Just this year I was exposed to the Gin system by my sorority chapter president. She asked me to help implement the use of the Gin system within our chapter for the fall semester. This meant that I would have to learn the ins and outs of the system. At first, I was hesitant to take on this project, because I do not consider myself to be very computer savvy. However, after created my own username and logged on, I realized that this may not be as be as bad as I had expected.
The whole point of the Gin system is to stop the unnecessary house emails that are sent out very frequently. A lot of the announcements are not applicable to the entire chapter, which makes receiving 14 emails that have nothing to do with you quite annoying. Other chapters on Purdue's campus have begun to implement the use of the Gin in their chapters and I have heard nothing but positive feedback.
For new users, the Gin offers a number of tutorials to familiarize chapter members. Also, it is conveniently enough available through a Facebook application. Because everyone in our chapter uses Facebook (some probably more frequently than e-mail), they can sign onto the Gin system without going to the web site address.
The Gin system is split up into different boxes on the main screen: Announcements, Upcoming Events, New Files, Upcoming Birthdays and Discussion Board. The Announcements tab is provided by Nationals. They post information (and regularly update it) to inform various chapters of what is going on at a national level. Our chapter posts our "paper chapter" and other applications that chapter members may be interested in under the New Files tab. Upcoming birthdays lists all of the birthdays per each month. The Discussion Board tab is the most used among our chapter. Here, anyone can submit a post. Also, people can leave comments. This solves the problem of sending an entire house email out to every member.
Overall, this new technology has been so useful to our chapter. It is a great way to keep organized and provide all our information in one spot. I give it an A!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Wikipedia Worries
Many college students resort to the Internet for research projects, rather than hitting the library. If there is a subject, person or place that I am unfamiliar with, the first web site many people visit is Wikipedia. I almost find myself visiting this particular site daily.
Although the intentions of the Wikipedia site are good, there can potentially be problems with using this as your only tool for research. As learned in lecture, the point of any wiki is to share the knowledge of multiple people with others. The idea is that the collective intelligence of various people will be more powerful than just the intelligence of one individual.
Most information found on Wikipedia sounds like the content could come straight out of a published encyclopedia. However, if one looks further than just Wikipedia, they will find that not all information is correct. A recent example of this is when I researched the life about Barack Obama for one of my classes. I was interested in the way he rose to leadership. After finding some of my information on Wikipedia, I wanted to double check the information, so I could give my audience the correct facts. After going to the library to complete my research, I checked out various books on Barack's life. Most dates were correct, but I found some variation in his childhood and college years.
Overall, I think that people need to realize the dangers of sites like Wikipedia. Although it can give you a quick answer or overview of a subject, it is not completely reliable.
Although the intentions of the Wikipedia site are good, there can potentially be problems with using this as your only tool for research. As learned in lecture, the point of any wiki is to share the knowledge of multiple people with others. The idea is that the collective intelligence of various people will be more powerful than just the intelligence of one individual.
Most information found on Wikipedia sounds like the content could come straight out of a published encyclopedia. However, if one looks further than just Wikipedia, they will find that not all information is correct. A recent example of this is when I researched the life about Barack Obama for one of my classes. I was interested in the way he rose to leadership. After finding some of my information on Wikipedia, I wanted to double check the information, so I could give my audience the correct facts. After going to the library to complete my research, I checked out various books on Barack's life. Most dates were correct, but I found some variation in his childhood and college years.
Overall, I think that people need to realize the dangers of sites like Wikipedia. Although it can give you a quick answer or overview of a subject, it is not completely reliable.
Facebook Frenzy
Facebook tends to consume at least one hour per each of my days. As much as I love the fact that I can connect with my friends from Haiti, or the kids I went to grade school with, I have a few Facebook issues that I am sure others share as well.
There is one in every crowd. A creeper that is. "Creeping" on Facebook is a term I have ran into more than a hundred times in my life. "Stalking" is another good one. Those creepers or stalkers who friend people in which they have no connection to poses a big problem for me. Why does he or she need to see who I am or what I am doing, if we have absolutely no mutual friends? What are they possibly going to do with my personal information?
