Brad's Blog

2009-04-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

Title: All-in-one Nettops resurrecting desktop market

Author: Erica Ogg

Website: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/ptech/04/15/cnet.all.in.one.nettops/index.html?eref=rss_tech
The article “All-in-one Nettops resurrecting desktop market” is about a new category of computers that that is basically a cheaper and simpler computer. The new type of computer is called a nettop and has less capabilities than a normal desktop or laptop but is about half of the price. They were created about a year ago and experts thought they would plummet to bankruptcy but with the sudden change in the economy they are now booming. The targeted audience is people who only need a computer for basic things like using the internet and basic computing. Experts say this is a great thing for the computer world and the economy.
I think nettops are a great idea and are going to make a lot of money. When you think about all the people out there now that have a computer and don’t use or even know 80% of the things their computer does. I know I only use some of my computers capabilities and really have no intentions of ever using them. For only a couple hundred dollars you can buy a computer that is everything you need, how can you beat that? The computers even run on a Windows XP or Linux. The only down side is the screens are smaller, which doesn’t matter, and they aren’t very portable. These problems don’t even matter because anyone who would buy these computers obviously doesn’t use them very often and doesn’t need a portable computer. I think these are going to make a lot of money over the next few years

News Report #4

2009-04-01T22:43:00.000-07:00

Title: “Brain Wave Chick” Digitally Performs Mind Music

Author: Sara Lipka

The article “Brain Wave Chick” Digitally Performs Mind Music is about a woman that basically plays music through her brain waves. In order to do this she places a headband on her head on stage and presses three different electrodes to her brain’s frontal lobe. She has a Bluetooth adapter that sends the brainwaves to her computer to which then converts it into music that is played through a synthesizer. She claims that she just goes on stage and meditates because the calm brainwaves make the best music. She makes this music in an attempt that the audience will realize that there is more clarity in a calm mindset than a one with much anxiety.

I think this woman has a great idea of creating a new type of music and I think many people will enjoy this music. It is a wave of the future in the music industry but I think it is a slightly loony idea. What I don’t understand is just how the computer is going to convert the music in an in sync manner. If someone made a program for her that plays good music on brainwaves then maybe the program is just making the music in the first place. I think her brainwaves might have nothing to do with it because it doesn’t seem very logical to me. If the woman is crazy enough to come up with an idea of brainwaves making music then I think any kind of computer programmer could sell her their product to produce her music.

Reading Report #5

2009-03-23T19:15:00.001-07:00

Title: Information Navigation 101

Author: Andrea L. Foster

The article “Information Navigation 101” is about the current increase in the number of sources that can be used for finding information and how little students actually use them. The author is from Cal State Fullerton and tells how they have classes at the California State Universities that help teach students how to find scholarly material that is legitimate. This was the beginning of the information literacy movement that has now fled all over the country. Foster defines this movement as “a growing librarian-led movement to make students more adept at locating and evaluating electronic data.” The article continues on telling about the history of information literacy and what other universities are doing to help inform students of electronic resources.

I think this movement is a great idea that is very necessary for many reasons. I know that I have made it almost all the way through my undergraduate degree and have never used online resources unless it was required. I do understand that electronic data is very valuable and it is a great idea to inform students early in their college life about these great resources. I think classes and tests of this nature should be part of a basic studies curriculum so students are forced to take them. When you consider how much money libraries spend on these databases it only makes sense that the students should use them. Throughout this class I have learned the importance of good research and the information literacy movement has convinced me that electronic data is very useful.

Reading Report #4

2009-03-02T13:02:00.001-08:00

Title: “The Infodiet, How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google”

Author: Steven J. Bell

The article “The Infodiet, How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google” is about figuring out how to encourage students to use databases more than just Googling everything. Bell claims students think they know how to do effective research but in reality have no idea. Bell feels since students have been able to Google any research topic their research and end results have gone downhill. Another professor created the term “infobesity” which describes the bad results you get whenever you Google a question; he believes the result is an “infodiet” This infodiet basically says that librarians and aggregators need to find a way to make their databases more attractive and easier to use. Bell believes some databases are too confusing and hard to use so he thinks they need to make it more like Google. Bell is a firm believer in if aggregators, professors and librarians work together then they can bring databases back to the top.

I definitely agree with the article in the sense of making it more like Google. Google is so great because you can type in anything you want in any way you want and you will still get decent results most of the time. I don’t think Google gives bad results by any means though. If a student knows what a legitimate website looks like then you can only get good results from Google. After taking this class and learning how to use these databases I can definitely say I will use them more. But for those that don’t know how I feel Google is good alternative.

Reading Report #3

2009-02-18T22:45:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-16T11:05:00.000-08:00

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

2009-02-04T14:42:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-02T10:41:00.001-08:00

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.

Reading Report #1

2009-01-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Title – “Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on

the Internet”

Author – Paul S. Piper

The article “Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet” is a very informative article about non legitimate websites all over the internet that claim to be legitimate. With all the technology today people are able to disguise their website using .org as well as many other methods. Every false website has an ulterior motive that varies with different websites. This article gives many examples of bad websites including fake Martin Luther King Jr. and Makah Tribal Council websites. The article proceeds to give methods of detecting these websites such as looking at who registered the website, biased information, and suspicious domain names. This few things are almost a dead give away every time. The article also speaks of “hate sites” which are very common all over the internet. These are sites that are dishonest about their intentions and claim specific historical events never happened. One site they mention is one that claims the European Holocaust never happened. Obviously this isn’t true and I don’t understand why anyone would ever waste their time trying to sell this idea. These are some of the larger points of the article but it also continues to accurately describe misinformation from disinformation as well as fictitious from non-fictitious sites.

I think this a great article that attempts to open the eyes of all internet uses. Everyone sadly knows that the holocaust was an actual event and everyone knows that Martin Luther King Jr. was not a communist. I know I am always looking online for factual research and answers to questions. I will honestly say I always though a website that was a .org was a legitimate website and I have now learned that this is most definitely not the case. As I said earlier every person has their reasons for making these crazy websites and I can only begin to wonder why anyone would waste their time making up stories.

News Report #1

2009-01-19T11:38:00.000-08:00

Title: Online Student’s Struggles With Linux Make Her an Online Celebrity

Date: January 16, 2009

News Program: The Wired Campus

Website: http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3560/online-students-struggles-with-linux-make-her-an-online-celebrity

The article was about a young girl who purchases a Dell computer to take an online course so she could work full time and go to school during the semester. She ordered the computer online and claims she accidentally chose Linux to be her operating system. Once she received the computer she tried to use the system for several months until she finally decided she couldn’t use it. She then tried to get Dell to give her the Windows system for free because she claims she couldn’t download the necessary drivers for the class. She ended up dropping the class and registered for it in a later semester.

I think if this was such a problem she should have fixed it right away when she got the computer instead of a few months down the road. Dell claims that if you want the Linux operating system then you have to go out of your way to select it and it warns you what you are doing. She must have completely ignored that red flag message. Linux users also said she could have used the computer for everything she claimed she needed it for. This means that she just didn’t know what she was doing. There was a 30 day return period and she completely ignored that too. I have no sympathy for her because it sounds to me that she handled the situation completely the wrong way. Ms. Schubert doesn’t sound like a very smart woman to me and she also doesn’t sound very smart because Linux isn’t that complicated.

-Brad Marshall-

2009-01-13T08:54:00.000-08:00

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