Closing Post

Since the end of the semester has rolled around it is time to see how my postings on wikipedia have been accepted by the rest of the wikipedia community.
First we will start with my Warren Township wikipedia article. This article all of my changed seem to have stayed on the article. The only thing is my last edit was moved to a different area of the article. I orginally put my edit on the top of the article but it has been moved to the local government section. While I don't think a blurb about a historical society in Warren should be in the government section, someone else thought it should.
Now on to the Watchung Hills Regional High School wikipedia article. My first two edits stayed, but my last edit was taken out. I believe people should be informed that the money, that was going to the schools additions, was spent poorly on a rising orchestra pit that will never be used, but someone did not deem that important to stay on the wikipedia article. Oh well, i tried to let everyone know.
Next we'll look at my Solomon Schechter Day School wikipedia article. The edits that I have made throughout the semester on this wikipedia article all seemed to have lasted.
Lastly it is time to exam the Seinfeld wikipedia article. All of my edits have stayed on this article also. The only one that moved around was my edit in the Trivia section about George Costanza's character being based up Larry David. This was moved to the top of the trivia list and someone else added how Kramer was based upon Larry David's actual neighbor.

Overall it seems my Wikipedia edits stayed on the site and were accepted by the wikipedia community. A job well done to me I must say!

Classmates Blog

I was just reading through my Classmate's blog and his article on May 14th about the Virginia Tech article was very interesting to me. The blog talks about how long it took Virginia Tech to notify their students about the shootings that had occured on campus. This was a major concern of mine also when I first learned about the shootings because this could be a potential problem on any campus, and this problem could take many more lives then there needed to be taken. Had Virignia Tech come up with a emergency plan for a situation like that they might have been able to warn more of the students about the first shooting and stopped them from attending classes later on in the day. This worries me because unfortunately school shootings are more common then I would like them to be and I would hope that schools would have a plan of action to take in case. Being at the University of Delaware, I would like to know if the school has a plan of action in case of a tragedy like Virginia Tech went through.

Required blog Post

I was reading through the reguired blogs and came across a blog on the John Battelle's Search Blog that seemed interesting. The article had a e-mail sent from a former Youtube star. They were talking about how YouTube had become this big corportation and how they have lost touch with the people that matter, the people who watch the videos on the website. they talk about how when youtube approched their website about shutting down their personal domain and running everything through YouTube's site. The thing that really bothered this person is that YouTueb knew NOTHING about their website and what what tehy have on it. YouTube asked if they had heard of podcasting, meanwhile this website has two of the most successful video podcasts.
I was interested in this article because it shows what can happen to anyone or anything when it gets big publicity. I've known people to become so self absorbed when they are thrown in the spot light and this seems very similar. YouTube has become a HUGE success with their online videos. Youtube it seems, has stopped caring so much about the people who helped bring them to the successful level they have reached which really lowers my respect for the website and the people who run it.

More Wikipedia!

So I have done the last of my wikipedia updates for the blog class. I have done one final update for each of the wikipedia articles. First I'll start with the Solomon Schechter wikipedia article. I added a sentence in the article about how the school was named after Solomon Schechter who was a Romanian. Next in the Warren Township wikipedia article I added the last paragraph in the top section. The paragraph talks about the Historical Sites Committee which preserves Historical areas in Warren. Then in the Seinfeld article I updated the major characters sections. Under the part for Elaine's character I added the last sentance which says "One of Elaine's trademark manuevers is she uses a forceful shove when given good, or shocking news." Lastly I updated the Watching Hills wikipedia article under the technology section. I added the paragraph about the rising ochestra pit at the high school. Sunday night I'll look at all the articles and see how my updates were welcomed by the wikipedia community.

Wikipedia Update

I added a new update to my wikipedia article of Seinfeld. I updated the Major Characters section. On the part about Jerry Seinfeld I added that his character is a comedian on the show.

Slashdot Article

So I was flipping through the bloglines articles and came across and interesting story.Don Balles, the drummer from the Germ's a punk rock band, was arrested because a field test showed that a bottle of soap he was carrying has GHB in it which is a date rape drug. The liquid soap company has hired a lawyer to defend Don Balles in the case and they discovered that other soaps also tested positive for GHB when using the same kit that was used to test his bottle of soap. This article makes me wonder if I have a soap that would test positive for GHB, which would not be good at all. There was another article linked from thr slashdot website which went into a bit more detail about the event. Apparently Dan Balles was pulled over for having a broken taillight and the cop thought he looked like he was trying to hide a wooden box. This makes me think that I should be extra careful if I get pulled over. Even if there is nothing suspicious in my car, the slightest look or move can be a problem. So the cop got permission to search the car, found the soap bottle, and tested it. All I can say is, Dan Balles was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it seems as though me might want to consider changing soap brands.