I have experienced a lot of younger people adding friends or accepting friend requests for the mere reason of having the most friends. I see it as being the most ignorant. I will admit that when I first joined Facebook, I would accept any human who added me. Now, after seeing the trouble people can get in from accepting random people to be their friends, I tend to be a little more smart. If I have never met someone or do not personally know them, I will not accept their friend request.
There is one in every crowd. A creeper that is. "Creeping" on Facebook is a term I have ran into more than a hundred times in my life. "Stalking" is another good one. Those creepers or stalkers who friend people in which they have no connection to poses a big problem for me. Why does he or she need to see who I am or what I am doing, if we have absolutely no mutual friends? What are they possibly going to do with my personal information?
I have experienced a lot of younger people adding friends or accepting friend requests for the mere reason of having the most friends. I see it as being the most ignorant. I will admit that when I first joined Facebook, I would accept any human who added me. Now, after seeing the trouble people can get in from accepting random people to be their friends, I tend to be a little more smart. If I have never met someone or do not personally know them, I will not accept their friend request.
Circuit contact lenses
This web address will take you to what my group proposed for our Com 435 Technology Pitch. From the University of Washington, our group strongly believed that this would be a great technology to pitch for our project. It is really a cool idea and something that I have never heard of.
So far, the University of Washington has had tremendous support from their community, as well as the IT and Technology departments at the university. The support alone shows that this emerging technology has a lot of potential. The fact that these contact circuit lenses are safe makes the product very marketable.
To some people, this idea may seem very far fetched. I will be interested to see if this idea ever makes it to the market. Because it is so affordable, safe for your eyes, and an undoubtedly interesting product, I believe that there will be many potential investors willing to promote this product.
I could definitely see myself using this product once it has been tested and rated by consumers. Just because they might be safe for rabbits, doesn't mean that there will not be any harmful side effects for humans. Once I read ratings from Consumer Reports, I will test this product for myself.
So far, the University of Washington has had tremendous support from their community, as well as the IT and Technology departments at the university. The support alone shows that this emerging technology has a lot of potential. The fact that these contact circuit lenses are safe makes the product very marketable.
To some people, this idea may seem very far fetched. I will be interested to see if this idea ever makes it to the market. Because it is so affordable, safe for your eyes, and an undoubtedly interesting product, I believe that there will be many potential investors willing to promote this product.
I could definitely see myself using this product once it has been tested and rated by consumers. Just because they might be safe for rabbits, doesn't mean that there will not be any harmful side effects for humans. Once I read ratings from Consumer Reports, I will test this product for myself.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Webcam
Sometimes a phone call just isn't enough to satisfy the need to keep in touch with loved ones. When I moved away from home for the first time to attend Purdue University, I was very homesick. I missed not being able to talk to my mom and dad every day after school and each morning. When I was a freshman, texting was starting to be very popular, but my parents did not know how to text.
As a freshman in college, I purchased a Macbook Pro. This was my first personal computer. I loved the fact that it was portable, easy to use and good for my major at the time: Art and design. The built-in webcam was also a great feature. The webcam allowed me not only to chat with my parents, but also see their faces. This made a world of a difference. My parents and I would schedule a time each week to video chat. It was very helpful in communicating between us.
Video chatting is much like a conversation. Of course, you cannot physically touch the other person you are interacting with, but it is much more personal and interactive than a phone call or text. In addition, with video chatting, you can see others' facial expressions and gestures. The only drawback in my mind is that oftentimes the chat freezes up. This means that sometimes, your screenname will force quit and sign you offline.
To this day, I am thankful that I have webcam abilities on my computer. It has helped to continue the strong relationship I have with each of my parents.
Friday, October 2, 2009
Pandora
One of my favorite things to do is listen to music. No matter where I am, music always follows. I listen to my favorite artists from the minute I wake up to the moment I fall asleep.
I came across Pandora a few years ago while sitting in my dorm room. I needed to find an alternative way to listen to music. A girl two doors down from me got sued by Purdue University for illegally downloading music. I did not want to take any chances in throwing away my life savings, just to listen to the latest and greatest from LimeWire.
