its my life

Access of information

2008-12-05T10:47:00.000-08:00

With the emergence of the Internet and the advancement of modern technology, information has become more readily available and accessible then it ever has been before. Easily accessible information has become a factor in almost every business and corporate service in use today. With this, comes both good and bad things. One the one hand, you can at any time be more informed about something such as tracking a package through UPS. You can track it from when it leaves the factory to when it will arrive at your door. This allows you to plan around other things in your life, assuming you knew exactly when your package was arriving. However, on the other end of the spectrum, the level at which information has become accessible has compromised the integrity of the information itself. Online applications such as Wikipedia have such a vast bank of information that it allows users to submit and alter information on their own. This results in an excess of false information and non credible sources. This comes full circle with the accessibility of information when the masses of people refer to this false information.
Readily available information on the Internet does have many benefits. When everyone has more knowledge in less time, it allows people to be more productive, and efficiency is increased. The same statement can be made for social networking applications. Online applications such as Facebook and MySpace allow people to stay more connected, and contacting people can be done quickly. In addition, people can be contacted in large groups allowing for greater mass conglomeration. For companies, advertisement on the Internet is a factor in this as well. Product information and service advertisements are easily accessed and it is that much easier to spread their word. Musicians are another group largely benefited by having people be able to access their work. Unknown artists can get their name out without it costing them much. People can pay online for a song or album and download it in a matter of seconds. You could also order a CD online and receive it within a few days.
On the other end of things, the easy accessibility of the Internet has its drawbacks. With everyone able to use the Internet as a tool to express their opinions, you begin to get grey area between what is someones opinion and what is reputable fact. The fact that anyone can go on a site like Wikipedia and change information to be what the user wants it to be, makes the credibility of the website as a whole questionable. Peoples fake credentials wouldn't fly with an actual publisher publishing someones book. Of course, this process doesn't happen as quickly as someone publishing their post on a blog website, but it ensures the integrity of the work as being double checked before released.

Government 2.0

2008-11-21T10:01:00.000-08:00

When it comes to government, specifically elections, it is easy to see how a lack of knowledge and general submersion in it's constantly changing current events could lead to a lack of engagement and participation. However, this could be radically reformed through the use of technology and the Internet. The ease of access people have to information through the Internet and other technologies not only makes government more accessible, but something that people look to access on their own. One thing about the nature of technology and Internet is that it's constantly updated and can update itself in real time if set up to do so. If people have this constant access to live information and they can see more of what goes on behind the scenes when they aren't being given whatever someone has to say at a press conference, it makes government more transparent, because you can take what you want from seeing what you see, you aren't just necessarily presented with someone else's spin on whats happening.
One benefit from use of the internet and technology in Government is it's ability to get the younger age groups more involved. I know, myself, being a part of this demographic, it isn't often that you find your average teenager following the campaign trail on television and in the newspapers. However, chances are they'll spend at least a good part of a day on the internet, possibly watching YouTube videos and perusing commonly visited websites. If the government offered more user friendly, fun to visit websites offering frequently updated information, you would definately find more young people involved.
One of the strongest communication tools I see being used by president-elect Barack Obama is YouTube, which he plans on using to present his weekly addresses. The reason YouTube will be such a huge factor is because it has the single most amount of people accessing it on a daily basis. It's a hugely used medium to get information to the world for just about everyone these days. And although YouTube will play a huge factor in this presidency, there are many other tools that I could see coming into play. Something that will simplify the complicated information that has something beneficial to take away from it if you could just understand it. Just like one responder to the Slashdot question mentioned, when looking at the Congressional record, something that allows you to click on any statement in the US Code and get real time information about it, like what the hell it means and how it came to be that way, then it would be a lot easier to understand what it is your reading and therefor have an opinion about it. Other big players I see getting involved in the technology aspect of this presidency are the larger names like Google and Wikipedia. Google has the means to make a lot of things possible, such as the aforementioned program, as well as being one of the most commonly visited websites on a daily basis. Anything put on Google in a noticable manner will be viewed by countless people every day. On the other end, websites such as Wikipedia are excellent at making complicated topics more understandable, and making that information very easy to find.
Internet communications and other technologies will definately play a huge role in this presidency. If used correctly, they will get a lot of people involved in the Government, as well as being able to present the Government in an accessible and easy to understand way. This is definately innovation, but a much needed, and one with infinite potential if done correctly.

