Mark's Blog

Blog Assignment #14

2010-04-27T12:01:00.000-07:00

Dan: An article that I found that had some nice quotes in the second half of the article: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2007/01/18/gaming-advances-as-a-learning-tool/

what Julie said in class: "Stay focused, make sure that when you are talking about communities make sure you root it in one of our theorists"

Lee: Sorry I do not have much to add. I was trying to think of a way to help and all I could think of is to maybe change your paper to focus on how "everything ends up on Youtube" and how that has and will continue to affect the way in which people interact...I guess a youtube specific argument might be something hard to write 3000 words on. However a good article that could help in regards to youtube is: http://www.henryjenkins.org/2008/02/from_youtube_to_wetube.html

Micheal: An argument I would consider is that as virtual crimes keep increasing people are going to become more leery of using online banking and paying for things online and if the rate of virtual crimes continues to increase there could come a day that people revert back to the "old days" when people kept their money under their mattress and wanted all of their assets in the form of gold, silver, or cash...so...this is why people need to take extreme precaution to avoid having their information stolen online. The argument may be a little extreme but hopefully the idea might help you form your argument.

what Julie said in class: "You need to find a way to take this report and make it into an actual argument you could actually cut out on 90% of what you gave us and focus on why that is the case why those things are quicker and easier"

Angel: Some more examples that I thought might be helpful:
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/projects/kodu/
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/events/csew/software.aspx
What Julie said in class(sorry I didnt get all of it): "I like the cycles of learning...outside networks and then coming back in..."

Derek: Another resource you may want to check out is Howard Rheingold's Vlog collection there is an interview he does about school children in Chile who started a smartmob to protest the bad educations they were receiving. http://vlog.rheingold.com/index.php/site/archives

Kristin: It sounds like you have your topic down pretty well. Just a reminder but here is what Julie said in class: Make some exhibits that you would hand to a volunteer...but describe if you were to hand a one sheet and some guidelines to a parent who was going to lead a half hour workshop...

Brent: It seemed like you had your idea outlined pretty well to be honest without a powerpoint presentation I was not able to get much written down from your presentation so I do not have much to say. I do remember from your presentation that I wasnt quite sure whether you had a specific argument or whether you had a bunch of questions that you were trying to answer.

Cynthia: The point you made about the majority of computer science and engineering students being male made me think of the Electrical Engineering class I am taking right now. There are about 26 of us with 24 being male and 2 being female. In a civil engineering class I am taking there are 5 of us with all 5 being male. When I was up in Pullman I remember one of my friends (female) who was in engineering said that it wasnt fair because when she skipped class the professors always noticed since she was one of only a handful of women in engineering.

Neil: I am guessing you already have found some of Howard Rheingold's work but here is a link to his vlog collection including an interview he did about chilean school children who protested the bad educations they were receiving. http://vlog.rheingold.com/index.php/site/archives

Josh: The idea I had is that since you are talking about physical activism you could incorporate environmental activism such as when people camp out in trees so that they do not get cut down. what Julie had to say in class: think about how many people contributed to haiti purely because they could text. I wouldnt ignore it, you dont have to change your topic but it is definitely worth a note that technologically enabled activsim takes many shapes and forms...that could be part of the oppostion...you arent really an activist you just gave 10 dollars...you can subselect how is that really enhancing anything...just texting to haiti doesnt really change anything...here is what activism really is...gray area.

Everything below are just notes taken in class

Dan:Exploring the correlation between video games and virtual communities XBOX Live 20 million users. why? How? There is a notable correlation between the learning principles of video games and the rapid growth of virtual gaming communities. I look to explore this correlation. The learning principles of video games are enhanced in online environments. James Paul Gee, ongoing learning, affinity group principles. Statistical information xbox live. Opposition common misconceptions. The more members the more you learn from each other. Oppositon civic involvement video games and violence and addiction. What do you believe I could do to make my paper stronger? The learning principles of video games are enhanced in online environments, and this enhancement may account for an increase the number of online gaming community members.Micheal: Cybercrimes more vulnerable and dangerous in real life. Real vs. virtual So What? we need to invest more time, resources, money, caution, in our online lives more than in real lives these days. Most of us are doing much more online than we do in our personal lives in this day and age. We chat on social networks....we must take more precautions against being a victim of Cybercrimes growing faster in numbers and types than real space crimes, costing more time and money to recover than with real space crimes, they often go undetected longer, committed when you might least expect it, usually easier than real crimes and to higher a degree, can be commited by anyone of any age, race, gender, or ethnicity to anyone of the same mentioned. ways to protect ourselvesLee:Youtube's Unique Roles. Youtube has revolutionized political activism and, in doing so, it has uniquely contributed to teh perpetuation of hate, however inadvertntly. Without intelligent, rational thinking individuals(those whose shared goal is ending). Why/How youtube can actually diminish and perpetuate hate propaganda on a grand scale. youtube is a forum for political activism whether its meant to be or notJulie: either you put videos on it or you dont. what is the argument regarding...I am unclear what the argument is. What is the argument what is the why what is the difference between another medium. What are the things in the class that you are linking? Angel: Bridging the Digital Divide. In order to bridge the digital divide students need to become actively inolved in learning how to use new technologies, which can be accomplished by applying the concepts of video games in education. As we know the digital divide is not only about having access to computers and the internet, it is about having the access to the knowlege necessary to create content. James Gee principles. First lego league a program that presents students with real world engineering challenges in the form of building robots using legos. Derek: Bridging the Gap: Mobile phones and the digital divide. Mobile technology primarily the cell phone is positively affecting the digital divide by providing solutions to issues of accessibility...phones good...statistics the ever expanding role of cellular phones: So What? increased popularity of mobile handsets for internet access...problem global communications revolution is confined to wealthy, urbanized countries, cut out the middle man...rheingold..virtual and hybrid community is good for narrowing the digital divide...smartmobbing disaster relief (rheingold)..education...ebooks. barriers and education mobile internet gives them access to everything when they dont even have books. digital divide will continue to exist but through the use of cell phones it can be bridgeedJulie: In conversation with Chris and Maurice's paper...there is always gonna be a divide...even if everybody has accessibility...Kristin: Hope argument: hegemonic white masculine environment of the internet allows for or encourages a more aggressive prescence of online users...arguing for implementation of a k-7 program called HOPE Heatlthy online prescence education similar to dare program. start in grade school. bring in field experts to discuss . acknowledge need for information literacy. acknowledge lack of existing program. propose implementation of new curriculum with regard to online safety. Cyberbullying cyberstalking, sexting, digital overshare, information illiteracy. i-safe, cyberangels, wired safety. Conclusion: implementing Hope in schools nationwide will serve to address the growing needs of the wild west.Brent: online activities have changed us. Is security and privacy worth free pizza? argument: online activities change us.Julie: Cynthia: representations in cyberspace, cyberspace gives underrepresented groups more choices about representation that are not available through traditional media. representation in traditional media, why are these groups not represented? the majority rules tv, movies, print, stereotypes, stories, images majority of computer science and engineering students are male and white. TALK ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES in engineering. censorship. Time magazine darkened the picture of O.J. facebook, fotodiaria facebook app that posts photos, groups wsu students against racist parties events. print and digital media magazines latina magazine, nathans gibbs race cube, racialious.com representation issues. conclusion: cyberspace has the potential to allow underrepresented groups to create spaces that are not governed by the same issues as traditional media. although the spaces are there, accerss is still a primary issue for these groups. it is up to everyone to maintain these spaces and keep cyberspace open for everyone.

