Inspired Blog #8

Even though I feel like social media networks like Facebook and Twitter may be useful for one reason or the other, I feel like I was wasting a lot of time no for particular reason while I used Facebook. Other than using Twitter for the SRA 397A class not too long ago to post a picture of a poster the class was assigned to hang, I stopped using the two social media networks about a year ago. I feel like I get a lot more work done in a more efficient time. It also made me think, how much time are people wasting on the internet more specifically on the social media networks? So, I decided to look it up on the internet (ironic?) and I found a few interesting articles.

                One article that interested me was about how most people go online for no particular reason according to some recent surveys. Basically people are going online all the time for no reason, just to pass time. A study from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project said they had found around %53 of people; young adults, from the age eighteen to twenty-nice usually go online for no reason, just for a distraction or just for fun. I feel like I could relate a lot to that last statement. In past semesters when I used Facebook, if a class had a computer in it I would generally waste the whole class period looking at Facebook. Now I’ll generally look up useful information in class or periodically check me email.

                They also said that it’s not completely young people wasting their time on the internet; there is also a large majority of adults wasting time on the web as well. The survey said that about %58 of adults which makes up about %74 of internet users are guilty of wasting their time, using the internet for distraction or just for fun.  

                I couldn’t find any information on this, but I wonder how much of this time that people are spending on the web is being logged into a social media network. Which ultimately left me with another question, how much do these social media networks affect a student’s GPA?

I think another factor that relates to this topic is smart phones. Smart phones are now capable of browsing the internet and accessing social media networks. Just walk down Beaver Ave, College Ave, or Curtain Rd, I can almost guarantee that more than half the people are glued to their cell phones. It’s crazy how much the internet and social media networks consume so much of peoples time. I don’t think it’s particularly negative, but I also don’t see any positive coming out of this information. I just feel like people are addicted to the internet and social media.

Inspired Blog #7

Rolling Out

It sounds crazy but I think the United States is actually preparing to leave Iraq, hopefully for good. I watch a lot of news, and recently there has been a lot of chatting about troops packing up and making preparations to hand Iraq over to Iraq’s Army. It feels like we have been involved with the war on terrorism in Iraq forever, it also feels like the President has made a lot of promises about troops leaving Iraq, the time may have finally came.

CNN; American forces handing over equipment to Iraqi Army

I have read that there are some seven military bases left in Iraq, but they are all in transition of being handed over to Iraqi hands. Apparently we are still patrolling over there, but hundreds are troops are heading to South en route to Kuwait, where they will be processed through customs, and then finally depart for home.

Right now, there are a few motorpools with thousands of military vehicles and equipment that was once being used for patrols now sitting around collecting dust. I watched an interview of soldier working in one of these motorpools, he said the base was basically overwhelmed by the amount of equipment and vehicles coming in and being dropped off and troops head out of Iraq and into Kuwait. Though it sucks for the people working in the motorpools long hour’s in-taking all the equipment and vehicles, it is a good feeling that we are finally done taking care of business over there and Americans are finally pulling out.   

In one of the articles I read said that there is so much military equiptment left in Iraq that we will either give it to the Iraqi army or sell it to them. I seriously doubt we would sell it to them, because I’m pretty sure they don’t have the financial means to buy anything right now. Part of me thinks it is a good idea to give them our equipment from the war, only so American’s don’t have to worry about the cost of shipping it home and the hassle it would put our troops through, but another side of me thinks it might be a bad idea to give them military equipment. Who is to say that  they don’t sell it to the wrong people, or they member of the military are corrupt and use it for the wrong reasons.

(one of my boys "borrowing" a local's motor bike while on deployment)

I do; however feel good about us pulling out of Iraq. Statistics has shown that the violence has dropped significantly since the war began in 2006. On top of that, I feel like enough damage has been done, at the height of the war Iraq was seeing more than 100 attacks a day and somewhere around 4,500 American troops have given the ultimate sacrifice serving their country over there. Plus I feel like America has done all we can over there, it is time for Iraqi forces to take care of their own business. Hopefully plans go and intended and all the troops are out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

Inspired Blog #6

This blog was inspired by Football…. and technology of course.

Does anybody else get a little heated when you’re watching football and the referees are continuously hosing your team by giving them crappy spots? Well, for a few years now there has been talk of “microchips” making their way into NFL footballs. Apparently there have been reports that the National Football League has discussed placing microchips into their footballs to increase the referee’s spotting of the ball after each down or during goal line drives. This would ultimately put an end to human error.

                I guess there is a German company called Cairos Technology that has been in contact with the NFL about implementing this idea into the game. I don’t watch much soccer, but after some research I found that soccer has already adopted this idea. It helps soccer referees know when then ball has crossed the goal line.

                From what I have read, there would obviously be a microchip placed inside the football. It wouldn’t have any effect on the ball’s weight or dynamics; meaning it wouldn’t affect the accuracy of a kick or a pass. Then, the field would be lined with several lasers, much like the yellow first down makers you see in the game on your television. Then, I don’t think the specifics are worked out yet, but they are considering having a signal sent to the referees watch. This would indicate to them where exactly the ball made it.