Network Nuetrality

2008-11-14T12:17:00.000-08:00

Today, network neutrality is a huge problem debated over by people and companies concerning what people have the right to do with the Internet they pay for. The problem at hand is if a company that provides Internet is allowed to filter what people are allowed to access and do on the Internet based on corporate contracts and financial gain, it is unfair to the people who pay for this Internet to be provided for them because they might not necessarily be able to access the things they want to. Conceptually, network neutrality is what makes the Internet what it was intended to be: a completely open communications tool for the entire world. Once you start blocking certain things, or prohibiting certain applications of the Internet, you lose this basic principle on which the Internet exists. In a sense, without network neutrality, being told what you can and can't view on the Internet by the network provider, is like being told what and who you can and can't say or call on the phone by the phone provider.
One large problem without having network neutrality, is smaller providers of information that don't have special contracts with network providers don't get fair and equal treatment when it comes to their representation. It is likely that their information might not be accessible because they don't provide the same financial gains to the provider that a larger company will. Also, network neutrality is the catalyst for innovation on the Internet. If the Internet weren't a place of guaranteed neutrality, there would be far less reason to innovate and create applications such as MySpace and Facebook. These applications would not have been created, if it wasn't a guarantee that once they were made, everyone, everywhere would be able to access it freely. After all, that's what makes these applications what they are. Some people argue that inappropriate content such as pornography legitimize what providers want to do with information. However, this is something that is up to the users of the Internet in a certain place to decide. If you have a computer in a library with Internet access provided by the cable company, it's unfair for the cable company to decide what you can and can't view, but rather should be set by the administrators of the computer, still protecting the potential to view this content if later decided.
Network neutrality is also something that will protect the consumer. You won't have to worry about losing access to something you paid for if there are rules and regulations in effect that protect you against exactly that. In a sense, network neutrality is much like the first amendment. It's unfair to filter content based on corporate contracts and financial gains, and also just morally wrong. Not only does this protect the consumer, but it protects the welfare of the Internet, both as a functioning network and as a concept alone. It ensures that the Internet is able to thrive freely, and that content can be created and shared without the fear of being blocked for financially related reasons.

Internet Gaming and Virtual Worlds

2008-11-07T11:11:00.000-08:00

Virtual worlds such as second life are great ways to interact with people and meet new friends. Games such as Second Life are a great way to get started navigating your way through these worlds. It's a fun experience, and it's easy to get the hang of. In Second Life, you can count on most of the people being sociable and helpful as opposed to other games that are more competitive based, where people will have the tendency to hinder your progression through the game. Second Life starts with creating your virtual identity. You can go with anything you want, some people prefer to recreate their real identity, where as others try to create a whole new one; the possibilities are endless. Second Life is pretty vast, so at first its difficult to figure out exactly where to go to find certain things, or what it is exactly you could potentially do with your time. Of course, the primary function of Second Life is human interaction, but there are a lot of other things you could do. There are completely customizable things to create, ranging from furniture to weapons to buildings. It's tricky to get the hang of at first, but once you get it you can have tons of fun creating and designing whatever it is you choose to make. The one interesting thing about Second Life is the use of real money in the game. If you made a free account like me, you're capabilities are slightly limited, so you'll find yourself unable to purchase or create property. The money system in Second Life, the Linden Dollar system, is what you use to purchase things, such as clothing, skin tones, and other things that allow you to customize your Life. Linden Dollars can be acquired through creating things in the game and then selling them, working in the game and earning money, or just paying real money through your credit card and getting the Linden Dollar exchange rate. The only problem with being able to both buy money and earn it, is that people who pay for money depreciate the value of what things are worth when they are made and sold. This same problem applies to other games where incorporating real money into the game is discouraged. Games such as World of Warcraft are based largely around the in-game world's economy. Everything is earned and therefor things have a certain value. When people sell gold for real world money to buy the best items, any old Joe can have that thing, making it less valuable for the people who put in the time to earn it. On the flip side of that, even though it isn't beneficial to the game, the entire black market economy for illegal game help has created countless jobs worldwide and stimulated economies through a new means of trade. Although many of these games are strictly online, their crossover into the real world is very relevant economically and socially for both individuals, and companies. Not only are these games profitable to the players, but they are also a social networking tool connecting people around the world.

