Creativity

The word creativity may just seem as something simple that everyone can do. The real truth is being creative is challenging and doesn’t come easy to everyone especially when their asked of something. Being creative means coming up with ideas and projects. Creativity usually comes from unique and bright people. Everyone has a chance to be unique but when your creativity is noticed especially by a lot of people that’s when it can be called real creativity. Many could disagree that anything can be creative but  if we take a look at some of the things in the media today and analyze it we can come to realize the person that came up with the idea can be described as a unique and creative person. For instance Angry Birds , extremely addicting to millions and very unique when you think about the amount of money that game made and the amount of people playing it you think “Throwing a wingless bird at a  pig? How is that creative?” But when you see the success of the app and the fact that something so simple is addicting that people will pay to play it,you come to realize that yes indeed it is a creative game. Creativity stems from many things.Having a mere conversation with someone may give you an idea that can be created into something.  In the article Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers by Claire Can Miller the twitter team talk about how they got many of their current twitter features from the users themselves. Claire Miller wrote “Early on, Twitter users started referring to others by typing the @ symbol before their name. For example, Biz Stone, a Twitter founder, recently wrote about his wife: “Wow, @Livia just took her homemade vegan lasagna out of the oven — I’m hungry!” They also developed hash tags after one of their employees suggested it at first they weren’t sure if it would be something they would want to use but once people started to use it , it became a big hit and began to be used in many other company’s like Instagram. Its very straightforward and easy to use besides it links everyone together. If you use the hash tag #sandy you will get forwarded to everyone who is talking about the hurricane. Hash tags are definitely a fast new way into media.

Twitter Serves Up Ideas From Its Followers by CLAIRE CAIN MILLER, the New York Times, October 26, 2009. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/26/technology/internet/26twitter.html

P2P File Sharing

P2P File sharing is also known as peer to peer.

It has to do with information systems and acts as a computer network. It can be the client or a server through which you can share and have access to various rescources like files. The most famous and illegal used P2P network are torrents. Its illegal files that can be accessed through a special program called UTorrent. These files are uploaded by users and can be downloaded by anyone. Usually movies that come out on DVDRip are uploaded onto these sites and downloaded by people instead of them going out and buying the DVD. Torrents are an example of P2P File sharing. You can also download things like games and music.

“The more files you’re willing to share, the faster any individual torrent downloads to your computer. This prevents people from leeching, a classic P2P problem in which too many people download files and refuse to upload, creating a drain on the system.” says Cohen

Some people that I know told me they cant seed the torrents because you can get caught in the states and its highly illegal. When you do get caught the company that caught you can sue you and your internet can get shut off. Torrents are lots of fun you can get high quality movies and Blu ray. They are though very risky. Have any of you ever downloaded torrents? and do you still do it?

The BitTorrent Effect by Clive Thompson, Wired, January 2005.http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.01/bittorrent.html

About my term project Research

I did my research on Social networking: Better or worse than the real thing?

I was comparing a person vs Facebook. Which conversations are better. I did my research using CNN and google scholar. I tried to use the library database but i didnt find as much as I found using google scholar. I did come to realize many people have Facebook addictions and cant seem to stop going on facebook. There are peopel who abandon their everyday lives and spend 5 hours a day on facebook. I just find that insane!!! I mean I used to check frequently but now I dont even go on as much anymore. I realized its a waste of time and just doesn’t get me anywhere. The reason why I like the topic is because it really relates to a lot of people I mean every other person has a facebook and uses it. I think it would have been interesting to find out more about why certain people use it and is it helpful in life.

Has anyone actually have something awesome happen to them when using facebook?

The next new thing

The next new thing I believe will be phones that maybe have projectors where you can place it anywhere and be able to see whats on the screen anywhere on the table. Even if you see it you will be able to touch the projection. Some stuff that you see in movies today where the people are able to have these projections of what their viewing on the screen, they then are able to touch the projections and just use their fingers in thin air to do anything they want.

