Views from the Pen

JOMC 223 Final Project Abstract

2004-12-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

Cell phones can be considered a wonderful invention and a terrible irritant. As with any new technology, how it is used dictates the way people feel about it. “Cell Yell” is the new catch phrase for talking extremely loud into a cell phone. Poor connections, dropped calls, and the size of the phone all contribute to the rude way many people use their phones.
The answer to “Cell Yell”? Have cell free zones where phones can’t be used just as smoke free areas are provided. Increasing the size of phones instead of decreasing size may help the user speak in normal tones.
My answer to “Cell Yell”? Teach manners and phone etiquette to children and young adults so that they will not disregard the feelings of others.
The full version of this paper is available at http://home.carolina.rr.com/wesanthony/anthonyessay.pdf.

I'm back.

2004-11-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I've been gone for a week. The Penster is back! Watch out for computer viruses. Mine was real sick, but she's feeling better now. We're still working real slow and saving a lot, just in case.
For those of you in my JOMC 223 class check back in soon; my three sites for last week will be on soon(If all goes well, keep your fingers crossed for me).

How technology can depersonalize site #1

2004-11-16T04:53:00.000-08:00

This week in JOMC 223 I read an article with some thoughts on the depersonalization of people through the group behavior that can be seen in ma y places on the internet.
This was interesting since I have noticed this same sort of thing in my travels acrosss the Web.
In many different places individuals, who otherwise would never do so, submit to a group and follow whatever guidelines are set up by that group.
This is evident in many chat rooms on both Yahoo.com and in some other places. The group parameter is set by the founder or creator and then individuals must fit and stay within these guidelines while they are interacting with the group in order to continue their access to this group.
This is also evident in some other places on the web. Granted there are websites for just about everything, but I find it interesting that in such an informal society we can find this type of depersonalyzing decorum on one of our biggest tools for the freedom of ionformation.

Response to EOTO Project by Christy Kinnion

2004-11-05T06:44:00.000-08:00

Online Schools! I never saw that coming. I guess the possibility was always there, but I never thought we'd see it in our lifetimes.
But just as Christy mentioned all the positive possibilites of these cyber institutions these can be wiped out in one fail swoop by the misdeeds of a few money hungry individuals.
Currently, my roomate is attending one of these cyber schools and never until recently had I even considered that some of these might be fake.
But over the past few months I've learned that many that really existed were pushing in unqualified students so as to increase enrollment and in turn add to the financial coffers of the school.
They actually paid out finders fees to firms that brought them X number of students by the start of a certain term. Whether these students qualified for the classes they were taking, financial aid or many other amenities granted to many college students was a question to be asked another day.
Another interesting point that she made was the fact that many of these bogus on-line schools are based in western states. This fact greatly surprised me, if for no other reason than the fact that so many of these places have such stringent laws for the enviroment and some are even as innovative to have tried to legalize marijuana several years ago, even at the behest of the federal government.
To find out that the laws were lax in this area, or any area that involves any facet of education for that matter, just surprised me a bit.
Overall, I enjoyed this report as it was both interestinbg and educational.

Response to EOTO Project by Drew Lomax

2004-11-05T03:16:00.000-08:00

I found Drew's topic especially interesting after having spent the evening with a friend and his wife who had just returned from service in Iraq. The pair was there at both the beginning and end of the conflict and both made valid points about the positives and the negatives of our presence.
The wife in particular pointed out how infrastructure would be one of the first major things that needed to be completed after the humanitarian effort, of course. I think this falls right in line with some of Drew's thoughts on the rebuilding of the country.
Certainly, Iraq will need a telecom infrastructure as well as high speed internet services. These are the basis of so much of our new technologies and Drew makes a great point tht this has to be one of the stepping stones of bringing not only Iraq, but many underpriveleged countries out of the "Digital Divide" and equal with the rest of the world.
Overall, I think Drew did a good job with presenting this information and his thoughts on it.

Response to EOTO Project by Michelle Klemens

2004-11-05T00:31:00.000-08:00

Having been forced into a life of volunteerism at an early age I was interested to view Michelle's thoughts on this topic.
I definitely agree with her ascertion that non-profits and the Digital Divide are definitely a valid concern. My mother and I ran the Special Olympic programs in our county for years and one of biggest concerns was always stocking the office.
Where was the money coming from to upgrade the computer, well in the beginning it was how are we going to get a computer then it progressed to the maintence of it and all its components.
So I can certainly emphathize with this program.
This trouble can also be viewed at many Boys and Girls Clubs, but I think it is getting a little better there through grants and such.
This problem seems to be getting a little better, but it is a long way from being solved.
Michelle's report had many interesting thoughts and ideas in it. And it made me think some too.

