Resumen

We discussed how to utilize excel: it’s formulas, it’s uses and even some level of customization.

Evernote Tutorial – Screencast

This is a video screencast I did for my Inf class. It’s a tutorial on how to use Evernote, a Notebook type of application.

If you’re in need of something to keep track of your notes, thoughts, ideas in any form or format and you have a computer or mobile device, watch this video; you might find what you’re looking for.

March 13: Class Summary

Today we discussed plagiarism. It’s related to one of the things that I had covered on one of my previous entries; Copyright law. Plagiarism consist of one thing: copying the content of this author and using it for your own benefit. This is something that is strongly condoned in all mediums; no one likes their ideas stolen. Without going to far in detail, here’s a link to a video about that specifically.

Additionally we discussed identity theft and it’s increase in our society.

There’s people out there with access to the internet that are capable of stealing your personal information to do exactly as the title of these miscreants suggests: to Steal your identity. I’ll go into much further detail specifically in this last subject, so keep an I open.

Summary March 15 – The death of Encyclopædia Britannica

Today’s discusion consisted mostly about this blog and what things must be included to achieve the highest grade. the ideal way to add content would be to include links such as this one, and images. This is suppose to add a sense of attraction and a lil’bit of eye candy too.

Example:

Finally we discussed the demise of “British Encyclopedia”.

“British Encyclopedia” meets END at hands of Wikipedia

It’s pretty straight forward really. What many thought would happen, happened; Wikipedia eliminated the need for book encyclopedias.

Here’s an article about it in Wikipedia (For irony’s sake).

It’s not surprising that it happened. Much of the information that was included in the original paper/book version is already included in Wiki, with one mayor difference: 2,000 Dollars out of your pocket. The orginal version of Encyclopædia Britannica, as it is officially named, is worth around 2,000 US dollars to obtain all 30 volumes of it, and this in reality is just a rough estimate.  On the other hand you have Wikipedia; it has free information that can be freely accessed and edited at any time. Free access and the ability to edit has it’s disadvantages,but the advantages far outweigh them; such as:

• Easy access from anywhere there’s internet
• Environmentally Friendly (somewhat at least. Electricity is still oil)
• Info. on anything and everything (Even things you might not even want to know)
• Can be corrected and Edited at any time
• Quick searchabilty – Not having to search alphabetically for whatever you have to between 30 massive volumes
• but most of all, it’s free

It’s sad that such and amazing compilation of information has ceased circulation, but there’s good news for those that are heavily interested. The company decided to print what I believe where at least 2,000 more copies of the Encyclopedia, though I also assume the price will scale accordingly. If you’re really interested, or were involve with the Encyclopedia before you can visit their website, it provides a similar , if not identical service as the Encyclopedia.

For those of us that can’t afford Encyclopedia Britannica, we’ll stick to Wiki. There’s not much to loose, the one upper hand the Encyclopedia has is Authorship, but I’m sure the teach won’t mind if our Civil War paper says it happened in 1936 (Don’t worry, it doesn’t really say that). Wikipedia is a great source of information, doubtful? corroborate, search other cites, go to the library, actually read your class books or other books on the subject, Can’t do that? Well, be ready to pony up 2 grand, it hurts, doesn’t it?

KONY 2012

KONY 2012, a worldwide dynamic, a murderer and a life changing person. Nowhere near in a good way though. Long himself is a person that has caused nothing but harm, but there’s an irony to this. It is with this common enemy that people have united. But enough about it from me, see it for yourself.

Web: La red mundial

El internet es algo que cada uno de nosotros ya conoce, incluso muchos de nosotros lo conocemos a en buena cantidad, pero dentro del numero de personas que lo conocen a “detalle” no todos sabemos como la “web” funciona explicitamente. “Do not Fret!” no estoy a punto de explicar al detallito como es que el funciona, pero si puedo explicar como funciona la barra que vez a la parte superior de tu navegador web.

¿Demasiado simple? Te diria que sí, que hay mucho más detrás de todo esto. La web es literalmente una red; un red que se expande mundialmente. Sea Asia, Europa o las Américas; la web esta ahí. Par acceder por ejemplo a un sitio web localizad  en España (asumiendo que vives en latinoamerica), tu computadora haría un pedido de información que viaja desde tu localización hacia España, obtiene la información y regresa. Lo realmente increible sobre esto es la rapidez en que ocurre, es un proceso casi instantáneo.

Ya es común dentro de nuestro entorno cibernetico que esto ocurra casi instantáneamente, nunca se nos ocurre por esto, la distancia que esta información realmente viaja. Por lo cual, si tu fueras a acceder a un sitio web chino tenlo por asegurado que hay un movimiento, que la información se mueve, aunque no en un plano físico sino digital (tema para otro momento, ese sí rompe cabezas).

Todo esto lo digo para que haya una real apreciación por una herramienta que usamos diariamente. Una herramienta que ni siquiera requiere de cables ya, que esta en constante expansión y esta abriendo puertas hacia un futuro donde la información esta constantemente disponible y (espero) esta para su libre uso. Una herramienta que puede cambiar vidas y lanzar oportunidades. No abusen de ella, aprendan sobre ella, tiene una cantidad de usos inmensa, aprecien, y sobre todo disfruten.

