Course Blogs

Jan 14th :Techno-landscapes

http://shegeeks.net/have-you-lost-your-job-because-of-technology/

I found this blog that started a conversation about whether technology has taken away jobs. I know that technology has taken jobs away from people but I believe it has created jobs as well. First, technology is created by people and people are hired to repair and maintain whatever technological product is being used. Second the development of new innovation to make life easier requires the research and ingenuity of many people. Third, the development of new technology can create marketing & sales jobs, so, one job loss can create another job. Human beings do need social contact so I cannot see machines taking over everything but there certainly is a change these days, for example, you don’t have to see a teller at a bank,& you don’t have to see the cashier at a grocery store. With new advances in technology, people require more education too. Advances being new challenges and so I really see that jobs are just changing, but require more education which many people cannot afford. Technological advances bring new challenges to out economy and society as a whole.

Jan 21: Social media

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpIOClX1jPE

this was cool, social media in Plain English. It provides a good analogy for understanding the positive effects of social media.

January 28th : Obama & Social media

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5542182.ece

this article was written in January when Obama was interviewed by CNN saying he felt he was going to win the battle to keep his Blackberry. Mr Obama told CNN that the BlackBerry was "just one tool among a number of tools that I'm trying to use, to break out of the bubble. To make sure that people can still reach me. But if I'm doing something stupid, somebody in Chicago can send me an e-mail and say, 'What are you doing?'" Obama is now known as the first "wired" President of the United States, and he is very interested in using technology to communicate directly with the American people.

Feb 10th: Blogs Gone Bad

The thing I want to comment on is that blogs can get nasty. I think that since people feel they are anonymous they can say whatever they want. I don’t think that many people who blog would say what they do in a blog to people’s face. Now, perhaps that is just being socially correct and blogs give us freedom to say what we want to but I do believe, if you cant say something to someone directly then don’t talk behind their back. Blogs give people a forum to say what they want but dometime people go too far, some have lost their jobs because of it as discussed in the article here.
http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/blogs-gone-bad

February 27th : Social networking for jobs

http://self-employed-marketing.suite101.com/article.cfm/social_networking_to_get_work

Social networking sites are out there for professionals to get work, make new business contacts, or can be used for self promoting. The professionals in question fill out a business-toned profile, highlighting their skills, education, job experience, job related attributes, etc. and from there they meet like-minded professionals who may wish to contact them about work. This is how professional social networking sites work but according to this site it doesn’t necessarily work that way. This site discusses whether it is possible to get work with professional social networking site. They suggest that it is possible to make new contacts and meet new professionals, but not to count on getting a whole lot of jobs or opportunities through social networking.

http://www.hrtools.com/staffing/social_networking_survey_results_released_by_one_of_nations_largest_employment_law_firms.aspx

this site looks at a study that surveyed more than 100 employers in New York's metropolitan commuter areas to determine how on-line social networking sites have affected the employer-employee relationship. The survey, released in September [2008], found that many employers are monitoring employees' use of the Internet during work time and will terminate employees who violate workplace control and screening policies. Employers are also actively using social networking sites to screen new employees before hiring. Social networking has many implications for work. 1. it is a distraction at work, more and more people are checking their social networks for personal reasons while at work. 2. Social networks can be used as a screening tool for employers. If you can gain access to a potential employee’s Face book or My Space site, you might discover things that are not in keeping with company philosophy. 3. Social networking can be an effective tool to keep up on what is being said about your company by current and former employees. Employees might blog or say things about the company, both positive and negative on social network sites. Potential employees can access these blogs to find out if the company would be a good place to work This article did indicate that using personal sites for information on potential employees should be used with caution because it could be a violation of privacy, which I thought was important to say because we keep hearing we need to be careful what we post on our Face book for example because a potential employer might see things they don’t like. “Employers should note that such searches raise privacy concerns and may reveal information about protected characteristics such as race, religion, ethnicity and medical conditions. (Also worth considering: systematic use of such sites may muddy the waters of who is deemed a job applicant for affirmative action purposes.) Until this issue plays out in the courts, Rosen's advice is this: Only search the Internet and social networking sites with prior written consent and after a conditional job offer has been made.”

March 18th tid bits: Privacy Issues

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2009/01/post-1.html

Facebook scam: Identity theft.

People should read this article about Identity theft through Facebook, pretty scary. This man’s, facebook was high jacked & friends were asked for money, believing the request was coming from him. He caught it but not without a lot of hassle and stress.

