young drivers

Something interesting I learnd the other day that I like to share with everyone. They offer drivers ed on the computer . They have it set up for french speaking people of this area but so english wont be up for the next 6 months or so. Drivers ED? I can say that... well I know how to drive but I have been quite lazy about getting my permit and licence. Im starting courses this weekend so that I can go about and get the best freedom you will ever know lol. Well as I was talking with the women from young drivers. She was trying to squeez alot of information into me. Apprently they have computer technology in the classes now that will help you become a better driver!. They can do test on you now I guess to help you as a driver and them as teachers. The instructor sounded pretty pleased to be talking about this as well. I find that just great. Using technology to its full advantage. It makes me wonder...do they take into consideration the nerves of the students...does their studies just go out the window...?

My presentation

So far I have been liking everyone presentations. I fear now I feel a little insecure because everyone is doing such a great job. Skype was an interesting topic. My boyfriend use it because he plays this game call World of Warcraft. For all of you out there who dont know this game...lets just say its a big online game. Its use I belive by 7 million people now. It was even paroided by south park last year. So I jumped at the topic. Feeling now like I didnt do it enough justice but what more could I have said about it?. Im now contemplating shutting off my cell phone and if I ever need to get my phone disconnected... I dont have to worry. The online world... it amazes me always. I wonder what is going to come out next that will make our lives easier. Someday if I do start my own business I will always remeber the opition I have of skype. I thought I knew very little about technology when I started our first course then I felt like wow maybe I know a whole lot...lol now it is back to just feeling like I have been hit in the side of the head. But thats the thing...and thats why its ever changing.

can we compete in the world with out technology?

I think we could compete in a world without technology. We did it for thousands of years. I think that we forget that we have lived with out technology and survived. Businesses in rural areas would have a harder time perhaps having a chance with sucess but businesses in general are hard to get off the ground. Lots of people who are rich today from thier business ventures have gone bankrupt just getting their businesses off the ground. I think we have the same odds with technology as without. We would have to rely on word of mouth and be willing to live on the road trying to get our businesses off the ground. We wont be able to relax and have someone view our businesse sites and view our products with the click of a button.

Students writing on the web

I think that its great that wikis can give students the chance to get their work and opioins out there. Having something that is at our finger tips that we can work on with people from all over the world is in a sense mind blowing that we have come that far in technology. For me it seemed that people who were very advanced in technology had the "know how" to do such things. But in fact people of nearly all ages can use this tool.

Wikis

Wiki I believe is a great tool for business. Not only can we use wiki as a tool to get our business ventures out into the world. It just seems like a great tool for people who spend alot of time on the road. They can collborate with other coworkers and not get behind on work. As a business student I will probably not forget this great tool. I forgot about the most famous wiki...wikipedia. I didnt realize that it was a wiki as funny as it sounds. I remeber going on wikipedia and reading a message that said that some of the information may need to be cleaned up. For awahile I didnt realize that you can go in and change what was written on certian information.

blogs...

blogs...
Well I can say that I was really late to the whole blog world. I remeber for years that I would hear about blogs and I thought meh...not for me. Alot of friends would write in blogs and just pour out their souls. I find them great if you love putting all your life out there. Which I have had friends who would do so. I kind of got turned off about them because a few years back a friend of mine had a disagreement with a colleage of hers which turned into a huge situation. He decided to put his feelings on the situation out there on his blogs and then started to leave comments on blogs of her friends. Something that turned into the right to free speech turned into my friend taking the person to court. I feel perhaps we need to realize what we put out on the internet can get so badly construde. Something that may have been a joke can come out sounding more angry because the tone of our voice is lost within the typed words. But as a writer I found out only recently about all these blog based literature cirlces. I felt a bit lost with this movement like it happend underneath my nose. I was use to going to book stores and finding groups of people in some corner disscusing books. What I found funny recently was that now writers write fictional characters in blog forum.
Business wise I think this is great. You can get feed back and give feed back on projects. What worries me is what if coworkers ,such as my friends, decided to start attacking each other on blogs. Is it something that can be used against that person in a work enviroment or is it something that is left at home.

