Our Class Wiki - So Far

The class wiki seems like a great tool. I've learned a lot about wikis this semester. Throughout our lives we're told about this thing called "wikipedia" which has loads of information on everything, but no one ever stops to think about who uploaded this content. The class wiki gives a good example of what a wiki site really is. It allows collaborators to edit files for accuracy and constantly post new content. The wiki site checks its own facts as there are so many peers who are members to the site. Whereas, if I were to try to edit a wikipedia page, it would probably be corrected before I could even refresh the page to see what I wrote. Wikis can be a great tool and grow in effectiveness when more and more people use it.

BLOG: P2P

File sharing  is the practice of or ability to transmit files from one computer to another over a network or the internet. Peer to peer sharing (p2p) is an aspect of file sharing. An example is torrenting, which connects several pcs (peers) over a network (internet) to share responsibility in downloading files. For example, thepiratebay.com is a torrent file hosting site, as mention in Eric Pfanner's article in The New York Times. Users can go to the website and download a small file called a torrent, which is basically a map for the users computer to download the file. Once the torrent file is open in a program like bittorrent, The file pulls pieces of data from the hard drive of everyone who has the file to help the user download the file on their own. Sites like these are great for sharing huge files that wouldnt fit in email or take too long via ftp, but most users enjoy pirating on these sites. They can download music and movies and tv shows for free, usually just minutes after it is released. The whole idea of p2p sharing is great and i hope that it continues to be a strong file transfer tool in the future.

BLOG: Privacy

New media has brought heaps of information to the web. Most of this information brings us joy and laughs and is used for positive reasons. What most people don't realize is that once content is uploaded to the internet, it basically lives there forever. Even if a post is removed from your account, it may still sit somewhere on the sites severs, or someone may have saved a screenshot or it may have been indexed my the many websites that mine your data. Even facebook saves a lot of data about its users. Companies pay facebook to release your data. Be aware of what you post online because you never know when your potential employer might end up seeing it.

BLOG: Advice

I commend Baruch for keeping up with the times in terms of its technology. The labs in the library have a business standard of windows 7 installed on its PCs and offers iMacs for those who prefer to use macs. I also appreciate the domain binded accounts that allow students and faculty to sign into their personal accounts on any machine in the building. I think Baruch could step up their usage of new media though. Instagram is one of the most popular social media apps used today. Especially by students in college. If Baruch could gain a bigger presence on Instagram and dominate the hashtag, we could bring a lot more attention to the school and make it easier for students to access information and always be in the loop.

Blog: Creativity and New Media

My favorite form of new media is youtube. I'm by no means a video editor, but when I'm out on my bike i like to put my gopro on my helmet and ride. The video in this post is me and my boys riding out on Sundays like always. It really makes me miss the warm weather. I can't ride right now be because i broke my arm in a wheelie accident last month. But my bike is the Red Gixxer thats filming (; Enjoy.



P.S. Please mute the volume! The music is profane rap music. I don't enjoy it, but the video was made for someone else. Thanks!

BLOG: CREATIVTY

The abundance of online tools available today help foster creativity. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook make it easy for just about anyone to share their opinions. Tools like Instagram and youtube allow for even more creativity as users can post several forms of videos such as parodies or animations all made at home. For example, Brooks Barnes of the New York Times published an article about a youtube parody made in 2007. The parody features disney characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Piglet dancing around to Rapper "Soulja Boy's" music. The video has hundreds of thousands of views and made me laugh. I'm sure it took a very long time to make. I believe that people know making funny videos will get them plenty of views and that alone motivates them to create and publish content online.

Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds are a relatively new phenomena. They are worlds hosted online by massive computers that allow users to communicate and interact with others as well as build things. In an article by Diane Mehta on forbes.com, Diane validates the idea that software like second life and minecraft are being used by people of all ages to interact online. I know from my own personal studies in psychology that second life has been used to treat social anxiety in many people across the world. Sometimes these people find it easier to interact with real people online than in person. Eytan Bakshy validates this thesis with data in his paper titled "Second life Social Influence EC". This helps build their confidence and leads to better personal touch and go relationships. On the other hand, virtual worlds are used by children to build things and utilize their creativity. Kids create their own virtual worlds in minecraft and build things however they'd like. My own cousin plays this game and he often hosts parties on his server where people join and help him build his village. I think virtual worlds are here to stay and will only become more popular as developers release more tools like this that fit a greater scheme of needs. I can see it mysef, even here at Baruch, people go crazy over this game called "league of legends" in the computer labs.