The Future of Old Media

The Next New Thing

2011-05-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

A new type of media that I would invent or suggest to be inventedwould be a virtual form of social networking. This would be anamalgamation of social networking and virtual interactions similar tothe hit virtual world Second Life. For instance, users of Facebook,twitter, or MySpace would be able to enter a cyber-world where onlytheir friends are invited or have the address to. It would be cool tohave these virtual worlds be extended to things outside Second Life.You would be able to enter virtual rooms that serve as chat rooms orsocial playgrounds for users of social networking sites. Sites likeFacebook, MySpace, and Twitter as immensely popular and extendingvirtual worlds to these platforms would be very interesting for itsusers. The way things are now, users can log into Facebook and chatand share images with other friends who are logged in, but with my newvirtual networking sites, you would be able to create your very ownavatar in your own likeness and interact with your other friends. Iwould not be surprised if the social networking sites begin adaptingthis idea into their platforms as it would no doubt create a newdimension of social networking. Right now the game Second Life servesas a separate platform and combining the two platforms woulddefinitely create a very interesting new form of media.

Our Class Wiki - So Far

2011-04-28T08:56:00.000-07:00

I am an editor of Wiki page "New Media and Video Game Consoles"
http://baruchnewmedia.com/wiki/New_Media_and_Video_Game_Consoles
I have been looking at the content of and it looks fine for now but there are some upcoming games that are set to be released soon and I will update the page accordingly. Aside from that the page looks good and as editor I don't need to make any changes at this time.

P2P File Sharing

2011-04-28T08:51:00.001-07:00

The practice of file sharing, in my opinion is one of the single most valuable practices on the internet today. When people file share, they distribute or provide others with access to digitally stored information, like programs, movies, music, pictures, books and games over a peer-to-peer (p2p) network. Users can search for the media of their choice and download it directly or compartmentally from other user’s computers or file-sharing folders over the networks. These are usually called ‘torrents’ that are downloaded with the aid of free programs like LimeWire, Bit Torrent, and uTorrent to name a few. People are now able to access once before paid media completely free of charge. This practice, according the American entertainment industry, accounts for a $20 billion annual loss in sales. The article entitled, “Should Online Scofflaws Be Denied Web Access?” mentions the fact that the United State Congress is holding hearings to determine how lawmakers are attacking this issue. Many countries have no since made laws banning the practice of illegal file sharing, but the practice is still alive and well. Billions of files are shared throughout the world by means of sites hosted on private offshore servers, which are typically protected by some of the world’s top computer hackers.
Another article, “Valley View: File sharing joins the mainstream” by Chris Nuttall gives this very interesting statistic; p2p sites lie Bit torrent account for 40-50% of all internet traffic. There is no doubt that the majority of these files are under the DRM (Digital Rights Management), but users continue to risk facing legal issues. As one Minnesota mom found out in the article, “Minnesota Mom Hit With $1.5 Million Fine for Downloading 24 Songs” by Daniel Kreps, as she was fined $1.5 million by Capitol Records for downloading 24 mp3 files. The issue of illegally downloading media will no doubt be an issue for years to come.

Privacy & Confidentiality

2011-04-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Privacy and confidentiality are most certainly related to new media because with all the new technologies that people posses, they are running the risk of having some of there most personal information falling into the wrong hands. Another issue, as mentioned in the article, "As Rights Clash on YouTube, Some Music Vanishes," by Tim Arango, is how users of youtube and other media-sharing sites have been removing user-posted videos by the thousands lately. The article mentions how there is a disagreement present because users of these sites are using the sites as they are intended with their favorite media, but because it is copyrighted, they are getting letters in the mail and having their posts blocked or removed. This for some is an invasion of privacy or a reduction of their rights. The issue is ongoing and currently growing by the minute. Alternatively, collaborative efforts like the one mentioned in the article entitled "Giving it Away (for Fun and Profit) Creative Commons encourages artists to share and distribute their work for free. And that could be the key to a new multi billion-dollar industry," show us how users are creating their own forms of media. Mash-ups, as previously mentioned in an earlier article, have been creating new forms of media and genres of music. This industry, according to Andy Rashkin, is quickly forming into a billion dollar "share economy" he states. Sites like www.creativecommons.org promote, "Share, reuse, remix-legally, which is definably bolstering the creation of new media.

