Eportfolio

Artifact #9 http://sleslie102.blogspot.com/2011/04/artifact-9-sharing-online.html
Artifact #8 http://sleslie102.blogspot.com/2011/04/artifact-8-health-online.html
comments http://gibbsm.blogspot.com/2011/04/artifact-8-health-online.html

Artifact #9 Sharing Online

According to Carol Vogel, museum web sites used to consist of merely advertisements, hours, directions and admission prices.  With the advancements in technology and the new capabilities that it provides, "wireless" musuems are now possible.  This means museum displays are open to all, both online and offline.  To encourage the growth of community and facilitate the exchange of information, exhibits and displays, museums are creating an interactive environment for the public.  The art of display in museums involves using space as a medium for communication to be successful and enhance the experience of museum visits.  Taking museums online will do just that--enhance the experience through the virtual world.

  Online museums make a great deal of sense with the advancements in technology.  It is only natural to extend them to online media.  For anything to become relevant in today's society  requires instant access that offers digital equivalents of the offline world .  This will allow greater access than having to go to actual buildings which are only open at certain times, and which is likely incapable of showcasing an entire collection to the public at one time. I also think this will inspire people to visit museums and enhance vistors access to them.  I am not surprised by museums incorporating an online presence as is just about everything else.  

Artifact #8 Health Online

Technology is changing the way people are treated for health related issues.  According to the video, increasing numbers of individuals seek online consultation through health-related sites.  With an estimated 6000 health and medical applications, people may obtain information more quickly and efficiently.  Although these sites provide specific health information, they are not intended to offer any diagnosis. Many people fail to realize that these sites are offered without the benefit of information that we usually get during a f2f encounter or through a physical examination, so some important information may be missing.  By using the internet as a supplement to the patient-physican relationship, we may be at an increased risk of misdiagnosis or inappropriate treatment due to the absence of more complete information obtained through a physical exam. 

Health-related online sites offer a wide range of information and services that are used by patients and/or the public with frequency.  While there may be great hope that the Internet can become a reliable resource for health-related matters, currently it is largely unregulated.  I would use caution when obtaining specific health information online.  The information could easily be outdated, incomplete, inaccurate and unreliable.  Therefore, for those who choose to use online-health sites, be sure to evaluate sources and stick to websites and organizations that are well-known and credible.  For me, I much prefer the advice of my physician.  

Artifact #7 Professors Use Technology to Fight Student Cheating

In Kim Clark's article, statistics show that from the mid 1900's to 2002 the percentage of students who admitted to cheating had risen 50 percent.  These days cheating is an art that has been mastered by technology.  Students today use cell phones, computers, and ipods to score high points on tests they never studied for.  Professors are now trying to battle technology with technology.  Using web blocks and text matching softwares to catch students in the act of cheating.  Even though schools may be able to block bits and peices of information they cannot always block what has already been done in cell phones and ipods or graphing calculators.
 
A new way to cheat is through bar codes on bottles of soda.  Students spend so much time preparing a brilliant cheat sheet when some of that time can be used to study.   The idea of battling technology with technology seems to be a good idea until students out smart the teachers.  Cheating in school, although frowned upon has always been a part of our lives.  Whether it be writing the answers on each others shoes and sitting in strategic places in the class room, to bar code scanning replacing nutritional information with notes to the test.  There is no complete way to make sure no one has cheated in class when new ways are always being thought up and perfected.

Artifact #6 I am Anonymous

After viewing the video, my opinion is that anonymity with websites is impossible to achieve.  Although a nice idea and comforting thought these days nothing seems to be "anonymous".  Freedom of speech is one of those things that should not be posted on the world wide web.  Whether its a religeous belief or opinions of war and government issues, watching what you put down on the web is crucial.  The internet isnt written in pencil, its written in ink.  Once a post is made or your words have been submitted the possibility of hundreds of thousands of people seeing it is much more likely than not.  Before you ever have the chance to delete or erase anything you may be subject to responses by the viewers, which aren't always in your favor.  With every website there is a creator, the creator has access to whoever posts anything on their site.  In turn there is no such thing as complete anonymity.

 Christopher Poole says the website http://www.ted.com/ is completely anonymous.  There is no need to enter personal information, or give anything to log on.  Although this may be true when you access a web page from a browser of any type anywhere there are people who can track your behavior. They can hack into email accounts as well as desktop systems and review the history reports in the data base of the computer you used.  As much as I would like to believe and trust in the sites complete anonymity, I cannot based on the fact that tracking is an option some hold the power to.

