Reading #5

The reading “The End of Privacy’ touched on a subject very similar to a recent news article that I read that Facebook and Twitter are the most insecure websites on the Internet. In relation to the fact that Facebook and Twitter are the most insecure, the sentence that stuck with me the most from the article was, “With the Internet, anybody can reach a global audience.” This statement by Solove is very profound and correct. Both Facebook and Twitter allow you to post things in an instant in which anyone can view if the privacy settings are not changed. There was even one point where Google would pay several celebrities to just mention Google in their tweet and they would be paid several thousand dollars. With the ‘Trending Topics’ section on Twitter, it searches the most used words in tweets worldwide. There your tweet is broadcast and furthermore others can click on your profile to view it. Also, Facebook and Twitter statuses are fed into Google’s database and when searched correctly you can find someone’s status. I agree with Solove in that we are a ‘Google Generation’ because we use Google for everything and can access a lot of things through it. Solove makes a great point that privacy has not ended and should not end, but it just needs to be reformatted. Whether it’s how the government and how it accesses the public’s information or how privacy settings are worked it is something that needs to be changed. We do not want to become a country like China where everything we may ever text our post on the Internet is viewed or accessed.

Extra Credit: Randall Library Mobile Website

I am testing out the Randall Library's mobile website on my phone, BlackBerry Storm2 and it is pretty friendly. The home page is very easy to ready and all the icons/shortcuts are very useful tools. I like how big the font and icons are. Searching the Library Catalog is easy to navigate as of now, and I'm sure when the whole catalog becomes mobile it would be great! The most useful tool on there is computer availability and the map of availability. It loaded the pages pretty normally for my phone. I tried it on my iPod touch and that was faster. BlackBerry's Browser is just a little slower.

One thing that could be added is 'My Library Account.' That way, if needed a student could renew their checked out items on the go, or see what they have checked out and when it is due. Also, not that big of a deal, but reordering the icons/shortcuts so the more 'used' one be on the top row. The most used ones can be determined later on through tracking which shortcuts are hit the most. Just aesthetics not that big of a deal.

Overall, I give this mobile website an A-. I just think the My Library Account would be a great addition and the only thing the mobile website is missing. I just think it's funny how far ahead of UNCW's website this library main website and mobile website is.

News Report #5

"Total U.S. mobile data traffic to exceed 1 exabyte (billion gigabytes) by end of 2010"
http://www.intomobile.com/2010/11/07/total-u-s-mobile-data-traffic-to-exceed-1-exabyte-billion-gigabytes-by-end-of-2010/

Would you believe me if I said that the United States was only second in the world for per capita mobile data usage? It’s shocking. I had the assumption that the United States would be number one, but Sweden is holding on to the top spot. Despite this, the statistics that come with being number two in the world are still amazing. This article explains how in quarter three of this year, the data market grew 25% and brought in $14 billion in service revenue. Smartphones are leading this growth while tablets and wireless eReaders have had a significant impact on the data market.
Verizon and AT&T are the leading service providers of mobile data with 70% of the market data services revenues. What caught my attention in this article though was that mobile data “usage is expected to exceed 1 exabyte, or one billion gigabytes.”
To say the least, I believe that the United States is a connected nation. As a college student myself, and one who has infatuation with technology, we are people who want it quick, fast and right away. If you walk down chancellor’s walk here at UNCW, half of the people you see are either listening to their iPod, which most now have wifi capabilities, or using their phone via text. Technology just makes it easier for us to connect with others because its so easy and quick. I believe that the downfall of this ease of connection is that it has cause us to forget how to communicate person to person. I have to admit I am guilty as well of this high mobile data usage phenomenon, and that it makes life so much easier that I can just click one button on my phone to check email, Facebook or Twitter. It’s hard to let go of our connections, but if we constantly are, including myself, we will lose touch with reality.

News Report #4

"China builds the world's fastest supercomputer"
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/SciTech/20101028/china-supercomputer-101028/

Though it has not been verified, a Chinese computer research website announced last week that they now have the fastest supercomputer in the world. The current title holder is a supercomputer in Tennessee in the United States. The Chinese proclaimed fastest supercomputer is said have the capability to compute things in 2.507 petaflops, or 2,507 trillion calculations per second. The name of this supercomputer is Tianhe-1. The article states that this shows how China is beginning to rise as a science and technology powerhouse.

