For this exercise I visited to gamer discussion forums and looked at the different views that gamers have on racial profiling, profanity, and stereotyping of different cultures and lifestyles. Overall there are many instances in which games create negative images that most people don't even notice at first and in online gaming communities the amount of racial slandering against different ethnic groups is outrageous.
Racialicious
This site had a number of different blogs that discussed many different issues in the gaming community. One of the blogs I found to be most interesting was one that talked about how the game Resident Evil 5 gives a bad image towards black people since the game setting is in Africa and because many of the scenes involve black people killing other people and showing a savage nature. This is something most people would not notice unless it is openly brought out for people to see but after reading that particular blog it made me very aware that racism can be a problem in video games and not something to be taken lightly.
Tomshardware
I visited this site to see if I could gain any more information and opinions on racism within the gaming community. The person in this site seemed very concerned that many people who play online games hear racist remarks directed at players and fictional characters. Although it is on the internet it is something people do not wish to tolerate it and companies are trying to develop censoring software to clean up the envrionment. But there is controversy on both sides with people saying the internet is an open world where people can express their free speech while others see racism as something not be tolerated anywhere in the world and needs to be stopped. Both opnions had many valid points and this is a very heated arguement that continues to this day and that doesnt show any signs of letting up anytime soon.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Lab #15 Video Game Lab Group Work
In this lab exercise, our groups were given the task of playing video games, tough right?! We had to sample a game from each platform and then write evaluations on them, taking into consideration their genre, audience, features, publishers, and other games made from those publishers. Below is what we found out about the games and the networking incorporated with them.
Console Gaming
In class today, we were to also pick one console game that none of the group members were familiar with. We chose the Xbox 360 and played Kung Fu Panda. There was no networking involved in this game. Thinking this game would be for smaller children, and not considering the title, the game was very violent. Going through only level one, we had to beat off about 60 hog looking things in order to become a Dragon Warrior. Although we went into this game thinking it was for kids, it was a pretty fun game and we sped through the first level quickly. The genre of this game was Action Adventure/Comedy. Activision published this game along with all Cabela hunting games, Call of Duty 3, and the Pimp My Ride video game.
PC Gaming
The game I worked with during the lab was World of Warcraft. It is a MMORPG (Massive multiplayer online role playing game) for all PC platforms. the publisher of the game is Blizzard Entertainment which is a big name in the gaming industry. World of Warcraft has been out since 2005 and has had many expansions since then but that is not the first big name game that Blizzard has come out with. In 1997 Blizzard came out with Diablo, an RPG (Role playing game) type game that players moved in completing quests and gaining experience to beat the game. In 1998 Blizzard unveiled Starcraft which is still considered to be the best strategy game ever made with its extremely fast paced gameplay and environment setting in the far future on different planets.
Mobile Gaming
The group used all iPod for its mobile device to access the games, "Crayon Physics", "Jelly Car", and "Spore". "Crayon Physics" was made in January 2009 by Hudson Entertainment. The purpose of the game is to create different paths using the crayon tool to get to the golden star. It is a logic type game, and is classified under the genre Puzzle. Three other games published by Hudson Entertainment similat to "Caryon Physics" include: "Puzzloop Free," "nikoli SUDOKU Free," and "Aqua Forest." For the next game we played with "Jelly Car" created in 2008. The object of this game is to get to the check point by changing the form of your car to get through obstacles. This is another logic type game, but it also involves physics which classifies this under Physics Puzzles. There are no other games published by Timothy FitzRandolph, the creator of this game. The final mobile game that we played was "Spore" made in 2008 by Electronic Arts. The purpose of this game is to EAT or BE EATEN. You must evolve your Spore as you avoid bigger creatures and eat smaller ones. This game is considered to be an Action and Strategy type game. Three other games similar to "Spore" are, "Scrabble," "Skate It," "TETRIS."
Networking
Networking is supported by the PC and the three main console gaming systems right now. Almost all games have online capabilities now to keep you connected with friends. Whether it's taking each other on a head-to-head race or competing on leaderboards, most games offer some kind of online feature. As for console games, online networks have also been practically mandated as vital for new games. Both Nintendo and Playstion's networks are free for anyone who owns the system whereas Xbox's online network, Xbox Live, is around $3-4 a month.
If you'd like to learn more about each network, click on a link below:
Playstation Network
Xbox Live
Nintendo Online
As for mobile gaming, like the games we sampled for the iPod Touch, having an online community is not as developed. The games we touched on have no options for online gaming, or community interaction. There are some games that may utilize the wifi capabilities of the iPod Touch, but because being online isn't as constant as it's brother, the iPhone, the games available for it don't exercise that option.
Console Gaming
In class today, we were to also pick one console game that none of the group members were familiar with. We chose the Xbox 360 and played Kung Fu Panda. There was no networking involved in this game. Thinking this game would be for smaller children, and not considering the title, the game was very violent. Going through only level one, we had to beat off about 60 hog looking things in order to become a Dragon Warrior. Although we went into this game thinking it was for kids, it was a pretty fun game and we sped through the first level quickly. The genre of this game was Action Adventure/Comedy. Activision published this game along with all Cabela hunting games, Call of Duty 3, and the Pimp My Ride video game.
PC Gaming
The game I worked with during the lab was World of Warcraft. It is a MMORPG (Massive multiplayer online role playing game) for all PC platforms. the publisher of the game is Blizzard Entertainment which is a big name in the gaming industry. World of Warcraft has been out since 2005 and has had many expansions since then but that is not the first big name game that Blizzard has come out with. In 1997 Blizzard came out with Diablo, an RPG (Role playing game) type game that players moved in completing quests and gaining experience to beat the game. In 1998 Blizzard unveiled Starcraft which is still considered to be the best strategy game ever made with its extremely fast paced gameplay and environment setting in the far future on different planets.
Mobile Gaming
The group used all iPod for its mobile device to access the games, "Crayon Physics", "Jelly Car", and "Spore". "Crayon Physics" was made in January 2009 by Hudson Entertainment. The purpose of the game is to create different paths using the crayon tool to get to the golden star. It is a logic type game, and is classified under the genre Puzzle. Three other games published by Hudson Entertainment similat to "Caryon Physics" include: "Puzzloop Free," "nikoli SUDOKU Free," and "Aqua Forest." For the next game we played with "Jelly Car" created in 2008. The object of this game is to get to the check point by changing the form of your car to get through obstacles. This is another logic type game, but it also involves physics which classifies this under Physics Puzzles. There are no other games published by Timothy FitzRandolph, the creator of this game. The final mobile game that we played was "Spore" made in 2008 by Electronic Arts. The purpose of this game is to EAT or BE EATEN. You must evolve your Spore as you avoid bigger creatures and eat smaller ones. This game is considered to be an Action and Strategy type game. Three other games similar to "Spore" are, "Scrabble," "Skate It," "TETRIS."
Networking
Networking is supported by the PC and the three main console gaming systems right now. Almost all games have online capabilities now to keep you connected with friends. Whether it's taking each other on a head-to-head race or competing on leaderboards, most games offer some kind of online feature. As for console games, online networks have also been practically mandated as vital for new games. Both Nintendo and Playstion's networks are free for anyone who owns the system whereas Xbox's online network, Xbox Live, is around $3-4 a month.
If you'd like to learn more about each network, click on a link below:
Playstation Network
Xbox Live
Nintendo Online
As for mobile gaming, like the games we sampled for the iPod Touch, having an online community is not as developed. The games we touched on have no options for online gaming, or community interaction. There are some games that may utilize the wifi capabilities of the iPod Touch, but because being online isn't as constant as it's brother, the iPhone, the games available for it don't exercise that option.
Lab Exercise #15 Video Game Group Lab
The Game I worked with during the Lab Was World of Warcraft. It is a MMORPG (Massive multiplayer online role playing game) for all PC platforms. the publisher of the game is Blizzard Entertainment which is a big name in the gaming industry. World of Warcraft has been out since 2005 and has had many expansions since then but that is not the first big name game that Blizzard has come out with. In 1997 Blizzard came out with Diablo, an RPG (Role playing game) type game that players moved in completing quests and gaining experience to beat the game. In 1998 Blizzard unveiled Starcraft which is still considered to be the best strategy game ever made with its extremely fast paced gameplay and environment setting in the far future on different planets.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Lab Exercise #14 Video Teleconferencing
Google Voice and Video chat
Overall Googles video and voice service is very difficult to work with and very limited in the options and the features that come with it. With google you can only video chat with one person at a time and it is very hard to work with mulitple people through googles chat service. Despite only being able to talk to one person at a time you can still have muliple people involved in the text chat box on google.
Yahoo Voice and Video chat
Yahoo is very much the same as google in its features and ease of use, although chatting with multiple people is easy to do on yahoo you still can only voice and video chat with one person at a time. There is nearly no difference between google and yahoo as far as teleconferencing is concerned.
Skype
Out of all of the different video chat services I checked out skype is by far the easiest and most productive way to chat with different people either for business or leisure purposes. skype not only allows you to chat with mulitple people on video and voice lines but you can also text with each person in your conference. Another thing skype allows you to do is personalize your user profile so it is easier for people to recognize who you are, this makes it much easier for people to locate who they need to speak with on skype. You can also post videos and other different multimedia sources in the chat box for all of your contacts to view. Skype has a feature that allows you to play games between you and everyone else in your conversation and finding contacts is as simple as typing the persons name in the search field and adding them as friends.
Skype is the best service to use if you want to chat with several people at once and make the most out of your conference with others in your business.
Overall Googles video and voice service is very difficult to work with and very limited in the options and the features that come with it. With google you can only video chat with one person at a time and it is very hard to work with mulitple people through googles chat service. Despite only being able to talk to one person at a time you can still have muliple people involved in the text chat box on google.
Yahoo Voice and Video chat
Yahoo is very much the same as google in its features and ease of use, although chatting with multiple people is easy to do on yahoo you still can only voice and video chat with one person at a time. There is nearly no difference between google and yahoo as far as teleconferencing is concerned.
