Extra Credit Project

I was prompted to do the extra credit project after attempting to write a paper for a history class. The book Christ Stopped at Eboli was a reading requirement for a class. After reading the book I could find very little information on the novel or the author, Carlo Levi. After looking at wikipedia it became apparent that I had more knowledge about it than the site provided. I contributed over 800 words to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Stopped_at_Eboli (the Wikipedia article for Christ Stopped at Eboli.) The only information that was listed contained information about the film adaptation but nothing else. I was pleased to notice that during the entire week my information was left standing. A user did edit my work and corrected some minor grammatical errors made. I was glad to have the help because if my user name claims that I have contributed that material I want it to be well written and grammatically correct. Overall my experience of being a Wikipedia contributor made me feel good. I know that next time a student looks for information about that particular book my article will be there to help them.

Queen for a day : Whats the cost?!

Introduction…

When does the imaginary become real? When I was a child I remember playing outside pretending my swing set was a castle and I was the queen. As I grew up I obviously realized that life isn’t very similar to my childhood games, and I was in fact quite far from being a queen, just a college student. But what if for a few hours a day I could be a queen? Virtual worlds are making it easier then ever to make dreams become reality…or at least partial reality. In a virtual world you can join a guild, become something other than human, and attend weddings and funerals. Although those are just a fragment of things you can do (and some you can do offline in real-life) there is one aspect to this game that is bringing people to the real-life bank.

How many people are playing these games ???

More than 100-million people are playing online games (worldwide)

For instance one game World of Warcraft (WOW) generates 6 million players worldwide. The game is primarily most popular in China although it originated in the United States.

In China one out of every four people on the internet use it to play online games that means a whopping 24 million people in that country alone.

In China 100,000 people work full-time as gamers, meaning there main source of income comes from playing online games.

How can you make money playing a game???

Buying and selling virtual real-estate on games like UltimaOnline

Games like World of Warcraft take a long time to achieve the highest level (60). Some people who do not have the time or patience to devote to this game hire people to achieve their desired goals. In this game people also sell their accounts, or avatars that have attained a certain level or status.

Digging for gold (gold farming) is also one way people make money on these games. People in China are paid very little for their labor (online labor) and work twelve hour shifts, but those who do it feel that it is adequate pay (averaging 25 cents an hour) for playing games all day. Many times these arrangements include room & board as well.

“On eBay, for example, 100 grams of World of Warcraft gold is available for $9.99 or two über characters from EverQuest for $35.50. It costs $269 to be transported to Level 60 in Warcraft, and it typically takes 15 days to get the account back at the higher level.” - – David Barboza

Small companies also make money by advertising in these virtual communities.


“The Internet is now filled with classified advertisements from small companies - many of them here in China - auctioning for real money their powerful figures, called avatars. These ventures join individual gamers who started marketing such virtual weapons and wares a few years ago to help support their hobby.” – David Barboza


Some online games like Second Life and EverQuest encourage these new economies…they believe that they will continue and thrive as the online virtual life and real life merge (in a financial sense) Selling virtual goods is a whole new concept, in a whole new economy.

What are some problems that arise with this?

The companies ban these practices: Some people invest a lot of real money into these virtual games. If the companies ban this practice their money is literally lost.

Hackers- Can exploit the selling and buying of goods.

These games are simply that …a game. These are often so time consuming they can cause literal addiction leading to real life problems. When money is into the mix the problems can become more serious in nature.

Some games such as World of Warcraft believe these “new economies” take away from the egalitarian concept of these worlds. They also believe the game should be about adventure and exploration not about money.

Conclusions...

It is really a personal decision whether to participate in these virtual worlds or virtual economies. Although I once wanted to be queen of a castle…this poor college student doesn’t have the time or the money.


Sources

Dibbell, J.(2003). The unreal estate boom. Wired.

Levy, S. ( 2006) World of warcraft: Is it a game? Newsweek

Barboza, D. ( 2005). Ogre to slay? Outsource it to Chinese. The New York Times.

