Wikipedia Contribution

When contributing to Wikipedia for the first time, I found it a little difficult to decide on what to write about off the top of my head. Obviously, it is easy to think about things you are familiar with, so I wanted to write about something sports related. However, well known topics such as hockey in general or the Buffalo Bills or Sabres have a huge amount of information already posted. It would be hard to make a large contribution on any tiny details that have been left out. Also, athletes are well known so it would be hard to contribute a lot of information on Jim Kelly, for example, without personally knowing him or having inside info. I came up with the idea of contributing info about something local that might not be known so i could contribute a lot of information. I went to high school at Kenmore East, right down the street from UB, and there was only a paragraph or to under it's listing on Wikipedia. Therefore, I had the knowledge to make a significant contribution.

At first, when skimming the guidelines and tutorial that Wikipedia has set up, it can seem confusing and a process that someone wouldn't want to deal with. But when actually taking time to see what it takes to contribute, the process is not hard at all. Some Wikipedia entries are very fancy and contain pictures, charts, and graphs and the average internet surfer might not have any idea what to do. The area where text can be edited and contributed recognizes special code set up by Wikipedia.

• typing ''this'' (quotes around a word) results in this on the actual page. '''this''' turns into this, and ''''this'''' into this.
• Typing ==This== crates the commonly seen headings. This example would turn into something like this:

_This_________________________________

• Putting the word Hockey into brackets - [Hockey] - creates a link in the article that, when clicked, takes a viewer to the Wikipedia article about hockey.
• A table of contents is automatically created for the page when a couple of headings are added
• This makes it easy for an article to go from the rough text based window to the actual visual page, kind of like this blog

This makes it easy to go from the rough text based window to the actual visual web page without much hassle. It is much easier to create a visual Wikipedia page than I had originally thought. Also it is easy to see how any information can get into a Wikipedia article. I could have said the football team won the state championship last year, even though that isn't true. If undetected, this could stay on the internet for anybody to see and base their information on.

Since I edited the page on Kenmore East on November 27th, it has gone unchanged. There is a neat feature on Wikipedia that displays when changes were made, and specific changes can be compared side by side showing exactly what was done.
Overall, I think it was a good experience to try, and would encourage me to post on Wikipedia in the future. It is an interesting idea that anybody can contribute to an encyclopedia of sorts, and it makes you feel like you are a part of getting info to others.

Assignment 12: Blocking the internet

Network neutrality is a current topic that has apparently sparked much debate in all levels of society. After reading the articles, I saw that this is a relevant topic, even though I had not given much thought to it previously. With the popularity and usage of the internet continuing to rise, this debate will continue to heat up and sooner or later a decision is going to have to be made in order for some stability to come about.

The topic of network neutrality seemed very confusing at first, and the use of a lot of technical words may increase that confusion. However, this article from Information Week cleared up some of the gray areas. Professor Timothy Wu coined the term and defines network neutrality as "information networks are often more valuable when they are less specialized - when they are a platform for multiple uses, present and future." My understanding of this is, it is better that as much information as possible can be accessed by a computer. If the information is chosen or specialized, the uses of a computer decrease greatly. It should serve society better to treat all internet traffic equally (neutral). How would it benefit someone to not be able to access certain information?

People who support network neutrality argue:

• Without neutrality legislation, cable and internet service providers (ISP's) could control a user's access, only allowing them to access certain information. This censors information from people, with the company deciding what gets seen and what doesn't. Also, certain applications and high rates can be selected.
• Online speech and democracy would be reduced. Would this affect Wikipedia?
  
• Customers paying higher rates, could be prioritized favorably with connectivity and content issues. Quality of service may be reduced for some users.
  

People who oppose network neutrality argue:

• ISP's should be able to block out harmful material such as viruses and spam.
• Some information is more important and should be prioritized/more accessible. Innovative material and medical information is cited in this category.
• With less information traveling across networks, bandwidth would increase, creating a faster internet
• Illegal file sharing could be monitored
  

Obviously there are people on both sides of this debate. Many things are at stake such as the democracy and free speech of the internet, which has increased recently. The relevance of online blogs has reached real life situations such as political races. Online games such as Second Life have real world ties as well. Censorship would become an issue. The internet is part of the mass media, and if this information is selective, internet companies may be telling people what they can or can't be exposed to, which may create legal issues. However, some people aren't getting the information they need, and if this can be given to them more effectively, it would increase the productivity of the internet. Connectivity issues and viruses are a problem, and also lessen the chance people can get the information they need.