Skype
Out of all of the different video chat services I checked out skype is by far the easiest and most productive way to chat with different people either for business or leisure purposes. skype not only allows you to chat with mulitple people on video and voice lines but you can also text with each person in your conference. Another thing skype allows you to do is personalize your user profile so it is easier for people to recognize who you are, this makes it much easier for people to locate who they need to speak with on skype. You can also post videos and other different multimedia sources in the chat box for all of your contacts to view. Skype has a feature that allows you to play games between you and everyone else in your conversation and finding contacts is as simple as typing the persons name in the search field and adding them as friends.
Skype is the best service to use if you want to chat with several people at once and make the most out of your conference with others in your business.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Lab Exercise #13 Skype on Ipod Touch
The Ipod touch is by far a great tool for many entertainment and communications uses. With built in Wi-Fi you have access to the internet on a more portable platform than a computer and you dont have to worry about using up all of your data plan by using the internet on your cell phone.
One thing the Ipod touch allows you to do that is not really possible on a cell phone is make unlimited skype to skype calls, texts, and chats. with the skype app feature which is free to download you can load all of your skype contacts from your computer into your Ipod touch and call them anytime. Although this is possible you have to have headphones that have an attached microphone in order to communicate on skype with another person.
Besides making sykpe calls to people from an Ipod touch the only thing it can really offer that a desktop or laptop cannot do is portability since it is much easier to carry an Ipod touch into a Wi-Fi hotspot rather than a laptop which allows you to keep in touch with people on the go when your away from your desktop. Also this gives you an advantage over a cell phone if you do not wish to waste minutes or data usage by talking or sending text messages. But you cannot see the other person on the video chat that skype has since the Ipod touch does not have a built in camera which is the one advantage that desktops and laptops have over skype on the Ipod touch. Another advantage the Ipod touch has over a Laptop is the fact that the battery life is much longer which gives you much more time to use the device free of cords and wall plugs where as with a Laptop you have between 1 to 2 hours before the battery shuts down.
The only real disadvantages to skype on the Ipod touch is the fact that you have to be inside a Wi-Fi hotspot in order to access skype and the internet. Cell phones allow you the freedom to access the internet wherever you recieve a signal. Also the Ipod is considerably smaller than a laptop or desktop so for people with vision impairments or those who have trouble using the small touch screen there may be issues with being able to access and use skype on the Ipod touch. Although it may be free to make calls between other skype users it does cost 2 cents per minute to call somone outside of the Skype network.
Overall the Ipod touch is a great way to keep in contact with people free of charge but as with any new and free technology such as skype there are limitations to when and where it is available for you to use. But as time progresses it will be much easier to use platforms such as skype for communications and the Ipod touch will become a more common tool with which to access skype on the go.
One thing the Ipod touch allows you to do that is not really possible on a cell phone is make unlimited skype to skype calls, texts, and chats. with the skype app feature which is free to download you can load all of your skype contacts from your computer into your Ipod touch and call them anytime. Although this is possible you have to have headphones that have an attached microphone in order to communicate on skype with another person.
Besides making sykpe calls to people from an Ipod touch the only thing it can really offer that a desktop or laptop cannot do is portability since it is much easier to carry an Ipod touch into a Wi-Fi hotspot rather than a laptop which allows you to keep in touch with people on the go when your away from your desktop. Also this gives you an advantage over a cell phone if you do not wish to waste minutes or data usage by talking or sending text messages. But you cannot see the other person on the video chat that skype has since the Ipod touch does not have a built in camera which is the one advantage that desktops and laptops have over skype on the Ipod touch. Another advantage the Ipod touch has over a Laptop is the fact that the battery life is much longer which gives you much more time to use the device free of cords and wall plugs where as with a Laptop you have between 1 to 2 hours before the battery shuts down.
The only real disadvantages to skype on the Ipod touch is the fact that you have to be inside a Wi-Fi hotspot in order to access skype and the internet. Cell phones allow you the freedom to access the internet wherever you recieve a signal. Also the Ipod is considerably smaller than a laptop or desktop so for people with vision impairments or those who have trouble using the small touch screen there may be issues with being able to access and use skype on the Ipod touch. Although it may be free to make calls between other skype users it does cost 2 cents per minute to call somone outside of the Skype network.
Overall the Ipod touch is a great way to keep in contact with people free of charge but as with any new and free technology such as skype there are limitations to when and where it is available for you to use. But as time progresses it will be much easier to use platforms such as skype for communications and the Ipod touch will become a more common tool with which to access skype on the go.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Lab #12 Business Analytics Proposal
Brick and Mortar E-commerce Business Proposal
There are several ways to build an Ecommerce site and a variety of different software to make things easier. However, finding the right type of software can be difficult without knowing what’s out there, how much you wish to expand your business, what types of resources you already have access to, or what types of products would best suit the needs of your business without going over your budget. This is simply an example of some of the software that is available to business owners and consumers who wish to broaden their horizons and expand to a larger group of clients. Hopefully after reviewing the different programs listed here it will be much easier to make an informed decision about which E-commerce website tool is best for your business.
Magento: Magento is one of the many E-commerce building tools out there. It is free to download and offers a variety of options for those trying to manage their own E-commerce sites. Here are some examples of the services that Magento provides to its users. Keep in mind that although Magento is free to use the free edition only provides a limited number of resources to its users where as the Professional and Enterprise packages which are paid services provide much more options to the users of the site. Overall it comes down to how much control you want over your businesses site and how much you’re willing to spend to get your product out in the E-commerce market.
Magento Community Edition:
Price: free
License: Open Source
Support not included
Warranty not included
Identification not included
Magento Professional Edition:
Price: $2,995 USD/Yr
License: Commercial
Support: PCI Data Security Standard coming soon
Warranty included
Identification included
Magento Enterprise Edition:
Price: $12,990 USD/Yr
License: Commercial
Support: PCI Data Security Standard. Complete end-to-end product support
Warranty included
Identification included
Out of the 3 packages listed above the Professional edition is probably the best way to go since it provides all the tools needed to create and maintain an effective E-commerce site for an entire year without investing a large amount of time or expense into the site.
Clicktale: Unlike magento clicktale has more visual elements included in its E-commerce site design that allow users get more in depth views of what their clients are looking for, which places on the site received the most views and mouse clicks, and which parts of the site were uninteresting and caused clients to leave or not purchase an item. Clicktale also offers 3 different service plans ranging from simple to complex and based on price but there is more flexibility given to the user since clicktales plans go on a monthly payment basis instead of a yearly basis as seen with magento but there still are yearly packages set up that offer discounts to those who purchase that particular plan for a year.
Free Edition:
Customer Support: Online Resources
Custom Email Alerts: Weekly
Bronze Edition: $99/month $890/year
Customer Support: Email
Custom Email Alerts: Daily
Silver Edition: $290/month $2600/year
Customer Support: Phone
Custom Email Alerts: Hourly
Gold Edition: $990/month $8900/year
Customer Support: Priority
Custom Email Alerts: Hourly
Although all of these plans provide a great number of tools to manage your E-commerce site the best plan would be the Bronze edition mostly since it is geared very much towards smaller business by providing the essential tools and services needed to manage an effective E-commerce site without getting to complex in scale with tracking and monitoring of clients.
Prestashop: This is another E-commerce tool that allows you to create an online store but unlike the other 2 E-commerce programs Prestashop is completely free to download and use as you see fit. Although it is free to use initially you can still purchase modules, themes, and other programs to make your online store flow better and give you more access to better tools as your online business expands without having to pay a large amount just to keep your online site active. Also Prestashop has a very large support network from E-commerce users around the world. It has been translated into several different languages and has implemented several tools to make setting up your E-commerce page very simple. The entire site is comprised of many features that make tracking customers and visitors to your site easy and Prestashop has contracts with most international shipping carriers so getting your product to your customers is hassle free when using Prestashop. Overall this is probably the best E-commerce setup for your business at this point in time to use.
Out of all the E-commerce services I visited I believe that Prestashop would be best suited to get your online business started. You have the greatest amount of flexibility and support with Prestashop and you don’t have to invest a large amount of time and energy into creating your E-commerce page. Also if for any reason your E-commerce pages proves not to be successful you can rest easy knowing that you didn’t invest a large amount of money into setting it up and you won’t be locked into a commitment of continuing to pay for your E-commerce site until your payment plan is finished.
There are several ways to build an Ecommerce site and a variety of different software to make things easier. However, finding the right type of software can be difficult without knowing what’s out there, how much you wish to expand your business, what types of resources you already have access to, or what types of products would best suit the needs of your business without going over your budget. This is simply an example of some of the software that is available to business owners and consumers who wish to broaden their horizons and expand to a larger group of clients. Hopefully after reviewing the different programs listed here it will be much easier to make an informed decision about which E-commerce website tool is best for your business.
Magento: Magento is one of the many E-commerce building tools out there. It is free to download and offers a variety of options for those trying to manage their own E-commerce sites. Here are some examples of the services that Magento provides to its users. Keep in mind that although Magento is free to use the free edition only provides a limited number of resources to its users where as the Professional and Enterprise packages which are paid services provide much more options to the users of the site. Overall it comes down to how much control you want over your businesses site and how much you’re willing to spend to get your product out in the E-commerce market.
Magento Community Edition:
Price: free
License: Open Source
Support not included
Warranty not included
Identification not included
Magento Professional Edition:
Price: $2,995 USD/Yr
License: Commercial
Support: PCI Data Security Standard coming soon
Warranty included
Identification included
Magento Enterprise Edition:
Price: $12,990 USD/Yr
License: Commercial
Support: PCI Data Security Standard. Complete end-to-end product support
Warranty included
Identification included
Out of the 3 packages listed above the Professional edition is probably the best way to go since it provides all the tools needed to create and maintain an effective E-commerce site for an entire year without investing a large amount of time or expense into the site.
Clicktale: Unlike magento clicktale has more visual elements included in its E-commerce site design that allow users get more in depth views of what their clients are looking for, which places on the site received the most views and mouse clicks, and which parts of the site were uninteresting and caused clients to leave or not purchase an item. Clicktale also offers 3 different service plans ranging from simple to complex and based on price but there is more flexibility given to the user since clicktales plans go on a monthly payment basis instead of a yearly basis as seen with magento but there still are yearly packages set up that offer discounts to those who purchase that particular plan for a year.
