Kids on the Internet

Recently, we were asked in class if we would let our kids online, specifically social networks. This was an interesting question. I think the answer really depends on a number of things. First and foremost, this is a personal decision and what one parent does with their kid does not mean that it would be the answer for another kid. Each parent probably has to look at a number of factors before deciding how to proceed. Some things to consider would be: age of the child, how long the child spends online, what kind of site the child want to visit, do his/her other friends have access, etc? Needless to say, it’s a complicated decision and probably needs monitoring regardless.

I found a few good things to consider when providing your child with access to the internet (Parental controls that keep tabs on young Web surfers). First, carefully choose your ISP (if you have not already done so). Most ISPs these days have built in parental controls and web site blockers which can come in handy. Next, choose a good router. Routers can be used to stop suspicious content from reaching your child’s computer. Next, configure your operating system to block the child from harmful internet content. For example, Windows Vista comes with parental controls. Additionally, web filters can block games/certain programs. Web 2.0 is also helping keep kids safe via efforts such as “Google Safe Content” which filters out Web sites based upon Open Directory keywords and listings. Today, there is more and more software to help keep things age appropriate. For example, AOL at School also filters searches for kids. Today, tools for social networking and messaging are not only useful but necessary. Services are able to monitor email message and IM in attempts to regulate who the child can talk to and how. For example, if a child’s uses suspicious terms during a conversation (IM), a parent is notified about the session. This enables parents to then reach out to each other and may be even identify possible predators who are reaching out to their children. One example of this is IMSafer. Some social networks have implemented controls of their own. For example, MySpace has MySpace Watch which will create a report which summarizes your chills MySpace profile and any content involving sexuality drugs, curse words, and racism.

It is somewhat comforting knowing that options such as these are available to parents when they introduce a young child to the internet. But regardless, nothing can take the place of good parenting and simply talking to your child about what using the internet means.

Where do you get your news?

Newspaper has had a long history. Going back to the original origins, newspaper was first seen some five centuries ago in Europe. Things were initially handwritten and passed between people to inform others of important events. The first published newspaper was seen in Germany back in the 1400’s. In American, the first paper was published in Boston in the year of 1690, it was entitled Publick Occurences. Today, just within the US, there are many varieties of newspapers such as national papers, city papers, and even county papers.

Recently, there has been much talk around the possible closing of big name Newspaper companies. For example, recently, the SanFranciso was named as a company that is in danger of closing or being sold, if it does not stop the huge losses. There are many more examples like this company who are either closing their doors or choosing to go mostly on-line. The internet has been the main culprit causing such recent events. Even more, the rise of web 2.0 technology can even be seen as an additional reason. For example, people going to a website such as cnn.com or the washingtonpost.com is one thing. But when you couple this with people now getting RSS feeds, twittering, getting live updates, etc. this compounds the issue. People no longer have to go somewhere to get the news, the news is essentially delivered to them via their emails, iPhones, PDA, etc. Even more, people can decide what news they want. A traditional news paper, would deliver all news for the day, even when the reader may only really want the sports section. But with web 2.0 technology, a user is able to specify what exactly he/she would like delivered to them. This is an prime example of user customization.

With such possible closings, it makes me ask some questions. One in particular is what type of people are still getting traditional news? Who is still buying these hard copy versions? Why have they not gone online to get their news? What will they do once newspaper production is limited? How else can web 2.0 technology help with the customization and dissemination of the news? Who will be a prime providers of online news? Will there be a prime provider? (I am guessing not.) What happens to people that don’t have access to the internet on a daily basis?