Journalism : a comparison between print and online mediums

When we think of journalism what comes to mind? Is it the muckrakers of the past like Jacob Riis or Upton Sinclair who exposed everyday problems? Is it newscasters like Barbara Walters or maybe your local Spectrum writer? Do you think of truth or sensationalism? The first amendment? Do you think of cheesy celebrity exposés? The truth is all of these things should come to mind because Journalism culminates a variety of writing types, genres, and uses an assortment of media.

So what is journalism????

According to Merriam Webster Dictionary Journalism is...

1 a: the collection and editing of news for presentation through the media b: the public press c: an academic study concerned with the collection and editing of news or the management of a news medium2 a: writing designed for publication in a newspaper or magazine b: writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation c: writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest

Generally Journalism has 5 Goals: These are often referred to as the 5 W’s & sometimes include and H as well.

Who? – Who is involved?

What?- What is the situation/event/happening etc.?

When? – When did this occur or will this occur?

Where?- Where did it occur or where will it?

Why?- Why did this happen or is this happening?

How? – How did this happen or how will it happen?

Some mediums include:

Newspapers, Magazine, Books, the Internet, Television, Radio

Many people say that journalism should be based on truth but whether or not this is an accurate statement is debatable.

The current topic I have read about is steroid abuse in sports my sources are as follows:

- Maxim Magazine’s article Steroids: Scourge or Savior?

- CNN.com ‘s Steroids and Sports: A dangerous mix?

Both of these magazines were similar in that they weighed the pros and cons of using anabolic steroids while engaging in sports. Furthermore they explain how this use affects professional sports.

Maxims article is much more colorful and truly illustrates the issue by providing celebrity incite. While they eluded that it is definitely a problem they focus primarily on the fairness issue rather than health. Since Maxim is a men’s magazine that focuses on entertainment this might account for the focus on fairness. CNN’s article touches much more on the health risks concerning steroid use. The online article features a far less attractive format and is rather plain and forth-coming. The online article had many other features; they had a printable format, language change options, as well as links to other similar stories. The online format made it much more interactive and would probably appeal to a larger audience. As far audience is concerned the Maxim article was definitely geared toward a male audience (in fact it failed to mention even one woman). The tone of the online article was very serious and certainly seemed more factual. The print source was comedic and seemed to almost poke-fun rather than seriously inform. In all fairness I really liked the set-up of Maxim’s article because it did offer some good points from prominent sports figures as to whether or not they opposed steroids.

Why internet journalism?

According to Dan Gillmor’s book We the Media one reason the internet has become an increasingly important medium for journalists is because it is important to embrace new technologies as a natural progression into the future where enhanced technology is vital for its survival.

“To understand the evolution of tomorrow’s news, we need to understand the technologies that are making it possible. The tools of tomorrow’s participatory journalism are evolving quickly—so quickly that by the time this book is in print, new ones will have arrived.”

Some other reasons for Internet journalism are

-Cost effective (cheap)

- Wide audience Range

- increased feedback

Sources:

(2006). Steroids: Scourge or savior? Maxim, 70.

(2004). Steroids and sports: A dangerous mix. Retrieved November 2, 2007. from CNN.com Website: http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/HQ/01105.html

(2007).Journalism . Retrieved November 2, 2007. from Wikipedia Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

Gillmor, D. (2004). We the media. Chapter 1

Political Blog: Because I have an opinion

So whats a political blog anyway?

A political blog is a type of written journal (it also can adopt different formats) that focuses on the topic of politics. Whether to rant or rave these blogs provide a unique outlook or point of view that differs from traditional media such as television, radio, and newspapers. Often these standard “uncontrolled media” outlets are criticized for being part of large conglomerations that may have certain political agendas.

the right to vent...

Freedom of speech and the right to pass judgment on the government we live in is a fundamental right. Although sometimes these rights are curbed or limited in lieu of public safety (such as during war time), it is still never the less the right of everyone to voice there opinions.

Bias...

“Political blogs often have a clearly stated political bias. Although mainstream media news is often presented as impartial, bloggers believe that it does in many cases have a hidden political agenda. Stating political bias at the outset is therefore seen as being more honest. On the other hand, blogs are often seen as being too anonymous and lacking in factual reliability to be trustworthy. However, they can serve as a soapbox for opinions not represented in mainstream media.^”

And the blog I chose is...