Free Edition:
Customer Support: Online Resources
Custom Email Alerts: Weekly
Bronze Edition: $99/month $890/year
Customer Support: Email
Custom Email Alerts: Daily
Silver Edition: $290/month $2600/year
Customer Support: Phone
Custom Email Alerts: Hourly
Gold Edition: $990/month $8900/year
Customer Support: Priority
Custom Email Alerts: Hourly
Although all of these plans provide a great number of tools to manage your E-commerce site the best plan would be the Bronze edition mostly since it is geared very much towards smaller business by providing the essential tools and services needed to manage an effective E-commerce site without getting to complex in scale with tracking and monitoring of clients.
Prestashop: This is another E-commerce tool that allows you to create an online store but unlike the other 2 E-commerce programs Prestashop is completely free to download and use as you see fit. Although it is free to use initially you can still purchase modules, themes, and other programs to make your online store flow better and give you more access to better tools as your online business expands without having to pay a large amount just to keep your online site active. Also Prestashop has a very large support network from E-commerce users around the world. It has been translated into several different languages and has implemented several tools to make setting up your E-commerce page very simple. The entire site is comprised of many features that make tracking customers and visitors to your site easy and Prestashop has contracts with most international shipping carriers so getting your product to your customers is hassle free when using Prestashop. Overall this is probably the best E-commerce setup for your business at this point in time to use.
Out of all the E-commerce services I visited I believe that Prestashop would be best suited to get your online business started. You have the greatest amount of flexibility and support with Prestashop and you don’t have to invest a large amount of time and energy into creating your E-commerce page. Also if for any reason your E-commerce pages proves not to be successful you can rest easy knowing that you didn’t invest a large amount of money into setting it up and you won’t be locked into a commitment of continuing to pay for your E-commerce site until your payment plan is finished.
Lab #8 Podcasting
Here are 10 podacsters who provide podcasts about media and technology news. Their field of expertise runs from anywhere from video games to the latest consumer products to gossip on the latest technology scams. Here I will provide a lot of information that you can use to help decipher what Podcasts would cater to your interests and needs.
The Big Web Show (Video)
The Big Web Show features special guests and topics like the future of publishing, art direction online, content strategy, web fonts and typography, CMS shootouts, HTML5 and CSS3, building an audience, and more.
Who Produces the Podcast: Dan Bengamin and Jeffrey Zeldman
Format of Podcast: Interview & Information
Publication Frequency: About once a week
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in today's news and new technology
How Popular is the Podcast: 5 Stars with 34 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: mailchimp.com
Tech Radio on Rockland USA (Audio)
An irreverent, entertaining review and comment of the latest tech news headlines without the slanted media bias. If you love the News with Robin on the Howard Stern show, you will love Tech Radio.
Who Produces the Podcast: Craig Luecke and Jen Reynolds
Format of Podcast: Call-in Talk
Publication Frequency: Once a day
Intended Audience: People interested in an entertaining discussion and calling in their own opinions
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 14 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Rockland USA seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
The Tech Guy (Audio)
The complete aircheck of Leo Laporte's technology call-in radio show minus commercials, news, and traffic.
Who Produces the Podcast: Leo Laporte
Format of Podcast: Call-ins and opinions
Publication Frequency: Once or Twice a Week
Intended Audience: People interested in "toy store" kind of technology.
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 592 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: CacheFly.com
Tech News Today (Audio)
Tom Merritt, former host of CNET's "Buzz OUt Loud," joins the TWiT network to bring you "Tech News Today." Tom and co-hosts Becky Worley (TechTV, Good Morning America), Sarah Lane (TechTV, Revision3) and others take you on a fun and friendly ride through the need-to-know tech news highlights of the day.
Who Produces the Podcast: Eric Lanagen
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 5 Stars with 220 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Cachefly, Audible.com, Slingbox.com
Buzz Out Loud (Audio)
Buzz Out Loud features Molly Wood, Rafe Needleman and producer Jason Howell, along with CNET's top tech experts reviewing the day's tech news. Each episode, the crew analyzes
interprets, and argues about what all the technology means and what it's doing to us. Fans can take part by calling, emailing, or commenting on the blog.
Who Produces the Podcast: Jason Howell
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 999 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: CNET.com seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
Attack of the Show (Video)
Attack of the Show gets you inside, underneath, around, and behind the newest tech, the hottest games, the fastest-breaking news, and the oddest oddities from the fringe. There's the inside track, and then there are those who pave the inside track.
Who Produces the Podcast: G4
Format of Podcast: Video, Talkshow, News
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Consumers and common public looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 323 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: G4TV, Gcycle.org, other internal programs from G4TV
Buzz Report (Video)
Molly Wood uses her expertise and passion for the world of technology for ruthless analysis in column, blog, podcast, and video form. As host of the weekly Buzz Report video, Molly provides a fresh and funny perspective on the latest in consumer electronic products to hit the market, as well as commentary on the most buzz-worthy technology news.
Who Produces the Podcast: CNET
Format of Podcast: News/Opinion
Publication Frequency: Once a week
Intended audience: Technology consumers such as people looking to by new smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices.
How Popular is the Podcast: 4 Stars with 77 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Lexus (Only one acknowledged in the whole episode)
Apple Keynotes (Video)
The Apple Keynotes podcast offers video of the company's most important announcements, including Apple CEO Steve Jobs' annual keynotes from Macworld.
Who Produces the Podcast: Apple
Format of Podcast: News
Publication Frequency: Periodically (Ranges from 1 month to 2-3 months depending on any statements that Apple makes)
Intended Audience: Apple product users/Consumers
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 2594 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Apple seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
The iPad Show (Video)
The iPad Show is a video podcast all about the Apple iPad, the applications, hardware reviews, and the latest news.
Who Produces the Podcast: Steve Bostedor and David Buchanan
Format of Podcast: News/interview
Publication Frequency: Weekly
Intended Audience: Geared towards Apple iPad users
How Popular is the Podcast: 4 Stars with 64 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: http://www.gotoassist.com/ (Only sponsor mentioned during episode)
This Week in Tech (Audio)
TWiT is an audio (MP3 Edition) podcast that hold discussions about the latest trends in high tech by tech luminaries.
Who Produces the Podcast: Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and John C. Dvorak
Format of Podcast: News and Opinion
Publication Frequency: Weekly
Intended Audience: Geared towards anyone that is interested in Technology
How Popular is the Podcast: 4 Stars with 1051 Ratings
Commerical Sponsors: AOL Music, http://www.spinner.com/, http://www.gotomeeting.com/, http://www.audible.com/, and http://www.carbonite.com/
The Big Web Show (Video)
The Big Web Show features special guests and topics like the future of publishing, art direction online, content strategy, web fonts and typography, CMS shootouts, HTML5 and CSS3, building an audience, and more.
Who Produces the Podcast: Dan Bengamin and Jeffrey Zeldman
Format of Podcast: Interview & Information
Publication Frequency: About once a week
Intended Audience: Anyone interested in today's news and new technology
How Popular is the Podcast: 5 Stars with 34 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: mailchimp.com
Tech Radio on Rockland USA (Audio)
An irreverent, entertaining review and comment of the latest tech news headlines without the slanted media bias. If you love the News with Robin on the Howard Stern show, you will love Tech Radio.
Who Produces the Podcast: Craig Luecke and Jen Reynolds
Format of Podcast: Call-in Talk
Publication Frequency: Once a day
Intended Audience: People interested in an entertaining discussion and calling in their own opinions
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 14 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Rockland USA seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
The Tech Guy (Audio)
The complete aircheck of Leo Laporte's technology call-in radio show minus commercials, news, and traffic.
Who Produces the Podcast: Leo Laporte
Format of Podcast: Call-ins and opinions
Publication Frequency: Once or Twice a Week
Intended Audience: People interested in "toy store" kind of technology.
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 592 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: CacheFly.com
Tech News Today (Audio)
Tom Merritt, former host of CNET's "Buzz OUt Loud," joins the TWiT network to bring you "Tech News Today." Tom and co-hosts Becky Worley (TechTV, Good Morning America), Sarah Lane (TechTV, Revision3) and others take you on a fun and friendly ride through the need-to-know tech news highlights of the day.
Who Produces the Podcast: Eric Lanagen
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 5 Stars with 220 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Cachefly, Audible.com, Slingbox.com
Buzz Out Loud (Audio)
Buzz Out Loud features Molly Wood, Rafe Needleman and producer Jason Howell, along with CNET's top tech experts reviewing the day's tech news. Each episode, the crew analyzes
interprets, and argues about what all the technology means and what it's doing to us. Fans can take part by calling, emailing, or commenting on the blog.
Who Produces the Podcast: Jason Howell
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 999 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: CNET.com seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
Attack of the Show (Video)
Attack of the Show gets you inside, underneath, around, and behind the newest tech, the hottest games, the fastest-breaking news, and the oddest oddities from the fringe. There's the inside track, and then there are those who pave the inside track.
Who Produces the Podcast: G4
Format of Podcast: Video, Talkshow, News
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Consumers and common public looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 323 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: G4TV, Gcycle.org, other internal programs from G4TV
Buzz Report (Video)
Molly Wood uses her expertise and passion for the world of technology for ruthless analysis in column, blog, podcast, and video form. As host of the weekly Buzz Report video, Molly provides a fresh and funny perspective on the latest in consumer electronic products to hit the market, as well as commentary on the most buzz-worthy technology news.
Who Produces the Podcast: CNET
Format of Podcast: News/Opinion
Publication Frequency: Once a week
Intended audience: Technology consumers such as people looking to by new smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices.
How Popular is the Podcast: 4 Stars with 77 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Lexus (Only one acknowledged in the whole episode)
Apple Keynotes (Video)
The Apple Keynotes podcast offers video of the company's most important announcements, including Apple CEO Steve Jobs' annual keynotes from Macworld.
Who Produces the Podcast: Apple
Format of Podcast: News
Publication Frequency: Periodically (Ranges from 1 month to 2-3 months depending on any statements that Apple makes)
Intended Audience: Apple product users/Consumers
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 2594 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: Apple seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
The iPad Show (Video)
The iPad Show is a video podcast all about the Apple iPad, the applications, hardware reviews, and the latest news.
