Wrapping it Up

Not long ago the Web was static, made of blocks and blocks of information. It was used simply as a source of data. Now, however, the web has become ever more dynamic, with unlimited ways to interact and connect with people with similar interests. There are blogs and wikis that make use of everyone’s collaboration to put in content. The content is made up of text, photos, audio, and video, all which can be syndicated to portable devices. This content can also be organized in a nonhierarchical manner using different tags so that they can be found easily after years and even can be linked to a certain location using Geotag. Even websites can be bookmarked online on Delicious so that they can be accessed on any device be it a phone or computer. There are social networking applications like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that allow users to find friends, friends of friends, and extended friends that may be a valuable source of information or employment.

For the most part, GoogleDocs and blogging were the most useful tools during this class and have definitely become part of my Web 2.0 toolbox. Thanks to GoogleDocs, we need not physically meet as a group to complete class assignments or projects in the future. Instead we can use the chat available to communicate in real time as well as collaboratively add content and make changes on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations so that all members with whom we share have the latest version. In addition, when we have specific questions in mind such as the stock price of a company, or the capital city of a country, we can simply use GoogleLookup to find the answers instantly without having to filter through information in search engines.
Blogging is another useful tool that I shall make use of in my future career. Blogger has allowed anyone the ability to create and customize his/her own blog to share stories, experiences, information, and even gain feedback. Certainly, when I set up my own business, blogging will be one of the basic tools to market and communicate with my customers and gain feedback, recommendations, and even ideas about their needs and wants in order to develop new products. A blog will also be set internally for employees to share their work experiences and give tips on how to accomplish specific tasks.

Versus the past where applications used to be on a users’ PC, now applications are stored in the Cloud. Since applications are on virtual servers, a trend has emerged where these applications are being used to create new applications or are mashed up from different sources. For example, a video of a song from YouTube is mashed up with the song lyrics found on LyricsFly with the support of Bing (Microsoft’s search engine) to create SongLyricsBook. Certainly, applications will continue to develop to become what will be known as Web 3.0. In this new era, applications will make use of data and semantics so that an intelligent agent can anticipate the needs of users and make decisions on their behalf. Soon enough, an application backed by an intelligent agent will be developed to write and submit my homework for me.

Facebook's Privacy Policy

I read the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and Privacy Policy for Facebook and this is what they say about how they will use our information:
1. Our name, profile photo, list of friends, fan pages, gender, region, and networks will be publically available to everyone however we can limit the ability of others to find this information through the search. We can limit who can see information or photos/videos tagged of us by other users in the privacy settings. Although Facebook has set a default setting, we can use the privacy settings and application settings to limit which of our information becomes available to everyone within Facebook and outside of Facebook. So basically it is our responsibility to set the appropriate privacy setting for our personal information.
2. Some of the information we share or actions we take will appear on other users home pages. Facebook stores backup copies of information we post on our profile so that this information and other content shared on other user’s pages will still remain even if we remove the content from our profile and even deactivate or delete our account all together.
3. Facebook won’t use or share our information with advertisers without our consent, but advertisers are allowed to select characteristics of users they want to show their advertisements to. Facebook may also collect information from advertisers on how we respond to ads.
4. The privacy policy does not cover applications that are not owned or controlled by Facebook.
5. Users must be above the age of 13.
6. If we don’t want Facebook to store metadata associated with the content we share such as photos, we can remove the metadata before uploading any content.
7. Facebook may retain details of transactions or payments conducted on the network but will only keep the payment source account number with our consent.
8. Facebook will keep track of all the actions we take on Facebook like adding friends, joining groups or fan pages, uploading photos, and others. Facebook will also collect information from any device we access Facebook on (computer, mobile, and other) about browser type, location, IP address, and pages visited.
9. Facebook may allow search engines and third-party applications to access information set to “everyone” and our public listing unless we turn it off in the privacy settings.
10. Facebook may give information to court orders or other requests if it is required by law.
11. Facebook uses secure socket layer to encrypt our sensitive information such as credit card numbers.
12. Facebook may limit our use of site features if there are any abuse or violating behaviors.
13. Facebook can not guarantee that only authorized people view our information.
14. Facebook will not be responsible for third party violation of any privacy settings or security measures, but users can report any security violations to Facebook so that it takes stepts to keep our information secure.
15. Facebook can change its privacy policy and will notify us by publication.
In case there is a breach of security on Facebook,
1. Facebook will remove any information or content posted if it infringes or violates someone else’s rights or violates the law.
2. If someone repeatedly infringes others rights, Facebook will disable their account.
3. Facebook has the ability to terminate anyone’s account if they violate the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. In the case that we have any claims against Facebook, disputes will be resolved in a state or federal court located in Santa Clara County, California.

Dessert Painting

During my last workshop, I goofed around at the end and created a painting of cupcakes, cream cake, donut, and ice-cream. There is a use of multiple colors and a bit of shading on each. There is a limited use of white, only concentrated on the cream cake. Dark colors are also limited so as to ballance the painting. The background is left as it is because it acts as a neutral color that makes the objects in the painting more defined.

Who is Alia?

Alia Alalawi was born in the Kingdom of Bahrain on March 5th, 1989. She is currently in Bentley Univeristy pursuing her undergraduates in Business Management with a minor in IT and will graduate in May 2010. She is inspired by her passion for art and she uses her three favourite websites as a basis for her artwork. These websites include http://www.victoriassecret.com/, http://www.guess.com/, and http://www.zimbio.com/. Many of her paintings are based on photographs taken for Victoria's Secret and Guess advertising campaigns by photographer Ellen Von Unwerth.

Grammar Girl Podcast

Title of Podcast: "Between" Versus "Among"
Source: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/207-gg-between-versus-among/id173429229?i=80652610





This podcast talks about the difference between the words "Between" and "Among".
Most People use between when referring to two items, and among when refferring to more than 2 items. However, its not that simple.
Use the word "between" when you are talking about distinct indiviudals or items even if there are more than 2.
Example 1: Lets keep this between you and me.
Example 2: I have to choose between Harvard, Yale, and Bentley.

Use the word "among" when you are talking about things or individuals that are not distinct items or individuals.
Example 1: She choose among the best schools.
Example 2: The scandal caused a division among the fans.
Example 3: You are among friends.

Sometimes the word "among" can be used to indicate that a person is part of a group or left out of a group. For example, Alia found her self living among the natives. Another example: She managed to find friends among enemies.
Among and amongst mean the same thing. However, amongst is the older form that came from English Literature and is overly formal.

Pixar using Wiki

Pixar, is the most known producer of Disney's animated films. Located in California, the company has won seven Academy Awards, and uses a wiki internaly to manage film production. The Wiki is used to coordinate computerized animation tools for the studio's films. Not only, but it has an online wiki encyclopedia for all of its animation films allowing Pixar fans to create or edit any article on the database. Featured films include Toy Story, Cars, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, A Bug's Life and more. You can visit Pixar Wiki on http://pixar.wikia.com/Pixar_Wiki.

Article Source: http://www.ikiw.org/2008/01/08/7-effective-wiki-uses-and-the-companies-that-benefit-from-them/