Final Comments

This class has definitely been a very interesting one. With the way technology is building and seeking bigger and better things by the minute, it is very important for us to pay attention to these things and the ways of the future. Since I am hoping to pursue a job in the businesses field, I believe that this is very beneficial for my future career opportunities. Social networking is the future, and more and more companies are using these cites to communicate with others, as well as using them as sources for marketing and advertising. Just look at President Obama, technology in the Whitehouse is exploding as the first “wired” President takes over. We will see many changes in how Government operates as a result of this President and it will definitely happen in Canada too, we cannot avoid it.
I feel I am leaving this class with much more knowledge in this area (as well a more questions). Before this class I wasn’t very conscious about these things that are a big part of my every day life. One thing this class got me thinking more about is the privacy issues. Privacy on the Internet is not something that I really ever paid much attention too. With everything that we have learned about privacy issues on the Internet, it has made me much more aware of the information that I provide about myself online. I was originally posting things on my Face book, not even thinking or realizing the fact that many people who I am not really close to, and some who I don’t even really know, had accesses to some of my personal information and also pictures.
The information society is always expanding. Social networking is a great way to keep in contact with friends and family, as well as a quick and easy way to communicate with others as well as share information. Technology allows us to learn things and to learn from others. With these technologies, we can share information and seek information from different mediums, such as blogs, and also on twitter. And with cites such as delicious you have the ability to look at websites that others have found, and allows for you to organize your own bookmarks.

Myspace Suicide

My Space suicide and Cyber bullying

The MySpace Suicide: A Case Study in Over criminalization. By Andrew Grossman http://www.heritage.org/research/legalissues/lm32.cfm .

When the Bullies turned faceless. By Christopher Maag http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/fashion/16meangirls.html?_r=1&n=Top/Ref erence/Times%20Topics/People/M/Meier,%20Megan

Studies on cyber bullying are somewhat limited, since it is a fairly new field of study but, it is clear that it is an issue requiring attention, just like bullying in general does. I read these articles I posted here about the case of Megan Meier and how it caused people to take notice of the dangers of virtual communities for youth. Megan Meier’s suicide made headlines because she was the victim of a hoax. Lori Drew, a mother in the neighborhood, said in a police report that she had created a My Space profile of a boy, an invention named “Josh Evans,” and that she and her daughter had manipulated Megan into thinking that this fabricated person liked her. Then, after a few weeks, girls, posing as Josh, wrote My Space messages telling Megan that he hated her, ending with a final message suggesting the world would be better off without her. Within an hour of that message being received, Megan killed herself. Although we could guess that most mothers would not pull vicious pranks and few harassed adolescents become depressed and commit suicide as a result of on-line bullying, there definitely is cause for concern. “Unlike traditional bullying, which usually is an intimate, if highly unpleasant, experience; high-tech bullying can happen anywhere, anytime, among lots of different children who may never actually meet in person. It is inescapable and often anonymous, said sociologists and educators who have studied cyber bullying.” http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/fashion/16meangirls.html?_r=1&n=Top/Ref erence/Times%20Topics/People/M/Meier,%20Megan

I found this story so sad and scary at the same time because it seems almost impossible to control or stop.

The MySpace Suicide: A Case Study in Over criminalization. By Andrew Grossman http://www.heritage.org/research/legalissues/lm32.cfm .

I remember reading last year that this mother was found guilty; I found the following information in Andrew Grossman’s article: Lori Drew was indicted under a federal anti- computer hacking statute for impersonating a young man on My Space to gain the trust of Megan Meier, who killed herself after the cruel joke went out of control. On November 26, 2008 she was found guilty of three minor offences, not the felony charges, but the charges and subsequent verdict sent a message that this sort of action will not be tolerated. There was a lot of controversy about the charges and many legal minds, although they were disgusted by Lori Drew’s actions, did not see the charges as being appropriate. They were concerned about extremely broad liability that could make millions of honest citizen’s possible criminals. Although most legal people agree that Lori Drew's conduct was irresponsible, and disgusting, they also suggest it was not criminal. “It may deserve social sanction, already dispensed in great quantity, and perhaps civil liabil¬ity to Megan Meier's parents. But if Drew is con¬victed under criminal law, virtually every Internet user will face the consequences.” Andrew Grossman said. It does seem scary that cyber space is so new and that laws have not been clearly developed yet to deal with all that can happen on-line and in cyber communities. I believe there should be laws in place to protect children from this kind of abuse.