Jinni

Have you been to the movie rental place recently? I was just there a few days ago and like usual, had no idea what to get. I like suspense and drama..but I was not sure of the titles that were there. I tried reading the summaries but how much can you really get out of those? There is never really a guarantee that you are actually going to like the movie you pick…even after your best friends recommends it. Enter the new web 2.0 technologies. Jinni is a new social search-and-recommendation engine that uses their “Movie Genome” to make movie recommendations. Jinni is an effort to combine a complicated tagging methodology and user suggestions/input to provide the best and most logical movie recommendations for users. The movie genome is an intense effort being done by Jinni. When a movie starts, Jinni experiences staff starts tagging the movie, trying to best capture data such as: genre, plot, storyline, mood, etc. After some time, the genome application learns the method of identifying tags and takes over this process from the Jinni staff. This mix of human and machine identification and tagging is supposed to provide the most expertise movie recommendations. Jinni is even working on a wiki. This purpose of this wiki would be to define all of the different genes that describe numerous aspects of video. The wiki is supposed to be editable by users so as to really get the users involved. This concept is really good and reaches out to the target market and tries to get them involves. If customers are allowed to modify what defines certain genes, Jinni is in essence allowing the customers to be involved in the recommendation process. This makes the customer feel like they have something to add and thus draws in users more. I believe that Jinni has a very strong future. The days when a family sat down and just watched channel 4 are gone. Users are more likely to search for a show based on some characteristic. For example, users may search for comedy and scroll through some list brought back by the service provider. Jinni is a solution to problem that us just really evolving now. With the demand for video on demand increasingly enormously, Jinni offers a unique offering by being able to provide a discovery solution for premium video content.

GumGum

So once again, I was on the search for web 2.0 related articles, and while I was on the hunt, I stumbled upon an article entitled "GumGum Wants To Turn Celebrity Pics Into Shopping Sprees With ShopThisLook". The title seemed interesting and so I continue to read on. The article talks about a recent upgrade offered by the company where they take high quality images of celebrities/famous individuals and on the side...using shop this look, provides information on where one can purchase clothing times similar to what the celebrity has on. The example they gave was of Lindsey Lohan, wearing jeans, a shirt, jacket, and a purse. On the side of the picture, they have the listing of the individual items and price. Pretty sweet! Now, we girls no longer have to do our own research, its pretty much done for us. Since the company had an interesting concept, I looked them up and discovered that Gum Gum is "an analytics and monetization platform for content online". What exactly does that mean? Well...basically, they make content available to publishers, large or small for a fee of course or in exchange of advertising. They have two distinct pricing schemes. One where the publisher pays per use. For example, if Gum Gum provides an image, they will be able to monitor how many people viewed or clicked on the image. (Gum Gum does provide useful info like # of views, percentage of female viewers, age range, visits, etc. )This then will equate to the dollar amount the publisher has to pay for the image. The other method of payment is to go with ad supported images that subsidize the cost of images. Seems like a lot of companies probably use the second route since it FREE. How does this work? Developers simply download Gum Gum code into their own company code. Not that complicated really. An interesting comment made by a reader was how is this really going to work when only a fraction of shoppers can afford the same clothing/fashion wear that celebs have? This is a very valid point...but I would think that a company like Gum Gum would have thought this piece out and probably tried to offer low-cost alternatives maybe for people who want the same look but can afford the same prices. Whatever the deal, this seems like a pretty good concept…will be interesting to see where this goes in the future. This is something worth looking into....

Are you happy?

Happiness. This words means so much to us and is a necessity in our lives regardless what age, gender, or ethnicity a person may be. It is something we are constantly in search for and when found, its wonderful. Happiness can be linked to many different things. For some, its family or a week long vacation in the Greek Islands and for others its meeting that special someone. The answer really differs depending on who you ask. But research has shown that happiness is tightly liked to a sense of belonging and community. People who are involved in a community and are active with others are proven to be more happier than others.