The blog I have focused on is called Finnerty’s Democratic Blog You can use the following link to get there: http://www.seanfinnerty.com/

Sean Finnerty started his blog in March of 2005. He focuses on local and national politics. As a citizen of New York, his blogs tend to focus on state policies. Finnerty is 28 years old and born in May 21-June 21 (the information on his profile stated that he was a Gemini.) He works as a political campaign staffer, so he is does has some amount of expertise on the subject. I was also unable to get a rank on technorati for this blog.

I was fairly impressed with Finnerty’s blog. It is written clearly and concisely in a rather easy to read format. Although it is obviously slanted (as Sean himself has clearly stated simply by the title of the blog), he does a good job at being as fair as possible. He uses quotes, outside information, and videos to keep the reader interested. He does employ the use of comedy to poke fun at things he disagrees with but he is never outright nasty (which is very impressive.) Excessive mudslinging leaves a bad taste in any reader’s mouth and it isn’t persuasive in the least. (We have all seen the annoying commercials and don’t need them in written format)

According to Alina Thorton’s : Does Internet Create Democracy ?

“Communication in modern democracies can be broadly divided into two main notions (Dahlgren, 1995):

1. a democratized media, or participatory and alternative media including computer-mediated communication; and

2. social movements and groups using these media actively for social change."

I will attempt to argue that blogs absolutely affect local politics:

Since social movements use media for social change, one can argue that a large social movement centers on elections, politics, and new policies. The internet is a form of media and uses things like Youtube, Online Radio, and Written journals (which a blog is) to promote change.

For an example look at the Youtube political debates, this is one example of how the internet affects politics.

When looking at internet blogs it is simply a matter of getting your opinion out to others. In traditional media not everyone is able to voice their opinions. For example with television not everyone is able to have their own show & furthermore biased opinions are often represented. With newspapers you might be able to get an article in your local opinion column but still you have limits on your audience (limited to subscribers and people in your region.) It is still a rarity to get your opinion in the paper. A blog is a wonderful way to voice you opinion because you literally have an unlimited potential audience. It also works great because there is no limit to the amount you post and almost no limit in what you say.

Sources:
Thornton, A. (2002). Does Internet Create Democracy? Retrieved October 23, 2007 from http://www.ublearns.buffalo.edu/com125

Political Blog. Wikipedia. Retrieved October 26, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_blog

Link to assignment 9

Online or Offline : Personal or Impersonal ?

“A virtual community, e-community or online community is a group of people that primarily interact via communication media such as letters, telephone, email or Usenet rather than face to face.” - Wikipedia

Some examples of online communities include:

Facebook, Craigslist, MySpace, and Livejournal.

In contrast an offline community is:

A community is a social group of organisms sharing an environment, normally with shared interests. In human communities, intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, risks and a number of other conditions may be present and common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness. - Wikipedia

Some communities are defined by:

Region (for example the Buffalo community), Guilds for ex: Teachers (if you are an educator you may belong to this), Interest Groups: Art (say you’re a, fan or collector)

What do these communities have in common? COMMUNICATION

“ The structural process that is associated with community is communication. Without communication there can be no action to organize social relations. The intimate nature of this relationship is best illustrated in the words community and communications. Both words stem from same Latin root word, communis, which means common. Communis is a paired formation of the Latin etymons for either apparently there is some disagreement together (cum) and obligation (munis) or together and one (unus). By the time it appeared in English, common had a meaning that was in contradistinction to togetherness.”

Online Communities differ in several ways from offline communities one of these ways is…

Mode of communication:

Online - Generally online communities use internet sources such as listserves, Instant Messaging, and web forums to stay in touch.

Listserves-

Provide contact through email to all members

Instant Messages-

Provide contact via messages that happen in real-time from one or person to another.

Web Forums-

Provides contact where various people in the community can exchange information for others to see and react to.

Offline- Generally offline communities use other mediums of communication such as face-to-face, mail, and telephone.

Face-to-face-

Contact between one or more persons in the group in person ex: a meeting

Mail-

A mass distribution of mail is sent to all group members

Telephone-

One member contacts another through the phone, conference calling is also an option, where more than one member can communicate

Problems w/ communities:

- They may be difficult to form: Maybe you have an obscure passion; it may be hard to find enough people to be a part of your community.

