ENG 496

Collaborating with Wiki's

2009-12-01T21:49:00.000-08:00

Group projects in a college setting can be very difficult due too many factors such as work, personal or athletic obligations, or simply because college students are lazy. However, technology has made collaboration among peers easier for not only college students, but for the business world as well. This technology is known as the “wiki.” According to How To Use Wikis For Business by Ezra Goodnoe, A wiki is “"the simplest online database that could possibly work." as he wrote for the InformationWeek.

Some examples of wiki’s include, the most obvious, Wikipedia.com and Google Documents. Starting with Wikipedia, Wikipedia.com is a website that is updateable and re-editable by users. The website works as follows, as a user post a review or overview of particular topic and other users view it. If another member doesn’t agree or thinks the first user is in correct then user will re-edit the document. And so it’s an ongoing process. Google documents are similar but work a little differently. The main difference is that Wikipedia is for everyone and the Google documents are or specified users. For example, In the Google World, a user has to invite users to collaborate on a Document or Power Point Presentation. Then, the invited user would then join and have access to the uploaded document that the initial user uploaded. Now two people have access to this particular document. Now the magic occurs; being as the document is stored online, and accessed online, it can be edited online, but not only by one user by multiple. The key is that the database or document is updated real-time. So therefore, if multiple users are editing online simultaneously, updates immediately. So that everyone else can see your changes as you or they, make them. It reduces the confusion in e-mailing documents to and from multiple users. Wiki’s are the same exact thing except they’re in the form of WebPages.

The funny thing about this technology is that its been around for more than a decade, we’ve just never utilized or harnessed the gravity of it. In my opinion, all of the new Google technology, including wiki’s is groundbreaking. Google is taking the Internet into the next level of computing. It’s exciting to think about the years ahead of us and all of the new technology we'll be exposed to, just because we're human beings that live during the time period of the twenty-first century.

The Power of the Wiki

2009-11-19T20:42:00.001-08:00

Wikipedia’s information has been debatable since I first started college primarily because it first became popular as I entered UNCW. Many professors would not let any students use or cite Wikipedia because they deemed the information to be incorrect or “loose” at best. However, there are many arguments that the information is not “loose” because people or users would go back into the article and re-edit the information to become correct. In my opinion, it comes down to whether or not you trust Internet users as a whole. Furthermore, I have encountered professors who would let students’ cite information from Wikipedia because they did trust the information and mainly because they themselves used Wikipedia as an informational resource.

In the article, “Wikis Are Now Serious Business,” by Marshall Kirkpatrick, the author re-affirms our doubts about wiki’s by including a link in his article to compare different wiki’s at wikimatrix. I think that is very resourceful link to include because it will compare and contrast the different wiki’s because I honestly do think that some are better and contain more resourceful information than others do.

The Uses of a wiki are endless to any end-user but the most popular uses include, very simple publishing, building text for common communication, structured information, notes after a performance, event organizing, disaster relief, news writing, exposing research publicly, and finally revive archived content.

I think all of these are great examples and ultimately could be used for these uses. Another example would be how it has worked for Dr. Atkins English 496 class and being as I am as student in this class I can honestly it has worked great for many reasons. The first the information is easily editable and updates immediately. The second being all of the users, or (students in his class), are connected to one another in some form or fashion through this wiki. The third being that Dr. Atkins wiki list all of students blog’s on his wiki inevitably creating an Internet Cloud of his own.

All in all I think that wiki’s are a glimpse into the future. They will continue to grow expand and change just as the Internet has and will always continue to do because of everchanging and evolving technology does.

Kirkpatrick, Marshall . " Wikis Are Now Serious Business ." ReadWriteWeb - Web Apps, Web Technology Trends, Social Networking and Social Media . N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2009.

write to my blog

2009-11-05T22:54:00.001-08:00

Here is a screenshot of the program:

Write to my Blog, by Pete Cashmore, is an article about a syndication tool. It basically details how the service works, what it does and how it can be useful for getting your blog to a wider audience. Another way of thinking about it would be, it allows you to add links to your Twitter, Facebook and many other Web 2.0 Technologies to essentially get the most viewers as possible. the best part is that it does it for you.