Overall, I would support network neutrality and the fact that all internet traffic should be treated equally. People should have the right to access any information they want. Productivity of certain people's lives may decrease if the applications they use online are blocked. Mass media would change because the internet would not be able to provide all the information that should be transmitted to the public. The issue of censorship would only increase. In regards to the argument of connectivity or viruses, I would be in favor of working hard to develop new technologies to combat this, rather than try to block internet flow. There is probably much more information regarding this debate, but on the surface it seems the casual internet user would be in favor of network neutrality.

Assignment 11: WOW

Virtual economies have become an extremely relevant subject when discussing the internet, especially since the introduction of World of Warcraft (WOW) in 2004. The issues that surround both open and closed virtual economies have found their way into real life, and create both problems and benefits for many people. Not being able to exchange real money for virtual money, like in World of Warcraft, and being able to do so, in games such as Ultima Online, both carry their own benefits and negativity.

In a open virtual economy real money can be spent on items in virtually created shops in online games, according to Wikipedia. In Ultima Online, a man named John Dugger bought a piece of real estate in a virtual world for $750 on eBay. This transaction is a small part of the real world economy that exists, and generates $300 million in annual revenue each year. This created business is a benefit for the people who are making the money, but seems somewhat ridiculous for the people spending the money. Is taking a weeks salary and spending it on virtual property really worth it? Is increasing your virtual status more important than your real life status? This seems like it could be a starting point for financial problems if one's spending gets out of hand. It can be like gambling in the sense that some people might not know when to stop spending, and then it is too late.

In regards to the gaming aspect of an open economy, some people and game creators frown upon the spending of real money to purchase virtual goods. Since people of any age can play, the older and more wealthier players can advance in the game easier and more quickly by spending real cash. Blizzard, which created World of Warcraft says this practice is against WOW's egalitarian spirit. The purpose of the game, they say, is to advance in status by bettering yourself within the means provided by the game.

World of Warcraft is a closed virtual economy. Virtual goods are bought and sold within the game by using the virtual money that is earned. This has not stopped games from using other techniques. According to the MSNBC article above, players "gold farm" or accumulate virtual currency and then sell it for real money. This is a huge industry, and is essentially the same as an open virtual economy. Wikipedia states that a taskforce has been set up in the game Final Fantasy who's job it is to delete users who sell in game currency for real world money.

Obviously there are issues regarding putting real currency into virtual worlds. While many people benefit, and a whole new economy has been crated from these virtual worlds, there is always a danger of taking it too far. As stated, people could find themselves in financial trouble by buying a $100,000 virtual space station for example. Virtual communities have also been created in these games, and people can use money to increase their group's status in the game. This can be seen as a positive and many relationships, good and bad, have been created through these online games. The controversy about using real world money will continue and so will other questionable behavior. This YouTube video shows a virtual funeral for an actual person's death being ambushed by other players:

Assignment 10: Journalism and Frozen Pizza

Journalism is something that is very relevant to society today in both print form and online. As the use and dependence on the internet increases, it is important to understand the differences and similarities of getting news from the internet as opposed to reading the paper.

Wikipedia defines journalism as "a discipline of gathering, writing, and reporting news," and that it "applies to various media, including but not limited to newspapers, magazines, radio, and television." This is broken down further as both print journalism and online (cyber) journalism are defined. Print journalism obviously refers to articles written in newspapers, magazines, newsletters, etc. Online journalism includes not only the websites of various newspapers, but the idea that video, audio, and picture slide shows to enhance articles. Often these websites are another place to place an existing print article, but instead of waiting for deadlines or release sates, the articles can be placed online as soon as they are written.

A good way to compare the two journalism tactics is to compare two articles about the same topic. There is an article on CNN.com about a recent recall of frozen pizzas and the fact that they might have been contaminated by E. coli. The same article ran in Friday's edition of The Buffalo News. The article is located on the bottom of page A6 and is considerably shorter than the online version of the story, in what looks to be a lack of space.

