Goodbye!

Just wanted to let everyone know that I've had fun in class this semester and it was great meeting those of you I didn't already know and great seeing those of you again that I already knew. I learned a lot this semester and am completely fascinated with technology now. The projects have been a blast and it was great working in groups with you guys. I wish everyone the best of luck in the future and hope to see you all around! If you guys are ever in the St. Joseph/Smithville area, look me up!!! Have a safe and happy holiday season and good luck on finals!

Stress!!!!!!

Why does this time of year have to be so stressful?? As if the holidays aren't stress enough you have to add in finals as well. And for some reason teachers feel they have to cram as much in in the last few weeks they possibly can on top of preparing for finals just to make it a little more stressful. And my birthday....it always falls right smack in the middle of finals week. Who wants to study for finals on their birthday??? Then there's graduation, selling the house, finding a house, moving 3 hours away. I'M STRESSED!!!!!! The end of the year is definitely not the most enjoyable for me. Especially this year. So that was my little venting fest for the day and I'm feeling slightly better....still stressed, though.

So Thanksgiving is over and THANK GOODNESS!!!!! The holidays are hectic enough without having a billion different families to travel to. We have my grandparents on my step-moms side, my grandparents on my dad's side, my husbands parents, my biological moms family......too many places it's hard to enjoy the holiday!!!! And while I admit it's great seeing everyone, it's hard to enjoy it because you're minds already set on where you need to be next and what time it is now, how long it will take to get to the next destination, etc. And just when you finally get settled down from all that traveling you have to deal with the all the Christmas preparation and then before you have a chance to recover it's Christmas and you're doing all the traveling from place to place again!!!!! I love this time of year but it is far from being the most relaxing and enjoyable. Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday!

New Media Literacy

I thought this was a great article and will really do a lot of good for those that haven't kept up with the technology and all its changes. Not only that but there are so many people (especially the younger generation) that have strayed so far from being grammatically correct or even spelling correctly that something needs to be done. Technology is a big part of our lives and our future but with the technology is, of course, communication with others and with that there still needs for proper speaking, spelling, and writing. I think that is something that is really becoming an issue, that I've noticed, in the younger generations that have been growing up always having technology at their fingertips and using ebonics to spell (and text).

Regulations

So in class Wednesday we continued our discussion on NMT regulations pertaining to policy and censorship. Here's my thing.......the Internet is just too new yet for anyone to come up with the best way to handle regulating it. I think thus far everyone working on it has done a good job but there will always be people that think there is too much regulation on the Internet and those that will always think there's not enough. No one will ever be able to please everyone just like most things in life. For the most part, though, I think there is enough regulation for me as a parent to feel okay with my kids being on it. Of course I will now and always keep an eye on what my children are looking at and who they are talking to because no matter how many regulations you put on something there are always ways around it.

Food Service Project

Well I was going to comment on the "Online Media Turns Combative Against New Media" website given to us but to be honest I really didn't fully understand it. What I will say is new media is huge and will eventually (maybe years and years from now) completely take over traditional media. Google is huge and I know is was mentioned a few times pertaining to copyright laws and being sued over it. Main issue, though........old media is scared. Google is huge and has already taken over so much. Everyone knows of YouTube. Sue them all you want but they can't and won't be stopped.

I think this week we made it a step further (even if it was a little one) into completing the food service project. I think over the next couple of weeks we'll have accomplished a lot on it. I was really worried at the first of the week on how we were going to go about getting started on this project but now I'm very positive. I don't think this is going to be as bad as I originally thought. I'm looking forward to doing it and am excited to see what we do with the finished project! Happy Halloween everyone and stay safe!

Project

Well unfortunately I had to miss last Wednesday and Friday so I'm way behind on the project. After reading a couple other posts it sounds like everything is going great and that Mike and his team work very well together. I'm looking forward to catching up and eventually working with the garbage band and such. That was fun to mess around with! Hopefully all you guys can help me catch up! I'd appreciate it! See ya Monday!

Transformations

So I found the transformations article very interesting and I agree with it. For one I can understand where he was talking about the news not only serving to keep people informed and updated on what's going on in the world (and catering to our curious needs as well), but it is also a "surveillance function" for us. We do need that constant assurance that we are safe and being protected. We want to know that whether or not we are being threatened in any way. And I do think it this need to know has rapidly increased over time (for obvious reasons). That is another reason why this information is being available on mobile phones and computers and not just on television. The article was very interesting and I think very true about human nature and needs.