Each One Teach One Project: Cell Yell

2004-10-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

Cell Yell! Is there any new technology that there will not be a downside to? No. As with most new technologies, there is a downside to cell phones as well.
But it’s not entirely the phone’s fault. A lot of it has to do with the human using it. Cell Yell is a problem that occurs when people speak too loudly into their cellular phones.
Granted, the level of courtesy and kindness to others differs per each situation, but on the whole cell phones can make us some of the least thoughtful individuals on the face of the earth.
Just as a ringing phone takes precedence in the home or at work, a ringing cell phone, whether it's singing “Sweet Home Alabama” or using one of those annoying generic rings, is considered a sign that a person is important and busy.
What's the old saying? A busy bee is a happy bee, but some folks just take it too far for me. Some people actually listen in on other people's conversations on cell phones when they are out in public.
I think that this is a horrible invasion of one's privacy, but only to an extent, because the eavesdroppers, as they are, only get half the story so they must fill in the rest with a fantasy dialogue that can take the conversation wherever they desire. People who have to do this sort of thing to get a thrill need to get a life.
Another problem that has arisen along with this new technology is that people as a whole are less private than they once were. Everyone's doors may have been unlocked at night in 1955 in Smalltown, USA, but their blinds were closed.
We are a far more open society than we were 50 years ago. In those days people would retreat into phone booths to make even the most routine call. Now they just whip out their cell phones and chat away, whether they are in the bathroom stall or in the middle of a movie theatre.
They just have to answer the call of the cell when it beckons for them. This need to answer can directly lead to more bad cell manners.
Due to the small nature of these phones many people feel that they are not receiving adequate aural feedback and in turn talk much louder into cell phones than they would a traditional house phone. Bad signals can also add to this problem.
I do not currently own a cell phone, but I did have one for years. The constant dropped calls, going over my pre-set number of minutes and the exorbitant fees are all parts of why I no longer use this new technology.
They can certainly be useful in an emergency, but on the whole I believe them to a be a nuisance of the worst kind.
Whether I am teaching a class or eating in a restaurant, the constant ringing of cell phones is definitely, in my opinion, a form a noise pollution.

Three Solutions for Cell Yell

2004-10-28T16:52:00.000-07:00

1) Cell Zones. All public places should have cell zones just as most now have a smoking and non-smoking section. I think this would be a sensible way to nip this problem in the bud.
Cell Zones would separate people in restaurants and allow folks to enjoy a quiet dinner without hearing "Freebird" coming from the lady at the next table's phone over and over throughout their meal.
These would also be appropriate in movie theatres, some Loews theatres already have them, as well as in churches and libraries.
These could be the solution for Cell Yell, but the problem would be making people use them. It's hard enough to get smokers to only smoke in the smoking section.

2) By going back to a larger style of cellphone. This could eliminate the problem of Cell Yell, at least partially.
The evolution of the cell has led to it getting smaller and smaller. Granted, it is not as small as Will Ferrell's cell was in a Saturday Night Live sketch several seasons ago, but with better technology they are getting tinier every day.
But I say bigger is better! Bigger phones give better aural feedback so people would not talk as loud into them.

3) People should just try and be sensible when they are using a cellphone and be courteous to those around them.
Just as a smoker would no longer just fire one up in a crowded room, people should no longer just whip out their phones and start chatting away.
Cell users be courteous and be nice to your fellow man, who knows when you will have to listen in on his conversation.

My 5 Biggest Fears regarding Cell Yell

2004-10-28T14:52:00.000-07:00

1) That Cell Yell will only get worse as the technology gets better. As phones get smaller and smaller people will feel that they are getting less feedback from the phone and they will interpret this as a need to talk louder than they normally would into a regular phone.
Unfortunately, this could only contrubute to the existence of Cell Yell in our future.

2) That this epidemic of unkindness could lead directly to an even less courteous society as a whole.
A good example of this is how Cell Yell could cause Cell Rage in another person after they haved endured listening to "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" for the seventh time on someone's cell while they waited in line at the bank.
This could have caused Cell Rage in that individual, which might cause Road Rage once they have gotten out into traffic. So in turn we all may indirectly pay for the sins of the obnoxious cell user.

3) My third fear about the lack of cellular manners in the world is a loss of privacy. We are already a far more open society than we were in decades past, but I don't know if I like it. I used to enjoy the privacy of being able to jump into a telephone booth to make a call.
This loss of privacy is not only caused by our using the cell phone in public, but by those around us when we are doing so. Many now enjoy the sport of listening in other's conversations on cells while they are in the line at the store or somewhere else.
I believe that these listeners enjoy this activity because it allows them to get half the story and then make up the rest as they see fit. It creates a sort cellular soap opera for the listener.
This a great invasion of one's privacy and it is one of the greatest problems with cell phones and society.

