Jour 4551 New Media and Culture

Megan Meier was a 13 year-old girl that was the victim of cyber bullying. I was aware of cyber bullying after discussing it in a few classes prior to learning of this particular case. According to a website that describes this issue, “Cyber bullying is negative or hurtful behavior using an electronic medium, repeated over time, that involves an intention to hurt the victim and a power differential between the bully and the victim.” After a few exchanges with a made up person named Josh Evans, Meier committed suicide. Josh Evans ended up being a woman named Lori Drew, a mother of Meier’s “ex-friend” who lived four houses away. According to the New York Times

“In a highly unusual move, Thomas P. O’Brien, the United States attorney in Los Angeles, prosecuted the case himself with two subordinates after law enforcement officials in Missouri determined Ms. Drew had broken no local laws.”

After finding charges that could stick using the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, “the jury found Ms. Drew guilty of accessing a computer without authorization on three occasions, a reference to the fraudulent postings on MySpace in the name of Josh Evans. (NYTimes)” It is sad that someone who is an adult in our society would conspire against any person, especially someone that she had once had ties to. A cyber bully can come in any form and this case is a prime example of how extensive the damages could be due to it. The Meier family will never get their daughter back and has to live with the knowledge that it was a prank that caused all this pain. Many were and should continue to be outraged about this case, but also about all the other cases of cyber bullying that have affected our online communities. Nobody should ever have to read the words “The world would be a better place without you.” People are so fragile and pour themselves into all these social networking sites, thinking that they are more real online then in the real world—which leads them to take all the things said to them there way too seriously. Cyber bullying needs to be reported to, because it can have side-effects like this case.

Continue reading "Cyberbullying and its effect on a teenage girl. " »

Posted by gebre036 at 7:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In the documentary “Hacking Democracy,” a computer analyst named Harri Hursty tampered with a memory card used for the voting scanner. He “stuffed” the ballot box prior to the “election” simulation done by the creators of the documentary.

I was disappointed to see that someone, one person who had access to the technology could perhaps do damage to the voting system that many hold dear. In 2008 I voted in my first Presidential Election. I was excited to hold the honor of electing the President-Elect of my choice. I thought it was a privilege that many hold dear. After seeing the results one of the women in the documentary started sobbing. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in her head that made hear break down, or what kind of toll it really took on her thinking or trust of the system. She just seemed broken about it. And broken she should feel. She has been proud of the voting system, the “democracy” she thought this country held, and more the country “people laid their life down for.” Maybe if she had known this prior to voting, in her earlier years she might have been a completely different person with different morals.

A lot makes sense to me now; the outcry over Former President Bush winning, the “lost” ballots. In the case of Minnesota’s 2008 Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken. Could that be the case for the dispute between the two parties? I think so. I did wonder how Norm Coleman was announced the winner, but after a recount Al Franken was declared as the winner. It makes sense now, but maybe we’ll never know who the real victor was and is. We have to wait for appeal after appeal until the verdict is finalized. I wonder what the creators of “Hacking Democracy would have to say about these injustices.

http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/hackingdemocracy/synopsis.html
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/11/05/minn_senate_race_very_close/

Posted by gebre036 at 7:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our speaker told us much about his work in Cuba, but sadly all I could focus on was the digital divide he was discussing. “Does Cuba have Internet?” The class asked. “They have dial-up,” he said, but it costs an outrageous amount that would be unimaginable for the Cuban citizens. He told us that many have moved to wireless phones, but couldn’t register the phone in their own names. Someone else had to register the phone for them, but what if someone does not have the luxury they would be technologically behind.

African countries are having trouble keeping up with the rest of the world. Particularly because the funds are not available for the infrastructure of Internet it is hard for many. As I am from an African country, I know that my relatives have switched to the cellular phones from land lines. There is dial-up, but people do not have it in their homes, they only in have access in coffee shops and places which have the most people who can pay. The dial-up is expensive, and is especially hard for those in the rural areas.

We talked about the rural versus urban in class. In America I wouldn’t expect there to be a digital-divide, but there is. People who do not have access to broadband will soon feel the affect if they haven’t already of everything moving online. Resources are harder to find for someone who cannot or does not know where to look. Rural areas also have trouble getting a cable connection, but what about the urbanites who cannot afford to make ends meet let alone pay for an internet subscription. The urbanites might be able to go to the public library or somewhere along those lines, but the resources might still be limited.

In the article “Sending Up Satellites and Closing Digital Divide” we learn that satellites could be put in place to give those who don’t have access a way to gain access. That is a brilliant idea, it might not be as fast as DSL but connectivity that is better than dial-up is a big step in the right direction. Through the access the global economy of those countries who are mostly without can grow.

Posted by gebre036 at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On “Growing Up Online” (Frontline, 2008), there were teenagers who seemed that they were addicted to the Internet, but all it seemed like was kids without discipline. The father would e-mail his son to get his attention but could not get his attention otherwise. I would say that this teen poses all the sign of an Internet addict, but to me it seems like a lack of discipline. The father should be able to speak to his son without emailing him. The father is enabling the Internet addiction.

