Jordan Allison- Freedom Fone

Today, I will be informing the class on the Freedom Fone and how this telephony software answers the question of the week, which states, "What social and economic forces shape communication infrastructure?"

I will start off my presentation with a couple of key terms and then move on to tell you what Freedom Fone actually is. Freedom Fone is an open source telephony program that allows a free and easy way for members of a community to find out important information, transcending literacy barriers and without the need of the internet.

Next, I will inform the class on the history of Freedom Fone and how it was started by the Kubatana Trust, which is an online community of activists in Zimbabwe. Freedom Fone originally started in response to Zimbabwe's government controlled media. The members of Kubatana Trust wanted to give citizens a voice in society without the need for money, literacy, or the internet, which are all common problems in that area.

I will then discuss how Freedom Fone works through showing a video and explaining the use of audio voice menus, voice messages, SMS polls, and the call back option. I will also discuss the different uses of Freedom Fone. These uses include any type of situation in which a community is in need of information, such as communities effected by natural disaster or disease. Then, I will explain how Freedom Fone is form of New Media through being interactive, audience generated, digital, and narrowcasted.

After explaining Freedom Fone, I will present my discussion questions and then conclude my presentation by explaining how Freedom Fone answers the question of the week. I will reiterate to the class what types of social and economic forces are addressed with the new technology of Freedom Fone and how these forces have shaped this specific type of communication.

Amanda Schryver--Skype

Today, I will be responding to the question of the week: "What social & economic forces shape the communication infrastructure," and the case study I will be presenting is over Skype. Skype has become an integral part of the telecommunication industry. It is a highly innovative and well developed technology that is always producing quality products that continue to be an influential aspect of our culture. Because of its free or very inexpensive way to communicate, especially with friends and family overseas, Skype has become a dominant name and has set the standard in Voice over Internet Protocol. In spite of switching from different owners, Skype has continued to keep its customers in mind within all of its technological advances.

My main argument is that with technology advancing at such a fast rate, popular media technologies have had to continue to adapt, while remaining novel, and of course, keeping up with what the consumer wants and expects from their technologies. Skype has done a great job of always thinking of what is best for the customer and has thus, been very successful in the telecommunications industry. Also, with the new merger with Microsoft, Skype is in a great position in the marketplace to collaborate with Microsoft to produce even more amazing products that will continue to be influential in our media driven society.

Abigail Elkins- Geolocation Apps and Privacy

Geolocation or location-based apps like Foursquare, Gowalla and Facebook places are popping up in smartphone technology and websites across the technology world. These apps have added the new dimension of location to social networking and allow users to connect with friends when they go places, not just when they sit at home and use their computer. If you download the app can "check-in" when you visit a restaurant, bookstore or other participating location and earn points that could get you discounts or special deals. My main argument is that geolocation apps' incorporation of location allows social networking to blend more seamlessly into our everyday lives, however, there are also many social risks associated with posting your location in real time for all to see. This information could get into the hands of criminals, sexual offenders, or stalkers who could have more nefarious intentions than your "friends." In the case with many of these applications, when you allow them to "use your current location," you are also giving them permission to sell information about the places you visit to third party advertisers. Several bills are being processed in Congress currently that would create stricter privacy policies surrounding location data. I will discuss all of these subjects in more detail on Thursday! Thanks and Gig 'Em!

P.S. If you have some time, check out pleaserobme.com to see if you are posting location information that could be putting you at risk for crime.

Mike Wallace- Facebook Post Report

I was a little nervous but overall I felt like I did okay. I did the best I could to make my point. Overall I thought the class discussions were good. There were lots of people making good points and lots of people arguing and debating over my presentation which I thought was very good thing. One student got the point I was trying to make which was in dangerous countries like Syria I think that alot of government control is necessary where as here in the United States not as much control is necessary.
As far as who controls the internet I think it is a toss up. The government does control the internet but, so do the people. The government is always exerting some sort of control but in alot of countries people have the right to explore or watch whatever they want. In other countries such as Syria its a tug of war between the people and the government that will never end. So overall the control of the internet is neutral between the people and the government.

Mike Wallace- Facebook

Hi,

My name is Mike Wallace and I will be doing a case study to answer the question: Who controls the Internet? I will be doing this particular study on Facebook.




The main argument I will be trying to make is that while Facebook is a popular social networking site that is meant to help you make connections with friends there are some illegal things that it is used for such as forming illegal online protest groups and political riots.






The presentation will focus on what governments around the world are trying to do to prevent these things from taking place. The main example I will be using and talking about in the presentation is the Syrian government and some of the tactics and methods they are using to prevent the protests and riots from forming online.




For this presentation there are two questions I want the audience to think about. One is do you think the government is doing enough to prevent illegal activities on websights? Two is do you think alot of government control over websights is a good or bad thing?




To hear more tune in tomorrow for the presentation!
































•http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJqGbA2tLww

Caroline Glithero - ICANN

Howdy!
The theme of the week is: the internet. The question the week is:
Who Controls the Network?
The network is not controlled by any one organization, instead
it is made up of many non-profit organizations and Thursday I will be focusing
on ICANN. ICANN stands for Internet Corporation of Assigned Names and Numbers.
ICANN works with 242 countries and territories in supporting the daily
operation of the Internet, as the global coordinator of the Domain Name System,
which is referred to as “DNS”. This system is used more than one trillion times
per day by humans and ICANN’s machines, and yet most of us don’t give it a
second thought. In my presentation I will talk about the establishment of ICANN
and how it was founded in 1998 by Jon Postel and explain how ICANN used to be a
US organization that has now gone international. Also I will define key terms
like; protocols and globalization that are important when understanding ICANN.
I will then cover the structure of ICANN and some of the roles ICANN plays in operational
stability for our internet as well as its extreme importance in maintaining a
global reputation. ICANN really prides themselves for being recognized as such
an immense global organization that is constantly growing. I will also give
some examples of the root system which ICANN is over as well as tell about some
the examples of their many global partners and the importance of their upcoming
meetings in other countries. After that I will explain the way ICANN operates
as a non-profit organization and how it pays for it itself. I will conclude by
posing my discussion questions to the class and answering any questions my
classmates may have. Then I will give a short summary on how ICANN monitors and
control the internet network today.

Lauren Dauer- YouTube

On Thursday, November 10, 2011 I will be answering the question: Who Controls the Network?, with a case study done on YouTube. YouTube is growing at a tremendous rate with over 2 billions views. YouTube is shaping our society and even how the world communicates through online videos. YouTube like other great social media sites, has also been connected to scandals and controversies. Court cases and media acts have also been disputed because of YouTube and what has been place online, which I will be covering in my presentation. Copyright laws have also been a major issue for YouTube and their users. YouTube has made average individuals successful online celebrities. Some popular videos for example, Charlie Bit my Finger, have been viewed over 385 million times. Which in turn I pose the question do the YouTube user, or in general we the society, Control the network? It is an interesting question since we the society are the ones contributing to the library of YouTube’s videos. Stay tune for an intriguing and interesting presentation on YouTube as I answer the question Who Controls the Network?.