Brain Point

Last Blog of THE YEAR

2011-04-12T08:15:00.000-07:00

And with the last blog of this year i would like to say, in the words of Rebecka Black "we so excited!" So it look like you probably have heard of the internet's downfall music video Friday by Rebecka Black.

Thats right a video with 256,529 likes, 1,970,591 dislikes ... one of the most disliked videos and potentially the most disliked video on the internet. Will all this hate launch a young womans singing Career? At first my own options would say no.. and i too was one of the many who disliked her video as well but then i saw this:

Which Seat Should I Take? w/ Rebecca Black from Rebecca Black

Which is a video she made with Funny or Die which is a satire of her own song. She gained a lot of respect by poking fun at here song and it shows as the 500k funnies she received for doing this video. Unlike most internet hate she seemed to turn this video in to a viable career launcher. As it turns out she has another cd coming out in the future and the song launched this as well:

A colaberation between Jimmy Falen and Stephen Colbert who actualy make the video Friday sound good. Yet another outlet for potential fan creating material for Rebecka Black. Perhaps people should look in to trolling for a viable marketing scheme.

Speeeeeed

2011-04-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

The conversation in class today trended toward the increased thoughtlessness that the internet seems to entice in people on the internet. Though, i believe, this is a time dilation of sorts that is created by the quantity of users who want to make comments. In years past there wasnt the community size that exist now and thus comments would come slower and in these years the internet has increased in user volume. Comments come faster and faster.

Rushkoff, makes the argument that the internet causes a feeling of haste in our lives and causes poor comments such as YouTube comments. I would counter this argument saying that its the surrounding ie the websites that cause poor commenting. YouTube has notoriously bad comments that are in poor taste, but when you look at what YouTube is a collection of mainly dumb videos of people hurting them selves and cats you get equivalently retarded comments. When you visit a more intellectuality based website such as a professional blog you tend to get much more thought our comments that address the blog post and have proper articulation of thoughts. In another spectrum you see comments on reddit, where there is a voting policy on comments, and a constant rise of more intelligent comments because they are more popular.

Anther interesting point was brought up in class that pertained to this topic and that was because comments seems to come faster and faster these days, that it becomes harder to comment due to face that the comments are filled up with crap or anything you wanted to say has been said. Which is true to and extent, but i dont think this is a down side to the internet at all. Having great comments such that you cant comment means that the piece is complete and is perfect in such a way that you cant comment. On the other hand its to be expected that some one who is like you read the article and commented similarly to your self and as Tyler Durden said "you are not a perfect and unique snow flake..." becomes more and more prevent as cultures become more intersecting due to the connectivity of the internet.

Assimilation of Technology

2011-03-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Rushkoff puts forward that technology is some how losing the complexity of life. That somehow we as human-beens lose the idea that not everything is black and white. What Rushkoff is lacking is basic knowledge of the way things work and the interactions that can take place on the internet.

The internet is a monstrously complex engine where millions of people go to absorb, share, and distribute information. Even on a metaphorical level where we view the internet only as a entity relationship mapping. We notice a large complex three dimensional web were connections exist all over the web some brighter than others leading to larger sections where majorities and even minorities of people surf. With this we be can see common ideas and options we can see how people are connected ... a similar phenomenon can be seen on Wikipedia where you can try and click links to see how long it take you to find another subject. The links are very similar to the thoughts of other individuals and could be taken as a hard representation of how people connect seeing as people were the ones who authored the articles instead of one man. It can be taken further in that the advent of the internet has made the world immensely more complex and thus life more complex.

Thats the end of this rant and it has been shown that the internet encourages a more complex life. Even with all the ease and speed of the internet things have become more complex or at least as complex as life before the internet.

The Return

2011-03-22T08:56:00.000-07:00

Reading is a fickle thing, in that, it is the act of identifying characters, parsing them, and reassembling meaning out of the input string. In some way reading encourages learning, memorization of parsed strings, and in others its stored temporarily as though it was only read for immediate consumption. Personally i like to absorb all strings that i read in a cool comfortable environment where the act is unchallenged by outside noise. Another ideal when it comes to reading is that i would prefer it be on paper or on eink (like my kindle) though if im just trying to absorb information fast ill take to skimming online documents.