Human versus computers

Okay so I kind of had some trouble understanding exactly what the writer was driving at with this topic. Basically I took from it that humans are obviously more complex, with error, and has the generations progress it will take longer for us to evolve into well-educated citizens. Duh! That is stating the obvious to me. And I know the writer went deeper into this but basically was resorting back to saying the same thing. And for the record, off the subject, (because I'm constently hearing this now), computers are not and will not ever become smarter than humans in my opinion. We created them, we are the one's that put the information and knowledge into them. We can add more knowledge, fix its errors, and we can take its knowledge away! And those things alone will make us forever smarter than technology. But having emotions, neurons, social interactions, etc. on top of all of that makes us forever on top!

Presentations

Don't really have much to say about the presentations other than they've been awesome! Everyone has done such a great job and I've learned so much about new media's that I'd never even heard of. Thanks to Sam's, I've signed up for the music! It was so easy to get signed up and easy to use, I love it! I also found the maya (I think that's it) fascinating. If I had the patience......and the money......I'd love to go to school and be able to use that software and create amazing things. Everyone did awesome! Good job!!!!! (Oh, and I am soooooo getting a smartphone when my contract is up!)

Inspiring Youth

The one laptop per child was an awesome reading! I think it is so great what we are doing with the laptops. People in this country help in so many ways already and this idea is so new and unique and I love that it pertains to technology. I think the price is right and I'm glad to see that they made them tough. Hopefully they'll be able to make a few adjustments on them so they can be as durable and user friendly for those people. I think it's an awesome way for us to really connect to those less fortunate than us and to also really show that we care and want to see that they have everything we can offer. Technology is such a vital part of today's world and I think this is just one of many more attempts to come to get everyone, no matter what part of the social ladder you're on, to be a part of this ever changing world!

Media Negativity

Okay I can honestly say that while I would probably survive without my computer and cell phone (maybe), I absolutely love the technology we have at our fingertips nowadays. Especially the computer. God bless the Internet!!!!!! One thing that worries me, though, comes from being a mom. My parents didn't really have too much to worry about as far as me getting into trouble through the Internet or cell phones when I was growing. Computers and cell phones really didn't become HUGE until I was in high school. And that was mainly just computers. I didn't send my first text until I was in college. But I'm a mother now and my kids are going to have these luxuries at their fingertips. And you see and hear all the time about young teen girls being seduced and conned by men pretending to be their age or a little older and convince them that their parents are wrong. I have a daughter and that scares me to death. I also have a son and with him I'm worried about the things the Internet shows (I'm referring to X rated stuff), and also the gaming side of the Internet. Some of the games are just too violent for anyone under 18. And yes, I'm a good parent and as my children become interested in the wonders of the cyber world I'm going to be an annoying parents as well and hound and watch my kids every move pertaining to what they are doing and seeing on the Internet, tv, etc. But unfortunately I won't be able to be with them 24/7 . They will have friends and unfortunately those friends will have parents that don't worry as much about the things that can corrupt their childs minds. So while I will always and forever love the technology we now have and I know I'll love the things to come, as with everything, there is always a downside to life's luxuries. And this is the downside for me.

Media Convergence

So I've been curious to know how much computer technology has impacted television watching and found a very informative article pertaining to that and other things. According to the article, "American households that use the Internet have doubled their online television viewing. Now, nearly 20 percent use the Internet to watch television broadcasts online, and no, it's not all on YouTube. Based on a survey of 10,000 households, The Conference Board and TNS report that 72 percent of online households have family members who log on for entertainment purposes on a daily basis -- but they're also logging on from multiple locations. Nearly 90 percent watch online broadcasts at home, 15 percent watch at work, and 6 percent watch from other locations."
It goes on to discuss more about it and I completely agree with them in regards to that fact that the reason for it being so high is because people nowadays are really pressed for time. Americans are notorious for having more stuff to do than time and I'm sure most parts of the technological world are like that. So what better way to fit in our daily fill of the latest news, sports, t.v. shows, etc., than by logging on to the nearest computer or laptop and checking it out. Technology today is absolutely amazing and I am so grateful to be a part of the experience! Maybe someday I'll have a cool watch I can log into and watch Grey's Anatomy on while I'm sitting in the doctor's office! There's a lot more to the article that is very interesting and delves more into media convergence. If you're interested here's the website:

http://www.technewsworld.com/story/64399.html?wlc=1220827118

The gaming world

So reading about the history of video games really took me back. I was born during the start of the Atari era. In fact, I still have that same Atari and about 20 games. My family and I will break it out once in awhile for old times sake. And my favorite game of all is on the first Nintendo.......Super Mario Brothers. In fact, once they started coming out with all the other systems I got so tired of trying to learn the new controllers and such that I gave up and went back to the familiar Nintendo. That makes me wonder if that's a sign of how I'll handle all the other new technology in the future. I'll probably be one of those in my mid-forties with the same phone and same computer I have now. (Okay not really......like my equipment can hold up for that long!) I won't be given a choice but to figure out something new. But hey, I'll always have my familiar Atari and Nintendo to go back to! Here's a little blip I found on a website that I found interesting. If you find it interesting as well go to the website. There's amazing information about the history of video game consoles and games all the way up to what's in store. Some pretty neat stuff!

By Leonard Herman, Jer Horwitz, Steve Kent, and Skyler Miller:
In 1949, a young engineer named Ralph Baer was given an assignment to build a television set. He wasn't supposed to build just any television set, but one that would be the absolute best of all televisions. This was not a problem for Baer, but he wanted to go beyond his original assignment and incorporate some kind of game into the set. He didn't know exactly what kind of game he had in mind, but it didn't really matter because his managers nixed the idea. It would take another 18 years for his idea to become a reality, and by that time there would be other people to share in the glory, like Willy Higinbotham, who designed an interactive tennis game played on an oscilloscope, and Steve Russell, who programmed a rudimentary space game on a DEC PDP-1 mainframe computer. And then there was also Nolan Bushnell, who played that space game and dreamed of a time when fairground midways would be filled with games powered by computers.
Today, with interest in classic games gaining steam once again, players of video games are reminded of the rich history of the industry. Crave's Asteroids 64 is a modern version of a game that came out in 1979. And the original Asteroids was merely an updated version of Nolan Bushnell's Computer Space, which was really a jazzed-up copy of Steve Russell's Spacewar. Space Invaders, Centipede, Frogger, and Pong are once again on store shelves, and Pong is but a polished variant of the game Willie Higinbotham displayed on his oscilloscope.
The history of video games is not just about people. It's also about companies and ironies. Atari was an American company with a Japanese name, and the Japanese company Sega was started by an American. Magnavox, the company that started it all, is owned by Phillips, a company that is over a century old, and Nintendo, the company that made video games popular again, is just as old. And who would have ever thought Sony, the company that invented all types of electronics, from transistor radios to video recorders, would release a video game console that would become its top-selling product of all time?
In today's world, where video games are often cited as a source for teenage violence, it's interesting to see that the first home console also had a light rifle as an optional peripheral.
The world of video games continues to evolve. By reading about the past, perhaps you'll also get a glimpse of the future.

http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/features/video/hov/

Technology Creation

In the second chapter of the our text book when it began discussing the creation of the telephone and then into the other technologies, I really started wondering how much technology has helped our economy over the past 20 years pertaining to the job market. I used to manage a U.S. Cellular store for 3 years and just in that time span our store created well over 10,000 new jobs in Missouri alone. From a sales consultant to tech operators.

My father was a technical support specialist for Empire for many years and he was constantly having to go to new seminars and such to stay on top of all the new technology coming about. I had to do the same being in cell phone sales.....learning the new phones coming out, the new software (Blackberries were a pain to learn!), and the new items put on the phones. It's constantly changing in the world of technology and all I can say is how wonderful I think it is bringing in billions and billions of jobs to our economy in the past 20 years. Now people just have to worry about keeping up with the changes and not fall behind.

My children are 5 and 3 and I wonder what technology they will have the pleasure of experimenting with when they are my age. They'll probably wonder what a VCR or DVD is and who know, maybe even cell phones will be replaced by then. My only worry is will my children be able to communicate the right way or will face-to-face communication be a thing of the past? I don't think it will be entirely, but even families nowadays talk to each other less than they did in the early 80's. When it comes to technology there are a lot of pros and cons to consider but in the long run I think the pros will far outweigh the bad. I look forward to reading more about where our technology began and where it will be going!