A new type of media that doesn't currently exist is one that I tried to create and promote myself 2 years ago at a New York Comic book convention: Comic Book Collaboration. You see, comic books seem to target a niche market nowadays, and its golden age has slipped into the past. Sure, comic book movies continue to be box office juggernauts ( no pun intended), but the actual comic is hardly mainstream anymore. A common excuse for this is that kids and young adults are highly involved in digital media, and comic book companies have tried, with moderate success, to transition into this form with digital comic books.
My idea is to have a website where a customer can sign up and give their idea for a story. Then, a team of artists bring the story to life in both paper form and digital form, the difference being the digital form would be a motion comic books, where the panels from the pages come to life.
I strongly believe this is a new media that will someday, probably through a company like Disney, will flourish.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
P2P File Sharing
The idea of file sharing in this modern digital era means the passing on of digital samples of script,music,still picture, or video from one party to another. It is in my belief that the internet is a privilege, and not a right, and file sharing, so long as it is with purchased material, is fine and often times a necessity in communication in this modern digital world. I feel strongly that if a company markets a product as a digital piece of merchandise, if they cannot put restrictions on that product (such as Apple's Final Cut Pro software can only be shared on a maximum of 3 computers) then that product is fair game for the public to share, so long as it was originally purchased ethically and traditionally. File sharing seems to fall into the category, for the most part, of fair internet practice as it entails using the internet for its intended purposes.
P2P file sharing, on the other hand, draws a thin line in the sand, then more often than not crosses over it. It entails internet clients using third party software, enabling the illegal download of goods and services. A lot of work goes into making the source material. When internet users to not traditionally purchase or share these products it becomes a crime that, according to Eric Pfanner of the New York Times in his article, Should Online Scofflaws Be Denied Web Access, "...accounts for $20 billion a year in sales."
Using file sharing for a means of sharing information is an intended practice of the internet. Pirate sights and software like Limewire are using P2P file sharing in a less than ethical way and strict penalties should be enforced.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds
In a virtual world, programmers can create their own computer-based environment. Users entering this environment can not only interact with the other people in this particular online community, but also with the created objects in the environment itself. In most virtual worlds, each user becomes an avatar, a simulated 3-d representation of themselves. The pros of such a platform being many, but most notably the ability to make decisions based in virtually rendered concepts, enabling users to reform, reshape, and reset decisions, an element not found in the real world. The ability for personal interaction with others and information sharing seems endless. As reported by Nicole Saidi of CNN, David Savill (a person living with Asperger's Syndrome, created a virtual world called Naughty Auties, the goal being to serve those with autism and their families. As he explained, "visitors can practice social interaction and find information about the condition. The graphical representations of real people create a "comfort zone" that can coax users out of their shells and get them communicating with others."(iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction) The ability to create gorgeous environments and create a comfortable platform for people to share information with a world-wide community is one of the biggest advantages of a virtual world.
A few of the negatives that are being mentioned about virtual worlds is the idea that they have the capability to allow people to launder money, and the concern over the safety of children. Most of the examples I have personally seen have come through the use of online gaming. While measures have been taken to prevent these cases, they are not fully developed, and money laundering through the selling of virtual items as well as children being subject to adult humor and language are common place.
"We have never seen any evidence of such activity going on in Second Life," Philip Rosedale, Linden's chief executive, said of the possibility of criminals using Second Life to launder money. Rosedale argued that Second Life is a self-policing community and that users would likely be quick to report any behavior that seemed to indicate users posed real-world threats.(Washington Post article: At Hearing, Real and Virtual Worlds Collide)
I truly believe the future of Virtual Worlds will grow and flourish. The positives will outweigh the negatives, and the use of virtual reality will save more lives than it will endanger them. Other than its use for entertainment purposes, virtual worlds have the capability to help scientists explore worlds they otherwise couldn't explore. It can help rescue units survey wreckage before they send their units in. Engineers and architects will be able to fully realize their dreams and imaginations before putting shovel to dirt.Thursday, October 25, 2012
Social Networking Sites
So we know the "big three,"right? Well, it always use to be Myspace, Facebook, Twitter. But as Seth Myers said, Myspace is more like the "abandoned amusement park" of social networking sites. Have you actually logged into your Myspace account in the last, oh lets say, five years? If you did, you would probably be mortified at where your life was back then. Go ahead and try it, I dare you.
