Although we all benefit from technological advances and new media tools from using the internet, they too, have flaws. They have opened issues regarding privacy and security of users because the internet paved way for hackers and third parties acquire information of various internet users. The following privacy and security are identified problems associated with using new media:
1. Identity theft
Identity is one very serious problem that users of new media should always be aware of. Nowadays, we use the internet for online shopping, entering credit card information to the website that we are purchasing from. As internet users, we want that our information is secured and concealed from unauthorized users access. One way to make sure this does not happen is internet users being aware themselves that websites use Secure Socket Layer to encrypt information that they are typing.
2. Virus, spams, bogus emails and apps viruses
Facebook and other Social Networking Sites now offer various applications that users can play around with to kill time or as forms of entertainment. However, hackers find ways to insert viruses from this apps that can be easily spread to different users that are connected to the user infected by the virus.
3. Access to information by vast amount of audiences and third parties
Unknown to most internet users, Social Networking Sites collect and save information about their users who post profiles on the internet and connect to different users worldwide. They use these collected information to help them promote products and services to different target markets and increase revenues. There may also be possibilities that these collected information are sold to third party companies.
As users of their service, we should be aware of the default settings when we first sign up to these Social Networking Sites. Most of the default settings are not user friendly because they default profiles as public.
4. Cyberbullying
5. Cyber Predators
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Advice to Baruch College
Using New Media tools efficiently not only will provide more information to current Baruch College students but also to potential students to want to enroll at the college.
I think one way to improve the college will be by podcasting. Potential new students of the college may want to know more about college life and how competitive it is to go to Baruch. It will be helpful if students of the college themselves will podcast the stages taken to be successful in each major offered by Baruch. These podcasts can be posted and downloaded on a Baruch College (students' representation) website or blog and even in Facebook.
The Baruch New Media Wiki is one good way that Baruch College Students may use as references to a research project or paper. It will be a good idea if not only New Media students are able to access the wiki but students of Baruch in general. Since Baruch is one of the most diverse college in the United States, the wiki can be an opportunity for students to make wiki pages on their own languages/dialects. In other words, making the wiki multilingual will add significance to the college labeled as one of the most diverse colleges in the United States.
I think one way to improve the college will be by podcasting. Potential new students of the college may want to know more about college life and how competitive it is to go to Baruch. It will be helpful if students of the college themselves will podcast the stages taken to be successful in each major offered by Baruch. These podcasts can be posted and downloaded on a Baruch College (students' representation) website or blog and even in Facebook.
The Baruch New Media Wiki is one good way that Baruch College Students may use as references to a research project or paper. It will be a good idea if not only New Media students are able to access the wiki but students of Baruch in general. Since Baruch is one of the most diverse college in the United States, the wiki can be an opportunity for students to make wiki pages on their own languages/dialects. In other words, making the wiki multilingual will add significance to the college labeled as one of the most diverse colleges in the United States.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Our Class Wiki So Far
This class has made me more familiar in working with Wikis.
More importantly, I have been working on my pledged task to contribute on the topics about New Media and Privacy Issues. I also created the page "Current Legal/Ethical Cases" involved with Privacy Issues in New Media. I have already put particular Legal/Ethical cases that may be of interest to readers because they pertain to either privacy invasion, copyright infringement or revenue losses. I am currently searching for recent cases regarding security risks involved with Social Networking Sites.
Besides my pledged topics on the task list, I started browsing through pages on our class wiki's subtopics about New Media to check for any spelling and grammatical errors.
I also added information on the topic "Peer to Peer." BitTorrent is somehow a redux of Napster. I added in the information on how BitTorrent works and how efficient it is for downloading large amount of files. I decided to add this information because the article that I chose to critique was "The BitTorrent Effect" by Clive Thompson. Creator of BitTorrent Bram Cohen explains how it works yet it raises the issue of illegal downloading. I think this is necessary because BitTorrent is a P2P File Sharing Software.
More importantly, I have been working on my pledged task to contribute on the topics about New Media and Privacy Issues. I also created the page "Current Legal/Ethical Cases" involved with Privacy Issues in New Media. I have already put particular Legal/Ethical cases that may be of interest to readers because they pertain to either privacy invasion, copyright infringement or revenue losses. I am currently searching for recent cases regarding security risks involved with Social Networking Sites.
Besides my pledged topics on the task list, I started browsing through pages on our class wiki's subtopics about New Media to check for any spelling and grammatical errors.
I also added information on the topic "Peer to Peer." BitTorrent is somehow a redux of Napster. I added in the information on how BitTorrent works and how efficient it is for downloading large amount of files. I decided to add this information because the article that I chose to critique was "The BitTorrent Effect" by Clive Thompson. Creator of BitTorrent Bram Cohen explains how it works yet it raises the issue of illegal downloading. I think this is necessary because BitTorrent is a P2P File Sharing Software.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
My New Media Class - So Far
The internet is the root of the evolution of new media technologies. Without the invention of the internet, we would not be enjoying what we have right now.
Learning about these New Media technologies has helped me understand how the internet can be used as a powerful tool to spread vast information and provide various opportunities depending on anyone's objectives/ goals.
Virtual worls, MMORPGs, Social Networking Sites, Wikis, Web Televisions, Online Radios are all parts of new media technologies. They all evolved from Old Media which are the newspapers, magazines, books and most print publications, the radio.
Blogging, browsing through different Social Networking Sites and even Twittering (to update my status) were never the things I imagined for this class. This is the first time I have taken a hybrid course where some of the work are done using the computer and at the same time, having the traditional way of learning in the classroom preserved. Deadlines for homeworks have been set and one can do them on their spare time.
