The line between real-life and virtual realities is fading fast. In today’s world virtual reality can become real life in a matter of minutes. Take for example good old craigslist. I decided two days ago that I did not want my Nintendo Wii anymore and decided I would like to have an XBOX360. So I posted on Craigslist in the virtual world that I was looking to trade my Nintendo Wii with all the games for an XBOX360, I posted the games I would like to get in the exchange, and what I would be giving. The virtual world came to life when my phone rang about 24 hrs later. It was someone who wanted to meet me to exchange these items. This type of virtual world to real world is not like the type of virtual to real world exchange that occurs in Second life or warcraft, but is still taking a real thought, putting it into the virtual world and getting a real world result.
Second life is a one step away from reality. I have spent sometime playing around with Second life, and while I must say the user interface is not as easy as you would think it is a very addicting game. In second life you can buy and sell property, make improvements, make investment, etc. (basically anything you can do in the real world.) Where second life is different from other online games is that it actually wants you to invest your real money. Money is obviously valued different, but I think this type of open system is a great way to keep people involved. When people have a financial liability they are more motivated to stay involved and active in the management of their funds. This is what I think the creators of Second life were banking on, because there are many games that have been out forever that have similar themes (ex. Simms), but none of them use this concept of actually involving themselves in an exchange of money. Another reason why this game is addicting is because as you invest money you can make money, and once again as is true in the real world money is power. You establish yourself in Second Life by owning property, businesses, and land. This is the main place where open and closed systems differ. In the open system like in Second life you are actually buying things in the virtual world.
In a close system like that of World of Wars or many other online games you never own anything. You might hold a record, but somebody can knock you off and they do not have to give you anything. In a closed system there is no monetary exchange, nor is there any financial risk. Closed systems put a roof on the amount you can achieve. You can only be the best at the games you play, and that’s the end of the line, it’s a more distanced relationship with the virtual world if you will. Where as an open system like Second life you can always buy, sell, and trade more. The open system gives you endless possibilities. In the example of Second Life if you want to put in enough money you can just keep buying until your heart is content.
In my opinion the main difference between the open and closed systems are as simple as closed systems are limited in how much you can achieve (once you have beat the game there is no more), where as open systems will let you go as far as your capabilities take you.
There are a couple of important things to point out about using real money in the virtual world. The first is you are using real money and making investments, so it is always a possibility that you could loose your money, and when you loose you will be losing out of your real pocket book. The part that I think is beneficial about using real money in the virtual world is that it keeps you on your toes. If you have real money up for grabs you are likely to be a more active participant in the game in order to protect your assets.
Personally I think that putting money into virtual games is not the smartest thing someone can do with their money. I also know somebody who makes consistent money off of games like second life so I guess its all about what you are good at.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
Nov. 2 post journalism vs. online
The news event that I chose has not occurred yet. I chose the upcoming Patriots Colts match up, which is receiving a great deal of media attention. The thing that is out of the ordinary about this game is between two undefeated teams. The only two undefeated teams that remain in the NFL at this point in the season.
The online article that I selected is from usatoday.com. The article is titled Patriots versus Colts preview. The article covers a variety of different important aspects to this game. The internet article breaks down the match up based on what happens when the teams do certain things. For example it gives patriots and colts match ups for when the colts pass, when the patriots pass, when the colts run, when the patriots run, and then they breakdown the special teams and coaching match ups.
The article then goes on to give the five keys to victory for each team. They say that the Patriots must establish the run, neutralize the crowd, protect the ball, win the psychological warfare, and frustrate Peyton Manning. The keys for victory for the Colts Include defense sending a message (big play for intimidation), use a basic cover 2 in the secondary, focus on using Dallas Clark, use the run attack, and seize the moment when it presents itself.
After the keys to victory for each team are given the article goes onto make a score prediction. USAToday.com predicts that the Colts will defeat the Patriots by a score of 30-24.
The magazine article that covers this game is titled “Super Bowl XLI1/2”. The title reinforces what we learned earlier, that this match up is between the two best teams in the league. The article is out of this months sports illustrated. The article focuses on match ups similar to that of the online article, except instead of comparing offense and defense, they are comparing individual players. The key player match ups that the article covers are Randy Moss (WR) vs. Bob Sander (CB), Adalius Thomas (LB) vs. Dallas Clark (TE), Reggie Wayne (WR) vs. Asanti Samuel (CB), and Joseph Addai (RB) vs. Vince Wilfork (D. Tackle).
