Modeling Reality with Virtual World

Different ways that virtual worlds can be used are for entertainment and education medical purposes.

For entertainment values these virtual worlds brings together groups of individuals that work together to first build their own avatar. An avatar is a character that is human-like and is built from a teach by the user. Games like World of War Craft or Halo allow for the first person view of the world. They can travel through them and interact with other avatars.

For educational purposes, medical professionals have built a virtual reality that allows for nurses and doctors to test out different procedures to experiment with. The beauty of this form of experimentation is the lack of a human . Certain testing can be done while at the same time taking the middle man out completely. This ensure a 0% chance a harmful mistake could be made that might result in sickness or worse, death.

Creativity is completely fosters in these virtual worlds. Individuals build their characters, their worlds, weapons, accessories, etc. It is like giving a painter a blank canvas and telling them " do what you want and it's accepted, no exceptions".

I think if we continue on this path, virtual worlds could help us with certain innovations that may not have been obtainable in the past.

P2P File Sharing

P2P file sharing can be written out as peer-to-peer file sharing. This service allows for people to transfer very big files digitally without having to worry about file size restrictions. 

In the article "BitTorrent Effect" talks about this company called BitTorrent that does just this. It was presented in 2002 at a hackers event was was designed for the community of people who would like to share big files such as programs form computer to computer without the hassle of having to wait for it. The article then goes on to explain how instead of the community BitTorrent thought they were going to attract, in turn they got people who watch TV and movies on their computer. Companies like BitTorrent have made it easier to basically torrent or rip information onto ones own personal computer. 

My biggest negative for P2P sharing is that is allows copy written information to basically get stolen with no regard to the financial process that was behind.

Old vs. New

Old media vs. New Media

 New media is a media that goes with the times. What was considered new media in the time before the internet what news papers, magaziens and television. Now new media is considered the internet and can even go down to saying that blogs and social media sights are considered new media. 

One example from the reading is about how quick TMZ was able to report of Michael Jacksons death. They were the first website to say that he was found and being taken to the hospital. 

Andrew Savikas goes on to explain in his Forbes article, "Media: Don't Fear New Technologies" how media is going to change and that we should not fear this change but rather embrace it.

Old media is a form that was popular but that is barely or not even used anymore. When someone says to send them an email, other alternative communications could be made that are faster and more direct. For example instead of emailing one could send a text, or to be even faster a tweet.