Tagging

"Tagging is fundamentally about tapping the collective human wisdom, rather than relying on a computer algorithm, for search, said Ben Shneiderman, who teaches human-computer interaction at the University of Maryland."

This is a quote from an article from CNN that I read about tagging. You can read it here: http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/internet/05/03/social.tagging.ap/index.html
I was a little bit unsure about how I felt about tagging after discussing it for a few class periods, so I thought I'd look into it a little more. The more I read about the more I become interested in the actual idea of them: I tag something and then you can search my tags for things you want to see/read/hear/whatever. Also, the article talks about tags actually saving companies and people money because then they don't have to hire anyone to categorize any listings. The interesting part of tags for me, is that you might not consider something to show "love," for example, but someone else might and therefore add that tag, and in turn that tag might help someone else searching "love" come across something really cool or interesting.

I think tagging will become popular in the next few years. It's interesting how internet related things get started. The internet really is a community of people and so if one person finds out about del.icio.us and tells their friends, soon a bunch of people will be doing it. It's like thefacebook or myspace in that sense. And both concepts are based around buliding communities online. I'm not sure where tagging will go in the future, but I think it has a strong one. Tagging will help us organize our "internet thoughts" and really allow others to see how we take advantage of what is available to us online.

Bush + Technology

I watched about 40 minutes of Bush's speech on energy today and was surprised at all the technology references. Every topic he brought up related to technology and most of his "solutions" were coupled with advances in technology.

At one point, he stated, "Technology is allowing us to better use our existing energy resources and in the years ahead, technology will allow us to create entirely new sources of energy in ways earlier generations could never dream."
Wow! Even the president is seeing how technology is advancing and creating a more powerful enviornment for us. He talked about how far we have come, from typewriters to computers and pay phones to cell phones, and how all of this will help us save money and- more importantly for this speech- energy! I thought the points he made were valid and hopefully we will, as a society, begin this advancement. The resources and knowledge is there, and now Bush is working on getting the money.
You can check out highlights from the speech here:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/04/27/bush.energy/index.html

I then found an article about technology and whether it's getting too advanced for society. The article was called "Technology for Mere Mortals." I thought it was a very interesting article. How far can technology take us and how helpful will it really be? They talk a lot about not being able to take advantage of the technology because many people won't understand how to use it. I thought this was so true because my parents are definitely not computer savvy and if they only knew what they could be doing they would profit so much. But instead they don't understand a lot about computers and so the technology is wasted. The article then goes into the whole privacy issue.
You can read this article here:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/04/26/tech.future.ap/index.html

I thought the two articles connected to each other and to class very much! Where will technology take us in the future? And when will technology be too much for us?

Cartoon

I thought this comic was pretty funny and it came up randomly when I was searching for food pictures for my presentation.
I think it is unfortunately true and funny!

http://mcmuffin.co.uk/photos/uncategorized/foragoodtime.jpg

The Pope

So Pope John Paul II died last Saturday. He was not only an amazing Pope, but also a great role-model for Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He worked hard as a beacon for the way the world should be, fighting communism and working for a better world.

I watched the funeral Thursday night and was surprised at how many of my friends were simply not interested. Yes, I am a Catholic, but I have not practiced in many years and last year began to doubt many of the Catholic Church's teachings. I just felt like we were watching history. Pope John Paul II was the only Pope we got to experience in our lifetimes and he died. That's a big deal; it's history! The selection of a new Pope and the funeral of a Pope does not happen often and it was just surprising to me that people could not care.

Sunny Days!

I love the sun and hope this week will be gorgeous as today and yesterday! I sat out by the pool yesterday with Lauren. It was so nice! It's funny that my friends on the East Coast are freezing right now, some in snow, and I'm lying out in the sunshine! Gotta love the San Diego weather.

parents vs. me

My parents and I are definitely extremely different in our ways of learning and our use of technology. First of all, I think the fact that neither of my parents were born in the United States plays a major role.

My father grew up in a small town in central Italy, near Pisa. He didn't go to college or complete high school, so his style of learning is much different than mine. It takes him a lot longer to understand comcepts, especially when taught in English since it is his second language. Also, technology is something he is not very familiar with. He runs and owns his own car repair shop in San Francisco, so he is not in an office or dealing with a computer too often. Whenever he needs to write an e-mail or professional letter, he always asks me for help in both writing and working with the computer.

My mother was born in Hong Kong, but moved to the US when she was seven. Her parents were very strict with technology, such as TV and the telephone, so she was not as exposed as I was. Her use of technology is very limited; while she works in a lawfirm, on her computer all the time, she is most comfortable with only their systems. She is not a fan of her cell phone and rarely uses it or even knows all its capabilities. My mother is a very hands on learner. She picks up new concepts very quickly and is able to learn new techniques and systems for her work rapidly.

I think my parents generationa and my generation are very different with their styles of learning and use of technology. Obviously technology has become a necesity in my generation and we are being taught at younger ages how to work on a computer. The use of computers in classrooms has grown so rapidly in the past decade. I am curious as to how technolgy will play a role in our children's generations and the generations to follow.

plagiarism

i thought our speaker was extremely interesting. Plagiarism is growing so much in our society that it's not a surprise that it has become such a huge problem. I think turnitin.com is a good concept, however it does not seem to be very cost efficient. Truth be told that if a professor thought a student plagiarised, it would be very easy to type the suspicious part into Google and chances are something will show up if it is plagiarised.
The internet is becoming an excellent resource and it is full of information, however it does make cheating easier and more appealing. The easiness of plagiarising someone's thoughts has grown since the internet. I think education is the key to reducing the amount of plagiarism.