Reading Report #3

Title:  The Future of Libraries Beginning the Great Transformation

Author: Thomas Frey

Website:  http://www.davinciinstitute.com/page.php?ID=120

 

            The article “The Future of Libraries Beginning the Great Transformation” begins with the amazing story of how Leonardo DaVinci was an incredibly smart individual that was way ahead of his time.  This article tells much about the unbelievable speed of technology and how it progressed so quickly.  It foretells how search engines started with text and will soon move to more responsive senses such as sound, touch, and feels.  The article proceeds to specify how technology in this world will continue to change and how the roles of libraries are constantly changing.  It tells how librarians need to embrace the change in order to help those that don’t necessarily understand the new areas of technology. 

            I think the article was great in informing the general public of how the technology changes and just how fast the changes are occurring.  I have accepted embracing new technology as a part of life.  I think it is great when new quicker and smaller gadgets are discovered and become available to the public.  Things like video games, iPods, and computers are becoming better and smaller everyday.  Even though these great toys are not always affordable people would still like to know how to use them.  This is where librarians come into play and can share their vast knowledge of the technology world.  Overall I think the article was great in informing others on how technology is changing and exactly how people think it is going to change.  Maybe they are right and maybe they are wrong but no one knows until it happens. 

News Report #3

Article:  Amazon Removes Rape Game

Author:  Christopher Nickson

Website: http://news.digitaltrends.com/news-article/19237/amazon-removes-rape-game

  

The article “Amazon Removes Rape Game” is about a game that was created by Illusion.  Illusion is company in Japan that specializes in 3D Hentai games.  This particular game Rapelay is a game where the objective is for the user to find the mother and her two daughters and rape them.  There is another mode to the game as well where you can rape any female character and invite others to join in.  All the games they make are not meant for sale or use outside of Japan.  Somehow a private seller was able to sell the game on Amazon in the United States.  Amazon had no idea what the game was all about because it was very discrete in the description.  Amazon found out about the game from a newspaper, The Belfast Telegraph, who wrote an article about how inappropriate the game actually is.  The game was immediately removed when Amazon became aware of this ridiculous game.

I think it is crazy that anyone would actually make a game like this.  I was completely shocked to hear that such a game exists.  Amazon definitely took the appropriate measures when they became aware of this game but I think there should be some kind of system that doesn’t allow games like this to ever be sold or even made.  Not only that but I find it absurd that people enjoy playing games like this.  I think you have to have a sick mind to purchase and play this type of game.

News Report #2

Article:  “Facebook Turns 5 – but can it Survive?”

 Author:  Simon Hooper

             The article “Facebook Turns 5 – but can it Survive?” begins by telling how Facebook came about.  Mark Zuckerberg is a genius who created this billion dollar website out of his dorm room when he was 19 years old.  This was five years ago when he was a student at Harvard University.  Within 24 hours of creating this website there were over 1,000 other Harvard classmates that had already joined the website and within a month nearly the half the University had become a member.  Mark Zuckerberg is now only 24 and one of the richest men in the world.  His site is valued at over 15 billion dollars and he is considered one of the Top 100 most influential people of 2008.  The question being asked is if the website will always be this valuable.  A writer in Fortune magazine thinks the website might not be around too much longer if things don’t begin to change.  He admits that is does bring in advertisements and a good amount of money but it is nothing compared to Microsoft, Google, or even MySpace which is their largest competitor.  The Fortune magazine writer thinks it is great idea that needs to change because it has been the same for over five years now.  Mark Zuckerberg assures him that the website will remain up to speed and will survive.  

            I think Facebook is a great website that has been the same for a while.  The article is very interesting in giving some background information that I wasn’t aware of before.  I had no idea that the creator was a 19 year old man that became a millionaire within a month and a billionaire within a few years.  I do think he will keep the website up to speed with the other competitors.  If the man is smart enough to create this website when he is 19 years old I think he is definitely smart enough to keep it up to date with the competitors.  

Reading Report #2

Title: “Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?”

 Author: Brock Read

             The article “Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?” is a very informative article that really opened my eyes to the Wikipedia world.  It tells how Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can edit who registers to the site.  The article gives examples of interesting past events of Wikipedia.  The first example was a professor who tried to edit the website by putting 13 errors into various places throughout the website.  Within a few hours the Wikipedians caught the errors and fixed them.  This really changed the opinion of the professor who attempted to make a mockery of the website.  On the other hand the next example was of a longtime journalist who noticed an entry someone wrote claiming that he was involved in the Kennedy assassinations.  The journalist was outraged and claimed none of this was true.  The bad part was that it was on the site for about four months before he was the one that caught it and edited it.  This diminished his reputation and he was very outraged.  Another graduate student claims that it really depends on what topics people are writing about on the website because it is much easier to lie about a past history even that no one is very familiar with compared to an article about selenium or some other scientific topic.

            The article is great in informing the average person of the dangers of using Wikipedia for anything more than a quick answer.  I can honestly say before too long I was not aware that anyone could post anything they want on the website.  I do agree with the idea of Mr. Sanger who proposed an idea of an “alternate version of Wikipedia that lets an editorial panel of experts put articles through a form of peer review before certifying them as worthy of public view”.  This would really improve the validity of the website an also allow for a great online source of information.  Personally I like Wikipedia very much and I think it would be great if the site could become more valid.