10-25: Eu-roping the Internet

Is it cheating when you type a blog on a PC rather than your own Mac? (I'm sorry Sawtooth).

Well, I still have yet to receive any offers for The Networks about my TV promo (sigh). But, now I've begun focusing on Europe's response to an ever-changing internet. I still will be discussing regulations and what impact they may have on the internet. However, the European Union seems to have the most information regarding a plan on how to safeguard the internet as well as maintains its usefulness. Furthermore, the EU has clear guidelines regarding security measures and implementation of them.

How does this tie into literacy? Well, without any sort of security plan, professors argue that the internet would be useless to the masses. Imagine being bombarded by Spam, Pop-up Adds constantly. Whenever you move your mouse, a new product will appear on your screen. Literacy could not exist or rather be found without some form of control.

That's all I got for now...my sleep deprivation is starting to kick in.

10-20: Coming Soon to Website Near You

(This post happens between 12:36 and 12:37)

The US contols the main servers that all internet traffic go through. Now, one man will infiltrate these servers to find information concerning the regulation of the internet. Many trials will he face...many hours will be spent...to present you, the reader, a webpage of critical insight regarding censorship and the freedom of information on the internet. Will you be prepared?

Coming soon to a website near you!

10-13: Smart Mobs Dropping Text Bombs

Howard Rheingold presents new (or new when this article was written) ways technology influences the way individuals act in a collective group. In particular, he discusses the use of mobile text messanging as one of the "Smart Mobs" prime tools for communication. In the Philippines, a crowd, protesting against a the current leader, assembled in nonviolent protest through the use of texting. This was the cheapest means of communication along with many people having cell phones as their only communication toll.

In 2005, one can download pictures from a friend through texts as well as videos. Imagine this technology (which I'm sure it has been used) in the hands of "Smart Mobs" for use organizing many people. But, at what point will the Government start to monitor these various forms of technology?

This is an interesting question. During the WTO convention in Seattle, there was "a more deliberate and tactically focused use of wireless communications." While many convened in a peaceful manor, there were those who acted in violent fashion. Could any violence have been stopped if these communications were monitored? As we discussed in class, the US controls the essential servers linked to the internet. It was a matter of minutes before the Iraq website disappeared right after the invasion of Iraq. With such control over the internet, could cell phones be prone to censorship or monitoring?

10-6: eBay: The Jilting of Positive Feedback

The essay, "What Am I Bid" by netgrrrl and chicoboy, raises many issues. Are in fact "new literacies" present in both eBay and the education world? Yes. In addition, the various forms of writings by participants give some sort of identity to the user that may not have existed. In simpler terms, people hide and/or act like their eBay user name. But, their writing pattern, word use and grammar illuminates a bit about their formal education.

An eBay user said that "she is more likely to 'win' a bargain" from a person who misspells words in the item description. To further illustrates this point imagine a collector going to garage sells. The collector obviously knows a rough price of what he collects. If he or she finds something, he would know if the person may be informed of the value of the item or not. This is true of eBay. On a bigger level though, inferences can be made about a person through word choice and minor errors in the item description. Furthermore, eBay could be considered a cyber mall.

Users log-on to find items. Disagreements happen. Transactions go forth. Feedback is left. A typical day on eBay pits people against one another like a one hour sale at some retail shop. Everyone wants to rip through the crowd to by some stylish item (that will only fade into obscurity, ei: snap bracelets and zubaz pants). eBay seems to be a lot like real-life except without the face to face dealings. People are out there to be make a name for themselves no matter what the cost. On the other side, there are sellers who wish to impress the buyer so they will not receive negative feedback. Then, the consumers get stuck acting properly by the rules established by the sellers and administrators on eBay. While outbursts by consumers happen, the power remains with the sellers. For example, the essay points out that many sellers do not leave feedback until positive feedback is left by the buyer. So, like the real world, many people wait to be helped until they offer out a sign of friendship.

9-29: Genres: Insert Witty Line Here

Genres help to classify similar things under a category. In his article, Gunther Kress insinuates the web is full of genres. In order to understand how each web-page can fall into a genre, I will try...and probably poorly...to dissect a page according to the Kress' definition of genre.

Let us look at e-bay for a moment. Obviously, people know e-bay as an online auction site, in more general terms a shopping site. The user views links that take the to various items. These items are set-up either as an auction of "buy-it-now" function. This could be reported to the user a kind of stock similar to a retail store. Each link is just a place on the shelf. Thus, one would start to think of this site as a retail place. However, looking deeper into the definition of genre, I must analyze what is implied by the interaction between users.

The level of interaction can be high or low. Similar to the classifieds in a newspaper, you could call someone up and ask about a particular item or just buy it hoping for the best. On e-bay, e-mail serves as the main form of communication. So, the buyer could contact the seller for questions. Again, this displays e-bay as a commercial business.

Next, we look at the social world represented by the site. One could argue e-bay is a sort of economic Darwinism. People who have the most money could set an insanely high max bid to win an item. However, in a lot of cases, it finds a niche for people looking for rare and unusual items. It is an auction house/retail store for everybody. No longer do people have to go to conventions to find Ren and Stimpy comic-books. Now you could sit at home and search. So, e-bay fits into a broad genre of shopping but is more of a flea-market meets auction house. There's a lot of junk but also a lot of useful things.