Who Produces the Podcast: Steve Bostedor and David Buchanan
Format of Podcast: News/interview
Publication Frequency: Weekly
Intended Audience: Geared towards Apple iPad users
How Popular is the Podcast: 4 Stars with 64 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: http://www.gotoassist.com/ (Only sponsor mentioned during episode)
This Week in Tech (Audio)
TWiT is an audio (MP3 Edition) podcast that hold discussions about the latest trends in high tech by tech luminaries.
Who Produces the Podcast: Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and John C. Dvorak
Format of Podcast: News and Opinion
Publication Frequency: Weekly
Intended Audience: Geared towards anyone that is interested in Technology
How Popular is the Podcast: 4 Stars with 1051 Ratings
Commerical Sponsors: AOL Music, http://www.spinner.com/, http://www.gotomeeting.com/, http://www.audible.com/, and http://www.carbonite.com/
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Lab Exercise #11 Creative Commons Licensing
The purpose of this lab was to gain an understanding of what the creative commons is and how it protects users who want to share their own works of videos, pictures, and other media without the threat of copyright infringement laws requiring them to remove their content. Here are five different photos and one documentary that are posted to my blog from the creative commons.
Urban Jungle
Uploaded on September 10, 2008
by seanmcgrath
Descripition: This was taken with with my cell phone. My first camera phone picture!
Taken out the window of my plane, on my way home from Toronto.
A close one ... 500.000+ views and 2.800+ favorites
Uploaded on August 14, 2007
by aixcracker
Flickr Explore # 1
Descripition: This one stroke just on the other side of the street. Quite a nice bang it had. Luckily the tree didn't catch fire. Taken from my balcony.
Cropped this from the larger photo. And for the viewers, I took a LARGE amount of photos today when trying to get some of the lightning over here.
The photo made the first page in the local newspaper. I'll take a photo of the paper and posted here later. And that has been done now.
This lightning has been confirmed by the lightning radar and is part of a scientific research publication. I'll publish the link to the paper when it has become available to the public.
Dettifoss - Iceland
Uploaded on June 7, 2010
by ystenes
Descripition: Dettifoss is the European waterfall with the highest energy content (Height x flow). The river drains the north side of the Vatnajökull glacier, hence the flow is particularly strong in the summer, when tourists are around. Because the river passes an area formed by large ash volcanoes, the water appears gray or black, and the erosion caused by transported material is so strong that no vegetation is able to get a foothold.
Less than one km above, there is another waterfall, Selfoss, which is almost as large. The fall is wider and formed as a horseshoe, but the characteristics are very much the same: Dramatic rock formations, gray water, no vegetation, and a beautiful waterfall.
Take a look: www.flickr.com/photos/ystenes/2982965755/
November 2009 this photo made it to the top of the list of the most "interesting" photos made with the Nikon Coolpix 995 camera: www.flickr.com/cameras/nikon/coolpix_995/
In fact taking over for another of my photos:
www.flickr.com/photos/ystenes/3075038937/
Ice & Aurora - Jökulsárlón
Uploaded on April 5, 2010
by orvaratli
Descripition:Jökulsárlón, Iceland. I went on a trip to SE Iceland this Easters. Instead of going shooting fire and heat (volcano) I decided to go shoot ice and cold.
I have for long wanted to capture Aurora at Jökulsárlón lagoon. The first night of the trip the Aurora appeared around midnight very active but so did a cloud cover so that night I captured only greenish clouds. I thought I was not getting any Aurora shot over Jökulsárlón this trip. But on the last night of the trip however the Aurora showed up again and this time with no clouds.
Here I used a GND filter to balance the light of the reflected part. I usually do this when shooting normal landscapes. This is the first time I have done so successfully with a night shot.
06-24-09 Ominous Outflow!!!
Uploaded on June 24, 2009
by nebraskasc
Descripition: June 24, 2009 - Kearney Nebraska USA
I was out Weather Spotting for Buffalo County...
Check out this Incredible Shelf Cloud....
This cool, sinking air from a storm cloud's downdraft spreads out across the surface with the leading edge called a gust front. This outflow undercuts warm air being drawn into the storm's updraft. As the cool air lifts the warm moist air, water condenses creating a cloud which often rolls with the different winds above and below (wind shear).
Just enough juice for Mother Nature to do her thing. This was not a severe storm when in came into Kearney from the South. Not enough shear for it to become tornadic.
Most of these captures came from south of Kearney, about 14-15 miles. Just a beautiful shelf cloud and perfect conditions for this storm.
Had to drive like a banshee to get back in front of the storm once it got to close. Last few captures in this set are on the very southern outskirts of Kearney
By far my best of 2009, but were not done yet. Our dry season starts in about 2 weeks. We'll see how the rest of the season goes for severe weather!!
I hope everyone enjoys this set as much as I had taking them!
Documentary from Archive.org.
This is a short clip from Archive.org about Volcanoes, although it is considerbly older than most other documentarys it still has use for people wanting to learn more about volcanoes.
Here is the link to the movie seen here. Volcanoes
This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Creative Commons license: Public Domain
Urban Jungle
Uploaded on September 10, 2008
by seanmcgrath
Descripition: This was taken with with my cell phone. My first camera phone picture!
Taken out the window of my plane, on my way home from Toronto.
A close one ... 500.000+ views and 2.800+ favorites
Uploaded on August 14, 2007
by aixcracker
Flickr Explore # 1
Descripition: This one stroke just on the other side of the street. Quite a nice bang it had. Luckily the tree didn't catch fire. Taken from my balcony.
Cropped this from the larger photo. And for the viewers, I took a LARGE amount of photos today when trying to get some of the lightning over here.
The photo made the first page in the local newspaper. I'll take a photo of the paper and posted here later. And that has been done now.
This lightning has been confirmed by the lightning radar and is part of a scientific research publication. I'll publish the link to the paper when it has become available to the public.
Dettifoss - Iceland
Uploaded on June 7, 2010
by ystenes
Descripition: Dettifoss is the European waterfall with the highest energy content (Height x flow). The river drains the north side of the Vatnajökull glacier, hence the flow is particularly strong in the summer, when tourists are around. Because the river passes an area formed by large ash volcanoes, the water appears gray or black, and the erosion caused by transported material is so strong that no vegetation is able to get a foothold.
Less than one km above, there is another waterfall, Selfoss, which is almost as large. The fall is wider and formed as a horseshoe, but the characteristics are very much the same: Dramatic rock formations, gray water, no vegetation, and a beautiful waterfall.
Take a look: www.flickr.com/photos/ystenes/2982965755/
November 2009 this photo made it to the top of the list of the most "interesting" photos made with the Nikon Coolpix 995 camera: www.flickr.com/cameras/nikon/coolpix_995/
In fact taking over for another of my photos:
www.flickr.com/photos/ystenes/3075038937/
Ice & Aurora - Jökulsárlón
Uploaded on April 5, 2010
by orvaratli
Descripition:Jökulsárlón, Iceland. I went on a trip to SE Iceland this Easters. Instead of going shooting fire and heat (volcano) I decided to go shoot ice and cold.
I have for long wanted to capture Aurora at Jökulsárlón lagoon. The first night of the trip the Aurora appeared around midnight very active but so did a cloud cover so that night I captured only greenish clouds. I thought I was not getting any Aurora shot over Jökulsárlón this trip. But on the last night of the trip however the Aurora showed up again and this time with no clouds.
Here I used a GND filter to balance the light of the reflected part. I usually do this when shooting normal landscapes. This is the first time I have done so successfully with a night shot.
06-24-09 Ominous Outflow!!!
Uploaded on June 24, 2009
by nebraskasc
Descripition: June 24, 2009 - Kearney Nebraska USA
I was out Weather Spotting for Buffalo County...
Check out this Incredible Shelf Cloud....
This cool, sinking air from a storm cloud's downdraft spreads out across the surface with the leading edge called a gust front. This outflow undercuts warm air being drawn into the storm's updraft. As the cool air lifts the warm moist air, water condenses creating a cloud which often rolls with the different winds above and below (wind shear).
Just enough juice for Mother Nature to do her thing. This was not a severe storm when in came into Kearney from the South. Not enough shear for it to become tornadic.
Most of these captures came from south of Kearney, about 14-15 miles. Just a beautiful shelf cloud and perfect conditions for this storm.
Had to drive like a banshee to get back in front of the storm once it got to close. Last few captures in this set are on the very southern outskirts of Kearney
By far my best of 2009, but were not done yet. Our dry season starts in about 2 weeks. We'll see how the rest of the season goes for severe weather!!
I hope everyone enjoys this set as much as I had taking them!
Documentary from Archive.org.
This is a short clip from Archive.org about Volcanoes, although it is considerbly older than most other documentarys it still has use for people wanting to learn more about volcanoes.
Here is the link to the movie seen here. Volcanoes
This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives
Audio/Visual: sound, color
Creative Commons license: Public Domain
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Lab #10 Free Music On The Ipod Touch
In this lab, our group was asked to go find several sources of free music downloads and streaming music providers. Here is a write-up of what all we found:
Free Music Streaming
Last.FM (offered World music)
Pandora (offered World Music)
Napster Radio (offered World music)
Grooveshark (offered World music)
Music India Online (offered World music)
Maqam (offered World music)
MyMusicStream
Audiolizer
AOL Music
FlyTunes
Sources for free, legal music downloads
Last.FM
PureVolume
Amazon
MP3.com
Hype Machine
BeeMP3
Downloads for iPod Touch
B.o.B - Airplanes: I Hope Your Ears Bleed (through Hype Machine)
3OH!3 - Don't Trust Me: Last.fm
Hot Hot Heat - Goddess on the Prairie: MP3.com
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher than the Stars: Last.fm
Usher- OMG: Vacay Wave (through Hype Machine)
The Ready Set - Sweetest Girl: PureVolume
Overall Finding free Legal MP3's online is fairly simple although finding specific artists and songs is much more difficult. Free MP3's are more for someone interested in searching for new types of music they have not heard before rather than trying to get music from a particular artist that they already listen to.