Ellen Talks Twitter./ Year of The Twitter

Even Ellen is now Twittering. I am a big fan of the Ellen show and recently Ellen started her own twitter. What a perfect fit for the class! It is also interesting to know that a lot of celebrities, including Barack Obama are involved with this social network. Twitter is constantly getting bigger.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmxuwHZ0LXY

Year of the Twitter

"Ever since Barack Obama, Shaq, P. Diddy joinged twittering, it was sure sign the social-networking site had breached the zeitgeist".

By Nick Lewis, Calgary Herald April 6, 2009

"If, as Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan once enthused, the medium is the message, then the message of the growing "twittering" phenomenon could be we don't have much to say to one another, but would like to say it often. Twitter.com, the online social networking site that has nearly seven million people microblogging about their lives, allows users to send each other quirky text messages, or "tweets," under 140 characters — about the length of a Facebook status update".
http://www.canada.com/Entertainment/YEAR+TWITTER/1469891/story.html

Obama and blogs!

A report from the National Academy of Public Administration (NAPA) says they will have to change how they operate in order to realize Obama’s vision and commitment to have his administration be more open, connected and innovative
Three technology priorities are proposed :
o Create an open information technology environment.
o Treat data as a national asset.
o Foster a culture of collaboration.

http://fcw.com/articles/2009/02/09/napa-collaboration.aspx

Obama is setting the stage for a new way for Government in the US to communicate. He fought for his blackberry (and won) when he became President, because it was something he used extensively as a way to keep connected with colleagues, friends, family and his political network. His ability to communicate in such a far reaching way has contributed to his success, he stays connected, and this is something no president has done in a technological way in the past. His campaign was probably the most technologically driven ever. He had websites, communicated on face book, You tube and My Space and he was able to reach young people more than any other candidate. He spoke their language because, lets face it, communicating through technology is normal to youth, John McCain was so much older and even admitted to not really knowing how to use email. This article identifies the fact that NAPA is already moving in the technological direction that Obama promised:

“Bold program and project staffers should continue to move out and experiment and embrace these tools as new ways of doing the business of government,” the report states.

This article indicates that Obama said he would appoint a federal chief technology officer, who “would support technology leadership and best practices across government and make sure that agencies have the appropriate infrastructure and policies in place”

The report, "Enabling Collaboration: Three Priorities for the New Administration," can be found if you look at this website.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5542182.ece

this article was written in January when Obama was interviewed by CNN saying he felt he was going to win the battle to keep his Blackberry. Mr Obama told CNN that the BlackBerry was "just one tool among a number of tools that I'm trying to use, to break out of the bubble. To make sure that people can still reach me. But if I'm doing something stupid, somebody in Chicago can send me an e-mail and say, 'What are you doing?'" Obama is now known as the first "wired" President of the United States, and he is very interested in using technology to communicate directly with the American people.

Examples of blogs/ Student blog review

Blogs come in many forms, not just the written (or typed word) on a computer.

Moblogs come from a cell phone, we no longer need to be at a computer to comment on any blog cite we wish

Photoblogs: cites where people can post their photos and comment on their work/ example http://stuegan.shutterchance.com/about.php The RIP

Videoblogs are becoming very common, a good example is UTube where you can find commentary on just about every issue going. Since Sarah Palin was a target for many blogs, a Utube video blog can take the message further than a few comments in script http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irklZ-iZjhI

Audio Blogs are music files and there are numerous cites like http://www.fluxblog.org
Fluxblog : the very first MP3 Blog. You will find full discussion of songs, promotion for artists and, in this case promotion to by the music from the artists, which I found to be good.

Compare 2 Company Blogs:

I decided to look at two news blogs, CBC, Canada & CNN a US network
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/editorsblog/2007/10/welcome_to_the_editors_blog.html

http://edition.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/index.html

My 1st observation was CBC had a fairly long introduction & seemed to spell out “rules”

“We want to be part of this new media world — but we want to be true to the values of public broadcasting and CBC News. It’s exciting to be able to share so much more with you. But to be perfectly honest, we all do tend to be a bunch of control freaks. We believe there are standards and practices we just can’t compromise”

here’s what I found as an introduction to CNN blogs and it identified numerous blog sites for different news programs on CNN

“CNN BLOGS: YOUR SAY
Join the conversation with CNN anchors, correspondents and producers all over the globe “
2nd observation: CBC seemed to have rules, CNN just welcomed you in.

3rd Observation: as I read several of the blogs, the CBC writers tended to be more polite, respectful, certainly direct, but constructive for the most part. CNN blogs did appear different in that they were more vents, showed more emotion & often were soap box rants. They say Canadians are more polite, a brief review of the blogs seemed to support that in many ways.