4) Noise Pollution. The continuous ringing of cell phones in a confined space is definitely a form of noise pollution. When there was one or two rings available that was OK.
But nowadays with the myriad of ringtones available an office can have a horrid mixture of a mishmash of musical noises at any time of the day.
This always used to give me a horrible headache when I worked in an open newsroom where everyone had a cell with a different ring.

5) That cell phones will completely replace house phones and I will never be able to carry on a coherent conversation again.
Yes, cellular technology has come a long way, but has it come far enough yet, NO! I would much rather prefer to talk on a house phoine than a cell to this day. The signal is always better and you don't usually get your call dropped from a hard line or even a cordless phone.

Cell Yell info

2004-10-28T10:36:00.000-07:00

http://www.cellmanners.com/press/media8.htm

Excellent site with loads of good info on every aspect of cellular manners. They even have several cell spies in different cities who report on bad cellular manners.

http://www.cingular.com/sensible_newsroom/news_01_05_23

Cell safety program started here. Cingular wants to turn the tide on bad cell manners and help people to be safer while using their phones.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/columnists/tom_ferrick/9345334.htm?1c

This one has good state and Russian example.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/169827_cellphone20.html

Listening in on conversations can also be found here.
Deb Schweizer, a spokeswoman for the National Park Service, said there was no policy on the use of cell phones in nature, adding that their safety in times of trouble far outweighs the annoyance they cause.
"It's a new thing, and it's a thorny issue, but I think it's just becoming part of the culture of America right now," she said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-021001phoneuse,0,950803.story
Excellent info on cell yell.
http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/mobile/2004/0712mobile1.html
Wireless Etiquette Month info here.

Interesting list of sites with good info on Cell Yell

2004-10-25T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is the first part in my research into cell manners, or the lack there of, in society today and the cellular phenomena known as “Cell Yell”.

I’ve listed a few good sites that have quality information on this subject. I will expand on the info listed here in the following days with a more in-depth analysis of each one.

http://www.cellmanners.com/press/media8.htm

Excellent Site

http://www.cingular.com/sensible_newsroom/news_01_05_23

Interesting Cell program started here.

http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/columnists/tom_ferrick/9345334.htm?1c

This one has good state and Russian example.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/169827_cellphone20.html

Listening in on cellular conversations discussion can also be found here.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/chi-021001phoneuse,0,950803.story

Excellent info on Cell Yell

http://www.nwfusion.com/newsletters/mobile/2004/0712mobile1.html
Wireless Etiquette Month info here

Cellular Manners

2004-10-23T13:30:00.000-07:00

For my JOMC 223 class we have a project on a topic of interest regarding problems with new technologies and I think my subject will be cellular manners.
Granted the level of courtesy and kindness to others differs per each situation, but on the whole cell phones can make us some of the least thoughtful individuals on the face of the Earth.
Just as a ringing phone takes prececence in the home or at work a ringing cell phone, whether it's singing Sweet Home Alabame or using one of those annoying generic rings, is considered a sign that a person is important and busy.
What's the old saying? A busy bee is a happy bee, but some folks just take it too far for me. Some people actually listen in on other people's conversations on cell phones when they are out in public.
I think that this is horrible invasion of one's privacy, but only to an extent, because the eavesdroppers, as they are, only get half the story so they must fill in the rest with a fantasy dialogue that can take the conversation wherever they desire. People who have to do this sort of thing to get a thrill need to get a life.
Another problem that has arisen from this new technology is that people as a whole are less private than they once were. Granted everyone's doors may have been unlocked at night in 1955 in Smalltown, USA, but their blinds were closed.
We are a far more open society than we were say 50 years ago. In those days people would retreat into phone booths to make even the most routine call, but now they just whip out their cellphones and chat away, whether they are in the bathroom or in the middle of a movie theatre. They just have to answer the call of the cell when it beckons for them. And this need to answer can directly lead to more bad cell manners.
Due to the small nature of these phones many people feel that they are not receiving adequate aural feedback and in turn talk much louder into cellphones than they would a traditional house phone. Bad signals can also add to this problem.
I do not currently own a cell phone, but I did have one for years. The constant dropped calls, going over my pre-set number of minutes and the exorbitant fees that, that entail are all parts of why I no longer use this new technology.
But they can certainly be useful in an emergency, but on the whole I believe them to a be a nuissance of the worst kind.
Whether I am teaching a class or eating in a restaurant, the constant ringing of cell phones is definitely, in my opinion, a form a noise pollution.
So for my sake, if not everyone elses, turn 'em off when you are in a place where it is appropriate to do so, be it church, school or some other quiet atmosphere.