People these days are reading less books, but they are not reading less. People with the notion that reading is exclusive to books have a dated image of what reading is. Whether people want to admit it or not is that they are reading all the time due to the internet not in-spite of it. All those pdf's, blogs, news sites, exc. count as reading. Though the traditional book is making a comeback in a non-traditional form ergo the kindle. The future and present of reading is on the computer and until this is recognized as a legitimate form of reading then people will still be under the blind assumption that no one reads.

The difficult part that people will have to get past is the definition of what is reading and a new challenge is the advent of twitter. The question often asked is 150 characters enough to express your feelings such that its considered reading? The general replay is that a haiku that is general limited by syllables reading?

Incomprehensible language: a generational trend

2011-03-08T08:30:00.000-08:00

Are the words we write and our speech patterns now a product of the internet? Yes, yes they are, but its not new for the English language to change.

The English language is constantly changing due to regional dialects, speech patterns, and people just creating new words for new thinks. This is a fact that has always amazed or angered people depending on the time period or context. Take for example William Shakespeare who had great innovations on how we speak today and some would say revolutionized the English of his time period. People didnt speak the same as he wrights in his plays, per-say, but much of his logical patterns and words wore copied over and over again tell it was the norm.

Now im not saying we are all on the level of Shakespeare, but every now and then some one misspells something that catches on or creates a shortened version of a word that catches on.

This is an example of a new word pattern that has cropped up in our language more and more. Why? Well thats easy, because its faster. The world has accelerated such that our speech must move forward with it. Many of the words used in this example are just shortened versions of words and expressions that are already in existence. (Oh my god, did you see? *laughing* talk to you later.)

Furthermore things that we take from the internet infiltrate our speech patters. Think back to the last time some one use lol instead of laughing or just said ttyl. Perhaps it hasn't happened to you yet but start listening to younger people talk lol.

tl;dr speech is changing again.

Reflections

2011-03-01T09:57:00.000-08:00

Go back and reread the older blog post then return and you will get the feeling this blog has many good and great ideas and insight. Though this blog has been lacking in spelling and grammar. The only way that this flaw can be improved is by outside review.

It is also worth noteing that many of my topics were random. Random in that anything that was blogged about was chosen at a whim. Nothing, blog by blog, is consistent. Only two post can be considered professional and both those were recent and the idea was congered by a combination of this class and my computer securities class. Future post will be geared towards a professional sense.

Most likely nothing will be edited. Old post will be considered bench-markers for further post and will be used to build future and better post.

The only other complaint is the lack of links in each post. Though, most post were purely thoughts of my own and dont use other sources. When other sources are directly used or referenced then they are linked in the blog.

User Control Model

2011-02-22T07:58:00.001-08:00

This week we explor the idea of Usage Control Model or UCON another type of security that effects most if not all types of security. The idea of UCON was first introduced (to me) in a paper called The UCONabc Usage Control Model by Jaehong Park George Mason University and Ravi Sandhu NSD Security and George Mason University. The abc stand for Authorizations, oBligations, and Conditions. Yet again it will be related to the social network Facebook and its security protocols along with some that dont currently exist but perhaps should be implemented.

The first and most widely used is the repeat password lock out. Everyone has put in the wrong password every now and then and when you do so it locks you out after so many tries. This is an example of usage control. In that it controls your usage based on the amount of failed attempts. Taken a step further we could say that if the ip that these failed logins is different (say in another country) we can have it notify the user of unauthorized access and make the user create a new password after they follow a link that is sent in the notification.

Another way to think of the UCON model is a basic control issues of consumer usage on a digital object. Along these lines, note Facebooks already built in dissemination protection of pictures, as it stands now Facebook has options to keep User pictures from being viewed by people the User designates. Taken a step further would be to say that the people who view these pictures cannot save them or friends of friends cannot view these pictures. Another way to approach this issue is by putting trackers or watermarks on the pictures once downloaded so that further dissemination is hampered or can be easily tracked.

