Whos Behind the Mask?

My Point: Internet Anonymity

There is an extraordinary amount of sources one can find on the internet that questions the validity to trust this information. Majority of anonymous people are the ones to post this data so can it always be valid? This point is one made in Andrew Keen's work in The Cult of the Amateur by that when using the Internet there is a blind trust put in that people do not really question if what they are reading is accurate.

There are so many changes and updates made on the Internet by any person who so chooses to make it that way where it becomes normal not to question it. There is a set routine made that conditions people to not stop themselves to just question or do deeper research on it. The article below provides a solid example of the con of this blind trust.

"I was 'Trusting Lois." is the one bold statement of Lois Mesler who's family was taken advantage of a man using the name Jason Hartlen putting his condo on rent through the internet. The Mesler family wanted to see Steve Mesler participate in the Winter Olympics, but that had changed with this scam. Everything had seemed to be a valid deal through the website and the offer, but it was not.

Lois Mesler was stolen $7,332 U.S. dollars like other families by the man making this offer by having the individual put a down payment under the alias account along with another last payment which the man would take. While the family would never hear from the conman again. The Mesler family had put a police report, but the reality news given was that they had a slim chance recovering thier money. Lois Mesler along with her family had witnessed what can happen putting inante trust in Internet services without taking precautions.

The Mesler family just adds to many people who fall for the words given by a source one never sees a face too. Yet there is this taken trust put through this that is never questioned. Keen's point emphasize this and that some of these people who put information out there aren't ones qualified with accurate information. We can't always put trust in a website that looks professional will always offer a valid deal as "Jason Hartlen" had done with the Mesler family.

However, it is hard to know what is true and not true on the Internet. After what had been done to the Mesler family they had been taught through this crime on what to really look for. When news broke out with what had been done to them there were people on Facebook offering them a place to stay which in the end they recieved a place to stay at. The upside to the Internet is that of the real world where it is always a risky chance to put trust in someone espeicaly when it is your money.

Forty Minutes of Silence

I started well on absorbing the content by Andrew Keen by just sitting against my wall on my bed. I should have known that the bed would be my failing error. Soon after the third page did I start to drift off and zone out. Then I would be thinking in my head of future plans or things that I had to do. Next thing I know, I'm laying down on my bed trying to get back in the paragraph I reread a couple times over. My body starts moving from leg swinging to rolling my neck around. Further along in the chapter do I zone out so much that the next thing I know I'm waking up from my alarm set to end this experiment. The thing about reading print offs is that I zone out to easily, and it makes it harder to finish. It's even harder when there is no noise to give me an alert sense because then I just end up making the noise in my head to occupy myself. If not then my brain takes an unexpected vacation leave.

Pay Attention

I started with listening with Attention: The *Real* Aphrodisiac since I always prefer to listen to assignments than read them. I noticed with this partial attention that has been growing with this fix of wanting to multitask with technology. Like during listening to Linda Stone's speech did I check my e-mail and write back to my family, but realize that I would stop to take in her words than continue with my e-mail. It was like my thought process was a car in traffic just going and stopping in order for me to get my work done. Then I had just had to log out of MSN because the orange blinking that "I've received a message" just took to much of my attention.

Even with listening to Bad At Multitasking? Blame Your Brain I would decide to start blogging on what I'm doing. It's just this sense that I have to do at least two things at once, but its more like I described it before as a traffic zone going on. I've noticed one thing when I started the second speech is that I would pause it because I would just get tired of sitting there. Then come back in order to finish it a few minutes later. Even when I'm reading Attention literacy I would stop reading it after awhile then check what I'm writing to make sure that I caught what I've just read. Though reading it on screen does help me more than having to read it on hard copy because I zone out a lot easier when reading a print out. That is one habit from public school that I never got out of. One thing I realized out of all this is that when one is self motivated to focus on something it goes along more, but keeping to that is hard when I keep thinking that I have distractions that must be attended to as in favorite TV show Big Bang Theory is playing so I must watch that instead. That is why I have to love the exit button because then I focus on that one tab alone without the gazillion of other tabs distracting me.

