Thursday, April 23, 2009

assessing assessments

I still need to find:

Book resource
Journal Resource
Video resource (already decided on youtube)
Newspaper (found two on NYT and local Mercury, but am still deciding)

Interview will be Excel Que, who currently attends Davis (he still hasn't returned my call)

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I have not yet assessed my resources.

Resources reflections

No more star trek. Sorry all.

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1. Google, or I went through my personal library (aka my textbook), and I called up one of my friends (who currently goes to Davis for my interview.

2. I went from focusing on Youtube's bias towards companies towards comparing youtube to Hulu and Veoh on grounds of user friendliness due to this bias, and how youtube should improve themselves.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Creator's log, (Star)date 4/09-09 - Entry #11

In class assignment: narrow down, research questions, list of what is intriguing about "this topic"

social networking in and of itself is pretty much bubkiss to me, but I could narrow down my thesis by choosing a specific incident where a company's privacy was taken over the citizen's (though if I did this I doubt I'd be able to fill a single page). I could also simply cut out the part about trying to predict what this tendency would lead to, etc.

Creator's log, (Star)date 4/09-09 - Entry #10

Previous DD was a joke.

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Assignment: Make a thesis statement + provide some possible sources.

1. In addition to the revolutions to internet culture the existence of youtube has made, there are also many worries of copyright infringement as well. In an effort to protect the company's privacy, the citizen's privacy has been overridden multiple times (for example, the case of Viacom forcing Youtube to hand over data detailing viewing habits of all their users). How might this continue? Is it even worth protecting the company's privacy over the citizen's?

2. The wikipedia article is a good starting point, and several media news sites (such as kotaku) may have articles of this in their archives as well. Youtube itself might be able to help, and if all else fails, google is a fallback option.

Creator's log, (Star)date 4/09-09 - Entry #09

DD is now 9/09/09.

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Assignment: assess Wikipedia as a resource to assess Youtube.

1. The youtube article seems to be accurate overall, though according to the talks, some details such as a couple dates or technical details (such as the details of HD streaming).

2. The wikipedia entry does not delve much into how youtube is good for social networking, but the article does tell a lot about privacy and copyright issues. The article may also be used for comparing differences in streaming technology (improvement, dates HD was introduced, details of HD, video formats commonly accepted, etc.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Creator's log, (Star)date 4/07-09 - Entry #08

I would like to move DD up a bit. This will require investigation.

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Today's assignment: assess youtube as a "networking" site.

Youtube is a site that uses a designed flash media player to allow users to both watch videos and upload their own. It is, in effect, the largest video sharing site in the world. This is partially for its simplicity. If you want to watch a video, simply click on the link and it will load for you (assuming you have a recent enough version of macromedia flash). However, if you wish to upload a video, you must sign up for a free account, and upload from your profile. Uploading is easy, and one even has the option of editing notes etc. into the video afterwards.

Youtube is designed to target everyone. The young and old, the outgoing and introverted, the smart and the stupid. If you have internet, you probably use this site. However, based on the types of videos that overwhelmingly inhabit this site. It is likely that unless you're a NEET and lurk the internet religiously, you don't use it that much.

Youtube as a site represents a reasonably fast and very convenient way to not only share videos, but also easily access videos at one's leisure. Youtube is very useful in several meanings. It can be a vlog, it can be used to provide a series of shows, and it is most useful for killing time.

Even the privacy on youtube is convenient. Since most of one's profile page is dominated by one's uploaded, favorited, channeled, etc. videos, one's personal information is limited to a couple of lines under your name in a sidebar, and even that is optional if you don't want to provide it. However, the information you do provide is technically apparrent for all those who visit your profile page.

Youtube is one of the largest sites of the world, and is at the frontier of sharing "technology" whether one makes use of it or not.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Creator's log, (Star)date 4/02-09 - Entry #07

New assignment: assess "Text Me all about Yourself: The Rise of Mobile Networking"

The author, Clayton Dach, uses this article to praise and note the growth of mobile networking sites such as Twitter. He claims it is a revolutionary and enjoyable service, and many people are starting to use it every day to bother other people with the most banal nuances of their lives, as if other people care. To Clayton Dach, this is a good thing. These services are revolutionizing the world by doing what they do. And the quotes he has taken from other people certainly look like the users are enjoying these services.

However, are these services really revolutionary? Really beneficial? Really a good thing to have? Clayton thinks it is, however he fails to consider the viewpoint of the reciever, whether or not he even cares or wants to recieve these "tweets", and if they're a nuisance or not.