Wednesday, December 10, 2008

My Term Research Project

In my term research project, I spoke about copyright infringement and how new media has effected this field in many ways. In the presentation, I spoke about how the emergence of new media, mainly the internet, has given people the opportunity to use P2P file sharing as well as just downloading programs like limewire and kazaa in order to receive both movies and music and then try to sell them illegally. Copyright Infringement is extremely illegal and could be punished by huge fines as well as possible jail time. Despite this fact, many people all over the world continue to use P2P file sharing in order to receive their movies and music and they think nothing of it as if it was completely fine. Many television as well as movie companies have begun putting up their shows and movies on sites like hulu.com in order to compete with P2P file sharing. On these sites you can watch perfect quality videos as opposed to the ones off limewire that aren't to great in quality and all that changes is that there is one or two thirty second commercials. By putting these videos onto these websites, they would still be able to make a profit from the advertising as opposed to limewire and kazaa where they make no profit at all. The companies were forced to give in and conform to the changing times and start allowing viewers to watch their shows on the internet. Copyright Infringement has effected people in numerous ways. No matter whether they are positive or negative effects, the effects are visible.

The Next New Thing

The next new thing that I think would be very beneficial to society is wi-fi internet availability as well as cellular phone service in the subway systems of the major cities. This form of new media would be very good because it would allow people to connect with other people in numerous ways in a place where currently there would be no way of reaching that person. It would also be very beneficial in crisis situations. For example in case of a terrorist attack or even a natural disaster, people that are underground would, for obvious reasons, currently be considered sitting ducks because they probably wouldn't even know about an attack. On the other hand, if they were to have cellular connection and internet connection, they would be able to find out what was going on and what they can do to avoid any danger. If people were to have this service, it would be very beneficial for them in todays world.

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Presentation Outline

Copyright infringement
- the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works
- using something that is legally and officially the property of someone else without their consent

Examples of copyright infringement
- People selling “bootleg DVDs in the street
- Illegal Downloading
- P2P File Sharing

Penalties for Copyright Infringement
Up to 3 years in prison
$250,000 fines
Repeat Offenders face up to 6 years in prison

New Media
- Has mad it much easier for people to commit these crimes and have made it a much bigger problem because everyone has access to it and can do it on a daily basis

Monday, December 1, 2008

Social Networking Sites

I personally have accounts with both Facebook as well as Myspace. Over the years many of my friends have had accounts with numerous social networking sites and they all seem to fade out or be outdone with the “next best site” that is introduced. I enjoy going on facebook because it gives me the opportunity to keep in touch with friends that are away at college ort pretty much everyone that I don’t see very often. For the most part, it easy to join these sites and, for some, they become a little addicting where people find themselves checking the sites more than they check the news or the weather. Social networking site have become so popular that a month ago even my mother, who barely knows how to use a computer, asked me to make her an account on a Russian social networking site called odnoklassniki.ru. It is a site for people who went to school in Russia and it connects them to there old classmates. Just like any other networking site it allows you to upload pictures of yourself and my mother found many old classmates that she went to school with back in Russia. Social networking sites will continue to grow and expand. I can only imagine what the social networking sites will be like in ten years.

Advice to Baruch College

I personally am content with the extent to which Baruch College is technologically advanced. I think that technology is very important in the educational world for both the students as well as the faculty. It allows both groups the ability to reach out to a broad audience and communicate with an entire classroom with greater ease. The only real thing I would look to change or modify is the blackboard online system. I believe that there are many alternatives to blackboard that would work a lot more efficiently and are much more user-friendly for the student as well as the professor. Other than that I believe Baruch is, for the most part technologically advanced.

Old v. New

The way to distinguish new media from old media is by analyzing a few main characteristics that the form of media has. For one, the way a person would go about receiving the form of media has a lot to do with distinguishing the two forms of media. One of the main reasons that the new media is so revolutionary is because it is so easy to access it through the internet in addition to other ways, that more people have embraced it. On the other hand with old media, though it is not difficult to access it, there is still some effort that has to be made in order to retrieve the information that the person wants. In addition, much if not all of the new media is digitalized and can be retrieved in the comfort of people’s homes. As opposed to old media like newspapers which only last one day and must be bought at local stores.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Effect of New Media on Society

New Media has had many effects on society ever since it was established. I think the main effect that it had on society was the amount of ease it offered people to accomplish goals both big and small and it also brought people closer together by way of social networking sites like facebook and myspace as well as blogging sites like blogger. With the establishment of the internet, people don’t have to leave their homes to shop for pretty much anything and everything. From clothes to cars to everyday groceries, anything can be done through the internet and there is no longer a need to go to actual stores to buy things they need. New media has greatly affected society for the better though many have argued that it makes people very lazy. That is possibly the only negative effect that the emergence of new media has had on society.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Baruch New Media - Our Class Wiki - So Far

My progress on our class wiki has not only gone very well but it has also been very interesting. I have been able to find a lot of information about the new media in regards to the sports industry. One of the more interesting things that I have found was technology in sports in regards to being able to find out all possible information through unconventional methods such as cellular phones and PDAs. I have not entered anything into the actual wiki because I find different information from different sources but I will definitely add my preliminary research very soon. I have also been interested in the new media in regards to sport video games. Due to the ability of new game consoles to be able to connect to the internet, new games can actually update all sports teams in which there is a roster change and has even reached the point where through the internet it can check what players are having “hot streaks” and that coincides with that players ability to perform in the video game. New Media has the potential to grow immensely in the professional sports industry and it will continue to grow.