“Some Rights Reserved”

-Some rights reserved Waldir

 How often we have seen this famous symbol? How many times have we heard the famous term “Copyright”? How many times have we heard the Professor say that we need to be careful with plagiarism while we begin to swallow saliva as he cements the fear of this? A lot, I would say, but recently this term almost makes history with the proximity to the existence of the law SOPA. The dreaded SOPA law, how we loathed it. This was based on the copyright covering beyond the original backgrounds of physical products: Movies, musical works, books, basically what is available for sale. The difference was what SOPA planned to do with these rights. It planned to regulate the Internet and ensure that under no circumstances be published anything remotely related to the product under copyright law. But to understand the law SOPA and what It tried to do, first have to understand copyright law and the ones who now provides competition, “Creative Commons”.

“Copyright protection exists from the moment you create a job in a fixed, tangible expression. The copyright immediately become property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright. In the case of works made for hire, the employer, not the writer, is considered the author. 

This is the definition of the law of copyright according to the website of the “copyright“. At its base it simply ensures that the work done is not reproduced without the written concent of the person who has the rights to the product. This is all well and done, until SOPA decided to take the next level: the Internet. It would be regulated and any mention of content under the law would be removed. AND if the content is believed to exceed limits dictated by the author he (or more likely the company in this case) could bring the case to court. Thankfully enough, as most of you are aware (More than aware, this is old news) SOPA did not happen, It was to a sense “Put away” for a moment of “Greater need”, I would say more but I fear my ire will take control of me.

Now, we all understand what copyright law is, but getting to the point now: “Creative Commons” a means by which an artistic product can be used freely as long as you credit the author, its that simple. Well, no it’s not, there’s other details that are at the discretion of the author such as.

• For commercial use
• If it can be altered in anyway

A high percentage of what is on the internet today is under this license, why? It’s simple. It is, in fact, one of the smartest ways to spread your work. The classic example: the world will know who you are because someone gave “Copy / Paste” to a photo that you took and that person just has to put “Some rights reserved to [Author here].” This is just one possibility. The Internet is a mass medium with great opportunities; one of those is spreading your art through copy/paste… You heard right. COPY. PASTE.

This video explains the essence of the CC.

http://creativecommons.org/videos/a-shared-culture

The “Creative Commons” are just the beginning and the authors are learning how to use it to their benefits. The internet is free and open, as it should be. And I’ve still yet to meet anyone who agrees with what SOPA proposed. Freedom of expression is something we all covet. What is the Future of the “Copyright”? I doubt it disappears, but I see a future where it’s given less importance and more to the new methods of publication, free exposure of content in the undefined space of cyberspace.

NOTE: In a future blog entry I hope to write in more detail the opportunities that “Creative Commons” promotes and how to use them correctly.

A Vision of Students Today

This is my first post. It contains the video “Visions category of Students Today” by Professor Mike Wesch. It also contains a link to “El Nuevo Dia.”

Here is shown the constant reality that college students live daily, a barely personal system were the student is just one amongst many. Is this the correct method of teaching? Are we really we are preparing for a career with the methods used in modern times? According to Michael Wesch and the students of today.

No.

The education system in many universities is dependent on a process of teaching that is impersonal; it involves the student only in the sense of giving information. Students are among the hundreds in their classes; teachers are not familiar to most students to the extent were it is likely they won’t leanr your name for the rest of the semester. This system, according to video shown before, is archaic. It has been proven that everyone has more interest in something when they are personally involved with something, and especially when using tools that create a better educational dynamic.

Too many universities and schools are dependent on old methods of teaching, instead of using other tools available to them. The youth of today is a highly “Multi-Tasking” and although this may have an effect on the ability grasp the attention of students, it can also be used for good. Most teens are constantly doing one of three things: Listening to music, using the computer (Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.), or using the phone (The phone is a modern multimedia) Why can’t then education take advantage of these tools?

Let’s suppose you have a teacher that assigned a job for a specific day. Oh how lucky we would be if we could be able to enter your Twitter and the professor posts a “status/tweet” about the job you need to hand in on Wednesday, or that you’d be able to communicate with your Professor through Facebook in a time of need.

The tools are available to them; they simply do not use them. Youtube alone has incredible educational opportunities available, and let’s not even get into Wikipedia. The latter, many teachers would say, is a tool unreliable because anyone can edit it, but you can also Prof. Why not? And you have several students who have the interest and time available. Why not try it? The same students, as we saw in the video, would be willing to make the necessary corrections so that others in the future can enjoy right information in its entirety and remains a source of incredibly wide. Many of us have a desire for a larger involvement in what is going to be our future, and technology can be a medium we can all enjoy.

Everything is as simple as being “involved”. Both students and teachers can do something good for their education. They must use every tool at their availability and make a proactive approach to media, education and the possibilities. The sky is the limit, just like the human mind. We all have great learning capacity and ability to accomplish great things, given that we have the “push”; the desire. Education should be your first inspiration for great things and all students should be inspired, we have it as unwritten law and I hope that in future proper steps are taken to achieve all these. I have hope that it shall be so.