blog

Last year I wrote a paper for my English class about how America is falling behind in math and sciences compared to countries like India and China. A similar situation happened after Russia launched Sputnik in 1957. At that time the government pushed for increased math and science education. My stance on the topic is that while math and science are very important topic, it is very important that we make Americans as well rounded as possible and continue to stress the importance of social sciences and languages, as all subjects in a way interact with one another. For example, where would a chemist be if he could write a legible lab report? Many are worried that with increased technology in other parts of the world America will fall behind. However, according to Amar Bhidé, a professor at Columbia Business School, America will actually prosper from other countries’ technological advances if we continue to be the best place to “commercialize” inventions. Though Bhidé makes a good point, many still believe that it is in the United States’ best interest to push for more funding in basic research. I agree with both statements. I have never thought about Bhidé’s opinion before, but it makes a lot of sense. In my macro economics class were are learning about international and how it actually benefits the U.S. because it keeps our economy stimulated and gives us a constant flow of goods. Accepting increased technological advances in other countries would cut some slack to U.S. inventors, and allow them to have to make fewer strides to keep technology moving forward. However I do feel that it is important for the United States to keep up with the rest of the world. We are one of the most powerful nations and we do not need to allow any other nation to do the bulk of the work for us. We are strong and we have the capability to stay that way if we try. I think that we should be pushing for better all around education for ourselves.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/business/30ping.html?ref=technology
Source: http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/

13

As we all know the economy has been in a slump recently. Many are getting laid off from their jobs every day and journalists are certainly no exception to the issue. Many journalist and bloggers have lost their jobs recently and a company called Six Apart is going to try to help them. The company’s vice president is Anil Dash. On November 14th the company posted a blog addressing laid-off or nearly laid-off journalists. Anil Dash has had more than 300 responses to the blog so far. The respondents are trying to earn themselves one of the 20 to 30 yearly memberships that Six Apart is offering. The memberships would include professional technical support, advertising, and placement on the company’s site Blogs.com. The free membership accounts are worth $150 annually. Many journalists are excited and want to be a part of this because journalism is a slowly dying art. It is becoming harder and hard for journalist to find work. Having one of these spots could help him/her get noticed. I have been doing journalism since I was in the 8th grade. I also did it all through high school and now I am in my second year of working for the University Times. I have known for quite some time that journalism is not a field that I would make a good career in. The jobs are becoming more and more scarce and more and more people are turning to their computers and televisions to give them the latest updates; print media is becoming obsolete. I think what Six Apart is trying to do is a cool idea, but I also do not fully understand it. It seems to me that with so much economic activity and national headlines needing to be reported on, there should be work for these individuals. However, there isn’t. Maybe they should consider a new career path, because earning one of those spots could be a tough task and it is not enough to make a living from.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/technology/internet/24apart.html?_r=1&ref=technology
External source: http://www.sixapart.com/blog/

blog 12

Parents should always be concerned with the safety of their children on the internet. It is so easy to stumble upon something inappropriate or something that’s bad news. There a several internet programs that parents can use that prohibit children from using certain sites all together, like those that block certain television channels. Parents have been requesting even safer internet use for their children. Companies have been trying to develop the perfect program to monitor for some time and they are still not done. The program that has been the most successful so far is eGuardian. eGaurdian has parents enter a child’s information and then that information is confirmed with a school. I think this method makes more sense that just having people enter birthdates in, a child can chose a year that would make them appear older, just as a pedophile can make him appear younger. Some companies were proposing a site, like Myspace.com, where people under a certain age are only allowed to interact with people under that age or with adults that their parents approve. However, there is nothing in that which would prevent a child molester to lie about his age to make himself appear younger and then be able to interact with the child, situations like that happen every day. Parents are concerned with the new programs like eGaurdian because they are going to use the information provided about the child to target advertising to them. People are questioning whether these sites are actually promoting the safety of the children or hindering them with their advertising. I think that using the safety of children to promote products like junk food and toys is not in the best interest of the children or society. I believe the best way to ensure child internet safety is through parents. It is important to teach your child the risks and how to keep themselves safe, because in the long run they’re going to be the only ones who can do it.

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/business/16ping.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

Source: http://www.eguardian.com/ourprocess.php

11/9/08

Youtube is a popular website. It has so many possibilities and chances are you find anything you want on there. Currently you can already look up movies on the website and they’ll be broken up in to segments, however this is very illegal. Google bought Youtube several years ago and has been disappointed with its profit returns since the purchase. Youtube is now in the works with MGM to be able to show full length movies on the site, legally. Google is interested in getting Youtube connections with a lot of Hollywood industries. Youtube is also making it possible for companies to spot illegal video on their website and either delete them or leave them up and sell ads on them. Youtube is competing with a site called Hulu. Hulu does not have amateur videos on it, but only television episodes and movies. I have never visited am unfamiliar with the site so I cannot compare it to Youtube, however many are thinking that it’s the next big thing. I don’t think that I would necessarily like Hulu because I do not like to watch movies or TV on my computer. My eyes are sensitive and they get strained when I stare at my computer screen for too long. I like Youtube because the videos are short. I also like the amateur aspect of it because it’s very personal, anyone can do it. I even have a video on Youtube. It’s a lot of fun to go through and find your favorites and share them with friends. It’s definitely a good plan on Google’s part to partner Youtube with as many Hollywood agencies as possible. With its well known name and millions of users Youtube would be a smart partnership for any company. I am interested to see these changes take place.

Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/10/business/media/10mgm.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin
Source:
http://www.hulu.com/

blog article

What is the world coming to? Do we really think that our time is so precious that we cannot wait 45 seconds for our computers to boot up? That’s too long? Of course I have had the experience of being in a hurry and my computer not seeming to understand my need for speed. However, life and time are both so precious that it really is just sad that people are throwing them away so easily. People are rushing through everything. Everything has to be faster and better.
Computer boot up times are being compared with that of smart phones. Consumers desire their computers to be ready, set, go as fast as their phones. What they are not realizing is that a computer has much more potential that a telephone, and a far greater memory. The phone has very little to load compared to a computer, especially if users a like me and have a lot of music and photos. Because such a large number of people are interested in rushing their lives away and are primarily using their computers for internet and e-mail purposes new gadgets called “netbooks” have arrived. Netbooks have essentially the same aspects of a smart phone as far as internet goes but they are as big a computer and have a keyboard. However, these books are still at least 400 dollars and it hardly seems worth it when you could have an entire computer for only a few hundred more.
What bothers me most about this article is that people are so impatient. There is really no need for you to have 40 extra seconds. Take the 40 seconds your computer needs to boot and take some deep breaths if that small segment of time is really that important then obviously you need to distress.

Article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/business/02digi.html?ref=technology
Source:
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone.htm
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/computer-memory.htm