This week we watched a video by Hans Rosling:Stats that reshape your worldview.  We watched it to dissect his presentation skills using Power Point.  He is a funny Swedish professor with a very easy way to understand his data.  He talks about family size in one topic and child mortality rates in another something that would normally be very boring or even depressing but he throws jokes in mix he will show a graph explain it make it come to life than make a joke about it.  His first graph is about Family Size and life expectancy over a period of almost 40 years.  He manages to turn this monotonous topic into a horse race of sorts I can almost imagine him saying," And they're Off!" His animations make his topic easier to understand and intriguing to watch.  I am taking from his example the ability to turn a bland, boring, but educational topic into a funny light hearted presentation.

Link to video: http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

Is Suri the next to be sue'd by the Guild?

This week in class we are reading about how the Amazon Kindle 2 "read to you" mode has created quite the buzz which leads me to ask since Amazon is compatable with every electronic device on the planet (most come already preloaded) and the "read to you" mode is most likely a software upgrade that can be downloaded or used in a different way is Suri the next one on the Guild's List of copywrite offenders?  Apple's Suri reads you everything on your phone what about your books?  She is reading just the same as the electronic "no name" on the Kindle 2.  Not to say that I am for or against the fight of man vs. machine but I feel this is either a get with the program or scram kind of deal.  There is no comparision between an electronic voice and the actors giving articulation and charactor to a voice on a "books on tape" rental from the library.  At pennies on the hundred dollar bill I find this whole thing to be quite comical.  To be in such an uproar over the silliest thing, a robot voice would just make me laugh!  I would not buy the Kindle 2 just for a voice I would buy it for its various features.  I just think the Guild needs to take a step back and re evaluate the situation they are now faced with in the Twenty First Century.

Copy Write, Creative Commons, and Plagiarism Week 6

Plagiarism is a serious offence in school and the real world.  It is all about how someones personal original work is copied and used as another persons.  Which in my opinion is criminal on every level.  In this day and age where we all have very contrasting opinions, idea's, and creativity it would be very obvious to see the same thing twice and think there was some coincidence to it.  Another thing about all of this especially in the world we live in today with the internet making it so easy to use other people's work is Fair Use and Creative Commons.  A great example of this problem would be the case between AP (The Associated Press) and Shepard Fairey the man who used an image off google and created a piece of art.  I side on Fairey's side that under the Fair Use laws they made the picture unrecognizable which is the point. The definition of Fair Use is : a legal doctrine that portions of copyrighted materials may be used without permission of the copyright owner provided the use is fair and reasonable, does not substantially impair the value of the materials, and does not curtail the profits reasonably expected by the owner 1.   So if you think about it the use of the AP picture it was fair and reasonable it did not impair the picture it improved it and he did not take a single cent for the work.  So I believe he did nothing wrong at all.
   Works Cited:
Merriam-Webster
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fair%20use

Week 5 Cloud Art

This week I have been introduced to some photographic lessons and tips. I have found amazing and easy photo editing tools which I can now also use my phone or computer to do the editing.  I was using PicMonkey on my computer and just messing around with the all the tools.  It might be intimidating at first but its really not so bad after you play around see what you like, what works for you and what doesn't.  I also downloaded another application on my phone PicsArt 3.0 and started using it today.  I stopped by a cemetery on my way to work today and took a picture with my cell phone of fall foliage it is so beautiful at this time of year.  The tree was already past bloom but the location and color of this tree had caught my eye for a few days now.  In the unedited picture you can tell the focus object is of course.... the tree!  But after looking at the picture with a larger screen I realized that I captured other things in the back ground that interested me as well.  So here is my first attempt at photo creation!

Week Four Creative Commons

  Creative Commons is a very smart and successful idea concept that allows users to share audio media content for the sole purpose of just using it.  Magnatunes feels that as long as you are not making money of of it's music that it is OK to use and share.  As it was put "It's free marketing" which I feel is a great idea.  Word of mouth is the fastest and best way to market anything.  The way that they licenced all of this is incredible and they back it up to boot!  From what I have gathered from their site they are their solely based on the music and its final product.  To get the music out there for the world to hear and not hurting the copy write community.

Did you know the internet is 10,000 days old?

  After watching the video of Kevin Kelly on Ted.com I got to seriously thinking about how I grew up in a place in time where we are all reliant on the internet.  I never knew the first idea's about the internet were supposed to be "T.V. but better".  The only things that I was aware of were the green and black dos systems that my father told me stories of.  I remember how long it took with that dial up connection and the waiting and the waiting and the waiting.....it took forever to do anything.  It has been so long since I have thought about those first experiences on the internet.  He had me laughing with his "Next 5,000 Days Prediction"  because most of what I gathered (with out extensive techie knowledge) has become reality.  Hand Held Devices are a part of our every day activities they are our cell phones!  With applications to take care of my every desire, banking, music, games, research.  It can handle anything, do multiple things, and reslove my problems.  I have become reliant on the net that is cast around me that keeps it all running smoothly.  They restructured the internet to tailor to human needs and marketed it to what we as humans need; an extension of ourselves.  I could not imagine my life with out it and if I ever get asked a question and I dont know the answer I as well as Kevin Kelly and the rest of the world would be lost if we could not google it!

Computing In the Cloud week 2

 I guess you could say that I am in the Cloud.  I store my pictures on Facebook so I never loose them because I have had 2 computers crash on me. Facebook......not yet.  I buy my text books online because like most of us in Vermont I have absolutly NOTHING around me.  Some things that I want I cant just buy at my local Walmart (or the one clothing store in town TJ MAXX)   So in order to get what I need I have to find it on the internet Amazon is my god send.  I keep my contacts and schedual on my phone which is linked with my goole account so I never loose them as well.  I guess you could say for as little as I thought I did on the internet I can still be considered in the cloud.  I dont know what I would do if I suddenly couldn't access it.  I would most likely loose it on some unsuspecting "Customer Service Person" whom worked for the company I was having a problem with.  Now that I think about it "the Cloud" is kind of scary with all the information being store some where god only knows where and I have absolutly no control over who sees it or can access it.  Not to sound Paranoid or anything but seriously think about it..... its the black whole in the sky.