Kunal Gill's COM 300 Blog

Final Blog Post

2006-03-11T15:40:00.000-08:00

1. The most important thing that I learned in this course was the important impact the internet plays o us in our lives whether we realize it or not. People are becoming increasingly more dependent on the internet, this entire class was focused around the internet which is a trend I see becoming more visible in other courses.

2. I would liked to have more time to study the creation of a website. This is something that is very interesting to me and I would like to learn more about it one day.

3. The least interesting topic to me was VoIP because this has not yet affected us in the way the internet has. It was interesting to hear about it, but was least interesting compared to some of the other topics we discussed in class.

Week 9 - VoIP

2006-02-27T10:51:00.000-08:00

I think the new VoIP craze will reach a peak in the next five or seven years but then decline as people start to use the traditional way of making phone calls. I predict this because of the two reasons that were brought up in the article, possibility of viruses and reliability. The reliability of VoIP will increase as it gets more popular, but as it gets more popular there will be more people trying to 'hack' into the systems and send viruses. Privacy is also another thing we must think about when it comes to thinking about making our phone calls via internet. With the increase of internet users there is an increase of a threat to your privacy. There are many things, like listed above, to consider when deciding if VoIP is a good idea.

1. Will VoIP be 'necessary' to use in the future like the internet is almost at today (where people are left out if they don't have it)?

2. What are some concerns about VoIP that are raised besides the possibility of viruses and reliability?

3. Can you see yourself using VoIP in the near future as your way of connecting with others or will you stay with the traditional way to communicate, through a telephone?

Week 7 Extra Credit & Discussion Questions

2006-02-12T22:34:00.000-08:00

One thing that I want to focus on in Professor Gill's article is how the two-candidates attack each other and how the scandal in politics does not have a close end in sight. On Bush's website there was a screenshot provided that had a picture of Senator John Kerry with large words across his body saying, "TAXING OUR ECONOMY." On John kerry's website there was a screenshot provided that had a index to all policy documents but forgot to provide links to them. With President Bush attacking (Kerry did his fair share of attacking Bush, also) and Kerry 'forgetting' to add links to important documents prove the scandal in politics and the lack of showing important information. I'm sure the public whould like to hear about the issues that effect us rather than the characteristics of the candidates.

1. Are websites effective in your view to who you would vote for? Why?

2. Do you think that print sources will become 'extinct' with the large increase of users that go online to get their information about politics? What are the implications of this?

3. Do you think we will see an improvement in the next political election for President from what we saw in Bush vs. Kerry regarding Web site usability, as Proffessor Gill "hopes"? Why?

Week 7 Blog (Technology & Politics)

2006-02-12T22:24:00.000-08:00

I agree with the author when he discusses how there is a large increse in the amount of users using the internet, but I think it is premature to say that the interent will be used more to get political information than print source any time soon. I agree that this is starting to become true because of, as the article states, "the willingness of print news sources to publish online versions of their publications." But I don't believe this is enough. If this fact alone has a huge impact on the amount of people who get their political news from the internet I cannot see the day where owners of these large print sources will let that happen. I do believe it may be easier and cheaper to go online and get your 'political fix' but you probably are not retaining as much information that way. For me personally, I usually skim a lot when I am on the Internet, I may read the headlines but if I go out and buy a newspaper I'm more likely to read it and know whats going on. I do beleive the day will come, but not very soon. There are still the 'old-fashioned' people who will strictly get there information about politics through print sources. Also, when you go on the internet (i.e. Bush's home page) all you get is one candidate bashing the other, not really giving good information regarding national interest topics, as was seen in the screen shots Professor Gill included in her article.

Blogging Technology Like That of Podcast... - Week 6

2006-02-06T10:01:00.000-08:00

Podcast is a growing trend of listening to "radio-like" media. Blogging has similar traits and capabilities. Like Podcasts, Blogging can take summaries of articles, leads in public discussion, etc. and bring in a specific market who interact with each other via the internet through sites similar to blogger.com. Blogs can even be advertised on established media for, like toe Podcast has, "Story of The Day." This was #1 for NPR and can be just as popular for Blogger because it gives the opportunity for listeners and readers to respond and give opinions and here back from what others have to say. The only challenge I see is the same one that Podcast is having, advertisements. The only way blogs can stay online is through advertisements, where do you draw the line? They must advertise, but keep it to a minimum so readers stay online, just like Podcast says they will do.