Overall, the online source is similar to the print source due to the fact that the article was written by the Associated Press (AP). If the print and online sources both subscribe to the AP, they are free to use the articles and materials written by AP staff, and thus may both use the same information. It seems that since the Buffalo News was lacking space they had to consolidate the original AP article and only use some of the information.

However, on CNN.com there are various links throughout the article leading to more information. A section in the middle of the article has the title "Don't miss" and has related articles listed underneath it. There is also a chart with the products and product numbers of those being recalled. The hyperlinks "E coli" and "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" are present in the article and when clicked on, leads readers to all other articles tagged with the words "E coli" and "Centers for Disease Control and Prevention" respectively, even if they have nothing to do with the pizza story itself. There is also a section at the bottom of the CNN article that provides links to various outside blogs such as "Daily Barf" and "Celebrity Blitz." These blogs have their own entries about the specific article viewed (E. coli pizza in this case) and provides links to General Mills and overall advice like "GET RID OF THEM PRONTO!"

Even though the specific writing style may be the same in both articles, the hyperlinks and blog articles are "online journalism" and differs greatly from print media. As the internet continues to grow, people may find that there is so much more information online and may end up turning to CNN.com and blogs for their information rather than read the paper every day.

Sources:
E. coli fears prompt recall of millions of frozen pizzas. (1 November 2007). Retrieved 2 November 2007 from CNN.com. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/11/01/pizza.recall.ap/index.html?iref=newssearch

E. coli prompts pizza recall. (2 November 2007). The Buffalo News. p. A6

Journalism. Retrieved 2 November 2007 from wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

http://celeb-blitz.blogspot.com/2007/11/frozen-pizzas-recalled-due-to-e-coli.html?referer=sphere_related_content

Assignment 8- Google Video

It was approximately one year ago that Google acquired the rights to YouTube for $1.65 billion. This combined one of the fastest growing video websites with the advertising and organization of Google. Google Video (http://video.google.com) is a very organized website that shows videos right on Google or links directly to videos on YouTube and other websites.

The function of Google Video is to have a place for people to upload their videos and view videos uploaded by others. By typing in keywords to search, anyone can access videos about a certain topic. A search of "Buffalo Sabres" returned 2,162 videos linking to YouTube, Google, MySpace, and AOL Video. Instead of visiting all of these individual sites to find Sabres videos, Google Video presents them all in one place. Users can also upload videos from their computers and add a title and description. These videos can then be viewed, sent to others via email, and added to other blogs or websites. Users can also rate videos, and when linked to YouTube, can leave comments about others' videos.

They layout of Google Video is more organized than that of YouTube. There are categories of videos on the homepage, and under those are random videos from that category. The categories include: Popular, Featured, Comedy, Music, Movies, TV Shows, Sports, and Education. Obviously there is a search key at the top, and along the right margin there are videos that are popular in blogs ("Blog Buzz") , videos quickly rising in poularity on the site ("Movers & Shakers"), and the top 10 videos, with a link to the top 100. After choosing to view a specific video, it appears in a video player surrounded by other information. There is the rating, time uploaded, etc. on the top along with links to related videos. Along the right there is the description, notes about the person who uploaded the video, and links to other videos uploaded by the same user. This makes it very easy to find related material. The site's easy navigation and simple look make it very easy to use and understand.

Google Video and YouTube create a type of social network that anybody can get involved in. People can upload similar videos, and comment on each other's uploads. Other people can just view others' work and use it as an example on their own website. This ties together the work from people all over the world. This is extremely beneficial for educational purposes. People can easily share information they might otherwise never have been exposed to. If not for educational purposes, people can use the music videos or TV clips for their entertainment. It is also easy to obtain due to the simplicity and usability of Google Video.

COM 125 Assignment 7-Go Bills!

Although it might not be as complex as some of the other examples that may be used, I think it is very relevant. Everyone has probably heard of it at some point, and fantasy football has become extremely widespread not only online but on television and radio. Each community, or league, may only consist of ten to sixteen people, but can happen between people all over the country, and contact may spread to many other fantasy football communities. It is a simple concept, as people draft actual NFL players, and these players must score more points in a head-to-head match up with another person's "fantasy team" or roster of players. Although it was created in 1962, according to Wikipedia, fantasy football took off in the 1990's with the rise of personal computers and the internet.

