Aim Assesment

Aim stands for aol instant messenger. It was released by AOL in 1997 to aol subscribers but initially was only for its employees. It was originally released for Microsoft only but now is available for Mac as well as Microsoft. It was and to this day still is used mostly by teenagers. It is used to communicate by text over the internet in real time. Basically a "chat" one of the firsts of it kind. It was rivaled with yahoo, and messenger messenger as well. Aim was most likely chosen over the other two for a number of reasons. 1) Aim doesn't require to have or make an email address to have the messenger. It is only required to make a screen name without having to put all the information and time consuming as making an email would.  2) Aim allows more than 100 contacts to be added. 3) It takes away privacy information of the user that otherwise emails would allow. 4) It is easy to attain and has many features that msn and yahoo didn't have at the time.

Aim is efficient because it allows people to network with each other in real time, rather than face-book or myspace that is real time yet is leaving posts from time to time rather than on the spot communication. It is used by everyone from kids, teens to adults. Yet nowadays, it is mostly used by teens. From my experience, these types of communications have been labeled by age groups. For example, yahoo and msn is for adults, aim for youth, and skype for teens-adults. Just like myspace is for high school kids and facebook is for so called "college students and above".

Aim represents an easy way to communicate and stay touch with friends, do work, or just see what people are up to. It is very useful for almost any kind of office work. It is also great for working with someone else or another group of people. A feature called "direct connecting", allows 2 or more people to share documents with each other in the blink of an eye. I can send a class mate an entire power point presentation based on their internet connect in less than a minute. It now features such as group video chatting, status updates, and different sound alerts for different contacts.

When talking about privacy compared to the other chat systems, aim is probably the most private. For example, msn, yahoo, skype, all requires the user's information that is easily accessible to whoever is chatting with the user. For aim, you don't have to say anything that has to do with you unless you want to put it in your info. Also, unless you direct connect with someone that is strictly under your jurisdiction, no one can access the files in your computer.

If you want privacy and easy chatting ability, aim is probably your safest bet.

Assessing Technology Articles

Ad Nation by Wayne Grytting

The downfalls of public advertisement and how it has overall corrupt minds into believing the only way to get a message out is through advertisement is down right sad. A CEO of a major city believes that a city cannot be a city unless it has signs and advertisements. Monuments are no longer symbolic and he described some of the most raw and majestic cities of the world as bland. It seems that ads are only brainwashing people further and further as the days go by. If a person can make money of receive money from an ad, they will go great lengths to do so. Paying around $60,000 a month for an add, is ridiculous. Buildings that could be built for more important meanings are just being built to advertise.

technology/privacy source evaluations

The first source i looked at was from Thursday's class the youtube video called "Did you know"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY

What caught my eye about this source was the title. After watching the video, i learned so many things i never even knew. One fact that caught me was when it said that India had more honor kids than the U.S. even had kids. Amazing, astonishing, yet so unbelievably predictable and true. It had so many interesting facts that it left the audience constantly engaged in the message it was trying to get out. The end was somewhat scary because it talked about how students are being trained for jobs that don't exist, the courses that students are studying will be out dated by the time they graduate. It's scary because it makes me think, will i even have a job when i graduate? can i compete with the rest of the world? It definitely makes a lot of people wonder about what the future has in store for them.

The 2nd source i viewed was the New York Time's article called " Facebook Users asks who owns information"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/technology/internet/17facebook.html?_r=1

I have to admit, i must agree with what the CEO of Facebook said "people own their info and control who they share it with". If it wasn't for that, nobody would even use facebook anymore. 

Without privacy, a person could be robbed of their identity or worse. Yet people's lives aren't so private because of the fact that facebook basically "owns" their user's information and can do whatever they want with it. In my opinion, whenever anyone becomes apart of any "website" related communication system, privacy is not something they should get use to. By uploading pictures, videos, basic info of yourself, you are opening a gateway to your life for others to see. If you really want to be as private as you wish, don't join these sort of websites. The article was very knowledgeable for the readers, and made me think twice about who sees me online and who doesn't.

The 3rd source i viewed was the article by smoking gun titled "Student Arrested for Classroom Texting".

