Things Things and more Things .. Over kill!

So call me a strange person but, am I the only one who though Week 13's reading was like reading a bad Science Fiction book. I have read the word thing more times in this reading than I have my entire life. The continuous referring to "things" got my mind all tied in knots. Maybe I'm easily confused, or just plain dumb but I am still pondering as to what the point of that reading was.

So Correct me if I am wrong but by the sounds of what Bleecker is saying he's paranoid things will take over the world as we know it. I am convinced the guy was hallucinating while writing this, or possibly is just one of those people that needs to throw his thoughts out whether they make sense or are coherent or not.

So I'm going to step off the reading topic and give this my own take, preferably without the multitude of the word THINGS, because I think it would inevitably want me to claw my eyes out.

So the part I did understand was in regards to social networking, and the idea of it no longer being just a phenomenon on the internet but rather physically being a part of what we know as our internet/life/world. I suppose the constant throwing in the word thing just made it repetitive enough for my brain to shut down and refuse to grasp the idea of much of anything.

This may sound harsh, but it being my last post I think it's only fair I get to criticize this readings author's sanity. I mean honestly, did he write it and not think to read through it and maybe just maybe ask himself if people would understand it as well as he seems to? It's like it never occurred to him that we aren't all rocket scientists?

Definitely the worst of all readings for this class, the other's I enjoyed this one was just not my taste, to much for me to handle and just makes me question some people's sanity.

Android. Freedom for Wireless Web?

This week's reading was pretty long, as compared to the last couple of weeks, personally the more an article goes on the easier I lose interest. Anyway..

Google vs. Apple it is..

If I think of both OS for phones, and the fact I've owned and used both. As much as android is said to free the wireless web, I still find myself drawn back to the Apple iPhone and it's OS. Android, open source is all well and good, but what I find rather annoying is that anyone can put a coded app on the market and you have to be willing to chance your devices security to download and use it. iPhone if it's on the apple store it's legit and there's no prompting me whether I want to install an unverified third party application. Call me old fashion but when something says i have to agree before I get it, and the potential threat it may cause my device, I'd rather stick with Apple OS.

Besides when I look at the features of both a Samsung Galaxy and an iPhone4, the iPhone updating and syncing is by far easier and less tricky than the Kies software that Samsung's galaxy uses.

If it's freeing our wireless web, then why does it seem so much more complicated to sync a Samsung galaxy then it is an iPhone?

Truth be told I still like how the Samsung galaxy looks, and the idea is great but thus far the execution of the open source OS is lacking, and I don't see myself drooling to get it back in the near future.

Anybody see it differently maybe? :)

Facebook - Twitter - Social movement tools or reason!

So .. does facebook and twitter cause political change? Or is it simply a tool?

Well here's my take on the topic.

Both facebook and twitter, can and have helped political situations, as seen in egypt and libya. BUT and here's my biggest issue, they do not cause it, it's still people behind that are doing the posting. Now wether or not facebook and twitter exist, people would still be pushing based on their oppinions and wants from their governments, it's hardly facebook or twitter that's causing it, it's society. Social changes will always happen, as people and nations as a whole evolve, so there will always be room for improvements, especially when each group within a society can have different needs.

So it is true that facebook and twitter have become a major tool, but they alone are not the reason, they are simply new technology, new tools for an ever changing and forward moving tech generation.

I think at least we're not spending 24 hours doing really nothing of importance on these two sites, with these political movements there's at least a notion that some if not all of us are contributing to society in some way, even if it is countering what the majority agrees with.

More over I think this whole topic is pretty much a 50/50 situations, some people will agree that facebook and twitter are everything others may agree with me it's just a tool of the modern age.

As always I leave with the thought trail of : is there really a definite answer?

Hackers Galore

I just returned from home last night, still sort of tired from the flight but the post is long overdue. Hacking, I suppose I should be against it, and I am to some degree.

Let's divide hacking up into categories, easier for me to explain where I stand.

When it comes to hacking programs, like cracks and key generators, I'm not going to deny that I am for it. I am, and my reasons are simple - companies like adobe are pricing their stuff so high, it's ridiculous. I did a diploma in design and was in a course for graphic design and yet we couldn't afford to use adobe illustrator or Photoshop cause the suites cost some ridiculous amount f money. So let me get this straight you want to give us amazing programs that are pretty much a must have for a graphic designer, yet you want us to pay some ridiculous amount for a suite that will eventually in about a year be replaced by a newer more tech savy version? Ridiculous much?

