Dallas' LIB 103 Blog

News Report # 5

2009-04-15T06:10:00.000-07:00

Skype Means Business
John C Abell 3-23-2009

Skype has about 405 million registered users, but the average revenue per user was only about $1.35 last year. They have recently launched a new program to try and increase revenue, while also benefiting the end user. E-bay bought Skype in 2005 and has not been able to make any money off of the internet communication giant. There has actually been talk of E-bay trying to sell Skype back to its original founders. With new Skype calls, a user would be able to make a call or receive a call from another user for absolutely nothing, and approximately two cents would be the cost to make a call to a non-user. There are benefits for the user, but there are also drawbacks. A WiFi network is often used for internet connection for the calls to be made. Keeping a headset on to make business calls within a wireless network can easily be a pain for a Skype user. Also, the computer has to be in a “hot spot” for the program to be running at all. Cisco, Vonage, and a startup like Truphone are large competitors to Skype, and they bring in more revenue through various other business aspects.
I think that Skype needs to figure out a way to make more revenue. I use Skype to communicate with people out of the country, or in other states that I have not seen in a while. To think of that service as free is really cool, but it is not good for anyone who is working for Skype and expecting to make a lot of money.

News Report #4

2009-04-01T08:56:00.001-07:00

Feds Say the Volt Won’t Save GM
Chuck Squatriglia. March 30, 2009
http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/feds-say-the-vo.html

The new battery-powered Chevrolet may be the last hope for the large automaker known as General Motors. The Chevy Volt is supposed to be on the market in the year 2010, and appearing in other countries after that. However, the auto task force of President Obama believe the new electric car to be too expensive in a time when everyone is thinking about short-term costs and benefits. GM CEO Rick Wagoner was recently fired by President Obama, and may be in part because of the poor judgment of the leaders of GM and the false hope of optimism from the Chevy Volt. This four-door sedan can get up to 40 miles with one charge, and the gasoline engine is used to recharge the battery to extend the miles up to 200.
I think this is quite an interesting article for a few different reasons. I enjoy finance, and looking into the current events of the economy and different consumer sectors. It is intriguing to see the new advancements of technology that companies are coming up with. Whether it is to lower gas prices and demand for oil, or to make the environment safer with better vehicles, the Chevy Volt is enjoyable to read and learn more about. I do completely understand what Obama’s financial leaders are talking about though. A company like GM cannot make cars that are too expensive to buy in this tight economy. They may be great in two or three years, but right now they need to worry about their present cash flow. It is a great article about a nice-looking car, but I do not know how well it will do in the present environment.

Information Navigation 101

2009-03-23T21:43:00.000-07:00

Information Navigation 101
Andrea L Foster
http://chronicle.com/free/v53/i27/27a03801.htm

Information Navigation 101 is quite an interesting write-up. It is another paper on the lack of intelligent uses of information technology. Andrea Foster writes of our generation as those “who may not be so tech savvy after all.” Not too long ago, the library was the commonplace to find students researching and expanding their knowledge. Now the average student does all of his research from his own dorm room or apartment. Foster includes a large university known as Cal State Fullerton as a main example where research was done to gather her conclusions. There are many different views that are expressed; some who think that information literacy should be further advocated, and others who believe it is being put over the top. The paper also includes a study of a writing test that was taken by a few thousand high school and college students from across the country.
I thought the scholarly paper was quite interesting, especially when I have heard similar viewpoints expressed often. Andrea Foster did quite a bit of research to find the information that she did, but I do not think research is appreciated like it used to be. Write-ups and journal articles like hers do not have the same importance as they used to, especially there are so many websites with no background source but plenty of words on a page. I like where she writes of different universities and institutions that require students to take a researching class or information literacy course. After taking this library class, it has definitely broadened my research skills, as well as made me more aware of how anyone can put almost anything on the Internet.

The Infodiet . . .