Neil: the advantage of smart phones: narrowing the digital divide
the argument: I am going to argue that cell phones and internet ready smart phones are narrowing the access protion of the digital divide around the world and it is a good thing. according to a UN conference on development, mobile phone subscribers in developing countries tripled from 2003-2008. The blurring of the divide...hyrbrid spaces there is always someone nearby with internet access. food famine and mobile phones example of a man in Kenya used an internet to find phone numbers of united nations officials to inform them of food shortages.Mobile phones in a developing country: A malaysian empirical study. The opposition i will look at the downsides to the spread of mobile phone technology around the world from the malaysian article. It is already starting to happen that we are starting to rely however it is better to have than not have. cell phones are narrowin the digital divide we live in hybrind spaces. the opposition is wrong ill prove it.
Julie:

Josh: Internet Activism why it is becoming is a necessary tool for physical activism in the real world. Internet activism is use of communication technologies email, world wide web. Podcasts.
examples: meetup.com, gives online community the chance to plan organize, battle of seattle, 2008 presidential election, more of online activism. online disaster response communities in tsunami and katrina. the other argument criticisms disproportionate access, some experts argue the ideal that internet actismn is nothing more than fragmentation of ideals where people only select what they want to hear and discard the rest. the rapid pace at which information is shared via online communications validates the use of teh internet.

Blog assignement #13

2010-04-20T12:28:00.000-07:00

Mark: That's me:-)

Sara: I have included, as best I could, what Julie said about your presentation in my class notes below (it is highlighted). The example I thought of about people being different online compared to real life would be the difference between online poker and real life poker. There are two key differences to online poker and real life. When people are playing for free on poker sites they are not afraid to go all in because if they lose their money they can just start over with more free money. In real life when friends are playing with each other they are more likely to play in a manner that is rational because they do not want to lose and have to sit around and watch the rest of the night. Also in real life you have the ability to try to "read" the person sitting across from you and you know things about them. In online poker it is possible that the people playing with you are actually the same person who is playing as two different people on two different computers and pretending to be two different people. For really good poker players that would lead to a significant advantage.

Cassie: I have included as best I could what Julie said about your presentation in my class notes below (it is highlighted). The one thing that I was thinking is that your paper relates to the digital divide very well, however I wasnt sure if you were actually planning on adding that part in.

Dena: I have included as best I could what Julie said about your presentation it is included in my class notes below (it is highlighted). To be honest i walked in a few minutes late on your presentation (sorry) and so for the most part all I have to add is what Julie said.

Michelle: I have included as best I could what Julie said about your presenation it is included in my class notes below (it is highlighted).

Brittany: I have included as best I could what Julie said about your presenation it is included in my class notes below (it is highlighted). I agree with what Julie said it was obvious that you have a ton of info...

Mark: I have included as best I could what Julie said about your presenation in class below (it is highlighted). Since I do not know anything about WOW I really do not have anything to add that is not something rather obvious to you.

Kris: I have included as best I could what Julie said about your presentation in class below (it is highlighted). From listening to your presentation it was obvious to me that you have a very good understanding of what you are doing and I have nothing to add.

Sara: People are different online than they are in real life. People are not just staying at work or classroom they are all coming to get to know you in a way that is different than traditional modes. James example and Sheila's example. In meat space we often dont think before we talk, however in Facebook we have time to think about our responses. In meatspace we are expected to respond in a few seconds however in online we have time. Virtual communities let people choose spaces and can move if they dont feel comfortable. Life on the screen people get to explore aspects of self. many see virtual spaces as an extension of meat space however I argue that people dont act the same.

Julie: If you are a rational human being I want to have a little control over myself, I am not changing who I am but i have pointed them in a different direction, why do people act differently well its because of the space one is synchronous and one is asynchronous if I was to look at James' facebook page he doesnt have control over that, he cant control how my phone mediates with his digital trace.

Cassie: social networking sites in the classroom.
social networking sites, specifically woogiworld and a really different place, whould be used by teachers and students in a classroom to enhance the learning of different content areas. not only do these sites enhance...
woogiworld: created for the purpose of educating kids on propere internet behavior and gives the basic knowledge they should know in the 21st century.
similar to club penguin
user goes through the site completing challenges.
user are able to navigate through the site by completing challenges, joining clubs, earning watts, and participating in various commmunity based activities
includes educational aspects challenge:government: three parts, taxes, bills, voting etc.
encourages good internet behavior ehtis

AReally Differnt Place: A blog created by a teacher in Kansas Focuses on students reading, writing, reflecting, and creating
Teacher publishes posts that challenge
Facebook: could be a benefit for younger students who are not as familiar with the site.
Older children would have experience.
Benefits: more engaging to students add to the content blogss can develop students writing, be managed by teacher, students at a younger age are taught proper online behavior which could affect them as they get older

Julie: would you like to know what i think or what i would do in your shoes? Cassie: what you would do... Julie: I think from what I see what you have are two different types of socially interactive sites. one is corporate and one is one that a teacher has taken control of. My argument is not lets do all this in teh classroom...if I am looking at two free different types of programs this is why these two places are good models...woogiworld has goodconent and a lot of info...and a reallly different place is geared toward students...they are useful in differnt places...be clear that you are not trying to solve the worlds problems but these two models are good examples of things that help educate...so its just a matter of just almost everybodys just make sure you frame it so that you arent trying to solve all the worlds problems...that is what i would do in your shoes...the government is paying microsoft to create a game for students..this is not just this is cool but a legitimate teaching and learning tool.

Dena: How do we regulate things online who is really responsible and who isnt there are some things in place but they take the liability from social media sites. Is there a way to regulate. I want to focus primarily on the U.S. Its hard with copyright laws.

