Posting Class Lectures Online

So I was chatting with my friend from the University of Florida online the other day and she told me that she was, at that moment, watching a video of her chemistry lecture that she didn't attend earlier that day. I was confused and so she explained to me that all of her lectures are video recorded and then put on to a website later that day for students who were unable to attend class to see. She said that she barely goes to class but is always able to watch her class lectures through her laptop.

I think that this is a really cool idea and wished that our school did this. There are so many times when the weather makes me want to miss class but I am forced to go since I would have no way else to learn the material my professor teaches. Posting lectures online would be so convenient to have, especially on days like Monday when it was almost 100 degrees outside! I believe that posting lectures online would improve the grades of many students because so many of my friends skip class all the time and are not able to receive the information needed for exams.

So what do you guys think about this idea? Do you think a lot of students would benefit from this? Or do you think it would cause more students to become lazy? I know that it would be hard to concentrate on an online lecture since it forces you to be on the Internet where there are tons of distractions, but would you guys like to see something like this for your large lectured classes?

Craiglist Killer?

CNN Article - Med Student held without bail in possible Craigslist killing

In Boston, MA a 22-year old med student Philip Markoff from Boston University was arrested for killing a woman that he met through a Craigslist ad. Markoff is charged with killing 26-year-old Julissa Brisman of New York on April 14 at Boston's Copley Marriott Hotel. Police said Brisman, a model, advertised as a masseuse on Craigslist, a popular online classifieds service.

Markoff is also charged in connection with the robbery four days earlier of a woman at a Westin Hotel. In that case, the woman made arrangements to meet a man through Craigslist for a massage at the hotel, but was held at gunpoint and bound. She was robbed of $800 and personal items, and left tied to a door handle with duct tape over her mouth.

Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster told CNN the company is "horrified and deeply saddened that our community services have been associated in any way whatsoever with a crime of violence." He promised that Craigslist will evaluate the incident to see if additional measures could be introduced to protect users.

Police traced the Internet communications with Brisman to an e-mail account opened the day before her death. Using Internet provider information, they found the computer was at Markoff's residence. Authorities put the home under surveillance.

This article shows how new media frontiers may lead to new types of crimes and murders. We already know that there is a lot of cyber-crime pertaining viruses and bugs, but this article shows how people can be put into danger by using popular internet websites such as Craigslist.

Also the article shows that using Internet communications makes it a lot easier to track people's actions and thus help solve crimes. By tracking Markoff's e-mail account the Police have a lot more evidence showing that he committed the murder.

Live TV on Cell Phones

I found an article on gsmarena (a website thats about all new cell phone info) about how you can now download an app to your iphone that will allow you to watch live TV. The app, called "TV from Orange", provides users with more than 60 TV channels live in high-def quality. This app runs off of EDGE, wi-fi, and 3G networks from Orange.

This app came out in Europe on April 7th and ranges from 6 to 9 euros for TV access. You can also pay as you go which ends up being pretty cheap.

I think this app is pretty cool. It shows how technology is developing so quickly and how things can change so fast. The app is convenient for people who are on the go and like watching sports or the news. This new Orange TV application shows that media is improving/changing quickly.

The app is only accessible in Europe as of now but I'm sure it will be available in the U.S soon!

Verizon Hub...is it worth it?

My dad is obsessed with getting new gadgets/gizmos and every time he wants a new one, he asks me to do all the research about it and decide whether its worth getting. His most recent obsession has been for the Verizon Hub. He thinks its really cool and would be convenient to have.

Basically, the Hub is like having a cell phone as your home phone. All you have to do is connect it to your broadband and then you can use all its neat widgets: checking traffic, directions, weather, ordering food, and watching trailer movies. Also, the Hub includes all the normal cell phone features such as a contacts list, calendar, messaging, etc.

Everything seems really cool with the Hub and my dad thought it would be real cool to get for my mom. But I realized that my mom probably would not use half the features included on the Hub. Shes very old fashion and does not like having tech-savvy devices. For example, she has my old Sony Ericsson cell phone which has so many cool widgets on it, but she only uses the phone as a phone and nothing else. So buying the Hub for her would be a waste because knowing her she wouldn't use it but to make phone calls. Also, the price of the Hub is $200 and a $35 per month service fee. With that money you could just use a cell phone.

So I was telling my dad all this and then we began talking about how land-line phones will probably not be used in the near future due to all the new technology. I was telling him about Skpye and how Skype is better than using a home phone because you can video chat while talking to the person. He said that he wants to give it a try and use it with my older brother, who is busy in New York with medical rotations. And so after doing all this research, I finally convinced my dad not to waste his time with the Hub and the next time I go home I'm setting him up with a Skype account.

Flock:The Social Web Browser

So I've been using Mozilla's Firefox for a couple years now because its the web browser I am most comfortable with. About a year ago, my older brother kept urging me to try this semi-new web browser called Flock. He said its the new cool thing and its a lot more convenient for me to use since I mostly use the Internet to socialize with people/friends. I gave it a try but didn't really enjoy it only because I wasn't use to it and it was pretty slow, so I went back to Firefox.

However, I was thinking about it the other day and decided to give Flock another try. After being in this seminar (New Media Frontiers) I appreciate Flock a lot more! Its actually a very smart idea to create a social web browser since online behavior is now focusing more on interaction and communication. Flock delivers a more personal experience with the web.

One thing that I really like about it is a special feature called the People Sidebar. This sidebar loads all of your friends and as long as you are logged on to a site (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) your friends will stay up while you travel the web.

The the sidebar you can:

• share with your friends by dragging and dropping photos, videos, and text from web pages


• interact with your friends, jump to their profile, send a message, and more


• load your friends' photos and videos directly into the Media Minibar (another feature on Flock)

I think Flock is a pretty good web browser. If you want to give it a try you can download it from here