Artifact #5 Thank Sex for Making the Internet Hot

It was quite interesting to learn that pornography was an early adopter of the internet that popularized many computer technologies.  It was the first part of the web to make money and now sex is everywhere on the web.  The internet offers freedom and an anonymous place for the sale and viewing of sexual material. So it comes to no surprise that pornography is one of the most popular aspects of the internet.  Humans are sexual beings and even though many people are too embarassed to talk about sex doesn't mean that they don't secretly view porn.

I am curious to find out if many people even purchase porn on DVD or cable tv anymore since internet porn is so popular.  The following statistics (Lengel, Thurlow, and Tomic 143) are a bit out-dated so I can only imagine what they are today:

•   In 2001, there were 74,000 adult websites accounting for 2 percent of all web content on the net and bringing in estimated profits of US$1 billion
• 8.49 million Asian internet users visit adult websites which is equivalent to nearly 50 percent of all active Asian internet users
• 36 percent of British internet users regularly log on to adult sites, a fifth of whom are students
• revenues in the United States are expected to reach $400 million by 2006

Strand 2: Units 5 & 6

Unit 5: Women on the Internet

The digital gender divide focuses on the inequity of women's access to and use of communication technology on a global basis. Before widespread participation in CMC, women have historically had little access to communication technologies.  Such technologies are controlled by men, therefore women are prohibited access in many regions.  In CMC early developments, men were almost exclusively the inhabitants of cyberspace; however, women online are now the norm rather than the exception.

Women who try to enter the world of computing and computers often report feeling isolated and/or intimidated.  To generate more participation by women, technology-oriented training programs, computer classes and entertaining websites have been implemented.  These websites use gender stereotypes to promote a gendered style of technology participation.  Stereotypes are also associated with women in chat room because women appear to enjoy the ability to use emoticons and other visual images to express emotions.

Women are the vast majority of victims of violence and harrassment, in both the physical and virtual world.
Let's look at the types of cyber violence:

• Online contact leading to offline abuse
• Cyberstalking. Tracking someone's actions online with illegitimate intent
• Online harassment
• Degrading representations through images that is disrespectful and/or harmful

To 'feminize' the Internet and CMC, women oriented web communities have been adopted to reach women around the world.  The Institute for Women and Technology (INSTRAW) is seeking to raise awareness about the gendered nature of access to communication technologies.  Some feminine gendered sites are incorporating women-oriented styles of communicating.  These efforts make CMC more gendered-balanced.

Women access to technology ranks as the third most important issue facing women, after poverty and violence. 


Unit 6: Interpersonal Attraction, Cybersex and Cyberporn

Sex and pornography are central issues in internet studies and the study of CMC.  They are also the most frequently talked about aspects of cyberspace as well as the most popular.  It's not all about sex though.  Much of the online interpersonal attraction is about love and romance.  The internet facilitates romantic exchanges through online dating sites.  The promise of future interaction, together with similarity, humor and self-disclosure is a good recipe for finding someone potentially attractive in cyberspace.  However, where there's attraction, there's the potential for sexual attraction as well.

Sex is normally defined as a mutual attraction and desire as well as the gratification of these desires.  Then we have cybersex, which is suggestive or explicit erotic messages or sexual fantasies exchanged via the computer with others who are online at the same time.  Last but not least, there's vsex, a creative sexual outlet in the form of interactive personalized erotica, providing mental and physical stimulation. Sexual encounters on the internet are some of the least understood aspects of interpersonal relationships in cyberspace.  Sex and pornography are ultimately about relationship and identity, and as such constitute important topics for discussion in CMC.

"At the end of the day, the internet invariably reflects the sexual desires and romantic aspirations of its users and the societies to which these people belong."   

Artifact #4a Uncanny Droid? #4b Old School? Or What?

