NEXT NEW

The new type of "new media" that doesn't really exist now but will in the future is the use of Virtual reality(VR) headsets or glasses. We are already seeing some companies releasing these VR headsets however it's still not very common and is very limited. However in the near future we will see more companies releasing affordable VR headsets, and once that happens and development picks up. We will see these headsets everywhere. Imagine being able to watch 3D videos or 3D Youtube videos or imagine watching 3D movie during your subway ride or in plane. Imagine playing mobile games in 3D.  Imagine in class and schools students using VR headsets to visit historical places and museums. Using VR headset to create and view art in schools. There will be numerous uses of these headsets in every industry possible. I believe just like how iPads are now used everywhere and different education and entertainment uses, the VR headset will see the same future. It's just a matter of when.

Image source

WIKI SO FAR

On our class wiki I'm currently working on researching and creating content for the "Streaming Devices" and "New media and devices" pages. Since, I currently own some streaming devices I have information that needs to be included on those pages. In addition I will be adding the new devices that are now available for purchase but are missing on the current wiki page. Along with the devices I plan on linking useful apps and streaming services which on streaming services pages that can maximize the usage of these devices if paired with those streaming services.

BLOG: P2P

File sharing is when you transfer a file from one computer to another using the internet. It can be done using multiple sources including but not limiting to, through emails, dropbox, google drive, and numerous other file sharing sites. P2P file sharing is when users use P2P software programs to access media files such as games, videos, and music, through the search on user connected computers on the internet. Some examples of P2P file sharing can be to send large files such as videos and photos to other computers or users. In addition Skype for example using P2P technology for it's communication. The main concern with the use of P2P file sharing is the legality of the content, along with hackers using these programs to gather sensitive information from users computers. There have been several cases over the years of copyrighted content distributed through the use of P2P file sharing sites and programs. Even today users are using P2P programs to share and download illegal and copyrighted music, videos, and paid software. These distribution of illegal content through the P2P file sharing sites and programs have caused the companies and industries the loss of unimaginable amount. The article by Eric Pfanner on New York Times discuses the issues of privacy and copyrighted content shared on P2P sites. The author mentions how according to the American entertainment industry it causes the damage of $20 billion a year in sales. Author also discusses the sites such as Pirate bay and rapidshare which are under court review of being considered whether they in violation of copyright laws. File sharing on the internet is convenient and efficient for not only people among their friends and relatives but also for employers. However we must be cautious of the risks of security and legality when doing so. 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com

PRIVACY

Issue of privacy is one of the main concern with new media. When we post something on any social media sites, or using web 2.0 tools, that content is available to anyone around the world online. So, now when we post our opinions or content on any of these sites, we have to make sure not to post anything that can harm us later on. We also have to make sure not to post copyrighted content on these sites, if we must, we have to make sure to give proper credit to the original author.
We are also seeing more hacks being done now on banking sites to our social media sites. Anyone with the weak password can become a victim. It is our responsibility now to make sure our profiles and accounts are protected by strong passwords and two-way activation processes. We have to be careful not to post any confidential or personal information on the internet because in the wrong hands this information can be harmful to us.

ADVICE

Even though Baruch College has Facebook, Twitters, and other pages, they are not as often involved as they should be. Baruch in my opinion should be more involved with social media sites, and update them or post something creative multiple times a day. Baruch can also use a lot more videos on YouTube. For example last week, I was trying to find past videos of CIS Panel held at Baruch College but only video I could find were videos from 2006 - 2008. The updated videos from recent years were no where to be found. So, uploading frequently, videos of recent events on YouTube and linking them to their social media sites will be a great idea to attract more audience. Blogs are also starting to pick up for Baruch. In some of the classes, especially in CIS classes, professor are requiring now for students to make posts on Baruch blog sites. So the content is posted much more frequently now then it used to be.