4th observation: both were easy to use, both seemed to highlight key national and international news, CBC probably spoke about more Americn news that CNN reported on Canadian News.

I see value in news blogs. They keep the converation flowing and force the media to examine all perspectives of a story. I remember in one of my intro Comm course we learned about media news coverage and whether the news was really unbiased. CBC is a public company but CNN isn’t and they could be influenced to cover certain stories if they have an impact on their funders. Blogs will provide a forum to challenge biased views & can keep journalists honest.

Allessandro’s Blog!

Alessandro’s blog is well organized. He provides much information on the issues discussed in class, and thoroughly explained his experiences while using the social networks we were introduced to. He provided good commentary, and it was very interesting to look at his blog as well as other students in the class, to see what they did to personalize their blogs, as well as looking at the insight they provided on the issues dicussed in lecture, and the tasks we were given weekly. He was very honest and genuine in his discussions.

Managing Privacy

The only measure that I really take with my privacy online is on Facebook. Because Facbook is continuously growing, I am more aware of the issues, and risks. I am much more conscious of pictures I put up, who’s on my friends list and also with pictures I am tagged in. I make sure that I don’t put any personal information online, and I manage who is able to see what I do put on my profile. I think that, other than Facebook. I am not always conscious with what I do put on the internet, but I am becoming more conscious of it. I manage my Facebook settings because I am aware of what goes on now, and understand that it is not the best idea to put personal information, or flaunt any unnecessary behavior on Facebook. There is a lot of information that I may not have full access too anymore. I understand that once you register with these social networking programs, e-mail, or even just search engines that the information you provide now belongs to them. It is sort of scary to think that what you put on the internet can be recovered, even if you delete it. People need to be aware of what they say and do on-line as it could come back to haunt you later in life.

Privacy On The Net

The Internet is getting larger everyday, and has become somewhat of a worry to people these days, with so many different social networks. Every site allows you to provide as much information about yourself as you would like. When I use these particular sites, I am very careful with what I am posting as well as the information I provide on my personal profiles, and the information I provide the site with. There are a few things that are very important to me when it comes to privacy. This includes where I live as well as my phone number. These are things that should already be known by friends and family, and I do not believe it should be flaunted on the Internet and is very unnecessary in my mind.

My Facebook provided basic information about myself. I have my Birthday and year, University, as well as my hometown. As I looked, I didn’t realize exactly what was on there. But I noticed I had included my residence in first year, as well as my old job. This information could have been a bit invasive to my privacy, however I have controlled all my privacy settings and have become more conscious of who is seeing this information as well as what information is being provided.

When I was new to Facebook, I had created a group and had not realized the privacy settings. The group was open to everyone in Facebook and I had not realized this. I can’t exactly remember the information that I shared with the group, but I do know my hotmail address as well as my name and pictures of myself were posted to this group. For a while after I started I was getting weirdoes adding me on msn and Facebook, and they would comment on my photos, and these were not very flattering compliments, just creepy. This really made me conscious of the privacy boundaries on Facebook, and encouraged me to delete the group and also change my privacy settings right away. I was oblivious to the fact that people from all around the world would have access to this information.

Browser History

As I monitored my search results in my browser, I realized how fast my browser knew what I was looking for. Most of the sites that I go to regularly had already popped up in my browser. When I type the first letter of my search, the computer was able to recognize past searches that I had made. Some of the keywords that may come up could be useful to a third party, for example, a company. When I looked at my search words, nothing seemed too bad, but could be embarrassing if someone were to look at them. Although there is nothing too bad, some things should remain personal, and if someone looks at your past search results it could be looked at in the wrong way. Companies can look at my search history and look at things that I like, so I could be the potential target market for that particular company. Another way it may be valuable is if someone were trying to find out information about me, and maybe seeing things that I may be interested in. Other then past searches being a bit embarrassing, I can’t see much of my internet search being very valuable to anyone. I choose to use google, because that is the search engine I use on a regular bases. I typed in the keyword “music”. Looking at the results, there was lots of different information collected; I recognized some of the results, for I had already visited some of the sites listed. There was nothing too unusual, but I did notice that the first sites listed were Ontario and Canadian sites.

Online Resume

When creating my online resume I found it a bit difficult to figure out at first. It took a little bit of time looking it over and finding where everything is, and how to begin creating my profile. I started by adding my basic information and then added my experience. The process reminded me of when I actually did put together my resume. It does take time to put together and create a quality profile of you.
While doing this it made me think of the benefits a site like this would have for being recruited for a job positions. It allows me to be seen by companies, and could lead to possible job opportunities in the future.