Julie: "take a stand that in social networking sites you are on your own and here is why it is bad and show all your stuff...cannot solve a problem...here is why...if you enter into a contract with a social networking site you are on your own" lets ponder that

Michelle: User friendly interfaces and designs of computers are hleping ot create a seamless transition from the real to the virtual (and vice versa) through their simplicity, interactivity and relativity to the real,
what is human computer interaction? the study of interaction of tasks by humans and machines.
why is it important? allows for design of interfaces that are user friendly
looking at our relationship w/computers: deborah lupton "we feel an emotional involvement with our computers. we spend time looking at our computer screens than we do looking at another's face. so...because we are using computers so much and forming this relationship with our machines, when going from the real to the virtual, we do not see a major change...
Project looking glass. 3d user interface slanted windows...mimics what we do in the physical world...making it easy to use. madotate is a program that transforms windows into 3D. fourth button in the right hand corner windows transform. uses of second life. businesses are using second life as a place for global meetings. advantages of virtual worlds saves money: saves time: global employees get to know each other. How is second life relevant? we are beginning to see businesses from real life being created in virtual worlds. the future of computers computer will be designed to meet the needs of users...ubiquity of communication, ability to personalize, portable, high functionality.

Julie:what questions do you have about your project? what do you want from us what do you feel is a weakness? you are grounding in lupton, maybe silva, and this fundamental knowledge of history which is good and relevant. I think as long as you make it clear how you are holding those two things together you have all the rest of it.

Brittany:mobile location advertising
New media direct marketing: New way: through mobile location based advertising. arms race to see who can get patents quickest. How? gps phones. what does this say about us? a quarter of facebook users use it through their mobile phones. Foursquare: special coupons fear tracking issues and privacy and spam. pleaserobme.com the rise of social networking sites has led people to change the way they think about privacy and publicized

Julie: If your paper is going to use all of the research you threw at us. you need all of the research to know what your argument is. argument starts with why does this work? social networking led to this...as we see from what everyone talked about...location based marketing and this is why it works and talk about why it works and weave in some of your examples. the thing you have to address as you are talking about why this works...its also gonna piss off a bunch of people....if facebook loses 30% then what happens to those people...yes this is why this works but look at the big wedge thats been driven in between...this is what they are gonna have to solve.

Mark: world of warcraft and changes that blizzard has made to the game...goal has been to allow people to experience more content...11 million active players. argument: blizzards changes to WOW to make the game appeal to more people have both fractured the community within the game as well as pushed the learning curve out of the game forcing player...

more experienced share knowledge...players will go through difficult challenges and develop good team skills players act as resources...players can survive but cannot thrive without social interaction. what happneed? new quest system map shows where exactly to go...players no longer need to commuicate..removal of challenges...thriving alone easy to obtain top end gear playing by yourself...player can thrive alone...new players arnet learning...guild community a community of practice...fragile by nature what happened? welfare epics? paid to play alone reduced challenge to increase access no longer need a guild to progress less incentive to be in a guild...character transfers allows players to wipe their reputation at a low price
how this affects the learning removing challenges reduces need/ability to learn players do not have to learn how their class works in order to level... making less complex stat system...players need to learn how to play well.

Julie: is it true that implied in your argument is that blizzard realized the importance of community and when they added they reduced learning and putting back into its ability to increase learning...would you say it is implied in your argument...make it clear...community and gaming aspects, you can play...

Kristopher: A growing digital divide...there are issues beyond these two...as the chasm of the digital divide closes. essentially community fragmentation in meat space...so community fragmentation and such will continue to perpetuate the digital divide...even if everyone moves online we will have a different type of divide...fragmented identities...phones bring more people but they also have their own limitations which fragment communities in general...

Julie: Kris' argument is awesome but guess what we are gonna start fragmenting in different ways...it sounds like those other problems are gonna be a lot harder to solve...I think throw that kicker in there at the end and its a pretty good one.

Blog Assignment #12

2010-04-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

For each of the presenters I have done my best to type out what Julie said in class about your presentations. So while I didnt quite get everything written down maybe between what I have typed, what you remember, and what the rest of the class put in their blogs you could pretty much recreate what she said. I have put in bold what she said regarding each presentation below in my class notes. Before my class notes you will find my ideas for your projects.

Katie: The main thing I thought about and I am not sure if it is actually a good thing for your project is that instead of doing a pretend proposal for an imaginary school that you could actually pretend the proposal is for one of the local school districts. Maybe even contact that school district and talk to the technology teacher. However, since Julie really liked your presentation ,then if I was in your situation, I wouldnt change a thing.

Beau and James: Since you both were up giving your presentations and were not able to write down what Julie said I did my best to write what she said its included in my class notes below (its bolded). The idea I had that I thought would be cool that would work for either of you is in your paper introductions it would be cool to "paint a picture" of what this world would be like without gaming. Maybe overdramatize it a little bit like a movie I heard about, I have never actually seen the movie but its called "A Day Without a Mexican" and in the movie the plot is that the state of California wakes up without any Latinos left in the state only in your paper you could talk about the chaos that would ensue if America woke up without videogames and the dramatic changes that would happen. Anyway that was just an idea I had.

Hans: Since you were up giving your presentation and not able to write down what Julie said I did my best to write what she said its included in my notes below (its bolded). As far as I could tell and from what Julie said it seems that your argument is that the increased level of connection to the internet amongst poor people has turned the pyramid upside down and given a path (more like a freeway) for those traditionally on the wrong side of the digital divide to get across that divide. I would say that as long as you include things that are relevant to this idea then you are on the right track.

Spencer: Since you were up giving your presentation and not able to write down what Julie said I did my best to write what she said its included in my notes below (its bolded). From what Julie said it seems to me that you have a strong argument if you argue specifically that video games are not a replacement for combat training. For the most part all of your examples and information that you presented would, in my opinion support this well.

Below are notes I took in class including as best I could what Julie had to say about your projects

Katie: Paper Proposal: Low income schools need a solution to bridge both the knowledge and access gap in the digital divide

Benefits:
Before implementing Project: Make a chart of computer and technology usage in schools, time used by students and staff.

Phase 1: Bridge the knowledge divide: Classes or whatever it takes to get teachers on the same page. Meetings
Phase 2: Bridge the Access Divide: Libraries underrated. Using computers at the library

Aftermath: make a chart of computer and technology usage again and see how it compares to before the plan was implemented.

Julie Liked this presentation

Beau: Gaming:

What your mother warned you about
what your mother doesnt know: the code, constantly gaming on portable devices, technology feeds off the gaming community, Gaming saves Lives, gaming leads to life changing technologies,
So What: Gaming has permanently changed our culture, life and death game, heart surgery, military

Gaming is no longer a past time but a necessity due to technological advances and the evolution of the internet.

