How Young is Too Young?

  I apologize for the hiatus over the holidays but even I must take vacations, some would argue too frequently. But that is a discussion for another time, and perhaps on another medium. For now we must tackle the here and now. How young is too young?

Photograph: Alamy

   Here I sit, mid afternoon on a delightfully slushy Thursday in a New England Dunkin' Donuts. All around I hear the laughter of children with their parents, both avoiding their normal obligations of school and work. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I see a gaggle of 8 year-olds putzing around on all sorts of media devices. Iphones, Itouches, Ipads, Ipad Minis, Galaxy S IIIs, Google Nexuses, Kindle Fires, and more were being tapped, yelled at, and shouted over by all of these kids.

DryBones

  Now I consider myself young, and I didn't even acquire a smartphone until this Christmas (yes it was a gift, thank you Mom and Dad). But the point is that I didn't yearn for one until the need was there. I will be taking a position in a week that will require me to be much more connected and available through all mediums constantly. My last cell phone, the Samsung Freeform II, was not able to efficiently receive and send out data through the internet.
  So how young is too young to be using a media device of the ages. Well that is a complicated question. My 9 year old cousin received an Ipad Mini for Christmas, and the house has never been quieter with her in it. She played her games all day long and everyone was finally able to relax. However, when we sat down to eat, she was told to put it away.

Yonhap News

  Do children need these devices? No, they absolutely do not. But then again I didn't need a Gameboy Color, or an N64, but I was ecstatic when I got them, not to mention my parents must have loved the silence even though three growing kids lived in the house. I'm sure the last generation was just as excited to unwrap Atari 2600s and Commodore 64s.
  So the question, it seems, is not "how young," but "when." What guidelines do we give ourselves, our children, and fellow parents for these devices? Please leave your comments below and I will compile them as tips and tricks.  Happy Holidays!

What Could Be Next?

   The internet has come a long way since it's origination as a network for universities to share research and academia enthusiasts to play chess across the nation. Web 1.0 saw basic webpages which contained mostly shoveled content and had limited interaction with visitors. There were plenty of content consumers and very few producers.

Thanks to: Michael Moreyne

  Web 2.0 was able to supply all of those consumers with their own voice. Through the use of blogs and forums individuals could spout their brilliant ideas and communicate with other users. Then the explosion of social media hit and created a whole new web-culture. Everything from 4chan to Twitter saw a massive increase in use and helped propel us into a new world.
  Almost simultaneously smartphones and tablet computers ushered in the era of Web 3.0, the Evernet. It describes the current state of the internet, the incredible and constant connectivity, the scope of which is almost unfathomable. I, if I wanted to, could sync my phone, my house, and my car together to continuously play my favorite Pandora stations.

Massive Dynamics TeliPad

  Even with all of this rapid growth; according to John Udovich, a contributor to smallcapnetwork.com, we need to prepare ourselves for the next generation. Udovich calls this Web 4.0, and it is being ferried in on the back of a new long-range wireless technology produced by Massive Dynamics. The company has already implementing much of it's technology through the use of Apple, Android, and PC products.

Found At: Internet Mass Media Aggregator

  The wide use of this new technology will lead to a world where we are never disconnected. We already can access the internet almost anywhere, but imagine trying to hide from it. Your phone, your car, your coffeepot will all be connected.  Everywhere you go you will have the world at your fingertips, and you at it's. I have a feeling this is not what Timothy Leary meant by "turn on, tune in, drop out."

A Short Discussion on E-Books

   E-Books are a subject I have not yet discussed here, mostly because I don't particularly care for them. But this subject now warrants my attention as a question of ownership has come up. "Does one actually own an E-Book in the same way they own a paper copy?"