The article also comments briefly on the coaching match up, saying that both of the coaches are highly competitive and are expected to come fully prepared for a shootout.
Similar to the usatoday.com article Sports illustrates also gives a prediction for the games final outcome. Sports illustrated predicts that the colts will be defeated by a score of 34-27.
Online and hardcopy news have many similar properties. In the example of these two articles they cover basically the same information, just in a different way. The online article has a similar amount of information on both teams as the sports illustrated article does. Both the online and Sports illustrated article give a prediction for the games outcome.
The main difference is the form of these articles. One is tangible, and the other is virtual. Both contain news and information. The benefit to getting your news online is up to the minute updates are available, and you can check many different sources basically at the same time. The advantage to buying hardcopy news is you can have it to look at in different settings, you have a hard copy of it to save, and sometimes it is more convenient then signing onto the web and having to search for what you want.
Sources
Dan Gilmor. “Grassroots Journalism by the people, for the pople”. We the Media. July 2004
“Game repots”. Patriots.com. Accessed 10/2/2007 http://www.patriots.com/games/index.cfm?ac=gamedetails&eid=1960
“Patriots Vs. Colts Preview”. USATODAY. Accessed: 10/2/2007http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-01-17-colts-patriots-preview_x.htm
Paul Zimmerman. “Super Bowl XLI1/2”. Sports Illustrated. 1 November 2007.
The online article that I selected is from usatoday.com. The article is titled Patriots versus Colts preview. The article covers a variety of different important aspects to this game. The internet article breaks down the match up based on what happens when the teams do certain things. For example it gives patriots and colts match ups for when the colts pass, when the patriots pass, when the colts run, when the patriots run, and then they breakdown the special teams and coaching match ups.
The article then goes on to give the five keys to victory for each team. They say that the Patriots must establish the run, neutralize the crowd, protect the ball, win the psychological warfare, and frustrate Peyton Manning. The keys for victory for the Colts Include defense sending a message (big play for intimidation), use a basic cover 2 in the secondary, focus on using Dallas Clark, use the run attack, and seize the moment when it presents itself.
After the keys to victory for each team are given the article goes onto make a score prediction. USAToday.com predicts that the Colts will defeat the Patriots by a score of 30-24.
The magazine article that covers this game is titled “Super Bowl XLI1/2”. The title reinforces what we learned earlier, that this match up is between the two best teams in the league. The article is out of this months sports illustrated. The article focuses on match ups similar to that of the online article, except instead of comparing offense and defense, they are comparing individual players. The key player match ups that the article covers are Randy Moss (WR) vs. Bob Sander (CB), Adalius Thomas (LB) vs. Dallas Clark (TE), Reggie Wayne (WR) vs. Asanti Samuel (CB), and Joseph Addai (RB) vs. Vince Wilfork (D. Tackle).
The article also comments briefly on the coaching match up, saying that both of the coaches are highly competitive and are expected to come fully prepared for a shootout.
Similar to the usatoday.com article Sports illustrates also gives a prediction for the games final outcome. Sports illustrated predicts that the colts will be defeated by a score of 34-27.
Online and hardcopy news have many similar properties. In the example of these two articles they cover basically the same information, just in a different way. The online article has a similar amount of information on both teams as the sports illustrated article does. Both the online and Sports illustrated article give a prediction for the games outcome.
The main difference is the form of these articles. One is tangible, and the other is virtual. Both contain news and information. The benefit to getting your news online is up to the minute updates are available, and you can check many different sources basically at the same time. The advantage to buying hardcopy news is you can have it to look at in different settings, you have a hard copy of it to save, and sometimes it is more convenient then signing onto the web and having to search for what you want.
Sources
Dan Gilmor. “Grassroots Journalism by the people, for the pople”. We the Media. July 2004
“Game repots”. Patriots.com. Accessed 10/2/2007 http://www.patriots.com/games/index.cfm?ac=gamedetails&eid=1960
“Patriots Vs. Colts Preview”. USATODAY. Accessed: 10/2/2007http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/2007-01-17-colts-patriots-preview_x.htm
Paul Zimmerman. “Super Bowl XLI1/2”. Sports Illustrated. 1 November 2007.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Blah blah Blog
The blog that I have selected to write about is called “Hillary and war – I told you guys”. The Blogs URL is http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=joshua&id=41551&s=politics. The blog was written by Joshua who offers no personal information at all on his Blog Profile. The one thing that we do know about Josh is that he is from the Elmwood area, and he has been contributing a blog a month to this site since February 2005. This blogger goes under the pseudonym Senator Joshua. Josh is just a citizen with an opinion, he is not a politician. This blog was created on 10/8/2007. It was created at 11:35 am.
