week 13 - source-listing/bibliography (Group 10)

The following are some websites we found helpful in our research.

Album sales Down in 2012

Downloading Music: The Real Deal

Fight Builds Over Online Royalties

The Powerful Role of Music In Society

Music and Digital Media; Making Sound Creative

History of Music Players

The Greatest Change in the History of Media

A Brief History of Digital Media

Digital Music Creation

The Pros and Cons of Using Digital Technology

Does Bitrate Really Make a Difference?

Perspectives on Digitization of Music

week 13 - reading assignment 16

In general, describe the relationship between I.T. and war as it has existed throughout history and into the present.

I guess I would just say that they exist in a symbiotic relationship as they both support the advancement of the other. I feel that because our country's economic model seems to favor our military, it is only natural that that industry is where research and development occurs most heavily. Not only does the military support I.T. development but medical as well, which has proven very beneficial. 

watch one video and read one article, then respond by incorporating three extracted quotes into a concluding thought to the statement above.

War and Technology Alex Roland 2009
Waging War: A New Generation [video] Frontline: PBS

"Technology is wrapped up in the story of war, its wrapped up in the story of human history" (Frontline).

"These technologies aren't being built in some secret desert lab that we don't know about. They're here, they're surrounding us. We better deal with them" (Frontline).

"Technology is a possibility, not an imperative" (Roland).

As an extension to my initial statement on the relationship between war and IT I would like to emphasize the point made in both the video and the article. That point is that human beings are the creators of this technology. Those human beings exist in a heavily contextualized mindset as is inherent in our nature, which then informs the possibility of what technology may become. In our world, as it exists today, the military is a primary responsibility that has evolved into a priority. As a priority, it requires a great deal of money and time. This money and time (a finite resource) is also needed for the development of technology. Therefore it stands to reason that we may kill two birds with one stone and efficiently develop our drive to proliferate our technological position whilst protecting that drive's hometown. 

week 12 - reading assignment 15 +

write about your initial understanding of virtual reality and how you may interact within them.
I suppose I would define a virtual reality as an environment that has been digitally recreated to reflect some form of reality. I think these environments often are created to supply possibilities not available in our own physical world. 

I suppose I may consider First Person Video Games and Avatar-based Video Games as virtual realities, though this may be incorrect. I play Mario games and Donkey Kong and Halo every now and again. When I was a kid I played Disney's Toontown which is a MMORPG and really fun. I have also dabbled in Second Life as well as WoW.


read one article and respond with three questions.

A Brief History of Virtual Reality and its Social Applications Ebersole 1997

1. I find it really interesting that the concept of Virtual Reality be so tied with the study of Communications. Do they teach much on the subject in formal Communications practice?
2. Do many people who study the effects of Virtual Reality connect it with the concept of Hyperreality?
3. Does Virtual Reality only include environments that support the interactivity tools of googles and gloves?

week 12 - reading assignment 14

read two articles and respond with three questions.

Device Identification in online banking is privacy threat, expert says 2009
The Transparency Grenade 2012

1. It would seem logical and likely that within the user agreement bankers 'accept' when beginning their online banking experience there is already a system that restricts the use of personal information?
2. Don't banks seem like a place where clients inherently invest a large amount of trust within the realms of personal privacy? This explains that a bank's fundamental business dynamic would restrict breaches in privacy before the specific amendments within the online service are even considered.
3. I think to question our banking system in general is valid and acceptable, but to separate that traditional banking structure from its online counterpart with an effort to only question this new technology is pointless. We imbue a sense of stability upon the banking system that much of the modern world relies on and to question one, is to question the other. If you can't trust the manner in which a bank handles personal information online then how can you trust the way it handles everything else which is arguably just as sensitive? 

week 11 - reading assignment 13

read an article and respond with three questions.

Open Source Content
Open Source vs. Proprietary Software
Richard Stallman: Free Software
What is Open Source?

1. How much does the market for software development change from proprietary to open source?
2. Why has open source become such a beacon for some people?
3. Do people fear that open source will provide us with too much freedom?

week 11 - reading assignment 12

read an article and respond with three questions.

Howard Rheingold readings
Life on the Electronic Frontier
Howard Rheingold's Virtual Communities

1. As I did not read Howard Rheingold's book, the review was very very hard to follow. Why were we asked to read an article that spends its time discussing points that it expects its reader to be familiar with when, odds are, none of us are familiar with it?
2. In the earlier days of The Well, did you (Rheingold) ever find out that those who you were interacting with were presenting themselves as a falsified identity? Or did this not evolve until later?
3. What is your (Rheingold's) opinion on the loss of patience some say is being developed in younger generations because of the internet? Do you believe that an online community forum is to blame for the trend of short term and distracted attention?