Gutenberg Bible

  Paper books are tangible, you can hold them in your hand and like most tangible items if you bought it and can hold it you probably own it.
  According to this and other articles this statement is untrue. According to the Huffington Post some users' E-Book libraries were deleted. According to Amazon's Conditions of Use "Amazon and its affiliates reserve the right to refuse service, terminate accounts, remove or edit content, or cancel orders at their sole discretion."
  Yes, this in fact means that you cannot and do not own any of the content you have purchased through Amazon's E-Bookstore. The company can in fact delete, edit, or remove any content they wish.
  Many have proclaimed the end of the paper book in favor of the E-Book. However, this insight that many are unaware of may change some minds. I personally have a Kindle account, but have not purchased anything with it. I enjoy having a library I can physically browse and pick through. I understand this is not for everyone, but these libraries may change your mind.

Trinity College Library

Government Archeologists

  Given the recent scandal with former CIA Director David Petraeus and his supposed affair many questions about the effectiveness and oversight of certain government organizations have risen. But this article raises questions more pertanent to the average citizen.
  For example, the article claims that after an email is 180 days past sent the US government can look at it without a warrant. Is this true? Have they looked at my email? Can it be stopped? These are the questions being asked in the wake of the affair and some of the answers may scare you.

Steve Greenberg

  According to the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 a government agency can look through your private electronic communications once they have been read and stored for a significant amount of time, 180 days being the precedent, but not while in transit. However, this piece of legislation coupled with other legislation allows government agencies to do a number of things like track your cellphone in real time, remotely track you using a GPS on your car, and has asked several agencies like Facebook and Twitter for back doors to track information.
  Now not all of this is as scary as it might sound. A lot of these examples and others have been overturned once they are taken to the Supreme Court. Also, many of these are only allowed through special executive orders like the USA PATRIOT Act and the NDAA which focus primarily on combating domestic and foreign terrorism.
  But as one Computer Science Major at Kennesaw State University, Cody Skinner eloquently put it:

Freedom House

"If the government went through my phone right now, I wouldn't be arrested, I wouldn't be suspected of terrorism... but I would feel violated. There's no reason I should have to bend over and let the government go through all of my personal stuff."

  And how true? Do we really want the government to be allowed to dig through our electronic wallets? Many are concerned that this will begin to turn the US government into a much more controlling government in the way Iran, Russia, and China try to. In fact, SOPA and PIPA were recent pieces of US legislation and the ITU just started it's most recent conference in Dubai today. All of these things have been moves by governing bodies attempting to limit the freedom and privacy of the internet.

Open Source Medicine

  Salvator Iaconesi is a 39-year-old artist who teaches digital design at La Sapienza University of Rome. Iaconesi also has brain cancer.

Credit to: WE ARE PI

  However, instead of just letting one or two doctors prescribe a course of treatment and following it with high hopes Iaconesi did something different. He published his medical records online and opened his life to the world. He set up La Cure to allow anyone and everyone to review his case, his medical records, and his treatment for review and comment.
  Open source software has been around since the early 80's when Richard Stallman helped launch the GNU Project. Open source essentially means no one owns the information, data, or piece of work. Many companies have used this format to help develop many of their products including operating systems and smart phone software. But no one had ever thought about using this same open approach to their medical treatment.
  The response to this project has been overwhelming. An art collective has used his brain scans for a projection map during their concert, 35 videos have been produced using the images of the tumor, 600 poems have been written and uploaded to the website for Iaconesi, and about 15,000 testimonies of people who have or have had have been posted on the website as well.
  60 doctors have contacted him through the website to try and give opinion and advice on how to continue with treatment. But what is more amazing is that 40 of these 60 doctors have been spontaneously reviewed by at least 500 other visitors to the the website. Iaconesi says he has also received 50,000 remedies and treatment options have been sent to him.
  Iaconesi says that all of this has helped him formulate his own treatment, which goes beyond typical medicine.  He plans to incorperate a variety of treatment options including, surgery, oncology, homeopathy, Chinese medicine, Hebraic Esoterism, diet, and lifestyle.
  Iaconesi has yet to complete his full treatment but he is hopeful and looks forward to seeing this technological and social approach used more often when treating patients.

#GazaUnderAttack

  A group of more than 50 protestors gathered outside the Atlanta Israeli consulate at 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon.

