Analysis of Search Terms used to Find Onlineandloggedin

Apparently Google must have sent some bots creeping in this direction because search hits have been piling up.  In keeping this blog vanilla, most of my posts are about something mainstream or about one of my more dorky esoteric interests.  It’s plain to me that the web, and blogs in particular, serve to demassify mass media.  All of that fancy journalism/college talk just means that people are reading about/searching for/finding whatever they are interested in.  Demassification, dear readers, is not about people searching for “cooking”.  This is about people searching for “how to use ingredients local to Irmo, SC”, or other highly specialized areas.  Apparently, my humble blog has managed to find its way into a ton of searches regarding “Joe Walther” and “The Social Information Processing Theory” .   When I wrote about those things, they were the last topics that I thought anyone would find interesting.  This is great, the most uninteresting topic, that I’m glad to talk about, is the one that draws them in.

Closing thoughts:  Market to your niche.  Say your piece.

Archiving the WWW

There are few things as massive and complicated as the World Wide Web.  However massive the web may be, Internet Archive, a non-profit group has sought to archive it.  Since 1996 images of websites have been taken at various points in time in order to catalog the World Wide Web.

The Wayback machine allows users to visit archived versions of websites.  As of 2009 The Wayback machine has archived approximately 3 petrabytes of information and is growing at approximately 100 terabytes a month.  Information used in the Wayback Machine is cultivated by Alexa Internet.

In the Rocky And Bullwinkle show Mr. Peabody and Sherman use a time machine called the WABAC machine, the namesake for Internet Archives Wayback Machine.

IA not only catalogs websites, but media as well.  Many items are included that fall under public domain or under creative commons license or other licence that allows redistribution.

Check Internet Archive out. It is a powerful tool for examining a web page’s history and a legal way to view movies that are in the Archive.

Digital…what is it…

As everything leans towards being “digital”; I am taking a look to see what this is really all about.  I am interested in technology and all of its effects on the world.  So, it seems pertinent to look into the guts of what “digital” is.

Apparently things being “digital” had caused a mass exodus of hipsters from the modern era (after the dark ages), into the “information age”.  The idea of the information age is that individuals will be able to share ideas freely.  Another idea for the start of the information ages beginnings come around in 1956 when researchers noticed that more people had “white collar” than those who held “blue collar” jobs, which ended what was called the “industrial age”.  I risk being caught up in too much break down of history if I continue on this path…

Transistor

Electronically speaking a transistor is a semiconductor device (which is a device that uses the electronic properties of semiconductor materials such as silicon and germanium) which amplifies or switches electronic signals.

Transistors replaced vacuum tubes, which allow newer devices to be smaller, lighter, non-warm-up requiring, longer living, digital device that is easier and more cost effective to produce.  Vacuum tubes, such as the cathode ray tube are still used in televisions and are desirable amongst the audio avant garde, however, today we are looking at digital!

Transistors lead the way for more advanced computers, the the 1950s and 1960’s the military, and others began the movement that would inspire the “World Wide Web”.  I had always thought that the military has spearheaded that, but a project called “Whole Earth” is also credited as being a forbearer of the ‘net.

commodore 64

Personal computers came onto the scene in the ‘70s, but the ‘80s brought familiarity for the general public.  Some 17 million Commodore 64’s were sold between 1982 and 1994.  That’s 12 years of one type of computer.  My laptop is 4 years old and I think its old…

1992: Enter World Wide Web.  1996, the internet was in the mainstream, and by 1999 more than half of Americans use the internet regularly.  In 1989 15% of households owned a computer, but in the year 2000 this was up to about 66%.  Cell phones also became more prevalent at this time.

Fast-forward to 2005, the population of the internet has reached 1 billion, and 3 billion people use cell phones world wide.

The digital aged has turned records into CD’s, VHS tapes into DVD’s…and now blurays, analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting, E-books, and digital cable.  Of course I love my digital camera, and even my digital picture frame.

I think highly of the digital era, or the information age, whatever you may call it.  It is important to consider how much information your process, or you may get stuck with information overload, which I suffered from in reading wikipedia to write this.

I’m not citing this directly, but the links at the bottom show the path of my surfing.  And it took less than 30 minutes, hey, I like this digital stuff.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Revolution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transistor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_device

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacuum_tube#History_of_development

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Age

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_era

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_overload

You Tell Me, Does It Smell like Bacon?

The Agenda setting theory (1), a communication theory, suggests that the media tells us what to think about based on which stories appear in the media.  This power to tell us what to think about is huge.  I am of the opinion that media largely tells people what to think.  Yes, what to think, not just what to think about.

It seems that people don’t have time to consider things for themselves, so they desire their news program to digest and in turn spit out opinions in lieu of individual thought.  As a would-be journalist, I feel strongly about not editorializing when expressing an objective idea.  It is also imperative to look at more than one source.

Lately, it seems that the media has jumped all over the “Swine-flu” turned H1N1.  This pandemic, called such by the World Health Organization, has recently caused spikes in people purchasing life insurance (2).

As pictures of cute cuddly pigs and giant dirty pigs popped up in all of the visual media outlets,  the pork market fell (3). Many failed to report that no one with this flu has contracted it from pigs (4).

What can you do to be informed?  Read, not only the news, but the radio, and different websites can help you to get a more full idea of the picture.

For further reading check these out which were used to inform this blog:

*1.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agenda-setting_theory

*2.) http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=93921

*3.) http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1895776,00.html

*4.) http://www.promedmail.org/pls/otn/f?p=2400:1001:2555682150350571

Localized Social Media: Flash Mob

Social Media is a big thing.  As businesses get into it, and as CMC becomes a more widely regarded medium for relational and phatic communication, social media too is going to morph into a very large thing.

