Different strokes for different news folks

The six websites that I looked at for our group project were all very different in content but all had different values that I could see beneficial to the different groups that use them.  I could not say that one was much better than another because they all had their different positive and negative aspects.  I looked at ABC, newscloud, New York Post, Charlotte observer, Miami Herald, and St. Petersburg times.  Opinion versus fact.  Who is right or wrong.  Looking at different news organizations, they can have a complex strategy that buries the information or they can be too technologically advanced for anyone to figure out what the heck they are trying to say.  The spectrum is large and diverse but the common theme is the inconsitency in the consistency.

The ABC site was all about the shows and did not tell much about the news.  I would rate it a 1 out of 5 as far as news content, 5 out of 5 on its broadcasts.  The Charlotte observer felt like I had picked up the latest tabliod off the newstand which was opposite of the New York Post and Miami Herald.  The Charlotte observer did have some news but as far as creditability for me I would wasy it was between a 2 or 3 out of 5.  I would not be certain of the content of the stories being 100% true from my specualtion.  The New York Post and the Miami Herald would rate at a 4.5 out of 5.  They seemed to both be well organized and fact checked as well as fairly user friendly.  In trying to recall anything about the St. Petersburg times, I can’t remember what it was even about which means that it was not very exciting and not much to report.  But when I looked back to the site another day, I found it to be very basic but covered most of the points of media.  I would rate it a 3 out of 5. 

I found it soothing for the sites that had some technology but not overbearing with moving and talking parts.  Like handprints, no two are alike or have all of the same features.  Whose is to say which is better or more user friendly?  It is all about opinion and what it means to you.  You are wondering why none of the sites rated a 5 out of 5?  I guess it is because I am so used to the Seattle Times and it’s layout that would be the only paper that I would rate a 5 out of 5, but I was not asked to rate it so therefore, no one received a perfect score.

Internet wide divide

Where would we be without the internet? I think of how the world has changed because of the digital divide just in the past ten years. People no longer fill out paper job applications and there is no such thing as a typing class, it is now called a computer class. What is truly important in our children’s education? How can we measure the divide? Children who are underprivileged should be given help to have the same opportunities as other children, however I do not think that it starts with a laptop for every child; it starts with the basics and then redesigning the education system so they have a chance to make it. 

 “Developing countries will face a difficult future without similar investments. The gap between rich and poor countries worsens as the digital divide widens.” There is a consensus that technology is a priority and a staple in order for these countries to survive and there are many parts of the world that are making that transition very smoothly. However, much bigger issues need to be addressed before giving each child their own laptop.

As discussed in class, you cannot function without water or food. You need the basics first. Once you have the basics, there is room to grow and adapt. There is obvious gaps that need to be filled in but you can‘t put the cart before the horse. Once these countries have established a basis of basics, then it is up to them to continue to grow and develop into an internet community. The article Children Falling into the Digital Divide, discuses how if third world countries want to make it to the big leagues, they need to become computer literate. It does not talk about have one laptop per each child, it talks about the basics.

In focusing on our own country, I think that we also need to focus on the basics. If we could get the same number of computers into each school and the same amount of computer instruction from teachers, I think that this would be a great start. Give each student an opportunity to have it at school. Come up with after school programs that give students who do not have laptops at home the chance to play around on the computers and teach them things that they would otherwise be oblivious to in life. Set a standard of papers done in class as to give them the opportunity to work on them, as they would not be able to otherwise. Another idea that came up was the point of checking out laptops at the library or having a standard GPA to maintain having one. Start small and work big. Start with food and water, and then work into each child having the same opportunities.

It would take quite a bit of resources, public and private, but I think that we should bring up everyone together. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink. The same goes for children, present them with the same opportunities and let them choose what they want to do with their life. Start small by fixing America’s digital divide first, and then conquer the rest of the world.

Koss, Fabian (2001). Children Falling into the Digital Divide. Journal of International Affairs, 55 No. 1, Retrieved March 4, 2009, from http://www.iadb.org/ethics/Documentos/abs_kos_onchi-i.pdf

 

To group or not to group…..that is the question….

In looking over my two news sites, New York Times and Charlotte Observer, I found very large differences.  New York Times seemed to be better laidout and easier to navigate.  The Charlotte Observer had the feel of a tabloid newspaper and not very trust worthy.  I can’t pinpoint what it was besides the  shorter articles and the off the beaten path stories themselves in the Charlotte Observer.

The front page featured articles such as Michael Phelps not convicted and John Kerry’s mistress photos taken of a jet that she was on with him.  These are not headliners on the 5′o clock news or other major news organizations.

