Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Interesting Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhY5k_5WPCA
there is a song called iGeneration on youtube, It made me think of iSpy as well as when you posted asking us to name our generation. Thought I'd share.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Facebook for Medicine
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Is a Digital Lifestyle a Dealy One?
Social Networking Sights Article
Monday, December 1, 2008
Are you addicted the the US Weekly of your 'friends'?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
How much are we willing to expose?
My thoughts about the class
Books of the semester
Face to Face vs. Computer Screen to Computer screen
A Personal Professional webpage for everyone?
Google: "Caitlyn Shuy" (free blog)
Surveillance
I participate in surveillance all of the time. I carry my cell phone almost everywhere I go. The other day I forgot it while out at the Container store and felt naked with out it. I couldn’t easily get a hold of anyone if I needed to. On top of that I love to check my facebook and e-mails online. I see what everyone else is doing and I am sure people see what I am doing. I do enjoy a break from surveillance which I usually only get when I go to my uncles house who doesn’t have wireless internet. They only have one computer with one internet connection. I would say this is now considered old fashion.
Over the last 2 days anyone who saw my facebook updates or my aim away messages knows that I went to the ice rink this morning, that I finished commenting on all of the mcs370 blogs, and that I made a roll recipe that was very similar to the rolls my grandmother used to make. I don’t recall what surveillance I have picked up on other people. Often times I just see if they are away or not. Also I find out if they are in town, in a good mood, need a friend or something along those lines. I think surveillance is such a part of my everyday life that I don’t really think much about it. I just part take on it like it is no different. I know this weekend when I went shopping I was being watched on video cameras. If I had run a red light or was going over the speed limit on certain roads while home I could of gotten a ticket. Surveillance is just so every day common I don’t really notice it.
Google: Caitlyn Shuy
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
A New Way To Market. . .
Do I normally remember this much and more from commercials? No, never. I usually use the radio as back ground noise. However every time I hear this commercial I tune into it because of my name. When I am near other people and I hear the commercial I will often times state 'ugh I hate this commercial'. They then listen and I explain the beginning part they missed.
I think while the commercial is highly annoying, and maybe not the most effective way to target a large audience it does target a specific audience. When you hear your name you listen. With these future technologies maybe they could insert your name when you listen to certain commercials to be certain to catch your attention. The technique now can be used for common names of the age range they are trying to target. But just thinking of how commercials may soon be tailored to your individual preferences they may even call your name out to grab your attention even if you were just using it as background noise.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Ordering pizza through your TV or rather TiVo
Of course we don't need this. A lot of technology based items we don't "need" but we can't live with out them either. I'm not convinced it is making our lives easier. I have a hard enough time figuring out the huge TV remote let alone how to order pizza. I rather go online or call to order my pizza. However it does serve a purpose. I see that in Friends they just ordered pizza. I can press pause click a few buttons and order my own pizza. And while I am waiting for it to arrive I can continue to watch the TV show. I don't even have to stand up until the doorbell rings. I also must pay in cash though. Can we find more ways to be lazy? It is a great idea, but maybe I am old fashion in concern for how things used to be. I remember dialing my friends phone numbers before there was an area code. I remember when it was so cool just to have portable phones and caller ID in your house. Now only my mom is the only one to really use the house phone. My brother uses it on occasion for better reception since his room is in the basement. I guess it is a great new way to market to the viewer and with that said even a very clever way. I just can't help but wonder where the couch potatoes of today will be in a few years if they are moving less and less.
Should we publicize it, is it a hoax?
I think you actually get tricky when you place any blame online to blog sites or chat rooms or even teen help sites. I personally volunteer for a teen help site and there are plenty of suicidal teens. At the very mention of some one wanting to end their life you have to act immediately but you never know how serious they are. They don't tell you what to do if you are a moderator or volunteer if you think the person is in immediate danger. You have to know your way around the site and know how to possibly locate them which can be rather tricky depending on the site and how computer savvy you are.
I think the real question is what can be done about these situations. The one belief I hold is we should not publicize them yes I contradict myself by writing about it. However previous accounts like this have most likely happened and I think what you tend to see is the wow that person got a lot of attention or that was a great idea I've been wanting to end my life I just needed a good way to do it. What I am trying to say is you are bound to get copy cats. So through the internet while this is news, while this is important to discuss and learn from it is also important to prevent.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Lessig vs Keen or just meta-cognition
Amateur-
I guess you could say I am an amateur figure skater. I have spent hours at the ice rink practicing and even some coaching. I know I will never go to the Olympics and never make a career out of it but I still go and skate or coach because I love to do it.
