Next New

Next New

Before I opened my own small business, I worked for some time in the moving/relocation industry in New York City. One could almost say that this is a luxury business, if you cannot afford it you have to do it yourself - call a friend, buy boxes, rent U-Haul, you get the point. If you can afford it, call a moving company and it will be done for you. And that is somewhat worth it if you have a whole 2-bedroom apartment to move, it is hard to do it on your own. But if you have just 10 boxes and want to move to let's say From NY to Colorado, the prices are almost the same as moving a whole studio apartment. The reason: the movers must make the trip anyway regardless of how full the truck is. Of course, moving companies consolidate shipments to save on cost but this is all in the background and rarely reflected in the price.

So, I have this idea for a mobile app, called BitsMoving, that will enable people from all around US who need to move just like 10 - 15 boxes of household, something small enough for a moving company but large enough for postal services, to share information on the platform. The immediate result will be increased buyers’ power. Moving companies around US will still be the providers and will exchange information among them as well but will only dispatch a track only when there is let us say 10 customers with 10 boxes each in relative proximity. The model is applicable in metro cities and rural areas. 

This application will increase efficiency and reduce cost at the same time for the business and the customers.

Wiki So Far

Wiki So Far

·       Edited the design of the Examples page with Frequently Asked Questions as sections had misaligned images and text. BTW, this seems to be a common theme for a lot of pages. Also, uploaded a few images. There is still work left to be done on this page though

·       Contributed to the Security page by adding an overview of the CIA Triad, and added Countermeasures to all of the listed attacks

Planning to complete the wiki assignment by contributing more to the Security page by adding a section “Social Media Security best practices” which will describe about 7 of these.

P2P

P2P

1. What is file sharing?

File sharing is the process of public or private sharing of data on a network with various level of access. (King, 2007)The term refers to sharing on files that are sitting readily available on a file server and can be accessed one or many times by one or many of the users on the network to the degree of their access. On a private scale, it is impossible to imagine any business being efficient without utilizing file sharing. On a public scale, it gets trickier. Google Drive is one such service that is free, legal, readily accessible to the public. On the other hand, public file sharing mainly, often crosses boundaries and falls in illegal/unethical category.

2. What is P2P File sharing?

P2P sharing is when file sharing is not done via a dedicated server but instead is a direct communication/transaction between two clients/peers on the network. There is still a server but is on the same device. So, each device is a client when requests and server when responds to a request for file by another client.

3. What are some examples of P2P file sharing?

One of the most popular applications for P2P sharing are about sharing of music, movies, software, and games. One example of P2P sharing that I like personally is Lending Club, a P2P lending platform that connects investors with customers in need for a loan (Kauffman, 2013).

Bibliography

1.     King, Jamie (2007, Nov 22). Take Advantage of P2P - not fear it by Jamie King, New Media Age. pg. 19. https://econsultancy.com/nma-archive/56421-content-producers-should-take-advantage-of-p2p-not-fear-it

2.   Kaufman, Wendy (2013, May 10).Peers Find Less Pressure Borrowing http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/05/10/182651552/peers-find-less-pressure-borrowing-from-each-other

  

Privacy

Privacy

The new media is a great tool for reaching a large audience if you want to be heard. These platforms are inherently free and available to across the society to corporations, politicians, digital marketers, and common citizens. Being on social media has become a very effective and low-cost way of reaching someone who shares similar interests with you.

New media is also inherently designed to deprive privacy. Because it is based on sharing there is not really a good way to have a control over your privacy when one is using new media. Right of the bat, by creating a profile you have already exposed at the very least your name, email, birthday, and location. We are at the level where these attributes are not even considered private anymore. Often before creating a profile a user is asked to agree that their information can be used “to better serve” the client. Depending on the platform, there are also questions like political affiliation, religious affiliation, hobbies, and whatnot. In many cases this information is further share with 3rd parties, advertisers, and governments.

The universal wisdom is that if you delete your account or never create one to begin with, you have positioned yourself better when it comes to privacy. However, companies have gotten smarter and by using data analytics they are able to predict a profile based on the interactions users on their platform have with you. Tagging you on a photo or simply mentioning you in a tweet are the obvious examples. In addition, two very concerning examples are Snowden’s revelation about the Prism project, and the scandal with Cambridge Analytica where the “friend of a friends” insights were exploited.

New media is here to stay, and the protection of privacy will have to be a collaborative effort. Self-education of the user how to behave online is the first and most important step. Next, the government should follow with legislature similar like GDPR, and last but not least new media providers and influencers on their platform should consider ethics before exercising their marketing decisions.