There was a particular teen whose name was Jessica, but had an online alias of "Autumn Edoews" the Goth seductress and she built a whole cyber existence. She felt she had to reinvent herself to feel accepted, by her peers and the world of random strangers. She was so unhappy that she lived to be, Autumn, but could never project that in her real life. Jessica's parents should have been aware of the signs of Internet addiction. Yes they did take away her cyber world, only to allow her to rebuild it again.

The last "addict" that was shocking was shocking was the girl who used the Internet to learn tricks for anorexia. Her parents didn't know a thing. How can you not tell that your daughter doesn't eat? Yes she was an athlete, but the parents should pay closer attention or she will end up wasting away.

90% of teens are online, said the narrator. This could be anywhere in America. The addicts are addicted because the parents are enabling them. There should be rules, but in this constant advancement of technology it is harder. The new technology could be an online disciplinary project or window that comes up and kicks the youth off. Discipline is key and always has been to keep someone on track.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6251187983028437242

Posted by gebre036 at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I need to sell my car, I want to buy a guitar, and I need a place to sublet for the summer. Hmmmm where should I look? These used to be questions many people asked in different periods of their lives. What would they do? They would put an ad in the newspaper and worry about how many words could best describe the car while keeping it affordable, or driving around with a “for sale” sign stuck to one of the backseat windows (if it even had backseat windows?!?!?... I would stay away from that one!) Looking in thrift shops and second hand stores, or even looking for signs posted to lead you in the right direction. Going on a goose-chase to find the things you were looking for is a thing of the past. There is something that has replaced all of the hassle and costs of the classifieds and just about everything else, it’s called Craigslist. It is your one stop shop to buy, sell, and trade items you would often not have the luxury of dreaming of.

A man named Craig Newark founded Craigslist in 1995, and now “craigslist is #8 worldwide in terms of english-language page views.” Craigslist is great, but what are the affects of this great cite. Craigslist completely undermines the newspaper’s business model. Craig Newark probably didn’t have that as a goal, but he sure is accomplishing it. According to “The Cult of The Amateur” by Andrew Keen, “Every supposedly ‘free’ new car or house or job advertisement takes money straight out of a local newspaper.” That is a very strong statement, but I think it is a step in the right direction. In a Wall Street Journal article in 2005

“Gary Pruitt, chief executive officer of McClatchy, publisher of 29 newspapers, including the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and the Sacramento Bee, said during his company's second-quarter earnings report on July 14 that outside competition was a concern. ‘We are, though, aware of the Craigslist effect, and not just Craigslist, [but] other classified services,’ he told investors and analysts.” In 2005 the newspapers were scared, but with a slumping economy more newspapers are trying to bring in ad revenues just to stay active, while advertising firms and everyone else are trying to cut corners. Craigslist ends up being the next choice, if it wasn’t the first choice already.
The forecast doesn’t look too sunny for any business model that depends on ad revenue to cover operation costs. Newspapers have to convert their old media into a new media business model if they want to be around longer than 10 more years. Good luck newspaper.

http://www.smartmoney.com/investing/stocks/craigslist-stopping-the-presses-18189/?page=2

http://www.craigslist.org

Posted by gebre036 at 10:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Do You ever wonder what would happen to books if they were all transferred into the internet, in some sort of library where you could access, copy, paste, and reconstruct pages of different books to make them your very own. Well in the book “The Cult of the Amateur” by Andrew Keen, Keen talks a lot of a man named Kevin Kelly and his ideas about the digitizing of all books. Keen is very opposed of the idea of all books being digitized, because it doesn’t give it justice. According to Kelly, “the real magic will come… as each page in each book is cross-linked, clustered, cited, extracted, indexed, analyzed, annotated, remixed, reassembled, and woven deeper into the culture than ever before.”

How can you enjoy a book for its quality of writing, its authenticity, and thoughtfulness, if books are lost to the Internet? Books are something personal, you can hold them in your hands and take anywhere you please no WIFI necessary, you don’t ever have to worry about the words not being of the authors, or reading the wrong story because those words were meant for those pages. Keen gives a few examples of classics being jumbled up. My own examples needs you to think a Harry Potter book meshed with Uncle Tom’s Cabin, The Cult of the Amateur, meets a Stephan King novel. It just doesn’t work. How can you destroy the artistry behind a book?

“According to Kelly, we can no longer protect intellectual property from piracy, so all texts should be available for free.” This may be true for music, but a book’s pages cannot just merely downloaded. It has to be digested to evoke thought, convey knowledge, explore your imagination, and feed your passion as a thinking breathing human being. Not to mention the economic downfall the medium would take as a whole. A book is something you can cherish your whole life and always go back to in a physical form, don’t allow books to just be one more random from the “Liquid Library” that sits on your hard drive. Take advantage of the opportunities gained by reading one book, meant for one story, and what better than physical text you can touch and feel. Give your eyes a rest from the computer screen.

Posted by gebre036 at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)