Search tools-finding and evaluating informaton on the Net/Webquest

Hello
I didnt realize I was so behind on my blogs and sadly some of them got lost. well...here goes some of my thoughts.
Search Tools-Finding and evaluating information on the net/web.
When I was younger and we first got a computer I can honestly say I was inclined to believe what was on the internet. I never got why teachers would get up in arms when students used internet sources. I would keep using the things I found on the internet as a decent source of information until I got to university. I was writing a paper and I cant remeber what it was on but it was some sort of time period of a play. I had a lot written down and then I decided I go to the libray and check out if I had everything right. Well I didnt and I felt very silly that I almost sent in a paper with information that was so wrong that I dont even want to say what I had written. It made me realize why teachers in highschool and professors in university tried to express that idea to so many students. Alot didnt realize just how much wrong information is out there. There is so much based on theorys and not on facts. It made me think about the entertainment industry. Actors , singer and directors are alway influenced so heavily by the internet and what people write. Not only is their personal and work life spread all over the internet...so are rumours. There is hardly a that goes by that some actor or singer isnt issuing out statments on some rumour that spread over the internet. If they dont issue a statment the rumour only grows. All these false information can crush them and people will not want anything to do with them because there is to much negitiva stigma attached to them. Just think of that on a business level, not in the entertaiment level, The internet can be such a useful tool but yet it could make or break a business. People can go online and leave comments on products and just the company in general that other people can view. I dont think that we realize the power we weild in our words.

Class blog 6

While the accessibility to information holds much promise in creating a global community and allow us to learn from each other, it also holds much danger. From on-line predators to cyberbullying, it has opened up a whole new landscape of digital peril.Just what do our young people know? What do they need to know? What types of risky behavior are you seeing with our youth?What roles do school administrations, teachers, parents and communities have to play in keeping our children and our communities safe??


This is a great question. We can only say so much on the matter. Most kids will take what is said about online chat groups ect in on ear and out the other. It’s risky because there are so many predators who now stalk online instead of stalking on the street. They don’t have to see a child in person no more to try in gain their trust and that’s scary. I think monitoring the computer and having it in a place where adults is a good way to start. I have heard there are now programs that will let you monitor what your child is doing on line and let you block certain sites so that you can breathe a little easier when they go online and you don’t have to worry about stuff poping up that should be there. What type of risky behavior im seeing with youth is cyberbulling and online dating. It’s a big thing among adults now to find people online to date and its going to start trickling more so. Kids are seeing that its okay to put all that personal information out there. I think we have to make sure our youth are aware of the dangers and that it just doesn’t happen to people in the states. I think that’s all we could do.

Class blog 5

The advent of the Internet has made the sharing of information so much easier. This includes digital information like music and movies. Many people have taken advantage of this to share music and video without paying for it.Is this appropriate, let alone legal? What should we be doing to educate our kids in this matter? Is it even possible to stop? Should we care?

I find this an interesting Question. I’m on both sides of this argument. I do think it’s alright to download music and movies but at the same time artist don’t put out quality work to make me want to go out and buy what they have put out there. I don’t want to incourage kids to steal at the same time. People who make movies and music have to make money also. They have to put food on the table. I think we should care because soon no one will be making movies and music because all their hard work will going down the drain. I don’t know if its even possible for the illegal downloading to stop. We are just looking at more and more lawsuits in the near future.

Class Blog 4

Technology has helped many people lead successful lives - people who might otherwise have been subjected to a lower quality of life. Newer technologies have even begun to assist people who do not have specific challenges. Some might argue that this is causing a tremendous dependency on the technology, to the point where people resist learning traditional skills - seeing them as unnecessary.How much technology is too much? At what poing does technology cease to be assistive and instead become enabling? How can we use technology for it's tremendous benefits, yet maintain traditional skills. Or should we be more prepared to move past traditional skills in reading and writing and look to technology to do more of the basic tasks for us?


I think we need to find a balance within our selves. We need to find the medium instead of arguing about it because this will be an argument that will never end. I think knowing traditional skills and technology skills will make not just me but everyone more well rounded employers. I can personally say that Im probably not the most technology savy person but I am well aware that im going to have to know these skills for the future because technology isn’t slowing down any. For instance, I have always said that im more of an English person when it came to subjects in school but I find my self now taking business administration. Which I’m going to be taking a variety of courses in things that I have long sense avoided because its nessesary for my future.

Gaming as a Teaching tool?

