News Report

Ashton Kutcher challenges CNN to Twitter popularity contest

by: Brandon Griggs

found at: http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/04/15/ashton.cnn.twitter.battle/index.html?eref=rss_tech

Summary:

The article talks about Ashton Kutcher who challenged CNN to get to 1million viewers before him. Kutcher says if he wins he will "ding-dong ditch" Ted Turners, CNN founder, house. "I found it astonishing that one person can actually have as big of a voice online as what an entire media company can on Twitter," Kutcher says in a video on Qik.com.

As of Wednesday Ashton Kutcher had 896,947 followers, putting him in third place in the number of followers. Britney Spears was in second with about 905,640 followers, and CNN's breaking news account was watched by 937,787 people on the site. As of now no single Twitter account has attracted 1 million followers, according to TwitterCounter and Twitterholic, two sites tracking the most popular Twitter users.

CNN maintains 45 official Twitter accounts, with a total of more than 1.3 million followers. Kutcher is racing the network's breaking-news feed specifically. CNN's breaking-news feed on Twitter was launched three years ago by James Cox. CNN recently acquired the rights to the Twitter account from Cox this week, said Martin, who would not disclose terms of the deal. CNN will hit the 1 million mark by 1 p.m. ET on Friday, based on Purgar's projection, which assumes the rate of new followers for the past 20 minutes will continue, he said by phone Wednesday. Purgar said he will continue to post updates to the data on his Twitter account.

The battle highlights another Twitter trend: celebrities using their accounts to pump up charities and causes, not just their own fame. Kutcher may help charities fight malaria if he beats CNN, and actor Hugh Jackman posted this note on his Twitter account Tuesday, indicating he will donate $100,000 to a fan's favorite charity:

"I will donate 100K to one individual's favorite non profit organization. Of course, you must convince me why by using 140 characters or less."

My Reaction:

It's extremely hilarious to me that CNN is reporting on Twitter. I think this alone is a symbol of how large social networks have become. I personally hate Twitter and think it's pointless, however I do have an account after being hassled by a friend.

It's good that Kutcher and Jackman have decided to use this challenge and Twitter and/or other social networks as a way to raise money for charities and awareness of issues around the world. Though i personally hate Twitter it is a simple way for one person to stay up on current events without having to go to a million different sites or watching tv forever.

Reading Response #5

Information Navigation 101

New programs teach undergraduates how to use the Internet and the online card catalog in search of the best sources

By ANDREA L. FOSTER

Summary:

In short this article talks about how college students use technology for almost every activity throughout the day whether its listening to music on an ipod or updating information on a social network and yet are still uninformed when it comes to academic research. This article like many of the other articles we’ve read states that students rely heavily on Google and Wikipedia as sources and remains in the dark about scholarly information. The article stresses that there is an abundance of information and that only fuels the students’ confusion. The chancellor at California State mention that the library was the only source of information she had growing up and now there are choices all over the place with questioning integrity and status of authority. It also uses California State as an example of one of the schools whose professors encourage the use of scholarly information by the use of the school librarian as a part of information literacy. Information literacy programs are developing and are now being considered as a measure of an institutions performance and colleges are forming mission statements around the issue. The article goes on to discuss the history of information literacy and states that some campuses even require students to prove their competence in the area and possible even a passing grade. However some are criticizing saying that information literacy is not a new movement. It’s something that has been there all along and that it’s a path leading to “irrelevancy because information seeking is going to become simpler.” There are about three hundred information-literacy sessions for students each semester.

Response:

This article like so many we’ve read before continue to bash students about their ignorance to scholarly information. However I personally believe that like everything else we have to learn - addition, subtraction, the periodic table – research is something that has to wound into a class such as English. While there is a movement going on where people are embracing information literacy – It’s not only a problem in colleges. This is a problem that wouldn’t need a solution if grade schools moved along with technology. We are taught at that age to use the library why not begin at that age how to use the computer. Schools are even having adolescents as young at ten turn in assignment that require some type of research. While ten is a bit young for scholarly information high school and even junior high might be the age to start because then it becomes second nature just like Google and yahoo or any other type of simple search engine on the Internet.

Reading Response #4

The Infodiet: How Libraries Can Offer an Appetizing Alternative to Google
By Steven J. Bell the director of the library at Philadelphia University

Summary:

“Infodiet” vs. “Infobesity” is a great way to explain the main subject of this article. In short this article discusses how most students would rather have an abundance of information (whether it’s of good quality or not) rather than have good quality full text articles. Students like to be able to have one search box and punch in simple key word phrases and get back an abundance of relevant and related articles to use for research. Most students lacking information literacy fail to verify whether the information they receive is substantial. This article compares databases, even those scholarly ones, to google. Google being the most known and widely used search engine makes it relatively easy to find information and web sites pertaining to the information keyed in the search box. It returns hundreds sometimes thousands of results. This article explains how most databases now are more concerned with the quantity of full text articles as oppose to the quality making it more like a search engine than a scholarly database.