Our culture has been permanently altered due to the evolution of gaming.
Argument: that the idea of gaming and mobile technologies are engaging and constantly gaming through those technologies.

Julie doesnt think the argument is what you said...it is that technology feeds off gaming "we know what we want to build because we have people who are constantly connected to games...everything is a game...we build what we know what we want to help us game more...people layer we are better coordinated because we game...two levels always operating around...take what you said on argument slide and use it as support...there is no difference.

James: Gaming From Birth:

Todays average college grads have spent fewer than 5000 hours of their lives reading but 10000 hours playing video games

The goal is to who how thinking learning, and the understanding of video games can be solely based, on largely impart to, the symbolic proecessing...

what we do when we are playing games

Todays students are the first generation to grow up with this new digital technology. They have spent their entire lives around video games
How? parents should play games with their children and talk about it.

Video games get a bad rap because they are easy to pick on. The way in which we retain information from video games is the same way in which a blind person reads braile aka "represntationional competence" reading visual images as representational 3-d games

link simple games to situations that have already been proven to work

pacman...once you get the fruit..learned during the game...ultimately creates a new era of kids

politicians use video game card for money, fame and easy votes.

symbolism becomes so strong that the game environment becomes increasingly immersive-the person playing the game legitimately cares about whats happening inside the fictional world
symbolism just from looking at the game creates a better understanding of learning...just like blind people use braille...

Julie "riddle me this...what are the two issues in the digital divide....knowledge and access...people misunderstand games and it throws a whole different light on it...start with perenski...representational competence...and therefore...focus completely on representational competence"

Hans: Social networks bridging the chasm

youtube, myspace, facebook...connecting is gonna be able to bridge the gap between the digital divide

Virtual Community

Chasm

Connection Content Create

Connection...Silva argues that the ability of mobile interfaces to allow users to connect to the internet while walking urban spaces blurs the boundaries between the physical and the digital, and that the shift from static to mobile interfaces brings social networks

Content...the value of the internet can be directly correlated to the value of its content

Create...its paramount for people coming to the internet...have the opportunity to join communities and forge new communities...encouraged to create more things and interactions

So What? What to take home...contract idea and limit bounds push forward the idea that social networks

Julie gives argument..."Poor people are still poor...here is an idea of how to frame it...pyramid of production...peter lunenfeld...1%creators...9%commentors fundamentally do something with it and either become a creator or just keep doing something with it...90% ingestors who are happy to be told...we have open networks so now there are more content creators...and also more commentors...and less ingestors. Its a different pyramid now. You still have fundamental argument...focus on what Maurice said. Digital divide knowledge gap is getting crossed "

Spencer: Do games generate better soldiers?

How games impact teenagers and young adults before they go into military and after.

What effects to video games have on military recruits, and what roles do simulators have in basic training?

Before Joining: Teenagers get false impression of what actual combat is like...build bad habits...games entice people to join military

Training: Simulations Pros: cheaper, tactics, intro to real life situations
cons: miss out on physical aspects, pain, adrenaline emotion, fear

stress is a huge part...

overall the games are inaccurate no real experience cant identify every move an enemy is going to make must practice shooting own weapon throwing grenades etc, must hone in on internal instincts through real life simulated combat
must get used to clearing buildings knowing there might be a shootout getting used to adrenaline rush/mind racing

during combat puts them in right frame of mind...games are a way to get away...although they are so realistic now days that they bring nightmares...simulations can be used to asses psychological

Argument: As games are implemented into basic

real vs. virtual space

Julie..."good example of a work in progress and at this stage in the game havent come to actual argument yet...but what I think your argument come from is that you are specifically arguing against gaming...and you are saying that no sorry that there are very specific things outside the digital world...that cant be put in games...then go into here is what is good and here is whats bad"

Blog Assignment #11

2010-04-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Lorena S: I was a little bit confused on whether you were saying it was a good thing or a bad thing that China was censoring their internet. As I understood it you were saying that Americans thought it was bad that China was doing what they were doing however the rest of the world didnt seem to have a problem with it like Americans do. Even though it is good to present all the facts I am not sure how well it supports your argument when you include this.

Sheila N: I do not really have much to say it seems like you have your ideas layed out pretty well. Like Julie said maybe focus more on Club Penguin and I would say even find another site like Club Penguin so that you have more than one example of people trying to identify gender even though it is supposed to be a gender free space.

Maurice S: I worked on my Uncle's dryland wheat farm on Rattlesnake for a couple summers driving combine and tractor and as you were presenting I was trying to think about examples that applied to your presentation. I am not sure if any of these really will help but two things I thought of were: 1) One summer there was a fire and because Rattlesnake is pretty far away from town usually the farmers put out the fires themselves and it was through the use of cell phones that we were contacted as were a bunch of the farmers in the area. So when we showed up there were literally about 20 different farmers all there with there equipment putting out the fire. If it were 1950 I can guarantee that the response would have been much slower and that the fire would have destroyed a lot more land. 2) Another thing I thought of and I am not sure that it will help but my Uncle just installed GPS in his tractor so now he doesnt have to steer as he goes around the field the GPS steers for him.

Corrinda L: The thing that I thought about as you were presenting is that pretty much any of the games that parents play with their children can be presented in a digital format like a video game. So just like your example of memory, a game that used to be played with actual cards, now a child can play whenever they want. I might include the idea that in today's fast paced world when many parents do not have time to play with their children education based video games can step in and fill the void which is better for the education of children overall.

Kat C: Your topic was something that was exciting to me. An in depth look at the Obama campaign and how they responded on the internet to actions by the other candidates would also be cool.

Below are the notes I took in class:

Lorena S: China communication in Crisis

I liked the example about the difference in the number of search results between google and china when searching for America.

40000 internet police monitor the internet

How does it affect us, what is going on in China? How does internet censorship affect our culture?

304 million online users are not being allowed to contribute wholly to the internet. Possibly china.org and Google will not search the same. Firefox possibly has a way to see what chinese people see even though we are in America.

Sheila N: Let's talk about gender roles

traditional gender roles found in meatspace are reinforced and perpetuated in social networking sites.

three examples facebook myspace and stardoll

facebook: 422 profiles 137male/285female 16 had avatars/profile pics that were animbal or nature

myspace: 149 profiles 65male/84females 6 were animals or text non gender specific

Stardoll is developed with an emphasis on girls.

Club Penguin is a snow covered virtual world where children play games and interact with friends in the guise of colorful penguin avatars. Players create a penguin and explore the snow covered island. Free guys say i or they use other ways to try to identify the girls and guys in the room.