One of the main reasons why this article caught my attention is because it was about China. I had the opportunity to go there this past summer, but from what I observed, some kind of technology advancement was not evident in the average every day life. The Internet cafes had slow connection to the internet but housed computers built mainly for gaming. Even though this Chinese supercomputer has not been verified, a United States State Department representative claims that, even if the report is true, the United States could regain the lead. This recent development was compared to the race to space between Russia and the United States, in which Russia was the first to put a satellite in orbit around the Earth. These talks have been simmered a lot though and really has no comparison to that race to space. I believe that if this supercomputer is true, than that it really benefits China’s economy. Overall this new rumored supercomputer sets the bar as to what to expect in the future in the world of technology.

Reading #3

The first article was very interesting in how libraries and librarians are becoming more popular in today’s culture. The references the article made to today’s culture were relative but I did not recognize many of the connections made. I connected with the Gaga and Old Spice reference, things like the TLC show or YouTubes mocking librarians I did not find interesting. Maybe for a different generation they would connect with the reference to the TLC show or the Chicago Public Library Commissioner. Another section of the article that I did find to be relative was how libraries are going with the flow of culture and becoming eco-friendly. The free aspect of a library is very college student orientated though. Being a college student, we definitely jump at anything that may say free. Especially if it is free food!

The second article provided for a good insight of how libraries are changing today to accommodate for what others and myself call the “technological revolution.” Like the article mentioned, with search engines like Google, access to information has been made a lot easier. We practically could search for any information we wanted without stepping foot in to a library! Are libraries lost causes though? According to this article, they are not. Libraries are ‘stepping up their game’ and providing services for things such as computer training, Wii stations, applying for jobs across the community, and more. Libraries are even taking their resources online so they can fit in with the ‘Google crowd.’ I believe this really helps libraries out and provide even better customer service for their users.

News Report #3

"Report: US Would Make Internet Wiretaps Easier"

September 27, 2010 by the Associated Press

http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/report-us-would-make-internet-wiretaps-easier/19649649

Next year the Obama administration plans to submit a bill that would allow for the government wiretap more internet communications. This includes encrypted emails, social networking websites, and direct communications. Affecting companies such as BlackBerry, Facebook and Skype respectively. The reason for this new wire tap on Internet communications is to better equip law enforcement and national security. As there are more terrorists and criminals that are dropping their usage of their cell phones and connecting more by way of Internet. Some of the expected requirements that the bill would require are that any encrypted messages be able to be unscrambled, foreign communication companies must have an office in the US be capable of providing intercepts, and peer-to-peer communication providers redesign their programs to accommodate for the new policy.

At first glance, this new bill may seem like an intrusion of the public's freedom, but all wiretaps of communication must be "lawfully authorized intercepts." The government is not going to completely monitor everything at once. It is something that that they would go back and look at the information for. It is not clear as to who or what will authorize these intercepts.

I personally believe that this new policy would bring about a lot of chatter about whether this is fair to the privacy of the citizens of our nation. At the same time, I have a complete understanding of the reason for this wiretapping. Being a student worker for the Information Technology Systems Division at UNCW, and as the article states, this will increase the number of 'holes' in technology allowing for not just hackers, but anyone tech savvy to access important information.

News Report #2

"YouTube Set to Broadly Roll Out Live Streaming Service"

September 13, 2010 by Tahir Riaz

http://business2press.com/2010/09/13/youtube-testing-live-streaming/

YouTube is ending a two-day pilot project on September 14th, 2010 that tested a live streaming service. This service was only available to several accounts. This new service is not completely new to this very popular website. They provided this service during President Obama’s inauguration. This service is to help make YouTube more competitive against live streaming services like Justin.tv and ustream. Also, YouTube’s live streaming service allows users to communicate with each other instantly. It is a project/service that will not fully be undertaken yet as the owner of YouTube, Google, does not think it makes YouTube profitable yet.

Though YouTube does not own a large market share of the live streaming market, if they decide to go forward with the service, I believe they will win the majority quickly. YouTube’s quality of videos and amount of people that already have accounts with YouTube would help propel this. I am a little skeptical of how soon Google claims this service to be available on YouTube. They say ‘soon’ in this article, but the article mentions their continued delays to release an paid movie rentals service online (similar to Netflix). At the same time, Google is looking to release Google TV by the end of this year. Google TV would have streaming capabilities of YouTube. Therefore, showing that maybe they really are attempting to release a live streaming service soon. It would be a wise move to make before they release their TV. A live streaming service provided through YouTube is definitely a service we should keep an eye out for. The service would make the ability retrieve information even faster. For example, if you are working in your office with no work, but would like to have the news running, then all you would have to do is log in to YouTube on the Internet.