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.