We The Media 4

By Adam Heller

Writing on the web is a dangerous thing. I myself am fearful of being sued sometimes for the stuff I post and write about. Having libel insurance is a great idea, but not very practical. I agree with the author about how great it is to be able to make changes, correct, or pull content off a site compared to print. I often find if you comply with users wishes, like taking something down they deem inappropriate or libel, then they usually leave you alone. I guess if you took the libel content down, then they really have no proof you ever posted it. Screen shots can be doctored in Photoshop.

The Intel incident was interesting to read. The Supreme Court ruled that sending anti-Intel emails to current employees was not a crime. I think they ruled that way because they equated the situation to the former employee breaking in and trespassing. Although this section of the chapter was interesting, I don’t think it is a great example.

Copyright  infringement is the biggest problem on the internet. I recently bought a pair of Jordan basketball shoes on the web and they shipped from China. They were replicas of the real thing. I did not know that when I bought them, so I put them up for sale on eBay and stated they were replicas. They took down my listing because of these infringement rights. I said somewhere in the text the words “Air Jordan” and they found that misleading.

I agree that big business and the copyright cartel will and have increased restrictions on grassroots journalism. I don’t think news will go 100% government. No one would believe it.

Cookies are totally network spy’s, but very useful to users too.

The author mentions peer-to-peer files sharing platforms. The problem with making them all illegal is that it will not stop the evolution of piracy. There are always new ways to burn CDs, Bluray’s and share files. Only people with moral standing will not choose to go this route. The numbers of people with high moral standard is growing. Not quite as much as the other side of the coin, but enough to make entertainment profitable.

I like the fact the author does try to get the readers politically active. He even gives ideas on how to user your power as a consumer.

Most of chapter 11 was information, not based on the author’s opinion. Most of it seemed out of date.

The Internet is the most important medium since the printing press. I totally agree with that. I also agree the Big Media is finally listening to the people because of this wave of media outlets that allow everyone to be a journalist.

I disagree with the author about public officials paying attention to the interests of their constituents. He does state that it is a hope, but politicians have one agenda, the politician.

Although the book is dated, the author has a deep understanding of technology and its evolution. A lot of what I read had a lot to do with what I am learning in my computer ethics class. I would love to see a revised version of this book.

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Adam Heller’s website

My Media Blog

By Adam Heller

View my “How To” Dj Reggae music!

We The Media 3

By Adam Heller

I think Oreilly makes a very valid point in chapter 7; the users are truly in charge, as a consumer and as a producer. He stats that this is happening for the first time in modern history. It makes me wonder when else this has happened.

It seems like the difference between to two groups talked about in this chapter is the people that do, and the people that do more. I did not find this very stimulating. Of course is it more exciting to read online content from individuals that are really into their subject. I do think this is a very appropriate place to mention the Wiki phenomena. It is the ultimate knowledge base put together by users like me and you. I do find Wiki very useful, but I also find it a hard platform to post on.

I could relate to the online sponsorship section of Chapter 7. Having my own blog, I have looked into sites that let you advertise your blog to fetch some kind of sponsorship. Some sponsorships require the writer to at least mention a specific product. I am not sure how ethical that is.

Chapter 8 is about the next steps, which I am all about. I think Moore’s Law is a proven fact. I don’t know too much about Reeds and Metcalfe’s laws besides what I read in this chapter.

I have never heard of Techorati, but it does not sound appealing to me. It sounds like a glorified RSS feed solution. I found most of this chapter dull.  I think because I am excited about the next steps of media and the web, and the insights given in the chapter do not seem too relevant. It might be the fact that the book is not current.

While reading Chapter 9, all I could think about was the floating saucer supposedly containing a child. My coworkers assumed it was a publicity stunt and they assumed correctly. I think this is a good example of the public using media to trick people for personal gain.

What can you trust on the web? I recently received a warning from a SJSU center about the dangers of kids eating hand sanitizers. I could not believe the email. They claimed it was from a reputable unnamed email source. Just knowing that must make you raise one eyebrow. My point is that you must use some street smarts when reading journalism on the web, because you never know the true source of the information.

My Lunch

Final Project Plan

By Adam Heller

My final project will be a basic tutorial on “How to Dj Reggae music”. The 3 part tutorial will consist of the following:

1. Basic equipment needed – Mixer, Sound FX processor, needles, turntables

2. Basics of beat matching – Music timing, mixing techniques

3. Matching Reggae beats – Reggae mixing techniques, sound FX integration

The 3 part tutorial will be a video tutorial.