Blogs vs. Wikis

There are many differences between a blog and a wiki. A blog is used for people to express themselves as well as voice their opinions about issues that they consider to be important. There could be blogs that go on between two people and there could also be blogs that concern many people all over the world. Even celebrities have began to start putting out blogs about their lives, describing what they are doing and giving their fans an idea of their everyday lives. Blogs are good for people that are not comfortable being around a big group of people and voicing their opinions. With blogs they are by themselves so even though their blogs could be read by millions of people, the blogs were made in the privacy of the authors own homes. Blogs are also helpful in regards to collaboration because people can work with others and become a solidified unit that shares the same ideas by use of the blogs. People with the same beliefs can work together to achieve a common goal and the blogs can help them interact and learn from one another. Wiki’s, on the other hand, are more on the factual side of things. When people think of Wikipedia they think of an encyclopedia. Even though anyone can go on Wikipedia and edit information as well as add biases that they may have, Wikipedia is, nevertheless, mainly where people go to in order to look something up or to learn more about a certain person, place, etc. A wiki allows them to not only find out information but add on information that they are aware of making the possibilities endless on how many facts can be discovered. As it states in the Wikipedia definition of a wiki, wiki can be expanded into the phrase “what I know is”. Basically this means that if anyone who reads the article has anything to add to it, by the use of wiki websites, they now have the ability to in the comfort of their own homes. One thing that wikis should have is an opinions area for every topic. That way people will just place facts into the wikis and any bias’s they may have will be added in the proper section for the people that want to read that.

My New Media Class - So Far

There is no denying that the wave of New Media has come and that many people all over the world have accepted this wave into their everyday lives. New Media has introduced many new technologies for the modern day consumer and enhanced some modern technologies to increase the amount of convenience it allows the consumer to have. The main new technology that was introduced is the internet. The internet gives way to a whole new world of possibilities for both consumers and producers. It is the essential aspect to the wave of new media throughout the world. The internet allows people from all over the world to interact with one another and share common ideas. In a way it brings people closer together because, with sites like Facebook and blogger, people can voice their opinions as well as comment on other peoples opinions. For example, every day there are more and more people that release blogs about their political opinions, this being an election year. All of the people have different views on the two candidates that are running for office and with these blogger sites they can express themselves in a way that other people will be able to see. The internet is also beneficial on a consumer level. Online shopping has become a huge market recently and it rises every year. Especially during the end of the year where the majority of shopping is done in due to the holidays, online shopping allows consumers to find everything they are looking for at the push of a button without having to leave their homes. For the companies that are selling goods, the internet allows people from all over the world view their product and therefore they would be able to network their product to a much broader audience. New Media is enhancing old media in many different ways. With sites like youtube, ohmynews, and ovguide, people are able to watch movies, read the news and also stream videos a lot faster and for free on their computer. In addition, now that most cellular phones are able to connect to the internet, people can fulfill many aspects on the go and don’t have to depend on a newspaper or television as the only sources for media. In Robert Coovers New York Times article entitled “The End of Books”, he speaks about another aspect of new media that has taken over the old media. With programs and websites that allow people to read entire books on the web, books become to seem useless. For example itunes which is a program created by the apple corporation allows people to upload books directly to their ipods and read them off of the ipod. The convenience factor in doing so is what has made many people accept this and many other new media contents into their lives and, by doing so, forget the ways of old media.Though a lot has changed, for the better, in peoples lives due to this wave of new media it is my opinion that old media will never die out no matter how big the internet or an other new media technology gets.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

NEW MEDIA

Ever since the beginning of the new millennium, there has been a wave of new technology and new uses for technology on the internet that is referred to as new media. This new media is beginning to overpower the television, newspapers and the radio, as well as many other past forms of media, as the new wave of media that is available to the general public. Some examples of new media are websites like myspace, youtube and hulu.com. These websites offer modern ways of entertainment and involve the newer types of technology, mailny the internet. Many people have claimed that old media will soon die because of this rush of new media. Though it is highly unlikely that this is true, there is no debate that new media represents the wave of the future.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Brooklyn Nets and The New Coney Island


I personally cannot wait until the Nets basketball franchise moves to Brooklyn from New Jersey. It will be the first professional sports franchise to move to Brooklyn in over 20 years. I have lived in Brooklyn for over 15 years and I love living there. The only thing that Brooklyn is missing is its own sporting franchise. When the Nets move to Brooklyn it will make huge economic progress in Brooklyn and will potentially open the door for more sporting franchises to move to Brooklyn. I'm also very excited about the redevelopment project that will start in Coney Island. The project was made to modernize Coney Island in order to make it a major attraction again.When Coney Island opened, it attracted an immense amount of revenue and tourism for the borough and made a huge impact. Hopefully the project will bring back the great progress of the past.