Short Critical Reflection Paper - Essay Example

SHORT CRITICAL REFLECTION PAPER Bernabe Almaraz INF: Computer Literacy Dr.Mike Jones August 8, Short Critical Reflection Paper After reading Chapters 6-7 and then critically thinking and reflecting on the information, please select three of the questions below to answer. Your responses should be a minimum of a paragraph (125-175 words) per question, be grammatically correct, and demonstrate through intelligent use of quotes, facts, and figures that you have learned from the assigned chapters. Searching for information on Google is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Is that true? Was the library of the 19th century more efficient? Explain. The library was less efficient in the 19th century and is more efficient in modern 21st century. Google excels on engine searches as it finds for key “metatags.” However, companies who want to promote their products pay Google big cash to get “hits” for their website. In addition, searches are more efficient as Google will automatically allows the user a price range of a certain product along with the closest store that offers that product. The problem with the today’s searches is the fact that anyone that has published a website online can be able to give their insight in a subject area without much credibility. With so much information in the web, individuals are sometimes completely befuddled with information. Libraries in 21st century are more customized to individual needs and more efficient as databases have become better in quality. How is searching in a specific database, such as Ashford’s library, different from searching in Bing, Google, or Yahoo? There are two types of databases that are responsible for information. The first consists of a public domain database. This type of database is accessible for the public use. The second consists of a propriety database, which is restricted towards individuals who have membership from a local university. The difference between the databases is due to the fact one requires membership and one is open to the public. This is due to the fact that knowledge and articles that are in the Ashford library databases are scholarly articles written by scholars and are highly more credible than the articles that are yielded in the Google search engines. Most search engines will yield the same results and it is clear that the quality of information between the two databases is clearly distinguishable. The information age might very well go down as one of the most influential movements of the last century. The term “revolution” refers to a drastic change. In what ways in this information age so drastically different? Is it all good? Without a doubt, the information age has literally been transformed throughout the last century. The challenge is no doubt to manage this clusters of information that is widely available, which is why the information age is not all good. Propriety software and open source applications are anything but similar. What are the pros and cons of buying Microsoft Office (proprietary) versus downloading and using Open Office (open) for free? The term “open source” refers to the piece of software’s source code. Open source code extends beyond the traditional methods of just handing out code. It means that there are guidelines in which software has to be written it. The software developed with innovations can tremendously benefit individuals on the internet. The clearest benefit of this is due to the fact that it is free. Rather than paying a hefty peace, most open source products can be tried at a risk free basis. In addition, most of these products are efficient for organization’s usage. They also eliminate the hassle of software licensing, which continues to be a controversial issue in this industry. Consequently, propriety software tends to be quite expensive as Microsoft Office can really take a hit on a person’s budget. However, these software are complete and do not contain flaws unlike the open source software. Propriety software can be beneficial because it allows the company to a legal and ethical way to possess software. Open source software clearly is free from all the corporate legislation as the emphasis is based on developing the software for the free user and not for a corporate entity. Culture is a major facet of any organization. Given this, what role does the culture at Google play in its continual innovative solutions and entrepreneurial applications? Google plays a very vital role relating to the culture, which is seen clearly through their corporate environment. According to Google, it is vital that the focus should be based on customization of individual needs in every manner possible. This is also depicted through their employees as they are given 20% of their time at work for their “pet projects.” These “pet projects” are any sorts of compilation of new technology that certainly is added to “Google Labs.” The release of “Google Labs” is the front runner that spears innovation at Google. It allows individuals to put their products and services in order to get the adequate feedback they need. Everyone in Google is expected to innovate regardless of knowledge and education expertise. Clearly, Google was the first to come up with ‘Google Maps, Google Earth, and Google Docs” which have clearly facilitated the process for users. The web 2.0 is not a new Internet. Is it the new name given to an emerging trend – participation? Instead of simply consuming information people are contributing and as a result, connecting to others in the process. If you had to make an educated guess, what might the web 3.0 be like? Why? The new web 3.0 is going to be extremely customized to the individual needs. With the advent of cloud computing, the whole concept will be completely surreal as it will be personalized with individual needs. Furthermore, it allows individuals to express their opinion about a certain topic and get immediate response from users worldwide. This type of dynamic programming that will be curtailed in the web 3.0 will automatically finish