Advice

Advice

It is great that we have classes like this one that educate on the benefits of Social Media. However it feels like more could be accomplished. If I were in charge here is what I will try to develop the new new media initiative of CUNY:

1.     Be proactive on the platform. I‘ve noted that CUNY has Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn but for the most part there is no fresh content. While user generated content is important, CUNY needs to contribute more with articles, news, and initiatives.

2.     Practice Social Media Listening. CUNY is on a city budget and most college policies are wrapped around the city’s government legislature. However, politicians are not always right or on time. One recent example is, around the time we had our twitter assignment, many students called for a shutting down CUNY colleges due to the coronavirus outbreak. CUNY refused and waited for the NY Governor to announce it a week later. CUNY must listen to the traffic that relates to it and react to users experience and expectation.   

3.     Reach out to potential students while they are still in high school, advertising in a way.

4.     Hashtags. Implement hash tags across Blackboard. No more comments here except that it will make all of the above more efficient.

Creativity

With new media artist all over the world are breaking the boundaries or physical attendance and are creating access to countless number of records and people around the world in order to create something beautiful and unique. A song is no longer confined in a specific genre, but a collaboration of two or more styles of music.

A great example of such a collaboration was featured in The New Yorker magazine. “Frontin’ on Debra” is a song by Beck, Jay-Z and Pharrell Williams that incorporated soul music and computer music to create a mashup that is very appealing to the music audience. Reaching even further for every new mashup a new software is created that is making possible for musicians to create such a mashup in the comfort of their own home. And the path from artists to audiences is getting shorter and shorter with the advance of technology. Artists post their creations on platforms such as YouTube and their song is instantly reaching millions of people all over the world.

New media also makes attractive for artists to take apart old songs and remix them into new versions. It is interesting how an old song that would have never been paid attention too is suddenly very attractive and current and all because of the creativity of the artist and the use of new media.

 

Citation:

 

Frere-Jones, Sasha. “1 1 1 = 1.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/01/10/1-1-1-1.

Creativity and New Media

Creativity and New Media

It is tax season! Most people are eager to know whether they owe additional taxes or should get a refund before their visit to their Tax Accountant. I wanted to combine the knowledge from my Tax and Spreadsheet application classes with the power of new media, so I created this 10 minute video showing a high-level view of how federal individual income tax is being calculated.

To record it, I used screencast-o-matic, a popular free tool that in addition to webcam also offers screen capturing.

To safely watch the youtube video copy/paste this link in your browser: https://youtu.be/InQ4Zs1mhR4

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds refer to immersive simulated environments in which a participant uses

an avatar (a digital representation of oneself) to interact with digital agents, artifacts, and contexts (Dawley & Dede, 2009). This type of immersive technology became popular with Second Life, an online “social” game that offered participants an escape from reality. In Second Life, each avatar could be a complete opposite image ignoring the limitations of time and space.

            The concept of digital alternative reality has evolved significantly in the past decade. In addition to entertaining, today virtual worlds/environments could be used for education, training, applications in medical treatments and socializing. In his article “After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?” Jacki Morie, a senior scientist at University of Southern California and a virtual world designer, describes how virtual worlds have been utilized for telehealthcare. In a joint effort with the US Army she oversaw the creation of virtual village that resembled buildings and infrastructure from Iraq but configured with pleasant villagers and artistic atmosphere. In it, vets could simulate walking around without experiencing Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.  Another wide use for virtual worlds has been implemented in education. For example, as part of the syllabus for BPL5100 - the capstone in Baruch College, we have to compete over GLO-BUS where each team runs a virtual company with all of the concepts from real world business environment.

            Modeling reality with virtual world has its advantages and disadvantages. On the pros side there is the cost advantage. As any technology virtualization offers economies of scale. It takes a lot of efforts to create the first model but then it is relatively easy to reach many users.

Another positive is the availability and accessibility of the virtual worlds. They are available 24/7 and can be accessed from anywhere. In addition, it comes to the consumer as a complete product that has been already structured and categorized. A study in 2003 also has found that the intellectual and social partnership created by technology of the virtual classroom fosters creativity and engages additional social skills and sparks leadership (Earle, 2018).

There are cons as well. Many instructors complain that it takes them too long to prepare the teaching material for a digital environment. Another time constraint comes from the fact that participants often must be trained/learn on how to interact with the virtual content. Also, as any online experience virtual worlds lack the behavioral and social perks that come with a physical face-to-face interaction. In addition, it is still challenging for software engineers and network providers to develop a product that is close to the real world.