Differneces in Journalism

2008-10-30T17:34:00.000-07:00

News coverage of events comes in many forms. The most popular of them and therefor the most effective mediums of communicating information comes in the form of newspapers and the Internet. However, these two sources tend to differ in how they give their information. When looking at the coverage of the 2008 world series, there are a few noticeable differences between the two. The newspaper tends to explain events in a chronological series, analyzing each event in order. The USA Today article that covers the game has a seperate section that breaks down each game. This is a good way to completely explain an event to both someone who has no knowledge of the event before reading about it, as well as being insightful for someone who knows about the event, but wants to know more details, possibly even what happened behind the scenes. Another thing newspapers tend to do a lot more of is quote people involved in the event. This is good because you get the opinions of more people that were close to the event, not just the reporter. The other thing about newspapers is their reliance on credibility. Newspapers go above and beyond to get the story straight and in its entirety.
The Internet is also a very good source to find out about news, but it goes about it slightly differently. Of course, there's just about every variation of news on the Internet, ranging from actual newspaper articles to online encyclopedias, leaving you to pick what you like. However, one common thread in most online articles that you don't really see as much in newspapers is freely expressed opinion. Of course, opinion can hinder the full reporting of an event if someone chose to leave out a detail or simply portray the event in a different light. On the other hand, opinion is a good way to get you thinking about the event, or even consider finding out about something related to it. The other side of the Internet is very factual. Sites such as ESPN.com or wikipedia.net, the online encyclopedia are full of facts and statistics about the game and players. If you're interested in the numbers, these are the places to go.
Although the Internet and the newspaper have these differences, there's a lot of similarities in the way they report news. Both are effective at picking up the small details, such as the fact that The Phillies win was their second championship in their 126-year history, the other came in 1980, and that batter Geoff Jenkins hit .256 against right handed pitchers, and .130 against lefties. Wherever you turn for news coverage chances are you'll get what you're looking for.

Sources:
USA Today - Thursday October 30, 2008
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=281027122
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_World_Series
http://pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/sports/s_595896.html

Blogs Ruin Elections

2008-10-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

October 24th 2008.
In today's political world how can a voter who is not well educated actually find time to sit down and learn about the potential candidates for the state senate? People who work 9-10 hours a day rarely have time to sit down and watch such programs as CNN or pick up a newspaper and study the facts which separate two people vying for the most important position in the world. Would it be better to have a voter who did not know the facts than someone who chooses to not vote at all? I Geoffrey Rowlins, work for a political news column based in Manhattan. and i can't tell you how many times people submit opinions that they find off of the internet from blogs. Education really does not mean that a person is free of biases. People tend to retain their biases and support them with whatever their level education is. However when they are coaxed into believeing something else by someone who "knows" what they are talking about, their opinion may change becasue of altered facts and untruths.
Blogs like Anderson Cooper try to show an unbiased account of the world around us, issues that are important to our world such as the war in Iraq and the failing economy and how it affects voters in New York. However, not all blogs are as unbiased as Anderson Cooper's, such blogs as Hullabaloo( D (2008, October 24). Eating Their Own. Retrieved October 24, 2008, from Hullabaloo Web site: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/) which show only a left sided approach towards politics may warp the mind of an uneducated voter, rahter than present the facts as they should have been. Another blog which shows the facts in a one sided approach is Liz Biz Blog, which tries to "educate" Long Island voters on certain issues that affect all citizens living in the empire state. The blog (Samuels, M. (2008, July 28). NY state’s ‘Amazon Tax’ may be no more. Retrieved October 24, 2008, Web site: http://libizblog.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/ny-states-amazon-tax-may-be-no-more/ ) may make voters scared of the new taxes that are invading New York, when the taxes in turn only affect the corporate companies that have highlighted in the Amazon tax. An uneducated voter may think that the taxes will somehow affect their shopping capabilities or place restrictions on their wallets, when in turn it would do no such thing. If we want to properly educate the uneducated voters, restrictions or warnings should be placed upon these blogs to lets viewers know what they are about to read was written by somebody with an agenda in mind. There should be more blogs and resources like Anderson Coopers available to anybody who wants to not only vote, but have an idea in who to vote for based on facts, not opinions.
Technorati Ranking-3 Weblogs
Yours in blogging, A Hirsch