Interestingly, (as a recent article points out) web 2.o technology has recently played a great part in today’s user happiness. Social networks like Facebook, twitter, MySpace have been shown to contribute to a persons happiness and well-being. It does not matter if its just touching base just once in a while or keeping in touch on a daily basis, social network have made it easier for people to connect and feel a sense of belonging. But with this increase, there has also been an increase in Internet addition. People just cant seem to get enough. People are hooked onto their blackberries and constantly checking email. You know what I am talking about. I have seen it and experienced it. When having a conversation with someone and every few minutes they get a Facebook update. So ANNOYING. I digress. Web 2.0 technologies have created communities for people and aided in making users attain happiness but at the same time, they have take time away from the “real” word. Addition to the Internet is a real phenomenon. Worker productivity has gone down. Valuable time parents could be spending with their kids is now spent catching up on email on their PDAs. Or even worse, parents may be using the Internet to baby-sit their kids?!?!?!

There are key things to look for that can signal that you have some level of Internet addiction. Below are a few.
1. Some signs that you are online too much:
2. Personal Relationships are deteriorating
3. Increase in Conflict with Family
4. Decrease in time spent with Family
5. Job Production Loss, Leading to Threat of Job Loss.

We all should be aware of signs that you are online too much. Its good to have a balance and go outside sometimes to get fresh air:)

CNN recently published an article, Twitter Business Model Found!, about Twitters business model a.k.a. money making scheme. Twitter as like many of the other well-known web 2.0 technologies offers useful capabilities people can use to follow each other. But in order to stay in business, these companies need to also make money to survive. Facebook is another example of a company that is struggling to make a profit regardless of being the number one web 2.0 technology today.

As one profit earning tactic, twitter has a list of the most “Suggested Follows”. You can imagine, that being on this list offers one very high visibility and reach within the community. Jason Calacanis recently offered Twitter $250,000 to be on of the 20 users in this list. You may ask who is Jason Calacanis? I did not know myself..so I looked him up. Jason Calacanis owned on of the first dot-com companies in New York City. He is also know to be one of the fist to capitalize on the growth of blogs before selling to AOL. He is a well known Internet entrepreneur and is someone who people would probably actually like to follow. This, having him be a part of the People to follow lists makes sense.

So the question I ask is, what do you think about being able to buy yourself a spot on the “Suggested Follows” list or any other list for that matter, that makes them highly visible? For example, if twitter was surrounded around audio devices for the home, is it fair that the companies with the most money can just buy themselves onto the list? Would it be fair if customers actually rated potentials companies to follow? I guess what I am getting at is that some other factor used in conjunction with money may be beneficial when trying to make a list like this. This way the originating company makes money but the users also have input to these lists which only validates the offer as well.

I understand that these new web 2.0 companies need to make a profit to survive, its not just all about the user. But these companies need to pay attention to their customer base and their best interest as well. I guess this is why Facebook is having such a challenge as well. Mere advertising does not cut it these days but I am sure that with a little more thought, profit is inevitable. Just a thought.

The Gov Goes 2.0

Federal Computing Week recently came out with an article titled, “Twitter, blogs and other Web 2.0 tools revolutionize government business”. This article discusses the recent adoption of web 2.0 technologies by the government and the effect this change in culture has brought on. The article offers several cases where government employees are not only using but really embracing this technology in their day to day tasks. For example, in one case, instead of simply providing hard copies of a report to the intended audiences, the report can now be posted to a portal which is updated as needed. The portal is only accessible to a wider audience but now is always update to date with real information. Another example discussed the salmonella-tainted peanut butter and how the CDC would just normally post information to their websites. But in order to reach more people, they used software widget that automatically pulled the most recent recall information from an FDA database to various websites. This spiral effect is why so many more people received this information quickly. Cases like this are repeated throughout the article and offer profound insight into how useful web 2.0 technologies truly are.