When comparing the work we do for love versus the required work we do I think the work for love, the amateur work, is often times more in depth, creative, and meaningful. While we do required work we often times complain about it, such as GFR’s on campus. We often time complain about such classes because they are required. Rarely do we have as many complaints as the class we are taking for our major that we selected. (Or maybe that is only me.)
I will hopefully be combining passion with a career. I started on a pre-nursing track and now I am on a psychology track. Going into college though I knew I either wanted to be a Nurse, Psychologist, or a Teacher. The common theme is that they all work with people to help people. I guess a passion I have is to help other people which is definitely something I will combine with my career.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
2008 Elections
The Texters
I would call our generation ‘The Texters’. It is a simple idea that this generation prefers a simple yet instant way to communicate. We are constantly in touch with each other and many of us prefer to text then to make a phone call. I know I will call someone and if I get their voicemail I hang up and send a text message. I do this because I personally think it is easier to check a text message then a voicemail. The texters describes a phenomenon that occurred in our generation and is therefore a fitting title.
I for the most part agree with the authors generalizations about our generation. Of course everyone is different and it will vary from place to place but the over all ideas are correct. I can’t pick one cultural touchstone that I feel is most useful to understanding my generation. I don’t think there is one unless you looked at a show such as The Hills which I don’t follow but it involves the life of teens and their constant communication. Another example would be the MTV show NEXT in which a guy or girl is presented with several dates and can instantly ‘next’ the person to see who else there is. Unless the person thinks there is a connection then he or she can stay on the date and offer a second date or cash per a minute on the date. It again just shows how our generation is okay with instant decisions and communication.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Post Secret
Those, like me, who closely follow Post Secret sat in line for quite some time outside the UC ballroom. Though while in line I noticed a lot of people were not UMBC students. Well on Frank's blog site he has a Post Secret Community. After the secrets are posted, or after he gives a presentation you can go to the community and login. Once logged in you can comment on the secrets posted or one those shared at a post secret event. The group of people who make comments are often time analyzing the secret finding hidden meanings behind them. Some secrets are very vague and can have varying interpretations. Everyone who belongs to the community can contribute their own opinions or just read others opinions and chose which one or ones they feel best fit what the artist was trying to say. This is a form of crowdsourcing. You are getting the opinions of many different people as to what the meaning or value of a single post card is worth.
Personal impact from your social website
Below is an article that my mom sent me thinking that it might be of interest to me. I reviewed the article and decided to post a blog about it. I included the article below if you care to read it.
I found this article interesting. Thinking way ahead into the semester I thought about a later required blog topic about goggling your name. Any college could search an applicants name and see any related material that would come up. Of course this works the best for names that are uncommon.
Then I was thinking well is it really justified to use some ones social site as a variable to get into college. I don't have a formed opinion to either side though. I think anything out there is fair game. Each of us knows, or should know that our site may be looked at any time for any reason. I have heard that some applicants to jobs are turned down because they saw the applicant’s social site and did not want to be represented by someone like that. While I feel it is not the most justifiable thing, as the article pointed out there is no way to validate this information, I feel that if you are not careful and personal life leaks out to where it may poorly represent you, a company you work for, or a school you applied to they have the power to decline your application.
AT TOP SCHOOLS, ONE IN TEN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS OFFICERS VISITS
APPLICANTS' SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES
NEW YORK, NY (September 18, 2008) -- A word of caution to college
applicants: be careful what you post online. A Kaplan survey of 320
admissions officers from the nation's top colleges and universities*
revealed that one out of ten admissions officers has visited an
applicant's social networking Web site as part of the admissions
decision-making process.
The good news: a quarter of those who report viewing applicants' sites
say that these viewings have generally had a positive impact on their
evaluation. The bad news: a greater percentage (38 percent) report that
applicants' social networking sites have generally had a negative impact
on their admissions evaluation. In one instance, an admissions officer
was looking at a student community web site for feedback on their
school. One applicant submitted a review, and the officer tracked down
that student's social network profile. On the profile, the student
bragged that he felt that he had aced the application process for that
school, and also that he didn't feel that he wanted to attend that
school. This led the officer to reject the applicant.