Photo by: Cody Skinner

  Those who gathered in support of Palestine were demonstrating against Israel's continuing bombardment of the Gaza Strip. Israel has been launching targeted airstrikes and bombings on the Gaza Strip in aims to disarm and dismantle the Hamas leadership.
  "Israel has been launching total war against Palestine in a way that undermines the peace process," said Phillip Alaf, an Atlanta organizer for the International Socialist Organization. "We hope that this brings together a network of people who can respond in the future as this crisis unfolds."
  "I'm here because of outrage," said Woodstock restaurant owner Imad Nassereddin. "I'm here to protest the continued bombardment of Gaza."
  "Just like the United States was helped by France in the fight for independence, I think the United States could help the peoples of Israel and Palestine fight their respective extremists and win peace," said Kennesaw State University Assistant Professor Dr. Kenneth White. "The main concern right now, I think, is that the conflict will escalate into more serious violence or spread beyond Gaza."

Photo by Cody Skinner

  "Israel has been responding to the missles shot by Gaza and that is what started the 
Operation Pillar of Defense in the first place," said Life University Student Josh Oppenheim, who was in a bomb shelter in Israel during the interview. "And Israel is targeting only the spots that Hamas is firing rockets from but they hide their silos in residential areas, unfortunately its on purpose

so there civilians get hurt when we retaliate."
  Cease-fire talks have been discussed between the two nations but an agreement has yet to be reached.  In the meantime both the Israeli Defense Forces and the Hamas have continued to fire missiles and rockets. Many fear a ground invasion is imminent.

***UPDATE***
12:40 EST Nov. 22

  A ceasefire was struck yesterday that went into effect last evening at 9 p.m. in Gaza and Israel.  As of now over 140 Palestinians have dies in the conflict and five Israelis. The ceasefire is being observed, nervously, while discussions become focused on Israel maybe easing it's blockade around Gaza.
  Many international officials attended the talks hosted by Egypt including the Secretary
General of the UN, the US Secretary of State, and Foreign Ministers from Turkey and Germany. However, Egypt's Intelligence Chief is credited with making the most progress while speaking with representatives from Israel, the Hamas, and the Islamic Jihad.

Internaltional Telecommunications Union

  If you have read a few of my posts you may have realized I am an active supporter of internet freedoms domestically and abroad.  I was excited to see the failure of SOPA and PIPA in the US.  These pieces of regulation would have begun a downhill slide towards the fracturing of the World Wide Web.
  The internet; it has spawned societies entirely encased in digital form, brought down governments (read my last post), forged international relationships, created cultures, all on it's own.
  But all this could be thrown to an abrupt stop if we, the internet users are not careful.  I believe that a free and democratic society depends upon the free exchange of ideas and information. Without that we are limited by whatever ruling power controls the flow and distribution of information.

Thanks to New World Order War

   Right now the next threatening piece of regulation that could overburden the Internet information highway is the ITU and the next international conference.
  The ITUwas founded in 1865 and became a part of the United Nations in 1947.  It's main goal has been to regulate and develop international communications world wide.  It has proved many great communication resources to third world and developing nations and has done some excellent things to further the progress of international communication networks.
  But the problem is that it is not a democratic community.  Only certain countries in the UN have voting power on the ITU and many of those countries have horrible track records with internet freedoms (Russia and China are both voting members).
  I'm not sure what can be done to battle this encroaching regulation of internet freedoms, but I recognize the necessity for a free and open exchange of ideas in today's world.

 

Property of Fight For The Future and AccessNow.org

How Were There Protests Before the Internet?

  Earlier this week thousands took to the streets in Argentina's capitol, Buenos Aires, to protest President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.  The protesters are trying to highlight issues in the Argentinian government such as corruption, rising inflation, and high levels of crime.
  However, this is not an international affairs blog, nor is it a blog dedicated to the furthering of global protests.  Here I discuss the use of social media and new media, and their implications.  This protest is not only the largest anti-government protests in the last decade, but it was organized with the use of social media.
  But now a days what protest isn't?  Everything from the revolution in Egypt to the organization of the Free Libyan Army have been propelled by the use of social media.  Look here, where this child was named Facebook in honor of the role the website played in the Egyptian Revolution.