Do you have any ideas or suggestions? James talked about an article he read which talked about trying to regulate predators from club penguin and Sheila talked about secret moderators.

Maurice S: that essentially modern cellphones and their digital connection to cyberspace is helping to close the digital divide and changing how agriculture is done in rural America.
This is important because cellphones have eliminated the lack of internet access and is changing how farmers get their internet content. Weather info was received from newspapers or tv but now specific info can be found now. In case you havent been reading these are my key points and this is my proof.

Corrinda L: Educating Through Gaming

Written in Lesson Plan format

Can children learn through gaming? If so what do they learn? What dont they learn?

Memory Game example. Having the grid and volcanoes are learning concepts. funbrain.com. Children do learn through gaming. James Paul Gee's examples. Gaming has immediate rewards. Howard Gardner from the Education field and James Gee combined reinforce eachother.

Kat. C: old school vs. the internet on politics and media services and changing the way we see political candidates and their ability. Goal is to describe how the internet helped Obama win his election. Howard Dean failed to stay on topic. His failure was that he didnt reach all the supporters he could. Obama used the internet to win.

Blog Assignment #10

2010-04-02T16:31:00.000-07:00

The conflict between Google and China is the main recent event I have seen in the news. This is an internet enabled political decision that specifically is China deciding whether or not to allow it's citizens to access Google.

Another recent event that I found being reported on (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html?hp) was a flashmob that occured in Philadelphia. The article seems to focus entirely on the fact that the flashmobs are violent and dangerous and it is eluded to that the flashmobs are the result of not enough after school jobs and not enough funding to after school programs. However the article does not really address what it is the flashmob was protesting. There are not any interviews with members of the flashmob only a strong bias that flashmobs are a bad thing. While a violent flashmob is a bad thing, it seems that it would be important for the author to address just why the members of the flashmob felt so strongly as to march through town and be violent.

This event was also reported on by Fox News but they also did not have interviews with anyone from the flashmob they only reported on how flashmobs were becoming violent and scary. (http://video.foxnews.com/v/41245598/flash-mobs-hit-philadelphia)

Kahn and Kellner in their article reference Rheingold who talked about how the advances in technology have enabled networks of people to become informed smart mobs. They talk about how through the use of technology these smartmobs were able, in Spain, to vote out the existing government. The flashmob in Philadelphia could very well have also been formed to protest something important however the mainstream media seemed more interested in talking about the violence and showing the victims of the flashmob than in reporting about why the flashmob was formed.

Extra Credit Opportunity #2

2010-04-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

The authors' begin by talking about one of the original purposes of the internet saying that it was created to provide a way to communicate when traditional communication tools did not work. Since they chose to outline their paper in a pre/post 9/11 attack manner they begin with a section describing supposed ways in which terrorists secretly planned their attack by communicating on the inernet. While it has not been proven, the terrorists supposedly communicated by coding messages into pornographic images or by stenography. However, FBI research revealed that it is more likely that the terrorists were so straight foward and mundane in their communication that they did not do any of the things that the intelligence agencies usually look for.

Next the authors discuss how the internet was used and how well it worked during the actual events on 9/11. In regards to performance the internet worked quite well even with a "spike in traffic." As discussed, part of the reason the internet worked so well is because information on the internet is sent as a bunch of small individual packets. So even though things get backed up a little bit the packets eventually get through and reach the destination. Also when certain sites such as news sites received extremely heavy traffic as everyone was trying to find out the lastest information they eliminated unecessary information and streamlined their sites to incorporate only information about the attacks.

As the authors go on they talk about the good and bad uses of the internet after 9/11. Examples of the good included: the internet allowed people to communicate through messages, allowed people to dontate money and help with the relief effort, and provided a venue for people to feel connected and to discuss and even grieve. Negative uses included things such as hoaxes, hacking of middle eastern networks that were not in support of terrorism, money scams, and domain registry that was meant to profit off the event.

In the future and has already been seen, the government and people in general will have to decide whether helpful information should be on the internet. The authors' talk about New Jersey's Community Right To Know information which informed about the chemicals that are stored at private businesses. However, the information was taken offline and now firefighters which used to reference the database are left in the dark when they approach fires at these companies.

Bakelaar and Holcomb include an updated postscript to the original article and talk about how much the web has changed in recent years and how the issues of privacy and security are alot more complex than they used to be.

This article, in my understanding, is saying that the internet, even though it has some negative uses, is going to be the most important and useful tool for communication as we go into the future especiallly during times of crisis. It seems that this is already the case in today's society as the article cites a Harris poll that said that 47% of adults discussed the 9/11 online. A stat I found in Kahn and Keller's article pointed out that even the number of users over 65 has gone up 47% since the year 2000. So the use of the internet just continues to skyrocket and is quickly becoming the most important method of communication.

As I cannot get away from the idea of smartmobs, because I find them fascinating, a smartmob is a great example of what can be achieved from communication via the internet. Since this article talks about how in the future the internet is going to be a critical tool in dealing with crisis' the idea of a smarmob could be useful. Instead of showing up to protest however the smartmob would be a group of people showing up to help.

Blog Assignment #9

2010-03-25T23:13:00.000-07:00

Internet Activism, the concept of community, and the digital divide are the three rather broad topics from which I will work from.

Flashmobs are the specific form of internet activism that I would like to focus on. However the way in which they manifest themselves relies heavily upon the online communities from which the organization of a flashmob is made possible. I will argue that flashmobs which manifest themselves in "real space" are the most effective way to bridge the digital divide.

Rheingold, Howard. Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution. 1st. Cambridge, MA:
Basic Books, 2002. Print.
Smartmobs are the foundation of my argument and this book provides examples and arguments that I can use to support the use of flashmobs.

Andy, Carvin. "Mind the Gap: The Digital Divide as the Civil Rights Issue of the New Millennium." Multimedia & Internet @ Schools (2000): n. pag. Web. 26 Mar 2010. http://www.infotoday.com/MMSchools/Jan00/carvin.htm.
This article provides background for the digital divide and statistics and facts that I will use to introduce and talk about the digital divide.

Warschauer, Mark. "Reconceptualizing the Digital Divide." First Monday 7.7 (2002): n. pag. Web. 26 Mar 2010. http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/967/888
This article also will provide background and be a reference from which I can refer when making statments about the digital divide.

Ian, Urbina. "Mobs Are Born As Word Grows By Text Message." New York Times 24 Mar. 2010: 1. Web. 25 Mar 2010. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/us/25mobs.html?hp
This article will provide argument both for and against flashmobs as it also shows how flashmobs can be violent and not helpful to bridging the digital divide.