Myspace was the go-to website in the early 2000's, and really was the birth of social-networking sites. Then one day, id say it was probably around 2007/2008, my friends started to join this website called Facebook. The thing was, at the time, very bare-bones and only available to people enrolled in college. I seriously thought to myself "theres no way this thing is going to last, and it definitely wont put a dent in the myspace juggernaut." Myspace was cleaner, nicer, easier to look at. Most of all, EVERYONE could use it. It was easy to upload photos, all you had to have was a digital camera, usb cable, and patience while the files converted onto your computer. Well, as you probably know, I was wrong, and nowadays myspace looks old and tired. Facebook, on the other hand, is super easy to use, accessible to everyone (even parents), and people can post comments or pictures from the phone in their pocket. I have noticed more and more artists still turn to myspace to promote their albums, and advertisers still use it, but myspace really is on life support.
About two years ago I started to notice the same thing happening with Twitter. I had really just gotten the hang of this Facebook thing, and now more and more buzz was starting to form about Twitter. At first, it seemed like a very "Hollywood" thing to do. Mostly celebrities and other media talking heads were commenting about their "Tweets" and "Twitter accounts." After all, who else other than celebrities could post a small blurb about a moment in their life and have it be interesting? Then the craze started to catch on, and now everyone seems to be on twitter, tweeting about events and uploading pictures. It's even more instantaneous than Facebook, but unlike Facebook, the characters are limited so you had better make every word count. Twitter also gives people the ability to re-tweet something someone else said, allowing other people to "follow" that additional person. Its almost like a virus that just keeps spreading. Just recently, advertisers have caught on to the Twitter craze, and I'm beginning to see more and more "sponsored links" popping up on my feed. The biggest advantage of Twitter is the accessibility to people you would otherwise have absolutely no access to. For instance, the other day The Rock ate a stack of twenty pancakes. How else would I have known that other than through Twitter?
The most recent social networking site to emerge is Instagram. Instagram is dedicated to really just getting to the core of a post: the picture. It self-expression in its most visual form, with just enough room for a small blurb. Once again, its hard to believe something like Instagram will ever be as popular as Facebook or Twitter, but hey, I've been pretty wrong in my assumptions in the past, so it will be interesting to see where this will go as well.
Myspace was the go-to website in the early 2000's, and really was the birth of social-networking sites. Then one day, id say it was probably around 2007/2008, my friends started to join this website called Facebook. The thing was, at the time, very bare-bones and only available to people enrolled in college. I seriously thought to myself "theres no way this thing is going to last, and it definitely wont put a dent in the myspace juggernaut." Myspace was cleaner, nicer, easier to look at. Most of all, EVERYONE could use it. It was easy to upload photos, all you had to have was a digital camera, usb cable, and patience while the files converted onto your computer. Well, as you probably know, I was wrong, and nowadays myspace looks old and tired. Facebook, on the other hand, is super easy to use, accessible to everyone (even parents), and people can post comments or pictures from the phone in their pocket. I have noticed more and more artists still turn to myspace to promote their albums, and advertisers still use it, but myspace really is on life support.
About two years ago I started to notice the same thing happening with Twitter. I had really just gotten the hang of this Facebook thing, and now more and more buzz was starting to form about Twitter. At first, it seemed like a very "Hollywood" thing to do. Mostly celebrities and other media talking heads were commenting about their "Tweets" and "Twitter accounts." After all, who else other than celebrities could post a small blurb about a moment in their life and have it be interesting? Then the craze started to catch on, and now everyone seems to be on twitter, tweeting about events and uploading pictures. It's even more instantaneous than Facebook, but unlike Facebook, the characters are limited so you had better make every word count. Twitter also gives people the ability to re-tweet something someone else said, allowing other people to "follow" that additional person. Its almost like a virus that just keeps spreading. Just recently, advertisers have caught on to the Twitter craze, and I'm beginning to see more and more "sponsored links" popping up on my feed. The biggest advantage of Twitter is the accessibility to people you would otherwise have absolutely no access to. For instance, the other day The Rock ate a stack of twenty pancakes. How else would I have known that other than through Twitter?
The most recent social networking site to emerge is Instagram. Instagram is dedicated to really just getting to the core of a post: the picture. It self-expression in its most visual form, with just enough room for a small blurb. Once again, its hard to believe something like Instagram will ever be as popular as Facebook or Twitter, but hey, I've been pretty wrong in my assumptions in the past, so it will be interesting to see where this will go as well.