CREATIVITY AND NEW MEDIA

Like I mentioned on my previous post how because of the new media technology anyone with the access to the computer can create something and share with the world in matter of minutes. Today in this post I want to share something that I created that received a lot of popularity. One summer I was bored and decided to create something and post on YouTube just for fun. Since I like sports and cars I decided to do some research on what some of my favorite basketball players drive and I though why not make a video on cars used by those players. With the help of Windows Movie Maker and some animation I created my very first video titled "Celebrity Cars and Exotic Custom Cars". The video contains images of celebrity and players with their cars. The video received more views than I had even imagined. The video today has more than 200,000 views and has been shared in many websites of similar interest. What's interesting is that I didn't even expect that many people to watch my video but because of the technology and YouTube my video was available for anyone in the world to see. I received so many messages of people asking to post my video on their site and also received emails regarding making "part 2". However because I'm a full time student and work part time, it is hard to take time to make another video. Since it takes time to research, put the video together, and edit. In the future if I have any free time I would love to make more videos for YouTube.

YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/guUXryqrktg

CREATIVITY

As I have mentioned in my previous blogs, new media has impacted our lives greatly. It has made it better and efficient. New media has improved and revolutionized the way we communicate, consume media, and our productivity. One such example is given on The New York article by Sasha Frere-Jones where several "DJ's" have remixed or "mashed" the songs together to create a mix. However because of the technology they don't need a distributor or recording studio. “You don’t need a distributor, because your distribution is the Internet. You don’t need a record label, because it’s your bedroom, and you don’t need a recording studio, because that’s your computer. You do it all yourself.” So, technology has also made possible for anyone to distribute and produce music, or any other type of art. All they need is a computer and access to the internet to distribute it to the whole world.

Sources:The New York
Image:  edesigntuts

VIRTUAL WORLDS

Virtual worlds can be used in many ways. Some ways there are being used are for the purpose of education. According to the article "Avatar II: The Hospital" by Stephanie Simon, lots of professors and medical schools are using virtual simulation as a training tool for nurses. Virtual hospitals and clinics are created for the training. In addition to training virtual simulation is being used in business. As stated in the article on CNN by Mark Tutton, businesses are using 3d virtual world, Second Life to create virtual meetings in their own private networks. Article mentions while it is great to communicate and attend meeting remotely it’s not the same as being “in-person” meeting or conversations between coworkers. Still for most companies and people virtual world adds that attraction and socializing affect that sometime is missing from working remotely. In virtual setting such as Second Life users can socialize with others, run around and basically can do anything that can be done in real life or for some people it’s better than real life. To conclude virtualization has come a long way and it has many uses in schools, universities, business, and personal life. Virtual reality is going to get better, soon we will be able to look at 3d objects on our browsers without needing any applications and current devices like virtual reality glasses that we can now buy to use with our smartphones are going to only get better and smarter.  

Source:Going to the virtual office in Second Life

            Avatar II: The Hospital

BLOG ABOUT TWITTER

Discussion on Twitter versus the discussion on Blackboard and in-class is very different. In my opinion Twitter doesn't allow for you to get your point across. On Twitter you have to be short and to the point and you wont't get enough characters to voice your details. Twitter with the characters limit can be a problem for some people. Blackboard discussions unlike the Twitter allow you to type and discuss in details and is less confusing when replying to someone unlike Twitter where sometimes replying can be confusing. Both of these discussions in my opinion cannot replace in-class discussions. In class you get to make eye contact and body language which helps to get your point across. Especially for people for whom English is not their first language, it is much easier to communicate face to face rather than online digitally. In addition if the discussion is personal and emotional being in-class or face to face is very important and more effective. Also with the lack of privacy on twitter I would much rather have a discussion on Blackboard or in-class.

Source: Twitter.com

SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

Social networking sites are great to use if you know how to use them properly. There are now great number of social networking sites available but the main one's I use often are Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Each of these serve their purpose differently, at least for me. Facebook is my go to site to share something that's on my mind or something I came across that I feel must be shared, I go to Facebook. It's also a great site to keep in touch with friends and family. Especially now since we are able to make calls on Facebook with anyone in the world. In addition I use Facebook at my work too as a tool to answer and ask question to my coworkers. In my opinion Facebook is a great communication tool. Twitter on the other hand I use mostly for getting news and updates from different sources. Twitter is a great tool for getting breaking news and checking out what is "trending" daily in the world. Instagram is used mostly for photos I share and see photos my friends and people I like post. Instagram in my opinion has also replaced vine by adding video capabilities. The only networking site that keeps my personal life separate from business is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a great tool for me and others to reach some of my cor-workers, professors or the people I have professionally dealt with. LinkedIn is also a great tool to look for jobs or for the employers to look for candidates.