"Chilean Schoolchildren Smartmob for Better Education: The Penguin Revolution." Howard Rheingold Vlog Collection. Web. 25 Mar 2010.
This will provide a specific example of smartmobs making a difference.

Blog Assignment #8

2010-03-12T10:50:00.000-08:00

The three topics I plan to include are the digital divide, literacies in the 21st century (Primarily Howard Rheingold's work), and Internet Activism/Flashmobs. My specific argument is that the school system needs to change their teaching methods and incorporate media and technology into the everyday learning experience.

The topic of the digital divide will allow me to address the facts as to how many children have access to computers both in school and at home. The literacies will allow me to address the importance of technology in the classroom. Finally, internet activism/flashmobs will provide proof of what can be accomplished through the effective use of technology.

Blog Assignment #7

2010-02-25T16:36:00.000-08:00

Of the readings from this week, I have chosen to analyze "Oh No! I'm A Nerd!" Hegemonic Masculinity on an Online Forum by Lori Kendall. Specifically I want to talk about the section titled "Masculinities and Computer Technology" that starts at the bottom of page 260 and continues onto page 261.

This section of Kendall's work describes how men try to handle the idea of masculinity. Kendall quotes Connell who describes hegemonic masculinity as, "the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy, which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women." A few sentences later Kendall says, "However, they must also negotiate their own relationship to that ideal." Kendall is referring to how men will deal with the idea of masculinity and patriarchy.

Further down in this section Kendall references Wright who talks about, "the particular style of masculinity in both engineering and computer culture as 'requiring agressive displays of technical self-confidence and hands-on ability for success, defining professional competence in hegemonically masculine terms and devaluing the gender characteristics of women.'"

At the end of this section Kendall, quotes Cockburn who says, "Technology enters into our sexual identity: feminity is incompatible with technological competence; to feel technically competent is to feel manly."

This section, in my opinion, is saying that the idea of patriarchy is part of our culture and that men as well as women have to deal with it, and the way that they deal with it isnt exactly obvious to them but usually it manifests itself in men through their masculinity when they try to "show off."

As an engineering student I have observed many instances of men being quite confused in regards to their masculinity. The term "enginerd" is something that I have heard before and really does apply to many engineering students. First I would like to describe most engineering classrooms I have encountered, the average classroom is over 90% men. I spent a few years in Pullman and there were many times that the classroom would have 40+ men and two women. The interactions that I observed between the women and men were sometimes quite comical. In CAD lab sessions there were a few seperate ocassions I can vividly remember when I watched as some of the men in the classroom went out of their way to make sure the women in the classroom were understanding everything okay. This was not only their opportunity to interact with a women but to enter into a conversation with some confidence. This confidence I feel came solely from the fact that they had experience with CAD and wanted to show off their skills. A few times it was especially comical when the woman would let the guy know that she in fact knew what she was doing and didnt need any help. This was clearly an example of men showing off their technical skills and assuming that women did not know how to use CAD.

Blog Assignment #6

2010-02-19T13:49:00.001-08:00

For blog assignment #6 I will analyze another of the podcasts from Howard Rheingold's vlog collection on iTunes. This podcast is a video recording of a presentation that Howard Rheingold gave on 21st century literacies in July, 2009 in London. The presentation is approximately 35 minutes. Kind of random I mention this but at the presentation Mr. Rheingold is wearing a suit that is quite unique and very colorful, he also has some very colorful shoes. Gotta say while there is not a chance in hell I would wear what he is wearing, I like his style.

In the following I will outline the key points Mr. Rheingold gives during his presentation.

His five most important literacies of the 21st century are 1) Attention 2) Participation 3) Cooperation 4) Critical Consumption known also as "crap detection" 5) Network Awareness. He says that these literacies, "all need to work together, ultimately the fluency is not a particular literacy but being able to put these literacies together."

He talks about his daughter's experience as she was introduced to the internet. Mostly the fact that anyone can put whatever they want on the internet. The consumer of the information, even his daughter who was only 12 at the time, "had to become a critic had to become a questioner had to inquire about the reality of the information that was presented to her." He talks about how at the time he explained to her, "you gotta ask the primary question who is the author what do other people say about the author, put that author's name in the search engine, keep your critical glasses on." He explained to her that we need to become detectives when we search the internet. What he is talking about is one of the 21st century literacies, critical consumption. For more on critical consumption he says to see this article which he wrote called crap detection 101 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/rheingold/detail?entry_id=42805).

As he goes on he talks about another of the literacies, attention. A project that he did which demonstrates attention was in the class that he was teaching. He recorded his students from his viewpoint at the front of the class. They didn't know it but he also recorded them from the back of the classroom at the same time. Between these two cameras he was able to see not only that some of his students were busy looking at their computers as he talked but he was also able to see what they were looking at on their screens. From this he learned that even one of his best students was looking at things not related to class. A conclusion he draws from this is that, "maybe its not that multitasking is bad and focused attention is good maybe we simply havent learned how to exercise our attention.

Participation is outlined by some simple facts such as there are a "billion people on the internet" and over "four billion mobile phones." Furthermore, he talks about how many excruciatingly boring blogs and twitter accounts attest to the fact that just participating isnt enough but there is something to be learned about participating that is valuable to others." But participating, "even if it is no good and nobody cares gives you a different sense of being in the world."

Mr. Rheingold says that network awareness is something that Facebook users, twitter users, and bloggers are aware of but that there are plenty of people who are not. He recommends, as he did to his daughter, that, "if you find people whether you know them or not who you can trust to be an authority on something or other add them to your personal network, consult them, consult them personally, consult what they have written."

The idea of the importance of literacies, if I understood correctly, is related to the idea that it is more important to have the foundation to analyze new media and programs instead of just knowing how to use a certain program. By understanding these literacies any new program can be understood. Gaining an understanding of how to use a program effectively can always be taught but thinking critically about the influence that program has or can have on the world is more important.

Blog Assignment #4 Rewrite

2010-02-16T16:13:00.000-08:00

In my original Blog Assignment #4 I analyzed a section in the book "The Virtual Community" by Howard Rheingold. Now I have chosen to instead analyze a podcast called "Vernacular Video" from Howard Rheingold's vlog collection that I found on iTunes. Rheingold talks about vernacular video, "vernacular refers to the emergence of millions of video producers and of an informal even conversational genre of video production." He then goes on to talk about how the way in which people are able to view video has changed so much. He includes examples about how people can have video chats, can view video online through sites such as youtube, and can include videos, "in a horizontal dimension" while also including "simultaneous text discussions of the same topic in a vertical dimension." Rheingold concludes that, "video presentations and discussions will begin to show up in lesson plans from kindergarten to graduate school." This he says is the future because, "video vernacular is already changing popular culture but is only beginning to change teaching and learning."