Discussion Questions:

1. Will blogging technology become as popular as Podcast has become? What are the implications of this?

2. Will the creators of the blogging sites have the ability to get the information of their readers so advertisers can effectively market towards a specific group? How can they do this effectively?

3. What are the key differences / similarities between Podcasting and Blogging?

Extra Credit Post - Week 5

2006-01-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

Although social software is progressing slower than single-user software, as the article states, we should enjoy the fact we have the ability to talk in groups, chat in chat rooms, e-mail eachother around the world, etc. With technology growing daily, there will be more and more ways social software will impact our lives, just as the internet has proven. I definetley think there should be barriers to the social software groups. Some may see this as a bad thing, but I see it as a good thing. If group chatrooms, etc. keep increasing with the amount of users it will be inportant to keep "wanderers" out with passwords and other security options. I can't wait to see where social software heads in the years to come!

3 Discussion Questions for Week 5

2006-01-29T21:23:00.000-08:00

1. Do you think that it will ever come a day where when we call for customer support for a product there will not be humans to direct our questions? Will there be a pre-recorded voice and answer for all our questions? What implications in today's times show this?

2. How can we increase the second superpower's involvement from people who don't use the web? If people don't use the web how can they promote the idea to get on the web to them to express their ideas and concerns?

3. Can the GNU be effective to you? Why? Is it possible without having to pay for it? Where can they get the money to have programmers if there is a problem?

Week 5 Blog - Kind Of Confusing....

2006-01-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

To be honest, I did the readings and cannot come up with great way to correlate the readings to the question. The first article talks about how complete system sources will be available to everyone and if a user who needs changes in the system will always be free to make them himself without having to depend on one programmer. The last two articles talked about how corporations should use human voices to talk to consumers and the last reading, The Second Superpower Rears Its Beautiful Head, focuses on how we should use our voices via the internet to make public changes and it is very possible if we all become invoved.
I don't really understand how these articles relate to "open source software." I'll do my best:
Communication scholars should study the open source software movement because it gives us all the chance to hear others' voices and get our voiceds out there to be heard as was discussed in the last article. With our voices being heard around the world a change can be made. At the same time when we are hearing what people have to say over the internet through text we may not get the same appeal as is argued i nthe second article, The Cluetrain Manifesto. We must come up with a way to have our voices heard via the internet and also through audio, not only through text.

Discussion Questions for Week 4

2006-01-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

1. With the growing dependency on machines to cater to our wants and needs, can we ever get to the point where machines will be able to take over our jobs?

2. Do you think it will ever get to the point where we will never have to leave our homes again because the technology of new machines will actually cater to our every desire and need?

3. Are humans really dependent on machines, or are we born in a society where that is what we are supposed to believe? Maybe we do not know any different...

Week 4 - The Growing Man-Machine Relationship

2006-01-23T10:58:00.000-08:00

Before reading these two pieces I never really considered how dependent human beings are on their machines and growth of technology. Since we are compliant, as the first reading describes people, we are almost forced adapt ourselves to different situations. So we build machines to aid us throughout life. An example is our importance to accuracy, the first piece says, "The real problem with being digital is that it implies a kind of slavery to accuracy."

With machines being built to cater to our needs and desires we fulfill our endless possiblities because, as Richard Stallman says, "We humans have learned to control the environment." And since we have this view of being able to fulfill our possibilities, we construct machines to do this for everything. The biggest problem is that the possibilities are endless.

The relationship between man and machine will forever grow, with no near end in sight. But as producers of these machines we must make sure we never get too carried away with our inventions and hopefully not too dependent, either.