Thoughts on the Simpsons Part 2

2004-10-22T16:54:00.000-07:00

In a previous post on the Simpsons the Penster spoke of supporting characters.
Recently, it has come to my attention that many of the pivotal roles in some episodes are played by some of these supporting people.
As early as the second or third season the creators came out with some story lines that involved both Principal Seymore Skinner and Krusty the Clown aka Herschel Krustofsky as the main chatacter for a night.
But this type of support has become necessary in the latter seasons for the show to grow and flourish. If for no other reason than for the sheer number of episodes that have been done.
Sure, Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa and Maggie could have many, many adventures, as I have spoken of previously, but without some asides and other prominent repeat characters, like Police Chief Clancy Wiggum and Dr. Hibbert, the show could possibly grow stale after such a long run.
With many long running TV shows both the format and the players change the longer that the show remains on the air. The Simpsons is no different in this manner. The shows stories have taken it far and wide. They have discussed the histories of many characters through flash back scenes and just good, old reminiscing.
This aspect has given each character more of an identity, as the avid Simpsons fan has seen many episodes of the show and in turn this same viewer has seen the many faces of different characters throughout the years.

Thoughts on the Simpsons

2004-10-18T23:36:00.000-07:00

The Simpsons has to be the greatest show created during the last 30 years of TV. Pretty soon it will overtake Gunsmoke as the sitcom to have aired the most consecutively during prime time.
The show offers us a glimpse at the inner working of the typical American family or the way that family would turn out if they were thought up in creater Matt Groening's mind.
But we all wish we could have it as good as the Simpsons do. I have watched them trek the globe on different zany adventures, do just about anything I can think of a sane person might wanna do and they've broken numerous laws.
For example, in one episode Homer is prescribed marijuana for something that is wrong with his eyes. He just says No at first, but slowly but surely he turned to Mary Jane.
They were fast friends. This new "change" in Homer brought him fortune ( he became Mr. Burn's vice president because he laughed at all his dumb jokes when was high), luxury(he drive a red convertible here) and he made new friends ( Homer and Otto hung out for hours in the Simpsons' attic smoking doobies.
Originally the show was written with Bart as the main character and all the others as supporting pieces. But gradually as time progressed and the show grew it was no longer possible to hold Homer back from a leading role.
If for no other reason than all the comic situations and sayings he could be in and say since he was an adult rather than a child.
And from this Bart fell from the lime light into an almost secondary role. In some later episodes he is no more than comic relief to the story that involves one of the other main characters. He is even upstaged by Maggie and Lisa. These storylines were never seen during the early years.
And through this metamorphisis Homer J. Simpson has emerged as the prototypical male, much like Al Bundy filled this spot on many super market flyers during the early 1990's.

More About Me

2004-10-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

More Info
Lots of different information might be found on my Blog from time to time, but the main emphasis of it is to serve as a tool in the study of the cultural phenomena called Fantasy Football. This is the office pastime of a new generation and many others play as well.
I'm new to world of Fantasy this season, but because I am both playing in a league and writing a research paper on the subject my learning curve has been greatly accelerated on all the finer aspects of this game.
I think I am qualified to write and edit this site because I am a Fantasy player, which makes me a better choice to discuss this topic than a non-player, first and foremost.
I also have an intricate knowledge of football, both from my playing days and from my time as a reporter covering high school football games. All of this knowledge and everything that I've learned over the few months has been critical to my understanding of and my success as a Fantasy player and researcher.
Recently, I have listed the five best and five worst sites that I have reviewed through my research on this topic. Basically, most Fantasy Football sites are the same. In that they all deal with the same subject area, but many have different features and aspects that make them better or worse than some others. I want to find out which one is the best source and which is the worst.
Some of the sites that I have had trouble accessing have been pay sites. I can understand how these are necessary. but I find it kind of frivolous to shell out $25 bucks or whatever amount to play when life is so expensive today, so I use the free options.
So far I feel like I have become a more proficient Fantasy player through my research and I've learned a lot as well. For example, I was stunned to find out that FF has been around for the better part of a decade. I thought that it was much newer than that.
Overall this has been a great subject to research. I can't wait to learn more.