How it Works:

Write to my blog is in essence a blog within itself, except for the fact it doesn’t host your blog. What a user would do is, write their entry into “write to my blog.” Next, the user would syndicate that blog into all of their other blogs, if a user had multiple blogs (like blogger and word press. For example, if a user wrote their blog entry into, “write to my blog,” the next thing they would do is syndicate to all their other blogs. Users do this by inserting their log in information into the tool because “write to my blog” is a tool known as a plug in that connects blogs to together.

Not only does “write to my blog” connect blogs together but it also connects via Facebook and twitter, which is another way of syndication. I think the best part about this tool is fact that it does all this for you. It essentially does all the legwork for you so that you don’t manually have to go to all these different sites and post hyperlinks everywhere.

Another cool feature is about “Write to my Blog” is “apart from the ability to post to multiple blogs at once, positioning images is much easier and inserting tables is a breeze.” It also has a word document editor; it functions very similar to Microsoft Word by using spell and grammar check.

My Opinion and Thoughts:

First and foremost, I think this tool is great and I’m going to start using it but the whole point of all this is get more attention to your blog. But, if everyone starts doing this, I think the whole thing is going to defeat its on purpose, because if everyone is doing it then it’s going to create so much more data on the Internet that it is inevitably going to make your blog just as hard to find as it was in the first place.

However, there’s another way of looking at it. How many people will actually do it? If not everyone in the world then it will work great because I assume not everyone knows about this technology and even if they do, can they figure out how to utilize it? I guess it’s like anything in life, “if you’re going to do something, go at full-hearted and try you’re hardest and hopefully you will prevail due to the fact that you’re just better at it.”

Linked to facebook:

Facebook

Link to "Write To My Blog"

Cashmore, Pete. "http://mashable.com/2006/10/06/writetomyblog-easy-posting-to-wordpress-blogger-typepad-and-movabletype/." Mashable, "The Social Guide". N.p., 6 Oct. 2006. Web. 5 Nov. 2009. .

2009-10-29T01:22:00.000-07:00

Twitter and the Uses

2009-10-27T20:45:00.001-07:00

Twitter, is a social networking site that allows users to share information via aggregating news feed and e-mail updates. It can be a very useful tool utilized correctly. However, used incorrectly it can be aggravating mess. For example, if someone is constantly updating useless information, it can be so bothersome that a user may quit following you. By following, I mean that a user will choose not to view your post anymore. We now will view some of these uses that Barb Dybwad discusses in her article, “TWEET IDEAS: 13 Things to Do on Twitter Besides Tweet.”

There are many tasks that can be completed inside the twitter application, varying from porting files, finding a job, playing games, making online payments, screen casting, exchanging business as well as seeing what twitter looks like on from another users eyes. However, I’m only going to discuss, file sharing, sending money and screen casting.

File sharing is my favorite tool on Twitter. I like it because you can send documents of almost any file extension directly to someone. This could be very useful for sending funny picture files or small program snippets of code, like rtf files to a fellow programmer because he could then just look over at it instead of having to open his e-mail up and then download, less steps to do.

Sending money is a nice feature, if you’re just trying to waste money. The Twitter site links their money service through PayPal, with an inflated charge. Twitter charges their users an extra percent to send money through Paypal.com in juxtaposition as to what you would be charged if the user just went to the Paypal website directly, (cutting out the twenty-ninth man). However, the trick to technology is using it and mainly knowing it. And if the user doesn’t know about it then it costs them to learn and more power to Twitter for making money off them, “the corporate way.”

On a more positive note, I really liked the screen-casting feature. I deem it to be very useful. Especially for celebrities that have Twitter accounts. Even though it will be a staged event when these celebrities post a screen cast, it will still ultimately help them better connect with their fans, which is the overall goal.

In conclusion, Twitter has made great new advancements to their service. I think that most them will be beneficial for their users. I honestly believe that if Twitter continues trying these new advancements and features of their technology, they will still be around in the future.

