Post #3

I am a big music fanatic. I keep mu music in my computer and i have an exact copy of my music on my phone. The way i have my music "organized" its... well i do not have a particular way of organization. I keep all my music in one folder and every song is label Artist - song name. I have no albums, no genre, no artist, no nothing else. The reason why i keep my music like that its because it makes it easy for me to find. I just type the artist name on my search and it automatically pops out. Besides, i am pretty good at memorizing the names of the songs i listen to. Most of my music is Rock en Espanol, but i do have a good mix of other genre from classic rock, to hip hop, to reggae, to electronica. I also have music that fit in one that more genre and thats exactly why i keep my music the way i do.

Blog #2

in the first two chapters of Everything is Miscellaneous- the power of the new digital disorder, Weinberger explains different ways of thinking about "order" or the way things are organized. In the prologue, Weinberger explained how Staples organized its merchandise in the store. They use only 3 tags for each product because they believed that the human eye with a good 20/20 vision could scan through a price tag quickly through it. If you made them with 5 tags, then it was too much information for an eye to catch. This made me think on how physical things are catalogued in a store Vs. digital things are tagged in cyberspace. Staples tagged its product they way they think its going to be easier for customers to find in the store, but it does not take in consideration that people could think differently about products.

On Chapter 1, Weinberger stated that "everything has its place". He gives us the clever example of preparing diner and the "complex dance of order" we perform in order to complete the simple task of eating. It made me laugh but he is right, we juggle multiple principles of organization without even thinking about it (Weinberger 11) and we are so used to organize things that it just come natural to us. What this makes me think of is how there is a generational gap on the way we organize things. As a person who grew up with more technology than my parents, it takes me no time to find anything in the internet. But if my mom tries to find something online, it takes her decades to find. It comes natural to me to find something in the internet because I am familiar with the way things run on cyberspace. My mom on the other hand, she tries to find things online like if they are physical things in a shelf.

On chapter 2, Weinberger talks about one of the most common ways people organize things: Alphabetization. Even though is such a common way to organize, there are not too many things that are organized like that. Peoples files in a doctors office? Large video game or movie collection? students in a class? all of these have to do with names. Alphabetization only works with letters, and its conceptually confusing because space, time and atoms are forms of information that are not complete (Weinberger 27).

My favorite quote of the reading:

The world started out miscellaneous but it didn't stay that way, because we work so damn hard at straightening it up (Weinberger 10).

Web 2.0: the first 5 years and the future.

The internet is a relatively young technology that has been growing a lot during the 90 and 2000's. Part of the reason the internet is growing so much is the way people access the internet. People are now able to access the web from smart phones, from iPads, from gaming consoles, etc. Web 2.0 five years on Its about precisely that: the fact that the web's grow has not limit and that the applications available online are the main tools people use. From search engines, to video browsers, to picture finders, to maps; everything has become indispensable for internet users.

The application I like the most is video applications like Youtube and netflix. Youtube enables me to find videos from topics that interest me. It serves as a resource for pop culture videos, educational videos, online activism or just pure waste of time. I discovered Netflix during winter 2010 when i spend time in a house with no TV. I used netflix to watch shows and movies online for very cheap.

DTC 356

From now until i say otherwise, i will blog about my DTC356 class. Enjoy

Bridging the Digital Divide in Uganda

This video shows the impact and positive changes a community in uganda has after receiving a telecenter with phone, fax and a couple of computer. A lot of people in that community takes advantage of these resources. The farmer looks up information on how to be more productive with her land and crops, the bicycle repair man orders parts from distributors over the internet and kids have more access to books in their native language.

> Click HERE to open the feedback tool.

Sources on Digital Divide

http://www.digitaldivide.org/harvardmit.html

One of the best websites with information about Digital Divide and the action taken by some organizations.

http://news.cnet.com/2010-1071-858537.html

This article offers information about the digital divide and the 21st century civil rights movement

http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/race-culture-and-the-digital-divide/#

This site offers a conservative point of view on the "myths" of the digital divide

http://www.edchange.org/multicultural/net/net.html

Resources on multicultural technology education. The site also offers tool and guides for instructors

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/digital-divide.html

This site explains the different stages of digital divide. Very interesting take on the subject.

http://www.itu.int/wsis/tunis/newsroom/stats/

global statistics of access to computers and cellular telephone services

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-09-05-digital-divide_x.htm

This article talk about the access to internet among white and minority students.

http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/cib/2001-02/02cib01.htm

Digital Divide in rural australia, its impacts and economic development.

http://www.edutopia.org/digital-divide-where-we-are-today

This site has information about how to bridge the gap in the digital divide.

http://www.nepalnews.com/main/index.php/-guestcolumn/3808-re-conceptualizing-digital-divide.html

Article about the re-conceptualization of the digital divide in Nepal communities.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/canadas-digital-divide/article1521631/?cmpid=rss1

Digital Dive in Canada.

http://www.sciencebase.com/science-blog/the-developing-digital-divide.html

Article about projects to bridge the digital divide gap in bangladesh, sri lanka and nigeria

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3005493.stm

Article about the digital divide and rural communities of the united kingdom.

http://rsj.e-contentmanagement.com/archives/vol/12/issue/3/article/1295/the-rural-digital-divide

more information about the digital divide in Australia

http://www.idrc.ca/panasia/ev-117803-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

intersection of gender and digital divide in pakistan.

> Click HERE to open the feedback tool.

Race and the Digital Divide

I found some statistics about race and the digital divide in the US. These statistics are from a study done at UC Santa Cruz in 2003. Data shows how certain ethnic groups are more likely to have a computer at home and/or access to the internet. Here are some of the statistics that caught my attention.

• Language is an important determinant of computer ownership and Internet use even after controlling for education, family income and immigrant status. Spanish-speaking Latinos, especially Mexicans, have strikingly low rates of computer ownership and home Internet use.
• The Digital Divide is large and does not appear to be disappearing soon. Blacks and Latinos are much less likely to have access to home computers than are white, non-Latinos (50.6 and 48.7 percent compared to 74.6 percent). They are also less likely to have Internet access at home (40.5 and 38.1 percent compared to 67.3 percent).
• Among Latino groups, Mexicans have the lowest home computer and Internet access rates followed by Central and South Americans who have the next lowest rates. Although Cubans, Puerto Ricans and Other Latinos have higher rates, all Latino groups are less likely to own a computer or have Internet access at home than are white, non-Latinos.
• Income differences are partly, but not entirely responsible for ethnic and racial disparities in computer and Internet access. Even among individuals with family incomes of at least $60,000, blacks and Latinos are substantially less likely to own a computer or have Internet access at home than are whites.
• Roughly 1 out of 7 blacks and 1 out of 8 Latinos subscribe to broadband at home, compared to 26.1 percent of whites. One third of Asians and roughly 1 out of 8 Native Americans have broadband at home.

While the study did not provided any evidence of institutional racism being in correlation with access to technology, these stats did shows how different communities have access to computers. Another thing that the study failed to clarify is that these communities did not have computers because they could not benefit from one. For example, the study found that many families of color that make about $60,000 a year did not have computers at home. These middle class american families are able to afford a computer, but it is unclear why they do not have one.

Source: http://www.freepress.net/files/lccrdigitaldivide.pdf

> Click HERE to open the feedback tool.