Can this new form of Media help our Enconomy?

Jimmy Wales (Wikipedia's founder) was on to something when he developed the famous Wikipedia. He innovative thinking proved to be successful--Wikipedia today has over 4 million articles in 2 hundred languages. I find it amazing how thousands of people volunteer their time and knowledge to fulfill the public with information. I believe that Wikipedia can be used to potentially increase the overall knowledge of the public.

This new volunteer of information system may lead to something big in the future. Normally, people are too selfish to give out free information--they want it all to themselves, but new frontiers prove differently. In the U.S, people normally live in a competitive environment and have a competitive mindset, but these new frontiers show that people are willing to work together to improve the community, instead of only caring about themselves.

This new mindset may be what we need to help get us out of this economic crises that we are living in. Hopefully this is what we need to help stabilize our economy in the long run.

Eco-friendly Cell Phones?

I recently just found out about this new Samsung Phone called the Blue Earth that is solar powered. It was designed to look like a pebble (representing part of the earth) and has a solar rear panel which is used to charge the battery. This phone was made completely free of harmful materials. It has an ultra low standby power charger and a recycled paper retail box. Even the handset was made out of recycled water bottles. This phone runs smoothly on sunny days and has a regular DC charger that users can use for rainy days also. The Blue Earth is the first solar-powered touchscreen and it is provoking more people to go green. The phone has many cool applications on it such as it calculates how much CO2 would be released if you were to make a journey by car and it also calculates how many number of trees saved.

This new phone tells me that there is always a way for technology to prevail. I would never guess that anyone would make an eco-friendly phone but its possible. As of now, I feel that technology is always improving which shows that there will always be new media frontiers. Also, I am hoping that in the future there will be more technology that encourages people to go green.

New Media

There is so much new media out there these days and I'm still not sure if its a good thing or bad. I love having access to all these new media but there are times when I feel like some of these new frontiers can jeopardize our safety. With all this new technology (mostly the internet) there are so many ways our information can get out there and it can easily bite you in the butt. When I hear creepy stories about how people get stalked through facebook it really freaks me out. But I cannot even imagine life without facebook now that i have it. I love having access to all the modern media because it makes life so much easier and convenient (wikipedia is a lifesavor).

I just recently start to use skype and i think its the coolest thing ever. Its an easy way for me to keep in touch with my cousin thats studying in the Carribbeans because we are able to call eachother just like a phone without the expensive phone bills. I also have the opportunity to play fun games like hangman and videochat with my close friend from Boston (whom i never get to see). All this new technology makes it a lot easier to keep in touch with people that live miles away.

Having the internet has been one of the best things that has happened to me, but it can also be a little too much. I love being able to check the weather, read the news, listen to music etc, but sometimes its all just too much. The internet has taken over people's lives. Ill admit that i get sucked into it many times. I decide to take a facebook break but end up spending hours on the site. Its really hard to keep control when you know that you have access to so many things right on your laptop. I'm really excited to be taking this course so that i can learn more about the new media and hopefully use it to my advantage in the future!