Then there the hacking for protest, personally I'm going to put my opinion out there and see if anyone agrees with me. It's dumb, plain and simple.

You want to make change sin the world, please do so, but hacking and causing havoc online isn't going to get you recognized for the right reasons, quite the opposite.

This hacking topic kind of is a hit or miss for me, you either are all for it or all against it, least that's how it seems most of the time. To me it depends on what the purpose is, the reasoning behind it. Hacking for protest or for political reasons just seems vague, pointless really.

Again this topic is one of those opinions will differ topic.

I do find it funny that they have hacking conventions, maybe that's jsut me.

Hackers Galore

I just returned from home last night, still sort of tired from the flight but the post is long overdue. Hacking, I suppose I should be against it, and I am to some degree.

Let's divide hacking up into categories, easier for me to explain where I stand.

When it comes to hacking programs, like cracks and key generators, I'm not going to deny that I am for it. I am, and my reasons are simple - companies like adobe are pricing their stuff so high, it's ridiculous. I did a diploma in design and was in a course for graphic design and yet we couldn't afford to use adobe illustrator or Photoshop cause the suites cost some ridiculous amount f money. So let me get this straight you want to give us amazing programs that are pretty much a must have for a graphic designer, yet you want us to pay some ridiculous amount for a suite that will eventually in about a year be replaced by a newer more tech savy version? Ridiculous much?

Then there the hacking for protest, personally I'm going to put my opinion out there and see if anyone agrees with me. It's dumb, plain and simple.

You want to make change sin the world, please do so, but hacking and causing havoc online isn't going to get you recognized for the right reasons, quite the opposite.

This hacking topic kind of is a hit or miss for me, you either are all for it or all against it, least that's how it seems most of the time. To me it depends on what the purpose is, the reasoning behind it. Hacking for protest or for political reasons just seems vague, pointless really.

Again this topic is one of those opinions will differ topic.

I do find it funny that they have hacking conventions :P

Citizen Journalism?

So this is about the third time this semester I've heard, read and talked about citizen journalism. As much as I embrace the idea, part of me blocks it out. I suppose I'm used to the conventional way of journalism, as compared to these new ways.

I feel as though it's becoming as though we are trying to say that every person is a journalist of sorts, I guess that makes sense if you think about it in terms of writting about events in your local area or eye witness accounts. BUT and here's my big problem with this whole citizen journalism idea, whats the point of people studying and becoming journalists, if every person can simply be one. I suppose I'm kind of negative towards it because my brother studied journalism, and had trouble finding work, because it seems nobody wants to actually employ you, they'd rather have freelance work, it's cheaper. So basically he studied something, only for him to end up doing something completely different because of the "new" ways.

I suppose I'm over dramatizing this whole issue a bit, but still the jist of it is the same.

If I think of say egypt and the whole twitter incidents, I remember seeing my friends from egypt post on facebook, mostly about asking their fellow countrymen to calm down and stop the violence, rather than them reporting on what was going on per say.

Touchy subject I think, I suppose some people embrace citizen journalism and some just don't care. I think I'm in between, I care but I don't exactly think it's the greatest thing in the world or the absolute future. Yay or nay, neither for me to be honest :/

Shop vs Online Shopping?

This week in our tutorial we had an interesting debate about whether it would be beneficial to have taxes on online shopping or not.
Personally I love online shopping, a lot of things i want don't seem to be sold in the area I live, or country even, so having the chance to buy it and have it in 3 days to me far outeighs having to go to a store, order it and wait a week or two for them to finally get it to me.
I suppose it sounds selfish, but from where I stand online shopping makes things more easily available. Yes it hurts retail businesses in my area, but at the same time, shouldn't it challenge them to be more efficient and carry more products? Maybe I'm thinking on a small scale, or even too simple but to me it seems as though retail business are going out of business because life is expensive. I say this because, in Hong Kong there are no taxes, here it's taxes and the prices are double of Hong Kong.
As an example, it costs maybe 50 cents to produce a plastic molded toy, yet they are sold here for an outrageous price. Yes there needs to be profit, but it seems so ridiculous to me that something that costs you 50 cents to produce is sold for say 30-50 dollars?
This whole debate sort of made me feel guilty about shopping online, and to be fair should i feel guilty? I'm not sure.