Assignment 8---Thank you Google Calander

The web application I chose for this assignment is google calender. My brother uses it daily and said it really helps him keep organized, so I decided to check it out. The site is very easy to use. You first have to have a google account, which only takes a few minutes to make. After you have made your google account, you have access to a variety of different sites like google mail, google documents, google photos, and google groups. Once you are logged in, you can begin filling out your calender. You can plan from months in advance to hours in advanced. You can even set up reminders that will pop up and tell you about your day whenever you log on. If you go into the settings on the top of the screen, you can change the time and the weather to fit your own hometown.

The design of the website makes it easy to use. It uses little color and highlights whatever you are working on at that moment. You can also personalize your calendar by changing the colors and layout. This kind of personalized layout reminds me of the myspace community. People like to make things their 'own' which helps make this site an attraction to other users. It is also organized by the hour, day, week, and month. It has a search application on the top of the screen which makes it easy to fit all the things you need into one browser. It is a social tool in that it organizes your social life into one website to help someone busy better plan out there days. You are able to share calenders with other people online. If I wanted to know my brothers schedule, he could simply make it assessable to other uses, I could search it, and see what his plans are for the week.

I find having a calender online very useful for myself in particular. I spend most of my time online and around computers. I have a very busy schedule between work, school, and my social life that just simply logging onto a website like this would really benefit me.

Assignment 7--Stay Connected

I hate to be repetitive in my blogs but I don't spend too much time with social networks on the internet. Besides Facebook, the only other online community I've been a part of is Myspace. I also joined an online dating site once with my friends just to see how many people would be interested in us, but that wouldn't even count. The last thing I can think of is the list-serve for my work. I work at the Lockwood Library Circulation desk. Everyday I get about 3 emails from someone I work with, whether it is one of my bosses updating us on something new or something that has been a constant issue or it is one of my co-workers asking to take their shifts. We all stay in touch through email. If I needed a day off I would simply go onto my email and email the entire list-serve with the subject title as: SUB-SLIP. This lets everyone, including my bosses know that I am looking for someone to take my shift. If a person replies to me letting me know that they are able to fill in their replied email also gets sent out to everyone on the list so that I do not have 4 or 5 people all wanting to take that same shift.

I've only needed one day off so far this year, but a boy named Eric who I haven't met yet took my shift for me. A few weeks later he was looking for someone to work for him and I quickly responded to him because he helped me out. I actually just met him a few days ago and it felt like we already knew each other because of our emails. When I first started working I received a lot of emails from one of the morning supervisors (I work at night). The letters were kind of short and to the point. I hadn't met her yet so I asked some of my co-workers what she was like. The majority of them told me she was really mean and a few previous workers quit because of her, but one morning I had to opportunity to meet her while filling in for someone. She wasn't mean at all, we actually got along great. It just goes to show that you cant judge a person over the internet or through the eyes of other people.

I guess I will now discuss Facebook (typical). As most of you know, Facebook is an online community that originally started as a college network, since then it has expanded and is now open to everyone. The fact that they have opened it to everyone is in my opinion, annoying. I get friend requests from some of my seventh and eighth grade students who I taught tennis to over the summer. Now my little brothers friends are even starting to facebook, which cant be good for me. Like most college students, I want my facebook to be only seen by the eyes of my friends and those people who know me, for obvious reasons. (pictures, information, wall posts, etc) Thankfully facebook has provided what they call a "limited profile" where you get to select what people can view and not view and you get to select which people you want to see your limited profile. I immediately started my facebook my freshman year right after I got my school email address. Other freshmen like myself started friending each other. I got a few friend requests from people in my major and others from people who were going to be living in my building. Immediately people started writing on each others walls. Wanting to make as many friends as possible before entering a new enviornment. One girl in particular had over 100 UB friends in less then a week and she posted on everyones wall. She asked me when my orientation was and where I was going to be living. She seemed like such a nice girl and she was very erger to get to know everyone. This year I happen to be living next door to her. When I moved in my roommate and I decided to meet everyone on the floor. When we went into her room she was a very cold person, she didnt smile, didnt invite us in and still to this day never says HI. I cant believe that this girl was the same person I met on facebook the year before! This is just another example that goes to show how the internet can manipulate a persons apperance. There is this facebook clip on youtube that always makes me laugh...because it is so true!

Assignment 6--I'll take your identity with a side of your name

How many times a day do you think you identify yourself? Introducing yourself to someone new, maybe writing your name down on an exam, signing after your credit card. What about logging onto facebook, myspace, AIM, email, or even purchasing things off the internet. The number can quickly add up. So lets define Identity. Defined on Wikipedia.org, identity describes an individuals comprehension of him or herself as a discrete, separate entity. Online Identity applies the same kind of thing, yet it is defined as a social identity that network users establish in online communities.

Everyone in our class is part of an online community. If you are registered for COM125 it means you are registered at UB, which means you have to have a UB email address. This educational address is used for school proposes. I'm sure the majority of us have another email address we use. I know I use a different to send my junk mail to.

Lets take a popular online community, like Facebook. 97% of incoming freshman create a Facebook. The community was originally made for colleges and universities, but through the last couple of years, the community has expanded and now anyone can make one. The basic use of this system IS to identify yourself through pictures, comments and information. But how much can you believe in someone else's Facebook? The answer to that is NONE. The internet communities is a scary place to take part in. There are many weirdos out there trying to identify themselves as someone they are not, whether its for fun, money, or just pleasure, trust no one.

I recently read an article about Identity theft. It talked mostly about how identities are easily taken online through credit and debit cards. It seems quite simple. When you purchase something online how often do you think to yourself, "damn, I hope no one tries to hack this"? I hope your answer was "every time" if not, you may need to stop being such an honest person, no offense. But to my surprise, the least expected place where your identity is to be taken is not on the internet, but in a restaurant. I guess it makes sense, you are personally handing over your credit card in complete trust to someone you do not even know. They have your card for about 5 min and hand it back to you. In those 5 min they can easily write down the name and numbers and go home and have a complete shopping spree on their internet. Sorry, to get off topic of ONLINE identity, but I just found it so interesting.

Instant messaging is another scary place where many people claim to be someone who they are not. I've never used a chat room, but I use to have an open screen where anyone could 'search' me and just start talking to me. I had some really weird comments but I always ignored them. Many young girls use chat rooms as a way of meeting 'boys' their age. But how many of these men really are who they say they are? and how many of these girls are really as old as they say they are? A number of reported incidence have occurred over the years with young girls agreeing to meet a young boy they met in a chart room and only coming to find they are not who they said they were and they end up in some really bad situations.

The bottom line is, if you are going to be online, use an identity that doesn't define who you are and never trust anyone.