Free Music Streaming
Last.FM (offered World music)
Pandora (offered World Music)
Napster Radio (offered World music)
Grooveshark (offered World music)
Music India Online (offered World music)
Maqam (offered World music)
MyMusicStream
Audiolizer
AOL Music
FlyTunes
Sources for free, legal music downloads
Last.FM
PureVolume
Amazon
MP3.com
Hype Machine
BeeMP3
Downloads for iPod Touch
B.o.B - Airplanes: I Hope Your Ears Bleed (through Hype Machine)
3OH!3 - Don't Trust Me: Last.fm
Hot Hot Heat - Goddess on the Prairie: MP3.com
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Higher than the Stars: Last.fm
Usher- OMG: Vacay Wave (through Hype Machine)
The Ready Set - Sweetest Girl: PureVolume
Overall Finding free Legal MP3's online is fairly simple although finding specific artists and songs is much more difficult. Free MP3's are more for someone interested in searching for new types of music they have not heard before rather than trying to get music from a particular artist that they already listen to.
Lab Exercise #10
Overall Finding free Legal MP3's online is fairly simple although finding specific artists and songs is much more difficult. Free MP3's are more for someone interested in searching for new types of music they have not heard before rather than trying to get music from a particular artist that they already listen to.
Lab #6 Multichannel Media
Our group set up a survey via Surveymonkey to get a sample of Texas A&M students' TV viewing habits. We gathered over 100 submissions using Facebook and email lists as our means of recruiting people. The results seemed very consistent with what we expected in terms of the hours people watched per day, what time of day, and how they watch their TV.
Cable was by far the most frequently used source, but streaming TV online was a pretty strong second. Especially with the crazy and inconsistent schedule of a college kid, streaming tv provides full shows whenever it is convenient for you. 
Cable was by far the most frequently used source, but streaming TV online was a pretty strong second. Especially with the crazy and inconsistent schedule of a college kid, streaming tv provides full shows whenever it is convenient for you.
Apparently watching at home is the only way to go. Some people chose to watch it elsewhere, but 97% is a pretty safe majority.
These results were pretty across the board which supports why TV needs to offer a variety of channels that provide a strong diverse spectrum of information and entertainment.
Most people watch from 1-2 hours a day, but there is a strong bell curve represented in the chart. Ultimately, TV is still watched regularly but doesn't consume the heart of people's lives like it used to.
Again, a bell curve showing the trend towards evening viewing. From the results and factoring in a typical college student's schedule, TV viewing is a pasttime people use after school and work before bed or nighttime activities.
Our last question was "How important is TV watching to your daily schedule?" We tried to find out how vital TV was to college students and see how dependent their lives were on that form of media. Surprisingly, not a lot of people really have a passion for TV.
All in all, the results were pretty consistent with our thoughts on how college students viewed TV. The only real surprise was the amount of people doing streaming video as opposed to cable TV.
All in all, the results were pretty consistent with our thoughts on how college students viewed TV. The only real surprise was the amount of people doing streaming video as opposed to cable TV.
Webcasting and Mobile Music
This lab is set up to show how the two main online radio services, Pandora and LastFM, relate various artists from various genres to other recommendations within that genre.
Pandora
What we found was that Pandora seems to be better at giving you more songs from the artist you actually requested and more recommendations that fit closely to your artist's genre. If you register with Pandora, you are allowed to save your radio stations for later use and listen to more songs without the interruption of pop-ups. Some other features that Pandora offers are lyrics and quick links to buy the music you hear on Pandora.
LastFM
As for last.fm, without being a member, the service it provides is not up to that of Pandora. The radio for an artist is plagued with similar artists and songs (sometimes) but almost never plays songs from the actual artist you requested. If you register with Last.fm though, its features far outweight those of Pandora. Last.fm has a "scrobble" feature that allows you to sync up your personal media player with your last.fm profile. This enables more accurate artist recommendations, an accurate radio player with just your music, and allows last.fm to recommend local shows and concerts.
For the casual listener, Pandora is the better website with it's ease of use and accurate recommendations. For the music junkie, last.fm offers more information about music, tours, album releases and has a very strong community network setup to run similar to that of other networking sites like Facebook or MySpace.
Listed below are a collection of artists that we tested with both sites to see what recommendations the two sites gave us:
MXPX - Punk
A Christian punk rock band from Bremerton, Washington. The band recorded eight studio albums, four EPs, four compilation albums, a live album, a VHS tape, a DVD and released 20 singles. Their sound has gone though many stages, though still has roots of punk, and now they're compared to the likes of bands like New Found Glory and Hawk Nelson (both associated acts) with more of a pop punk sound.
Pandora
MXPX - Under Lock and Key
Green Day - Westbound Sign
New Found Glory - Listen to Your Friends
Blink-182 - Mutt
MXPX - One Step Closer to Life
LastFM
MXPX - Invitation to Understanding
No Use For A Name - Life Size Mirror
Zebrahead - Falling Apart
Autopilot Off - Missing the Innocence
Fenix TX - All My Fault
Drake - Rap
Aubrey “Drake” Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Grammy award nominated Canadian actor, rapper and singer signed to Universal Motown. So far in his much hyped music career he has released three mixtapes, 2006’s Room for Improvement, 2007’s Comeback Season and 2009’s critically acclaimed So Far Gone, which is considered one of the best mixtapes of 2009. He has just finished recording his major label debut, Thank Me Later, which will be released 15th June, 2010. The album will also feature confirmed appearances from Jay-Z, The-Dream, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, T.I., Swizz Beatz, Nicki Minaj and Young Jeezy.
Pandora
Forever - Drake
Nothin' On You - B.o.B
Money to Blow - Birdman
Lollipop - Lil' Wayne (Remix)
Fear - Drake
LastFM
Damn Thing - Wiz Khalifa
Service With a Smile - B.o.B
Lollipop - Lil' Wayne
The Potential - Tyga
Paris, Tokyo - Lupe Fiasco
Spice Girls - Pop
Maidenhead, United Kingdom (1994 – 2001, 2007 – 2008) Spice Girls were in an English girl group, formed in 1994 and primarily successful between the summer of 1996 and the fall of 2000. As a five-piece, the Spice Girls became the best selling and most successful girl group of all time, releasing two multi-platinum albums, “Spice” and “Spiceworld”, scoring six consecutive UK #1 hits (9#1 hits and one #2 hit in a total of 10 singles), and appearing in their own motion picture, video game, Pepsi, Polaroid and Impulse commercials as well as grossing millions of dollars in band merchandising alone. Estimated combined album sales are 65 million copies worldwide.
Pandora
2 Become 1 - Spice Girls
Crazy - Britney Spears
You Oughta Know - Alanis Morsette
No Scrubs - TLC
Spice Up Your Life - Spice Girls
LastFM
Who do You Think You - Spice Girls
Two in a Million - S Club 7
What Took You So Long - Emma Bunton
A Mind of it's Own - Victoria Beckham
Sound of the Underground - Girls Aloud
Beyonce - R&B
An American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. Born and raised in Houston, Texas. Beyonce rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child. During the hiatus of Destiny's Child, Beyonce released her debut solo album Dangerously in Love (2003) and later after the bands disbandment (2005), two more very successful albums (B-Day in 2006 & I am...Sasha Fierce in 2008).
Pandora
Crazy In Love - Beyonce
If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys
Lose My Breath - Destiny Child
Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
Upgrade You - Beyonce
LastFM
Crazy In Love - Beyonce
Unfaithful - Rihanna
Work - Kelly Rowland
Hurt - Christina Aguilera
Obessessed - Mariah Carey
Taylor Swift - Country
An American country pop singer and songwriter born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She released her debut single “Tim McGraw”, then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, in 2006. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, Fearless.
Pandora
Today Was a Fairytale - Taylor Swift
So Small - Carrie Underwood
Bubbly - Colbie Caillet
Hey, Soul Sister - Train
I Heart? - Taylor Swift
LastFM
Today Was A Fairytale - Taylor Swift
7 Things - Miley Cyrus
Hello World - Lady Antebellum
Zingara 'nnammurata - Gloriana
I Wonder - Kellie Pickler
Def Leppard - Rock
Def Leppard is an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldwide, including over 35 million in the United States alone.
Pandora
Pour Some Sugar on me - Def Leppard
Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen
Runaway - Bon Jovi
Girls, Girls, Girls - Motley Crue
Rock Rock (Till You Drop) - Def Leppard
LastFM
Now you're Gone - Whitesnake
When The Children Cry - White Lion
Smokin' In The Boys Room - Motley Crue
Dawn Incognito - Winger
Love Of A Lifetime - Firehouse
Pandora
What we found was that Pandora seems to be better at giving you more songs from the artist you actually requested and more recommendations that fit closely to your artist's genre. If you register with Pandora, you are allowed to save your radio stations for later use and listen to more songs without the interruption of pop-ups. Some other features that Pandora offers are lyrics and quick links to buy the music you hear on Pandora.
LastFM
As for last.fm, without being a member, the service it provides is not up to that of Pandora. The radio for an artist is plagued with similar artists and songs (sometimes) but almost never plays songs from the actual artist you requested. If you register with Last.fm though, its features far outweight those of Pandora. Last.fm has a "scrobble" feature that allows you to sync up your personal media player with your last.fm profile. This enables more accurate artist recommendations, an accurate radio player with just your music, and allows last.fm to recommend local shows and concerts.
For the casual listener, Pandora is the better website with it's ease of use and accurate recommendations. For the music junkie, last.fm offers more information about music, tours, album releases and has a very strong community network setup to run similar to that of other networking sites like Facebook or MySpace.
Listed below are a collection of artists that we tested with both sites to see what recommendations the two sites gave us:
MXPX - Punk
A Christian punk rock band from Bremerton, Washington. The band recorded eight studio albums, four EPs, four compilation albums, a live album, a VHS tape, a DVD and released 20 singles. Their sound has gone though many stages, though still has roots of punk, and now they're compared to the likes of bands like New Found Glory and Hawk Nelson (both associated acts) with more of a pop punk sound.