My Resume

Bookmarking

Before I joined Delicious, I never really used any book marking system or favourites very frequently. I would usually just add a site to my bookmarks, generally when I was working on an essay or project and needed to save the links that I had been using. I would, on occasion, put other cites that I used fairly frequently into bookmarks. What I tend to do more often is I type in the websites that I do use on a regular bases, and it usually appears without me typing the entire site.

While searching Delicious, I looked up caves. When looking at all the results I noticed that much of these tags are more personal. A lot of the search results that came up, were blogs, which I found very interesting. I looked at a majority of the blogs and they were very interesting, including many visuals. I believe that Delicious gives you a wide range of information, and different information that matches your interests.

When I Googled caves, I noticed that there were very similar tags. Most of the tags that I found on Delicious were also on Google, however, Google had more significant search result. Both search engines serve a different purpose. I believe that you would use Delicious as not only a bookmarking system for yourself, but also for social networking. When using Delicious you have the option of adding other users, ones who may share the same interest as you, making it easy to find information quickly by searching other user’s tags. These sites can be very convenient and useful, and help keep

Social Network

The people in my social networks consist of friends, family, co-workers, and classmates; old and new. I would identify my closest ties as my closest friends, and family. I usually use e-mail, instant messenger and my cell phone most frequently to connect with them. All of the people I stay in contact with and consider my very close contacts are on my Facebook, and this is a social network that I use most often. With people I am only somewhat close to, I generally just stay in contact with them on Facebook. I have many co-workers, as well as classmates on my Facebook, and it provides me with a way to still stay in contact with them, even though they live a significant distance from me or they are not my closest friends but people I still would like to stay connected with..


While using nexus on Facebook, I have learned a lot about my social networks. My closest ties are what I had thought, although I have learned more about them, and see the similarities we share as well as the many friends that I have in common with the majority of them. It appears that my closest ties are my close friends and most of the people from my hometown, Sarnia. The closest ties were located in the middle and were shaded darker and are joined together with darker lines, the closer the ties. The ones that have the furthest ties are people that I have met at school, co-workers, and also some relatives and family members. I also noticed that my closest ties are in the middle and are shaded darker and are joined together with darker lines.

I believe that social network sites are important to people living in the information society because interacting on these sites helps people stay in contact with friends and family in an organized and convenient way. People that live in the information society are familiar with technology. Also, they would be important because these people spend time on their computers and stay connected with people through this form of technology. I believe technology has kept people connected when distance is a factor, I think I would have lost touch with some people from high school if I didn’t have Face book. In addition, I have been able to develop some friendships through face book, people I met through other friends, for example, when I came to visit my brother at Brock I hit if off with one of his friends and we stayed connected through face book. When I started at Brock our friendship continued and we are good friend today.

I had never really thought of social networking as important in my life, it is just something that I “do”. This task has made me realize and understand things about my social networks that I did not know prior. I wouldn’t say it is necessarily important in my life, but it is an interesting aspect, and it was very interesting to see the different ties. I guess it is a good thing to be familiar with it and is a very unique and neat way of keeping in contact with people. We have the opportunities now to have social networks, which we can be in constant contact with (to an extent), and I think it should be something that everyone should have if they have the technology to do so. My Mom has a Face book site and she has connected with old friends she lost contact with. Being a student I have social networks all over, and this is a great way to stay in contact with my friends and family, in a quick and easy way.

Wiki's

"A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content, using a simplified markup language. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites" (Wikipedia).

I think wikis are a very different way of accessing information today. You can learn new things as well as post other information that you may have on the specific topic.

I have used a Wiki once before, and found it simple to use. I was in a class last semester that required us to post on the course Wiki weekly. I didn't mind using it and would use one again. The only problem I seemed to have found while using a Wiki is that if you are not familiar with a particular one, you may be receiving information that, may not be completely true, for example Wikipedia. Businesses may benefit from Wikis, because they could give all employees opportunities to communicate with the firm, as well as receive information from other colleagues.

During the past week I monitored the amount that I used my cell phone and computer. I realized that I used both of them very frequently, and was constantly texting on my cell phone, or using the computer for both school work and personal use. My cell phone is constantly with me, making it harder to avoid. Communicating through computers and cell phones has become very convinient and is somthing I use consistinly in my everyday life. Technology plays a huge role in society today, and is constantly growing and more people are becoming dependent on their ICT's.

I am Ainsley McHenry. I am from Sarnia ON and have lived there my whole life. I am 21 years old and I am in my third year at Brock University, studying Business Communications. After school I hope to pursue a career in advertising or sales.