UWB radio transmissions

In the text, UWB stands for Ultra Wide Band radios. It spreads radiation across the frequencies of the radio spectrum. So, in your home, this would make it possible to make your television wireless, and I would assume all other types of technology in your home. The major concept here is one day, we may be able to take these technologies in our homes, and connect their functions to the car through the utilization of UWB transmissions. This concept blows my mind away. In modern day cars, you have a built in GPS as well as built in charging stations for your phones, ipods, etc. And now, we are talking about getting rid of all of this, and having a receiver able to connect to technologies in your home. So, this would take away the GPS, because you could always access Google Maps from the receiver. This would take away your iPod, because you could access an unlimited amount of music from the Internet which would also go through the receiver. If we are thinking wireless, most smart phones these days can access wireless to maybe get on a better connection. Since this receiver picks up technologies at home on a wireless network, you may be able to leave your phone at home, and make or receive calls through your receiver. I do not know how that would work, but it's just a thought.

Ken Zeran

To have your contact information falsely represented the way it was in this story can go down as a "worst-case" scenario. From reading the story, it seemed Ken was a little too relaxed about the whole situation. To retaliate in any way would probably be the last thing I would do. To have your information misrepresented like that is an immediate lawsuit, and to bring it to court right away. His first response was to call AOL, and have them remove the advertisement. I would not even bother with that step. I would go to a lawyer, plead my case, and sue them for as much as possible. The longer you wait, the more likely for yourself to retaliate which means the less credibility you have.

What is the value of a bit?

DRM, stands for "Digital Rights Management." Once the Internet became so popular, it was too easy for pirates to copy and illegally sell digital media and products. Therefore, the purpose of DRM is to stop illegal reproduction and distribution of these products. I do agree that illegal copying of music and videos is a real problem in this world. People who work so hard to make these albums are not getting the full profits they deserve. However, I don't think it's the artists who are the most upset. Major record labels are the ones most frustrated. When artists sign to record labels, the companies make the majority of money off of CD sales. When pirating of music became so prevalent in society, the companies wouldn't make as much money off of the music they were selling. However, through pirating music, you see it is much easier for artists to become popular. The more popular you are, the more people will come out to your concerts. Concerts are where artists make a majority of their revenue, because it gives them a chance to break away from the record companies where they do not have a financial obligation with them. So, in a way, artists should not complain about this. This is an illegal action, and I do agree that it is wrong. However, with the abundance of pirating music, it has been making artists more money, and leaving the record companies in the dust. However, people still buy CDs all the time. Personally, I love adding to my collection and checking out the artwork, and other things artists add in their little pamphlets that come with each CD.

FOAF-style network

Just when you think social networks could not get more innovative, think again. When I was first exposed to this idea, "friend of a friend," I thought about LinkedIn. I know they are different, but I feel there is a minimal amount of social "business" networks. With "friend of a friend" may change the whole game of getting employed. For example, the whole "interview process" begins with getting recognized. Being recognized, in my opinion is the hardest part in getting a job. If your resume is not impressive, and your cover letter is just average, consider yourself unemployed. However, you take this same instance, and your references are all presidents of major companies, you may have a shot. Your best references in the near future may come from a "FOAF" network. People build credibility in numerous ways. With a FOAF style network, it is just another way to get recognized. In this economy, the unemployed can use all the help they can get. Also, this may benefit businesses all around the world. So much money is put into research and background checks to make sure the individual they are about to hire is the right choice. With this style of network a company may better understand the type of person you are through the people that you know. If it's a social network I am going to assume it's free, which takes much of the economic pressure off of research departments.

Prisoner's Dilemma

First, we have to define the term before I reflect on it. Prisoner's dilemma deals with the "seller to consumer" relationship. First, there is a transaction where both the seller and customer are "ethical" in which they both respect each others' part in the transaction. Second, the seller takes advantage of the customer. Third, it's the exact opposite where the buyer takes advantage of the seller. Fourth, they both take advantage of the situation. When discussing auction sites like "eBay," this "prisoner dilemma" is very present through every transaction. Close to the beginning of the semester I shared a story dealing with eBay where the second part of a prisoner's dilemma took place. I thought I would share it again because it directly relates to the material. I am a huge basketball fan, especially a Knicks fan. Over the years it has been very hard to support them. What do you do when they are consecutively horrible? You look back on the glory years to make yourself feel better. So, I wanted to purchase an Allan Houston jersey to take myself down memory lane. I found the perfect size, and perfect jersey. The title clearly said, Medium, not specifying if it was an adult size or children size. When not specified, I think we all assume it is adult. As a frequent online buyer, if it is a kid's size, people go out of the way to specify this particular characteristic. I receive the jersey in the mail about three weeks later, and the jersey is as big as my right leg.   

There are two possible risks I see as being major in the online auction process. First, you go through the same experience I did, and not receive your money's worth. Second, identity theft when providing credit card information. However, "PayPal" is a great way to protect your information which gets rid of the second risk. I do believe they work because I have many friends who have had great experiences with eBay. I believe we need to be careful and conscious of the risks before getting involved so we avoid mistakes like the one I made.

Information Cascade

I believe the best way to describe an information cascade is the followers and trends we see in today's society. People go on TV and look at the clothes people are wearing, and the music people listen to. When it is repeated, and drilled into people's minds everyday, you see people exactly replicate these actions without even thinking twice about it. Your own instincts become the majority's instincts, and this is where we see a loss of identity when everyone is following each other, rather than follow their self. It almost seems logical for the insecure. You have nothing to worry about if you wear and listen to the same music everyone else is. I browsed over some other reactions to this blog post. I saw someone mention the JMU riot. Now, we have been doing this event for years on end. We look at the paper and you have 12 convicted felons that were non-JMU students, and maybe one from JMU. For some reason, one person decided it would be a good idea to throw a beer can at an officer. It seemed like people's instincts were following the majority, and loss all clear sense of thought. Within minutes there were thousands of beer cans being thrown into the air. Now, I am not saying JMU students did not participate in the riot because they definitely did. However, I believe they got caught in an information cascade that was brought from the outside where they thought these type of actions were okay. Without an outside influence, I believe there would be no problems today.

“revolution doesn’t happen when society adopts new technologies--it happens when society adopts new behaviors”

I could not agree more with this quote. Today, new technology is part of our daily lives. It has become such a routine in our culture that it has lost its popularity over the years. People are not looking for the craziest inventions out there, they are looking for change. I would just like to cite back to our presentation last night. At the end, you asked the group if it is easy for a company to utilize social media through viral marketing. The answer is simply "no." Everyone is exposed to technology and social media everyday. What grabs attention of the public these days is something new. In this particular quote, "new behaviors" is not new technologies. It is utilizing the technology we have, and reaching the public on a level where they can relate to the company. Something that shows you would be just as creative without the technology at hand. I think that best describes this quote.