Reading Comments Week #13

Dustin's blog
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=1693482552938456993&postID=9057758121596538993&page=1


Maggie's blog
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4657309357315020681&postID=4495916162585289725&page=1

Muddiest Point Week #12 Revisted

After viewing the class presentation on Sunday morning I was wondering why so little class time was spent on podcasts? I am familiar with blogs and wikis because of school assignments but I know little about podcasts.

Muddiest Point week #12

No video was posted so its difficult to have a muddy point from class. This week's topic was social software. I looked through the power point slides but it left alot to be desired without a video or audio presentation. The university is closed for the holidays so I assume no one was there to post the video before the muddiest point due date.

Readings week #13

2 readings and 1 video for this week. The 2 readings were 2 websites.
No Place To Hide Website--Robert O'Harrow, Jr. and the Center for Investigative Reporting
This website has many links. The website presents multimedia investigations by news organizations working together concerning the government's expanded surveillance authorities and activities in the wake of September 11, 2001. The government uses private data collection to watch its citizens in the name of security. This site also comments on the passing of inaccurate information among government agencies.
Electronic Privacy Information Center Website
Another website with many links devoted to privacy and security issues in an electronic age. This site discusses the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and "Total or Terrorism Information Awarness" (TIA). TIA sought to establish a "grand, virtual, centralized database" by using data mining or knowledge discovery tools in order to deter terrorism. Law enforcement was suppose to be given access to private data such as the financial, medical, communication, and travel records of individuals without a suspicion of wrong doing or a warrant. This agency's funding was eliminated in 2003, but, according to this site, this did not end this type of government activity. Data mining by the government using private information databases continues.
The video was title "Is Privacy Dead" by Jeffrey Rosen. Some good points were made by Mr. Rosen concerning the design of technology to both protect privacy and aide security. He stated that surveillence issues are not technological issues but political and cultural issues. He also talked about the US governments data mining activities. He also compared policies in place in Britain and the US. He used examples of "naked machines" at Heathrow and Phoenix airports and the use of surveillance cameras through Britain. Interesting ideas on democratic and heirarchal thinking as well as classification and exclusion and cultural differences. It was interesting that cameras in Britain have not deterred crime.

Reading Comments week #12

Amanda's I.T. blog
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4815117704244121663&postID=7919017436162120728&page=1

Rebecca's Intro to IT blog
https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=5720842264846496247&postID=3966162379616194587&page=1

Muddiest Point Week #11

I was wondering about the physical set up of a digital repository. Is it on site at the university? Does it have built in redundancy either on site or at another geographical location? How are issues of equipment failure, natural disaster, and information loss handled?

Readings week #12

Week 12's reading seemed to center around so called "social software."
The first article was about weblogs or commonly called blogs. This article contained a brief history as well as some ideas for using blogs. I appreciated this article since it gave definitions for commonly used terms. I also found the discussion on push/pull types of technology useful.
The second article was about using wiki technology to better serve patrons in a library setting. As with blogs, free software is available to enable this technology. Wikis promote shared knowledge and cooperation to create resources.
The third article discussed social tagging, the creation of bookmarks for websites that are saved online. These tags have subject keywords and description attached for searching purposes. The del.icio.us site was described as a place to collaborate by sharing tags and discovering new resources. Problems with social tagging include variations in tags, user understanding of keywords, and spagging (spam tagging).
The final reading was actually a video of Jimmy Wales, the creator of Wikipedia. It was enlightening to realize the huge size of Wikipedia, the international use, and the number of paid employees-one. Additionally, it operates on a free license and is funded by donations and is run by volunteers. Jimmy Wales is also often misquoted by the media. It was also interesting to hear about how the entire Wikipedia functions with regard to deleting pages and who has the final word. Also of interest was the discussion over the citation merits of Wikipedia since this is a topic that has been of interest in other classes.