When I found Pandora, I was so excited. Pandora was spreading rapidly through the dorms, as there was much hype about this new web site. Why? Because it is free! Every poor college student can't argue the fact that free music is a good thing. Even three years later, I still find that most of my friends listen to Pandora.
Pandora is truly a revolutionary idea. To be able to log on to a site where you can choose your genre of music, and a play list is made for you is a music lover's dream. Now, I find myself using Pandora more than I use my iTunes. It is available on my iPhone, therefore I can listen to music while I work out, walk to class or just doing my homework.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Bitter about Twitter
Many people have claimed that "Twitter is the new Facebook." At the same time, I have run into various friends, family and co-workers who claim they would never be caught dead tweeting.
When I worked as a marketing intern this past summer, I immediately became interested in the world of social media. After a few weeks, I was motivated to share the benefits of the new ways of social media that we could use within our business. I started brainstorming on how our company could use Twitter to draw more fan interaction.
When presenting the idea to the president of our company, I learned that many people thought that Twitter was stupid, and simply a waste of time. After I explained that Twitter would eventually help our business strategy, more and more people were interested in trying out this new social media tool. However, several people wanted to know how Twitter differed from Facebook and why so many people used it in their daily lives.
Because many of these people in the presentation were older and unfamiliar with emerging new technologies, I took it upon myself to explain my personal usage with Facebook and Twitter. I explained that my generation is very hands on. We grew up with everything at our fingertips. Our daily communication consists of e-mailing, texting, Facebooking, skyping, etc. Twitter is just another way of staying in touch with those that we cannot see everyday. Following famous celebrities, organizations and businesses also fascinates us. Twitter was introduced to me by a friend from one of my Communication courses at Purdue. After joining Twitter, I was immediately addicted. I update my status a few times a day, as more of a habit than anything. I have noticed that my friends who are active on their Twitter accounts, seem to have less of a presence on Facebook. I know that my statuses on Facebook have largely decreased. What is the point of telling people what you are doing twice? I tend to use Twitter solely for updates and occasionally to upload a Twitpic. However, Facebook mainly serves as my network to share my most recent pictures with my friends.
From my personal experience, it seems that many people are hesitant to adapt to emerging new technologies. Personally, if I have an interest in an emerging technology that I could see as potentially useful to my social or professional business network, I will check it out. After my presentation on Twitter, I found that a few more people were open to the idea of tweeting for professional reasons.
When I worked as a marketing intern this past summer, I immediately became interested in the world of social media. After a few weeks, I was motivated to share the benefits of the new ways of social media that we could use within our business. I started brainstorming on how our company could use Twitter to draw more fan interaction.
When presenting the idea to the president of our company, I learned that many people thought that Twitter was stupid, and simply a waste of time. After I explained that Twitter would eventually help our business strategy, more and more people were interested in trying out this new social media tool. However, several people wanted to know how Twitter differed from Facebook and why so many people used it in their daily lives.
Because many of these people in the presentation were older and unfamiliar with emerging new technologies, I took it upon myself to explain my personal usage with Facebook and Twitter. I explained that my generation is very hands on. We grew up with everything at our fingertips. Our daily communication consists of e-mailing, texting, Facebooking, skyping, etc. Twitter is just another way of staying in touch with those that we cannot see everyday. Following famous celebrities, organizations and businesses also fascinates us. Twitter was introduced to me by a friend from one of my Communication courses at Purdue. After joining Twitter, I was immediately addicted. I update my status a few times a day, as more of a habit than anything. I have noticed that my friends who are active on their Twitter accounts, seem to have less of a presence on Facebook. I know that my statuses on Facebook have largely decreased. What is the point of telling people what you are doing twice? I tend to use Twitter solely for updates and occasionally to upload a Twitpic. However, Facebook mainly serves as my network to share my most recent pictures with my friends.
From my personal experience, it seems that many people are hesitant to adapt to emerging new technologies. Personally, if I have an interest in an emerging technology that I could see as potentially useful to my social or professional business network, I will check it out. After my presentation on Twitter, I found that a few more people were open to the idea of tweeting for professional reasons.
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