Pandora
MXPX - Under Lock and Key
Green Day - Westbound Sign
New Found Glory - Listen to Your Friends
Blink-182 - Mutt
MXPX - One Step Closer to Life
LastFM
MXPX - Invitation to Understanding
No Use For A Name - Life Size Mirror
Zebrahead - Falling Apart
Autopilot Off - Missing the Innocence
Fenix TX - All My Fault
Drake - Rap
Aubrey “Drake” Graham (born October 24, 1986) is a Grammy award nominated Canadian actor, rapper and singer signed to Universal Motown. So far in his much hyped music career he has released three mixtapes, 2006’s Room for Improvement, 2007’s Comeback Season and 2009’s critically acclaimed So Far Gone, which is considered one of the best mixtapes of 2009. He has just finished recording his major label debut, Thank Me Later, which will be released 15th June, 2010. The album will also feature confirmed appearances from Jay-Z, The-Dream, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, T.I., Swizz Beatz, Nicki Minaj and Young Jeezy.
Pandora
Forever - Drake
Nothin' On You - B.o.B
Money to Blow - Birdman
Lollipop - Lil' Wayne (Remix)
Fear - Drake
LastFM
Damn Thing - Wiz Khalifa
Service With a Smile - B.o.B
Lollipop - Lil' Wayne
The Potential - Tyga
Paris, Tokyo - Lupe Fiasco
Spice Girls - Pop
Maidenhead, United Kingdom (1994 – 2001, 2007 – 2008) Spice Girls were in an English girl group, formed in 1994 and primarily successful between the summer of 1996 and the fall of 2000. As a five-piece, the Spice Girls became the best selling and most successful girl group of all time, releasing two multi-platinum albums, “Spice” and “Spiceworld”, scoring six consecutive UK #1 hits (9#1 hits and one #2 hit in a total of 10 singles), and appearing in their own motion picture, video game, Pepsi, Polaroid and Impulse commercials as well as grossing millions of dollars in band merchandising alone. Estimated combined album sales are 65 million copies worldwide.
Pandora
2 Become 1 - Spice Girls
Crazy - Britney Spears
You Oughta Know - Alanis Morsette
No Scrubs - TLC
Spice Up Your Life - Spice Girls
LastFM
Who do You Think You - Spice Girls
Two in a Million - S Club 7
What Took You So Long - Emma Bunton
A Mind of it's Own - Victoria Beckham
Sound of the Underground - Girls Aloud
Beyonce - R&B
An American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. Born and raised in Houston, Texas. Beyonce rose to fame in the late 1990s as the lead singer of the R&B girl group Destiny's Child. During the hiatus of Destiny's Child, Beyonce released her debut solo album Dangerously in Love (2003) and later after the bands disbandment (2005), two more very successful albums (B-Day in 2006 & I am...Sasha Fierce in 2008).
Pandora
Crazy In Love - Beyonce
If I Ain't Got You - Alicia Keys
Lose My Breath - Destiny Child
Miss Independent - Ne-Yo
Upgrade You - Beyonce
LastFM
Crazy In Love - Beyonce
Unfaithful - Rihanna
Work - Kelly Rowland
Hurt - Christina Aguilera
Obessessed - Mariah Carey
Taylor Swift - Country
An American country pop singer and songwriter born in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She released her debut single “Tim McGraw”, then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, in 2006. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, Fearless.
Pandora
Today Was a Fairytale - Taylor Swift
So Small - Carrie Underwood
Bubbly - Colbie Caillet
Hey, Soul Sister - Train
I Heart? - Taylor Swift
LastFM
Today Was A Fairytale - Taylor Swift
7 Things - Miley Cyrus
Hello World - Lady Antebellum
Zingara 'nnammurata - Gloriana
I Wonder - Kellie Pickler
Def Leppard - Rock
Def Leppard is an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldwide, including over 35 million in the United States alone.
Pandora
Pour Some Sugar on me - Def Leppard
Why Can't This Be Love - Van Halen
Runaway - Bon Jovi
Girls, Girls, Girls - Motley Crue
Rock Rock (Till You Drop) - Def Leppard
LastFM
Now you're Gone - Whitesnake
When The Children Cry - White Lion
Smokin' In The Boys Room - Motley Crue
Dawn Incognito - Winger
Love Of A Lifetime - Firehouse
Monday, June 14, 2010
Internet Radio Group Assignment
Artist Searched-Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldwide, including over 35 million in the United States alone.
Pandora:
Song Recommendations
1.) Pour Some Sugar on me by Def Leppard
2.) Why Can't This Be Love by Van Halen
3.) Runaway by Bon Jovi
4.) Girls, Girls, Girls, by Motley Crue
5.) Rock Rock (Till You Drop) by Def Leppard
Last FM:
Song Recomandations
1.) Now you're Gone by Whitesnake
2.) When The Children Cry by White Lion
3.) Smokin' In The Boys Room by Motley Crue
4.) Dawn Incognito by Winger
5.) Love Of A Lifetime by Firehouse
Def Leppard are an English rock band from Sheffield, who formed in 1977 as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Largely on the strength of their albums Pyromania and Hysteria, Def Leppard became one of the top-selling rock bands throughout the 1980s, selling over 65 million albums worldwide, including over 35 million in the United States alone.
Pandora:
Song Recommendations
1.) Pour Some Sugar on me by Def Leppard
2.) Why Can't This Be Love by Van Halen
3.) Runaway by Bon Jovi
4.) Girls, Girls, Girls, by Motley Crue
5.) Rock Rock (Till You Drop) by Def Leppard
Last FM:
Song Recomandations
1.) Now you're Gone by Whitesnake
2.) When The Children Cry by White Lion
3.) Smokin' In The Boys Room by Motley Crue
4.) Dawn Incognito by Winger
5.) Love Of A Lifetime by Firehouse
Group Assignment Podcasts
Tech News Today (Audio)
Tom Merritt, former host of CNET's "Buzz OUt Loud," joins the TWiT network to bring you "Tech News Today." Tom and co-hosts Becky Worley (TechTV, Good Morning America), Sarah Lane (TechTV, Revision3) and others take you on a fun and friendly ride through the need-to-know tech news highlights of the day.
Who Produces the Podcast: Eric Lanagen
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: Very (5 Stars with 220 Ratings)
Commercial Sponsors: Cachefly, Audible.com, Slingbox.com
Buzz Out Loud (audio)
Buzz Out Loud features Molly Wood, Rafe Needleman and producer Jason Howell, along with CNET's top tech experts reviewing the day's tech news. Each episode, the crew analyzes
interprets, and argues about what all the technology means and what it's doing to us. Fans can take part by calling, emailing, or commenting on the blog.
Who Produces the Podcast: Jason Howell
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 999 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: CNET.com seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
Attack of the Show (Video)
Attack of the Show gets you inside, underneath, around, and behind the newest tech, the hottest games, the fastest-breaking news, and the oddest oddities from the fringe. There's the inside track, and then there are those who pave the inside track.
The Big Web Show
The Big Web Show features special guests and topics like the future of publishing, art direction online, content strategy, web fonts and typography, CMS shootouts, HTML5 and CSS3, building an audience, and more.
Who produces the podcast? Hosted by Dan Bengamin and Jeffrey Zeldman
What is the format of the podcast? Interview & Information
How frequently is the podcast published? About once a week
Who is the intended audience? Anyone interested in today's and the new coming technology.
How popular is the podcast (as measured by subscribers)? 5 Stars. All comments are positive about the hosts and how they present their discussions.
Who are there commercial sponsors of the podcast? mailchimp.com
Tech Radio on Rockland USA
An irreverent, entertaining review and comment of the latest tech news headlines without the slanted media bias. If you love the News with Robin on the Howard Stern show, you will love Tech Radio.
Who produces the podcast? Hosted by Craig Luecke and Jen Reynolds
What is the format of the podcast? Call-in Talk
How frequently is the podcast published? Once a day
Who is the intended audience? People interested in an entertaining discussion and calling in their own opinions.
How popular is the podcast (as measured by subscribers)? 4 1/2 Stars. Some subscribers find the entertainment very funny and amusing while other listeners who are more serious about learning about the technology world do not take the entertainment part as lightly.
Who are there commercial sponsors of the podcast? This podcast never mentions any sponsors, but I would assume it to be Rockland USA.
The Tech Guy
The complete aircheck of Leo Laporte's technology call-in radio show minus commercials, news, and traffic.
Who produces the podcast? Leo Laporte
What is the format of the podcast? Call-ins and opinions
How frequently is the podcast published? once to twice a week
Who is the intended audience? People interested in "toy store" kind of technology.
How popular is the podcast (as measured by subscribers)? 4 1/2 Stars. On 111 Stations on Satellite radio.
Who are there commercial sponsors of the podcast? CacheFly.com
The iPad Show
The iPad Show is a video podcast all about the Apple iPad, the applications, hardware reviews, and the latest news.
Producers:Steve Bostedor and David Buchanan
Format of podcast: News and Interview
Published: Live recording every Sunday at 3:30PM EST
Intended Audience: Geared towards Apple iPad users
Popularity: 4 stars (64 ratings total)
Sponsors: http://www.gotoassist.com/ (only sponsor mentioned during episode)
For more information visit:
ipadshow.com/itunes.com
This Week in Tech
TWiT is an audio (MP3 Edition) podcast that hold discussions about the latest trends in high tech by tech luminaries.
Producers: Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and John C. Dvorak
Format of podcast: News and Opinion
Published: Live recording every Wednesday
Intended Audience: Geared towards anyone that is interested in Technology
Popularity: 4 stars (1051 ratings total)
Sponsors: AOL Music, http://www.spinner.com/, and http://www.gotomeeting.com/, http://www.audible.com/, and http://www.carbonite.com/ (only sponsor mentioned during episode)
For more information visit:
http://www.thisweekintech.com//http://www.itunes.com/
Buzz Report
Publisher of the podcast- CNET
Format of the podcast- News/Opinion
How frequently the podcast is updated- Once a week
Intended audience- Technology consumers such as people looking to by new smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices.
Number of subscribers- 77 Ratings, Four Stars
Commercial sponsors of the podcast- Lexus
Apple Keynotes
Publisher of the podcast- Apple
Format of the podcast-News
How frequently the podcast is updated- Periodically. Ranges from 1 month to 2-3 months depending on any statements that Apple makes.