Wikipedia Article Update

I have updated the Wikipedia article for Watchung Hills Regional High School. I added a paragraph to the top portion of the article talking about how the school participates in Project Graduation. Project graduation is a school sponsored alcohol free party that takes place right after graduation.

STIUQXELA

I need to really update this blog alot since I seemed to have missed 2 blogs for the past two weeks. I'm falling alittle bit behind with all my work, but today is my catch up on everything day. First I updated a wikipedia article. I updated the website for my home town Warren, NJ. I edited the section for the type of government in Warren. The original Wikipedia article said that meetings were held three times a month, but I found on the Town Website that town commitee meetings are held on every Thursday of the month. I will be updating two more wikipedia articles by the end of today, but for now that is all i have.

As for the title of this post, Stiuqzela, My BUAD477 class has decided to do an experiment to see how often different search engines do a scroll of the internet. We'll see how many classmembers blogs appear on the different search engines. We are also supposed to link the phrase Stiuqzela to the Green Bay Packers website, to see if a completely search term will bring up a completely unrelated article. I know I'm getting a late start but hopefully my blog will make it high up on the list. Wish me luck on the Stiuqzela experiment.

Wikipedia Update

Now that I have finished editing the Wikipedia articles, I have started trying to figure out which ones I want to edit for the second time. I decided when reading the Watchung Hills Regional High School article, that I would edit that one because it only stated the street the school was located on, but not the address. I added the address number to the wikipedia article.

VALS survey

So last week we were talking about Primary research methods that can be used for data collection. One of the survey topics that was mentioned was the VALS survey. When I was on the class website I found a link to a website where I could take the survey so I decided to take it and do a little research on the survey. The VALS survey places consumers into one of eight categories based on the responses they give to the survey. The categories are innovator, thinker, achiever, experiencer, believer, striver, maker, and survivor. When I took the VALS survey i was classified as a Striver as my primary motivation and experiencer are my second. I was interested in what each of these meant so I decided to look that up also. a Striver is someone who is fashionable and trendy, which I never would normally categorize myself as, and they love shopping as a social activity and as the ability to show friends they have good taste. I guess the VALS survey doesn't lie althought I normally wouldn't classify myself that way. An experiencer is motivated by self experession and are open to new possiblities and are excited about them. Experiencers are avid consumersand spend alot of money on fashion, entertainment, and socializing. That sounds a bit more like me.

Another Wikipedia Update

I decided while I was still on my computer to also update the Wikipedia article for Watchung Hills Regional High School. I noticed that some of the Administrators listed on the Wikipedia website did not correspond with the one listed on the website for the Student Handbook for the year 2006-2007. I updated the Administration on the webpage, then added the Student Handbook webpage to the list of external links used for the page.
I also checked up on the other wikipedia articles that I updated. There still hasn't been any new updates to the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union wikipedia article. My edit on the Seinfeld was updated though. I was not 100% positive about George Costanza's characer being based upon Larry David so I stated it as a rumor, but another wikipedia member edited the article to confirm it was true.

Wikipedia Articles Update

I have updated the Wikipedia Article for Warren Township. This is my home town which is why I decided to change from updating starbucks coffee chain to updating Warren Township. The beginning of the article didn't have very much history on the town, so I went to Warren Townships main webpage in order to learn alittle bit more about the history. I then added a few lines to the beginning of the Wikipedia article about the history of Warren:
"Warren was originally inhabited by Lanape Indians. In the early 1700's European farmers settled the land and in 1806 Warren was officially craved from the surrounding towns and incorporated into the area."