Social Networking

Social Networking has both it’s positives and negatives. Social media has changed the way we communicate and share ideas with not only each other but the whole world. Sites like Facebook and twitter have revolutionized our communication. Some positives are you can now communicate with your relatives and friends no matter where they are, and you can share any thoughts, ideas, and memories with them with the help of these social media networks. These tools have not only helped in our personal life but also our business. According to the article on NPR, recruiters are using these tools to look for the candidates that match their needs. One of the recruiter says "Social networking technology is absolutely the best thing to happen to recruiting — ever". Using and creation of these tools might be positive step toward the technology and the way we communicate but it also has it downfalls. 

Social networking tools also have a negative impact in our lives. For instance nothing is private anymore. Anything you say or do on these social media sites can be accessed by anyone publicly. Even if something is made private with the use of privacy setting on these new tools hacker or scammers can find a way to gather your information. In the article by Better Business Bureau “New Wave of PhishingScams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam”, the author mentions how scammers are finding ways to gain or install spyware on personal devices. In addition if you don’t choose a strong password for these tools, there is a chance of getting your account hacked. Although these tools have brought a great way to communicate in this digital age, it has also brought some fears if not used with caution. 

Sources: Social Networking Technology Boosts Job Recruiting
                New Wave of PhishingScams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam
                     Image
               

New Wave of Phishing Scams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/01/new-wave-of-phishing-scams-uses-facebook-info-for-personalized-spam/#sthash.w80VfwHp.dpuf

New Wave of Phishing Scams Uses Facebook Info for Personalized Spam - See more at: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/01/new-wave-of-phishing-scams-uses-facebook-info-for-personalized-spam/#sthash.w80VfwHp.dpuf

Blog v Wiki

In today's digital world it has become a part of our life to share our stories and experiences online. The availability and advance in new media technology tools such as blogs and wikis have made it possible for anyone to share anything online. 

Blogs and wikis are both similar and different. Some similarities between the two are that both are used for collaborating online. Both of these tools allows users to communicate with other people and share their ideas and experiences. What makes them different is that blogs are more of  one person writing them and others commenting and replying to someone's post. Blog is your own personal diary in a way where you can share anything you feel like with everyone. Whereas wikis are more of a collaborative tool where more than one person can add content to the same page and you sort of work in groups to achieve something. Wikis because of their flexibility also allows the user to create multiple pages and link pages within the wikis to different sources. Wiki are also more secure and used in workplaces a lot to share and collaborate between employers. The article "How to Use Wikis For Business" lists all the ways the companies can take advantage of wikis. 

Now anyone can start with blogs of wikis withe the help of sites such as Blogger and WordPress makes it easy for people to get started with blogging and it gives users a friendly way to design and customize the blogs to their liking. There are sites such as Wikispaces and Wikidot also available for you to get started with wikis for free.

From my personal experience of working at the community college I have seen professors in classes use these tools for the students to collaborate and learn. From seeing students work on wikis in ESL classes to students using blogs to share their work in art class. 

Sources: How To Use Wikis For Business
              Wikipedia: No longer the Wild West?

Image source:3.bp.blogspot.com/

Use of New Media in Classroom

New media has changed the ways we communicate, entertain, and express ourselves. As technology advances we have to educate and use these tools to our advantage. This is the concept for the use of new media in our classrooms. Using social media and communication tools available to enhance our knowledge and express and share our ideas with not only with our class but with the whole world. When it comes to using new media technology in our classrooms there comes a threat of distraction to the students and since some of these tools such as twitter can be accessed by anyone in the world their is an issue of privacy. As with everything else, use of new media technology in our classrooms has both positive and negative effects. 

Image source: new-media-art-education