In some cases, the internet may mediate the entire league's communication, as twelve people from twelve different states can participate in the same league. Anyone can join a pre-existing league full of strangers and play the entire season. A popular fantasy website is CBS Sportsline, which has all fantasy sports including baseball, hockey, basketball and more. There, communication between people is moderated by the internet. Users of the website have to create an account which requires an email address and optional instant messenger screen name. These are visible for all other members of the league, and they can contact you. Also, on the specific league's homepage, messages can be exchanged on the visible message board, polls can be created, scores are displayed, and trade offers and free agent signings are also displayed. Actual news about players from the NFL are displayed and links are present for transfer to actual team websites. There are also videos available from various television segments giving advice to team owners. All of this is done entirely automatically by the specific website, and only requires minimal initial setup by someone in the league.

People that may or may not ever meet each other develop ties with each other over the years. Some fantasy leagues continue year after year with the same people, and they are allowed to keep some of their players. Rivalries are created due to the actual football players that people have on their team, or the trash talk between people over the message boards. Friendly bets between two people that are playing against each other is common. An overall bond is created based on the fact that all the people in the league are members of a specific group. If these people know each other outside of the league, fantasy football gives them something to talk about, if they don't talk already.

Something as simple as simple as fantasy football can be compared to other communities that are not online, such as a job. Where someone works is a specific group that not everyone is a part of. All the people that work there have an interest, or similar task to accomplish. As with fantasy football, even though everyone may not get along at certain points, there is that bond with each other that comes from working at the same place, and doing things together, sometimes for many years. With co-workers, sometimes you crate a friendship by then doing things outside of work, like meeting up at school for example. The same goes with online communities such as a fantasy football league. People may join other leagues with friends, and their online network will continue to expand.

Sources:

CBS Sportsline
http://www.sportsline.com/fantasy

Fantasy Football (American). 10 October 2007. Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantasy_football_(American)

I was looking for bills highlights, but found this...this guy is amazing we've been tailgating games with him for 5 years:

Internet Privacy

Privacy is a very important and relevant topic in society today. Especially with the interaction between people over the internet, there are more and more issues regarding privacy surfacing every day. There are many challenges people face regarding privacy and their safety, and there are many solutions to these challenges. Much of this depends on the level of awareness people have. If you aren't paying attention to what you are doing online, there is a much greater risk of your personal space being invaded.

Roger Clarke is a researcher who specializes in privacy and his definition of the word is: privacy is the interest individuals have in sustaining "personal space", free from interference by other people or organizations. I had used the term "personal space" earlier, then came across this definition and thought it was relevant. Sometimes individuals can not easily protect this space, but when online, the casual internet user can easily protect their space by creating passwords, not clicking the "remember me" box that automatically signs users in, not using "cookies" that can store information, etc. These easy steps can stop someone from becoming a victim of privacy infringement.

There are many debates about privacy, and the internet isn't the only place where this occurs. In Europe, surveillance cameras record the everyday lives of millions of people. In a sign of the world we live in, 3.8 million dollars has been spent on related surveillance equipment including 4 million individual security cameras. Compare this to the internet and websites like Facebook and MySpace. Anybody can keep track of someone else's life if their profile is in public view. Everyone has heard the stories of younger kids meeting people pretending to be who they aren't, in an attempt to harm the kids, or young adults' relationships that result in inappropriate conduct. This can be prevented by setting your profile to private, or if you are really concerned about it, not signing up for the site at all. Most college students, including myself, are still going to participate in things like Facebook, and until they themselves feel threatened, not change anything.

Wikipedia states that Internet Service Providers collect and analyze data about people when they are online. Is this a breach of privacy? ISP's may need the data for billing purposes or something like that, but when they get involved in the browsing habits or website history of it's customers, that is viewed more negatively. So, without even realizing it sometimes, everybody's personal space may have been examined, and not much can be done about it short of not going online at all.

Especially for college aged students, it is difficult to completely cut off your computer with others. As previously discussed, file sharing is at a high point, and websites like Facebook are extremely popular. Doing the little things to protect a computer and not purposely displaying info can help, but the issues over internet privacy will increase as the popularity of the internet increases. While most people may never face an issue, the people that do may increase as time goes on.