The tone of this blog is aggressive towards politicians. Josh is saying that there are no qualified leaders left, and he is basically wishing we had one. Throughout the Blog he brings up old leaders that have made a difference for our country, in order to compare them to current leaders that are attempting to lead the country. Statements like the following express his attitude in how leaders have changed and become incapable of leading successfully. “FDR is a man who did some extraordinarily controversial things to protect our nation - some of which would have gotten him impeached had he been President today - but without leaders like Churchill and FDR, would we have been better off in the fight to stamp out the Nazis? Without talismans like these two men, I think we would have lost. At this point in time, we desperately need a talisman again! The question is, who will that be? I see no viable candidates.” All in all the tone of this blog is just a call for a real, smart, dedicated leader.
In my opinion Blogs are having and increasing affect on politics. Local and National political representatives should be using Blogs to gauge there audiences, and learn more about what the audiences needs and wants are. Often times the parties can use blogs as a method of feedback also. For example if citizens are unhappy with a new law or regulation that the city has passed, you are most assuredly going to find somebody blogging to complain. In this example representatives can simple take what the complaint is and dissect it to see if good points are presented that will apply to other citizens. Bloggers can effectively use blogs by making suggestions or criticisms publicly with hopes that the local representatives are smart enough to use this method of researching the audience. According to blogherald .com blogging is a process for energizing political tensions. This site argues that some local level representatives are still ignoring this form of public opinion, but will not continue to successfully operate in the future if they do not stop. As Blogs progress they will become more of an influence is the basis of this sites argument.
Another online resource agrees that political blogs are on a rise and gaining momentum and attention. According to personaldemocracy.com locally-focused political blogs are steadily coming into their own, and their unique blend of passionate engagement, wry observation, on- and off-line community and freewheeling conversation are started to affect the dynamics of local political campaigns and issues. This site also argues that local government might not be extremely affected by blogs now, but it will in the future.
I agree with the opinions of both of these websites. I think while blogging is relatively new that it will not be too much of a dominating factor in politics. As time goes on Blogs influence will increase though both on the local and national level. Blogs should be a great resource for both local and national politicians because they represent the public opinion, and as blogs continue to become more popular, so will blogging about politics. My prediction is blogs will affect both local and national politics in the future, because people don’t only express their opinion about local politics, but about national ones too. Since the internet is not only nationwide, but world wide, politics will have know choice but to acknowledge blogs in the future.
References:
Blogging and local level politics. Blogherald. Retreived 10/26/2007 from
http://www.blogherald.com/2007/02/27/blogging-can-affect-politics-on-local-level/
Blogs and Local Politics. Personal democracy. Retreived 10/26.2007 from http://www.personaldemocracy.com/blogs/local/
Blog reference: http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=joshua&id=41551&s=politics
The tone of this blog is aggressive towards politicians. Josh is saying that there are no qualified leaders left, and he is basically wishing we had one. Throughout the Blog he brings up old leaders that have made a difference for our country, in order to compare them to current leaders that are attempting to lead the country. Statements like the following express his attitude in how leaders have changed and become incapable of leading successfully. “FDR is a man who did some extraordinarily controversial things to protect our nation - some of which would have gotten him impeached had he been President today - but without leaders like Churchill and FDR, would we have been better off in the fight to stamp out the Nazis? Without talismans like these two men, I think we would have lost. At this point in time, we desperately need a talisman again! The question is, who will that be? I see no viable candidates.” All in all the tone of this blog is just a call for a real, smart, dedicated leader.
In my opinion Blogs are having and increasing affect on politics. Local and National political representatives should be using Blogs to gauge there audiences, and learn more about what the audiences needs and wants are. Often times the parties can use blogs as a method of feedback also. For example if citizens are unhappy with a new law or regulation that the city has passed, you are most assuredly going to find somebody blogging to complain. In this example representatives can simple take what the complaint is and dissect it to see if good points are presented that will apply to other citizens. Bloggers can effectively use blogs by making suggestions or criticisms publicly with hopes that the local representatives are smart enough to use this method of researching the audience. According to blogherald .com blogging is a process for energizing political tensions. This site argues that some local level representatives are still ignoring this form of public opinion, but will not continue to successfully operate in the future if they do not stop. As Blogs progress they will become more of an influence is the basis of this sites argument.