Advice to Baruch College

2011-04-14T11:19:00.000-07:00

Now that I have been hired by Baruch College as the new media and technology officer (CTO), I plan to institute and new vigorous program for students to understand, experiment, and even create new media. All student will be subjected to the most advanced and cutting edge technologies currently offered. The best part about this new initiative is it will not cost the school or its students any additional funds to support. With all the new forms of media out there such as blogs, wikis, and virtual worlds that are free to access and tablets, smart phones, and other smart devices, which many student already posses- we should be able to start a whole new generation of learning institution with the incorporation the newest forms of media available. Some of the new suggestions for the use of this new media is for everyone to submit all there assignment on blog-like pages which can be viewed by the teacher and student instantaneously. Wikis will be used to help all teachers within certain subject matters to work together to devise lesson plans and course information. Students will have limited rights to view and edit these documents as well. I will also begin a plan to have virtual classrooms or teachers such as in the game second life. if a teacher is planning on missing a day they could set up a virtual substitute. All the final details have yet to be worked out, but this is an initial plan being set forward.

About My Term Research Paper

2011-04-07T14:09:00.001-07:00

I just finished submitting my blog and I must say it was a very long and tedious journey to completion. I scoured the internet for information on new and old media and i was very please with all the information that I found. However, I placed a great amount of personal information and touch into my paper, which i hope will show. The reason for this is that I am passionate about the topic, which is the first step to fully explaining and delving into a topic: interest. A major finding that had was that when i first chose my topic i felt like old media was going to become extinct and be replaced by new media, but upon completing all my research, I found that old media is just undergoing a face-lift and shedding its former skin. I feel like my topic adds the the field of new media because I am attempting to shed light on a fairly new subject matter; electronic paper, which i encourage everyone to learn more about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper

Creativity and New Media

2011-03-30T12:07:00.003-07:00

I chose to created a Second Life account and personalize my avatar. First off, there were dozens of different customizations for each of the different facial features, body, shapes and clothing types. Upon selecting all the right options I created myself to the best of my ability and attached a photo. I also began to explore different cities, clubs, and parks, which reminded me of an article that we had to read about how users of second life were immortalizing certain once-beloved landmarks that have been undergoing changes like the famous Hotel Chelsea. I decided to take a trip there and snapped some photos of the old-style entrance, the lobby showcasing the now removed mailboxes, then I found out I could fly. I then flew to the top of the building to get a nice photo of myself hovering in the air near the hotel sign. I listened to famous rock music in the atrium for about ten minutes and enjoyed all the beautiful artwork that covers the walls. Really cool considering that I couldn’t do most of this stuff in real life, yet it feels like you are really there. All of the photos are attached at the bottom of the blog and I will continue to update it with cool places I find and please feel free to do the same! :-)

Creativity

2011-03-30T12:07:00.001-07:00

New forms of media, such as the video-sharing site YouTube, coupled with user friendly music and video editing softwares, have been fostering creativity for time now and the trend is becoming increasingly popular. Users are now creating their own forms of media with the new technologies that allow them to create music or videos without the need for recording/production studios or distributors. The trend is becoming so popular that despite the fact that posting or altering copy righted material is illegal; companies like Disney and Nickelodeon are allowing the videos to be posted on YouTube. Brooks Barnes’ article, entitled “Disney Tolerates a Rap Parody of Its Critters. But Why?” explains how Disney and Nickelodeon are faced with this dilemma: “are these videos parodies of cultural icons and thus protected under copyright law, or do they trample on intellectual property?” The article mentions how these companies may be allowing their content to be reposted and edited because of the immense popularity. With millions of clicks, these videos, or mashups, could potentially lead to increased revenue for the companies who own the material.