I read this morning about a flash mob at the University of Kentucky.  Presumably using Facebook, Twitter, and or the red headed step child of social media…Myspace, college students organized something as awesomely pointless as a flash mob.

At about 9:00 pm about 300 people crammed into the library and began dancing, chanting and otherwise being unruly.  The president of the student government spoke highly of the student spirit shown here.

Even though many people boast hundreds of Facebook friends, and thousands of twitter followers, it’s awesome to me to see social media used on such a local scale.  This is what it’s all about, it’s not about living a “second life” it’s about being closer and having a more effective relationship with the real people around you.  It’s just healthier that way, this isn’t academic, and it’s just common sense.

1. http://improveverywhere.com/2006/04/23/best-buy/

Growing Social Media

I was watching the 6:00 news the other day.  I enjoy watching the local new’s because it is typically not as far behind as newspaper or the other print media that I have access to, though it is not nearly as instantaneous as the internet.

One reporter did a package peice on something or other, and then listed ways to contact her.

Twitter, Text message, Email, Website, yadda yadda yadda.

The new’s must really be itching for some of that good old user feedback.  I know everyone and their cousin is trying to develop a community regarding their product, but wow.

Mojo journalism is a kind of journalism where reporters are armed with laptops and work out of their cars, and not news rooms, this is apparently being used and expanded by the Gannet newspaper group.

My thougths: Every one is becoming a Journalist.  We don’t need ‘em.  Soon enough I will be able to access whichever backchannel I care to and get my live time information straight from the horses mouth.  Just like the new’s is having to do with Lance Armstrong.  He is making them look at his Twitter for news; I can look at it too.

NetBooks

Amazon.com: ASUS Eee PC 1000HE 10.1-Inch Black Netbook – 9.5 Hour Battery Life: Electronics

I am keeping my eyes out for netbooks right now.  A netbook is basically a stripped down, compact version of a laptop with a stripped down price tag too.  Netbooks intentionally lack the bells and whistles of a regular laptop, and is much more portable.  It is my opinion that middle class suburbanites will soon be chained to these just as they are to cell phones.

I’m not an iphone kind of guy.  I would not be comfortable doing much computing on a hand held device. They seem very small, and my fingers seem very large.  My tech savvy, while existent, is mostly limited to regular computer work.  I am very efficient at finding information and analyzing it, and an iphone would not increase my efficiency.

I’ve learned today that many of the functions of the iphone are restricted, and applications are not able to make use of them, such as some kinds of video, and GPS functions.  Read about sketchy iphone apps here: http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobilize/21-apps-apple-doesnt-want-your-iphone-969

I love Apple, can even consider myself a Mac, but for the present I am sticking to PC.  I am keeping my eyes on Apples netbook potential.  Apple makes awesome stuff that looks good and is compact.  Trends suggest that Apple might be working on a netbook or a tablet pc. Either one would be cool, but still beyond my technical comfort zone.  http://venturebeat.com/2009/03/30/could-this-be-apples-netbook-probably-not-but-lets-hope/

Big Brother is watching and somehow that's okay

I am a big fan of 1984, and A Brave New World.  I recognize that with the increase in live time social media that privacy is willfully being given up.  It is interesting to me to see how widespread this becomes:

I’ve engaged some of my professors using various social media resources, some of it positive, some of it not so much.   However, it allows me to view them as individuals, and not just teaching-drones.  There is a balance of how much information to publicly disseminate, and how much to hold on to. I’m still finding balance.  I likely will not be interested in any of the ideas presented below, at least for the moment.

http://chronicle.com/wiredcampus/article/3705/professor-encourages-students-to-pass-notes-during-class-via-twitter

This link details a professor who is encouraging Graduate students, to use twitter during class to have a “back channel” of communication.  …The professor can see this, and somehow that’s okay.

————-

http://www.locaccino.org/

Allows people to track you down using the GPS in your phone.  I have not played with it yet, so I am unsure of its relative complexity.  But still, it allows people to track you down…and somehow that’s okay.

All of these things point to a new, less-private communication paradigm.  Personally, I’m waiting on holograms.

Twitter Power

Apparently Twitter is on its way up.  According to CNN a woman tweeted Demi Moore a note indicating she was going to attempt suicide.  Fans got tracked the message  and notified the authorities.  I haven’t heard of anything like this on FB or MS.  Could this be an advantage/disadvantage to live time social media.

From my preferred source:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/04/03/moore.twitter.threat/index.html

Twitter Power

I am a part time Cycling enthusiast.  A “screen rider” if you will.  Following Lance Armstrongs Twitter this morning, I was impressed at the immediacy of the “Twitter movement”.  (Follow Armstrong on Twitter: http://twitter.com/lancearmstrong)  Armstrong is most notable for his record 7 Tour De France wins, and his cancer come back. 

Armstrong, who is recovering from his collar bone surgery the other day reported that he was drinking a cup of “Unseen Bean Coffee” and provided a URL  (www.theunseenbean.com).  He then reported back 20 or so minutes after his first post and reported that his followers had “crashed” the unseen bean with site visits. However at this time (1 hour after posting) the site is up and working.

It took 20 minutes to down a website just based on Twittering, abliet Armstrong has 434,228, followers, and is a very well known Black Berry user.

This is impressive.  Harness this.  Twitter is going somewhere.  How will it be used next…No clue.  But it’s going places.

Update: 10:30 A.M.  The Unseen Bean is still down.

10:42 site access occaisonal.