Dybwad, Barb. "TWEET IDEAS: 13 Things to Do on Twitter Besides Tweet." Social Media News and Web Tips – Mashable – The Social Media Guide. 21 Aug. 2009 .

Advertising on the Internet

2009-10-15T17:39:00.001-07:00

The article “Why Advertising Is Failing On The Internet,” by Eric Clemons takes a look into how Internet advertising techniques work and why. Clemons list three main reasons that Internet advertising fails, which are: “Consumers do not trust advertising; Consumers do not want to view advertising, and finally, consumers do not need advertising.” I completely agree with all these reasons. It is very aggravating to me when I want to look up a video and I can’t watch it until I watch the thirty-second advertising video in front of it.

Clemons argues that we do need advertising because we as consumers receive advertising everyday, from people we trust. For example, word of mouth from friends, especially status updates on Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter. I also think that Internet consumers get a lot of advertising just from using these services. On every one of these web 2.0 applications there are advertisements in vertical column stretching from the top of the screen to the bottom. Now, inside of certain Facebook game servers there are pop up advertisements.

Clemons later offers three alternatives to forced advertising on the Internet; they are, “selling content and information, Selling experience and participation in a virtual community, and finally Selling accessories for virtual communities.” Such as offering basic services for free and charging a fee to use the advanced features, like Flickr. Another way internet companies enjoy profit are be selling accessories for online games and sometimes charging to play the game. For example, World of Warcraft, they give all intent users the opportunity for a free two week trial, but after that two weeks they begin to charge you. They also want to sell you upgrades and different outfits for your character. All in all this was a grat article I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

Clemmons, Eric. " Why Advertising Is Failing On The Internet ." TechCrunch . 15 Oct. 2009 .

The Baby Boomers

2009-10-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

Baby Boomers
I could not agree more with the article, “Social Networking Demographics: Boomers Jump In, Gen Y Plateaus" by Steve Rubel. The article reminds me of my mother always asking me questions about developing technologies, such as iPods and Mac books. It’s frustrating to me because I can never explain anything simple enough for her to understand, and I always try to explain it differently but she just doesn’t get it and I end up just doing it for her.

I honestly see the connection between baby boomers using these technologies as opposed to generation y not. The main reasons being that the technology is stable, in other words, once you learn how use twitter, you know it and once you know something you can become comfortable with you. Generation y is more interested in evolving technologies like facebook.com and halflife.com.

Halflife.com is a gaming community if you will. It’s community of people, (of all ages), who enjoy to play games and chat with people who also enjoy the same thing. The cool and interesting thing about gaming communes is that you will often encounter many well developed computer technicians in them. For example, many of the people that I know are computer science majors and that’s where they usually spend their time, in gaming communes.

The main thing I’ve encountered with the baby boomer generation is people’s parents using facebook. The primary complaint is always the same; people’s parents are trying to befriend them. The reason that people don’t want their parents want as friends is because they don’t want them knowing their personal business. This is a very understandable concept because I don’t want my parents knowing what I talk to my friends about. I think that I even heard Dr. Atkins talk about their grandmother trying to befriend them on his social net work.

In conclusion the baby boomer generation will always grasp on what they can just like I will when I get to old to fully comprehend what’s going on in the world around them.

The Value of Internet Users

2009-09-22T20:35:00.001-07:00

The introduction of Internet has brought many new ideas to the world, including, new ways of learning, new ways of marketing and advertising, as well as business models. Before the Internet, it’s safe to say that the idea of, “…giving away the store,” would have been a poor one. However, the Internet is a different storefront, with a different way of doing business.

A prime example of this is “Flickr, a Web 2.0 photo-sharing site.” The founders of Flickr, Catarina Fake and Stewart Butterfield, have undoubtedly proven that giving away their product and providing customers with free services can make you successful. The site allows users to upload and share photos with friends and family. The funny thing about Flickr is that people often view other people’s pictures that they don’t know. Flickr’s slogan is this, “ Share your photos. Watch the world.”

