News Report

Man Texts Suicide Note to Wife Before Leaping Off Cliff
Terrence O'Brien, Mirror.Co.UK News
Apr 15, 2009
http://www.switched.com/2009/04/15/man-texts-suicide-note-to-wife-before-leaping-off-cliff/

I discovered an article about a forty-six year old British man who committed suicide by jumping off the cliffs of Hogarth Bay. The man left a suicide note like most suicide victims do. Tragedies like this may happen daily; but what I found interesting is that the man decided not to write his suicide note on pen and paper. The man actually sent his suicide note to his wife via the text message. I felt this article to be relevant to information technologies because it just shows how much today’s technologies play a part in our lives. I, personally, think that leaving a person’s final words in a text message is ridiculous, but it actually could have saved the man’s life. When the man’s wife received his text message she immediately alerted authorities who sent a helicopter to try to help save the man’s life. The authorities showed up the second he leapt off of the Cliffside, but imagine how much different the situation would be if we did not have the technologies like texting. If the man were to have left a tangible note on paper, there would have been no telling when his wife would have discovered the letter, and no chance the authorities would have made it to the cliffs in time.

News Report

“Technology's next frontier: In-car computing”
Brandon Griggs, CNN
Jan, 2009
http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/01/09/ces.cars.computers/index.html

Car companies are now attempting to become more technologically advanced by adding built-in parts that a person would normally see on a computer. When most people think of this, GPS systems or Onstar is automatically thought of; but now foreign and American companies are “upping the ante.” A few of the new technologies added are road sensors monitored by satellite to warn the driver if they are drifting out of a lane, heat- sensors for pedestrian detection, and an in-car entertainment system that recieves twenty-two television channels. The most discussed and newest information techology in this field is the dashboard computer. This fully-functional computer is being released by Ford and is actually built into the dashboard of the vehicle. The computer has a fully funtional keyboard, a monitor, and has internet capabilities.
I think this the advancement of technologies in the new cars is a good idea because I feel that cars today should be as advanced as everything thing else in our everyday lives. I think the the drift warning and the pedestrian heat sensor ideas are great to make the road a little safer for everyone. As for the dashboard computer and the satellite television stations, I have some concerns with. Many states have already banned the used of cell phones on the road and I think placing an Internet capable computer in the dashboard would be more of a distraction for the driver. This could result in even more unsafe driving. I feel if the computer is not meant for the driver to use while driving or if it is only for the passengers, it should not be in the dashboard. But I also don’t know where else an in-car computer would be built into.

Assigned reading #5

The topic of students and their lack of information literacy hit a little too close to home for me. As a college Senior, I have had numerous research projects and I think I have spent maybe a total of ten hours in the library. I have always relied on using the internet as my main source for information, but as I have learned by taking the Introduction to Library Research and Technology course, that a majority of the information I retained was from unreliable sources and may have been invalid. In the article, “Information Navigation 101”, it was discussed that many learning institutions want to either make information literacy courses mandatory or have a standardized test to measure information technology skills. I feel that this should be necessary in today’s age of “quick info.” Being a Communication Studies major, I do not have to do as much research as other concentrations, but I do still see this as an essential skill.

Reading response: Infodiet

I think that Steven Bell's comparision of Google as a fast food establishment is quite accurate. Google is faster, cheaper to access than other academic databases, and the quality of the "food" or information can be not of the best quality. I agree, that the main reason students do use Google over the library and academic databases due to the fact that the Google is quicker. But I find it false that research is supposed to be "hard" and "difficult". The way I see it is that the technologies we use today are made so things are easier in our lives and it is the same way with information technologies. If academic databases like, "Ebscohost" and Lexus Nexus," could be re-made so the information was just as easy to access as Google, they would be used more because of their accuracy level.
P.S. I also found the the term " infobesity" to be hilarious!

News report

Google Launches Software to Track Mobile Users
Ajay Kamalakaran, Thomson Reuters
2/5/09
http://uk.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUKTRE5131XE20090205?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

Using a cell phone is the one of the main ways we transfer information today. We can call or text to send and receive information; and on newer phones, even access the Web. But how would you feel if your information and whereabouts were being transferred without your knowledge? In the article, Google announces that they are introducing software for cellular phones and other wireless devices that automatically tell your friends and family access to where you are using Google maps.
Google previously released similar software that tracked location through text messaging that failed. It was not explained why, but because in the article it harps at the point that the new program can be turned off, I imagine it failed because of it running through texts the program always on. I think that software like this is for parents to know where their children are, or if a person is traveling. But my concerns with this software is that anyone could know where are at all time. They say that it is only for friends and family, but that does not mean that others would not be able to access your account. There are always hackers, and what if Google could sell information to other companies or the government? Also, if u can turn the software on and off, doesn’t that defeat the purpose of having it, especially if parents were using it to track their children? I just found that this software, though innovative, seems like an invasion of privacy.

Reading response 2

When I wrote the last response posting about Web sites with inaccurate information, the first web site that came to mind was Wikipedia. I felt that the information on the site was mostly erroneous due to the fact that anyone can contribute to the encyclopedia. The article, "Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?", actually surprized me and made me feel a little more confident about the information that I find on Wikipedia. I knew that the Web site had fact checkers looking for trolls, but knowing that they found the purposely placed mistakes within several articles in less than three hours I was amazed. I know that many people could have seen the article between within those three hours, but I thought that the time frame in finding the mistakes could take days or even weeks. Knowing this, I think that a possible solution to finding accurate information on Wikipedia could be to gather information and the next day go back to the same article to see if the facts are still on the page. If so, then it's most likely fact; and if not, it must be false. Also, they said that the articles on Wikipedia were tested to see how many facts were inaccurate compared to the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The results were that Wikipedia had almost the same amount of error as the Encyclopaedia Britannica. I thought that was odd because in high school we were encouraged to consult the Encyclopaedia, especially the well-known Britannica to check facts, and not to use Wikipedia. To know that they both have around three errors per article is eye-opening. This article makes skeptical to what information I am recieving in general, but I think it proved that Wikipedia is more accurate than believed by most.

Reading response #1

Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet Response

"Web Hoaxes, Counterfeit Sites, and Other Spurious Information on the Internet" describes and gives examples of the falsehoods that are prevalent on the internet, and gives advice on how to detect a "hoax" or "counterfeit" site to ensure that the information that a user is recieving is truthful.

This article really made me skeptical about where I get my information from when I am on the Internet. I knew there where hoax sites, but not so many that had the names so close, like changing the suffix from ".com" to ".org". Many times when I am going to a website, I tend to use the google bar and type in half the address and let it finish it for me. But this article reminded me that I definitely should double check the domain, especially the sites that ask for my personal information.

My entire college career I found it so annoying when my professors and/or teachers would ask for a working bibliography, but this article made me realize why they did. There are sites out there that many students turn to for their information because we think that its is a trusted source. Say for example, Wikipedia. Many people don't know that although the information on that site are monitored and checked, anything can be put on there by anyone, true or not, and it's up to the site to catch the mistakes before a user does. I see that it is now helpful to have that check up to see if where we get our information from is accurate to ensure that we do not become involved with a hoax and spread false information as well.