Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Reading Response # 5
This article is very interesting. This article brings up many things involved with the privacy on the Internet and social networking sites. I personally use the social networking site Facebook so I can relate to what Facebook shares with everyone and what pops up on the news feed. I do not like that every time I choose to update my status or change something on my profile everyone of my friends will see it pop up in their news feed. I can see why people where so outraged by this when it first came out. In the section titled Generation Google I find the author to be especially vocal about his opinion, I feel like his view on the subject really comes out in this section. He lists things in a way that make him sound like he is worked up about the subject. I do agree that younger people are growing up with this as a norm and how it can effect our reputation, which is a true detriment. Our reputation is everything; it is how people view us as a person, and now even if we are qualified for certain jobs. We all like to say we don’t judge people by what we hear are see but the truth is subconsciously we do. I do not know a single person who could see someone they went to high school with who is now pregnant and not judge. I also found the section about changing the laws that surround privacy to be every interesting. I did not know how the U.S. stood on the subject of privacy online, however I do know that privacy is a lot stricter in Canada. This past summer I visited my family up there and I noticed the differences in the social networking sites that they use and the information that can be viewed. I think that the laws in the U.S. do need to be changed or updated. The times are changing and the laws need to be set in place to safe guard us against all these new things that are becoming social norms.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
News Report
Wyatt, Edward. "F.C.C. Investigates Google Street View." NewYorkTimes.com. The New York Times Company, 10 Nov. 2010. Web. 10 Nov. 2010.
The Federal Communications Commission announced that it would be investigating Google for violating laws when collecting data for it’s new Street View project. The Street View project began in 2007 and was designed to add street pictures to Google’s mapping services. It does this by collecting images from cars that use cameras to collect images and link them to GPS data. According to Michele Ellison chief of the F.C.C’s enforcement bureau Google’s cars have collected emails, password, and other personal information from unsuspecting people everywhere. Recently the cars also began recording information about WIFI networks, which can help mobile devices find the locations. Google took this a little further by recording the data that was being sent over these networks. Google says that once they noticed what was happening they quit and informed the authorities and that they are deeply sorry and have not and will not use any of the data they collected. The inquiry by the trade commission was halted by Google’s assurances that they would not use the data and that they are improving their privacy protections. Privacy advocates, who asked Google to disclose why and how the information was collected in the first place, were angered by this decision. Other countries will be or already have investigated Google as well.
I find this article to be really interesting. I would be outrage if I found out Google had some of my information. I think that Google should have monitored what their cars where recording more closely. They should also have restrictions in place about what the cars can record or are equipped to record. A simple apology is not going to make people whose information they have happy.
The Federal Communications Commission announced that it would be investigating Google for violating laws when collecting data for it’s new Street View project. The Street View project began in 2007 and was designed to add street pictures to Google’s mapping services. It does this by collecting images from cars that use cameras to collect images and link them to GPS data. According to Michele Ellison chief of the F.C.C’s enforcement bureau Google’s cars have collected emails, password, and other personal information from unsuspecting people everywhere. Recently the cars also began recording information about WIFI networks, which can help mobile devices find the locations. Google took this a little further by recording the data that was being sent over these networks. Google says that once they noticed what was happening they quit and informed the authorities and that they are deeply sorry and have not and will not use any of the data they collected. The inquiry by the trade commission was halted by Google’s assurances that they would not use the data and that they are improving their privacy protections. Privacy advocates, who asked Google to disclose why and how the information was collected in the first place, were angered by this decision. Other countries will be or already have investigated Google as well.
I find this article to be really interesting. I would be outrage if I found out Google had some of my information. I think that Google should have monitored what their cars where recording more closely. They should also have restrictions in place about what the cars can record or are equipped to record. A simple apology is not going to make people whose information they have happy.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
News Report
Nov. 2, 1815: Boole Born, Boolean Logic Logically Follows, November 2, 2010 by Dylan Tweney, found on www.wired.com
On November 2, 1815 George Boole was born. He would later go on to be an English mathematician and help create what we know as Boolean logic. Boole was taught at home by his father when he was younger and when he was merely 16 he began working as a schoolteacher. At the age of 24 he was submitting papers to major journals related to linear transformations and differential equations. In 1844 The Royal Society honored him for a paper he wrote about mathematical functions combining calculus and algebra. He later became a fellow of the society in 1857. Despite not having a formal college degree at the age off 33 he became a professor at Queen’s College in Ireland’s County Cork. Despite all of this we mostly know about his work with Boolean logic also known as Boolean algebra. This method reduces all logical problems to symbols. Claude Shannon’s system of using all digits that are either 1 or 0 combined with Boole’s Boolean operators of and, or, and not can be used to solve any mathematical problem. Boolean logic can also be used to make computer programs that can manipulate images and text, process mathematical problems, communicate with other computers, capture images and redisplay them in real time, and store data. However Boole was ahead of his time and the programmability of computers would have to wait till the 20th century to be discovered.
