Modern Marketing

We had a guest speaker come in last week and talk about how he helps companies market themselves on the internet in order for them to get more business.  It was interesting to see how big a difference it makes on how much internet traffic a business' website gets based on whether it appears on Google's top few results or not.  People pour ridiculous amounts of money into online advertising because they know that's how most people shop nowadays, and getting your name out there is how you draw people in.
He also mentioned some other interesting ways of tagging products with things like "p8tches" that use QRCodes, which are essentially small squares that are similar to hyperlinks to a URL. You can simply scan it with a smartphone and go strait to a website for whatever object is being marketed.
The future of marketing is very interesting, and there are almost endless possibilities with the emergence of QRCodes and similar ways of interconnecting the web with the tangible world around us.

Rage Against the Machine

So this week we have had groups discuss their book reports, mostly about the internet and its effect on society.  It has lead to some interesting discussions about relationships, distractions, and intelligence.  The first group suggested that the vast amount of information on the internet and the ease at which it is all so readily available has caused us to become dumber. Why bother learning something when you can just google it on your smart-phone and have the answers pop up instantly?  The convenience of the internet might actually be hurting us as we adapt and start to become dependent on it.
The increased usage (more like booming craze) of personal networking websites has had some very big effects on the way people communicate with each other- emails replace written mail, facebook posts replace "checking in" with friends, and online chatting replaces face-to-face communication.
There are definitely some downsides to having a constant, interconnected online world from a sociological perspective as relationships seem to be more superficial and "screen-deep."

da Joey Code

This guy came in and talked to our class about different kinds of codes, some techniques dating way back to the times of Julius Caesar, and we got to practice writing messages with a partner in the different types of code.  One basic type is where letters represent other letters, more complicated ones include a jumble up of the words (similar to an anagram) to make it even harder to decode.
He discussed how different countries' military used these types of codes in the past to help send messages to one another, and how they have gotten more and more complex over time.
Nowadays we have computers that can make up incredibly more complicated methods of coding things for all sorts of purposes, from online banking to storing of various sensitive information.

"Facebook is the Devil"

I thought the Facebook debate on Thursday actually went pretty well, as both teams presented their information and had valid arguments (and some less persuasive but light-hearted comments like "Facebook is the Devil.").  While I can't claim to be completely objective since I was actually on one of the teams, I can see the many Pro's and Con's of having a facebook account.

Most of the problems were not with facebook itself, but rather the difficulty of using it safely. The website itself does not really pose many threats to identity theft, blackmail, cyber-bullying, or similar issues unless the user operates in a manner that puts that information out there. (Idiots posting pictures of themselves doing embarrassing things at parties are going to reap the social consequences)
As Thomas said, "The problems are with the people using facebook, not the site itself."
And not to mention there are many positive qualities to having a facebook as well, like keeping in touch with people easily who are farther away, easy and quick messaging, sharing pictures, posting videos, and more. Social networking is the popular thing to do these days, so it's how many teens connect with each other and remain "in the loop" with their friends; many highschoolers and college kids consider it to be almost necessary for maintaining a typical social lifestyle these days.

Creepers' Delight

So this past week kind of scared me with all the information that people were able to gather about each other. It was shocking how many sites there are out there that (for a small fee of course) can help you find all sorts of information about a person using only their name and a few other basic facts.
I also had no idea that so many high school sporting records are kept and posted online for anyone to go and look at. For someone like my friend Josh, whose dad created a web page for recruiters to find some stats about him, there was a plethora of information that he was completely unaware is out there for anyone to see!
We also learned about how digital footprints are left behind by computers, printers- anything electronic almost- and how there really is almost no anonymity on the internet anymore.
It seems the highly informative, readily available internet can be used to find a lot about almost anyone- but keeping in mind that others can find out what you're doing on the computer too!

RescueTime is Slanderous

Okay so maybe my title is a little harsh... but it did say I was "less productive than 92% of people." I mean, that's a pretty severe statement to make about somebody! Overall I must say, it gives a dark picture of how productive people are on their computers. Not many people at all received high marks for their laptop usage, and it seemed this was due to the fact that people's homework wasn't all done on the computer.  While RescueTime reports that we (as a class) were not very well organized or good at scheduling our time, it failed to account for the fact that most of our work for school might not take place on the computer.
Other problems found were the way it only considers the top tab in internet browsing, so things going on in the background aren't counted even if they are running.

While it did exactly what it claimed to do, there are a few kinks and changes that could be made in order to make it run smoother and give a more accurate report. But hey, nobody's perfect.