More Blog Info

Troubles creating Blogroll

2004-10-15T23:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, it is hard to create a blogroll, or at least it has been for me. There was trouble with the site the first day I tried. So I got registered, twice, and then created my Blogroll, but apparently I did not.
I gave up for that day, and tried again the next. That day the site was still down.
Then one of my classmates suggested that I try something with copying an example of a roll and then checking out the html. So I tried this, but then I couldn't find the exact spot it had to be in for it to work.
I finally figured this aspect out and it worked, yeah! But then I thought it was too light, so I changed formats wanting to make it darker, because I thought that would look better. Then it wouldn't work again.
Now I've got a Blogroll on my site and I like the list of links on it. There are links to each of my classmates' blogs for JOMC 223 at UNC-Chapel Hill. I also included the Charlotte Observer's website, because that's where I get lots of my news daily, plus I can get stats there for my Fantasy Football research paper and CNN.com for the same reasons basically.
Soon I will be adding some more of my examples of good sites for Fantasy Football reaearch.

Other Thoughts

2004-10-15T15:03:00.003-07:00

As far as how blogrolling will evolve I feel that is most likely will advance and probably pretty frapidly. It is a great way to filter information so that one can get exactly what one wants from like-minded sources.
I feel that this aspect is one of the greatest featrures of the blogroll.
On a separate note blogrolling is both similar and different other media. It is the same in that a lot of the same information can be found in blogs and links from blogs, but on that note the fact that there is no direct censorship of blogrolls, much like blogs themselves, makes it very different from any other type of media.

Julie Rains

2004-10-15T15:03:00.002-07:00

This is a site with a lot of good content on it. I thoroughly enjoyed perusing the information that I found here. ( I was a little disappointed to in the fact that the White House site didn’t help kids out a little with clues too).
Overall, I found this site to be highly informative with easy to use links and a good balance, both design wise and lengthwise.

http://kidsplaygames.blogspot.com

Sarah Michelle Klemens

2004-10-15T15:03:00.001-07:00

Sarah Michelle Klemens site was of interest to me because this is an area I do not know much about. I found it to be highly informative and very interesting at the same time.
I like to read Michelle’s writing style as well. It gets to the point and that is an attribute I enjoy in something I’m reading.

http://www.unc.edu/~klemens/blog/blogger.html

Jonrak Lee

2004-10-15T15:03:00.000-07:00

Jonrak Lee’s blog is another that I find rather interesting. I am extremely interested in the election as well. Especially after the fiasco in Florida four years ago.
I know that most American elections can have ramifications around the world, so I was glad to see the interest that Jonrak took in this subject.
I liked to read the thoughts on this topic, because it made me think a little, plus it provided me with a unique perspective that I might not gotten otherwise.

http://jrlee.blogspot.com

Best sites for Fantasy Football info #5

2004-10-14T23:57:00.000-07:00

This is a great site where I have found a lot of good information. I wish I had discovered this one before I drafted my team this year.
One aspect that particullarly liked was the fact that this site offered a draft guide for Fantasy players, but it wasn't just a list of players. It rated them in specific categories and told you when to select them in your draft.
I also liked the fact that it let you view info on each position separately. It had an icon for quarterback, running backs, receivers, tight ends, defenses and kickers. These are all of the relative positions in most Fantasy leagues, although in some leagues players are allowed to select one special teamer as well, usually a kick returner. They then receive points for whatever yardage these players produce only on special teams and for any touchdowmns they may score there.
Overall, this was a site that was loaded with information and that will probably turn out to be my best sources of info on this topic.

http://www.footballdocs.com/

Worst sites for Fantasy Football info #5

2004-10-14T22:55:00.000-07:00

Once again it came down to the almighty dollar at this Fantasy site too. At first glance I thought this site was going to be a winner, but upon further review it was just another dud with a few great free options.
Most features on this site required you to sign up to access them, but one thing that it did offer that greatly surprised me was an updated injury report right in front of you as soon as you access the site.
This was an immediate plus for this site, but it will remain to be seen if this report is accurate or just a free bait to get you to sign up for the real thing.
It was kind of disheartening to run into a wall of sign up here's after having looked at this report for free.

http://www.grogansports.com/

Worst sites for Fantasy Football info #4

2004-10-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

This Fantasy site could be useful to the user willing to shell out a buck for their service, but to me it just isn't worth it.
This is RealTime site so I would assume that they would have RealTime stats, but then again that is something that ESPN promises too and their stats are no where near RealTime. It's more like 15 minutes later time.
One option that I did like on this page was if you were unsatisfied at another site, the example they gave was CBS.com, they were willing to let you transfer your entire league to their site for a price.
This was an option I had not observed before and one that could be verey useful if one was disatisfied with the service or site at another place.