To avoid writing a 10 page paper thats all for this week tune in next week for more.

How the internet uses us

2011-02-17T09:04:00.000-08:00

There are many ways that most people disregard on the internet that the users are used for other to make money, but is this a mutually beneficial connection? This creates a symbiotic connection where the users feed the content creators.

Basically it works though data mining and advertisement. The content creators: bloggers, search engines, and streamers create content then they attach advertisements or general information to profit off of. The general information is collected and used for things like advertisement and product placement. Basically for better targeting of advertisement to individuals so that these individuals go out and buy a product.

So far it sounds like the user is being used and they get nothing in return and many people feel as though this is true, but think about the content creators. The creators weather or no they are a large corporation, such as Facebook, or the normal YouTube video host and by proxy Google who wouldn't be there without these advertisement and wouldn't get any money without them.

This symbiotic information sharing is what drives the internet and to some extent innovation. For example where would the internet be if the content creates were no longer around? Well it wouldn't be anywhere. The internet would still be only a forum for IRC users and academics and perhaps a store since that would be the only source or revenue for content creation.

I dont have much this week so heres this funny image :P specially due to the disappointing grammar of last week

Citations Citations

2011-02-09T14:11:00.000-08:00

So there are many ways to credit people within documents or at the end of documents and yes its important, but how important is it? When it comes down to it in this day and age; how much citation is relevant?

Take the old citation methods the people relied on for years such as MLA and APA which can be found at the owl at perdue. Did you see what happened there, enough information was given so that you could find the information you are looking for without much hassle. All this is required is that you use any search engine to type in the name of the article and you can find it easily. example: Click me

Now that brought you exactly to the website and the article that was in question. Which brings us back to the previous question that ask how important is it to use full citations that MLA ask for. There for it is proposed that new guidelines be drawn for further citations. These new citations should be minimal meaning that if all you need is the title of the article and the authors name and for the majority of the cases this is all you ever need to find any article online whether its a book thats in print, a video, or web-article (such as a blog).

Though these guidelines are not perfect due to changes that may occur in older printed writings and some web-sources. More specifically it wont help you with any article in question that doesn't have a title or author and thus a direct link my be in-order or at the very least a link to the main website with directions to find the article in question.

All in all the old MLA and APA styles are antiquated, but there aren't great substitutions so the dilemma becomes this: you choose. Yes thats right. You choose how to site it and make educated assumptions on how to site something and make sure some one else can find it easily and with out hassle.

Role-based Access Control

2011-02-03T11:10:00.000-08:00

Role-based Access Control or RBAC is a security control model bases on user roles in the system. The roles are usually job function or titles that authorize the user to preform specified actions. In this model users are not assigned particular clearances and functions, but are given a role or many roles that come with these clearances and functions.

This is an older model of security, but is still applicable to day and many systems still use RBAC. For example Facebook is made up of many different roles such as: you the user, people who create groups, and Facebook administrators. Each role has its own permissions and accessibility in the system. The one with the least power are the users though they can create groups and have some rights that allow them to uses the website as they see fit. The users don't have access to change anything that they didn't put in meaning that they cant change other peoples photos or force people to be there friends. Leaders of groups are users but they also have new accessibility over there group to add, delete and modify the group as they wish but still they cant change the fundamentals of Facebook. Last and most importantly in this example are the administrators who moderate Facebook and have the power to remove users and delete peoples photos and information.

RBAC is an easy and sustainable security control model that allows for easy monitoring in system changes. Though, if there are a convoluted number of roles the model starts to deteriorate. For example if Facebook started giving out different types of accounts, gold accounts, silver accounts, exc. the web of security becomes multi-layered and it might be hard to detect users who constantly change access control since thousands of users can change every day. New types of restrictions would have to be placed on those who are administrators or even the creators so that people cannot change there access without prescribed preconditions that the administrators layout and suddenly the security control becomes hard to manage.

In short RBAC is great though it is best when there are a low number of security layers.

