Paragon Media One Blog » Technology

A Digital Battle of Convenience

nicole — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:41:59 +0000

The recent invention of the camera phone might have started out as something that may have seemed like a useless invention. However, now, it seems that the camera phone is turning the digital camera to be an obsolete piece of equipment. It seems as though the cameras in cell phones are now getting higher and higher resolutions. Camera phones now have five megapixels (HTC Hero, Motorola Droid, Nokia N97, Nokia X6, Motorola VE66) and the HTC incredible has broken the eight megapixel barrier! While I can certainly understand the point of view that says the camera phone will replace the digital camera, however we will still always need real digital cameras for print photography and for any type of professional photography for that matter. The convienience is nice with a camera phone. Send pics to your friends, send them online, even mess around with the effects, and all that is well and good. Believe me, I love a good camera phone as much as the next lady. All I’m saying is no matter how many megapixels a camera phone has, it could never replace a Canon EOS Rebel T2i… an eighteen megapixel camera. Get where I’m coming from?

The Violence in Video Games Debate

nicole — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 14:22:10 +0000

A recent review of the 70 top-selling video games shows that 88% of the games contained some kind of violence. In 41% of the games, violence was necessary for the player to achieve their goals. 43% of violent scenes in games involve humor directed toward the violence, and 75% of violent scenes on television show no immediate punishment or remorse by the criminal after being caught in the act of violence.

While researching the subject of video games creating violent children, those were the ones I found most interesting. I’m just the average person, not a gamer. The last time I played a video game, Mario was hitching a ride on to Yoshi’s back, and the most violent act they committed was jumping on top of an enemy to “kill” it. So, while I am no video game connoisseur, the subject still interests me.

During my research, word “desensitization” continuously popped into my mind. The word means the elimination of a natural or acquired reactivity or sensitivity to an external stimulus. Let me explain why this word was coming to my mind. I’m going to use the example of a child, let’s say nine, maybe ten years old. He’s playing a game, the latest and greatest video game with the graphics that are so “realistic”. (And for the record, yes, I’ve researched the games themselves, and I don’t think they could get much more realistic unless they’ve used real actors and sets.) The game calls for shooting at people, realistic characters, not made up fairytale creatures, but people like you and me. Sometimes, you can even purchase a pretty realistic looking gun to plug into the console. Let’s say that little boy comes across a gun in his near future… he doesn’t know any better, so what’s his first instinct? To point, and shoot. Sure, these circumstances are extrenuating, however, it does happen, and kids may be old enough to play these video games, but may not be old enough to fully understand that what they’re seeing isn’t the real world. To put it into perspective a little better, and to elaborate on my desensitization theory, I’d say that a child witnessing an act of violence may not feel so emotionally sorry for the victim had he been an avid video game player. A person who does not come in contact with blood, shooting, and violence often will be a person who will see such things and feel sorry for the person being attacked. A child who does not play video games will sympathize with the prey, while a child who plays the video games will sympathize with the predator.

All in all, while I’m aware that these games are only able to be purchased by certain age groups, they’re created for adults, and blah blah blah, the fact of the matter is that children still get their hands on these games. The video game most certainly isn’t always the deciding factor of a child’s violence, but I definitely think it plays a role in it, and a big role at that.

Is Data Mining Intrusive or Helpful? You decide.

nicole — Tue, 25 May 2010 14:34:08 +0000

You’re at the store, shopping for something to wear for your night out. You’re buying a CD to listen to on your way to work. You’re going to do some yard work, and you need to buy some mulch and top soil. Regardless of what you’re buying, you must go to the check out, and pay the clerk or sales associate. As they’re giving you your total, a clothing store might ask you for your e-mail address and phone number, with area code. The e-mail address is for special offers, but what is the phone number for? At the grocery store, or at Wal-Mart, you might be asked for your zip code. It seems simple enough, just a simple question, and we answer. The stores asking for your zip code, or phone number with area code, are using that information for something called data mining. Data mining is the process of extracting patterns from date. As more data are gathered, the better the company can figure out what it’s consumers are buying. How this works is by asking for your area code or zip code, they will know where people are buying certain things. The easiest example I can give to you is this: people from the zip code of someone up north may still be buying coats in April, yet people down south are getting ready for summer with flip flops and shorts. Data mining can help companies to do better by knowing what their consumers are purchasing and where. However, data mining isn’t always used for marketing, and that’s where the line gets a little fuzzy. The government is starting to use data mining for national security and law enforcement purposes. As a matter of fact, the Total Information Awareness Program, specifically, has raised privacy concerns. The Total Information Awareness Program would be achieved by developing an enormous computer database. This database would essentially store all of the personal information of every single United States citizen, including credit card records, phone records, medical records, social network analysis, personal emails, and anything else that they think they should be able to see. The scariest part of all of this is that they wouldn’t even need a search warrant. What they would do with this information is analyze it, piece by piece, to ensure that there is no suspicious activity performed by any individual, in hopes to lower crime rates. The program has already been established, and is sounding like a good idea for those worried about terrorism. I, for one, think it’s a great idea for marketing, but as for taking all of our personal information, not so much a good idea. What do you think?