Video Games being put in School

I was checking out some of the required blogs for the class and came across one blog that caught my attention on Slashdot. The blog discusses how schools are at the beginning stages of creating video games to integrate into the classroom and be used as a learning tool. The blog also has a link to an article which goes into more detail about the plans. Apparently a school in New York is being designed for students in 6-12 grade who will have video games intigrated into the entire curriculum. An example of one of the games that is being created is students play the role of a virtual investor and try to discover why fish are dying in a virtual park. This game helps them experience real life problems showing how different choices can affect the parks business.
There are some people who are complaining about this transition from book learning to virtual learning saying kids will develop ADD and aggressive behavior and are against this new method of learning.
After reading both articles, I begain to really think about how this new method of teaching would work. While I am not going to be affected for a while, til I have children old enough to go to school, this is still an issue I will eventually have to face. The idea of learning through video games seems like a great idea to me. We are moving into a new age of technology, as the article says, and everyone needs to be kept up to speed or be left behind, which is one benefit to virtual learning. Children will be aware of the new technology advances and be capable of using them. Learning how to do thingsis much easier at a young age. Also, learning with a video game alloows for a much more "hands on" experience with the problem. Reading from a book only allows one to participate in so much of the problem, where as learning on a computer, for example, allows the student to become part of the problem and test how their solutions would work. Virtual learning could also benefit science classes where a teacher wants to show students how mixing two different types of chemicals together can be deadly or dangerous. Telling a student not to do something because of the outcome is effective, but most of the time (I know from experience) they want to see the explosion, or see the reaction. With a virtual learning device, Students can mix different chemicals together an see the reaction without being put in immediate danger.
While I believe a virtual learning experience is a great idea, I don't think that books should be abbandoned all together, which will not happen. The article stated that books will always be incorportated into the learning experience, but the virtual aspect will just enhance the learning more.

Google Vs. Viacom

I was reading one of my group member's blog and noticed he had made some remarks about the in class discussion on Google vs. Viacom. I do agree parts of his point of view. Viacom really does not need to sue Google because of the copyrighted material since as Eric stated, Viacom is probably gaining so many more viewers and getting tons of free marketing and advertising. However, during class everyone was split in half and one group was arguing for Google/Youtube, while the other half was arguing for Viacom. I happened to be on the Viacome side of the room, which at first bothered me because I just didn't agree with Viacom, but as we started the discussion I realized Viacome, while perhaps being a little outragous, is right. YouTube did take off copyrighted material when they were asked to, and are claiming it's up to the company who the copyrighted material belongs to inform Google if something is posted, but the law states that is the company is liable if the copyright infringement is so pervasive that the website should have been aware of it. If YouTube is getting so many complaints about copyrighted materials on their website then it becomes a matter common knowledge that copyrighted material is there and YouTube should take measures to constantly check. Google claims they are also developing software to find and remove the copyrighted materials, but refuse to show Viacom or any other company any of the developments which seems a little sketchy to me. If this software was actually being developed and quickly then why would google have a problem proving it to Viacom. Showing Viacom this production could have possibly stopped this major lawsuit.
Also, while YouTube is providing free advertising for Viacom, they are also monetarily benefiting from the copyrighted materials posted. Viacom (reasonably so) doesn't want Google to benefit from their productions. The way I look at it is I invent a product and am making money from it, then someone else comes along and decides to do some advertising for me (without my consent) and also sells a few of my invention without paying royalties. I know I would be upset about that, so I can understand by Viacom doesn't want YouTube benefiting from their items.
So while I can see why people may feel Google is in the right, I can also understand why Viacom would want to sue.

Seinfeld Wikipdia

I updated the Seinfeld wikipedia article today. Under the trivia section of the wikipedia page I added the comment that "The character of George Costanza is rumored to be based upon the co-creater of Seinfeld, Larry David."
I also have been checking my update to the Solomon Schecter Day School of Essex and Union to see if anyone has added anything to my update, or has edited my update. So far no one has changed anything since mine. I'll keep checking though.

Phishing

Last week in class we were discussing different Internet threats that can be found. One of the topics discussed was Phishing. I found this topic to be rather interesting because I've received many different legitimate looking e-mails from different banks asking for my information. I knew it wasn't real though since I never had an account with the banks that I got the fraudulent e-mails from. I decided to look up phishing on wikipedia and learn alittle more about the topic. Wikipedia describes phishing as "a criminal activity using social engineering techniques." The first recorded mention of phishing was on January 2, 1996. The name phishing was created as a play on words using the word fishing. It is described as a people using "sophisticated lures" to fish for an individuals personal information. After looking some of this up on wikipedia I decided to check my bloglines and I found an article talking about phishing so I thought I would read it. The article talks about Microsoft and how they are allowing an Australian University to purchase their software for 95% off. The only problem is when a student goes to the website a message pops-up telling the person that the website might be a phishing website and not to give out their information. The Australian PC World website give a more in depth discussion about the problems Microsoft is encountering. They have issued a statement telling everyone to ignore the pop-up warning.
I think this is a very funny predicament that Microsoft is in. They are trying to allow an amazing deal to the students of an Australian University and their own anti-phishing software is turning against them, warning people not to trust the website or the offer. This also will make me look at e-mails that I receive alittle differently, and while I still will not give any information out I'll probably wonder for a few seconds as to whether or not this could be a legitimate offer.