Another online resource agrees that political blogs are on a rise and gaining momentum and attention. According to personaldemocracy.com locally-focused political blogs are steadily coming into their own, and their unique blend of passionate engagement, wry observation, on- and off-line community and freewheeling conversation are started to affect the dynamics of local political campaigns and issues. This site also argues that local government might not be extremely affected by blogs now, but it will in the future.
I agree with the opinions of both of these websites. I think while blogging is relatively new that it will not be too much of a dominating factor in politics. As time goes on Blogs influence will increase though both on the local and national level. Blogs should be a great resource for both local and national politicians because they represent the public opinion, and as blogs continue to become more popular, so will blogging about politics. My prediction is blogs will affect both local and national politics in the future, because people don’t only express their opinion about local politics, but about national ones too. Since the internet is not only nationwide, but world wide, politics will have know choice but to acknowledge blogs in the future.
References:
Blogging and local level politics. Blogherald. Retreived 10/26/2007 from
http://www.blogherald.com/2007/02/27/blogging-can-affect-politics-on-local-level/
Blogs and Local Politics. Personal democracy. Retreived 10/26.2007 from http://www.personaldemocracy.com/blogs/local/
Blog reference: http://estrip.org/elmwood/journals/index.php?u=joshua&id=41551&s=politics
Friday, October 12, 2007
Week 8 - Tires
The site that I have chosen to review is Tire Rack dot com, which can be found at http://www.tirerack.com/. I chose this site because it has been very useful for me in the past. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the site offers tires and many other products at what are supposed to be warehouse prices. The website offers tires, wheels, suspension parts, brake parts, and an assortment of performance parts.
Looks: The way the site works is quite simple. You go to the home page of the site and it gives you a very busy opening screen with all sorts of car pictures, and product pictures. The site being very cluttered on the home page nothing really grabs me attention, but there are a lot of interesting items to look at on the homepage. After the homepage I think the layout and design of the site is great. Everything is easy to access, and when you put in your search criterion the results come up in an organized and manageable fashion. The best thing in my opinion about the design of the website is that every page in big number on the top has the companies eight hundred number. This way if you are in the process of shopping, and do not want to wait for someone to return your email you can call the number and have your questions answered immediately. Also to me that shows a high level of customer service, which is always a big factor when making expensive decisions. Another plus to this website is that checkout for your item is quick and painless.
Functionality: Overall the functionality is great, here’s a little bit on how it works. Located in the middle of the home page is a section were you fill out vehicle information for the vehicle that you are looking for parts for. After you fill in the vehicle information you chose from a list of products that you are looking for. For example if you are looking for the tire section you would click tires (not too difficult to understand). Assuming we chose tire it will then take you to the next screen where you will be given the option of what size you want. The site offers you the original manufacturer recommended size as well as a guide that can advise you on the biggest or smallest tires you can fit on your vehicle. After you advance from this section the site takes you too a page to chose your style and brand of tire. (By style I mean do you want low profile tires, mud tires, snow tires, etc.) After all of these selections are made it will give you a list of available tires, prices, and reviews on the tires. Tirerack.com takes you through the same basic steps with all of its products, which is very beneficial especially to the uneducated consumer.
This site does not have much in the way of socialization with the exception of being able to contact the business with questions.
I like and use the site for all of the reasons listed above. I also recommend this site to many people because I think it is a good resource, and even if you do not find the product you are looking for you can read reviews on comparable ones as well as being able to compare prices. I worked in the automotive field for a number of years and I know how garages like to rip people off. That is why I recommend tire rack because it is honest, and usually you can find your product at a fraction of the cost that you would have paid the local garage.
Reference:
Tirerack.com. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007 from http://www.tirerack.com/
Looks: The way the site works is quite simple. You go to the home page of the site and it gives you a very busy opening screen with all sorts of car pictures, and product pictures. The site being very cluttered on the home page nothing really grabs me attention, but there are a lot of interesting items to look at on the homepage. After the homepage I think the layout and design of the site is great. Everything is easy to access, and when you put in your search criterion the results come up in an organized and manageable fashion. The best thing in my opinion about the design of the website is that every page in big number on the top has the companies eight hundred number. This way if you are in the process of shopping, and do not want to wait for someone to return your email you can call the number and have your questions answered immediately. Also to me that shows a high level of customer service, which is always a big factor when making expensive decisions. Another plus to this website is that checkout for your item is quick and painless.