All Rights to the Anonymous Group

  The Occupy Movement in the US and the rest of the world speaks for itself.  Some activist organizations have even based all of their protests online; Anonymous and LulzSec are both excellent examples of this.  Social, political and military movements are using the world wide web as more than just a source of information, or a way to broadcast their message.  It is a battleground where wars for equal rights, the oppression of others, recruitment for militarized NGOs, and the spread of beliefs.
  So what does the use of the tubes mean for political activists or social movements in the future?  Well it means we are going to see a lot more happenings like the one below...

 

All Rights to Invisible Children

Six Degrees of Seperation (linguistics edtition)

  So the proverbial 'scientists' have done it again.  Researchers from Georgia Institute of Technology and Carnegie Mellon University are using computer software to track the development of language, and colloquialism, across the US.
  The BBC published this article, written by Phillip Ball, recently exploring the work of Jacob Eisenstein, an assistant professor at Georgia Tech.  Eisenstein is using Statistical Analysis techniques to analyze around 40 million messages from about 400,000 different users to track where different terms, like "bruh" or "af", originated from and have moved to.

Image from Visual Complexity

  In the case of "bruh," the term originated in the southeast US and moved to southern California due to it's usage on Twitter.  The result of tracking terms like these is a representational map of how different slang terms and emoticons have moved across the US, perhaps even across international borders.  Think of movies where detectives use string and different photographs to track suspects in an organized crime case (they may still do this)
  This new system of organizing and analyzing data could help linguistics and other researches in many ways.  The entertainment industry could now localize productions to specific geographical locations.  Law enforcement could use this to track different slang or gang terms across the country to track where gangs are located and spreading to.  Linguists could use the information to project the spread of colloquialisms across geographical lines and gain a better understanding of how culture develops.

CollegeHumor

#NoNews

  I want to discuss news aggregation software.  It is deadly and could possibly be the death of an educated and aware civilization.
  In simple terms news aggregation software is a piece of software that searches news feeds from all over the web looking for tags, and consolidating that information into a singular feed.
  It sounds like a great idea doesn't it?
  NO! No it does not.  It in fact, is a perfect symptomatic representation of how my current generation has abused the technology available to it.  Now the software can be quite useful, in fact Twitter is based on this system.

  The dangers of news aggregate software lies if the habits developed by my generation.  News aggregation allows for a person to tailor the news they read to specific topics.  We can now put blinders on our eyes to make sure we stay extremely narrow-minded.
  If we are not exposed to news under other topics our personal innovation, and inner dialogue.  Imagine the kinds of adults that will exist once we no longer pay attention to the front page of the newspaper!  Already a large section of Americans don't know their military is involved in so many conflicts abroad.
  The other issue caused by news aggregation software is the lack of funding to established news sources.  The NY Times has already seen a significant drop in ad revenue.
  When a person looks at a news article given to them by news aggregation they no longer skip around websites to find that article.  The chance of that person seeing an ad that pertains to them drops drastically just like ad revenue to major news sources has.  When that happens less funding can be used to support investigative journalism that helps keep businesses, political figures, and most importantly the government honest and transparent.
  Use news aggregation software if you like.  I won't blame you, but for all that is good in the world please look elsewhere for your news and information as well!

Because this could happen if we don't find our own news...

(from the movie Idiocracy)

What is The Third Largest Country in The World?

  Earlier this year Facebook boasted about how it had hit the 1 billion user mark, making it the third largest country in the world (if it was a country).  There have been many news articles that discuss the idea about how 'healthy' this is for Facebook or society at large.
  This article discusses the fact that Facebook has over 80% of it's accounts being faked or shells.  These shells include businesses, repeat accounts (where a user has an account to fool employers, parents, and or friends), accounts that have been left alone because users forgot the passwords, accounts used to stalk exes, and over a fourth of these accounts were created by Facebook or Mark Zuckerberg.