After I saw this video I really thought the concept would be cool and futuristic!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzsBwnv_dAg

Privacy

Privacy and confidentiality are two important factors in any persons life. Privacy and confidentiality may sound like they mean the same thing but they are different.Privacy has to do with people like privacy around the house , privacy on facebook etc.Confidentiality on the other hand has to do with data, documents ,files. Something like social security number or perhaps lawyers evidence files are confidential, they are only for certain peoples eyes. While a persons privacy can always be disrupted , you can actually get punished for looking at someones confidential file. Have you ever made your pictures private from people and hid your info and other stuff on your Facebook? Well that is under the privacy settings. You have the power to change your setting anytime. Most people argue that when companies want to view your Facebook that is invading your privacy. Keeping a diary can also be considered privacy, because its your thoughts and you can write everything you think. New media and confidentiality are closely related, fraud and peoples identity being stolen has to do with confidentiality. When your personal information gets  leaked it can effect many things in your life. Of course stuff like this is meant to be kept confidential just like when you put your social security number into the FAFSA website  and or when you talk to your therapist that is also considered confidential.

Creativity and New Media

So this is me playing one of my favorite games called League of Legends.

This game is basically about working as a team to destroy the enemy team! This is the log in screen.

This is me fighting at level 1 i had to idle away cause i having some problems taking a screen shot. But as you can see I am playing Katarina an assassin she throws blades and doesnt use mana for her skills so that’s a good thing. This map is called twisted treeline. A 3v3 map. Usually I play a 5v5.  I am playing against bots to show you how this game looks. I forgo to buy items since I was in a hurry.  On the lower left of the screen you can equip items at the shop from the kills you get. To get stronger items you combine various different items. The item list is endless. You have to be very good strategically at this game and learn how to work with your teammates.

http://www.gearhack.com/docs/League%20of%20Legends/Item%20Shop%20Tree/Movement.html.files.hidden/Movement%20Items.png

I also have a screen shot of another game i played when I was more younger. Called maplestory. It used to be my favorite game. A bit childish though but then again i was 14.

Here i went to the shop as far as i remember and brought Christmas decorations . Once you equip them you can scatter them any way you want all around the tree including letters.

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds

I myself personally play a lot of video games when I’m free from schoolwork. I know and realize that its a bad addiction but when its gloomy outside what else is there to do after you’re done watching all the movies? I myself play games starting from Call of Duty, Assassins creed,Still Life,Crysis, League of Legends, Dota, World of Warcraft. I have to say these virtual worlds can be used to your own imagination. One day you’re just Sabina a college student , but at home at the computer you’re a soldier playing for the Americans in call of duty and you have to kill the German team during world war two, or you’re an assassin in Venice Italy fighting for justice and hey you’re friends with Leonardo Da Vinci, before he became Leonardo Da Vinci. From online games to regular games you can be any personage and the best part is this world doesn’t exist but it does exist when you’re playing it. I think we all had that moment reading Harry Potter and for a moment thought magic was real only because J.K Rowling did such fantastic job writing the book. Our imagination is what drives these emotions and our mind just sees them. You may say that the person that thinks this way is delusional but really its a video game for a reason because you want to try be someone else try something new.  Wouldn’t you rather shoot a gun in a game than in real life? I think so. I have to say the pros are that its fun, and can kill time or maybe if you’re playing a game called SIMS you can start off wiht no money and build any career you can desire leave it and start a new one which we cant do in real life. Creating a person with any hair color eye color, marrying whoever you want, building your own house. I think its pretty interesting when you want to escape.In the article “I’ve Been in That Club, Just Not in Real Life”  David Itzkoff talks about how he wanted to get into a bar but instead went home and in Second life went to the same bar with no lines, no foul smells, crazy screaming people next to you and enjoyed his club life virtually. This is an example of how sometimes when you are either too young to go clubbing or you’re not allowed but always wanted to know how, there’s a virtual way of doing it . Its not the same thing but lets be honest its the closest you can get.The cons? I feel video games have a bad impression on kids younger around the ages of 5+ , I feel that its too early for them to start playing video games especially violent ones. I feel it might really meddle around with their mind.”No Budget, No Boundaries: It’s the Real You” shows exactly how much money playing a online game can save you can wear expensive brands for cheap amounts of money, of course their not personally yours but its enough to escape from reality and finally be able to afford that nice rolex watch.The future of virtual worlds might be even more amazing with technology growing. I always wanted to see how this world would look futuristic , maybe all of our technology will somehow make certain things come to life. Who knows. But very interesting to find out.

