Ryan Freel

So as my last post, I want to write about something I find particularly exciting. The O's traded Ramon Hernandez (plus $2million) to the Reds for Ryan Freel and two infield prospects (I cannot remember their names). The O's are also actively trying to sign free agent Mark Teixeira. I am particularly excited for Teixeira because hes from Maryland (I believe he attended Severna Park HS). This tells me that the O's may actually be trying to make the team better (I do not think they have finished with a winning record since '97), so it is about time.
To tie this in with the class as best as possible- the only reason I can know any of this is because I have the Internet at work, and media spreads so quickly on the Internet. The Winter Classic that is Major League Baseball's offseason is covered in depth by many sports analysts, so as soon as they know of something new happening it gets an article and is posted online so people like myself can read and be up-to-date about the good and bad news. In closing, hooray for the Internet and hopefully the Orioles make something of the offseason.

Final Exams

I appreciate not having a final exam in this class. As a mechanical engineer I do not often get a chance to write a paper, so it is a nice change from the constant practice problems and exams that I have to take in all of my other courses. I must say, I have thuroughly enjoyed this class this semester. I've gained some pretty random, but useful, knowledge about what other people think the future of the Internet holds for society. Some have dismal opinions (Marc Andrejevic and Andrew Keen), but Winograd and Hais have higher opinions. I personally take towards the negative side, as I feel that the Internet removes human interaction which is necessary to be human. It bothers me to no end when I see people who take enjoyment in sitting in front of a computer or other game system that can just play video games for hours on end. I can play a game for maybe a half an hour before I get bored and would rather do something else. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like without human interactions we are all just going to turn into organic robots.

On New Topics (required 10)

In general, there is not much more we could have covered in this class- I feel like we touched on a lot of interesting things, but if I had to pick I would say facebook could have used a little more discussion. For instance, with The Wisdom of Crowds we could have looked into facebook groups and how they affect peoples decision making, or how new facebook applications catch and become common items on everyones facebook over time. With the Cult of the Amateur, we could have discussed how facebook is ruining everyones lives in that most people can no longer go a day without using it, and some people would prefer to communicate over facebook instead of in person. With iSpy we could have looked into how all the creators of individual applications could probably watch who uses their application, how surveillance is possible on facebook besides the obvious "facebook stalking". We could have also had a debate on whether or not having our private conversations with other people being posted online for anyone and everyone to see is beneficial to us or not.

On Reading Four Books (required 9)

I found reading The Wisdom of Crowds to be the most enjoyable this semester. The material was interesting and could easily be applied to real life situations- I found myself noticing the books points about group interactions happen in real life. The book had a plethora of facts to keep it from drawing to much towards an opinionated novel, but each of the facts and cases were very different from eachother, so every page did not feel like it was the same. However, this is not the case with Millenial Makeover. This book was particularly boring, it felt as though the author went on for ages explaining a point he had already gotten across in the first chapter. He had plenty of facts to back up his arguement, but most of them revolved around the same few examples, which made the book feel like it had a print error where a few pages had been reused later on in the text. I also am not a huge fan of political debates, and this text pretty much felt like an enshrinement to the democrats of our country, which is about as political a text can be as possible. Also I do not feel as though Millenial Makeover will be as relavent in future semesters because there is no impending election in the near horizon- its points will not be as interesting to read because they will have already happened.

Online Shopping- To Thee I Owe Thanks

This Christmas season I have purchased all the gifts I intend to give online, and I would like to thank technological advances for making this possible. I have used websites from ticketmaster to amazon to ebay to buy presents. Without the internet I do not think I would have time to call a concert hall and wait to purchase tickets, or go shopping for very specific things that may be at only one particular store. The fact that sites like amazon take your search and try to match it with as many possible things that you "might want" and shows you the results within a fraction of a second is amazing. Amazon has stuff from their own online store, as well as users who are trying to sell used goods, to other various retail stores and their merchandise. All of these come up in search results, and make shopping on "Cyber Monday" much easier. Cyber Monday is a term I heard on the radio about a week ago, apparently now the Monday after Black Friday is called Cyber Monday because that is when the most online sales occur and when most online buyers begin their shopping season. The idea that internet shopping now has its own day just as Black Friday is astounding, it means to me that technology really has come a long way from just standing in lines all day for that one gift. Thank you internet, for saving me from the hectic crowds, and making my online shopping painless.

On Big Brother and Surveillance (Required 8)

I use technologies every day that enable my actions to be surveyed; everything from my work computer to my online bank accounts. My work computer is on a public hub that is monitored by the IT guy, and nothing can be added to the computer with permission from the IT guy (he owns the administrator account to every computer on site). I am sure that my cell phone and own personal computer are subject to surveillance if someone deemed it necessary- yes, I believe that someone is watching internet traffic and can red flag a user who hits on a site that has been put on a CIA watch list. Because I am confident that my actions are within the realm of reason, I do not anticipate any kind of change in my life by being subject to surveillance.The above statement held true for the two day trial in which I went about my regular routine at work and at home, and no one tried to confront me about my actions. I have found it is too difficult to try to track where your own personal data flows while surfing the web, but it is within reason to monitor what I put out on the internet. Remembering to log off of sites and my computer at days end, limits the ability of others to access my computer after hours. All in all, surveillance does not affect what I do from day to day, but it does make me paranoid that surveillance can only become more intense and that one day Big Brother really will be watching our every movement.....

On Googling Myself (Required 7)

It took google approximately .23 seconds to compile 936,000 hits of the name "Phillip Harman", with options to try modifications with Philip or Harmon. There are lots of links to weblogs, and proffessional sites like linkedin or spoke.com. None of these sites are mine, though I do have a linkedin account. It is extremely probable that I am related to some of these people- an example: Phillip Harman from Indiana located on source.com (I have extended family I have never met out in that part of the country). There was also one site that blogged the history of the Harman/ Harmon name from 1776 when it came from Germany- I am not sure these people are related because they settled in Pa and I do not know of any relatives from Pa. All things considered, this would indicate that my name is full of googlegangers.
The opinion of me on the internet would be pretty proffesional because most of the sites are for job searching or set up by my googlegangers to help people with some sort of job or to track their own job successes. It is beneficial to have a name with a good reputation online so that if potential employers try to look you up on google, they may not find you're personal sites online, but will see that everyone else who has your name is making a good impression. If 18million Phill Harman's have a good reputation, who is to say this one will be different?