When it comes to the future of the virtual worlds, I think that we are still at the dawn of it. As 5G becomes the norm (and we already hear a talk about 6G) VR, AR and Mixed Reality will become ubiquitous. Advances in GPU and CPU technologies will make the virtual experience seamless. We will be attending weddings, sport events, perform military training from the comfort of our home. When it comes to school, I think on-line education will surpass the in-class attendance. In the face of the current health challenges it is evident how inevitable will be the transformation from work in the office and on-campus learning to a life where we study and meet in virtual rooms.

   

Works Cited

Earle, Joe (2018, Sep 14). The virtual world moves into the classroom.

Retrieved from: https://www.reporternewspapers.net/2018/09/14/the-virtual-world-moves-into-the-classroom/

Dawley, L., & Dede. C. (2009). Situated learning in virtual worlds and immersive

simulations. In J.M. Spector, M.D Merrill, J. Elen, & M.J. Bishop (Eds.), The

Handbook of Research for Educational Communications and Technology (4th ed.).

New York: SpringerMehta, Diane. (2013, Apr 23). After Second Life, Can Virtual Worlds Get a Reboot?  

Retrieved from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/dianemehta/2013/04/30/after-second-life-can-virtual-worlds-get-a-reboot/

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Blog about Twitter

Blog about Twitter

I’m on Twitter since recently, but already I find it pretty interesting and powerful. I knew that it has all the bells and whistles of social media but never considered to include it in my social networking portfolio. After reading some of the articles and tweets of my classmates it is clear that it’s a powerful tool for interaction.

Unlike discussion boards tweets are shorter which sort of lays the foundation for a more frequent request/response transaction from the get-go and might not be the best tool if you need to express yourself in a longer message at once. On the positive side, one of the most appealing features to me is the #hashtag and the ability to follow many users instantaneously with one click. Needless to say that the app is frictionless to use on smart phone unlike the robust BlackBoard App. Twitter also come with myriad of additional futures like ads, news, links to organizations or persons of interest. In short, the experience while using Twitter over Discussion Board is much more pleasant.

In comparison with in-class discussion I would say that Twitter shares the pros and cons of a technology-mediated communication. It is easier to reach a larger number of people and they can all respond at the same time without creating a house. Also, the availability of information at your fingertips during a tweet is enormous. On the other hand, it is much easier to insult someone when you are not in Face-2- Face communication.

In conclusion, although both Discussion Board and in-class discussion have their advantages Twitter could find place within the arsenal of teaching tools. This is especially obvious now in the corona virus outbreak when in-class lessons might be restricted.

Social networking sites

Social networking sites: My favorite 4 Social networks

In today’s world of the abundance of different networks for different users and different purposes, four of them that I am using are Facebook, LinkedIn, Viber and Twitter.

I have been using Facebook for the longest and it is to keep in touch with friends from far as well as one I meet every day. Sharing photos and videos is easy and it has the feature to custom the audience you want to see your shares. For me, Facebook is also a way to keep in touch with people, without being in touch. Many of my contacts are old friends or colleagues that I don’t talk every day, not even every few months, however, I enjoy following their life, seeing their pictures and reading their posts.

LinkedIn is the network for my professional contacts. Every time I visit the network I am inspired to reach even further in my career. It is an easy way to contact people in my profession as well as keep in touch with ones that I used to work. It is also a great platform to seek advancement in my career by meeting recruiters and potential employers. As a person who has his family all over the world I use

Viber is the only one I am using on a day to day basis. It is a great way to make calls, send photos or videos. I also use the Viber app to make international calls to my parents or friends in my home country. While Facebook is intended for a large number of people, Viber is mostly used as more focused, person to person, communication. In addition, it offers end-to-end encryption – something that adds value to me personally.

Twitter is a network that I started using because of this class. I do like the simplicity of sending a short message to a large audience of followers, and the ease of filtering by using #hashtag. I am determined to explore it more extensively as I keep learning about new media.

Social Networking

Social Networking

Social networking has become the mainstream by now. The term refers to the use of social media websites and apps like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and the list goes on.  A common characteristic of all social medias is the network effect which means that with the increased numbers of people in the network the value of the goods and services, the ideas and shared experiences increases as now there are more people in the same network with the same interests.