- Communication can become entangled or detached: Especially online, some people may be more Internet savvy than others.

Some issues with online communities:

- Information may be misleading/unlcear – since most of the communication is written ( using instant messaging, blogs, email) it is absolutely necessary to be clear and concise, avoiding loaded terms & jargon.

- People may not be who they claim to be – as we mentioned in other blogs sometimes people assume other online identities so we have to be weary of who we are speaking to and what their intentions may be.

- Information is instant & constant - Unlike most offline communities the flow of information can become endless, for instance you can email the community 24-7 and reply to information at any time or place.

- Communication may be of a personal nature but the physical contact is impersonal. There are ways you can speak to each other via the net and using webcams but it is still different than being in the same room.

Because of the information above-

Ties can be stronger- because you have much more constant communication. You may feel you can disclose more information because you are not face-2-face.

Ties can be weaker- You may never completely trust those on your online community because you suspect them to be misrepresenting themselves or even fear the possibility of this. You do not feel close connections because you have no personal contact.

Sources:

Community. (n.d). Retrieved October 19, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Community

Virtual Community. (n.d). Retrieved October 19, 2007, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_community

Fernback, J., Thompson, B. (1995). Virtual Communities: Abort, Retry, Failure?

Link to assignment 7

A case of mistaken Identity...

Online Communities…

There are millions if not billions of online communities on the internet. These communities thrive on a basic trust that people present accurate information and better the community. After a reputation is built the level of trust increases and acceptance into these online communities is gained. Some of these communities are mentioned in Judith Donath’s Identity and Deception in the Virtual Community. Donath mentions the Usenet environment and the various communities ranging in numerous topics such as hacking and wedding planning.

Defining who we are…

There are many clues when looking at our fellow “online-neighbors” as to who their identity is:

E-mail addresses- Donath sites this as one of the most straightforward ways to identify those in online communities. The various aspects of an email address can be particularly informative.

Domain names Example: buffalo.edu- This is obviously someone involved with an educational facility, faculty or student. For example if someone gives you information about a particular medicine and claims they are currently a pharmacy professor at UB, you may find him/her more credible if they have .buffalo.edu at the end of their email address.

Voice and Language – While it is easy to simply profess a sex either male or female, it is another thing to maintain the proper mannerisms. Donath talks about “expressions given off,” these she states are much harder to control. There are subtle codes that can come out in writing. Donath for example talks about a member whose posts have an authoritative tone, occasionally using dry humor etcetera. People who first read his writing may not realize that they come to the conclusion that he is male simply from the fact that his writing contains these subtle characteristically male-tones.

Signatures- The way someone signs a post can often give a great deal of information about them. They can convey professionalism, an inside knowledge, websites and other information that can serve to boost credibility.

Who would you trust?

For example: You are looking for information about nutrition

Person A who’s signature follows:

Sally Smith SSmith@harvard.edu

Assistant Dean at the college of health sciences

www.healthandnutrition.harvard.edu

or Person B whose signature follows:

J2@aol.com

…I’m guessing you would probably choose person A, because they have more credibility using that signature. (***these links are not real)

However we must consider that not everyone on the net is who they claim to be:

Part of the intrigue of the net is that you can be whoever you chose to be. For many who are a part of the Second Life world, the thought of a whole new life is exciting.

Many chose avatars that represent themselves in a different way->

For example you may be one of the second life avatars that attended this virtual second life U2 concert:

My online community & identity:

Besides working at Jack FM I am also a nanny. Before I was able to develop a reputation, I needed a way to be in touch with people who needed childcare. I decided to go on Craigslist and post some information about myself under the childcare section. After I had gained a couple of jobs I received good feedback and more people asked for my services. Eventually I stopped going on craigslist because I had more jobs then I could handle. It would be fairly easy for anyone to steal my identity. Craigslist gives its users an option to use an anonymous email system. Technically all anyone would have to do is to pretend they were me because my email isn’t associated with my posts. I created my identity online, although it happened to be in real life there have been instances where I received some questionable responses from craigslist. I received several scam males from someone who claimed to be a model and single mother who needed a babysitter. She apparently was moving from the UK and needed someone to watch her child in a hotel room. The whole thing sounded very shady. It sounded especially strange when during the second email she changed her child’s name. I decided to ignore the emails. Basically you never really know who people are online. You can hope that people are truthful, but more often times there will be people who misrepresent themselves. Sometimes these misrepresentations are purposeful and quite harmless, other times then can cause some major problems.