2008-10-14T13:22:00.000-07:00

Theres lots of web applications ready and available for your use online. Many of them are free, where some require a subscription. However, there is one free application that really stands out from the rest. The social networking tool called Facebook (www.facebook.com) allows users to connect with other registered friends as well as keep in touch through the messaging feature. You can write on people's walls, post videos and pictures for them to see, and even challenge them to game of Jetman.

One of the best aspects of Facebook is its ease of use and simple interface. The few features are easily tabbed through, and subsequent features follow. It's also very easy to find friends and leave them messages, either public or private. Another very convenient feature of Facebook is the ability to stay in touch with people, or communicate with people with such ease. All it takes is going onto their page and leaving them a message which they can check any time. Facebook even goes as far to send you a notification email when someone has done so. Another nice thing about Facebook is the fact that you can post pictures of yourself and others for your friends to see. You can tag yourself and your friends in the pictures and again this is all very easy to do. However, there is some controversy over this feature, because you can easily post a picture of someone else on the internet that may be something that person doesn't want seen. The balance to this is that a person tagged in a picture can remove it, but only if they've been tagged.
Another fun thing about Facebook is the applications people create to use for various things. One popular one allows you to compare friends in many different aspects such as looks, personality, and intelligence, all of which is recorded and ranked by the program. Different programs such as Bumper Stickers, allows you to decorate your page and send images to other people for them to decorate their own page with. Most of these Bumper Stickers are very funny and trendy and aim to reflect aspects of peoples personality.
Facebook also has lots of groups you can create and join and invite others to join for various causes or events. Lost your phone? Start a group about how you need new phone numbers and invite everyone. Want to figure out who is coming to your christmas party? You can send people event invitations to which they can accept, decline, or put themselves as possibly attending.
Another major attraction of Facebook is the news feed on the main page. It shows you recent happenings with your friends such as how they've changed their profile picture or what one person said to another. It also shows you what groups people join, what events they'll be attending, and even when someone's birthday is coming up. All of this at an automatically updated live rate.
Facebook is an excellent communications tool. It has revolutionized a use of the internet and has definately gotten a lot more people involved.

Identity

2008-10-02T11:49:00.000-07:00

An online identity has a large role in how people interact online. Depending on what this identity is applied to, many people take different approaches on how to portray themselves. There is two very opposite ends of this spectrum, one have reason for being truthful and identifying your real self, and the other end which is a complete fantasy identity. Online programs such as Facebook and MySpace are a social networking tool in which you could find friends and family just by looking up their name. Because of this reason, most people choose to use their real names, as well as posting pictures and information about themselves. This is one place where there is a lot of grey area where truth and selected identity cross over. For example, you might use your real name and your real picture to identify exactly who you are, but in the area of favorite foods and favorite movies, you might want to sound a little daring and say that you like to eat Starfish and watch James Bond, when reality is you like lasagna and watch the OC.

You start to move even further away from truthfulness when you use a program that is even more anonymous by nature. A program such as AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) requires that you use a made-up alias to identify yourself. Although you could use your actual name or at least a part of it, most people choose to get a little more creative. Another thing that happens through this creation is an implied reputation. A more creative name that appeals to the average strangers taste of humor or creativeness is going to come with this implied trust, and will most likely even cause people to seek you out if you were for example in something like a chat room. One particular AOL identity from a long time ago that stands out in my mind, and which I give credit to for being rather creative was TheInvincibleCheese. Not too bad. I remember him from a chat room and he gained a lot of online popularity from his name alone. So regardless of whether you have any depth or character to your conversation, it’s evident that through a name alone you can gain trust and reputation just for standing out. However, this use of identity and implied trust is a source of danger to some. Anyone can assume a fake identity capable of gaining peoples trust right off the bat. And if they can do that, then they can most likely convince someone that they’re someone they’re not, they could go as far as to trick someone to meeting them somewhere in the real world, which happens all the time in the case of child molesters and thieves.