New Post for a New Semester

2011-01-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

I think i would like to start things off by explaining that i have a new Atec teacher and their for i am required to take up the virtual pen once more in my quest of 'not failing a class because i want to graduate quest' .. which i know sounds dumb but THATS OK. Ah, and Barbra .... i believe you were the TA for my last Atec class and were forced to drudgingly read over ever one of my obnoxious post -- well that just sucks for you, but theres a good side to this. Ha, so the good side is that im going to graduate at the end of this semester.

A quick recap of the class:

THE INTERNET

..
...
Yup that about sums up what has happened so far. Though this seems like a base assessment of the class it is intriguingly layered. For those who read between the lines this assessment is the the old saying goes 'a painting is worth a thousand words' so like a picture this two word assessment is equivalent to a thousand words. (currently this post is over 1000 words)

Something New:

Have you ever seen a cute animal on the internet? If you havent clearly you have never truly been on the internet. Its okay just settle down. You are an internet noobie. To become 'pro' on the internet just start visiting forums and most importantly just take it slow. A few tips to get you started is 1) search for something your interested in and find a community around it 2) dont just click on any link some of them are traps and will scar you for life 3) spell correctly. I know spelling doesnt seem important and yes i have probably made a few mistakes in this blog, but people cant hear you and depend on your spelling to understand what you are saying.... and if you dont the spelling Nazies will get you.

>>>>> So i will probably gear this more towards technical stuff so enjoy these post lol

The last post ... of this year.

2010-11-24T11:22:00.000-08:00

Ragefaces... That little meme that seems to get around the internet and whether or not you know were it came from you have probably seen it. Not only have you seen it, but you have probably made your own rage face when you were angry at something. In sort a rage face is expression you make when your mad but the rage faces have expanded in to many expressions like joy or ignorance. They are the poorly drawn MSPaint expressions of the users behind the computers.

Example:

Do these rage faces deserve artistic merit? Probably, they are a pure form of expression that is easy accessible to any one on the internet. Thought the constant argument, due to the accessibility, if something is art.. That is an argument for another time.

These faces have gone all over the internet over the past few years and has even spawn a community and pop-clothing. The community is www.reddit.com/r/fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuu and it has spawned thousands of comics and more than a few new faces. The clothing is, depending on your point of view is good or bad, but comes from HotTopic. So Ragefaces have moved in to mainstream, which begs the question, does this make it more or less a legitimate art form? Probably, in the same way that graffiti is art, but even that is just now becoming more recognized.

To end, its a fun comedic form and deserves to be more recognized, and this is my last blog of this year .... sry if im half-assing it but I want some turkey lulz.

Stats to spread prostate awareness

2010-11-17T11:44:00.000-08:00

-Make t-shirts

-arm bands "save the dicks"

-Viral videos (with cats)

-Personal stories (guys with cancer talk dicks)

-a photo essay of the impact of prostate cancer

-"kick prostate cancer in the prostate"

Review a digital art object or collection: Anon

2010-11-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the work in question. Though i clam the name of the artist is Anon, that is just short for anonymous, meaning anyone could have created it. This picture was found in a picture dump called wallbase.net. It, as far as i could find, is an original work of art most probably created because of a fan who based it off their favorite anime series. What makes this particular peace digital rather than normal art is that it was most likely created in Photoshop.

As artistic pieces go this one is up for just as much interpretation as any other. The fact that is it digital doesn't change the nature of the art, but can contribute to the meaning of what it represents. This particular piece is of a guy in a trench coat standing on the precipice of darkness and light. Is the man praying? Does this image represent the inner monologue of all men who are seeking to define their place in the world? These question and answers are up for interpretation and argument depending on how the viewer interprets the action in the image, but i would say yes this does represent the monologue of man and the the fact that he appears to be prying speaks to his seeking a higher influence on his actions whether good or bad.

The argument between the nature of digital media and physical media is just that; the physical object in the 'real' world. Though, the goal of art isn't to portray a physical object but to project the meaning of the art on to the view making a 'hard copy' unnecessary. The stigma that digital art isn't art springs from its lack of physical body though the views on whether something is art or not is a purely subjective view that younger and younger generations have been expanding every generation.