Well, how do these website’s make money if they’re giving everything away? That’s the genius of a “collective user value” approach, as highlighted in chapter one of Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide by Amy Shuen. The website takes stock in the fact that if they can recruit enough users, then that’s what they can sell, the rights to advertise to these people. It’s a brilliant idea as well as concept. Think about Facebook. It’s free to join and similarly to Flickr, you can upload and organize your photos, make comments on them and join in on an online community, but on the side of every page there are multiple advertisements. However, usually non-intrusive advertisements, but nonetheless advertisements, and there’s nothing I hate more than advertisements on the Internet. Surprisingly enough, I still use these services and knowingly let marketers target me. Although, not all websites market to their users to create revenue, some websites only allow users to use the basic features of their program and charge them to use the more advanced features. An example of this would be MusicMatch Jukebox. You can download the program and use it for free, but for 19.99 you can get the upgraded version that has many more features. This business model is known as “freemium” (“Free + Premium = freemium”) developed by venture capitalist, Fred Wilson.

I think “freemium” ware, is wonderful. I love programs like Music Match, Itunes, and Facebook because they allow me to basically do whatever I want on the Internet for free. Even though, I hate advertisements, I don’t mind them so much when I’m getting what I want in return for a momentary eye glimpse of my attention.

Works Cited

Shuen, Amy . Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide. Sebastopol, CA: O' Reilly, 2008.

Advancing and Integration of Web 2.0 Technologies

2009-09-08T20:32:00.000-07:00

Over the past twenty years, the Internet has advanced in every way possible, the most notable being that of integration. One of the biggest problems with Integration has always been that different platforms do integrate well. For example, if you’re using a Mac book, you can’t download programs or plug-ins that have a .exe or executable file, vise-versa, if you’re using a windows operating system then you can’t download a .dmg file, ( a.dmg file is the equivalent of .exe on a windows.) XML languages have broken down the barriers of this problem.

In a nutshell, XML Technologies make content viewable on multiple platforms and operating systems, according to Richard MacManus and Joshua Porter, “XML technologies enabled content to be shareable and transformable between different systems, and Web services provided hooks into the innards of sites. Instead of visual design being the interface to content, Web services have become programmatic interfaces to that same content.” Macmanus and Porter use Ebay as an example of integration, due to the way sellers list products and the way that buyers purchase products.

When an individual, or business for that matter, list a product on Ebay, there are two options, using a template that Ebay provides or using your html code. Ebay gives you option due to multiple reasons. The first being people use different operating systems and/or browsers, which view web pages differently. The other being that different java script run programs (picture viewers or slide show script-runners) will not be properly run due to different run-time errors, another XML advancement is exemplified by Andale. Andale is tracking service that allows sellers to view how many people either, look at their item for sale or add their item to watch list. The main feature of this program or tracking service is that it tracks not computers, but people and it then profiles their buying habits or the products that they may have been potentially interested in, the reason being that, the next time they get on Ebay.com it automatically shows item they may be interested in.

Inevitably, people are always going to continue further technology to be more intuitve for shoppers, sellers and browsers. I think it’s scary that are programs profiling my web browsing and buying habits; even though their for my benefit and only being used for intrusive services. However, if EBay has this service, it makes one wonder what other people are doing with these advanced web 2.0 technologies.

Web 2.0 Technologies

2009-09-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Web 2.0 Technologies

Life After Napster

During the late 1990’s, the Internet was just reaching new peaks of popularity. So was downloading music, for free, and Napster was the source. Napster is an online mp3 or music-sharing source that allows users to share their files in a peer-to-peer file-trading format. Napster operated from June of 1999 until July 2001. It should be mentioned that Napster still currently operates; however, you now have to pay for it. Napster was shut down due to copyright infringements; in other words it was shut down because artists were not getting paid when people downloaded their songs. So what does all this mean? Well, first and foremost, it means that people can no longer download music for free but it also means that people now understand that things like this can be done and other people were most assuredly going to figure out how to make these new web 2.0 technologies work for them.