When I saw the title vernacular video, I honestly had no idea what vernacular video was. However as soon Mr. Rheingold explained that vernacular video was basically homemade (non-professional) video and went on to explain how it is changing the way in which people view video and even interact online it all made sense. Many of the things he said were pretty straight forward but he was simply stating the facts in order to back up his conclusion that in the future teachers will use video as a resource for teaching.

Blog Assignment #5

2010-02-11T16:47:00.001-08:00

As I started reading chapter #3 and when I started reading this book in general, I realized that even though I consider my vocabulary to be quite ample in discerning just what it is that most authors are trying to purvey, I would, in fact, have to pull out my dictionary a couple of times to make sure that I was interpreting the meaning of some words correctly. Just as I felt the need to pull out the dictionary a few times, I also greatly felt the need to watch the second and third installments in the Matrix trilogy and to rewatch the Matrix in order to understand chapter #3 all the way, however, sadly I did not have time to do so. Luckily Minority Report is a movie I have seen a couple times and I definitely remember it which by default makes it a movie I must really like because for some reason I am horrible at remembering movies, I do not remember a time in which I have ever quoted a movie. So the fact that I remember the movie so well is definitely giving me the thought that I might now have to consider Minority Report as one of my favorite movies from now on. I am not sure why I just said everything that I did...like seriously I have no idea why I just wrote that down...but that was my thought process as I started to write and I guess it will serve as my introduction to Blog Assignment #5.

As I drove from Tri-Cities to Seattle last night i spent time trying to figure out how I could incorporate my favorite show into this blog. When I say my favorite show I cannot emphasize that enough. The show I refer to is The Wire and was produced by HBO. In fact, on www.imdb.com The Wire receives a 9.7/10 average rating by over 23,000 people which is the highest rating I have seen of any movie or show on imdb. The Wire is an in depth study of the city of Baltimore and through its five seasons it shows different aspects of Baltimore including drug dealing, the school system, and the local government. The show develops countless plot lines, but the one that I will focus upon is the "tap" that is placed on cell phones and public phones in order to listen in on the drug dealers.

Okay, now for the part that matters my analysis of Digitizing Race. The point that Nakamura made that stood out most to me is found on page 97. Nakamura describes how, "white users enjoy a privileged visual relationship with digital networked interfaces," she goes on in describing how white users are the ones who are allowed to interact with digital networked interfaces by methods that black users are not. White users dont have to use a keyboard or a mouse, instead they just move their hands around and the computer has a special (privileged) connection with the white user. However, black users are not afforded this special connection and they are forced to use the old, traditional methods of using a computer by typing on a keyboard. Nakamura has a picture showing a white interface on page 99, and talks about how Link, who is, "part of the Afro-futuristic visual culture" has a black padded analog style headset that looks old and does not match the idea of what futuristic equipment should look like.

At this point I would like to introduce my example from The Wire because, in my opinion, it does a good job of supporting Nakamura. While The Wire is by no means a science fiction show it does do a very good job of exploring race. When the phone lines are "tapped" by the police the drug dealers who are all black are very slow to realize that they are being monitored. Eventually the boss figures out that they are being monitored but the way in which the show presents the lack of understanding that most of the black drug dealers have of the rather simple idea of a wire tap presents the idea that blacks cannot understand technology as well as whites. Later in the show this idea is reniforced because when the white members of the russian mob are introduced they are extremely leery of wire taps and already have a system for avoiding wire taps because they have cell phones that are prepaid and are not registered in anyones name.

Blog Assignment #4

2010-02-05T13:24:00.000-08:00

I think that Howard Rheingold's book The Virtual Community was very good. I feel like he did a good job of writing it, and I loved reading it...okay just kidding I was trying to be funny...lol...haha...okay not funny at all...(my response to the note about blog posts) and no disrespect to Howard Rheingold intended. In actuality I did not read his entire 400+ page book. The book The Virtual Community was one of Howard Rheingold's early works and was originally published in 1993. The book was republished in 2000 and allowed Mr. Rheingold the opportunity to add new material to his book. As we know and as Mr. Rheingold points out, "the world shifted into internet overdrive soon after the 1993 publication of The Virtual Community," so being able to add new material to his book allowed him to add the part that I will concentrate upon.

After skimming through this book and reading a couple pages here and there and doing some quick research on Mr. Rheingold it is clear that his opinions about ideas/things such as virtual communities matter quite a bit (to understate it); however, the thing I found most interesting is a "short but sweet" acknowledgement on pg. 359. Mr. Rheingold says, "If I had encountered sociologist Barry Wellman and learned about social network analysis when I first wrote about cyberspace cultures, I could have saved us all a decade of debate by calling them 'online social networks' instead of 'virtual communities.' "

So, at this point I would like to ask a few questions that I hope we can talk about in class:

1) Is Howard Rheingold credited with coming up with the term "virtual community"?

2) Have we been discussing something (virtual communities) that has already been explained by the creator?

3) Am I on the wrong track?

I will try to find answers to my questions this weekend

What I plan to Blog About

2010-02-04T17:18:00.001-08:00

I am planning to write about Howard Rheingold's book "The Virtual Community." Specifically I plan to write about the last chapter in his book which is an expanded/updated chapter to his original work that was published in 1993. Is anyone else planning to write about this book?