My Midterm Newsletter

By Adam Heller

 

We The Medai 2

By Adam Heller

I think this course is based on chapter 4. Everyone is becoming a newsmaker. This class helps us gather to experience tools to send our message to the masses with a click of a button.

News is no longer just for journalist. News is not reported by everyone everywhere. Twitter lets you get it out short and sweet, blogs let you tell your story and Linked In/ Facebook lets you easily share everything with your friends. Everyone is a journalist now. The problem is, who do you trust? This is a major problem with news coming from anyone. It is just not reliable.

Government is benefiting greatly from the web. People feel more in touch with the government and can easily access needed information. The web helps generate donations, awareness and a personal connection.

It seems that the government can use the web to promote grass root campaigns. The difference between the web in the 80’s and now is huge. Yes, politicians used the web back then, but not in the same way. The internet is the ultimate knowledge spreader, tool, library, interactive society.

True journalists have to keep up with the times and star blogs. If they don’t, they will be left in the dust. The public is interested in the journalist themselves. It gives them more of a connection with the news they deliver. The more I write about it, the more blogs seem to be grass root tools. They allow readers to get deeply involved in the authors works and could motivate people to take action.

Blogs have become mainstream media. This is a part in the book that yells “I am outdated!” Most news organizations these days now have a dedicated employee scouring blogs for news worthy content. The key is employee, not employees. Being a Blog scraper will soon be a profession.

Did you Know 2.0?

By Adam Heller

First off I would like to say the music accompanying the video was scary and depressing. I personaly found the video depression because the state of our nation. We live in a state that generates enough capitol to be a country, but our schools are horrible.

I did not know kids in China and India are collaborating on projects and using new technologies on a daily bases. I was aware we are living in an exponential time and the depressing part is that children in America do not get the education they need.

I am very aware of how bad the San Jose School District is. My daughter is turning 5 next year and we live in San Jose. We will either have to move or send her to a private school in order for her to get any kind of decent education. The school she is assigned to attend because of our homes geographic location in San Jose is rated a 1 out of 10, 10 being the highest. This rating applies to California schools only and our state is not very high on the education ladder.

It is depressing that the bay area has the greatest concentration of Nobel Prize winners than anywhere in the world, but my daughter living in the heart of Silicon Valley will not get a fair chance at a good education without help.

I liked the video despite the depressing music and undertones. It was a bit out of date, but I think it got the message across well. Something needs to be done about our school systems.

We The Media 1

By Adam Heller

I found the first couple chapters mostly informational and it seemed like a recap of my Intro to MCOM class. I know the history of media so it was kind of boring. Although I did not know Tim Berners-Lee created hypertext technology. Simply an amazing idea. I did enjoy how he described 911 and how the only media he saw about it at the time was from his friends.

I do not agree entirely with Gillmor  about personal blogs tend to be a running conversation. I would say now some are running conversations, but more and more personal blogs are becoming informational portals. He also mentions that it costs more when your website needs more bandwidth. This is true but the cost is marginal.

I had never heard of an SMS before. I would guess this was written before Twitter, because that is what it sound like it is.

I did not get his idea about how P2P can be used politicaly. I guess what he is saying is that P2P lets people post to the world without anyone knowing who really created the post. He was talking in future tense. I think P2P is gone and over with. The new generation of file sharing internet swave individuals use file hosting platforms.

He hits on a great point when he brings up the Pepsi song giveaway and how people cheated and shared the cheat. This happens all the time. Not only does it happen, it is happening on purpose, or seem to. Companies will leak a secret way, location and/or date to get something free and it becomes viral. This is a very new way to use viral marketing. I remember Starbucs ran something like I described about  eight months ago and it got so out of hand they stopped accepting the internet printed coupons.

He wrote some iteresting facts and I really liked the part about companies in chapter 3. Companies can use forums and discussions that bring up issues about thier products and services as marketing tools. He doesn’t talk about using the info as primary info, but that is the gist.

I also agree that the internet is making privacy a non-issue. That is saying once it is on the web, it is there for good and public.

I personaly have issuse with people and organizations siteing websites or emails as real sources. There is so much bogus stuff on the web it is ver hard to weed out the truths. The old saying about seeing is beleiving does not aply to what you read on the web.

Most of the content I read from the first three chapters was factual, or seemed to be factual. When Gillmor did give his opinion it seemed right in most cases. He knows his media and I am looking forward to read more about his vision for media in the future.