Learning in this course will depend on one's pace. Flexibility in learning is one advantage I had in this class. Working on wikis and communicating/having discussions with other students in the class using Twitter and Blogging is a good start to learn New Media, by actually using them.
Learning about these New Media technologies has helped me understand how the internet can be used as a powerful tool to spread vast information and provide various opportunities depending on anyone's objectives/ goals.
Virtual worls, MMORPGs, Social Networking Sites, Wikis, Web Televisions, Online Radios are all parts of new media technologies. They all evolved from Old Media which are the newspapers, magazines, books and most print publications, the radio.
Blogging, browsing through different Social Networking Sites and even Twittering (to update my status) were never the things I imagined for this class. This is the first time I have taken a hybrid course where some of the work are done using the computer and at the same time, having the traditional way of learning in the classroom preserved. Deadlines for homeworks have been set and one can do them on their spare time.
Learning in this course will depend on one's pace. Flexibility in learning is one advantage I had in this class. Working on wikis and communicating/having discussions with other students in the class using Twitter and Blogging is a good start to learn New Media, by actually using them.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Modeling Reality With Virtual Worlds
A virtual world is an interactive simulated environment accessed by multiple users through an online interface. Virtual worlds are also called "digital worlds," "simulated worlds" and "MMORPG's (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games)".
Virtual worlds have been created for many different purposes; but they are widely used for commercial gaming. Commercial gaming worlds tend to focus on a singular fictional theme and consistently follow formal conventions like character-focused avatars, progression through an interactive narrative storyline, and a series of competitive events.
Many commercial community-focused virtual worlds also emphasize socializing. Participants are not necessarily there to win or play a game, but rather to socialize with others. Casual games may be incorporated into a social world, in many cases, to create and decorate a personal space such as a home, room, apartment and even a farm. Social worlds tend to use settings based on idealized versions of reality.
Some virtual worlds have been created for educational purposes. Educational worlds come in a wide variety of forms, including 3D recreations of museum and gallery spaces, computer programming tutorials, virtual libraries, and meeting spaces for online university courses. They are used as models as well. For example, for architectural purposes, before actually building something, you can use virtual worlds to create buildings and design them to at least have ideas on how they will look like.
The US Military also uses virtual world technologies to recruit potential soldiers and develop military simulations. Before shooting real weapons, they allow you to try virtual simulations first to have ideas on the impact of shooting heavy weapons.
What's interesting with virtual worlds is that anybody can make an avatar that will represent themselves in the virtual worlds, regardless if you are disabled or if you have a social disorder or illness. Your avatar will be your character and you can customize it anytime. Virtual worlds allow many users to participate at once. They allow and encourage the formation of in-world social groups like teams, guilds, clubs, cliques, housemates, neighborhoods, etc. Therefore you will be able to virtually meet the people who have the same interest as you have. They allows users to alter, develop, build, or submit customized content. This is how they foster creativity among users. They continue to exist regardless of whether individual users are logged in. Interaction also takes place in real time.
From a particular video I saw in class, virtual worlds allow disabled people to represent themselves in the virtual world as people without disabilities. For example, if they cannot walk in real life, they can do so in the virtual world and even surpass the abilities of a normal person. They boost their confidence yet I think this also make them believe to a world that does not really exist.
For the future of MMORPGs, there may come a time where people will play MMORPGs for a living, or momentarily forgetting if you yourself is playing in the real world or in the virtual world.
Virtual worlds have been created for many different purposes; but they are widely used for commercial gaming. Commercial gaming worlds tend to focus on a singular fictional theme and consistently follow formal conventions like character-focused avatars, progression through an interactive narrative storyline, and a series of competitive events.
Many commercial community-focused virtual worlds also emphasize socializing. Participants are not necessarily there to win or play a game, but rather to socialize with others. Casual games may be incorporated into a social world, in many cases, to create and decorate a personal space such as a home, room, apartment and even a farm. Social worlds tend to use settings based on idealized versions of reality.
Some virtual worlds have been created for educational purposes. Educational worlds come in a wide variety of forms, including 3D recreations of museum and gallery spaces, computer programming tutorials, virtual libraries, and meeting spaces for online university courses. They are used as models as well. For example, for architectural purposes, before actually building something, you can use virtual worlds to create buildings and design them to at least have ideas on how they will look like.
The US Military also uses virtual world technologies to recruit potential soldiers and develop military simulations. Before shooting real weapons, they allow you to try virtual simulations first to have ideas on the impact of shooting heavy weapons.
What's interesting with virtual worlds is that anybody can make an avatar that will represent themselves in the virtual worlds, regardless if you are disabled or if you have a social disorder or illness. Your avatar will be your character and you can customize it anytime. Virtual worlds allow many users to participate at once. They allow and encourage the formation of in-world social groups like teams, guilds, clubs, cliques, housemates, neighborhoods, etc. Therefore you will be able to virtually meet the people who have the same interest as you have. They allows users to alter, develop, build, or submit customized content. This is how they foster creativity among users. They continue to exist regardless of whether individual users are logged in. Interaction also takes place in real time.
From a particular video I saw in class, virtual worlds allow disabled people to represent themselves in the virtual world as people without disabilities. For example, if they cannot walk in real life, they can do so in the virtual world and even surpass the abilities of a normal person. They boost their confidence yet I think this also make them believe to a world that does not really exist.
For the future of MMORPGs, there may come a time where people will play MMORPGs for a living, or momentarily forgetting if you yourself is playing in the real world or in the virtual world.
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