(not sure if that was in the correct format .. i think it was a little spotty too)

(thought this was funny)

Image's and creative commons.

2010-11-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

The creative commons is an interesting concept where users are free to share and 'remix' media items and for this blog i will specifically focus on images. This image for instance:

This image is a remix of a classic work of art and a wooden doll. The creative commons creates an creative tool for artist to get feed back on there work. The artist arn't restricted to feedback but many end up working together to create new original works of art.

Back to the work of art. The question is: "How would Edvard Munch feel about his work portrayed?" The natural reaction would probably be humor that would transition in to a certain kind of wonder. Personally i would think he would be amazed with the progress that other artist have made due to the impact of his art. To some extent it is the recognition of the artistic process and with this the artist is bolster to an even higher status. As they say "Copying is the highest form of flattery."

The image above is has the Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic licence. By this version you are free to share and remix this image but are restricted to: attributing the image to the creator, non-commercial meaning you cant sell it, and must share alike. There are a wide variety of choices for this creative commons licencing but all of them are geared towards being more open.

Edit: the links to the original artwork for some reason arnt showing so heres a direct link http://www.flickr.com/photos/aldoaldoz/2489998092/

4chan War on the MPAA, RIAA, ... exc

2010-11-01T10:53:00.000-07:00

For a long time now the RIAA, MPAA, and other such adjacencies have long been at war with different torrenting sites such as Demonoid and the PirateBay. The reason behind there war is fairly strait forward and i wont be going in to too much. As it seems though not only are the institutions at war but the followers and users of the PirateBay and Demonoid, who have been silent supporters up until recently, when the MPAA highered a Indian based software firm to ddos attack the PirateBay.(Link)

The direct attack by the MPAA caused a rather domino effect of outrage from users of the PirateBay which caused the anonymous mass that is 4chan to ddos attack the MPAA, RIAA, and other sites keeping them down for more than 14 hours. This has been the first direct attack by both users and companies for and against pirating.

This week more attacks are planed by anonymous and these dont only include there websites. During the last raids on the RIAA a few anons had done more than ddos the website, they had stolen the personal information of employees. This time they published this personal information and encourage anons to pull pranks on them.

Things have just got real. These attacks could make people pay more attention the the plight of the pirates and could help make the MPAA back off.

thanks,
Isaac

other good links:

http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/09/19/4chan-takes-mpaa-riaa-aiplex-wins/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/20/4chan_ddos_mpaa_riaa/

http://www.product-reviews.net/2010/09/20/4chan-launches-ddos-attack-against-mpaa-riaa-and-bpi/

The Google-Android impact

2010-10-25T11:34:00.000-07:00

Google has grown in to a internet giant and more specifically a mobile operating system giant. Ever since this Google growth Google has been relatively left alone to grow and advance, but more recently they have been the focus of legal attacks. Now legal attacks aren't that uncommon to large corporations such as Microsoft and Apple but up until recently Google hasn't been viewed as a large corporation ... they have been viewed as the underdog with the motto "don't be evil."

Now, ironically, when you Google Search: Google + Evil you get 39 million pages of search results and more then a few of them imply that Google has gone evil. The immediate impact is that Google has a new image which can impact there sales and usage. The global impact is that Google is one of the big boys ... Google is a global media giant. This level of status elevates Google to a new level of public awareness and as they say "If you have haters.....it means keep up the good work." In other words Google is doing an amazing job and the companies like Apple and Oracle who have sued Google of various copyright infringements are those 'haters.'

Google has effectively made its self a dominant presence in the media and social media distribution industry with its expansive growth. This has created a predominant fixed point for Google's mobile media empire among the social media seen.