Blog Assignment #3

2010-01-29T15:47:00.000-08:00

While reading the "Flow, Process, Fold" article, I was immediately taken aback by one of the author's statements. The author writes, "Like physicists, they [biologists] have searched for the holy grail of a grand unifying theory, preferably reducible to fundamental laws of physics and chemistry." The author continues this paragraph by describing how some biologists wish to create a connection between biology, physics, and chemistry. A Nobel-prize winner, Christian B. Anfinsen, showed very clearly that protein folding is entirely coded by the amino acids that are located within the proteins. The author then immediately jumps to the idea that protein folding could be the unifying theme of biology. This idea struck me as particularly confusing within the context of the paragraph because it directly conflicts with the contents of a conversation in which I recently participated.
Let me explain, my brother, Myles, is a pre-medicine student at Seattle Pacific University. He is a biology student, then, and he has always performed pretty well in his classes. About one week ago, my brother described his new class load to me over a late night phone conversation. Like most of these conversations, I feign interest while he rambles about some great new biological insight that only a bio-nerd could completely appreciate. Anyway, he mentioned something about his new class, Evolutionary Mechanisms, and the way in which modern synthesis (the up-to-date term of evolution) provides a unifying theme for all of the biology classes that he has taken to date.
At this point, it is important to point out that Myles is really into Biology. He constantly reads research articles (for fun, it seems), and he is always listening to science podcasts on his Itouch. Anyway, all of these facts add a great deal of credibility to Myles' statements.
So, now I was stuck with two contradicting definitions for biology's unifying theme. On one hand, the unifying theme is supposed to be related to protein folding and computer modeling while, on the other hand, the unifying theme is supposed to be this theory called 'modern synthesis.' Are biologists just that fickle? Do they have wish-washy views of the factors that make up a unifying theory because, to me, it seems that there should only be one unifying theory for each field of study.
After calling Myles and discussing this inconsistency for a while, I have come to agree with Myles' point of view. Creating perfect models of protein folding would be great, but it would not be enough, according to Myles, to be deemed the 'unifying theme of Biology.'
The problem, Myles insists, is simply the fact that frequencies of alleles in populations are constantly changing and proteins are constantly folding and unfolding (a process called
denaturing and renaturing). As a matter of fact, new research implicates protein denaturing as the ultimate cause behind the neurological symptoms that accompany sleep deprivation. When we remain alert for extended periods, our pH levels decline due to cellular processes. This leads to the unfolding (denaturing) of proteins. These proteins begin to refold when we finally fall asleep and allow specialized enzymes (a class of proteins) to renature the denatured proteins.
At this point in Myles' explanation of sleep deprivation, I interrupted him and pointed out that his example made protein folding sound extremely important. He laughed and let me know that without the denaturing that accompanies sleep deprivation, our bodies would not be able to engage in the negative feedback cycle that is our cicadian rhythm. Forcing these proteins to stay folded would ultimately lead to an inability to fall asleep (we would never feel tired) and our pH levels would be allowed to decline until we died, and, with a chuckle, Myles let me know that death is the worst positive feedback cycle of all time.
Anyway, Myles finished by asserting that modern synthesis (which is just a fancy word coined by Julian Huxley in 1942 to describe the updated view of biological evolution) provides an explanation for the synethesis of this protein folding/refolding sleep cycle. In fact, Myles asserts that all biological fields can be unified under the umbrella of modern synthesis while many fields do not fit under the umbrella of protein denaturing/renaturing.
So, while this blog does not directly address how computers have helped in the advancement of biology (and I quickly diverged and attacked one specific topic from the article), it was my chance to discuss biology with my brother and learn a lot of new concepts that were completely foreign to me.

2010-01-22T16:09:00.000-08:00

many people reside within two realms. In one realm they are feeble, simple-minded with goals and aspirations that likely accomodate their respective abilities. This realm is real life. In the other realm, however, thay are supermen and superwomen.

This post seeks to explore this other realm a land of infinite...potential?

Since my personal pathway for entering this realm is facebook, I will explore my experiences on facebook and discuss some trends that I have noticed during my time in this most popular of virtual societies.

In facebook-land I am a professional snowboarder. I look stylish in every photograph, am invited to join super cool groups, and constantly receive new friend requests. "Yeah, I looked bitchin' in that photo, looks like it'll be my profile picture this week"

At first, facebook seems great. It allows me to present my best qualities and hide my fallibiliites. The results are addictive, however. After a short amount of time, facebook is no longer a social networking center; instead, it becomes a personal advertisment page. This tendency is something that I have come to call the "political presentation problem." Sure, unlike the claims made by most political ads, the contents of a facebook page that is under the influence of the "political presentation problem" are not always a fabrication of the truth. They are, however, almost always a withholding of the whole truth, and this is where the problems lies.

Without laying all of our proverbial cards on the table, it is difficult to experience meaningul social experiences. By not allowing others to see our cracks and smudges, we appear perfect. This means that our cracks and smudges will never be dealt with properly. They will always remain as hidden baggage, weighing us down and destroying our self-view.

To a purveyor of my personal facebook page, it appears that each of my weekends are spent attending parties or performing really enjoyable activities. In reality, a large portion of my spare time is whittled away by boring and mundane tasks. This second problem is something that I have come to call the"see, my life's not boring" problem. This problem usually begins with the idea that nobody would be intereested in the ordinary parts of our lives, wo we might as well only post content that is related to really exciting events. This leads to severe misperception of one another's personal lives. Healthy socializing is nearly impossible in a world where each and every post has to be related ot a really exciting activity because life just isn't that exciting most of the time.

The third problem that I have experienced with facebook is a problem with all non-physical human socializing: we can't see each other's faces. It is ironic, in fact, that the network is called "facebook." Sure, we can look at pictures of one another, but when humans engage in social activities, their actions are greatly expedited by facial expressions, posture, and hand gestures. All three of these types of communication are impossibler on facebook.

I will be the first to admit that my online experiences are somewhat limited and that is probably why facebook is the main social network that I am a part of. Facebook was very easy to join, in fact, I remember when I joined it literally took five minutes and after half an hour working on my profile I had a pertty good grasp of how to navigate facebook. With my somewhat limited grasp of the internet...to be continued

Blog Assignment #1

2010-01-15T11:13:00.000-08:00

The second description is the one that described cyberspace as I think of it. Honestly I do not have an understanding of how the internet works and I have always just thought of cyberspace and the internet as being the exact same. However, when I do think of it...I think of some far off place that contains all of the information in cyberspace and that it can be accessed by any computer that has the internet. I just remember the first time I accessed the internet in 4th grade and it absolutely blew my mind that I could look up anything. Now when I try to think about exactly where all this information is stored I realize that I do not understand the internet and cyberspace. I guess that is why I just have always thought of a computer as an instrument that is connected to some very large "magical" place that has all the information in the world. As I have gained an education in engineering I have realized that many topics that I once thought would be impossible to understand are actually quite easy. I am quickly realizing that I need to have a better understanding of just how cyberspace, the internet, and computers work because I feel confident that I will be able to somewhat understand how it all works together. I feel that it is important to be well rounded and I have been part of conversations with computer science buddies who had entire conversations in which I literally did not understand more than half of their conversation. So having a better understanding of how "all of this" works is something I will work on.

Intro

2010-01-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

Hi my name is Mark and this is the first time I have ever had a blog. I am a senior engineering major and when I signed up for this class I honestly had no idea what it was about or what to expect but I think I am really going to enjoy it. I know how to use the internet and can do some basic things to my computer but for the most part my knowledge about computers is pretty limited and I know absolutely nothing about programming other than C++ is a programming language and I have always wanted to read C++ for dummies because I want to have an idea of what programming is all about. Anyway just some basics but my main hobbies are dirtbikes and snowboarding. I spent 3.5 years in Pullman going to school but I am really enjoying the Tri-Cities campus as I try to finish off my degree.