Sources:

Donath, J. (1996). Identity and deception in the virtual community. Communities in Cyberspace.

www.craigslist.com

Assignment 6 Link

were like "elephants in a china shop"

I think everyone likes to think they have privacy. By privacy I mean a sense that your information that you desire to keep to yourself, can remain unknown by others. We do things everyday in the privacy of our own, apartments, homes, cars, computers etc. The assignment for this week asks us to question ourselves, how private are these moments truly?

I think the article Social Network Sites: Public? Private? Or What? By Danah Boyd was very correct by saying that many of us use technologies such as Facebook and Myspace with the same candor as an “elephant in a china shop.” We post ignorantly thinking that just our friends are looking at our site or people very similar to us. Often we don’t think about consequences that could arise down the road. We don’t think about the possibility of future employers, stalkers, or even our mothers as viewers. What makes matters even worse is that we are not only affected by what we post but what others post as well. Let’s be honest, we’ve all had friends who’ve posted some less than stellar comments on our walls. Sites like Facebook give us the opportunity to shape ourselves in our own desired way. If someone posts a picture it may be easy to disassociate yourself with it by name, but once someone recognizes you who needs a name anyway?

When I think about privacy on the internet a few things stand out:

I first think of safety. We have all heard about those horrible stories where people meet over the internet and one turns out to be a murderer or a pedophile (like the popular To Catch a Predator Series.) When I use Facebook I never post my address or cell phone number, although it is an option. Many people say that being anonymous is one of the best parts to being an internet user. The fact is any person can portray themselves as someone else, and we just have to be aware of who we talk to. I know personally I don’t use any dating sites, or chat rooms, or communicate with people I don’t know.

The next thing I have recently begun to think about is professionalism. I am currently applying to graduate business school. Business schools are notorious for searching sites and using search engines to collect information about potential candidates. I also think about future employers. I always untag any pictures that put me in an “unfavorable” light. I am over the legal drinking age so holding alcohol beverages in photos isn’t illegal, but it doesn’t exactly portray me in a professional manner.

The last thing I generally think about is financial security. When using bank, credit card, or social security information I do get a little nervous. I have now begun to check that I have a secure connection (thanks to this class), that has eased my reservations somewhat. I always think about hackers and if they can hack government files, or NASA, then my bank account information can’t be too difficult of a target!

The Wikipedia article on Internet privacy did little to quell my fears overall: “Experts in the field of Internet privacy have a consensus that Internet privacy does not really exist. Privacy advocates believe that it should exist.”

In an article by Bob Sullivan he states “privacy is not a currency. It is much more like health or dignity or well-being; a source of anxiety when weak and a source of quiet satisfaction when strong.” I believe that Sullivan is correct; people don’t like to think of their loss of privacy because it does cause mental anguish. Before I even started writing this blog I did something I never had done before, I googled my name. This is scary, things were found back from the 7^th grade. I ran a 15K road race about eight years ago, and still my exact finishing time is recorded out there for anyone to read. Finishing a road race isn’t exactly crucial information, but it does make a point; Information good, bad, indifferent will be available to anyone with a click of a mouse for a very long time. So watch what you say…and do. In response to this I thought about other things on the internet that I do that people could potentially see. I decided to go through and update some of my security settings on my facebook and email. As for my race results, it looks like it’s going to be there for awhile...

Next time your on the net, you might just have to ask yourself…how private is this moment?

Link to assignment 5

Sources:

Boyd, D. ( 2007). Social networking sites: public? private? or what? Knowledge Tree, 13.

Sullivan, B. ( 2006, October) Privacy lost: does anybody care? MSNBC Interactive. Retrieved September, 26, 2007, from MSNBC Database.

www.wikipedia.com