog About Twitter

            I actually love the idea of a Twitter discussion compared to both a blackboard and in-class discussion. I believe in the notion of KISS, keep it simple stupid. Twitter forces you to get to the point with it's limit of 140 characters per post. Between the hash tag and @ to reply to someone, you are left with less actually. I believe what tends to happen in blackboard discussions is that people tend to think their response is not long enough and start filling it with air to make it longer and 'acceptable'. This takes away from the genuine of an opinion or answer.
            The difference between a Twitter discussion and an in-class discussion is that not everyone expresses themselves very easily. Some people stutter, some people are just shy. Twitter helps relieve those feelings by giving you some time to construct your thought. You cannot delete your words but you can delete characters you typed before you click post.

Social Networking Sites

           Myspace, Facebook, Twitter & Pintrest. It is a timeline of the history of social media sites. The first one on the list is all but dead. Held together by loyalty and pages for musicians. I was a member at one point, but it has probably been about 4-5 years since I last participated in Myspace.
           Next on the list is Facebook, an updated version of Myspace that took the world by storm. I was once part of that storm. I am no longer. It seemed as though all of the people I became back in touch with just made me realize why I wasn't in touch with them in the first place. No want to share my life with 'strangers'. My girlfriend and I kicked the habit on the same day about 2-3 years ago and we have not missed it a bit. I catch her on there once in a while just browsing but that is all it is really good for, to 'catch up' on things.
           Third comes Twitter, the newest phenomenon of them all. I had never really ventured into the world of Twitter as I gave up on social media after kicking the habit of Facebook. I do have to say I believe far more in the future of Twitter than Facebook. It is simpler and more to the point. I believe it's use in business is far better than using Facebook for business. You can get to the point right away and attach a trend to it so it can be easily found. With Facebook you must recruit people before you can market to them (other than paid for ads), with Twitter it is much easier to reach people you don't know about yet.
          Pintrest is a newer form of social media that let's people share their thought and likes via pictures, not words. This can have a greater effect because words need to be understood, pictures can be a lot more direct. As a business you can take advantage of this by seeing trends and basing your products on those trends.

Social Net'g

                  Social Networking is a very interesting phenomenon. It has opened up the exposure one can get for themselves or their business to new heights. It seems as though someone can advertise their thoughts or products within minutes. While a business might choose to do this as a paid service to get "better" exposure, with enough followers on Twitter or Facebook, one can get their message across for free. In the article "Why is Nissan Mimicking Myspace" by Kenji Hall, Nissan is using social networking within their company to help employees communicate easier with fellow employees around the world, helping to get things done quicker and more efficiently, without the hold up of getting approval from bosses who have to get approval from bosses.
                  The way I see it, there is a dark side to everything. Technology can be wonderful if it is used in a positive light. Social networking can very easily have a dark side. In the article "Is Myspace Good For Society" by Stephen J. Dubner, Steve Chazin says it best:

"I believe social networking technology has changed our lives for the better, but at a cost. Social networking tools have made it nearly effortless for me to keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. I can know what’s on their minds (MySpace), who else they know (Facebook/LinkedIn), and even what they are doing at this very moment (Twitter). On the other hand, I’m not sure I need to know any of that."

I believe that social networking can be a great thing but can also take away something essential to a peaceful mind, that is privacy. I do not want someone to know that I just "checked in" to McDonalds, nor am I sure why someone would want anyone to know this. It leads me to believe that maybe social networking is dictating how people should act. It seems that the majority of people who use social networking on a day to day basis are trying to be a new sort of "cool" which takes away another important trait in human beings, genuineness. 

Blog v Wiki

               To me, the main difference between a blog and a wiki is that a blog is mainly written by one person and read by others, like a personal webpage or sorts. A wiki is written and contributed to by many people. This can be on a personal level (wikipedia) or a business level where many people in a company contribute to their wiki.
              This idea is definitely not set in stone as blogs can be used for collaborative purposes. The best example of this is the article "Brooklyn Blog helps lead to Drug Raid" by Michael Wilson. BayRidgeTalk.com was a blog about general things going on in Bay Ridge. In the end it was utilized by the residents of a Brooklyn neighborhood who were tired of the drug sales going on below them, causing an unsafe environment. It eventually led to a raid of the crack house by police. This is a perfect example of how blogs can be used for collaboration and in this case, it helped make a neighborhood safer.
                In the article "How to Use Wikis For Business" by Ezra Goodnoe, he tells of how you can utilize wikis to be used in a business environment. I believe I have come up with another way wikis can be utilized. I think it would be possible to collaboratively write a song using a wiki. It would be VERY interesting to do something like this. A group could contribute their thoughts, verses could be deleted, choruses could be changed and chords rearranged. It would be the ultimate way of songwriting which is usually done by one or two people. The hardest part would be knowing when to stop editing it because in music, you can always 'make it better'.

Businesses without E-commerce: Stuck in the 20th Century

          The idea behind the topic of my paper starts with a personal experience. The company I currently work for is a fashion jewelry company that sells to retailers all across the United States. We have lots of inventory from returns, cancellations, etc...Until a few months ago most of that inventory was just sitting around getting stale. One word changed everything, E-commerce. We now sell across many internet marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon, Sears and more. Our once stale inventory is now available all across America. This shows that businesses that sell items and/or services, that do not have an E-commerce presence, are severely behind in the times and are hurting their businesses without even knowing it.

          I plan to use a personal approach to this topic since I have experience with both my own small business and the larger corporation I currently work for. I will show how E-commerce has changed the game of business and anyone who does not follow will eventually be left in the dust.