Functionality: Overall the functionality is great, here’s a little bit on how it works. Located in the middle of the home page is a section were you fill out vehicle information for the vehicle that you are looking for parts for. After you fill in the vehicle information you chose from a list of products that you are looking for. For example if you are looking for the tire section you would click tires (not too difficult to understand). Assuming we chose tire it will then take you to the next screen where you will be given the option of what size you want. The site offers you the original manufacturer recommended size as well as a guide that can advise you on the biggest or smallest tires you can fit on your vehicle. After you advance from this section the site takes you too a page to chose your style and brand of tire. (By style I mean do you want low profile tires, mud tires, snow tires, etc.) After all of these selections are made it will give you a list of available tires, prices, and reviews on the tires. Tirerack.com takes you through the same basic steps with all of its products, which is very beneficial especially to the uneducated consumer.
This site does not have much in the way of socialization with the exception of being able to contact the business with questions.
I like and use the site for all of the reasons listed above. I also recommend this site to many people because I think it is a good resource, and even if you do not find the product you are looking for you can read reviews on comparable ones as well as being able to compare prices. I worked in the automotive field for a number of years and I know how garages like to rip people off. That is why I recommend tire rack because it is honest, and usually you can find your product at a fraction of the cost that you would have paid the local garage.
Reference:
Tirerack.com. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007 from http://www.tirerack.com/
week 7 mediation
There are many groups that the internet can mediate. One group that I am a member of that the internet partially mediates is my group of friends. I have moved many times, and have friend in a number of different places. The internet allows me to stay in touch with these individuals easier than any other way. The technology that I use most on the internet is AIM. AIM is one of many programs on the web that facilitate internet or computer mediated communication. According to wikipedia computer mediated communication, commonly known as CMC, is communication that occurs via computer-mediated formats (i.e., instant messages, e-mails, chat rooms) between two or more individuals. AIM allows you to instant message multiple people basically at the same time. This is beneficial because you can sit down in front of your computer and catch up with 3, 4, or many more depending on who is online at that time.
For me I would say that this internet mediated social group has already been developed before our communication though the net. However, AIM does help strengthen ties between many of my friends and myself by providing a way for me to stay in contact with them even over long distances. Another cool way that AIM helps to strengthen tie between friends is that people are more open to discuss things that are going o with them when the communication is not face to face. This allows you to learn things about your friends that often times they would be hesitant to share face to face. This technology could also damage or weaken relationship ties because of this same factor.
Often times when people are behind there computer they will share things that they would never share in person. As I said before this can be a benefit, but it can also be a disadvantage to a relationship. Often times, especially in high school, AIM and other computer mediated communication would be abused in order to say things that you would not otherwise say in person. For example I remember a situation with an old girlfriend when I was in 9th or 10th grade every time she had a problem with something she would never say anything to me when we were together. As soon as she got behind her computer she would either talk to me via email or AIM, but if she had a problem with something she would sure express it through these channels. I assume that partially had to do with immaturity and not knowing how to handle certain situations, but the other part is when people are behind there computer they feel protected and free to say whatever they want. In this example Internet mediated communication weakened this relationship.
There are many situations that Internet mediated communication can strengthen relationships also. Like is said before I have moved a lot so I have a lot of long distance friends that I try to keep in touch with. Through mainly internet communication I have been able to remain friends with a girl named Rosary that I went to elementary school with. We have both moved and are living on separate coast, but still I am able to keep up with what’s going on in her life, as is she in mine. This is a prime example of how internet mediated communication can strengthen relationships, because each time one of us has a major life event being able to talk about it with each other makes us closer.
Computer mediated communication is also used outside of friendship groups. It can be used to meet people, make new friend, conduct business, or for a number of other things.
According to an Indian University journal CMC is used when blogging, used with economics, science discussions, war discussions, and much more. CMC is a very real part of society, and will continue to be a growing influence on people’s daily lives I think.