Week 3 - Information "Overload"...? Not In My Opinion

2006-01-18T09:57:00.000-08:00

My life is definitely impacted by information. At times I feel as if I may be overloaded with information but most of the time I sit back in my computer chair appreciating the fact that I can get all this information with the click of a button. When I have a paper due for a class, or a research project or anything along those lines I want to get as much information as possible and I think it my own duty to distinguish between sites that are credible and not credible. I personally do not think there is a problem with the volume of information we receive but there is a bit of a problem with the fact that not all the information is accurate. But again, as I said earlier, I believe it is our responsibility to make a distinction between the two.
In the articles, We Have the Information You Want, But Getting It Will Cost You: Being Held Hostage by Information Overload, by Mark R. Nelson and Information Overload, Retrieval Strategies and Internet User Empowerment, by Dr. Christopher N. Carlson, I feel as if they sound a little dramatic about getting too much information. They say that the information age as arrived and we have been “assaulted” with an increase of information. They also say “society is being held hostage by a battery of information which threatens to exceed our ability to manage it.” I think with this poor use of diction it makes there argument weaker because the amount of information we are receiving is not “threatening” and we are not being “assaulted.”
The only problem I see with the daily increase of technology is not the volume but the accuracy of information. I understand the fact that with more and more pages of information there will be more chances of inaccurate information out there, but we should understand what tools are out there and know how to use them. I believe that if we can look at a site for five to ten minutes and determine credibility there should not be a problem. Of course we are going to run into pages that are completely inaccurate but we should have the ability to distinguish between those two types of information.
One thing that I did like about the second article, Information Overload, Retrieval Strategies and Internet User Empowerment, by Dr. Christopher N. Carlson, is that although he believes we are being overloaded with information he tries to give remedies and better our situation.

Extra Credit Blog Post: History of Internet

2006-01-09T11:01:00.000-08:00

It's amazing to think in 1967 the Defense Department spent $19,800 to study what was to become the most important way communication for many people around the world. The old ARPANET, now emerged into the Internet was built to share brain power and ideas around the world to better ourselves. That now turned into chat rooms, Instant Messaging, personal web pages, pornography, search engines for anything you can think of, a different vehicle for marketers to advertise to their very specific target markets, and the list can go on forever. What amazes me is that there really isn't any guidelines and/or rules when it comes to the internet and that is why there are no limits, which is why I think the internet is great. The internet has definetely had a good impact on my individual life making it easier to communicate with friends and relatives across the world and all the way down to something as small as posting a blog to get extra credit for my class in college. To me, the possibilities are endless!

2 "Ah - Ha's" From Readings & Future of Internet

2006-01-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

In, "As We May Think," by V. Bush, I began to think of all the possibilities that can happen in the world we live in today. In the beginning, Bush talks about why we as human beings even try to invent new technologies and instruments and that is to have a stronger grasp of our material environment and these new "inventions" give us all easier and more comfortable lives. Since human beings have these "appetites" to become perfectionists we realize that specialization is requiered for progress so we push ourselves to find better and perfect ways to live our lives with the aid of new technologies and instruments, an idea that made me think, "ah - ha."

Another idea that made me say "ah - ha" was just thinking about what the world is going to be like in 100+ years from now. IN, "technologies of the Third Mediamorphis" they explain the steps we have taken that show us where we are today with communication, etc. With these new communication media (cyber media, etc.) forms surviving and being adopted in our society we forget to appreciate old communication (electronic communication - radio, etc.). To be honest, I even forget to appreciate the radio, T.V. and even dial-up internet! This article made me appreciate the old ways of commmunication and made me better understand how we are even at the third mediamorphis. It makes you wonder if in another half-century or century if we will forget to appreciate the internet because of some new mediamorphis...

In the future I think the Internet will be as fast as possible but with one problem... Pop-ups. With the increase in internet use, companies can take advantage of getting the attention of consumers and their interests right when they log on to the computer. They will know your likes and dislikes and advertise by throwing pop-up advertisements at you trying to make their product seem appealing and perfect for you. Yeah, it will be great to have fast internet, but at what expense? We won't even be able to search for things without hundreds of ads flying at us.

1st Blog For Com 300

2006-01-04T12:49:00.000-08:00

Testing 1, 2, 3