                Now, I’m not sure whether or not the NFL would use this technology across the whole field or only use it specifically on the goal lines. It would make more sense to use it across the whole field. It would make more sense to use the technology on the whole field, because I’m pretty sure a first down can be equally as important as a touchdown when it comes to winning a football game.

                It’s hard to say whether or not this would improve the game or make it more controversial. I personally think it would be a great idea, how could it go wrong? I mean it’s ultimately eliminating human error.

Assigned Blog #12

Reflection on the class:

                Overall I enjoyed taking this class; it was a lot more interesting than previous SRA classes I have taken in the past. I like the way the class was designed; everything from the class reading, class leaders, weekly blog posts, and guest speakers was interesting. I feel like this was a perfect combination of assignments to get the class information across and it kept me interested.

Usually I get bored with reading class material in most of my classes, but the material assigned in this class was great. I really enjoyed the weekly readings assigned to the class each week. I felt like I learned something new every time I read each article. On top of that, I found the readings to be interesting and informative. A lot of the articles were full of statistics and percentages, but the authors kept me in-tune by providing graphs and tables to depict the point they were trying to get across.

Throughout the semester each student was assigned to be a leader for one of the weekly assigned readings. I think this was an excellent idea because I had to really understand each article I was assigned to present that week in class. I also had to understand the other information assigned because, we had to be prepared to ask question to each of the students who presented during that class. I also learned a lot of information because the students did of great job of NOT boring the class to death by what I like to call “death by power-point.” Instead of presenting the assigned reading material by reading material verbatim off of a power-point, each student kept their presentations short and to the point.

The weekly blog posts were something I wasn’t used to. At first I didn’t think I was going to like being required to blog about class information each week. But, it turns out it wasn’t so bad after all. I actually enjoyed reading what other students thought about the class that week or what they thought about each speaker we had. By blogging with the class I was able to view my opinions from different angles and maybe be influenced by the way other students thought about the subject. We also had to reply to at least two other blog posts each week. This gave me the chance to see what other students thought about my opinions and idea, and it also gave me a chance to let other students know what I thought about their blogs.

In SRA 397A we had a variety of speakers come to State College to speak to our class about the occupations and achievements.   It was cool to hear about what our guest speakers have done in the past and what the plan to do in the future. It was cool to have them come and speak in person because the class was able to interact with the guest and directly ask questions and get involved with the presentations. I didn’t particularly enjoy the telecom presentations; they tended to bore me, and were usually having technical difficulties. Over-all, I really enjoyed hearing from the guest speakers; they were able to put our class material into perspective for me.

I think IST, SRA, and Penn State students who took this class are going to be well suited for addressing issues arising the integration of technologies into crisis response, simply because the class now has a heads up on crisis management and disaster response. Through guest speakers and the assigned reading we now have a vast knowledge of what technologies have worked in the past and was technologies are possibly needed in the future for crisis responses. Our guest speakers have us a first-hand look at what goes on in disaster responses and what could use improvement. So, by taking this class I definitely think the class is ready to address issues with integrating technologies into crisis response.

Inspired Blog #5

My fifth inspired blog was inspired over Thanksgiving break when while talking to some family members about social media and how they use twitter and Facebook to find the best deals. I also found out about cyber Monday over Thanksgiving break which I also decided to blog about.

I talked with friends and family who are crazy about black Friday shopping. They said they used twitter and Facebook to find some of the best deals. On, Twitter they would fallow major retail stores to see what adds they post or what deals they tweeted. On Facebook, they mostly conversed with their Facebook “friends” about where the best deals were and what time. I saw an article about Cyber Monday, Black Friday and what to fallow on twitter. Retailers are using social media now more than they ever have before to advertise and attract their customers. This is can be good for the consumers in many ways. Most people are too busy on their phones or computers to look through newspapers or to even take time to browse through major retailer’s websites. So, the major decided that the simplest way to send get to their customers was to use a Twitter account and advertise their black Friday deals through random tweets during Thanksgiving. Amazon was one of the retailers who took to Twitter on Black Friday. TJ Max was another, not only did TJ Max Tweet about their black Friday deals, but the tweeted a “style alerts” which I’m assuming is some tactic of advertising a specific type of style they are trying to trend. I was surprised to see HomeDepot as one of the major retailer on use Twitter, I was also surprised that they had black Friday deals. And, of course there were other major retailers like Wal-Mart, JC Penny, and Sears using social media to advertise their black Friday deals.

This Thanksgiving I found out about Cyber Monday” which is guess is the Monday that immediately fallows black Friday. It was created in 2005 by companies who wanted to persuade people to shop online. I feel like it should be called “identity theft Monday” instead. I feel like Cyber Monday is the perfect opportunities for thieves and hackers to take advantage of online shoppers. I read that about 40 percent of holiday purchases will be made online this year. The Federal Trade Commission reported that last year more than 250,000 people filed complaints about identity theft last year. I wasn’t surprised by this number; I actually thought it would be much higher. Anyhow, I think cyber Monday is a cool idea for good deals, but I would be careful putting sensitive information online.