Does Google Need to Zoom Out?

nicole — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:32:46 +0000

Google Mapping. It’s all the rage right now, being used for finding a certain location via an actual picture of the location. I can understand why it was invented. To help make directions easier, so I would hope. However, you can see where it may be a problem in regard to privacy. I’ve been shown various places, and even used the google map to see a house I was traveling to in another state last February, just to get an idea of where I was going. Yes, it proved helpful, but was it really necessary that I see the house before I arrive? No, it wasn’t. That was the last time I’d used google maps. Until today, that is. I started doing research on the general public being worried about the privacy of their lives, and it’s a unanimous concern. One woman zoomed into her house, and could see her cat sitting in her window. That’s a little extreme, don’t you think? I decided to look up the house I’d lived in previously, with my parents, a few years ago. I figured they wouldn’t take an individual picture of the townhouse in which I live, since it’s in a complex. What I found was this. The garage door open, and I was able to even zoom in to see what was inside. I could see the cars in the garage, and in the driveway. This is quite alarming. I could see the door that was inside the garage, showing anyone on the internet how to get into the house. Just being able to see the types of cars a person drives makes me a little uneasy when I think about the creeps that could find that information, and stalk you. What do you think? My advice to you is this: look up your own house, the house where your parents live, the house where your siblings, or children live. That’s the only way you’ll fully understand how I felt when I saw my parent’s home. Of course, looking at someone else’s home is always going to be a little fun, see where they live, be a little nosy, but until you actually look at your own place, you won’t understand how truly invasive this type of technology is. What do you think? I know I’m going to draw my shades a little tighter.

Computer Addictions?

nicole — Thu, 13 May 2010 14:45:31 +0000

It may be hard to believe that there was enough information to be researched on the following topic. Computer addictions. It’s happening fast, and has become one of the newest addictions that is actually starting to be researched by psychologists. What sparked my interest in this subject was a Dr. Phil episode in all honesty. The spot was on computer addictions, and it was absolutely insane to me, and I didn’t take it seriously until I continued to watch and saw the stories of these patients’ lives. There was a woman who was addicted to Farmville. She planned her entire life around the harvesting of her crops. It seems funny, yes, and I’ll admit I laughed at her expense, but the woman had children. The kids would need the computer for school, and she’d have a fit because they were cutting into her Farmville time. She’d forget to cook dinner, bathe her children, clean her house, and make a scene about taking them to school or a friend’s house. Instead of grocery shopping, she’d order in, and if her kids needed the computer, she’d unplug the Internet for a bit to pretend it was down so they couldn’t use it. Had I given only the symptoms and behaviors, and not the addiction, you might think it were a drug problem. The compulsive checking of e-mails, or obsessive video game play or constant instant messaging is referred to as CMC, or Computer Mediated Communication. IAD refers to Internet Addiction Disorder. Although the American Psychiatric Association does not currently consider computer addiction as a valid diagnosis for any medication, there are many practices that offer counseling and cognitive therapy for a patient who is addicted to computers and the Internet. Remember, it’s safe to use computers daily, we all do, but when a person begins to neglect daily activities, their hygiene, or their lifestyles revolve around the Internet, that’s when you may want to step in and help.