Another issue I noticed on both websites is the control that they have in blogging.  Both sites had places to comment on the stories that they featured but there was no open blogging that I cold find in their sites.  They comments were moderated by the site as well to make sure that the content was appropriate.  Why would you have comments that appear to be original when you are moderating them to be biased in your defense?  This frusterates me that they are using this to their advantage to show people who are supporting their views on the article. 

What is the best way to group items for clarity in a website?  This is subject to interpretation but I think that the NYTimes does a fairly decent job of showing how most news sites can group for clarity.

The Tail of Two Lanes…..

Will courts start using Youtube video, google searches and myspace profiles as court evidence?

The article I chose from Wikipedia was Satellite Imagery with the URL of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satellite_imagery. This article talks about the first satellite pictures of the earth were taken back in 1959 but the Explorer satellite. There are many types of uses for satellite pictures such as “agriculture, geology, forestry, biodiversity conservation, regional planning, education, intelligence and warfare.” The original date of the article was November 18, 2004 at 20:31. There are six contributors with four references. I selected the topic of Satellite Imagery to broaden my knowledge of how satellite images work and in what context they are used within our communities.

In researching the sources cited, there is a lot of information on the history of how the satellite was formed as well as the basics of aerospace and what information satellites are used for. There are small controversies on this page such as the resolution of the images as well as the privacy and intention of such pictures and companies like Google Maps and Virtual Earth. One such argument is the privacy of the people and places that the pictures are disclosing. Military areas and people’s personal property have been topics of discussion. I think that the article spends more time talking about the history and the common companies that use these satellites for various purposes than any controversial topics of how they are used. No where in the article was there information retrieved about companies using these pictures as evidence.

The other article I found through google scholar was Survey of Work on Road Extraction in Aerial Satellite Images with a URL of http://www.dmi.usherb.ca/~auclair/Univ/Publi/Auclair-TR247.pdf. This article gives a solid synopsis of what the process of satellite images on roadways has become. There are different sections in this article including road characteristics, performance, evaluation, proposed system, and conclusion. There are 24 references listed for this article. I believe that the article Survey of Work on Road Extraction in Aerial Satellite Images is the more credible article between the two articles because all of the statements are supported by references in each section. There are many credible sources as well as a linear page layout into easy to read sections that are well thought out.

I was part of an auto accident where the police cited the other party, yet the other insurance is denying the claim based on the facts of a Google earth photo that is estimated to be about two years old. These pictures are out of date and are no longer relevant, yet they are denying the claim because this is their “normal” process to approve or deny claims. I am now responsible for disproving the validity of the photo with new photos. My thought process for this assignment was to try to learn more about how satellites work and how often they are updated. I did not have time to research all of the articles, but most of the information was very basic, giving the history as well as the different types but no in depth analysis of each type and how they fit into society. It talks about the functions of being able to dial in and look at specifics of the roadway but neither article addressed how this effects the public in either a positive or negative way. The scholarly article did provide reference to road extraction as well as details of how weather and angels of specific shots can alter the result of what the road looks like.

I tried to research different satellite internet companies that had different photos and all of the ones I found were outdated. The reason I know this is because I typed in my address and the house next to use is not showing up as built, just an empty lot. That house has been built for a year and a half proving that these are not current photos. It is amazing to me that a company can base a denial of a claim on an internet photo. As technology advances, companies use it to their advantage and to the disadvantage of the consumer. Soon are the days where court cases will be supported by evidence in google searches and myspace profiles, it has already happened to me.

 

 

 

Satellite imagery. (2009, February 6). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:01, February 11, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Satellite_imagery&oldid=268960350

 

Fortier, A, Ziou, D, Armenakis, C, & Wang, S (2004). Survey of Work on Road Extraction in Aerial Satellite Images. Department of Informational Mathematics University of Sherbrooke and Center for Topographic Information Geomatics Canada, Technical Report No. 241, February 11, 2009, from http://www.dmi.usherb.ca/~auclair/Univ/Publi/Auclair-TR247.pdf.

 

 

 

 

Discussion Leader on Social Networks and Technology

I had fun making this and learning about the technology.  There is so much you can do with technology.  I wish that I had a month to sit in front of the computer and play with all of the different settings of the new programs that I have been introduced to.  Between Myspace, Facebook, WordPress, and Skype, I don’t think I will ever be able to give up technology and social networking sites.

