The Fallan Gaming Community

Diploma Mills!

2005-09-27T07:32:00.000-07:00

In today's world, where a college degree is almost a necessary asset for success, Diploma Mills have sprung up all across the globe. The internet has drastically increased the amount of Diploma Mills out there and access to them. To combat this increase, the U.S. Department of Education launched a searchable online database so that people can check to see if their so called "college" is accredited by organizations recognized by the federal government. These Diploma Mills have gone to the extent of creating names for themselves similar to those of accredited colleges and universities in order to con people out of their money by offering fraudulent degrees. I think this database is a good idea for people to consult but not to rely on when choosing a college.

Author's Guild vs. Google!

2005-09-26T10:03:00.000-07:00

The Author's Guild, a group representing more than 8,000 writers recently filed a lawsuit against the search engine "Google" for its new "Google Print" application. This new option allows for the searching of books and provides the searcher with a preview of the book and the books bibliography information. The Author's Guild is suing because it believes that this application infringes upon copyrighted information. I do not believe that this is a valid argument since only a preview of the book is given to the searcher and provides information on where to purchase the book. In turn this program can increase the number of books sold generating more profit for the authors. If this lawsuit is ruled in favor of the authors, it opens up the possibilities that authors of Webpages can file suits against search engines also.

Weblog Ethics!

2005-09-26T06:31:00.000-07:00

In Rebecca Blood's weblog entitled Weblog Ethics, she discusses the differences between the "New Age Bloggers" and the mass media. She discusses six main points that bloggers should follow when publishing material. The first is to publish only facts which you believe to be true. The second is to link to material when you reference it in your publication. The third it to publicly correct any misinformation. The fourth is to write an entry as if it could not be changed or deleted. The fifth is to not disclose any conflict of interest. The sixth and final point is to note questionable and biased sources. I believe that she makes a good point in her blog and has a good pattern to follow when writing your own blog so that it to can be successful.

Finding Myself on the Net!

2005-09-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Its kinda scary to see how much information you can find about yourself on the internet. By using the search engine http://google.com and my telephone number, I was able to find directions to my house and who lived there. Through using my college's webpage at http://www.umw.edu/people_search/default.php, I was able to find out my email address. I would like to hear from you guys on what other things you can do on the internet to find what is really out there about yourself. I also found out that you can remove yourself from google's telephone search if you don't like your personnel information being out there for everyone to see.

Content Issues!

2005-09-18T10:39:00.000-07:00

Pornography has infested itself in every crevice of the internet. People both young and old can come in contact with it even when searching for such topics as information on the White House. The government has instituted laws to help prevent minors from coming contact with this explicit content, but they have not been to much avail. Internet Filters are becoming the mainstay for parental supervision. Even though these are good devices to have, they can also block informational sites on Drug Prevention and Safe Sex just on the basis that they use the words "Drug" or "Sex" in the title. Adult sites even go out of their way to trick people to go to their sites through misleading emails and links. Hopefully in the future stricter laws will be instituted and enforced to prevent a problem before it gets out of hand.

Search Engines!

2005-09-18T09:47:00.000-07:00

In today's world with the number of search engines increasing every day, people have many options open to them for searching the internet. As a result of this, the bias of the people who control these search engines plays a powerful role on what the viewers see and read while surfing the net. Such search engines as http://google.com and http://yahoo.com support "Sponsored Links" or links to sites which pay the search engine to put their links at the top of the suggested URLs. This in turn effects which URLs are viewed or passed over. In my "travels" on the internet on searching for such controversial topics as gambling and abortion, I have had to try several different search engines in order to get URLs for sites which offered the opposing views on the topics. I believe that this is because of the bias of the search engines and believe that surfers should try different search engines in order to see all the different viewpoints that are out there.

Kazaa!

2005-09-12T11:32:00.000-07:00

In the article titled, "Kazaa loses landmark copyright court case". It talks about how Australian courts have ruled against the Austalian owners of Kazaa after an 18 month court ordeal in which accusation were brought up that Kazaa was used in the sharing of copyrighted material. Kazaa is one of the world's largest media file sharing services with over 317 million registered users. The ruling of the court now mandates that Kazaa use Copyright filters in its software and forces current users to upgrade to versions which include the filters. During the month of June, the courts also ruled that the file sharings services Grokster and Morpheus could also be held liable for copyright infringements. The article can be found at "http://www.netimperative.com/2005/09/06/Kazaa_court_case".

Computer Security!

2005-09-12T11:07:00.000-07:00

In the Washington Post on September 7 there was an article that talked about computer hacking by a former University of Texas student. The article talked about how the student was able to hack into the school computer network and steal over 40,000 social security numbers and other information pertaining to the student body. As a result of his actions the student was sentenced to five years probation and had to pay $170,000 in restitution. The 22 year old student was also prohibited from accessing the internet, except under supervision and only for schoolwork. ;*(
The article can be found at the Washington Post website!
"http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/07/AR2005090700636.html?sub=new"

Copyright!

2005-09-12T10:46:00.000-07:00

In todays culture, file sharing has become an American pastime. Young and old alike have taken part in what has come to be known as an illegal act through the sharing of "copyrighted" material. Having been brought into the spotlight by a recent court battle between the music file sharing service "Napster" and the RIAA(Recording Industry Association of America). Even though safeguards and fines have been instituted to prevent such transfers from taking place, they have been of little help to putting a stop to the file sharing. In my opinion, people will continue to participate in sharing "copyrighted" material and will continue to do so in the future.

Half Life 2!

2005-09-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have just recently gotten around to playing Half Life 2. Better late than never I say, especially for this game. After playing for a few minutes I was hooked. The graphics engine is great, if you have a good computer of course. The game play is fast paced and exciting. I would recommend this game to any avid gamer as a not miss title. Valve has some great deals coming out in September supposedly. Three packages for Half Life 2 are being released along with a new version of Day of Defeat which get uses all the new goodies incorporated in Half Life 2. I would like to hear your thoughts and comments on the game as well!

Club Carnival!

2005-09-04T07:48:00.000-07:00

On September 5 at the University of Mary Washington, students will be able to attend a club carnival. I am really looking forward to this because there are so many things to be able to participate in such as the anime club. I have never truly gotten in to anime but lately I have to come to enjoy watching it. If anybody would like to post any anime titles that you think are worth watching, please feel free to do so. I would love to hear your opinions on the topic and I will write later on how things are going.

Trustworthy Sources!

2005-09-04T07:35:00.000-07:00

I know this is off topic, but it is a requirement for my internet course. Much of the information found on the internet today can not be trusted. People's opinions on certain topics through blogs and websites are not concrete information tools. People who are not as computer literate have a hard time finding information that is supported by true facts. After trying to find the information people usually don't take the time to discover if what they have found to be fact or opinion. This is especially true for high school students and should be taught more fully so that they can recognize trustworthy sources.