Wikipedia Articles

I thought I would also comment on my Wikipedia articles. I have changed one of them and will no longer be updating on Starbucks. Instead I will be updating the Wikipedia article for Warren Township. That is my home town so I feel I'll have more information on the topic then Starbucks.

TV Violence

So I was sitting around just now waiting for 24 to start (my Monday night ritual), I decided to check out some of the required blogs. While I was scrolling through the blogs for slashdot, I came across an article that peaked my interest. The article entitled FCC Report - TV Violence Should be Regulated discusses how the Federal Communications Commission has drafted a law in hopes of congress passing it. This law would help them regulate the violence on TV much like sexual content is regulated. The blog also provides a link to the CNN Article which provides a more indepth explanation. I didn't think this topic would frustrate me as much as it does. From what I have been told many other countries dont regulate their TV as much as America tries to and uses sex to advertise many of their products. After the infamous Whitney Houston incident during the Superbowl, American became the laughingstock of most of Europe because of how the situation was completely blown out of proportion. Europeans starting refering to Americans as "prude". If this law is passed, then American will have much more ridicule to endour from other countries.
I don't believe violence in some of the programs on TV as half as bad as what is shown in the News everyday. A question brought up in the CNN article is where the limits will be when it comes to editing TV content. Will the news still be able to report the events of the world, or will America be forced to stay in the dark because of how violent it is? A simple FCC rating will no longer suffice because they believe there are too many flaws. So in this case does it mean that all violence will be completely removed from television? Also, who is to say what is "too violent" for American children to be watching? It does not seem like there are too many other people backing the FCC up on this topic. Many broadcasting companies do not want this article to pass, obviously for financial reasons, but also many American parents are questions the contitutional rights that could possibly violated. As one parents comments toward the end of the article, "the first line of defense lies with the parents" and they should be the ones to control what their children are watching.
I feel that is the FCC tries to regulate another aspect of TV, where will they go next? There are already many electronics to help regulate which programs can be viewed on a specific television set, and the FCC really doesn't need to start editing more content.

Wikipedia Articles

Today has turned out to be a boring snowy day outside which doesn't provide me with too much to do. I cannot leave my house since the roads seems to be snow covered and quite dangerous to drive on from what I have heard. I decided in that case to give Wikipedia a try and attempt to update my first article, Solomon Schecter Day School of Essex and Union. The article basically only talked about how the school was created and how many students attend the school now. Since this used to be my sister's old high school I have a bit more insite and knowledge into the goings on at Solomon Scheter. The part I added is the last little paragraph. I talked about how the school offers second semester seniors a trip to Israel. Now it is time to wait and see if anyone updates or changes what I have posted.

Second Blog

Well this is the second blog for the BUAD 477 class. In this class we have to post blogs at least once a week. It is becoming more important to learn how to post blogs because blogs are being used more often in the business world nowadays. Businesses post blogs to help promote a new product, or to conduct business. We that many different assignments for this class. For more information you can check out the class website.

For this class we have to subscribe to and update 4 different Wikipedia articles. I have chosen to update Watchung Hills Regional High School (my old high school), Solomon Schecter Day School of Essex and Union (my sister's old high school), Starbucks, and Seinfeld. I chose Starbucks because I own stock in the company, or at least I did until this weekend when i found out my dad decided to sell the stock. Oh well. And I chose Seinfeld because it is my all time favortie tv show.

For this class we also have to subscribe to a list of required blogs on Bloglines. This website makes it easier to keep track of blog articles that have been updated.

We shall see how all this blogging goes for me over the course of the semester.

My First Blog Post

Well it seems all is in order and if I did this correctly then this s my first blog post! Here is a link to The Univeristy of Delaware's website.