2009-03-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

The article written by Steven Bell is primarily about substituting Google searches for scholarly information through a library. “The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google” discusses the advantages and disadvantages of the current situation of information research by numerous college students. Bell writes of the convenience and ease of use in Google and typing in keywords for a research paper. He also inscribes how informative and intelligent the scholarly journals, accessible through university libraries, are for an individual doing research on any topic. Not only does he write of the pros and cons, but he uses the comparison by James Morris, dean of the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University. Morris uses the term “infobesity,” referring to the high volume and low quality information that appears when using Google for research topics. Sadly enough, the papers that are written typically have the same low quality as the research papers that the information is from.
Although I see many of the points that Bell is making, I have to confess to using Google too often for research that should probably be done by the library’s journals. Google, as well as other search engines, are so convenient that it is hard to use something so complex when the easier source can take care of what needs to be done. I like the analogy that James Morris made when he compares the information research to the junk diet of low quality. Overall, I enjoyed the passage, and can see that there is definitely a problem with the research habits of many people.

The Future of Libraries . . .

2009-02-19T00:10:00.000-08:00

“The Future of Libraries: Beginning the Great Transformation” is an article about the past, present, and future of information technology. It paints a picture of the first kinds of information and paintings that are still around today, as well as where they are and how they transformed into the communication devices we have currently. The use of library is not like it used to be, and this article pointed out ten key trends that affect the development of the next generation library. There are even recommendations given for libraries, as their roles are ever-changing in each community.
This article was a pretty interesting one to read. I was not aware of the technological advancements that have happened so rapidly, until I read the timeline of events in the article. I think it is pretty cool to see how much our information environment has changed over the course of 100 years. The telephone and the radio were new inventions and the fax machine was not even close to being thought up. It is also hard to imagine that all the current technologies “will be replaced by something new.” To think that we have only seen the beginning of this information era, it simply astounds me. I already have a difficult time processing how everything works, and how all the current information gets out so quickly. I also like how the article applies information technology to the economy and the culture. I know that both are affected by the advances in information, and it is easy to see how culture and the economy rely on new technology.

News Report #3

2009-02-15T13:48:00.001-08:00

“Why Google’s Software Update Tool is Evil”
Scott Gilbertson. Feb 13, 2009. http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/02/why-googles-sof.html

All Mac OS X users received a surprise when they tried the latest version of Google Earth. Google has an automatic update engine that does not clearly ask permission to provide any automatic updates. A Mac developer says the mistake is because the designers are thinking like computer scientists instead of users of the applications. The news report proceeds to give four specific examples of why it is a bad idea for the tiny little application in the background to be running all the time. It opens up a tunnel to Google that is always on, it is always looking for an update, the updates have bugs that wipe data from your drive, and the problems go across the network for “added headaches.”
I have not tried using the new version of Google Earth, and I have not downloaded the application to my own personal computer either. I find it puzzling that Google, as large and intelligent as they are, would make such a mistake as this. Although Google is not too experienced with the Mac side of desktop applications, it is important for them to make sure they do not hurt their reputation by opening up new programs and applications. I enjoy all the innovation of Google, but I do not think they should get caught up with the newest applications if they have not perfected what they already have. Google Earth will not be the last application that Google improves, and the more time they put into each application, the better their reputation will be.

News Report #2

2009-02-04T21:45:00.001-08:00

“Google Quietly Declares E-Mail War on Yahoo”
Jennifer Martinez and David Lawsky, 2-4-09
http://wired.com/software/webservices/news/2009/02/reuters_us_google_gmail

There have been many updates in different sources of information technology, and Google is once again leading the pack in innovation. The engineers in the Gmail Labs are constantly at work to make Google the best it is capable of being. Recently, they launched a new feature that takes a person to an easy math problem after sending an e-mail. Because some users send e-mails that they later regret due to content, Google decided to direct users to this math problem to get them thinking and concentrating. When a person starts thinking, it is possible he could look back and find a different way to phrase the e-mail that is about to be sent. The article also mentions that unique visitors to Google’s sites increased to 32%, up to 775 million worldwide.