References:
Computer Mediated Communication. (10 October, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Wikipedia. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-mediated_communication
Computer Mediated Communication (10 October, 2007). The Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007 from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/issues.html
For me I would say that this internet mediated social group has already been developed before our communication though the net. However, AIM does help strengthen ties between many of my friends and myself by providing a way for me to stay in contact with them even over long distances. Another cool way that AIM helps to strengthen tie between friends is that people are more open to discuss things that are going o with them when the communication is not face to face. This allows you to learn things about your friends that often times they would be hesitant to share face to face. This technology could also damage or weaken relationship ties because of this same factor.
Often times when people are behind there computer they will share things that they would never share in person. As I said before this can be a benefit, but it can also be a disadvantage to a relationship. Often times, especially in high school, AIM and other computer mediated communication would be abused in order to say things that you would not otherwise say in person. For example I remember a situation with an old girlfriend when I was in 9th or 10th grade every time she had a problem with something she would never say anything to me when we were together. As soon as she got behind her computer she would either talk to me via email or AIM, but if she had a problem with something she would sure express it through these channels. I assume that partially had to do with immaturity and not knowing how to handle certain situations, but the other part is when people are behind there computer they feel protected and free to say whatever they want. In this example Internet mediated communication weakened this relationship.
There are many situations that Internet mediated communication can strengthen relationships also. Like is said before I have moved a lot so I have a lot of long distance friends that I try to keep in touch with. Through mainly internet communication I have been able to remain friends with a girl named Rosary that I went to elementary school with. We have both moved and are living on separate coast, but still I am able to keep up with what’s going on in her life, as is she in mine. This is a prime example of how internet mediated communication can strengthen relationships, because each time one of us has a major life event being able to talk about it with each other makes us closer.
Computer mediated communication is also used outside of friendship groups. It can be used to meet people, make new friend, conduct business, or for a number of other things.
According to an Indian University journal CMC is used when blogging, used with economics, science discussions, war discussions, and much more. CMC is a very real part of society, and will continue to be a growing influence on people’s daily lives I think.
References:
Computer Mediated Communication. (10 October, 2007). In Wikipedia, the Free Wikipedia. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer-mediated_communication
Computer Mediated Communication (10 October, 2007). The Journal of Computer Mediated Communication. Retrieved on 12 October, 2007 from http://jcmc.indiana.edu/issues.html
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Identity Damn Thieves
There are many different online identities. One person can be many people in cyberspace, just by creating a different screen name, log in, identity number or one of many other possible ways to develop identities on the net. An example of how one person can be many different identities on the net would be as simple as AOL. One person can have multiple screen names, giving them multiple identities. Whether they want to make each these identities alike or different is up to the person behind the computer.
The types of identity I want to talk about are EBay identities. In the EBay community identities are created by making a profile, which includes your person information that only EBay is suppose to be able to see, and items that you are trying to sell or buy. Creating an Identity is very simple, and a person can have more than one in this type of system. Someone could literally set up a new ID for every type of product they sell. This makes establishing an ID very simple. One such ID that I am familiar with on EBay is Hacent, I will explain why later.
The way that you can build your ID’s reputation in the EBay community is through transactions. After you either buy or sell something on EBay users rate each other on how they transact business. The more items that you have transacted business on with feedback the more legitimate your reputation rather it be good or bad. If you see someone with 100 transactions and a 70% positive feedback rating, then you know that the user is not a good person to do business with. On the other hand if you see a user that has a 99.7% positive feedback rating on 1000 transactions then you can feel confident in transacting business with this user. On the same token if someone has a 99% positive feedback rating, but has only transacted 10 items, then you would want to be weary because of how few transactions they have. In the case of EBay it is easy to establish a good reputation throughout the community as long as you are honest, and actually send what you sell. There are many ways people can take over your online identity.
In the case of AOL instant messenger and other services like that taking over a person’s identity is as easy as registering in a different messaging service (yahoo messenger, etc.) and making the same name. As far as EBay is concerned taking over someone’s identity is a little more difficult. I do not know how to take over an EBay identity (mainly cause I’m not a hacker), but I do know that it can be done because it has happened to me. The screen name that I mentioned above (Hacent) is the person that I was referring to in my last blog that attempted to steal money and my credit card number from me. Hacent had a 97.6% rating with an excessive amount of transactions, so when I decided to do business with this person I did not expect to have any problem. Like the last blog said I got ripped off on some motorcycle lights, and the thief attempted to use my credit card to make some other purchases. I reported this incident to a number of people, which by the way were all worthless, but one of the people I reported it to was EBay. After explaining the situation to them, they said there was nothing they could do for me because an unauthorized user had been accessing the account during the time period when I had my problem. I further questioned EBay’s customer relations department to see if I could find out more details, but came up empty handed. They claimed that they did not know who had accessed the account and that there was nothing they could do for me. This was my first and only experience so far with identity theft on the net, but it proved to me that it can happen and there’s really know way to know about it until after you’re a victim. Luckily I’m not in the guy’s shoes that had his EBay reputation ruined and has to rebuild it.
