The Next New Thing

This is probably the hardest post of the entire semester. Why? Simple, because if I had the next new thing I would be making millions and not be in school. lol But since I guess I'll have to borrow an idea from an old movie. I don't remember the idea, but it was about creating a $99 computer. The computer created had a 3D user interface and interactive in a way never before seen. While today's technology simply isn't there yet, I feel that this idea will become a reality in the near future. 3D has went from those corny blue and red glasses to Avatar and 3D TV in just a few years. With a completely interactive interface that users can touch and feel, New Media will be taken to heights that most people can't even comprehend without seeing it. Hopefully that computer will also cost $99. lol

Our Class Wiki - So Far

While I haven't added to much too much to wiki, I have been able add a little here and there. I have added a blog site to the music in New Media site. The blog sites posts links to download new mixtapes. This is the newest way new and established artists are promoting themselves and their music. I have also added a site to the Online TV section of New Media in Entertainment called SideReel.com. This site has links to every episode of hundreds of different TV shows. It's one of my favorite sites and I use it at least half a dozen times a week. My biggest contribution to the Baruch Wiki is the creation of the Internet Radio section of New Media in Music. We use Internet Radio everyday, so it was time for someone to shine some light on it. Internet radio has revolutionized the way people listen and discover new music. So go out and check it out!

About My Term Research Paper

As mentioned in my previous posts, my research project was about youtube. For once, I can actually say I got to enjoy writing a paper. I enjoyed doing research because it was on a site I use everyday and it gave me the opportunity to learn about youtube. The reason I chose this topic is because I figured it would be easy. I was always a big fan of youtube and have sacrificed countless hours of my life to watching mindless videos on the site. I guess this was my way of giving back to a site I use, or maybe abuse. I hope everybody else enjoyed doing their project. Thank you CIS for the opportunity to force me into learning something I'd be interested in, but would never do myself.

Privacy & Confidentiality

Privacy and confidentiality is one of the most important things to people nowadays because of their high use of New Media. Identity theft is a serious problem in today's world. Everybody remembers those commercials with a sweet old lady sitting in a chair and instead of her talking, you hear the deep voice of a man talking about the awesome truck he just bought. Unfortunately, that represents something that happens everyday. Almost every site we use requires a username and a password in order to protect our information. However, most people have trouble remembering these passwords so they use something like PASS123 as a password. This is one of the most common passwords in the world and as a result people have fallen victim to countless amounts of criminals. Also in our highly connected world, we try to retain as much privacy as possible while still trying to keep up with our friends. This is why many users of social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace to private. But this isn't enough. One still needs to have secure online connection, virus-free computers, and good passwords to retain their privacy.

Advice to Baruch College

My advice for Baruch is to actually use the New Media resources that are available. While some professors use blogs, YouTube, etc. to teach and reach their students, most still don't. I have had numerous professors who haven't even touched the computer that's three feet away from them a single time for all 5 months of class. How can you teach Physics and not show some of the concepts visually? How can you teach WW2 history without showing a clip from the battles? I can go on forever. I've even had several professors that haven't used BlackBoard a SINGLE time? What is the point of having all of these resources that the school spends thousands of dollars on if you aren't using them. I understand some professors don't use these resources simply because they don't know how to. There's a solution to that as well. TRAIN THEM!!! It's time Baruch not just recommend that professors use these tools, but requires it and ENFORCES it. It's great that we have these expensive new laser projectors in each room, but now it's time to make sure they're put to use. Some things just can't be taught through words. WE DEMAND VISUALS! Not only will this get people to pay attention, but it well help students learn, get better grades, and will make the learning process a much more pleasant experience for all.

Twitter: Discussion

What a terrible site!!!! If it wasn't for this class, I would never use Twitter. I'm stumped at why it's so popular. The discussion is akward, weird, and not really a discussion. It sort of just screaming something out on a packed train and hoping someone hears. A blackboard discussion is better because you can easy go back and forth between one another and everything about the discussion is structured in ONE place. However, an in-class discussion is definitely the best type of discussion. When it's in-class, there's no wait time for somebody to respond. It's quicker and more detailed. There's something about talking in person that no technology can ever replace. But this is just my opinion. =)

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds have many different purposes these days and people are coming up with more and more ideas for them. Virtual worlds is a similar concept as the game ESims, but with a lot more customization and reality. A lot of people use virtual worlds as an escape from the real one. While somebody who is a librarian in the real world, that same person could be a tattoo artist in the virtual one. While some escape their problems, others try to solve their problems through virtual worlds. The CNN ireport, iReport: 'Naughty Auties' Battle Autism with Virtual Interaction, tells how a virtual world built specifically for people with autism. Autism is a disorder that makes social interaction difficult, but through the virtual world people are eased into interaction by the fact that it's not in-person. While these show that it can be a good tool for getting rid of daily stress and helping with disorder, virtual worlds can also have down sides. Virtual worlds can become addictions to some people. Just like drug and alcohol addicts, some people get so hooked they need to be on it. They refuse to return to real world. Another dark side is that there are a lot of illegal activity going on through virtual worlds. People are constantly being scammed and become victims of identity theft, while some fall victim to harassment in the one place they hope it wouldn't exist. Virtual worlds inspire creativity because people choose how they look, what they do, and more. The entire experience is based on their creative minds. I think future virtual worlds will actually become more realistic. They will have better graphics and have more things you can do in the real world. However, they will still be very unique and retain their ability for people to escape the real world.