Google is quite a company, and despite the economy and reasons to have a business start failing, Google is doing just the opposite. I, personally, just opened a new Gmail account, Google’s own electronic mail provider, sometime last week. The features that they offer, the diversity among information technology, and the innovation that they lead in is what makes Google such a well-known and well-liked technological company. I do not know much about the war between Google and Yahoo, but I do know that the article says Google had 775 million visitors, while Yahoo had 562.6 million. It seems to me that the different aspects of Google (Google Chrome, Maps, Gmail, etc.) continue to keep people interested in what they will come up with next. As long as Google continues to put time and thought into what they are making open to the public, then they will continue to be successful at what they do best.

"Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?"

2009-02-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

“Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?” is an article about Wikipedia and its credibility. It discusses how some people slip false information into Wikipedia knowingly, while others edit statements that are completely false and they do not even have a clue that they are misguiding people. No matter the case, editors of Wikipedia are constantly inserting, editing, deleting, and justifying everything that is written in this online encyclopedia. The article states many different facts and examples of the discouragement of professors and scholarly intellectuals who do not like the idea of someone else being able to edit what they say about their area of interest. One writer went as far to say that a wrongfully accused individual was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, as well as his brother Bobby.

The article brought some interesting points to my mind, and I am glad I have the opportunity to think about them more often now. First of all, how credible are the sources that I use? An academic scholar who posts an article about his specific area of study, and then it gets demolished by an editor who may not be credible at all (other than what everyone else is saying). That is the kind of false information that is being provided through the almost 1.5 million entries in Wikipedia. Another point, why does a scholar want to post his knowledge on Wikipedia anyway? It seems to me that he would publish books, write in scholarly journals, or publish his findings in textbooks for students of the same field. I enjoyed the article and thought it was really cool that Mr. Halavais’ information was already corrected within three hours after he posted.

Web Hoaxes . . .

2009-01-24T12:33:00.000-08:00

“Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet” by Paul S. Piper is all about the misinformation that exists on the internet today. Examples ranging from lip balm cures and addictions, fallacies of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to the tales of September 11, 2001. The article goes into detail of examples that hold an ample amount of false information, as well as websites that claim to be something that they are not. Numerous examples of September 11th websites even manipulate the audience into donating toward a website or address that has nothing to do with benefitting or assisting survivors or their families. Some websites notify you that their site is full of false information or provide a disclaimer telling the reader not to believe what is being read. Other sites, however, are not as open about the fallacies that they hold.

I had to check myself and see what I was believing on the internet. Many of the sites that I go to for research or random bits of information are not always credible. I have noticed over the past few days that I have been checking to see the author of the website, as well as double-checking the information for accuracy. I found the article to be very interesting, and I enjoyed learning about what to look for and what to follow in a true and accurate website. Whether it’s about the White House, a cure for cancer, or a male pregnancy, one must always check the credibility of a website.

News Report #1

2009-01-20T04:55:00.000-08:00

“Jan 20: Inaugural Tech, From Steamboat to Twitter”

Jan 19, 2009; Randy Alfred; http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/01/dayintech_0120

Over the years, there have been a quite a few changes in the difference of mass communication. On this important day in history, it is clear that time and technology have changed the way we see and hear the inauguration. With Thomas Jefferson being the first President to be written about in a newspaper, to William McKinley’s highlights of his inauguration being caught in moving picture. As time and technology have progressed, so has the way we have been able to hear or view the inauguration.

I thought this passage was quite interesting and enjoyable to read. I, like most people, enjoy technology and its benefits, but it is also entertaining to see what we have come from in our nation. For today’s inauguration, it is not the first to be on the radio, or in moving picture, but it is the first to be “widely twittered.” The fact that the word “twittered” is used in the article, and most people that vote and watch the inauguration do not even know what it means, says something for the technological advances in our world today. To think that in 1817, the main way of communicating the inauguration was by steamboat service, is quite surreal to me. Another interesting fact to me was that the first inauguration was aired on TV 60 years ago. With all the technology that we are exposed to in television and the advances that are being made, yet it has only been around since President Truman was nationally aired in 1949. I have a feeling that even more major technology will be discovered and used before the next inauguration.

2009-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

Dallas