Reformat of the Brain

Is Google Making Us Stupid? by Nicholas Carr

This article focuses that a new way of thinking is being made in our brains due to the more concise format on the Internet articles found now. Since the main focus now is to catch a readers attention many have adapted their broadcast information to surface content. Since the Internet can provide different interruptions when one reads there was no choice, but to follow in this adaptation. The author points out through scientific research that the brain has been taught to rewire itself to think for this writing style. So the gradual change of mentality came because it is fairly easy for the brain to adapt to this which it has done in the past when the printing press came out. That is why with the branching of this new concise efficiency to keep wanting to bring better service of information is changing the long in depth articles of literature from what it use to be. Google is a main contributor to this because of it being the most favorable search engine and high investor in this journey to bettering the process of information. Google's constant way of wanting to constantly making something better puts the worry of going to far on depending on machines to think for the human brain. This ends on the note that one must not lose the quality that makes a human intelligence to be replaced with artificial content.

Nick Carr and Scott Karp: Is The Web Making Us Stupid?

This article is in agreement with Carr on pointing out the new methods on reading the Internet in a more concise manner by "small chunks", but not in that it makes the individual mentality lacking. This goes on to how reading is a tool that is learned and something to be utilized in spreading ones idea in "big chunks" from one reader to another. Now the Web has come to alter this to a new pace when reading. Which results to people adapting to these new methods.

Summary on Ch. 2 New Media as Cultural Technologies

The take of culture and technology can be shown as "broad and interconnected" which can be utilized to become a double edge sword. One illustrated example of this would be the relationship between media and modernity, and quoting examples from McLuhan on the content message of media to cultures to show more aspects of this cultural technology relationship. Branching with showing the perspectives of communication, media, and cultural studies to show the different theories mentions along with assumptions that come with it.

The author makes a point on the arguments focused more on aphorism and analogy rather than empirical analysis. Also there is constant showing that due to this being a theory it is hard to connect new media in being the cause of cultural technology due to many depending variables. Because of constant change of new media and take that society and its culture will take to it there can't really be a clean cut one hundred supported fact that new media is the cause. Terry Flew ends this that it will continually be tested with new means because its a continuous cycle.

A Summary for Flew Ch. 1

The main point to emphasize is that technology is so rapid in production that it will eventually become "dated". Terry Flew uses the quote of Sonia Livingstone "what's new for society about the new media?" that sets his description on what new media is categorized into three main groups communications network, computing/information technology, and content on how it is delivered to society. The definition that the author goes for is that new media is combination of traditional media being adapted to the developing and new means of digital media. Using the Internet as a prime example of such by describing the brief history of how it came about, and then changed to be more serviceable for society. The key usage on how useful it was to society was the usage of hypertext for it allowed more connection for the user which made information easier access. This started a chain event of websites more interconnected using this hypertext method, and install the usage of Hypertext Transfer Protocol along with Hypertext Markup Language. Causing the audience for the Internet to continually increase due to this easily available linkup.

Making the point on digitisation that the coding in itself for information was becoming shorter and shorter for more available information which led to more job openings. Because there was a bigger interest on maintaining this information so convergence played a main role in all this media so steadly increased on the goal of easier access. The three levels for convergence to start this begins with functional which is independent form of information as in TV and radio. The second level is industry which is "merger of computing, IT, telecommunication businesses, and media sector". The last is convergent products and services which can be exampled as credit/debit transcations. Now two major features that connect with digitisation and convergence that is in major usage is interactivity and networks. The World Wide Web is display of this by choice of how to use this information access, and the outcome of this knowledge. Next step to the progress of this take with new media would be how people connect through internet by globalization and virtuality. Virtuality gives the sense of creating an alternate persona of an individual and chance of virtual community. Globlaiztion combines through closing the distance of passing information on a shorter width rather than before of waiting longer periods. Which helps new media to thrive by easier service for soceity and passing of knowledge. As quick as technology is to advance the only "new" part of the media would be the updated service task provided for society and the reaction taken with it.