I found this article to be very interesting. I know what Boolean operators are and how to use them but I did not know the history be hide the true inventor of them. I find it very interesting that Boole was so ahead for his time and was able to go so far with such little education.
On November 2, 1815 George Boole was born. He would later go on to be an English mathematician and help create what we know as Boolean logic. Boole was taught at home by his father when he was younger and when he was merely 16 he began working as a schoolteacher. At the age of 24 he was submitting papers to major journals related to linear transformations and differential equations. In 1844 The Royal Society honored him for a paper he wrote about mathematical functions combining calculus and algebra. He later became a fellow of the society in 1857. Despite not having a formal college degree at the age off 33 he became a professor at Queen’s College in Ireland’s County Cork. Despite all of this we mostly know about his work with Boolean logic also known as Boolean algebra. This method reduces all logical problems to symbols. Claude Shannon’s system of using all digits that are either 1 or 0 combined with Boole’s Boolean operators of and, or, and not can be used to solve any mathematical problem. Boolean logic can also be used to make computer programs that can manipulate images and text, process mathematical problems, communicate with other computers, capture images and redisplay them in real time, and store data. However Boole was ahead of his time and the programmability of computers would have to wait till the 20th century to be discovered.
I found this article to be very interesting. I know what Boolean operators are and how to use them but I did not know the history be hide the true inventor of them. I find it very interesting that Boole was so ahead for his time and was able to go so far with such little education.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Reading Response # 3
In the first article “Why the next Big Pop-Culture Wave After Cupcakes May be Libraries” I understand that the author is trying to say that libraries maybe the newest thing people are becoming crazy about. He focuses on the channel TLC and the TV shows they have made into pop culture sensations. Some of these include 19 Kids and counting which focuses on a family with 19 children, Say yes to the Dress which features brides getting help from dress consultants to find the perfect dress, and DC cupcakes which is about to sisters who start a cupcake shop in DC. His point is that this is what could potentially happen to libraries if the hype about them continues and people become more interested in them.
Personally I found this article very hard to read and understand. It is not very well written and very jumbled. I disagree with his opinion and do not think libraries will become the next to pop culture craze. I think this because all of the other ones have something fueling them, what I mean to say is we watch to understand them that’s why they are popular. Why would u possibly want 19 kids, is it that hard to find a wedding dress and are brides really that mean, or is having a cupcake shop profitable and as easy as it looks? As for libraries we know what they are, we know why they are there, and we know what they offer so what is to be intriguing?
The second article “ The Library of the future begins to emerge” is about what the libraries of the future maybe like and that it maybe coming sooner than we think. It focuses a lot on the Milpitas Public Library and the way it has been organized and the opinions of its users. This library has private reading rooms, group-study rooms, a reading area with magazines and newspapers, local history room, computer-training center and a conference room, a multipurpose room/theater, a teen center where they can get help with homework, as well as 107 computers, and a children’s library section. They also have self check outs so that librarian will be able to help more people instead of being stuck behind a desk. This article also focuses on the fact that librarians are going to have to adapt and learn to handle the constant changes in technology. They will have to be constantly learning to keep up. So librarians will never be obsolete and neither will libraries.
I found this article to be interesting and I hope that more libraries continue to make changes in order to better improve their functionality and usefulness. I also am a bit worried because I am horrible with technology and will have to do some major learning myself to be able to keep up with all these future changes.
Personally I found this article very hard to read and understand. It is not very well written and very jumbled. I disagree with his opinion and do not think libraries will become the next to pop culture craze. I think this because all of the other ones have something fueling them, what I mean to say is we watch to understand them that’s why they are popular. Why would u possibly want 19 kids, is it that hard to find a wedding dress and are brides really that mean, or is having a cupcake shop profitable and as easy as it looks? As for libraries we know what they are, we know why they are there, and we know what they offer so what is to be intriguing?