The title grabbed me immediately. I thought to myself, what kind of institution, and state would allow for a student to be arrested just for text messaging? Then as Doctor Harris let us know it was a fluke, i thought to myself, what if this really happened? There are indeed places where students could be punished severely for disobeying a teacher but no where in the united states came to mind. The article stated that the so called student was arrested and her bail was set at $298 for texting in class and not cooperating with the teacher to give it up. The article even had a fake police report. It was pretty misleading. Although the article was entertaining and a definite eye grabber, it had no real relevance to the technology and privacy issue. Sure, a cell phone is a great technological advancement, but a student being arrested for texting couldn't really connect to the main idea we are trying to focus on.

 

Brainstorming Technology

*What is technology? - It is something that advances humans by keeping them connected, or making things more time efficient for them.
It Lessons workloads.

* What represents this technology?- every day something new is coming that that is considered a new technological advancement. Advancement in all the areas we learn every day.

*Who controls this technology? us, and the future generations to come controls this technology. The past generations may have a say or have started us, but we, or the future generations have the ultimate say in what will be to come.

* What happens when you lose control of your own info?- People can ruin you. Once they grab a hold of your own info, especially personal, they've got the ultimate hold on you. Humans build confidence by maintaining what they know about themselves secure to only themselves. If someone were to get a hold of that, everyone would lose their individuality.

Budget Crisis Outline

Budget Crisis Outline

Thesis: As budget cuts continue from California's deficit, unemployment increases by the percent leaving families with scarcity of funds and pushing them towards poverty.

1. California's current budget crisis

1. Affects on the citizens

a) The average california citizen

b) Citizens with large families

c) Affects on senior citizens

2. Affects on the politicians

a) Do they dismiss other opinions?

b) a few political views

3. Affects on the major cities

2. Unemployment rate

1. Current Results of Unemployment

a) Comparison between employment of present and past

b) What citizens who have lost their jobs are doing different to stay afloat

2. Which companies or organizations that have given the most lay offs

3. What they are doing different after the lay offs

a) how they choose which workers must be laid off

b) how their businesses are affected after the lay offs

3. Opinions of what is to come after the budget plan has been initiated

1. Citizens opinions

a) Do they have hope?

b) Have they looked to alternate resources

2. Corporate business decisions/opinions

a) Has business gone down?

b) will it rise again? If so, how?

4. Conclusion

1. If the budget is not stimulated, there could be more strikes and sit ins than expected.

a) Rebuilding America's economy will take the people's decisions and not just the politicians.

2. If the unemployment rate does not increase, california may never get out of this deficit.

Authoritative Source

"AN UNGLY WIN FOR SCHWARZNEGGER"

The outline of the final $41 billion package, a combination of steep spending cuts, tax hikes, borrowing and provisions meant to boost the state's business climate, was nearly identical to the framework Schwarzenegger laid out late last year.

And as a bonus, the package authorized two ballot measures sought by Schwarzenegger: one to cap future state spending and another to create a so-called open primary system that the governor believes would help elect more moderates like himself.

Also almost overlooked amid the budget theatrics was Schwarzenegger's about-face on taxes, an issue he rode into office twice since 2003. His first act as governor was to slash the vehicle license fee that motorists pay to register their cars — a move that was responsible for a big chunk of the state's recent budget shortfalls. The agreement forged last week nearly doubles that license fee, though it will remain lower than it was before Schwarzenegger took office.

Schwarzenegger's supporters counter that cajoling enough Republicans to vote for a budget with billions of dollars in tax increases would have been a steep task for any governor. The bare minimum number of Republicans to reach the required two-thirds threshold for taxes — three in the Senate and three in the Assembly — ultimately signed on.

Interview with dad about budget crisis

interview with dad because he works for the state as a lecturer for sjsu so the budget cuts could easily effect him and me.

me: How do you feel about this new budget plan?

dad: I feel positive about it because it can boost our economy. Prevent losing employment in increasing numbers. I think it will save people because without jobs, no one can survive, especially those with a family.

me: Do you think CA will ever get out of this deficit? why?

dad: Yes because change is starting to rise. People are starting to be more careful with their money.

me: Has this deficit or budget affected you yet?

dad: Not really because i haven't lost my job, and i can support you still.