NEW! Adobe Photoshop CS5

nicole — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:08:20 +0000

Here’s me being a complete techno-geek at her finest. Have you USED the new Adobe Photoshop CS5? Amazing, to say the least. It’s got everything that you’ve wished they’d come out with while working in the application, and more. The coolest thing I found is the content-aware fill. It allows you to completely delete a subject, and it will fill in the background around it using a technology that matches lighting, tone and noise, and ultimately makes the image look like the deleted subject never even existed. If you were sick of using drop shadows and fussing around to make things look 3-D, your techno-prayers have been answered with the Enhanced 3-D realism and reach materials feature. This feature enables you to make a subject three dimensional, and make materials look like glass and chrome. Sweet. Puppet warp. What is that you may ask? The example used on the Adobe website is an elephant’s trunk. It’s hanging straight down. With the puppet warp feature you can warp or stretch graphics, text, or image elements. So, you can curve that elephant’s trunk however the heck you want it to go, and it uses the content-aware fill to fill in the blank spot after the subject has been changed. HDR Imaging? Yep, they’ve included Superior HDR Imaging, which literally creates surreal HDR images with a precise accuracy. Ever gotten tired of keying out the green for green screen images? Especially if you’re using a girl as a subject with tiny strands of hair that takes a ridiculous amount of time to key out (can you tell I’m speaking from experience)? Don’t worry anymore, because now complex selections are made easy. I could literally go on forever, describing how amazing this new Photoshop will be. But, I suppose that’s what their website is for, and I won’t take all their glory. It is, in fact glorious, I might add J So, try it out. It’s amazing, and they’ve even got free shipping until May 31^st. Well, that’s it for my geek rave! Talk to you soon!

Nicole

Online Predator Statistics

nicole — Thu, 06 May 2010 15:27:19 +0000

In light of the recent internet safety posts, I figured it might be beneficial to not only tell you things I think you should do to prevent online predation, but provide you with some facts. These aren’t my opinion, these things actually happen, and we all need to be aware – children and adults alike.

In 1998, 20% of all children on the Internet received a sexual solicitation. This was before the Internet was even as popular as it is today.
30% of children have been solicited for a face-to-face meeting, requested a phone call, or requested to mail money or gifts.
25% of children ages 4-10 have been exposed to partially or completely nude photos of online predators.
Of that 25%, 1 in every 17 of those children were threatened or harassed.
Less than 10% of these incidents are reported to law enforcement.
In 2006, 12% of tweens (ages 8-12) and 56% of teens (ages 13-18) were asked for identity information.
10% of tweens and 54 percent of teens say they often chat with people they don’t know via instant messaging applications.
5% of tweens and 42% of teens say they’ve willingly posted some personal information online.
16% of tweens and 30% of teens have reported that they’d discovered the person they were chatting with was pretending to be much younger than they really were.

That last one actually scared me, and it’s hard to believe. If you or anyone you know is being harassed, solicited, or exploited by an online predator who isn’t who they say they are, I found this site where you can report it, either anonymously or with your name. Please stay safe, and report online predators!

http://www.wiredsafety.org/internet_predators/index.html

Nicole

Internet Safety

nicole — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:14:57 +0000

I’m a new mom, and my daughter at almost a year old hasn’t quite figured out using a computer just yet to surf the web. However, I now understand why parents have always been sort of protective of their child’s internet usage. The answer is simple: because it’s downright scary what kids can get into online. Sure, when used the right way, message boards, instant chats, live video chat, and game forums are all helpful, and intended to be harmless fun for kids who may not have the confidence to make tons of friends in person. Nonetheless, there is always someone whose thought process isn’t so wholesome. There are some things you need to watch out for, they may seem redundant, but just look for things such as your child withdrawing from the family to use the computer too often. Strange phone calls from men or women whom you don’t know, even if they’re claiming to be children themselves. The use of a different account on social networks by your child. The majority of your child’s time is spent online, and at night. Some of these things could be completely harmless, sure, but when it’s a matter of your child and a potential online predator, best to heir on the side of caution. Online predators are usually adult, and usually are repeat offenders, so make sure you talk to your children about online danger. Keep your computer in a common room of the house, not in a child’s bedroom. Be sure to teach your child that there are other uses for the internet aside from social networking and internet chat rooms, show them the good to deter them from the bad. Also, make sure to stress to children, especially interested in video games or things of the like, to never arrange face-to-face meetings with any kids they meet online, or ever give out any personal information, even a phone number or an e-mail, unless you’ve checked the source.

Stay on your toes!

Nicole

Techno-Babble

nicole — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:29:46 +0000

OK, so you’ve been around our site, and probably others like ours, and you might be wondering what some things are. Although they’re usually explained, I wanted to post sort of a reference, for… um, future reference! This will help you with the ins and outs of tech-speak. So bookmark this page, and read up on your abbreviations.

AJAX – Not the soap, as I first thought! Stands for Asynchronous Java Script. It’s used to create web pages that are more interactive and usable.

Bitmap – A map made up of dots and pixels generated by a computer and used to represent types and images.