Social Networking
Social networking has been both a blessing and a curse to internet users. Social networking, especially in the business I have decided to pursue, broadcasting, is essential to building connections amongst large numbers of people in any public sphere. Its a tremendous way to connect with other people in your community, and to stay connected with those people,many of whom will eventually help you achieve goals that would be impossible without such a tool.
Social networking has been a big plus in the advertising community. Through websites such a Facebook, advertisers can pinpoint the exact communites and people that would be interested in buying their product. (known as Target Marketing) It has also been a huge advantage to politicians looking to gain that political edge. I can tell you first hand, signing up for a "free" bumper sticker comes with at least ten different daily e-mails reminding me to donate to a campaign or get out and vote. As David Carr writes, "As a result, when he arrives at 1600 Pennsylvania, Mr. Obama will have not just a political base, but a database, millions of names of supporters who can be engaged almost instantly. And there’s every reason to believe that he will use the network not just to campaign, but to govern." (Carr, How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks' Power)
The positives of social networking can also translate into negatives. For instance, when a person uses the internet and signs up for things or registers to select websites, they are giving up their freedom to privacy more than ever. The eye of "big brother" has never been bigger. Its safe to say that the average person is probably on at least ten different mailing-lists or big-corporate survey. Just recently, I was asked to drive to a local Marriot for a "huge job opportunity." The gentleman that asked me found me on Facebook and, through a scan conducted by his company, found I would be a likely candidate to enter into this corporate pyramid. After I quickly realized it was a scam, the same gentleman had contacted many of my friends as well. All of us, because of our affiliation with something we had done and/or purchased in the past, almost got duped into buying into a pyramid scheme that we would have never gotten out of. Marc Parry describes in his article, Who Cares About Facebook Privacy? Students Do, "The authors speculate that the increased privacy interest could come from public attention devoted to the subject, from more changes in Facebook’s default settings, or from prompts that Facebook shows users." (Parry)
It seems to me that social networking will continue to grow because most people are willing to give up their freedoms of privacy in order to get ahead in life, or even to just receive their fifteen minutes of fame.
Social networking has been a big plus in the advertising community. Through websites such a Facebook, advertisers can pinpoint the exact communites and people that would be interested in buying their product. (known as Target Marketing) It has also been a huge advantage to politicians looking to gain that political edge. I can tell you first hand, signing up for a "free" bumper sticker comes with at least ten different daily e-mails reminding me to donate to a campaign or get out and vote. As David Carr writes, "As a result, when he arrives at 1600 Pennsylvania, Mr. Obama will have not just a political base, but a database, millions of names of supporters who can be engaged almost instantly. And there’s every reason to believe that he will use the network not just to campaign, but to govern." (Carr, How Obama Tapped Into Social Networks' Power)
The positives of social networking can also translate into negatives. For instance, when a person uses the internet and signs up for things or registers to select websites, they are giving up their freedom to privacy more than ever. The eye of "big brother" has never been bigger. Its safe to say that the average person is probably on at least ten different mailing-lists or big-corporate survey. Just recently, I was asked to drive to a local Marriot for a "huge job opportunity." The gentleman that asked me found me on Facebook and, through a scan conducted by his company, found I would be a likely candidate to enter into this corporate pyramid. After I quickly realized it was a scam, the same gentleman had contacted many of my friends as well. All of us, because of our affiliation with something we had done and/or purchased in the past, almost got duped into buying into a pyramid scheme that we would have never gotten out of. Marc Parry describes in his article, Who Cares About Facebook Privacy? Students Do, "The authors speculate that the increased privacy interest could come from public attention devoted to the subject, from more changes in Facebook’s default settings, or from prompts that Facebook shows users." (Parry)
It seems to me that social networking will continue to grow because most people are willing to give up their freedoms of privacy in order to get ahead in life, or even to just receive their fifteen minutes of fame.
Blogs Versus Wikis
We live in a time where an individual's voice can be heard by many through the use of the internet. The two greatest platforms one can achieve a modern-day soap box are Wikis and Blogs.