(ok so i think i paned -> zoomed -> and ended with global impact ... this is hard :( dont penalize me to much)

ps heres my jumping off point :P http://www.androidpolice.com/2010/10/25/google-gets-sued-over-android-and-java-yet-again-this-time-by-gemalto/

you tooob

2010-10-18T20:19:00.001-07:00

heres the link:
LINK

here it is embedded

Life Without Facebook

2010-10-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

Life without Facebook... ... take two steps back and let out a breath of air from that gasp that you were sure to have when you read Life Without Facebook. That is the general reaction you get from people ages twenty five and younger. The question that surfaces here to most people who don't have this reaction ie people over twenty five and even more often in even older people is why? Why do the younger generation have this obsession with Facebook?

There are three things that is said to be essential:
1) Shelter
2) Food
3) Water

Perhaps this could be expanded though to companionship. It seems a connection to other humans is essential and its a commonly known fact that people go crazy when they are left alone for long periods. Take Tom Hanks for example in 'Castaway', he made a ball his best friend and would constantly talked to it. The ball was his connection and Facebook is a universal connection for all people, meaning even when were alone at home we are still connected, we still have people to talk to.

The older generation. The generation before the internet took off. This generation knows nothing of the connections that can be made though social media such as Facebook and don't fully comprehend the connection gained with its presence. Where as those born in to this new age of social media don't know what to do with out it and feel as though when they lose it they are losing friends.

I on the other hand I don't miss it ... my week went by relatively uneventful. I think I am the middle ground where i was raised without the internet until I was about 12. Life without internet prepared me for this week. I'm a stone cold real world survivor. Lol

(look a funny photo)

40 MINUETS of reading...

2010-10-04T14:48:00.000-07:00

In this day and age reading ... well at least extended reading is dieing out; first a little intro in to the history on how this got started. Since the dawn of the internet people have been jamming million and millions of words and pictures full of information on to the internet. This was a new abundance of information that everyone with a portal in to the internet could view and read. Because of this abundance there is just to much information to process if someone decided to read every article and view every page so reading has evolved. Yes, it has evolved in to a quick scan and incomplete reading of many articles. This new evolution hasn't weakened reading but strengthened data input to the brain where more diverse information gets assimilated.

The other side of the argument is that this new fast reading doesn't let the reader fully comprehend everything which is true, but it does let the reader comprehend 90% of the information gathered. The other 10% is often lost in the confusion and surly everyone has had a moment where they forgot a small tidbit of information that got logged as less important in the brain; thus they end up kicking them selves for it later. The trade off is often worth it. In this fast moving world and the trends peoples reading habits are showing this to be true.

I digress to my experience with 40 minuets of reading... it wasn't that bad. I own a kindle and greatly enjoyed my usual reading of some book or another, but this week its Ring Worlds by Larry Niven. (check it out) Great book kept me entertained. You know what I kept reading for a bit after i finished my 40 minuets too.

(heres a cool vid made by a guy with free animation software)

About : Minecraft

2010-09-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

This blog is going to be centered around how social media has affected its massive explosion in user sine-ups and people buying Minecraft. First a little video to get you acquainted with Minecraft:

As you can see its nothing amazing, just simplistic blocks with no real goal. What Minecraft does do is stimulate the users creativity and gives the user control on its surrounding. This form of open world entertainment stimulates the user to want to share and explore there creations in the world they cannot, but they are so proud they seek affirmation from peers.

The hypothesis is that the average Minecraft user must go outside there world and share their connection with a disconnected world. Minecraft users seem to amass at Reddit.com/r/minecraft, notch's blog (the soul creator of mine craft), or even on youtube.com where people by the masses are posting pics and videos of their creations. For example, the subreddit for Minecraft has exploded, going from only about 100 people to over 7000 in only 2 weeks, along with the rest of the internet curiosity with this little game developed by one man. This game has stimulated people to join together around a common interest and thus is a social media.

The reason why people should watch this expanse and growth in this area of social media is that it is massive and unprovoked. Seemingly overnight one man has become a millionaire based on a simple game he had the passion to make. How can this be harnessed in the future? Who will be the next Notch? What makes people who play this single player game so rampant about sharing it with their friends and convince them to buy it as well. I believe its a combination of freedom that isn't found in real life and the stimulation of creativity where the modern blue collar person doesn't have the medium to express. When a person creates they often feel a need to share there creation and this is what drives them to show off their 'art' to there friends and a since of accomplishment comes with this affirmation from there piers. Their for they strive for a large audience ie the internet as further affirmation.