  The existence of these shell accounts begs the question "what is a real user?"  Not to mention "how reliable is Facebook as an institution and how can we trust them now?"
  I am not qualified to answer these questions outside of my own opinions, but I can say Facebook seems to be a necessary part of life for most people.  I myself live in another part of the country where it is difficult to stay in touch with old friends and family members.  Facebook helps solve this problem.  I use it to find out information about businesses and public figures.  I use it when investigating news stories or when I am trying to contact sources.  I also know many employers use it to either evaluate future employees or keep tabs on current employees.
  The ethical questions raised by all of these uses will become more and more pressing as time goes on but for now we can say without a doubt that Facebook is like so many companies in the past that have inflated numbers to be looked at in a more positive light.  Bernie Madoff, Enron, and 'Crazy Eddie' were all guilty of the same taboo.  Why is it these people were put on trial, yet it is moral for Mark Zuckerberg to inflate his numbers using bots?  It's not, it is just Facebook is still a necessary part of life so we seem to overlook it's moral failings.



Image found at: gnuband.org
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Updated: Oct. 15, 2012

  Here is a related blogpost by Ken Burbary that has a more in depth analysis of Facebook demographics found on his blog called Web Business by Ken Burbary. 

Wiki Wiki Wiki

  Lets first talk about how wikipedia has saved college students countless times when burning the midnight oil since it was brought online of January of 2001.  Yes, we all know that teachers and professors have a deep distrust of wikipedia, but I say they should trust, nay, honor this great creation for what it is.
  A global encyclopedia of all there is, or all that matters.  Originally the idea was to include everything possible and have the pages be created and edited by readers, by anyone who thought to sit down and write what they could.  This lead to a great schism that was similar to that of the Catholic Church's great schism in 1378.  This schism in wikipedia readers led to two factions, the inclusionists and the deletionists.
  The inclusionsists wanted to of course include everything they could about anything ever.  The believed that since they were not limited by the classic constraints of other encyclopedias, number of pages, costs of volumes, and financial support there should be no reason to judge the validity of entries based on relevance of facts.  They believe that a wikipedia held just has much value as an entry about Marlon Brando.
  Conversely the deletionists believe the exact opposite.  Relevance of facts is the only standard of value by which we should judge entries.  If we do not do this the site could become a jumbled mess of useless information that holds no benefit to anyone anywhere.  Who really cares about me other than those I know who should already know me.

  Granted we must be concerned with the reliability of the information presented to us.  Since any of the readers, anyone with an internet connection, can edit information the reliability of the information presented is in questions.  Two of the greatest benefits of the site are 1) transparency is held at high value and it sheds light on many subjects previously neglected; 2) many pages hold source references at the bottom and serve as an excellent starting point for research that one can actually have faith in.
  So please, don't overlook the value of wikipedia simply because some professor told you they would not allow you to cite the information or because a friend of a friend has a "this one time at bandcamp I was writing a paper on the relation between neutrino physics and saxophone notes" story...

That Sticky Icky?

  So, Youtube has been hailed as the 'stickiest' sight on the internet, but how and why is that sticky icky so irresistible?

  Now that you have finished watching... well whatever it is you watched, think back on how long you spent watching the video.  Now think: did you click on some related links, did you forward this to a friend, did you tweet it, did you post it on Facebook, did you post it on a blog?
  All of these things contribute to why Youtube is so sticky.  I can't tell you why we are so addicted to watching babies be babies, or people failing at life, or videos of cats being absurd, or puppies being cute; but I can tell you we are, and that for 2011 Youtube had over one trillion views (1,000,000,000,000).  That is approximately 140 views for every person on the planet!
  Some have their own opinion of why Youtube is so addicting; see the following article.  I can agree with some of these people, but I believe that Youtube is so addictive because it is not network television.
  Youtube is not only instant access, instant learn anything, instant replay, instant sharing, instant memories, it is instant everything.  I view anything I can find in the blink of an eye (depending on 30 second commercials and my internet speed).  I can learn how to make bombs, or pick locks, or fold an oragami swan, or cook a duck, or write a poem, or anything I am studying in school.  I can watch newsreel bloopers, I can watch old sports games and old MTV videos.  But even more importantly, I can post these.  I am in control of the content.
  Like everything else in new media I have control of the content I post.  Unlike having to watch whatever the TV Network deems appropriate or valuable I can film what I want and then post it to the internet.  I have instantly become my very own producer, director, actor, sound technician, director of photography and whatever other credit I choose to give myself.  And boy, don't we kids just love that instant control!