The second article “ The Library of the future begins to emerge” is about what the libraries of the future maybe like and that it maybe coming sooner than we think. It focuses a lot on the Milpitas Public Library and the way it has been organized and the opinions of its users. This library has private reading rooms, group-study rooms, a reading area with magazines and newspapers, local history room, computer-training center and a conference room, a multipurpose room/theater, a teen center where they can get help with homework, as well as 107 computers, and a children’s library section. They also have self check outs so that librarian will be able to help more people instead of being stuck behind a desk. This article also focuses on the fact that librarians are going to have to adapt and learn to handle the constant changes in technology. They will have to be constantly learning to keep up. So librarians will never be obsolete and neither will libraries.
I found this article to be interesting and I hope that more libraries continue to make changes in order to better improve their functionality and usefulness. I also am a bit worried because I am horrible with technology and will have to do some major learning myself to be able to keep up with all these future changes.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
News report # 3
“How Google Instant Could Reinvent Channel Flipping “by Tim Carmody ,published on September 9,2010 on www.wired.com
This article discusses the new feature Google has come up with called instant search. Basically this feature begins searching the web as you type in the search bar. The author at first thinks that this idea is just silly because of the sear size of the web and the fact that Google cannot determine whether you are looking for a movie, book, quote, or anything else. When he rethinks the use of this feature by lowing the data set and which Google device he is using then he finds it to be very useful. The author believes that this feature would be very help with the TV. So if you are searching Google TV then you will be able to begin typing in a movie or TV show title or description and Google will begin searching their database for anything related to that title with movies or television. He uses the example that he has forgotten everything about a movie he saw years ago except that it may have had China in the title and was an action movie. So in a future Google product he will be able to type in c-h-I then bypass anything with Chicago, narrow it to action then pow, there it is with a picture, cast list and brief synopsis of the movie. It would be just that simple. He states that Gmail already has a similar feature that they use to organize their contacts so now all that need to be done is applying this to other local searches. As of right now Google instant search in cool but just wait to see what it means for the future.
I think that is article is very interesting. At first the author seems to think this is a dumb feature but when he puts it in a new context it becomes this amazing revolution. I love the vivid examples he uses to help readers understand what this feature could do in the future and how it may affect them. All in all I found this to be a very well written article.
This article discusses the new feature Google has come up with called instant search. Basically this feature begins searching the web as you type in the search bar. The author at first thinks that this idea is just silly because of the sear size of the web and the fact that Google cannot determine whether you are looking for a movie, book, quote, or anything else. When he rethinks the use of this feature by lowing the data set and which Google device he is using then he finds it to be very useful. The author believes that this feature would be very help with the TV. So if you are searching Google TV then you will be able to begin typing in a movie or TV show title or description and Google will begin searching their database for anything related to that title with movies or television. He uses the example that he has forgotten everything about a movie he saw years ago except that it may have had China in the title and was an action movie. So in a future Google product he will be able to type in c-h-I then bypass anything with Chicago, narrow it to action then pow, there it is with a picture, cast list and brief synopsis of the movie. It would be just that simple. He states that Gmail already has a similar feature that they use to organize their contacts so now all that need to be done is applying this to other local searches. As of right now Google instant search in cool but just wait to see what it means for the future.
I think that is article is very interesting. At first the author seems to think this is a dumb feature but when he puts it in a new context it becomes this amazing revolution. I love the vivid examples he uses to help readers understand what this feature could do in the future and how it may affect them. All in all I found this to be a very well written article.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
News Report # 2
Freedom to Read Foundation Awards Seven Judith Krug Fund grants for Banned Books Week Events By Jonathan M. Kelley September 9, 2010 http://ala.org/ala/newspresscenter/news/pr.cfm?id=4910
This article is about grants that the Judith Krug Memorial Fund has given out to schools and libraries all over the country in order for them to go on with projects related to Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is September 25- October 2 this year. Each year the week seeks to draw attention to the harm of censorship and the freedom to access information. This is the first year that the Judith Krug Memorial Fund has done anything. The Fund was established in April 2009 after the death of Krug who founded the Freedom to Read Foundation. Krug was the person who founded Banned Books week in the first place back in 1982. The biggest grant of 2,500 was given to the Iowa City Public Library, which they will use to support their “Rolling Read-Out!” that will be during the homecoming parade at the University of Iowa. Six other organizations received 1,000-dollar grants to put towards their activities. These organizations include Dayton (Ohio) Metro Library East Branch, ACLU of Pennsylvania, Canisius College in Buffalo N.Y, Santa Monica California Public Library, St. Catherine College in Kentucky, and Takoma Park Maryland Library.