At the furthest end of this spectrum comes programs where your identity is completely created by yourself and there is a lot of room to play. A program like this I had some experience with is a mass online multiplayer game known as World of Warcraft. At any given time there’s more people than you can count online playing, so a large part of what people do to separate themselves from the crowd, or even just from their own mortal lives is create an identity possessing characteristics they may or may not really have. Someone could even express insecurities they have about themselves such as being physically small through making themselves an avatar that towers over everyone else. Again, coming up with an interesting avatar or an interesting name gives you this implied trust. Appearing to be a veteran at the game also gains you more trust, especially from newcomers.

Yours in blogging, A Hirsch

don't steal my identity

2008-09-26T11:39:00.000-07:00

These days privacy on the internet is a huge problem. There's lots of information to be taken about somebody, and most of its serious stuff. Just about every application of service on the internet requires some sort of registry that requires basic information about you such as your name and age and your email address which on the inter, might as well be your phone number. Also, with the world becoming more and more digital every day, social networking programs such as MySpace and Facebook are information hotspots for anyone looking for information about you. A few of the single largest problems privacy faces posed by the internet are the accessibility of financial information which hold probably the most important information about someone, internet videos, which could be of you in the shower, shot by your creepy neighbor through the window, and social networking programs that are the home to millions upon millions of peoples' personal photographs.

Privacy is the space your given to be yourself and enjoy whatever it is you like to enjoy without being interfered with by others. It's the right to keep what you feel should be kept to yourself and no one else. I remember firsthand, witnessing a violation of internet privacy that had life altering effects. My Grandparents were the victims of identity theft that happened through information take off of the internet. Someone found out their credit card information and social security number and used it to purchase expensive things. My Grandparents got billed for things they didn't buy and had to go as far as getting a lawyer and fighting the case in court. They eventually cleared their name, but even now they're permanently on file as having had this problem. Chances are all of this information was found from one website that required the information for something that seemed as harmless as online banking. This service provided now by most banks holds most your financial information somewhere online. All it takes is one person capable of finding out how to access this information and they could potentially ruin your life.

Another huge violation of privacy anyone is prone to on the internet, is the streaming of videos on websites such as YouTube. Suppose someone walked up to you with a video camera and got your face on camera. Then, they go home upload it to the internet and post it on YouTube. Not like it's an awesome video or anything, but whether you consent to it or not, your face is now available for everyone to see. The same goes for websites like Facebook where people have conversations and post pictures of themselves and others. It doesn't take much to see these pictures even if they're restricted to only being viewed by "friends". If you think about it, anyone can make one of these profiles, claim to be someone their not, get a picture from anywhere, of anyone, and pretend to be a cute outgoing girl looking for some friends. you become their friend and now they have full access to pictures of what you did last Saturday night, (which you might not remember aside from the pictures)

yours in blogging

a hirsch

online economies

2008-09-18T13:55:00.001-07:00

In my life I’ve been involved in many clubs and teams, but the best example of an economy that I was involved in which fits best as a gift economy would have to be my fraternity. What makes it so special is the fact that no one is in it for themselves; everyone is always thinking about the whole. It’s never I did this or I did that- it’s we did this together, look what we have created and sustained. There is an obligation to the other people who rely on you as a brother to get their part done. No one can ever do it on their own so someone whether a position holder or not does their part without question and they don’t expect to get anything back in return, they get the good old pat on the back and thank you since it is something that is expected of them. It’s the concept of generalized exchange (The Economies of Online Cooperation P.Kollock) I will help my friend in need in order to get the job done, but expect him to help me out when I need it.

The job in which he needs help was in order to provide a public good to fellow peers. Public goods, which are goods that anyone might benefit from, regardless of whether they have helped contribute to their production.(P.Kollock) We were setting up a party in which there is no guest list. This was an open party in which our expert party skills were on display for anyone who wants to join and or copy, we provided a foundation to future party throwers. We provided them with a blue print in order to throw a giant open house party. Now this has nothing to do with academia but we provided a service and goods to people who we don’t know. We usually keep our parties exclusive to strictly Greek life but in this case we wanted to showcase our skills. The motivation for the coordination and execution for the party was to one enjoy the fruits of our labor, and two show people outside of our little community who we are and how we enjoy ourselves, in turn bringing more people who act how we do into our tight knit community.