Cartoon From Randy Glasbergen

In The Spirit of The Season...

  Hello folks, yet another week has passed us by and in doing so has reminded me that it is time again for another post about social media.  Unlike my past two posts I'd like to dedicate this post to the concept of big brother.
  In this fashion I discovered this article.  If you don't care to read it I will certainly summarize.  In short a team from Compass Labs conducted a study of Facebook pages to analyze the difference between Republican and Democrat voters.  Now this idea is not new, studies have been done and published since the publishing of The American Voter in 1960.  However, it is one of the recent studies that has used social media as a primary source for data.
  But the question still remains "what did they find out?"
  Well for one, both Democrats and Republicans think 'The Hangover' was a great movie.  But on perhaps a more influential level, the study illustrated a breakdown of voters beyond their personal habits.  For example: Obama is flying high with over 28.3 million likes on his Facebook fan-page, while Romney is struggling to maintain just 6.4 million.  While at the same time Compass Labs found that the engagement ration for both were 52% for Romney and just 11% for Obama.
  Now I can agree that this use of social media to collect social data is an intelligent idea.  This issue I have with it is how reliable of a source it is.  First of all it is wonderful that I know that Republicans typically like to shop at Walmart and Democrats enjoy playing video games.  Secondly, I can glean that the most effective way to reach my voter base may not be through Facebook or in Walmart.  However, most importantly this tell me that the American citizen is now publicly offering their personal information that 40 years ago I would have to go door to door, or cold call, to discover.
  If Compass Labs can use Facebook to find all this information... what could Google do with it?

Blogging About Blogging

  I am continuing down this pathway of studying new new media, and at the moment blogging.  I posted a video of an interview with Paul Levinson in my last post, but I feel as though I should mention he is the author of the textbook I am currently studying at the moment.
  In the most recent chapter read, Levinson made the assertion that most social media has returned the communication sphere to a time predating the invention of print media.  During these ancient times communication took place via word of mouth and lacked gatekeepers.  Print media, radio, and television all use gatekeepers to control content.  Networks hire station directors as a gatekeeper to make sure everything on air is valid and true, or in line with the overall mission of the network.  Newspapers employ editors at all levels, from copy to desk to chief; content is reviewed and edited every step of the way.
  Blogging was the first of the social media developments, and the first to re-introduce society to this idea of unadulterated communication.  I could publish anything from porn to pastry recipes on this blog without an editor telling me I was fired.  Cursing, bias, untrue stories and more are published everyday in posts across the blogosphere.

  Like the delightful cartoon above demonstrates (illustrated by Dave Coverly) blogging is like wandering around and saying anything you want to anybody who will listen.  There is no editor, no director, no board of directors available to control content.  It is absolute freedom of speech, as long as you can find a way to host the site.

PS:  When searching for a definition of blogosphere I found a hilarious one on urbandictionary.com.  The following is the definition: "Imagine a million lunatics wandering the streets mumbling to themselves.  Write it all down and put it on the web.  Congratulations, you've just created the blogosphere."

The Adventure Begins

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."
- Andre Gide

  Andre Gide is a French writer who worked during the first half of the 1900's.  Granted, I have read little of his work, but I love this quote.  It also aptly describes much of my view on life.  I believe fully in repeatedly leaving your comfort zone and traveling on to new people, places, and ideas.  This method of madness has served me well in my travels both close and far from home.
  This next adventure, that I hope you join me on, will be one of social and cultural study.  I will be examining the contemporary world and how it has reacted to the creation of this new new media (see video).
  It is an incredible subject to be examining now that the world has fully embraced this new advance in both technology and communication beyond the internet.  new new media has already changed the way we work, communicate, explore, travel, research, think, and essentially everything else!
  I will be posting more videos, photos, and links to news stories and studies pertaining to the subject and how society has either changed the flow of technology or been changed by it.  I hope you join me for this wild ride backwards into the future!