Here are some examples of Web 2.0 Technologies and where they stemmed from:

Web 1.0 Web 2.0
DoubleClick --> Google AdSense
Ofoto --> Flickr
Akamai --> BitTorrent
mp3.com --> Napster

Akamai is what the BitTorrent technology stemmed from, or better yet where the technological idea came from, if you will. The difference between the two is how the information is dispersed or stored. Akamai uses servers to store the information and disperse it. Therefore, the system as a whole can only get larger if the company does. “Akamai must add servers to improve service,” (2) Napster on the other hand went about the situation completely different: P2P. In other words, “BitTorrent thus demonstrates a key Web 2.0 principle: the service automatically gets better the more people use it.” (2)

Well, Napster is shut down, so what does this mean to us?
Even though it’s shut down, it paved the way for websites like isohunt.com that allows users to download torrent files. Once a user downloads a torrent, (a peer-to-peer file sharing protocol,) that person can use a number of programs such vuze (formally known as Azureus), to download the file. The program connects people to people or computers to computers so that users can share what they rightfully own through the use of an online server in order to bypass online trading laws via loopholes to avoid copyright infringement. The great thing about Isohunt and Vuze is that its just not mp3 files but any and all media content.

In my opinion, online technologies will only improve with time as well as other Web 2.0 technologies. However, for the time being, BitTorrent’s are the best way to download online media content. The future for the Internet is a very exciting concept. Unlimited access to any and all media with the ease of clicking a button is thrilling for us and alarming for the industry. Eventually, a compromise between the user and the provider must be made.

Works Cited

O'Reilly, Tim . "What Is Web 2.0 - O'Reilly Media." Technology Books, Tech Conferences, IT Courses, News - O'Reilly Media. 1 Sep. 2009 .

final render of coaster holder

2008-09-24T11:00:00.000-07:00

In this render I used Mental Ray. Ray Tracing, Final Gather, and Global Illumination @ HD 1080.

Homework 4 renders

2008-09-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Renders are in order per Dr. Patterson's instructions

python coding progress

2008-09-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

This is working code That Derek Wilson and I have worked on.

It serves the purpose for this project.


#------------------------------------------------------------------------------
#           Name: pyg_image.py
#         Author: Kevin Harris (Modified by Derek Wilson and Jeremy Parker)
#  Last Modified: 9/10/08
#    Description: This Python/Pygame script demonstrates how to load and
#                 display an image file.  Altered to switch between multiple
#    images using the number keys.
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------

import pygame
from pygame.locals import *

def main():
    pygame.init() 

    screen = pygame.display.set_mode( (800,800) )

    background = pygame.Surface( screen.get_size() )

    background.fill( (0,0,0) )

    image = pygame.image.load( "pygame_powered.bmp" )
#    image = pygame.image.load( "Devil.jpg" )

    imagePosition = image.get_rect()

    imagePosition.bottom  = 250
    imagePosition.left = 120

    screen.blit( background, (0,0) )
    screen.blit( image, imagePosition )

    pygame.display.flip()

    while 1:
        pygame.event.pump()
   
        keyinput = pygame.key.get_pressed()

        if keyinput[K_ESCAPE] or pygame.event.peek(QUIT):
            break

 if keyinput[K_1]:
    
     image = pygame.image.load( "image1.jpg" )
     imagePosition.top = 0
     imagePosition.left = 0

 if keyinput[K_2]:
   
     image = pygame.image.load( "image2.jpg" )
     imagePosition.top = 0
     imagePosition.left = 0
 
 if keyinput[K_3]:
   
     image = pygame.image.load( "image3.jpg" )
     imagePosition.top = 0
     imagePosition.left = 0

 if keyinput[K_4]:
     image = pygame.image.load( "image4.jpg" )
     imagePosition.top = 0
     imagePosition.left = 0

 if keyinput[K_5]:
   
     image = pygame.image.load( "image5.jpg" )
     imagePosition.top = 0
     imagePosition.left = 0

 if keyinput[K_6]:
    
     image = pygame.image.load( "image6.jpg" )
     imagePosition.top = 0
     imagePosition.left = 0

 if keyinput[K_7]:

2008-09-03T10:04:00.000-07:00