Humans are social creatures and thus must socialize that is why a Minecraft has evolved in to a new social media.

Thanks,
Isaac

Wiki Wiki Blog Post

2010-09-20T11:22:00.000-07:00

This week is a very Wiki Wiki week and meaning the online living encyclopedia. First a little context in to what Wikipedia is and why its a living encyclopedia, Wikipedia is a collection of user created and edit information, its always changing, and constantly evolving. The entire encyclopedia is hive mind build of an encyclopedia by hordes of internet-goers who have options and facts. The process that occurs is some one creates a article and than another edits .. than another .... than another. Evolving from a general mass to a smooth polished work of art.

To day this blogger joined the masses in editing an article. Here is my additions to the reddit wiki:

[
(the popular subreddits is the addition i made http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reddit)

I'm going to let this sit over night and see how it evolves. What the hypothesis is that some one some one will go in there and make the article look more polished and not so much a 20 min article edit.

--about 24 hours pass--

Okay, so its been a day and no one seems to have modified or deleted my post. it seems that ether no one noticed that the article had changed or the people who did thought it was a good addition and didn't need to be changed, ether way a contribution was made that fed in to the mass of information that is Wikipedia. This was a failure in regards to the original hypothesis, but a successful contribution. Though on more controversial topics it is a growing trend that they are constantly edited by everyone so much so that the moderators lock down the article to changes so as to not corrupt the information by bias parties constantly editing.

Wikipedia it seems is like a large city full of millions of people (users) and millions of buildings (articles) and is growing and changing all the time with each article addition and each modification. This is a recent innovation in social media where it pertains to how communities and thus societies are formed around ideas and the exchange of information. How a lowly user can help shape the face of the virtual city scape for ever making an imprint for a larger goal.

EDIT: SUCCESS

some one touched it up as i knew they would!

(and here is the new ok-go music video)

This week in the thick of things

2010-09-14T07:12:00.000-07:00

This weeks blog is supposed to contain a 'trackback link' which gives a ping to an original author that was sited in the blog but information from Wikipedia "One notable blogging service that does not support trackback is Blogger. Instead, Blogger provides 'backlinks',[2] which allow users to employ Google's search infrastructure to show links between blog entries." So seeing as Blogger doesn't allow 'trackback linking' so it was decided that this other form will be used in hopes that there will be no penalization. Hay look it was used below!

Digressing to last weeks topic, The Restoring Truthiness rally is full steam a head and is further trying to get Colbert to hold the rally on the date 101010 which translates in binary to 42 the 'perfect number.' (from the book 'Hitch Hikers Guide to The Galaxy' Follow the link for more info ) There newest Social media blitz is by attempting to get thousands of people to donate to Steven Colbert's favorite charity Donors Choose.org. The goal in doing this (TL;DR version i.e. too long didn't read) is "TL;DR Donate money = Help Kids = Impress Colbert = Restore Truthiness!" you can read more about this on the Colbert rally website.

In other news, before the conclusion, there is a quick quote that was brought up in class and that is "If you are not paying for it, you're not the customer; you're the product being sold" meaning that free services like Google and others that don't require you to pay for them are indirectly making money off the information that is gathered by you using them and selling that information off to marketing teams and large corporations. The point of bringing it up now is to let you the reader marinate on it and its meaning before further elaboration in next weeks blog.

So, In conclusion, Blogger doesn't have 'trackback link's', The Restoring Truthiness rally is on the move seeing as no one has given up on it quite yet, and keep thinking about that quote.

(yet another funny picture)

OPERATION STRIKE OF TRUTHINESS!

2010-09-07T09:29:00.000-07:00

Social media has many uses some people use it to connect with friends and family and other like corporations use it to "connect" to there target audience, but what i want to introduce to day is a new from for media blitzing i.e. social media blitz that has sprung up in recent years.