In viewing the video about the droid, I definitely found it to be uncanny.  The supernatural characteristics of the droid  were uncomfortably strange, however, fascinating as well.  I felt as though I was watching Star Wars and Child's Play (Chucky) at the same time. Creepy. It was strange because when the droid spoke, it appeared that the movement of her mouth was further ahead of what she was actually communicating. It was like watching a foreign movie when the voice seem to be put in later. In other words, the droid's movement was unnatural (no emotion or expression), not convincing or realistic; unlike humans.  Even though the droid was strange, its ability to even attempt to portray human-like behavior was fascinating.  I know that artificial intelligence has been around since the ancient times and with the steady advancements of technology, it wouldn't surprise me to see one of these things walking around.  The question is, though, would we know the difference?
 

I am not really sure what to think about the pencil sharpener.  The pencil sharpener was for sure an upgrade from the manual ones we used in grade school.  The old school sharpeners would eat your pencil if you didn't take it out in time.  It doesn't appear that you would have that problem with this model. Actually, some of the features include an unique two-step sharpening process with auto-stop when the point is achieved.  The problem I have with this pencil sharpener is it requires a lot of work just to sharpen a pencil.  I mean you have to put the pencil in one side to sharpen it then put it in the other side to make it pointy.  It almost doesn't seem worth it.  I guess if you like a very sharp point, and don't mind the extra work of dual sharpening then this may work for you.  I will just stick to using mechanical pencils.

Artifact #3: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains

According to Nick Carr, author of "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains," the internet works against our ability to foster our own ideas.  It provides distracted and superficial thinking.  Carr worries that we are losing our ability to think for ourselves.  And this conclusion is shared by many  psychologists and educators, he adds.  Carr proceeds by going into great detail on why we have trouble focusing at length on any given thing.  He explains, that the more stimuli in an environment, the shallower the focus must be to receive all of the information.  And this can create 'information overload', which decreases our depth of concentration and working memory.

I remember when these very same things were said about television. Television allowed us be exposed to more conversation and social interaction as well as seeing the world, more than one can experience on their own.  The internet does a similar thing in a more interactive way . We need more than conversation to form a world view. We need visual, auditory, and social interaction.  The television and internet do all of the above in ways that conversation and reading cannot. I believe that television and the internet has improved the quality of intellectual and social life for those who use it well.

 As the pace of our lives has quickened our desire for fast-moving diversions has grown. I am constantly online and multi-tasking through email and Facebook. However, I am able to concentrate and engage in deep thought when necessary.  So I feel that I have a good balance of connectedness and disconnectedness.  As with everything there will be positive as well as negative effects. So I agree that the internet has changed us but disagree that it is causing our minds to become shallow; unless we are shallow to begin with.

Artifact #2: Hamlet's Blackberry

According to William Powers, one who is not connected is the one left behind.  He began this concept of connectivity with the idea of paper.  Paper used to be the connection, what the world calls today 'Snail Mail' was once the world's 'Facebook or Email'.  Although paper is the past, it will never die it lingers in the backround as a tangeble object...  Paper is eternal.  So what of the people who are not connected?  There was once a time, not too long ago that email was the new thing, cell phones were making a debut as big bulky 'walky talky' type objects that were primarly held by cops and business men and women. 
Today we have slimmer cell phones with email, texting, music and video/photo capabilities and internet connection on the go.  There are people who have lost the ability to read maps as well and rely on a GPS system to get them from A to B.  In the music industry we went from Vinyl records in the 50's, 8 tracks in the 70's, to tape decks in the 80's and early 90's to CD's.  Now any type of CD is technically obsolete with I-pod, I-tunes, Amazon and free download torrent sites.   Like paper, Vinyls are eternal because they are tangible and somewhat prized in the fact that they are the product of the music.  William Powers has observed that when not connected people miss out on the movement of a community and the movement of the world as a whole.  But for the ones who choose to turn off cell phones pagers and ipods they are able to come back to a time when you could stand and watch something happen... Anything and have the ability to appreciate it.  Yes technology is a luxury, but it leaves us to wonder would we know a little more about ourselves and how we learn if we could take a break!  'Connectedness is balanced by disconnectedness... both matter.'

Internet or Television?

I personally prefer the internet as my main news source.  I've been getting my news via the internet for as long as I can remember.  Mainly because it is a faster and more convenient means of getting information.  The only time I do watch the news on tv is to check the local weather if there's a storm in the forecast. Other than that, I stick to what I know best.  I know a lot of people that much prefer to get their daily dose of news this way versus the traditional way, wiht the exception of my grandma of course.  Facebook and Twitter are great news sources that host tons of info.  So it's really no surprise that the internet is killing television.