The intended audience- Apple product users/Consumers. People who use Mac's Iphones, and Ipads.
Number of subscribers- 4.5 Stars 2594 Ratings.
Tom Merritt, former host of CNET's "Buzz OUt Loud," joins the TWiT network to bring you "Tech News Today." Tom and co-hosts Becky Worley (TechTV, Good Morning America), Sarah Lane (TechTV, Revision3) and others take you on a fun and friendly ride through the need-to-know tech news highlights of the day.
Who Produces the Podcast: Eric Lanagen
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: Very (5 Stars with 220 Ratings)
Commercial Sponsors: Cachefly, Audible.com, Slingbox.com
Buzz Out Loud (audio)
Buzz Out Loud features Molly Wood, Rafe Needleman and producer Jason Howell, along with CNET's top tech experts reviewing the day's tech news. Each episode, the crew analyzes
interprets, and argues about what all the technology means and what it's doing to us. Fans can take part by calling, emailing, or commenting on the blog.
Who Produces the Podcast: Jason Howell
Format of Podcast: Audio, News, Interviews, Talkshow
Publication Frequency: Daily (Monday-Friday)
Intended Audience: Anyone looking for tech news
How Popular is the Podcast: 4.5 Stars with 999 Ratings
Commercial Sponsors: CNET.com seems to support this podcast without the help of sponsors
Attack of the Show (Video)
Attack of the Show gets you inside, underneath, around, and behind the newest tech, the hottest games, the fastest-breaking news, and the oddest oddities from the fringe. There's the inside track, and then there are those who pave the inside track.
The Big Web Show
The Big Web Show features special guests and topics like the future of publishing, art direction online, content strategy, web fonts and typography, CMS shootouts, HTML5 and CSS3, building an audience, and more.
Who produces the podcast? Hosted by Dan Bengamin and Jeffrey Zeldman
What is the format of the podcast? Interview & Information
How frequently is the podcast published? About once a week
Who is the intended audience? Anyone interested in today's and the new coming technology.
How popular is the podcast (as measured by subscribers)? 5 Stars. All comments are positive about the hosts and how they present their discussions.
Who are there commercial sponsors of the podcast? mailchimp.com
Tech Radio on Rockland USA
An irreverent, entertaining review and comment of the latest tech news headlines without the slanted media bias. If you love the News with Robin on the Howard Stern show, you will love Tech Radio.
Who produces the podcast? Hosted by Craig Luecke and Jen Reynolds
What is the format of the podcast? Call-in Talk
How frequently is the podcast published? Once a day
Who is the intended audience? People interested in an entertaining discussion and calling in their own opinions.
How popular is the podcast (as measured by subscribers)? 4 1/2 Stars. Some subscribers find the entertainment very funny and amusing while other listeners who are more serious about learning about the technology world do not take the entertainment part as lightly.
Who are there commercial sponsors of the podcast? This podcast never mentions any sponsors, but I would assume it to be Rockland USA.
The Tech Guy
The complete aircheck of Leo Laporte's technology call-in radio show minus commercials, news, and traffic.
Who produces the podcast? Leo Laporte
What is the format of the podcast? Call-ins and opinions
How frequently is the podcast published? once to twice a week
Who is the intended audience? People interested in "toy store" kind of technology.
How popular is the podcast (as measured by subscribers)? 4 1/2 Stars. On 111 Stations on Satellite radio.
Who are there commercial sponsors of the podcast? CacheFly.com
The iPad Show
The iPad Show is a video podcast all about the Apple iPad, the applications, hardware reviews, and the latest news.
Producers:Steve Bostedor and David Buchanan
Format of podcast: News and Interview
Published: Live recording every Sunday at 3:30PM EST
Intended Audience: Geared towards Apple iPad users
Popularity: 4 stars (64 ratings total)
Sponsors: http://www.gotoassist.com/ (only sponsor mentioned during episode)
For more information visit:
ipadshow.com/itunes.com
This Week in Tech
TWiT is an audio (MP3 Edition) podcast that hold discussions about the latest trends in high tech by tech luminaries.
Producers: Leo Laporte, Patrick Norton, Kevin Rose, and John C. Dvorak
Format of podcast: News and Opinion
Published: Live recording every Wednesday
Intended Audience: Geared towards anyone that is interested in Technology
Popularity: 4 stars (1051 ratings total)
Sponsors: AOL Music, http://www.spinner.com/, and http://www.gotomeeting.com/, http://www.audible.com/, and http://www.carbonite.com/ (only sponsor mentioned during episode)
For more information visit:
http://www.thisweekintech.com//http://www.itunes.com/
Buzz Report
Publisher of the podcast- CNET
Format of the podcast- News/Opinion
How frequently the podcast is updated- Once a week
Intended audience- Technology consumers such as people looking to by new smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices.
Number of subscribers- 77 Ratings, Four Stars
Commercial sponsors of the podcast- Lexus
Apple Keynotes
Publisher of the podcast- Apple
Format of the podcast-News
How frequently the podcast is updated- Periodically. Ranges from 1 month to 2-3 months depending on any statements that Apple makes.
The intended audience- Apple product users/Consumers. People who use Mac's Iphones, and Ipads.
Number of subscribers- 4.5 Stars 2594 Ratings.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Different Technology Related Podcasts from iTunes
Buzz Report
Publisher of the podcast- CNET
Format of the podcast- News/Opinion
How frequently the podcast is updated- Once a week
Intended audience- Technology consumers such as people looking to by new smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices.
Number of subscribers- 77 Ratings, Four Stars
Commercial sponsors of the podcast- Lexus
Apple Keynotes
Publisher of the podcast- Apple
Format of the podcast-News
How frequently the podcast is updated- Periodically. Ranges from 1 month to 2-3 months depending on any statements that Apple makes.
The intended audience- Apple product users/Consumers. People who use Mac's Iphones, and Ipads.
Number of subscribers- 4.5 Stars 2594 Ratings.
Commercial sponsors of the podcast
Publisher of the podcast- CNET
Format of the podcast- News/Opinion
How frequently the podcast is updated- Once a week
Intended audience- Technology consumers such as people looking to by new smartphones, digital cameras, and other devices.
Number of subscribers- 77 Ratings, Four Stars
Commercial sponsors of the podcast- Lexus
Apple Keynotes
Publisher of the podcast- Apple
Format of the podcast-News
How frequently the podcast is updated- Periodically. Ranges from 1 month to 2-3 months depending on any statements that Apple makes.
The intended audience- Apple product users/Consumers. People who use Mac's Iphones, and Ipads.
Number of subscribers- 4.5 Stars 2594 Ratings.
Commercial sponsors of the podcast
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Features on Different Streaming Media Websites
Youtube
This streaming media site is by far the most widely used of the 3 researched. Youtube allows users access to many different types of videos and provides a list of popular videos, videos being watched at that time, and recommends videos to the user based on which types of videos the user has already viewed in the past. At times there may be advertisements that come on before the video actually plays but this doesnt happen that often, also there are not any ads posted on the space around where the video is played which gives a much better feeling about the overall content of the site and its videos. Some other great features with youtube is how easy it is to save, share and embed videos to other networking sites. for instance, when you choose to share a video youtube gives you the option to send it to several different commonly used sites such as facebook, blogger, and twitter. this makes sharing videos much easier than searching the web to find videos to share. Another great feature about youtube is how easy it is to read and post comments and rate the videos you watch. being able to see others opinion on certain videos gives a much clearer understanding on how the content is regarded by a large and diverse group of people based on their own responses. Youtube uses a version of adobe flash player whenever you view any of their videos although I dont know what kinds of problems would arise with someone trying to save a video to their own computer who does not have adobe on their system.
Here is an example of a video from the Youtube website.
Hulu
This is another online streaming media source but unlike youtube or any of the others it is much more limited in the scope of the videos it chooses to upload. Hulu is more of a site for people who are wanting to view TV shows, Movies, Trailers, and popular series. It also uses adobe flash player 10 as its media player. its format is very similar to youtube in the sense of everything being very easy to share and embed to different sites and Hulu also has an autoplay feature which whenever a video finishes playing the next one in the line begins playing. you can also write a review of a movie clip and rate it as with youtube and their is a list of similar clips on the videos page but there is not really a recommended for you section on Hulu besides that of what is popular to the majority of people on the site.
Here is an example of a movie trailer clip from Hulu.
Joost
This site had a very small selection of videos and was very similar to Hulu in the sense that all the videos were related to movies and TV shows. however Joost also had a selection of music videos availible on their site which is something I did not see on Hulu. But despite this the overall selection is quite limited compared to Hulu and Youtube. Also, there was a larger amount of ads on the site and its setup was much more difficult to navigate as compared to the other sites. There was also a big degree of commercials that were up to 30 seconds long that would play before the video. This site also uses adobe flash player 10 and being able to share videos is still relatively easy to do but it is a bit more difficult to navigate where everything is such as embed buttons and sharing options. The overall setup of the site is very lengthy in how many videos are posted in related topics but the selection of videos is more on the side of news and movie commentary and gossip.
Here is an example of some of the content availible on Joost.
Overall I visited all Five of these sites using Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. I found that all sites function well on any of these platforms but out of all five choices I would have to say that Youtube still offers the best selection, variety, and ease of use than any of the other sites used.
This streaming media site is by far the most widely used of the 3 researched. Youtube allows users access to many different types of videos and provides a list of popular videos, videos being watched at that time, and recommends videos to the user based on which types of videos the user has already viewed in the past. At times there may be advertisements that come on before the video actually plays but this doesnt happen that often, also there are not any ads posted on the space around where the video is played which gives a much better feeling about the overall content of the site and its videos. Some other great features with youtube is how easy it is to save, share and embed videos to other networking sites. for instance, when you choose to share a video youtube gives you the option to send it to several different commonly used sites such as facebook, blogger, and twitter. this makes sharing videos much easier than searching the web to find videos to share. Another great feature about youtube is how easy it is to read and post comments and rate the videos you watch. being able to see others opinion on certain videos gives a much clearer understanding on how the content is regarded by a large and diverse group of people based on their own responses. Youtube uses a version of adobe flash player whenever you view any of their videos although I dont know what kinds of problems would arise with someone trying to save a video to their own computer who does not have adobe on their system.
