Chris Nolan gave us a great presentation on tips and ideas for making our web surfing more efficient and successful. Search engines such as google, dogpile, yahoo, and microsoft are extremely helpful in starting a search. Also using advanced key word searches or options such as google scholar, which I had no previous knowlege of, and google books are great ways to narrow down our searches even more. Google also allows you to add other engine links, suggest terms, and eliminate cookies from your search. Mr. Nolan also pointed out that directories such as Librarian's Internet Index, InfoMine, and Trinity Library lists are very helpful places to begin your search.
*One thing that I found surprising was that Google actually includes the original page or the link labled “cached” where google has indexed and highlighted all the key terms you're looking for.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
America and the Epic Copyright
I found it incredibly interesting that the copyright act was actually enacted in 1790, predating the United States Bill of Rights. Our founding fathers must have found the issue extremely important to the well-being of our country. They foresaw the need to allow creators of all sorts to protect their work and claim what is rightfully their own. I imagine they felt quite close to the issue, for America was their new creation that required their upmost protection.
As important as copyright is, I also believe that as the world becomes more and more technological and computerized, copyright issues are rising. So much information is produced daily and what is and is not protected under law can become very muddled and confusing to users. I feel that many people know when they are crossing the line and breaking a copyright law, but I also feel that there are those who do not even realize that the two songs they downloaded from the user-friendly website “X” are actually copyrighted and punishable by law. So much on the web is unclear and I feel that users who do not quite understand what is and is not copyrighted should have an advantage of talking to companies about their situation without being automatically fined. I suggest that if a company finds a person unclear what they have done and did not mean any harm to the company’s well being, that they should drop most of the cash-based penalty and instead require the person to take a course on copyright laws and issues.
I also understand that even if a person is unaware of their crime, they still may be costing the company profits. I propose that a company works to find out the intentions of the committer and then charge them accordingly to their intentions and the lost profits to a reasonable degree.
As important as copyright is, I also believe that as the world becomes more and more technological and computerized, copyright issues are rising. So much information is produced daily and what is and is not protected under law can become very muddled and confusing to users. I feel that many people know when they are crossing the line and breaking a copyright law, but I also feel that there are those who do not even realize that the two songs they downloaded from the user-friendly website “X” are actually copyrighted and punishable by law. So much on the web is unclear and I feel that users who do not quite understand what is and is not copyrighted should have an advantage of talking to companies about their situation without being automatically fined. I suggest that if a company finds a person unclear what they have done and did not mean any harm to the company’s well being, that they should drop most of the cash-based penalty and instead require the person to take a course on copyright laws and issues.
I also understand that even if a person is unaware of their crime, they still may be costing the company profits. I propose that a company works to find out the intentions of the committer and then charge them accordingly to their intentions and the lost profits to a reasonable degree.
Monday, February 2, 2009
What's the deal with facebook?
Facebook is the new social networking system.
For the longest time I refused to get a facebook, fearing a profile thousands could access. It wasn't until the summer before my senior year in high school that I finally decided to set up a facebook account in order to keep in contact with with my best friend Anna who was staying in Italy for a couple of years. I wasn't very interested in the whole process at first and checked it rarely. However, when I returned to school, I found numerous friend requests and friendly messages. I met up with people from long ago that I may have never seen again if it weren't for facebook. I became a fan.
Facebook has massively replaced handwritten letters, telephone calls, and even regular emails. It's an incredibly user-friendly system that allows easy communication and individualized creativity. You can share pictures and communicate with as many of friends as you want simultaneously.
Facebook has proven to be a great system for college students in particular. We are able to keep up with out-of-state and out-of-country friends and also set up meetings with groups and clubs from school. We can help each other with homework or just chat with friends. There are some downsides to facebook such as information leakage and the "stalkers". Everyone seems to know everything about everyone if you're not careful. Invasion of privacy is the greatest problem when dealing with facebook, but you can control the majority of information and set it to private so no one else can see except your closest friends and yourself. People are aware of what they display so if everyone knows theire business it's because either they want other people to know or they don't care if they do.
For more comments on facebook see:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1213/p13s01-legn.html
or to visit facebook see:
http://www.facebook.com/index.php
For the longest time I refused to get a facebook, fearing a profile thousands could access. It wasn't until the summer before my senior year in high school that I finally decided to set up a facebook account in order to keep in contact with with my best friend Anna who was staying in Italy for a couple of years. I wasn't very interested in the whole process at first and checked it rarely. However, when I returned to school, I found numerous friend requests and friendly messages. I met up with people from long ago that I may have never seen again if it weren't for facebook. I became a fan.
Facebook has massively replaced handwritten letters, telephone calls, and even regular emails. It's an incredibly user-friendly system that allows easy communication and individualized creativity. You can share pictures and communicate with as many of friends as you want simultaneously.
Facebook has proven to be a great system for college students in particular. We are able to keep up with out-of-state and out-of-country friends and also set up meetings with groups and clubs from school. We can help each other with homework or just chat with friends. There are some downsides to facebook such as information leakage and the "stalkers". Everyone seems to know everything about everyone if you're not careful. Invasion of privacy is the greatest problem when dealing with facebook, but you can control the majority of information and set it to private so no one else can see except your closest friends and yourself. People are aware of what they display so if everyone knows theire business it's because either they want other people to know or they don't care if they do.
For more comments on facebook see:
http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1213/p13s01-legn.html
or to visit facebook see:
http://www.facebook.com/index.php
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