We also have other situations where we benefit off of other peoples hard work. We have a file cabinet in which all past and current brothers leave their notes from school behind in order for others to benefit. We have notes and past tests dating back to 2004 in which a current member can use them to study or help them in some way. Everything that is done in my fraternity is done thinking about the man next to you it’s something we preached thought our pledge program it’s not about you it’s about the whole.

This economy that I’m currently involved in has all the characteristics of the gift economy; giving but not expecting the immediate reciprocation, knowing that help will come when its needed. We all support each other and know that when it comes down to it the support is there in any situation that’s what’s makes us so strong as a whole, as a fraternity. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phi_Delta_Theta)

Yours in blogging

Adam Hirsch

copyright infringement

2008-09-12T11:48:00.000-07:00

Copyright infringement basically means stealing someone else's ideas and using them for your own benefit. (www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html). The issue of music downloading over the internet, has brought a new range to the copyright infringement. Twenty years ago a person would have to go into a store and purchase a fifteen to twenty CD of their favorite artist to acquire that music. However, now anyone can go online and download all the songs they could ever want for no cost at all. Not only does this negatively effect the artists income, it also will eventually kill the music industry as a whole.
The most famous case of copyright infringement against a P2P (person to person) music download program was with Napster. Napster marked the beginning of the free music age. People were now liberated from high prices set by the music industry. (Laura Hodes, The Death of Napster, and the Digital Age.) But after being brought to court by a large group of popular artist and record labels, Napster was forced to regulate there site. From then on they would be required to charge there users for the service.(Napster raising prices, is it going out of business?) This would eventually kill Napster in the long run. But it would also set the precedent that downloading music for free would be considered an illegal act from then on.
Since the fall of Napster an endless number of spin off person to person music download programs have become easily available over the internet. With that much freedom out there to take this material for free, its impossible to believe the world as a whole will ever be able to turn back to the old system. The day of record and CD purchases are over, it is a digital age. The majority of the population has made it clear that they will commit digital copyright infringement no matter the regulations. No matter what the regulations are on digital copyright infringement
, music is now as free as air. So if the government tried to step in one day and say "you have to pay thirty cents a day to breath." would you pay, or would you just breath like everyone else does?

2008-08-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Attention world wide web,
I am new to the world of Internet blogging, and sharing my life and its events with the people who surf the web. My name is Adam Hirsch and i hail from the south shore of strong island aka long island in a town called Oceanside. Ive been born and raised there having only lived in one house my entire life until moving off campus at college. Its actually a funny story but my parents moved into my home in Oceanside the week I was born July 26, 1987 for all u com majors that would make me a freshly turned 21 year old. 21 is fun don't get me wrong but with the age comes a lot more responsibility. So live it up while your getting teased at 20.
My life has been good so far, i go to a good school the university at buffalo and i love it here except for the freakish lake effect blizzards mid October that knocked the power lines off my house leaving me and my roommates with no power or heat or hot water for 2 weeks, we played a lot of scrabble, risk, and my personal favorite monopoly. But I've come to the conclusion that its not the cold that's so bad its the wind that is ridiculous and the gloomy days that want to make me stay in bed all day long come winter time. Besides all that i love the winter and snow and winter sports since I'm a hockey player and play on the UB roller hockey team (http://ubrollerhockey.com/) which is actually one of the best D1 teams in the country getting ranked 3rd in the country the football and soccer teams cant say that. But just give the UB football team 2 years turners going to turn them into a top 25 team then people wont be laughing at the MAC conference anymore. Another thing i love about buffalo is that i root for the teams that Baffalonians hate, my beloved Jets and Bret at the helm, and the new york rangers who spank the sabers on the regular. lets go rangers
this is who i am world take it as u please

Adam Hirsch from Buffalo. OUT.

http://mynameisinternet.blogspot.com/