Creativity is being fostered by new media as a result of the simplicity and popularity of the new technologies and forms of media now more than ever. In Sasha Frere-Jones’ article, entitled “1+1+1=1 The New Math of Mashups” she accurately explains, “Mashups find new uses for current digital technology, a new iteration of the cause-and-effect relationship behind almost every change in pop-music aesthetics: the gear changes, and then the music does.” The new technologies being used are steadily changing both new and old forms of media and creating a whole new form of media in itself.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

2011-03-21T11:12:00.000-07:00

Upon reading the articles provided, I became very interested in the future of these virtual worlds like the hit game Second Life. These virtual worlds are taking over the realities of its users and becoming a huge impact on the way some people function in society. As stated in the article entitled, "Social Influence and the Diffusion of User-Created Content by Eytan Bakshy, Brian Karrer, Lada A. Adamic, "Social influence determines to a large extent what we adopt and when we adopt it." User playing games like Second Life influence other around them to become interested in the games as well. When these users get into these types of games, the results can be hundreds of hours spend carefully crafting a virtual world that in nothing the mind can imagine. Users can accumulate personal assets, travel around the world, communicated with millions of people, in addition to creating or recreating all types of parks, hotels, buildings, or cities. According to Wikipedia.com, Second Life has over 20 million registered users and that number has been on the rise lately. The Linden Dollar is used to purchase goods, services, or construction projects. In the NYTimes article, "In Room 100, It’s Sid and Nancy All Over Again," by Saki Knafo talks about how users recreated the once iconic Hotel Chelsea in New York. With the hotel undergoing serious renovations and modernization, many artists decided the leave the building, but its roots remain in the hearts of Second Life users, as they have recreated the Hotel in the game. Users hang out and relive what the hotel was life in the 1970's and this is truly amazing. In the future, I can see virtual worlds like Second Life being used to see how different forms of economy and governments work in certain nations. We can create virtual worlds and institute a systems and see what the results are. We can use virtual worlds to see what certain projects would look like and function in society too. Imagine if governments, before making laws or changes to their nation's systems would implement these changes into virtual realities in order to gauge the possible outcomes.

Twitter vs. BlackBoard/In-class discusion

2011-03-15T20:12:00.000-07:00

The differences between having a discussion on twitter and on blackboard are mainly the ease and speed that you are able to share ideas and information. I think that it is easier to communicate via twitter because of the way you can send and receive and virtually interact with people. Having an in-class discussion is traditionally the most effective way for students to obtain information, but often times students are shy and do not feel comfortable expressing themselves in front of their teachers and classmates. Online discussions on sites like Twitter and even on blackboard allow for simplicity and ease of use whenever it is convenient for the teacher or student. Conversely, students may feel more comfortable talking in class and ideas may be better formulated when a live in person discussion is led by the teacher. These are of course at a fixed time and may not fit into today's modern student's schedule who is working to pay for school. A mix of online discussions and classes in addition to live in person classes would best suit a student in my opinion.

Social Networking Sites

2011-03-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Bebo are all various types of social networking sites that are dominating the web today. While these sites may all seem to be generally the same, there are many differences and unique intricacies between one another. Social networks can be said to allow us to visualize connections between individuals whom we have never met and the means by which users go about doing this varies depending on each site's interface and functionality.

Myspace is the most customizable of the four sites, allowing users to embed music, videos and pictures to their profiles by means of html codes. Myspace can be a bit overwhelming if you are an inexperienced user with little knowledge of constructing sites and webpages. Myspace currently attracts mostly artists promoting their various forms of media and for fans to listen to and communicated with their favorites artists online.

Facebook is arguably the most popular of the social networking sites, bolstering the most subscribers, potential revenue, and a company value worth of nearly $2 billion dollars. Facebook is much a more organized platform than Myspace. Facebook has all of its components fixed within the page and customization is limited, but allows for the use of many applications. These applications allow users to play games or take quizzes and points or items can be purchased for real money.

Bebo, or Blog Early Blog Often is also a social networking site that allows users to post blogs, pictures (with limits), and quizzes. I believe this site looks a bit more simple than Facebook, although modern also with its sleek sliver, red, and black site theme.

Twitter to me, seems to be the simplest and most impersonal, yet the most intrinsically intertwined site out of all the sites. Millions of users are connect with millions of other artists, sports athletes, celebrities, and just about any other person you could imagine. Tweets, or microblogs as you can call them, allow users to rapidly exchange comments based on 'following' or subscription basis.

Social Networking

2011-03-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

Social Networking sites like Facebook and MySpace have quickly become extremely powerful tools for people to accomplish a multitude of different endeavors. The uses for these sites can range from the traditional exchange between friends, sharing photos, and searching for potential employers/employees, to the more modern and revenue-generating uses like selling real products and for President Obama, aiding winning the US Presidency. As David Carr states in his article, “How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power,” by bolting together social networking applications under the banner of a movement, they created an unforeseen force to raise money, organize locally, fight smear campaigns and get out the vote that helped them topple the Clinton machine and then John McCain and the Republicans.” This is a political tactic that has never before been used to this magnitude and with such results. By spreading the word through Facebook apps and member groups Obama managed to start a campaign never before seen or battled.