I found this article to be very interesting. I think that is really cool that all of these places are doing things to support Banned Books Week. It was nice to see that the Judith Krug Memorial Fund was also helping them out with grants so that they can make their activities even better. I did not know that Banned Books Week was this popular I mean I have heard of it but I did not believe it was this big.
This article is about grants that the Judith Krug Memorial Fund has given out to schools and libraries all over the country in order for them to go on with projects related to Banned Books Week. Banned Books Week is September 25- October 2 this year. Each year the week seeks to draw attention to the harm of censorship and the freedom to access information. This is the first year that the Judith Krug Memorial Fund has done anything. The Fund was established in April 2009 after the death of Krug who founded the Freedom to Read Foundation. Krug was the person who founded Banned Books week in the first place back in 1982. The biggest grant of 2,500 was given to the Iowa City Public Library, which they will use to support their “Rolling Read-Out!” that will be during the homecoming parade at the University of Iowa. Six other organizations received 1,000-dollar grants to put towards their activities. These organizations include Dayton (Ohio) Metro Library East Branch, ACLU of Pennsylvania, Canisius College in Buffalo N.Y, Santa Monica California Public Library, St. Catherine College in Kentucky, and Takoma Park Maryland Library.
I found this article to be very interesting. I think that is really cool that all of these places are doing things to support Banned Books Week. It was nice to see that the Judith Krug Memorial Fund was also helping them out with grants so that they can make their activities even better. I did not know that Banned Books Week was this popular I mean I have heard of it but I did not believe it was this big.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Reading Response #2
This article is about Wikipedia and how its popularity has decreased in the last few years. Wikipedia was started in 2001, in 2007it hit the 2 million-article mark but it took all the way till August of 2009 to hit the 3 million mark. Why is this? Well in 2007 people for some reason have decided not to create new articles, add information, or even edit errors on already existing pages. Some of the volunteers that edit, add, and go over articles on Wikipedia have recently began trying to improve Wikipedia’s image. By taking off untrue information about living people and adding editorial controls they hope to improve Wikipedia’s trustworthiness. Now before someone’s edit will be posted to Wikipedia it will first be inspected for accuracy by Wikipedia’s administrators. Ed Chi, a computer scientist at California’s Palo Alto Research Center notes that the reason for the slump is because Wikipedia used to thrive on chaos and now with all the controls that monitor accuracy installed it is no longer chaos but rather structured and boring. Another factor that could be adding to the slump is the fact that after so long what information is there left to add or alter. There is no longer the thrill of posting something new only for it to appear either completely altered or for people to pick it apart because it was cited incorrectly. As of right now they have not yet figured out how to attract new editors for the free encyclopedia. So what does this mean for the future of this site? I guess only time will tell.
I think this article was really interesting. I personally have never added or edited anything on Wikipedia so I did not know that there are these controls set up and that you need to follow certain guidelines. I think that the fact that they have established controls over what is posted and its accuracy is a good thing. When in school we all know never to sight Wikipedia as a source because it is considered unreliable due to the fact that anyone can post things. With these controls however it may become a possibility to one-day use Wikipedia as a reliable source. What I do not understand is why controls for credibility and accuracy of information are turning people away from posting or editing? I mean if what you post is wrong and they tell you or someone edits it isn’t that a good thing so that you now know what the right thing is?
I think this article was really interesting. I personally have never added or edited anything on Wikipedia so I did not know that there are these controls set up and that you need to follow certain guidelines. I think that the fact that they have established controls over what is posted and its accuracy is a good thing. When in school we all know never to sight Wikipedia as a source because it is considered unreliable due to the fact that anyone can post things. With these controls however it may become a possibility to one-day use Wikipedia as a reliable source. What I do not understand is why controls for credibility and accuracy of information are turning people away from posting or editing? I mean if what you post is wrong and they tell you or someone edits it isn’t that a good thing so that you now know what the right thing is?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)