Here is an example of a video from the Youtube website.
Hulu
This is another online streaming media source but unlike youtube or any of the others it is much more limited in the scope of the videos it chooses to upload. Hulu is more of a site for people who are wanting to view TV shows, Movies, Trailers, and popular series. It also uses adobe flash player 10 as its media player. its format is very similar to youtube in the sense of everything being very easy to share and embed to different sites and Hulu also has an autoplay feature which whenever a video finishes playing the next one in the line begins playing. you can also write a review of a movie clip and rate it as with youtube and their is a list of similar clips on the videos page but there is not really a recommended for you section on Hulu besides that of what is popular to the majority of people on the site.
Here is an example of a movie trailer clip from Hulu.
Joost
This site had a very small selection of videos and was very similar to Hulu in the sense that all the videos were related to movies and TV shows. however Joost also had a selection of music videos availible on their site which is something I did not see on Hulu. But despite this the overall selection is quite limited compared to Hulu and Youtube. Also, there was a larger amount of ads on the site and its setup was much more difficult to navigate as compared to the other sites. There was also a big degree of commercials that were up to 30 seconds long that would play before the video. This site also uses adobe flash player 10 and being able to share videos is still relatively easy to do but it is a bit more difficult to navigate where everything is such as embed buttons and sharing options. The overall setup of the site is very lengthy in how many videos are posted in related topics but the selection of videos is more on the side of news and movie commentary and gossip.
Here is an example of some of the content availible on Joost.
This site is dedicated to Anime movies, series, and Manga of all different sorts. It is much more difficult to navigate than the other streaming media sites and has little to offer for anyone not interested in Anime or other Japanese cartoons. There isn't any variety in the site besides Anime and Manga and all of the videos are whole episodes rather than clips of different sorts. But for someone interested in Anime then this site is a very good source of information however the way it is set up can still be very confusing since there are many ads, an active chat box, and many different links. I also noticed that some shows had been removed from the site due to copyright laws.
This site is very similar to Hulu in the sense that it offers many different types of videos but the central theme is still directed to movies and TV shows. The overall setup of the site was very simple and easy to navigate. Although there were some differences from other sites I found no trouble being able to share and embed videos. there was also not any ads that came up on this site and whenever you watched a particular episode of a show on Fancast there would be a list of other episodes from the same show below the video. This site also uses adobe to run its videos.
Here is an example of a Video from Fancast.
Overall I visited all Five of these sites using Internet Explorer 8, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome. I found that all sites function well on any of these platforms but out of all five choices I would have to say that Youtube still offers the best selection, variety, and ease of use than any of the other sites used.
Monday, June 7, 2010
AT&T Mobile TV Listings and Findings
Overall I found the selection on AT&T's Cellular TV service very limited. As a class we chose six different TV programs on several different channels that had large audiences and compared them to different TV providers. I chose AT&T's Cell Phone TV service, but after reviewing all of the channels listed that the services provides I could only find one TV show offered that was on our list of shows. Also, the channel selection was much more limited than that of Cable Satellite, and even broadcast TV. There were only 12 channels total offered in the service and some of them were very specific in nature and wouldnt really have any meaning to someone not big on sports or politics. Although despite its limited selection the price for the service is well within anyones budgets at $9.99 per month and since it is still a fairly recent development in the mobile phone community theres still plenty of room for expansion and there will most likely be more channels offered in the Future.
Friday, June 4, 2010
COMM 230 Personal Privacy Audit
Reviews on 5 different networking and email sites privacy Policies
Gmail/Google- After reading the privacy policy about my Gmail account I discovered that there isn't really much that I can do to maintain my privacy. All I can do is delete my messages that are in my inbox but even then it may take up to 60 days for them to be deleted from googles servers despite them no longer being in my inbox and the information can still be stored on googles offline servers. Also, google records information about you whenever you use their services and keeps record of your IP address on everything you view on the web.
Yahoo- As with Google yahoo is very limited with the contol that users have over their own privacy settings. however Yahoo is much more strict with gaurding your personal information and keeping it safe. Yahoo only uses your information to customize the advertisements you see, contact you, help fulfill your requests for products and services, and to conduct research.
Facebook- This is the first time I have really looked at the privacy settings on my facebook page. I noticed that I have much more control over what other people can view and comment on and how secure my information such as email address and phone number is to me. I have the options to allow anyone to view my profile, photos, posts, and comments or just my friends. This is a much larger degree of control than yahoo or Gmail.
Wells Fargo- I reviewed the privacy policy of my online bank account. With the information being as important as it is their privacy policy is very strict yet I have a great degree of control of my information. Their policy is that my account information is always kept very secure from anyone and no one but myself has access to it at any time. But at the same time I am held completly responsible for keeping my password and account information secret. If somehow my account info is hacked or lost they will replace any funds lost as a result.
iTunes- The Privacy Policy on iTunes seemed to have a very different purpose than the other sites I reviewed. Since iTunes provides a service they use my personal information to provide better customer service to me and to provide me with info on the latest Apple products. despite this they still give me the options and control to set how much they can contact me, what sorts of offers they can contact me about, and allow me the option to not be contacted at all in any case by apple if I so choose. just as the same with every other sites privacy policy Apple does not sell my information to any companies on the web or anywhere. iTunes is a service I use a great deal and the privacy policy is very flexable to meet my needs as a customer
Gmail/Google- After reading the privacy policy about my Gmail account I discovered that there isn't really much that I can do to maintain my privacy. All I can do is delete my messages that are in my inbox but even then it may take up to 60 days for them to be deleted from googles servers despite them no longer being in my inbox and the information can still be stored on googles offline servers. Also, google records information about you whenever you use their services and keeps record of your IP address on everything you view on the web.
Yahoo- As with Google yahoo is very limited with the contol that users have over their own privacy settings. however Yahoo is much more strict with gaurding your personal information and keeping it safe. Yahoo only uses your information to customize the advertisements you see, contact you, help fulfill your requests for products and services, and to conduct research.
Facebook- This is the first time I have really looked at the privacy settings on my facebook page. I noticed that I have much more control over what other people can view and comment on and how secure my information such as email address and phone number is to me. I have the options to allow anyone to view my profile, photos, posts, and comments or just my friends. This is a much larger degree of control than yahoo or Gmail.
Wells Fargo- I reviewed the privacy policy of my online bank account. With the information being as important as it is their privacy policy is very strict yet I have a great degree of control of my information. Their policy is that my account information is always kept very secure from anyone and no one but myself has access to it at any time. But at the same time I am held completly responsible for keeping my password and account information secret. If somehow my account info is hacked or lost they will replace any funds lost as a result.
iTunes- The Privacy Policy on iTunes seemed to have a very different purpose than the other sites I reviewed. Since iTunes provides a service they use my personal information to provide better customer service to me and to provide me with info on the latest Apple products. despite this they still give me the options and control to set how much they can contact me, what sorts of offers they can contact me about, and allow me the option to not be contacted at all in any case by apple if I so choose. just as the same with every other sites privacy policy Apple does not sell my information to any companies on the web or anywhere. iTunes is a service I use a great deal and the privacy policy is very flexable to meet my needs as a customer
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Television Resources and Databases
Vanderbilt Television News Archive
Digital Publishing Databases
Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications
JSTOR
Communications Databases
GlobalComms
Hoover's
Media Policy Databases
Homeland Security Digital Library
Policy File
Trade Policy Review
Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCO)
GlobalComms Database (TeleGeography)
Websites That Contain Media Industry News and Current Events
Media Industry Trends
Media News - Media Industry Today
News From Media, Media Industry News
Magazine Publishing, Industry News, eMedia : Publishing Executive
Digital Media Statistics: Industry News
Vanderbilt Television News Archive
Digital Publishing Databases
Encyclopedia of International Media and Communications
JSTOR
Communications Databases
GlobalComms
Hoover's
Media Policy Databases
Homeland Security Digital Library
Policy File
Trade Policy Review
Communication & Mass Media Complete (EBSCO)
GlobalComms Database (TeleGeography)
Websites That Contain Media Industry News and Current Events
Media Industry Trends
Media News - Media Industry Today
News From Media, Media Industry News
Magazine Publishing, Industry News, eMedia : Publishing Executive
Digital Media Statistics: Industry News
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Technologies Impact on The World Around Us
Economic
With Shift To Web, Microsoft's Future Turns 'Cloudy'
Five Years Later, The Youtube Phenomenon
Stupid Stuff Your Smart Phone Can Do
Anti-Virus Program Update Wreaks Havok With PCs
Social
Zuckerberg: Sharing Is What Facebook Is About
Website Editors Strive To Rein In Nasty Comments
Has Facebook 'Gone Rogue'?
Smashed Laptop Part Of Professor's Stunt
Woman Sues Google Over Utah Walking Directions
iPad Mounted On A Steering Wheel: Taking A Fad Too Far?
When Art and Tech Collide
Political
Net Neutrality: Who's In Charge Of The Internet?
Week In News: National Security, Online Policy
iPhone Flap Sparks Police Raid, Shield-Law Talk
Environment
Want To Help Report The Oil Spill? Theres An App For That
Economic
With Shift To Web, Microsoft's Future Turns 'Cloudy'
Five Years Later, The Youtube Phenomenon
Stupid Stuff Your Smart Phone Can Do
Anti-Virus Program Update Wreaks Havok With PCs
Social
Zuckerberg: Sharing Is What Facebook Is About
Website Editors Strive To Rein In Nasty Comments
Has Facebook 'Gone Rogue'?
Smashed Laptop Part Of Professor's Stunt
Woman Sues Google Over Utah Walking Directions
iPad Mounted On A Steering Wheel: Taking A Fad Too Far?
When Art and Tech Collide
Political
Net Neutrality: Who's In Charge Of The Internet?
Week In News: National Security, Online Policy
iPhone Flap Sparks Police Raid, Shield-Law Talk
Environment
Want To Help Report The Oil Spill? Theres An App For That
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