The social networking is a great tool for reaching out to  a large audience when you want to get a message across.  These techniques are available to everybody and have been used by corporations, politicians, digital marketers, and common citizens. Being on social media has become a very effective and low-cost way of reaching someone who shares similar interests with you. In his article “How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power”, David Carr describes how social media platforms were used by the Obama campaign and were the main contributing factor to his reelection. And all at virtually zero cost. Compare that to the $120 million spent by the Hillary campaign. Fast forward to 2016, President Trump famous with his midnight Tweets is another president benefiting from the networking possibilities of social media. In addition, it is hard to come across a company website, or business card that does not contain a social media logo somewhere. Some corporations even have created military like rooms with the sole purpose of Social Media Listening (SML). And why are all businesses there – because that is where almost every individual is nowadays. Individuals hashtag, tag, join groups, make comments and reviews trying to exchange information and help each other.

There is a dark side too. It starts with losing your privacy immediately after joining a social media. You are now a subject to a variety of algorithms that are trying to deliver insights to their owners of how you could be targeted more successfully. An article published by University of Pennsylvania describes how Facebook and LinkedIn have been first analyzing the data of their members for use in their own business processes and then then have been selling it for additional revenue to 3^rd parties.

Another dark side is the fact that participants often take an advice from their group who might not be a qualified professional. Hence, such advice may be counterproductive and even harmful.

From my perspective, one of the most negative effects is in the realm of review and rating sites. While an opinion expressed from experience is a extremely valuable, the way recommendation engines work creates a situation in which the same goods and services are always on top and it is hard for a equally good product that is a new comer to penetrate the market. It creates a winner-take-all system in which the few benefit by a lot.

It is hard to imagine how social networking will look like in the future. As we remember from the materials of the first lecture, many predictions about technology couldn’t have been further from the truth. What I would like to see though is the government to catch up on regulations about online privacy and for the consumer to become more educated on the opportunities and threats of social networking.

 

 

 

 

Works Cited:

Carr, David. (2008, Nov 9). How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks’ Power.

Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10carr.html?auth=login-email&login=email

 

Knowledge@Wharton, (2019, Jun 100 “Leaving ‘Friendprints’: How Online Social Networks Are                  Redefining Privacy and Personal.

Retrieved from: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/leaving-friendprints-how-online-social-networks-are-redefining-privacy-and-personal-security/

 

 

Blog v Wiki

Blog v Wiki

Blogs and Wikis are a new and innovative way for people to express themselves or contribute to a larger project by employing new technology. This new interaction offers many benefits, such as collaboration from the comfort of your home, anonymity when sought, etc.

Blogs and Wikis are similar in the sense that they are both ways of people to reach out to other individuals with information and comments. However, Blogs and Wikis cannot be more different. According to UNAW blogs are the work of a single author with ‘One-to-many communication (posts), many-to-one responses (comments)’, while Wiki can have multiple authors ‘Many-to-many communication’.

Blogs are presenting the personal viewpoint of an author with optional comments from readers agreeing or challenging the author’s opinion. The author can have many posts in reversed chronological order with following reflection from followers.

Wiki on the other hand has many authors and it can be viewed and edited by many authors with the most recent information displayed first, with the possibility for pages to be reverted. According to Language Resource Center at Columbia University in wiki the individual ownership is not as important as the outcome of the joint contribution.

A Wiki application I could use is to get in contact with other parents from my daughter school in order to share information regarding homework, trips, sleepovers, etc.

Citation:

“Blogs versus Wikis: Which Should I Use?” Language Resource Center, 3 Oct. 2016, www.lrc.columbia.edu/blogs-versus-wikis-which-should-i-use/.

“Blog, Wiki or Forum - Which Should You Use?” UNSW Teaching Staff Gateway, teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessment-blog-wiki-or-forum-which-should-you-use.

Online dating: New Generation Love!

I decided to do my project on online dating because it is becoming so popular that is threatening to be the new normal. But as many new things, there are mixed feelings about this new way to find love. More and more people are becoming attracted to the ease and simplicity of talking to another person, behind the comfort of your screen. A push of the button will eliminate the anxiety and anticipation of initiating a conversation.  However, isn’t that what makes love human? I intend to explore both online dating as new human interaction and as the absence of human touch. I would also like to explore how online dating evolved over the years and what directions it may be taking in the future. The base for my project would be some of the most popular dating websites, such as Match.com, Eharmony and others. I plan to compare the criteria for matching and the success rate. I wish also to include the testimonials of consumers of those websites regarding their experiences.