Blogs are around twenty years old, and started almost as a grass-roots style of internet usage. As the article How can we Measure the Influence of the Blogospher by Kathy E. Gill,In the early 1990s, the Web promised active communities and social networks, sharing ideas and shaping new realities. Everyone who wished to be would be a publisher; democratization of information (and, consequently, power), would follow."(Gill) A blog enables the author to create posts ranging from how-to's to political opinions. It's mean to be a form of self-expression, a published document where other readers can view and often times submit a comment. Often times, dirt-sheets will utilize a blog to their advantage, giving up-to-date reports on celebrity's life off the silver screen. Out of the millions upon millions of blogs available on the internet, the top blog remains to be the Huffington Post which, to its credit, is often honored by mass media outlets as being a credible news source for information regarding not only Hollywood, but politics as well. It is, of course, followed by the today's answer for dirt-sheets, TMZ. (Which, contrary to what Jimmy Kimmel says, does not stand for The Mexican Zone) While these are huge-market blogs, anyone from anywhere on any budget can start a successful blog, as long as their content is valued enough.
Wikis, unlike blogs, are styled in such a way that many people can add, subtract, or contribute in a number of different ways to the original base content.Ezra Goodnoe describes wikis as,"In the corporate environment, wikis are best implemented behind a firewall for a wholly internal user base."(Goodnoe, How To Use Wikis for Business,2005).It's often used to arrange groups, plan events, and spread word amongst communities with the platform being opened up to one and all. The most popular wiki website is Wikileaks. Wikileaks is anarchy at its purist form and uses the digital media as a platform to fight corruption in all forms of government. It's most recent "leak"was about detainee policies and how the United States' military detention policies.
To see a list of the top blogs on the internet, go to
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs
To visit Wikileaks, go to
http://wikileaks.org/
Really funny parody of wikileaks on SNL:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/wikileaks-cold-open/1263417/
Blogs are around twenty years old, and started almost as a grass-roots style of internet usage. As the article How can we Measure the Influence of the Blogospher by Kathy E. Gill,In the early 1990s, the Web promised active communities and social networks, sharing ideas and shaping new realities. Everyone who wished to be would be a publisher; democratization of information (and, consequently, power), would follow."(Gill) A blog enables the author to create posts ranging from how-to's to political opinions. It's mean to be a form of self-expression, a published document where other readers can view and often times submit a comment. Often times, dirt-sheets will utilize a blog to their advantage, giving up-to-date reports on celebrity's life off the silver screen. Out of the millions upon millions of blogs available on the internet, the top blog remains to be the Huffington Post which, to its credit, is often honored by mass media outlets as being a credible news source for information regarding not only Hollywood, but politics as well. It is, of course, followed by the today's answer for dirt-sheets, TMZ. (Which, contrary to what Jimmy Kimmel says, does not stand for The Mexican Zone) While these are huge-market blogs, anyone from anywhere on any budget can start a successful blog, as long as their content is valued enough.
Wikis, unlike blogs, are styled in such a way that many people can add, subtract, or contribute in a number of different ways to the original base content.Ezra Goodnoe describes wikis as,"In the corporate environment, wikis are best implemented behind a firewall for a wholly internal user base."(Goodnoe, How To Use Wikis for Business,2005).It's often used to arrange groups, plan events, and spread word amongst communities with the platform being opened up to one and all. The most popular wiki website is Wikileaks. Wikileaks is anarchy at its purist form and uses the digital media as a platform to fight corruption in all forms of government. It's most recent "leak"was about detainee policies and how the United States' military detention policies.
To see a list of the top blogs on the internet, go to
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/blogs
To visit Wikileaks, go to
http://wikileaks.org/
Really funny parody of wikileaks on SNL:
http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/wikileaks-cold-open/1263417/
Thursday, September 27, 2012
I have been apart of studying broadcasting/ media for approximately ten years now, and I have seen a rapid change in both the way television is produced as well as the way it is watched by the public. With that being said, and seeing as how I am in a unique position of first-person recollection of the rapid change in media, I would like to do a term paper on the impact of new media and technologies on the world of television broadcasting. My goal is to write a paper that focuses on the change from people watching television at a designated time slot to people now watching television a'la carte with such new media as Hulu, Netflix, DVR, and OnDemand. I intend on focusing the paper on the way this has affected the television viewing household as well as advertising.A perfect example happened recently, as WWE has signed on with HULU Plus http://www.wwe.com/videos/aj-sends-a-tout-about-wwes-new-hulu-deal-26054773
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