OST 284 Emerging Technologies Final Exam

ByFrank Johnson

Digg.com

• Digg this first slide—it is about my new favorite website. I view it every day—or more often—because it changes all the time, has content from around the world, and adds to my learning experience.

• It is a collection of trending posts from other websites; it shows me things that I would have a hard time discovering by myself.

• It features videos, music, news articles, and philosophical ideas, presented in a most entertaining way.

• I had never heard of it until I took this class, I’m glad I did.

Google Chrome browser

•I had heard of Chrome; my son uses it—faithfully. I tried it and discarded it, not knowing why . . .•Our Emerging Technologies teacher suggested using it to solve Web problems that prevented other browsers from loading content from Blackboard. It worked!• I also found that some websites, such as Zoho, would almost never load on Internet Explorer.•Chrome is faster, and by signing into my Google account upon startup, allows me to do one-click sign-ins to my favorite sites that have OpenID.

California Chrome, 2014 Kentucky Derby winner

Mashups

•I just Googled “Mashups,” and am now enjoying new music on a website I’ve never seen before: soundcloud.com; which calls itself the “Best Mashups of 2013.”•I plan on using Map & picture mashups. In fact, I have been using them for a long time, without knowing what they are, on Google Maps to see street-level views of places I want to go, as well as sky-view maps recorded by satellite.•Schmap is a site that I will use to plan my vacations as I find places that I want to go.

Wolfram|Alpha

•Its creator’s last name is really Wolfram.•It gives precise answers—not a million loosely related results.•It is fun to discover the relationship between nouns as search terms. •I will use Wolfram|Alpha to find technical data for my own personal use and (hopefully) to write research papers as I work toward my bachelor’s degree.

Wikipedia

• I am for the underdog. Often given a bum rap, Wikipedia is as good as any blog. This wiki is peer-reviewed for content, and its once-lax standards for editing are now much tighter—it is difficult to find an error.

• In addition, Wikipedia is well-sourced. In-text links and footnotes hyperlink to many reputable science and university websites, and these can be used as citations for college essays. I am happy to see that this Internet technology course explores its usefulness.

• We, as students, are often told to not use Wikipedia, but many source links are readily acceptable, as they often end in .edu or .gov.

Not My Favorite Things

• The Web programs and services on the following slides are not bad; it is just that there are so many better options. The Internet is fun—many new things to learn and try. When picking the best, most useful, and time-saving websites for work and entertainment, there must be losers, too. Here they are:

Zoho Writer • My least favorite online word processor

because:• It may be that I am not familiar with the

controls, but it was extraordinarily difficult to create a document and place the text and pictures as I wanted them. Controls are hard to find, and there is no readily available set of instructions.

• Zoho has word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation programs with many features, but data entered into them sometimes mysteriously disappears.

• All of the online office programs seem sluggish.

Amazon• I am sorry to say that I only use Amazon to buy

textbooks if they are cheaper than elsewhere.• I have Netflix TV— and believe it is superior to

Amazon’s streaming service.• Amazon is the Wal-Mart beast of online retail,

with a longer tail. Journalist Brad Stone quoted Bezos (founder of Amazon), “that Amazon should approach these small publishers the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle.”

• I may be unfairly biased against Amazon.

Twitter

• I like Twitter; I really do, and I want to join the followings. But I cannot love it as I do other websites. Why?

1. I have no cell phone.2. I could work it from my desktop, but my

intermittent use breaks the chain of notification and response.

3. I doubt if anyone else is really interested in my current status (other than doing homework).

WeFollow• Among my least favorite: Upon signing in, I am directed to a page

where I am “One step away from gaining up to 7 followers per week,” for only $8.02 per follower. I can enter my credit card number now.

• By paying, I will become known for “____” (fill in the blank).• When I click on the sites that I am following, I cannot see the blogs

anymore, and only get redirected, and am asked to follow other sites.• Have I forgotten how it works, or is it a ploy to get me to pay?• * It seems to be working better the next day. The link to be clicked

(@something) is the little one below the big name link. Then, most links take the user to Twitter posts. These may have interesting up-to-date cell photos of current conditions, but posts are often are unrelated to the subject that has been chosen to follow.

• DELICIOUS offers much better content, and is built on the same model as WeFollow.

Browser Problems

• All browsers – PowerPoints do not show in Blackboard assignments.

• Internet Explorer– Alltop and Zoho works poorly.• Chrome – Fast, but I can only submit one

assignment, then it will not allow uploading on subsequent assignments.

• Firefox and Internet Explorer load Blackboard slowly.

Web 1-2-3.0

• Our ability to connect with each other and to access learning resources via the Internet has made our lives richer than they were just a short time ago. In this digital age, the pace has quickened. However, we are seeing the decline of many traditional forms of information dissemination. Newspaper, magazine, and even book publishers are in trouble.

• Now cell phones are ubiquitous and tablets are replacing desktop computers; this is because we are no longer a wired, but a wireless, mobile generation.

• Let’s take a moment to reflect—via the WayBack Machine, and laugh at how much things have changed.