Gaming as a teaching tool made me think about the army. There are so many games out there now a days that are so violent. I don’t think they are a bad thing but I have heard that they have a game that helps men train for the army or at least tries to get them interested in signing up. I find that kind of disgusting because being out there shooting a gun isn’t anything like playing a game. When men shut of the game they know they have only killed imaginary people. I do like the fact that there are more games that help teach children anything that they want to learn. I guess it’s the best way to combat this new age where children want to stay at home and sit in front of a computer screen. I guess everything has a plus side and a down side

YouTube

I found the discussion about youtube interesting to say the least. I wasn’t very aware of it until perhaps last year. I didn’t really go on it until I got bored one day and just started typing in random things. It’s amazing at the amount of stuff you will find on youtube. If I want to watch my favorite television show I no longer have to wait a certain time to watch it or wait for reruns of the show. I can go on youtube and find the episode that I want and watch it comerical free. I do see a lot of copyright infringements and see music video that are constantly pulled off youtube. It’s amazing at how much it has grown and now most television hosts and music artist have their own channels now in order to combat their videos being put on youtube. I have spoken about my little brother and how he likes to make claymation movies. Well he found youtube and he has posted probably a lot of pointless things on there. He made a trailer for a movie that I don’t think he made yet but I thought I share with everyone if they want to check it out : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_tIYy0Agdc
Anywho enjoy :)

class blog 3

classblog3
Are our on-line identites relevant to who we are off-line?Is online even a real place?


More and more people are spending an increasing amount of time connecting with others in on-line environments. Virtual spaces are becoming more and more realistic, and our kids would rather text than call.Other's have found that the identities they create in cyberspace have proved to have negative consequences on their life.Are our on-line identities relevant to who we are off-line?Is on-line even a REAL place?I think our on-line identites are relevant to who we are off-line. I have seen it alot and have read a great deal about these negative consequences of perhaps creating an identiy online that is not quite you. It not only says a great deal about a person but it is sad at the same time. I have been a memeber of myspace and facebook and have found lots of profiles of people who tend either make them selves appear nice,meaner or even more Risque in real life. I have also have fallen prey to getting creepy mesages from strangers on these types of sites and it is always kind of scary. Sometimes you dont realize that you have to make your profiles private or people can send you what ever they feel like .You can give off the wrong impressions on people who perhaps known you all your life and leave bad tastes in their mouths. I do think on-line is a real place because of how many people use to connect with one anther. I have gone back on forth on the that notion but as I sit here writing, I have my msn running, my facebook just in case I get a message that I have been waiting for. Today I was playing the game World of warcraft and you wouldnt believe how many people play that game but depend on your character do certian things and not only can you play this game , you can chat with people . It becomes a real place to many of these players just as "on-line" becomes a real place for us who are just browsing

class blog 2

Are we alone?
Our kids love to chat on-line...mostly because it seems like they are away from prying adult eyes. But just how "alone" are they?Do you feel like the Internet is private? Who do you think can / is watching us?I dont think that the internet is private. We think it is but if we are not computer savvy we can fall prey to more then we know. I was aware about spyware but something that I became aware of recently is this thing called fishing . The spelling on it could be wrong. But apprently alot of big companies do this. They have what are called fishes that latches on to you and follows you to what ever site you are on so that they are able to see what you are viewing. Of course its to help them market them selves better to the general population. I found it has made me more aware of just what I go on.

class blog 1

Is technology a necessary evil or a powerful tool for positive social change

Technology is embraced by some who see it as a panacea for creating a global environment that liberates and democratizes. Others see technology as an evil that permeates our culture with filth and is fraught with dangers. Where does the truth lie? Is technology a necessary evil or a powerful tool for positive social change? Talk about this from your own experiences? What do you see in the community around you?I think it is a powerful tool for positive social change. It makes us in many ways more open to other cultures. We no longer have to pick up a book or look at pictures. Not only can we talk with people from various cultures but we can teach them about our own. We can witness archaeological digs online, that are being performed in different parts parts of the world. There are many positive things I can say about technology but personally I find the fact that now we can have tours online of things like mayan temples and priamids facinating. Many of us are not able to afffored to travel to places like egypt, or mexico, so now it seem just a mouse click away. I do have to agree with some negative aspects, I have watched endless television shows about child predators. I see the vast difference in kids today and when I was growing up. I find children are more inclined to stay inside and play on the computer then go outside and run around. There is more of an up rise in childhood obesity then there ever was before. Sites like paypal have to exist because you can not just put your personal information on the web.I feel to on the fense about this subject to really say im on one side more so then anther.