In addition to this, a vast amount of companies are now offering real gifts to purchase for friends on Facebook. Although the article “Real Facebook shop in virtual world breathes life into Mars, “by Rufus Jay is a bit dated, but it touches on the very beginnings of the “social network marketplace”. Companies like Mars were some of the first to offer Facebook ‘gifting’ of candy bars in the form of barcodes redeemable at participating stores; a truly innovation and clever way at selling their products. There is now an official Facebook app that allows the purchase of hundreds of different gifts. Companies can create their own personalized apps for tracking and housing the information of its ‘fans’ or ‘members’. The popularity of these sites even expanded into the English dictionary, according to Doug Gross’s article, “Dictionary word of the year: Unfriend” the Facebook term ‘unfried,’ which means to remove a person as friend- is now included in the English dictionary.

In the article “Leaving 'Friendprints': How Online Social Networks Are Redefining Privacy and Personal Security,” a big issue looms, according to Lance Hoffman, a George Washington University computer science professor, “by giving up such information as their name, birth date, and a list of their network of friends, users are revealing far more than they know. The fear is that third-party applications can take your data outside of the friendly confines of a social networking site and combine it with data from other sources to piece together enough information to steal a person's identity. Just a person's name and birth date -- routinely found on a Facebook profile -- can be a useful lever for an identity thief, said Lance Hoffman. “ More and more cyber fraud be being committed as a result of these social networking sites and it is up to not only the user to keep their information safe, but MySpace and Facebook administrators themselves to assure that this information is being safely kept.

The futures of these technologies are endless, but some of the more immediate possibilities will most certainly include a vast increase in marketing in social networking sites, virtual stores, and eventually more stringent security measures no doubt.

Blogs vs. Wikis

2011-03-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

Upon reading a few of the articles provided, it can be said that the main difference between a wiki and a blog is how and what they are specifically used for. For example, while a blog is created to follow specific updates on a particular topic and it is created mainly by an administrator who allows other registered or anonymous users to add their comments, a wiki is "website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages," as stated in the Wikipedia page on wikis.

Wikis are most commonly used by certain networks of people to spread information, and of course the signature characteristic is that this can be edited of all users of the wiki. Typically, one can surmise that this would lead to a wasteland of fake or uneducated information, but according to the article, "Wikipedia to Limit Changes to Articles on People," by Noam Cohen Wikipedia will now require experienced users to edit certain content. This same theory holds true for wikis throughout the world as experienced users will eventually correct the information. Collaborative efforts usual lead to the best results and the uses for wikis could potentially be endless. Blogs are like Web Pages that are updated with various news bits pertaining to celebrities, sporting events or anything else imaginable. These instruments are very useful is spreading information and discussing different events and topics.

There are literally millions of blogs and wikis on the web now, mostly housing topics ranging from sports, news, fashion and entertainment to personally created topics. All of these allow millions of users throughout all parts of the world to communicate on various topics and work together to spread ideas and information. The use of wikis is especially growing throughout corporate America. According to the article, "Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales on making the most of company wikis," by Gardiner Morse, "Thousands of organizations, from Microsoft to the FBI, use wikis to aggregate the knowledge of their far-flung employees, creating a place for them to electronically converge and collaborate on everything from planning meetings and documenting best practices to brainstorming about new products and processes."

While the popularity of wikis are growing in corporate America, they can be used in institutions such as Colleges for course material and Hospitals for sharing donor information and possibly surgery techniques. The main thing to realize is that the new uses of wikis will inevitably come about as a result of the founding principle of the wiki themselves, which is a co-creative tool for the web.

Project Description

2011-02-15T17:54:00.000-08:00

My research topic will be about the future of old media. I shall discuss how old forms of media such as newspapers, paper-books, and radio have been shedding their former skins and adapting to the newer forms of media being created. Newspaper companies like The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times and satellite radio companies like SirusXm have all been forced to adapt to the ever-changing times or become obsolete. These companies are all facing the idea of being replaced by 'digitized' and more efficient forms of themselves.