"The social networking frontier is a bit like the Wild West for colleges
and universities -- everyone is trying to figure out how to navigate
it," said Jeff Olson, Executive Director of Research for Kaplan Test
Prep and Admissions. "The vast majority of schools we surveyed said they
have no official policies or guidelines in place regarding visiting
applicants' social networking web sites - nor are they considering plans
to develop them." For schools who reported having a policy, generally
the policy is not to look at or factor these sites into the evaluation.
One admissions officer reported, "Staff can visit them for narrowly
defined reasons, but can't go on a fishing expedition." Another noted,
"We use [social networking sites] to contact students but do not
consider them as part of the application process."
Sandra Starke, vice provost for enrollment management at Binghamton
University, State University of New York, said, "Using social networking
sites in the admissions process is somewhat of a sticky wicket! Looking
into a site that a 16 or 17 year-old sees as somewhat private (even
though it is quite public) is challenging. In many cases, students post
things that are not true and cannot be validated in any way. We only
look at a social networking site if and when invited to by a student.
And since we tend to have a holistic approach to our admissions
process...the sites had a minimal impact on the final decision. But we
are very aware of the trend and will continue to monitor it."
Separate research from Kaplan showed that most parents of high school
students think the practice of colleges and universities looking at
social networking sites when evaluating applicants is unfair.
The evolving intersection between social networking sites and the
college admissions process has spawned a host of online sites that allow
students to post Facebook-like profiles to send to universities. About a
quarter of survey respondents (26 percent) say their schools subscribe
to one or more of these sites.
Kaplan conducted similar surveys of admissions officers at business, law
and medical schools, with similar results. Admissions officers at 9
percent of business schools, 15 percent of law schools and 14 percent of
medical schools surveyed report having visited applicants' social
networking sites during the admissions decision-making process.
The results are part of Kaplan's fifth annual college admissions
officers survey. Kaplan has been surveying admissions officers from the
nation's top colleges and universities on topical issues since 2004, in
an effort to ensure that students receive accurate insight on key trends
and issues to help guide them through the admissions process. Past
topics have included: participation in college rankings, rise of
parental involvement in the admissions process, plans for dropping early
admission policies, plans for making the standardized test requirement
optional, and use of the SAT Writing section. Kaplan also conducts
similar surveys among admissions officers at law, medical and business
schools on admissions topics relevant to pre-law, pre-med, and pre-MBA
students.
*About the survey methodology: for the 2008 survey, 320 admissions
officers from the nation's top 500 schools - as compiled from U.S. News
& World Report's "Ultimate College Directory" and Barron's Profiles of
American Colleges - were surveyed by telephone between July-Aug 2008.
About Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions (www.kaptest.com), a division of Kaplan,
Inc., is a premier provider of educational and career services for
individuals, schools and businesses. Established in 1938, Kaplan is the
world leader in the test prep industry. With a comprehensive menu of
online offerings and a complete array of books and software, Kaplan
offers preparation for more than 90 standardized tests, including
entrance exams for secondary school, college and graduate school, as
well as English language and professional licensing exams. Kaplan also
provides private tutoring and college and graduate admissions consulting
services.
Press contacts:
Carina Wong
carina.wong@kaplan.com
212-453-7571
Printable version
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Advice?
When I am faced with a major decision I often turn to a specific person that I am close to whom I feel will understand. Some situations I survey several people I am close to for advice and take a mixture of the advice. In general I turn to who I feel will best be able to help me based on the level at which they know me.
I found reading a few sides from www.sidetaker.com really interesting. One was about him not being supportive of his wife going back to school because he wanted a larger family right then. Well that was an easy side to take. But others like the women dating the man who recreationally smokes pot, but not wanting to date a recreational pot smoker is a little tougher to pick a side. Personally I can easily pick a side, but why is dating the guy if she knew this?
For me the situation depends if I would trust the crowd or the advice columnist more. I currently volunteer for an online teen help site as a
Crowdsourcing
I also used this site when buying my boyfriends birthday gift. However I used the site to get reviews on what I knew was in stores. After reading the reviews I knew exactly what I wanted to purchase and in a time crunch I went to the store to make my purchase.
I find crowdsourcing to be very useful. It is a good way to get a wide range of opinions on a product. I try to always return favor when I purchase and item online.
Another example of crowdsourcing that just popped into my head is www.rateyourprofessor
I do find this business model to be effective. I regularly use crowd sourcing to help determine my decisions.