My Response:

As a student of course we like to have information fast and easy however in response to this article I agree that if we were taught how to use the databases then we would use them more frequently. Before taking English as a junior I had no clue that those databases even existed better yet how to use them. I understand that they are an expensive thing to have access to but if there was a way to be exposed to them earlier such as high school or even middle school then they would be more widely used. In addition to the students not really being informed on how to use them or where they are or how or how to access them I believe as Americans our emphasis is elsewhere. We should be more concerned about school and education and pay our teachers more (K-12 and higher education) and invest more money into books, databases, and other types of information earlier. In high school most of my teachers were happy enough that students turned in work and weren’t always that concerned about the quality. Not to say that I’d never had a teacher that cared, or that there aren’t plenty of teachers who do care. But just like on any other job when the workers are cared for they produce better quality work, and in this case teachers’ work are our next doctors and lawyers and even the doctors that will be saving lives. It’s amazing how necessities in life such as information and health care become the most expensive. The things we put a dollar on!

News Report #3

How's Your Date Going? Ask the Artificially Intelligent Table
The Wired Campus: Chronicle of Higher Education
by: Steve Kolowich
http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3614/hows-your-date-going-ask-the-artificially-intelligent-table

Summary:

Three undergraduates attending Carnegie Mellon University developed a computer technology that can read signals of a dinner date. It’s an “artificially intelligent dinner table that reads physical gestures and speech patterns and lets the participants know how the date is going in real time.” The table has been named Eye Table. The table uses a pair of motion sensors that communicate with each that each participant wears on his/her head. The sensors can tell if there are awkward silences and if the participants are looking at each other in the eyes and analyzes it and then relays the information to the participant.
In addition to analyzing the date if the Eye Table feels like the date is going well it will list a number of activities to do post dinner or it might tip off the waiter that the couple may want another bottle of wine. On the other hand, if it senses that the date isn’t going that well it will conveniently list numbers to local cabs.
Dan Eisenberg, one of the three inventors, recognizes that the idea in concept is amazing however he realizes that subjects who know they are being studied behave differently. He also says that live feed information could potentially make a bad date worse or derail a perfectly good one. The goal on this project was never to revolutionize the dating scene; it was merely a “proof – of – concept that they hoped would inspire others to think about how computers can understand human emotions”

My Reaction:

Making computers understand human behavior is a scary subject. With movies such as IROBOT and Disney’s Smart House the mere thought of a computer having emotions is fatal. In the article though it said nothing about computers having actual emotions but I think that after a computer can understand human emotions it will be able to mimic them hence the Smart House. If we are going to make computers understand human emotions then they must also learn and understand the laws and right from wrong. I understand that this technology is in the beginning stages but using this technology on an actual date will probably make things more awkward. Not only that but it would look weird. I think if this were to be an actual product then it would have to be able to read two peoples gestures and speech while only one person knows about it. Most times its one person who is nervous or wants to do something extra special to make sure the date goes well. I think the future of this product will be smaller and not an entire table and be used by one person while still observing the other.

Reading Response #3

The Future of Libraries
Beginning the Great Transformation
By Thomas Frey, Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute
http://www.davinciinstitute.com/page.php?ID=120

SUMMARY:

The article takes the history of libraries as far back as the DaVinci collections. It describes the journey of the collections from his own private library to personal possession of one of DaVinci's most trusted assistant and favorite student. Once he died the collection changed a few more hands and got destroyed or missing with each passing of the collection. Not until 400 years after the death of DaVinci did his work become open to the public.

The role of the library was also discussed. From ancient times when books were expensive commodities and chained to lecterns through present day where libraries have evolved from just a place to do research but also a place to enjoy leisure reading. The article also discusses the transformations the library has taken and predicts how a change in technology will affect the future of libraries. The ten key trends that will affect the future of libraries are as follows:

1. Communication systems are continually changing the way people access information.
2. All technology ends. All technologies commonly used today will be replaced by something new.
3. We haven’t yet reached the ultimate small particle for storage. But soon.
4. Search Technology will become increasingly more complicated.
5. Time compression is changing the lifestyle of library patrons.
6. Over time we will be transitioning to a verbal society.
7. The demand for global information is growing exponentially
8. The Stage is being set for a new era of Global Systems.
9. We are transitioning from a product-based economy to an experience based economy.
10. Libraries will transition from a center of information to a center of culture.