Social Networking Sites

I remember when i was in highschool Myspace was a site I visited everyday. I had friends from various places and I loved that I was able to customize and change everything on my profile. Because of Myspace I learned HTML and started to design my own layouts for my page. I have to say Myspace was a great boom around 2007-2009 , but the king of social networking didn’t have the crown for long. After Facebook gained its popularity, I have to say for myself that I switched over because I was looking for something more simple and of course once something gets overrated everyone switches over. From my personal experience  Myspace was actually a great site for bands, and musicians who wanted to create their own page and grain a wide range of fans. Now that I come to think of it I don’t think that it was a good site for just communicating at least now its not considering that Facebook made itself much more innovative in the way you get to send messages and see people updates in a easier way.Back in the day Myspace had a thing called Bulletins and still does now where people post things that happened, but are allowed to use over 140 characters. I honestly never found that easy to use or something I enjoyed. Myspace did however try to copy Facebook only they knew that there was no way people would be willing to go back. Facebook has a way of getting information out faster its also used by various sites that require you to register for instance if you want to comment on something or view it as a member you can log in with Facebook. The popularity of the site has companies confide in them and they create groups and pages for people to comment and discuss. Just like on election day when the votes would be announced on who won the presidential election your fastest way to get that information is Facebook or twitter. Twitter is used by celebrities politicians and of course normal every day people its more simple that Facebook mainly used to update statuses, there’s also a character limit on it. Usually celebrities use this to announce tour dates or where their going etc. If you’re interested in the lives of other people you can always stalk them on twitter or so I Think. Its just a gateway into telling the world and your friends what you’re up to. Another social media place that was recently introduced a few years ago is Google + is a place for sharing where you get to see what your family and friends post, where they been, and what they are doing. Pretty much almost like Facebook and Twitter, only its a bit more simple. It does have you linked to your gmail account so you have a lot of flexibility in adding your contacts from there and other places. It looks a bit more modern. Its features include circles where you can pick a persons circle and look at only their information. Hangout where up to 10 users can participate in a group video chat and talk about where they are. A messenger so you can speak to friends through circles also available on all phones. Also things such as instant upload, games and other various mobile options. I personally like Facebook more other than the whole “Facebook collects your data and sells it out.” I dont know if that may be true since its supposed to be private for a reason and you can limit to who sees what. I just find it much more easy to comunicate and besides that all my friends use it. I signed up for google plus and realized no one i know is using it and I never came back. So I guess where most of the population is does have a great impact on what social networking sites you want to sign up for.

Social Networking

Social Networking by many critics is said to be one of the best things ever created. It can help you find anything today , whether its a group you’re joining for a good cause. It varies from things like finding a friend to creating a petition or creating events and parties, to just playing games.

Putting those things aside however and looking deeper into the picture social networking has a great impact on companies. First and foremost each big company today besides having their own world website has a facebook page which you can like and check for updates fast. Considering the amount of people dwelling onto the site , instead of them going and actually searching up the website and browsing the page for events they will see it on their dashboard of their facebook site. Easy,comfortable, and fast.

Social networking has opened a window to a world of people who are struggling browsing sites everyday to find jobs.Maureen Crawford-Hentz who recruits for the Osram Sylvania global lighting company said “Social networking technology is absolutely the best thing to happen to recruiting — ever.” Using the site Linkedin which is very popular in finding job recruits with over 8 million different professional spread all over the world. Crawford can scrape all the information she needs by searching exactly what she needs into the search engine. She explains its very important to have the right keywords on your profile so that when you are pulled into the database employers can find you easily. The benefits to society are of course that in this economy while you are looking for jobs yourself there is a way for employers to find you. Its easy and they get to see who you are right away and what you’re good at doing.

In the article ”
Is MySpace Good for Society? A Freakonomics Quorum” William Reader a Professor of Psychology in Sheffield Hallam University said that  the technology is simply too new and the research too equivocal. But keeping in touch and working together through a social network site is a good thing. He said that whether social networking is good or bad is debateable on what society you value.

Social networking being a dark side is debateable , to most people its an addiction and knowing it they wont admit to it being a dark side. I personally feel it is to a certain extent. Too much of it isn’t always good.

Advice to Brooklyn College

If i was hired by Brooklyn College I would definitely try to improve their wifi and servers. People always seem to have trouble with getting a signal around school it gets really frustrating as well as sometimes how slow the computers are. I think that the IT personnel should put more restrictions on stuff downloaded onto the computers and definitely try to improve the internet servers. There are certain parts around campus that you cant get wifi and if you can its really bad, the signal is low making it almost impossible to do any work. I think that would be a good thing!