The types of identity I want to talk about are EBay identities. In the EBay community identities are created by making a profile, which includes your person information that only EBay is suppose to be able to see, and items that you are trying to sell or buy. Creating an Identity is very simple, and a person can have more than one in this type of system. Someone could literally set up a new ID for every type of product they sell. This makes establishing an ID very simple. One such ID that I am familiar with on EBay is Hacent, I will explain why later.
The way that you can build your ID’s reputation in the EBay community is through transactions. After you either buy or sell something on EBay users rate each other on how they transact business. The more items that you have transacted business on with feedback the more legitimate your reputation rather it be good or bad. If you see someone with 100 transactions and a 70% positive feedback rating, then you know that the user is not a good person to do business with. On the other hand if you see a user that has a 99.7% positive feedback rating on 1000 transactions then you can feel confident in transacting business with this user. On the same token if someone has a 99% positive feedback rating, but has only transacted 10 items, then you would want to be weary because of how few transactions they have. In the case of EBay it is easy to establish a good reputation throughout the community as long as you are honest, and actually send what you sell. There are many ways people can take over your online identity.
In the case of AOL instant messenger and other services like that taking over a person’s identity is as easy as registering in a different messaging service (yahoo messenger, etc.) and making the same name. As far as EBay is concerned taking over someone’s identity is a little more difficult. I do not know how to take over an EBay identity (mainly cause I’m not a hacker), but I do know that it can be done because it has happened to me. The screen name that I mentioned above (Hacent) is the person that I was referring to in my last blog that attempted to steal money and my credit card number from me. Hacent had a 97.6% rating with an excessive amount of transactions, so when I decided to do business with this person I did not expect to have any problem. Like the last blog said I got ripped off on some motorcycle lights, and the thief attempted to use my credit card to make some other purchases. I reported this incident to a number of people, which by the way were all worthless, but one of the people I reported it to was EBay. After explaining the situation to them, they said there was nothing they could do for me because an unauthorized user had been accessing the account during the time period when I had my problem. I further questioned EBay’s customer relations department to see if I could find out more details, but came up empty handed. They claimed that they did not know who had accessed the account and that there was nothing they could do for me. This was my first and only experience so far with identity theft on the net, but it proved to me that it can happen and there’s really know way to know about it until after you’re a victim. Luckily I’m not in the guy’s shoes that had his EBay reputation ruined and has to rebuild it.
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Assign 5 privacy yea right
There are a lot of major problems with protecting personal privacy on the internet. There are many major risks. One of these risks is what is known as cookies. Cookies are only a risk when used the wrong way. Cookies contain information about what’s been on your computer and can be accessed through techniques known to hackers. Another risk is that by using an ISP (internet service provider) all of the information that you send on the internet can be observed. ISP’s do not collect all information because it would be illegal, but they do collect some information passed through there system in order to be able to provide the internet connection. ISP’s also provide law enforcement information if requested. I think this is even a privacy violation by our government because they should not be able to access all your information without warrant. There are also many other risk with internet privacy.
There are many reasons for concern as well. If personal privacy can be violated easily on the web it puts people in danger for a number of reasons. People can access your personal information about where you live, your social security number, credit card, and bank information. With just these few pieces of information you can be robbed of all your money. You can have your credit cards maxed out and your credit destroyed. If your address is accessed by someone with a grudge you could be assaulted or even killed depending on how crazy people want to get. To me privacy in connection with the web is personal information that if made public could result in some sort of harm to you. Privacy violation can harm you physically, financially, or emotionally such as in the case of harassment. Wikipedia defines internet privacy as consisting of privacy over the media of the internet or the ability to control what information one reveals about oneself over the Internet, and to control who can access that information.