Citations:

 

Bulk, Frank (2004, May 5th). Final Project: Skype. Retrieved February 1, 2009, from PDF file Web site: http://www1.cs.columbia.edu/~salman/skype/frank.pdf 

Found by Googlescholar.co

Elia, Antonella (December 2006). Language Learning in Tandem Via Skype. The Reading Matrix, 6 No. 3, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/elia/article.pdf 

Found by using Lexisnexis.com through UofW library from off-campus search

Hibbard, J., & Reinhardt, A. (2005). Skype: How a Startup Harnessed the Hoopla. Business Week, 3952, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/05_39/b3952047.htm?chan=gl. 

Found by google.com search

Powerpoint Presentation on Skype

Skype, The eyes and education of the world-Essay #1

The social networking site of Skype started out as a small business venture but in just a few years turned into a company that was sold for 2.6 billion dollars and it now used for educational purposes as well as entertainment.

Before a couple weeks ago, I had never heard of Skype.com. Then my mother introduced me to the free internet telephone that you can also hook up to a web camera to see the other person. I was amazed and intrigued. Who came up with it? If it is free, how do they make money? I started to do research and realized that this is possibly going to be as big as Myspace or Facebook.The first article I read was Skype:How a Startup Harnessed the Hoopla. This article out of Business Week talked about how Skype was sold. There were many different talks with different companies and how the bidders swirled around them. There were talks with Google and other large companies but they could not come to an agreement of price. In the end talks with Ebay lead to the sale of what was once a tiny internet company that did not have the intent to build big and sell high in a short amount of time. The market was right as well as the price and they found the perfect match with Ebay.

The second article that I read was Language Learning in Tandem via Skype. This scholarly article from The Reading Matrix had a completely different take on what Skype was trying to achieve. It talked about how Skype was marketed for learning foreign languages and it made it easy for people from all over the world to communicate with the touch of a button and talk to each other for very cheap across the world. The startup is user friendly, there is an option to use the voice function or to instant message and not much technology is required. “Skype, as reported in the website page ‘About Skype,’is available in 27 languages and is the fastest growing worldwide software for voice communication.”(Elia) The trend is catching on very fast. The article switches back to the focus of education and how students are able to learn different languages from each other. Tandem learning and “skypecasting” (taken from pod casting in the Elia article) are incorporated into the function of the service.

The scholarly article is more complex to read but definitely give information that is much more useful. It has an introduction, history of the company, and talks about how it relates to education, how fast the company is growing. The scholarly article has endnotes, references and a formal introduction and conclusion as well as a short summary about the author. The popular article is easy to read but does not give half as much information and no statistics of how the company is doing. There is no clear direction as to where they want their business to go or what they are doing to get it there. It only explained how they sold the company. The scholarly article was much longer but had relevant interesting information about the company.

It was a little difficult finding relevant articles on Skype since it is a newer company. I thought that these two articles did a very good job showing the differences how an article can be informational or to fill space with not a lot of useful content. I do think that they both made the point that Skype is a very important company that is in the business of doing things the right way. They were sold to Ebay, which is a very reputable company and they are trying to take the Skype way of communication to another level for the entire world to see.

 

Hibbard, J., & Reinhardt, A. (2005). Skype: How a Startup Harnessed the Hoopla. Business Week, 3952, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.businessweek.com/print/magazine/content/05_39/b3952047.htm?chan=gl.

Found by google.com search 

Elia, Antonella (December 2006). Language Learning in Tandem Via Skype. The Reading Matrix, 6 No. 3, Retrieved January 28, 2009, from http://www.readingmatrix.com/articles/elia/article.pdf

Found by using Lexisnexis.com through UofW library from off-campus search

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can’t believe it’s not butter!

Who would have known it could be this easy!  I went to seattletimes.com and did not see the orange button.  I clicked on a random story and instantly the orange button appeared on the upper left hand corner.  I clicked on it and it melted in my mouth like butter……..  Who would have known that it was this easy?  What have I been missing? I have alot of work to do, to create less work for myself.  To think that I thought “AOL favorites” was as good as it gets!

The first blog

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How I use digital media….

I use digital media in multiple ways but on a very simple field of play.  I use email at home as well as work and use the internet at home.  I find myself going to the same sites over and over and I don’t really explore much so this class is going to be very good for me.  I have taken college courses over the internet but not an internet college course.  I know it sounds wierd but I feel as if I am finally working my way out of the 90′s now that it is 2009.  I use myspace and facebook as well as pay my bills online as well as check my 401k online as the balance kepps shrinking and shrinking with the economy.  At work, we have an intranet that you can not access most outside websites.  I was very excited a couple of weeks ago when I found out that we can now access governmental and educational websites.  How boring am I?  Financial and government sites, I really need to get a more exciting life.  I do have access to email and internet on my phone but the connection is soo slow that I give up using it most of the time.