Bandwith – The amount of data that can be transferred through a network within stipulated time.

CPU – Central Processing Unit, or processor. Basically, the brain of your machine.

CRM – Customer Relations Management, pretty self explanatory.

DPI – This stands for dots per inch, it’s a measurement of resolution of an image either in screen or in print.

DSL – Digital Subscriber Line. Data transfer over a regular line. A DSL circuit is faster than a regular phone connection despite the copper wires used.

E-Commerce – Electronic Commerce. This is the action of buying and selling products over the internet.

Encryption – This is how data is kept secret from hackers, and can only be deciphered by the creator.

Freeware – This is software copyrighted and created to be made available to anyone for free.

FTP – This stands for file transfer protocol, and is used to exchange files over a network. It requires two computers, a server and a client

GIF – Graphics Interchange Format, or a compressed image.

HTML – Hyper-Text Markup Language, a.k.a. the language that web pages are written in. It’s a variety of letters, numbers, tags, and programmer-speak.

HTTP – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol, which is the protocol which is used to transfer data over the world wide web.

IP Address – This code made up of numbers is separated by three dots and identifies a specific computer. Each computer has its own specific IP address.

JPEG – This is the most standard format used for photos online, and stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group.

LAN – Stands for Local Area Network, and is a computer network that covers a small geographic area, kind of like owning property for your home.

MySQL – A language used for adding, removing, and modifying information in a database. It is commonly found on web servers.

POP3 – Post Office Protocol, a method of delivering e-mails which is simple and standardized.

URL – Uniform Resource Locator, the address that indicates where a file is located on the internet.

VoIP – Voice Over Internet Protocol, a combination of hardware and software with the help of which people can use the internet to transmit telephone calls.

Any more questions? Is your head spinning? Don’t worry, you’ll get the hang of it, if I can, and I’m just a silly writer, anyone can! These words and abbreviations have become a part of my daily conversation! While that probably won’t be the case for you, you can bet you’ll notice them a lot more while using a computer, even if it is just at home!

Talk to you soon!

Nicole

Technology Myths – Busted

nicole — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 18:22:31 +0000

Alright, we’ve all (hopefully, for my sake) seen the show Myth busters. That’s where I got my idea for this post. I’ve researched many technology myths, and the actual answers. Magnets on the computer, unplugging cords before turning things off, the little things, but the things we wonder about every day, and the things we think we’re doing to prevent some catastrophic event. As if our computers will explode if we unplug a USB without telling it we will unplug it… I’ve got all of the answers here.

You always need to select “safely remove hardware” before unplugging a USB. – FALSE. This actually is only true if you are transferring a file, or if data is being read from the device and written on to a computer. It is completely fine to unplug a mouse, keyboard, or idle device without telling your computer you’ll be doing so. Remember, if it’s idle, off, or not in use, it’s safe.
Deleting files from the recycle bin erases them from the galaxy – FALSE. Once you delete the files from the recycle bin, sure, the recycle bin is empty and ready for more trash, but with file recovery software, it can be brought back easily.
CD/DVD media can last forever – This is TRUE… if you keep it safe. Obviously, a CD that’s lying on the floor of your car, getting stuck between the seats, scratched, and ruined will not last forever. Also, water damage, high temperatures, and even too much sunlight can ruin a disc. But as long as you keep it in the case, and make copies of important ones just in case, you’re golden for a while.
Antivirus = click away! – FALSE. Just because you’ve got an anti-virus protection package on your machine, that DOES NOT mean you can still click on whatever pop-up ads are appealing to you, and open whatever strange emails you receive. A good rule of thumb is to have an anti-spyware program installed as well. And always keep your virus protection software updated.
Wireless networks are unsafe and can be easily hacked – FALSE. All wireless devices these days support standard encryption protocols. They are WPA, WPA2, and WEP. WPA2 is the most secure and will most certainly provide a secure and safe wireless network. It requires a password or pass phrase, and will always keep intruders out.
Playing a scratched disc can damage the player – TRUE! Optical drives have a mechanism for increasing laser beam intensity if a disc isn’t readable at normal intensity. Stronger beam means more heat and more wear and tear on the drive’s components.

So folks, have we learned something today? You can now rest assured that you’re wireless network is safe, your favorite CD will last forever if you take care of it, and that if you’ve accidentally deleted your recycle bin, there are ways toward retrieving your files. So sleep easy, and be happy that these myths have been BUSTED.

Nicole