I do many online transactions and privacy used to always be an issue on my mind. I buy school books, cloths, shoes, I even bough a motorcycle online so I have had a few online transactions. I used to pay the company direct which you give your account number and then send it over the net to the business. Turns out this can be very risky depending on who you are dealing with. I ordered a part for a motorcycle online about 2 or 3 years ago. I thins I found the product through EBay, but it linked you to the company website where you could pay for items. The item I was trying to buy was a new set of flush blinkers for the back of the bike. They where like 100 dollars plus shipping. The parts where in Europe, but I ordered them, and didn’t think anything of it. A couple of days later I get a call from my credit card company asking if I was making some sort of heft (like 2000) purchase out of the country. I told them no so the transaction was denied, and turned out there was a couple more charges on the card that the card company protected me against. How exactly whoever had my card number got it I do not know, but I learned not to do business out of country with unfamiliar sources on this one, and I also became skeptical of transactions over the web. I did not pursue anything on this because I did not really lose any money per say, so I am not sure what the solution could have been. What I did resolve to was using a banking purchase option that is supposed to protect personally information. It is called bank pay (BOA) at my bank, I do not know the ins and outs of it, but instead of the money that you spend coming directly out of your account, it comes from the bank, which is suppose to protect your banking information. I have been using this system for about a year and have not had any problems.
They sell a million products now days for internet security and safety, but do they really work? The way that I see it as long as technology continues to advance so will the advancements in technologies to intrude on people’s privacy. For this reason I think that transacting business or just being someone on the web will always lead to at least some sort of a privacy threat.
Sources:
Internet privacy. Retrieved 9/27/2007 from Clearinghouse
Website: http://www.privacyrights.org/
Internet Privacy. (2007). Retrieved September 27, 2007 from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Cite&page=Internet_privacy&id=159183503
Internet Privacy Risk. Retrieved September 27, 2007 from Revolution software protection. Website: http://www.proxyway.com/www/internet-privacy.html
There are many reasons for concern as well. If personal privacy can be violated easily on the web it puts people in danger for a number of reasons. People can access your personal information about where you live, your social security number, credit card, and bank information. With just these few pieces of information you can be robbed of all your money. You can have your credit cards maxed out and your credit destroyed. If your address is accessed by someone with a grudge you could be assaulted or even killed depending on how crazy people want to get. To me privacy in connection with the web is personal information that if made public could result in some sort of harm to you. Privacy violation can harm you physically, financially, or emotionally such as in the case of harassment. Wikipedia defines internet privacy as consisting of privacy over the media of the internet or the ability to control what information one reveals about oneself over the Internet, and to control who can access that information.
I do many online transactions and privacy used to always be an issue on my mind. I buy school books, cloths, shoes, I even bough a motorcycle online so I have had a few online transactions. I used to pay the company direct which you give your account number and then send it over the net to the business. Turns out this can be very risky depending on who you are dealing with. I ordered a part for a motorcycle online about 2 or 3 years ago. I thins I found the product through EBay, but it linked you to the company website where you could pay for items. The item I was trying to buy was a new set of flush blinkers for the back of the bike. They where like 100 dollars plus shipping. The parts where in Europe, but I ordered them, and didn’t think anything of it. A couple of days later I get a call from my credit card company asking if I was making some sort of heft (like 2000) purchase out of the country. I told them no so the transaction was denied, and turned out there was a couple more charges on the card that the card company protected me against. How exactly whoever had my card number got it I do not know, but I learned not to do business out of country with unfamiliar sources on this one, and I also became skeptical of transactions over the web. I did not pursue anything on this because I did not really lose any money per say, so I am not sure what the solution could have been. What I did resolve to was using a banking purchase option that is supposed to protect personally information. It is called bank pay (BOA) at my bank, I do not know the ins and outs of it, but instead of the money that you spend coming directly out of your account, it comes from the bank, which is suppose to protect your banking information. I have been using this system for about a year and have not had any problems.
They sell a million products now days for internet security and safety, but do they really work? The way that I see it as long as technology continues to advance so will the advancements in technologies to intrude on people’s privacy. For this reason I think that transacting business or just being someone on the web will always lead to at least some sort of a privacy threat.
Sources:
Internet privacy. Retrieved 9/27/2007 from Clearinghouse
Website: http://www.privacyrights.org/
Internet Privacy. (2007). Retrieved September 27, 2007 from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Cite&page=Internet_privacy&id=159183503
Internet Privacy Risk. Retrieved September 27, 2007 from Revolution software protection. Website: http://www.proxyway.com/www/internet-privacy.html
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