http://www.rtsports.com/

Worst sites for Fantasy Football info #3

2004-10-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

This was one of the worst sites I have found for Fantasy Football. Not only was it a paysite, but even after you pay by credit card or otherwise, the info is not available to you instantly. They e-mail users a weekly report.
I have two problems with this. For one this information could be dated upon its arrival, Fantasy is a game that you have to stay on top of, especially on game days. What if your top two running backs and your QB are listed as healthy in the e-mail on Tuesday, but by Sunday all three are out with injuries and you didn't know. This could be a problem.
And secondly, for a site to require payment in this day and time users should expect almost instantaneous contact with information that is relative to their needs.
This site does not cater to the enthusiastic Fantasy player, but to the fair weather player, who just has a team and isn't all that intersted in the game or in winning and losing.

http://www.footballguys.com/

Tech & Info

2004-10-14T11:31:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest uses of our modern technologies is the spread of information. The many advances over the last ten years or so have greatly expanded our options for communicating with others and having access to the knowledge that we desire, when we want it.
The Internet would have to be the be the first tool that comes to mind when we discuss this vast improvement of the disemination of knowledge. It has allowed people around the globe to become in daily contact with each other. This has made many aspects of research and education in general possible that researchers and teachers could dream about 50 years ago.
It would have been impossible for Einstein to have passed on his theories to his colleagues for discussion when he discovered them, but if these occurred today they would be readily available on the Web for extensive study and thought.
Another example of how technology has greatly expanded the borders of communication is how it is now possible for students to take classes online, like the program at UNC that I am involved in, and for classes to have discussions with students from across the globe and a teacher in another remote location, all simultaneously.
Overall, I feel that technology has greatly expanded the spread of knowledge. It has also made it very easy to talk to friends and colleagues throughout the world.

Filtering

2004-10-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

Is filtering the web necessary? My answer would definitely have to be a resounding yes to this question.
Just the massive amount of content out there in cyberspace makes this important, because not everyone has all day to surf through search engines searching for the one site that has the info that they require.
This was one of the problems with the early internet and according to one of our earlier class readings this may have caused many who do not use the Web today to have begun their move away from this technology.
Simply put, because it was just so damn hard to use. I know that that is one of the reasons that I initially stopped surfing. It got to the point where you couldn't find what you were looking for, because there was just so much stuff out there.
I think that search engines such as Google and Dogpile do a decent job of filtering the web, but I've found that some blogs have it narrowed down in a way that these larger search engines have never even dreamed of.
Through blog flitering I get the information that interests me and that I can use. It takes less time to find what I am looking for thanks to filtering as well.
And in this fast paced world anything that might save me some time is definitely alright in my book.

Best sites for Fantasy Football info

2004-10-13T16:35:00.000-07:00

Even as I have continued to research the cultural phenomena that is Fantasy Football and the many people that play it I have come to the conclusion that Yahoo has one of the best fantasy sites on-line.
There is a free membership available here so unlike many other fantasy sites this is a free play place. This made it immediately appealing to me and apparently to thousands of others, because it does run rather slow on game day, especially right before kick off on Sundays.
The only thing that costs is if you want anything extra, such as live stats or any other up-to-the-minute information.
Overall this site is just very user friendly, an aspect that is not lost on me. The icons are clear and it moves quickly, most of the time as well.
It also has a good visual presence and I like the fact that the new screens open as a separate one so you can just closer it when you are done.
This is my number one site for Fantasy Football information.

http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1

Best sites for Fantasy Football info #4

2004-10-12T20:25:00.000-07:00

This was a great site for Fantasy info. It even included a section on who they thought would win certain games for those who are playing Fantasy with entire teams.
There was lots of good commentary and I found it be thought provoking and relevant to what was going on this weekend.
It said on the site that this was their ninth season in existence, so just through that fact they have expanded my Fantasy Football knowledge. I didn't even know that the sport went back almost a decade.
I thougfht that it was just a side effect of the technological revolution that we have experienced over the last few years. I certainly did not expect Fantasy Football, in its present form, to date back to the early '90's.
Overall this site was highly informative and it gave me a different perspective on what was going on in the world of Fantasy Football.

http://www.ffmastermind.com/new.php

Best sites for Fantasy Football info #2

2004-10-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

This site was also on my original list, but I have found it quietly valuable both in my research and in my own Fantasy league this season.
The commentary offered here is different from many of the other sites, because rather than just saying start Player A, bench Player B, they give you reasons on why you should or should not do certain things.
This site goes into such things as why not to change your whole team today if you've been doing poorly and why you don't always have to drop an injured player. ( The rationale here was they might be back sooner than you think and someone else in your league could pick them up right under your nose).
Plus, this site offers a who's hot and who's not feature that I have found especially useful with some hard game-time decisions.

http://www.fantasyindex.com/

Worst sites for Fantasy Football info #2

2004-10-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

One site that was less helpful than the others was http://www.nfl.com/fantasy. This site didn’t offer much free information which surprised me since the NFL is the league where all Fantasy Football players play.
I continue to view this as one of the weakest Fantasy sites unless you want to pay a fee to play in pone of their leagues.