The social media blitz is a new grass roots effort to promote an idea, site, or product. It can be harnessed by any one at any time and its entire success is dependent on the users. Generally it starts small like a few tweets to get the word out or a face book group to show support for which ever movement. These tactics were widely exploited in the 2008 election with Obama who posted YouTube videos and successfully turned a dark-horse candidate in to an icon and later the President of the United States.

What sparked this particular topic was when i joined the movement "OPERATION STRIKE OF TRUTHINESS!" which is a response by his fans against the ignorance of the bias conservative fox media. That is beside the point though and if you would like any more information click this link: THE LINK. The website eurges people to:

At EXACTLY 12:00PM EST (9:00AM PST) On Tuesday, Sept 7th 2010
do the following:
First, if you use Twitter, click here or Tweet
"Restoring Truthiness at http://www.colbertrally.com".
Then go to Google and REPEATEDLY search for "Restoring Truthiness"
Do not stop until you get carpal tunnel.

This is a push to get people to take notice of there issue and by blitzing it causes the news media to pay attention. As we have seen in recent years more and more news and more conventional forms of media have payed greater and greater attention to the activity of the web causing such grass roots efforts to take a more prominent roll in society.

thanks,
Isaac S.

(heres a funny pic)

ps: if thats not the type of quote your looking for let me know ill change it

Current State of Affairs

2010-08-31T08:23:00.000-07:00

So far in our culture we as a people have seen broad strides in Social Media with the onset of Facebook and Myspace than later the communities that have grown around games such as World of Warcraft and Habbo. We have seen a huge growth in how Social Media is defined and the amount of users now using some form of Social Media. In class we have explored these ideas and found that they are more and more relevant.

In the class ATEC 2322 the topic of Social Media has been discussed and defined in broad terms limited to that of how people communicate and interact over the internet. Many tag words were thrown around in class Monday such as: fad, quick, instant, growth, over long distances, community, social, networking. These tag lines are all inductive to the idea that Social Media is viewed differently amongst a group of peers, some associate it with quick communication, others a way to keep and hold a tight community, and others thought it nothing but a quick fad that happened to sweep the nation. How ever you may view Social Media they must accept it for what it is now and that is here and had lead to a powerful grown in world wide communication. This world communication has shrunk peoples perspectives on a global community shrinking the gaps in culture and enhancing peoples understanding of the world and its peoples at large.

At large Social Media continues to grow and no ones knows it ultimate fate whether its just a fad or hear to stay, but as it stands to day it has become a huge part of every day life and has led the the advent of a global community.

--Funny tag line
Isaac S.

(heres another video, its an old one but a good one)

A quick introduction

2010-08-24T07:22:00.000-07:00

So, i'm a student at UTD as I expect anyone who would read this to be as well... that or the teacher. (Hi, Mis. Knight) Any way if you are still reading you have gotten further than I have written with out taking an extended break and I applaud your dedication.

As I have stated before I am a UTD student though some thing you might not know is that my area of study is Computer Science and not EMAC or ATEC. I know odd right?! but i need an elective and this class came recommended to me by Mary Effler as a class that is interesting. So far in the class I was forced to get a Twitter which as it turns out that the one I made a long time ago as a joke is still there so now I use it. I was also forced to get a Delicious account which I had no inherent problem getting until it made me sine up for Yahoo and I hate Yahoo. If you had to ask me how I felt about the class so far i would shrug and leave it at that; we will see what is in`store' for ATEC/EMAC 2322.

.... I digress from my school life and wish to talk about my self a bit -- mainly because this post isn't quite at the 300 word minimum yet. I enjoy rock music, wasting time on games, and hitting the bar with my friends. I don't think this sums me up by any means but I do wish to keep this short because I am new at blogging and am unsure correctness of this blog and therefor if i have to edit it I do not want to have to rewrite a ten page paper. This brings me to my conclusion, right about at 300 words, enjoy class and enjoy life.

corny tag line and im out,

Isaac S.

(oh yeah heres a funny vid a little wtf from Korea)