Flickr

I find at time it so hard to keep up with technology. But it never stops be amazing how it makes our world smaller. Flickr is something I heard of before. My boyfriend mother took a class that taught her all about different terms and programs. She kept on talking about flickr and how great it is. I would of kind of dismiss her...as bad as that sounds. I thought I knew a bit more then she did and it was just anther site. I didnt bother checking it out. I thought its just anther something that is fad that everyone will be over in a couple of months. Then I learned it was a site that can hold your pictures with out taking space up on your computer. I was already on photo bucket and I said oh whats the point of joining anther site. I became kind of sick of different sites and getting emails of people trying to add me to them. I have a ton of photos on my computer among online games and stories. My memory space is low and I rethought my stance on sites like flicker. I may consider joining the site now that I see all that it can do

Claymation

I may have spoke about my brother before and how I admire how much he knows about technology. The topic of claymation came up and it made me think about my brother. He makes his own clay movies. He post them up on youtube. I believe he wants to be a movie director when he gets older. Well before I get to talking more about his videos... I had taken a multi media course and we watched a claymation movie. It was a short film and it had alot to do with the term "fire in your belly". We spent several class talking about the film and it made me admire my brother short movies. He would buy clay from the dollar store and mold them into people. He then would begin a painful process of making the video, he would move his men or women a little at a time and take a picture. He do those steps for every little thing he wanted to do in his movie. In the end he would have over three hundred photos. He could make the movie slower, faster and add music and text. I'm always amazed at what I dont know.

shareware,freewear...blah

Im a little behind but I thought I still write.In monday class (feb 6) when different terms were brought up like spyweare,sharewear and freewear. I wasnt a completly new to the terms. My fiance is one of the guys that like to go on lenix. I think we can get very caught up in spywere and freewere. From experience I have downloaded many games that have only lasted three months. Then I would wonder why I have no room on my computer after awahile. I have let in virus many times through these little programs and had to sit through some mini lectures about downloading. Through a business point of view, its great, you get your product out there for everyone to test out. I find the more we rely on these sort of products, we become a bit more lazy. I know I have downloaded stuff and removed it so that I could try to download it again for free and many times have I gone looking for different sites that offere the same thing. We take almost advantage of quality and start looking for qualities that are less poor but we can perhaps get away with getting for free. I believe soon people are going to stop putting out quality programs because people are not only pirating so much but are not willing to spend the money on a program.

The world of Online games

did not attend this class because it was snowing and I wasnt sure if I should trust the roads.I want to talk about the world of online games and just video games in general. I never had a real intrest in playing video games growing up but I rember when my father had bought a saga. His friends would come over and they would just all sit around and play for hours. As I got older and my intrest grew in to computers I would play a few online games once in awahile and try to download the occasional game.What came as a shock to me was how much my brother took to computers and video games. We have about an 8 year age difference. So All these fancy new games are things he growing up with and what kids are demanding to have these days. One year he asked for a playstation and I think I laughed and asked him who he thought was going to teach him how to play those games. There wasnt a whole lot of kids around with games like that. He taught him self and then it began. He had to have the latest in video games and machines. One day I had to decided to sit with him and play one of his games. I felt lost and resorted to making characters run backwards for fun. I always said that I wouldnt be one of those who just sat around and played games online or at home on the t.v. Now I feel im eating my words. There is game that some may be aware of and its called World of warcraft. It took me awahile to get use to playing it but now I spend more time on it then I should. For anyone who doesnt know it, its an online game that you can buy and it cost "40" for three month subscripition but cost even less if you have it on a credit card. There are over six million people who play this game and it only keeps growing.I never thought how competitive this business is because for a long time I didnt give it a real thought. You must really love it to keep at it because its ever evolving.

What we expect now a days

One thing I have noticed now,that I havent notice before, is that we expect all business to have websites. It seems that the days where we would pick up a phone book and call a business and ask them directly any questions we had are gone.I remeber growing up it was all about finding flyers to my favourite stores. Now we can go online and find what ever answer we are looking for or as the popular term goes "google it". It was just last week when I had deciede to check out if a place I use to go to had a website. Which is a martial arts place in moncton. At one point they had a book out and it gave all this wonderful information, so naturally I thought they would have a website. I searched and found no website but just some numbers. I was almost shocked that there was no website up for the club. I believe its almost becomes an annoyance when a business does not have a website. I find not only do we expect websites but we expect them to be top notch. They must show all their products at every angle and they must have tools so that we can zoom in on the product. We must have multiple emails and numbers at our disposal and we must be able to purchase anything they offer online as well. Now alot of business have to compete with things like "ebay". I will be the first to admit I'm and avid ebay shopper and notice that alot of business are putting their products on that site stratight from their stores. We dont have to go into a store anymore to be customers and we dont need to leave our homes to start new business.