Worst sites for Fantasy Football info #1

2004-10-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

I've seen this site open on several occasions and it seems like it would have a lot of good information on it, but in my experience it is definitely not as accurate as some others I've looked.
This one was the hardest to get info from, because it required a password to access much info about the different league options available.
This site is basically useless unless you want to fork over the $39.99 or whatever exorbitant sum that they require to access this info.
This was also a very slow moving site, which is very frustrating when you use DSL. This could be due to the massive numbers that are using it at the same time or that could be the way it works for nbon-members, who knows.
The only thing I didn't about it was that it was a paysite, and rather expensive too. I wasn't big on this site in the beginning and its usefulness is certainly waning for this project.

http://games.espn.go.com/cgi/ffl/frontpage

Best sites for Fantasy Football info #3

2004-10-10T02:05:00.000-07:00

This is a site I wasn't sure about during my first round of research, but it has proved to be quite useful as the season and my paper has gone on. The "Sleeper of the Week" aspect of this site has helped me out greatly.
It has also forced me to think about how fical the Fantasy world is. It is very unlike the regular game of football. For example, in a real football game a player might not do anything, but catch the winning touchdown in the final seconds.
This would be an acceptable output for the player, his coach and the fans in real life, but in the Fantasy game this is a horrible output, especially if the player usually runs or receives or even throws for over a hundred yards.
Fantasy is all about points, not winning or losing, so things that are great in the real game can make a Fantasy owner cringe. This is one site that has brought that aspect of it to life for me.

http://www.fantasyfootballcafe.com/

JOMC 223 Student Blog Links

2004-10-06T13:55:00.000-07:00

List of Blogs for JOMC 223

Steven Anthony - Fantasy Football
Blog>>> http://homecarolinarrcomwesanthony.blogspot.com/

Christy Kinnion - Impact of Distance Education
Blog>>> http://ckinnion.blogspot.com

Sarah Michelle Klemens - Building Personal Identities within a Community
Blog>>> http://www.unc.edu/~klemens/blog/blogger.html

Jongrak Lee
Blog>>> http://jrlee.blogspot.com

Hui Liu
Blog>>> http://www.unc.edu/~huiliu55/blog/blogger.html

Drew Lomax - Liberation Watch
Blog>>>http://drewglobal.blogspot.com

Diana Manevskaya - The Impact of ICT on Poverty Reduction: Case Studies from Developing Countries
Blog>>> http://dinkaunc.blogspot.com/

Jennifer Munday
Blog>>> http://www.unc.edu/~jenlyn/blog/blogger.html

Julie Rains – Kids Play Games
Blog>>> http://kidsplaygames.blogspot.com

Dean Smith - A Tilt Toward War?
Blog>>> www.unc.edu/~smithdc/blog/blogger.html

Kimberly Snider - Joining the Political Process – Election 2004
Blog>>> http://sniderpolitics.blogspot.com/.

Tracy Swartz - Protesting in the City
Blog>>> http://tswartz.blogspot.com/

JOMC 223 Student Blog Links

2004-10-06T10:46:00.000-07:00

Interesting Websites with Info on Disabled People

2004-09-30T14:15:00.000-07:00

These are my three sites for this week’s JOMC 223 assignment. I chose to focus on internet use among disabled people. There was some good info on these sites and they mentioned some things I hadn’t thought of yet.

http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/frank_g_bowe/bb/usedata.html This is a good site with some information that I found interesting as it contradicts some of what we read in several readings.
It talks about internet use among the disabled has started to grow with more and more disabled individuals using the internet everyday.
There is also a graph to show how the gap in the rate of usage between the disabled and the non-disabled has narrowed in recent years.
To find this site I simply put internet usage disabled people into the Google search box.

http://www.publicnet.co.uk/publicnet/fe040709.htm This was an interesting site about the use of technology and the internet by disabled people in the UK.
There were several interesting statements in this site including one about how a greater percentage of disabled people felt that internet use had changed their lives as opposed to fewer non-disabled individuals feeling this way.
To find this site I simply put internet usage disabled people into the Google search box.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1229589,00.html This was interesting site that provided some thoughts on a subject I had not even considered. This site expressed the view that the majority of internet sites in the UK are not configured so as disabled individuals can use them
It also expressed the view that soon many these company sites would be dealing with legal challenges to try and remedy this problem.
To find this site I simply put internet usage disabled people into the Google search box.