In my opinion, one critical issue the government is dealing with is the breaking down of barriers not only between organizations but within organizations. The old way of doing things will simply not work anymore. The need is to be efficient and responsive to every threat/issue that arises. In trying to eliminate this problem, the government has done a great job in embracing web 2.0 technologies to break down stovepipes and increase communication and effectiveness between its people. Blogs are being used more often to offer people personal space to voice opinions and share ideas. Shared spaces are on the rise to help break down barriers to information flow. With the use of shared spaces and groups, the right people are getting the right information at the right time. Web 2.0 technologies are offering employees with a feel of community and team participation. Its easier now to be a part of a team where everyone may not be down the hall form each other but has access to the same information and can make well-thought out decisions. I think we will continue to see this adoption across all government agencies as our missions become more critical and our resourced continue to decrease. It will be interesting to see what the face of government will be in the next 5 – 10 years as new technologies enter the field.

LM Presentations

Recently in class, we had two individuals come in from Legg Mason (Ray and Gretchen). Each talked to us about their jobs and personal experiences with Web 2.0 technologies. It was nice to hear real stories from the industry. Stories like theirs offer valuable insight which I can take back with me and apply to both my own personal life and professional career. Ray discussed WEB 2.0 security, while Gretchen focused on legal issues. Being a security person myself, needless to say that both were very interesting and applicable to my job. The first presenter gave us an overview of WEB 2.0 security issues and how he and his team goes about testing their companies websites. The whole thing was fascinating. What makes this issues interesting is that is not like we solved the WEB 1.0 security issues..and to make things worse, we have built upon it to expose ourselves to even more threats. For example, did you know that you can have malicious code sent to your computer via a RSS Feed!!! Or things like mashups, that sound cool and with the times actually can take a vulnerability and blend it with a "good" application to generate something that looks all innocent but its not really. The topic of web 2.0 security is very relevant in my current job. We analyze new systems and applications all of the time. Now that I understand todays threats and vulnerabilities a little more, I can be smarter at my job and provide clients with better service.

Gretchen was from the legal department of the company and discussed how web 2.0 technologies have made her work life a bit more interesting. She is constantly building a "picket fence" to protect her company and its customers from fraudulent activity. She even tracks down the "criminals" and sometimes threatens to take legal action if they don’t stop pretending to be a company representative. She discussed cases where people put up fake websites and actually lured customers and were able to take money from their accounts. Cases like these seem to be on the rise and probably will continue to rise as we go through a recession and more and more people become desperate for money. Although this topic does not directly apply to my day to day professional career, it is always good to know that things like this happen so I can protect myself as a consumer.

(http://www.walpolewoodworkers.com/images/categories/Picket.Fence.A.jpg)

(http://www.privcom.gc.ca/information/ar/images/cartoon6.jpg)

The Recession

During the current recession, social media seems to be playing an important part in connecting the unemployed with support groups, tips on how to survive, and even odd jobs that maybe you would not have done before but now are open to. A recent article on cnn discusses different ways that new technologies allows people to connect and get support that we are need during such tough times.

The ability of web 2.0 technologies to create communities around various topics still amazes me. This is another classic example. One interesting website is "recessionwire.com". This site is termed a pop-up site that is meant only to be temporary and will go away with the given situation, the current situation being the recession. Its meant to aid the urban professions who are now laid off. The community is welcomed to tell their story and offer tips on how to survive. For example, a recent article discusses things to do in the first hours, week, even months after being laid off.

"pinkslipsarethenewblack.com" is another site where the unemployed can go and blog about whats on their mind and offer support. One blog talked about the top 10 places to go to get free bar food...the list seemed pretty good. I am pretty sure that if I lived in New York and was out of a job, I may check it out. Another article successfully makes us middle class people feel a little better when it reports that hi-end pawn shops are saying that many of the rich are falling hard and as a result pawning off many of their valuables. This just really makes you feel like you are not in it all alone.

For those who may even need a little more support and cant afford to see a phychologist, you can visit "feelingupindowntimes" where Marlin Potash, a New York City psychologist of 30 years, offers support and serious advice on how to get buy and deal with the emotional stress of losing your job.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/02/24/recession.web.sites/index.html

http://www.pophangover.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/recession.jpg