search queries based on the information that it absorbs from previous searches. In addition, it will continue to evolve and guess for search words that pertain to an individual’s specific needs. Lastly, it will be the first interface to do live video chat with multiple people instead of just holding a video chat with one person. Social networks allow people to connect for a variety of reasons in a digital environment. You might join LinkedIn to meet business contacts, MySpace to find a band member, or Facebook to see pictures of old friends and meet new ones. Whatever environment you decide to be a part of, posting information about you has become an issue of concern. What are those concerns? I mean what is the big deal about privacy? The advent of social network has dynamically changed the focus to security in various ways. Social networking websites are notorious for selling private information to third parties. In addition, with the concept of cloud computing and the recent release of “google +,” social networking services can easily have security loopholes and flaws. In the recent decade, Facebook has been criticized heavily for the lack of security measures that users are not aware of. For Mark Zuckerberg, the focus is on socialization for this website, not security. In addition, people are able to “tag” others in their Facebook without their consent. Moreover, individuals are given the choice to edit their settings; instead they must investigate within themselves to find the proper security measures that suit their privacy. This type of customization is nice but can be a problem in the long run. The founder of Wikipedia has a noble mission – to share all the world’s information with everyone everywhere, anytime. In what ways has this mission been successful? In what ways has it not been successful? Without a doubt, Wikipedia has gained much popularity as it has given valuable information to internet users. Wikipedia has been successful in providing public with the basic knowledge that is critical for quick informational needs. According to his perspective, not much information was presented in the web. The founder of the Wikipedia originally wanted to get help of PhD’s to write articles. However, his vision for that was short lived so in essence he allowed the public to edit information. It has not been successful due to the fact that academic centers such as colleges and universities do not find it to be credible as the public is free to edit the content. In order to combat this flaw, the owner does require citations to further facilitate the process. Is email dead for teenagers? Explain. In essence, email is dead for teenagers for various reasons. First and foremost is the fact that most teenagers are keen in texting. Email is only used to academic purposes as college and high school students need to turn in their assignments online. For teenagers, email is used for only communicating to professors. With the advent of social networking, it is clear that email is only used for minimal purposes as CNN.com reports. In addition, Craig Sherman, head executive of Gaia Online, which is a virtual world for teens and college kids, insists that "the first and early adopters of new trends. Things they are doing are what everyone will be doing in five years." In essence, teenagers are just using Facebook and other social channels as way of communication. With the innovation of Facebook email, it is clear that email is ancient for teenagers. Even Microsoft is attempting to rejuvenate the long lost tradition of sending emails as every teenager has a cell phone and is constantly on Facebook. Given the trends of ubiquitous computing and media rich environments, how might communication at work evolve in the next five years? Ubiquitous computing is a vision of computing power that is incorporated in the external environment and can be accessed through multiple channels. The main objective of ubiquitous computing is to make a computer highly portable and natural that it centers on the needs of an individual. Clearly, the goal is to create an interface where technology is no longer an obstacle, but in mere reality an ever changing forces that continues to evolve to the preferences of the user. The vision of having this though does come with deep consequences that impact our everyday lives. The aspects associated with ubiquitous computing are no doubt useful as it will collaborate with synchronous technology. The rapid development of the World Wide Web is hard to predict with so much information available. One can see a future in which an individual can go to shopping which will the save the history of the previous items bought and immediately estimate the total of the products. This vision will no doubt become a reality. All sources used must be properly cited, and the paper must be formatted according the APA (6th edition) style. If you would like to refer to APA samples and tutorials, log into the Ashford Writing Center (USER NAME: ashford; PASSWORD: student). Click on the “ENG122 Resources” tab and review the resources in the “Week 5” section Works Cited Clohesy Consulting - Guiding Bold Philanthropy in the Creation of a just and Sustainable World.. (n.d.).Clohesy Consulting - Guiding Bold Philanthropy in the Creation of a just and Sustainable World.. Retrieved August 8, 2011, from http://www.clohesyconsulting.com Future of Health IT: Trends and Scenarios: Ubiquitous Computing. (n.d.). Future of Health IT: Trends and Scenarios. Retrieved August 8, 2011, from http://hunscher.typepad.com/futu Olsen, S. (n.d.). Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead - CNET News. Technology News - CNET News. Retrieved August 8, 2011, from http://news.cnet.com/2009-1032_3-6197242.html Open source in society. (n.d.).Oracle ThinkQuest. Retrieved August 8, 2011, from library.thinkquest.org/07aug/019 VASCELLARO, J. E. (n.d.). Facebook Grapples With Privacy Issues - WSJ.com.Business News & Financial News - The Wall Street Journal - Wsj.com. Retrieved August 8, 2011, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100 Read More