MY REACTION:

The most interesting part of this article was the predictions for the future. While a few of them I'd already heard in some form or fashion. The one that most makes sense and provides the most room for opportunities is #9 (Transitioning from a product-based economy to an experience based economy). That rings especially true because in today's economy majority of our "products & items" are imported from other countries. Between technology and lowering costs factories have either become machines or foreign. Also I think that #6 is quite true. There are already programs that allow you to speak the words you want typed. I can only imagine going into a computer lab where there are no keyboards only monitors and microphones or better yet far past verbal pretty soon there will be machines that can read your mind and know what to put on the paper or even know what functions you would like it to do such as shut down, restart, or even power up. Technology is evolving and libraries are going to need less room for books and more room for the technology driven society we have become.

Reading Response #2

Can WIKIPEDIA Ever make the Grade?
By: Read, Brock
Chronicle of Higher Education
10/27/2006, Vol. 53 Issue 10

Summary:
This article “Can WIKIPEDIA Ever Make Grade” talked about the problems that scholars have with the site. It discusses Wikipedia’s process for editing and adding new entries. It goes on to discuss how one professor Alexander M.C. Halavais tried to deliberately include erroneous information on the site and within only hours Wikipedia found the errors and had them removed. The big question this article arises is whether scholars feel they should join in with the “Wikipedians” and contribute to the articles on the site. Some scholars say that they have tried to contribute information for one reason or another it was rejected. Whether it was too lengthy or whether it was simply editing someone else’s article who didn’t take kindly to the editing. Some scholars have even talked about making their own site that goes through a more thorough committee of scholars or professors ensuring its accuracy.

My Reaction:
I definitely think that professors and scholars are just way too uptight when it comes to Wikipedia. Why only Wikipedia? There are numerous different sites on the internet that claims to be accurate sources of one subject or another. Wikipedia is justified in doing whatever they want to with their site and using whatever rules they would like to, it’s their site. If the scholars and professors want so badly to contribute to a site and to be heard they could just start their own wiki site where they confirm the credentials of contributors. They’d have a market for it. It seems there are enough people that disagree with Wikipedia to have an audience.
What I can’t understand is how professors and scholars have enough time to worry about one website. They should focus more time ensuring that people especially young people do better research. If there were more people educated on doing research than there would be less people to fall into the traps of misinformation. With the change that the internet and technology has made on information and the way the people research, there should be a class that is required as young as elementary school or middle school that teaches students at young ages how to evaluate web pages and consult various sources before taking something in as truth.

News Report #2

India Announces Prototype of $10 Laptop for Education
by Shailaja Neelakantan
found @ http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3588/india-announces-prototype-of-10-laptop-for-education

Summary:

This article shortly described how India’s ministry in charge of higher education is creating a low powered internet capable laptop with expandable memory for only ten dollars. This laptop is scheduled to hit the Indian market within six months. The purpose of the laptop is to according to India’s secretary of higher education is to provide a better quality of education to the remote areas of India. The ministry is working out ways to beam lectures from the Indian Institute of Technology across the country. Apparently the internet is the best way for the remote areas of the country to receive the same education as students attending such institutions as Indian Institute of Technology. A prototype of the $10 laptop is expected to be ready next week to be unveiled to the public which was developed with the help of students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bangalore's Indian Institute of Science, and the Vellore Institute of Technology, as well as various others. In addition to providing internet and education across the world there's a heavy focus on low power so that is capable of working off of two watts for villages where electricity supply is a problem. There are even thoughts in the works of a solar or dynamo-powered laptop to save on electricity. India opted out of buying the "$100" dollar laptop developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They believed that the laptop had too many hidden costs and would ultimately bring the total price to $200. There was no mentioning on whether they were planning to import these laptops to the United States.

My Reaction:

I think its great India is so focused on being able to provide quality education even to those who aren't as accesible. I also think that with this in the works in addition to the already in the works $100 laptop is just a matter of time before even laptops and computers become as easy to buy toilet paper. In the past years computers have become a necesity, and laptops a luxury. In the future laptops will be the necesity and computers will become another part of the house like televisions.

Neelakantan, Shailaja. "India Announces Prototype of $10 Laptop for Education." The Chronicle of Higher Education 30 Jan. 2009: 5 pars. Wired Campus: India Announce Prototype or $10 Laptop for Education - Chronicle.com. 31 Jan. 2009 .