Fantasy Football Research Paper -1st Step

2004-09-17T13:24:00.000-07:00

My research topic is Fantasy Football. This is my first season as a Fantasy player. My team is called Binger’s Banditos. I chose to do my assignment on this subject to both help me become a better player, understand it better and to see all the information that is out there on the subject. My blog will be devoted to info on this topic. The audience that I am looking to serve is anyone who is interested in Fantasy Football. I hope to find out exactly what kind of people play Fantasy and I also want to discover the different scoring systems that might be used in different leagues and on different sites. Also, it will be good to know if our other rules are uniform or if these regulations are different across the US and the globe.
Some of the keywords I used as I looked up this information and as I continue to investigate are: fantasy, football, rules, leagues, players, stats, points systems and sites devoted to Fantasy Football and other fantasy information.
One site that I got some info from was http://football.fantasysports.yahoo.com/f1. This is the site where my league is located so I started here. I got information on forming my own new league as well as information on some of the different point values available to different league commissioners. On this site I was also able to see how to drop and add players to my team and how to pick players up off of waivers.
I also looked on http://www.fantasyindex.com/ and saw the ways in which leagues were set up there and the different ways teams and leagues assigned points and league standings. This site mostly gave me good commentary on who was hot and who was not, but it also provided some tips about patience in team management which I found helpful.
Another site I looked at was http://games.espn.go.com/cgi/ffl/frontpage. This one was the hardest to get info from because it required a password to access much info about the different league options available. The only thing I didn’t like about this site was that it was a paysite, and rather expensive too.
One free Fantasy Football site that I found was http://www.fantasyfootballcafe.com/. It proved to be a very informative site as it not only offered leagues to join, but it also had something called “Sleeper of the Week” which listed players who not many people know about who could be high scorers in fantasy this season. It also had a discussion board option to hash out any problems one might be having with their team or league.
One site that was less helpful than the others was http://www.nfl.com/fantasy. This site didn’t offer much free information which surprised me since the NFL is the league where all Fantasy Football players play.

First blog

2004-09-14T13:50:00.000-07:00

To blog or not to blog, that is the question. After researching the recent explosion of web logs online, I think more and more people are saying “yes” to blogging. And soon I will also enter into the world of bloggers as I write my first one.
Blogs or web logs can be defined as “Frequently updated grow in web pages on which authors post short comments and new items, interesting websites, their thoughts and more”.
But the definition of web logs has changed since their earliest days. In the beginning blogs were defined basically as a list with links, comments and personal asides, but today that definition has expanded as they are defined as a website that is updated frequently with new material posted at the top of the page.
Web logs provide a mix of links, commentary and personal thought essays. On mine, for example, I will always have sports news and new writing from me. These might range from poems to editorials to previous articles I’ve written that I think are relative again.
Blogs are an infinitely malleable format and as such they continuously grow, but there was a time when this exponential growth proved to be a bad thing. This growth almost rendered them unnavigable. Some of the filters became as confusing as the web itself due to the massive number.
But now with Blogs such as Beebo- a sort of Blog bestseller list- it’s much easier to filter through the ones you do and do not want to look at.
There are currently over 350,000 bloggers on-line. A new web log is created every 40 seconds on average. This adds up to the tune of roughly 60,000 new ones per month.
And I can’t wait to join in that number. My technology education has commenced at an advanced pace this fall, but I think blogging will be a fun stop along the way.
In many ways the blog has become the CB radio of a new generation. And much like the CB you can either join in the conversation or just watch what goes on in it. But on the other hand, with CB’s you had to be right there listening to get all the info. This sort of delay in info is nice since you access it at anytime, but to me it almost depersonalizes it as well. On the old CB radios, part of the experience was listening to the entire conversations in context within a set amount of time. Also there were parts that were only relevant at that particular junction in time and I’m afraid that some web logs may lack that quality because of the time elapse that is possible, be it days or months.
Yet another thing that has come from blogs is Personal Knowledge Publishing or PKP. These links lists create the many explicit social connections that exist between bloggers. This is important as entire communities have cropped up around certain blogs. These are places where like-minded people can go to view like-minded ideals.
Another difference between blogs and the traditional media is that blogs have personal ownership which translates directly to a higher quality product. Many bloggers know that the best way to keep readers is by providing content that is consistently of the highest quality and interest.
On the other hand, blogs aren’t confined like traditional media. There is no censorship so to speak. Blogs may be edited or filtered, but that comes only after they have been published. This produces some obscurity in the product, but this definitely insures that there is no direct censorship.
Blog editors with the same views as readers can give information that is extremely relative to what is important to the perspective of the reader. A web log that one edits can be a chronological record of one’s thoughts, references and other notes.
In conclusion, I feel that web logs are part of the future of the technological revolution and they can count me in.

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