New Media Blogging: Nimisha Bindra

      One idea I had on a type of new media that currently does not exist revolves around an app. After much thought, I came to realize that we have Uber, Lyft, and taxi cabs that are at our service within minutes. However, we don't have an app that associates car services like limos or party busses that people can get a hold of last minute unless they are pre-ordered or reserved. I think there should be an app, either associated with Uber, Lyft, or on its own, where individuals can place orders for limos or party busses at least 2 hours in advance. This app would greatly benefit the majority of people that love spontaneous plans or even those groups of people that decide to make fun or fancy trips with their friends or family last minute. Access to this service could be done via smartphones, computers, iPads, etc. We know Uber has various options like the XL, but this limits the amount of people the vehicle can fit into it. With limos and party busses, more people can join

     Fitness is one aspect in life that I have started to become really involved in. I believe everyone should treat their bodies with the best care possible and be wary of what we are putting into our bodies. With this in mind, the areas that I chose to first contribute towards in our new media class wiki was under the category of New Media and Fitness. The specific pages I have included content under are "Instagram Fitness" and "Snapchat Fitness." I added paragraphs worth of content explaining the benefits that these social media platforms bring about in terms of helping people get inspired to work on their bodies or even gain more knowledge of what type of exercise routines to partake in depending on what part of the body wants to be worked on. As mentioned in my wiki contribution, many people are not able to afford gym memberships, but Instagram and Snapchat allow users to post their own workouts for others to take advantage of. Famous celebrities and f

     File sharing allows data to be accessed and transmitted from one computer to another. Through the help of file sharing, people are able to work on the same documents or data without having to worry about their physical location or if they can gain computer access. File sharing can occur through various ways. File sharing consists of allowing access to not only documents, but also digital media such as computer programs, multimedia such as images/videos/audio, and electronic books as well. What is great about P2P file sharing is that "it allows users to share files online through a network of software programs." P2P stands for peer-to-peer, and this type of file sharing uses peer-to-peer networking technology. One example of P2P file sharing is through a large peer-to-peer network called Gnutella. This network enables users to connect to the network and send out a request for a file that the user desires to have on their own computer. Gnutella is used to share mus

       New media can be used to make numerous improvements especially in a school environment. One suggestion I would make would be to use Instagram's features such as posting stories or Instagram TV to inform other students about events/workshops/entertainment that are upcoming on campus. Many of us are constantly on platforms such as Instagram which would make spreading news and announcements this way more efficient. Baruch College can have their own public Instagram page that everyone is allowed to follow making important information easily accessible for students. Tagging other students on Baruch College's posts and stories helps inform others as well in case some students don't have time to view their newsfeed. This is a great way for students to not miss great important opportunities that can help their social life and career paths. Tagging a person on Instagram or Facebook alerts a user's phone with a notification that they will most likely be bound to chec

     New media plays a vital role in issues revolving privacy and confidentiality. Popular new media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are just a few prime examples of how easily our privacy is exploited without our full knowledge. These platforms have features that allow followers to access a user's location which can pose a dangerous threat to one's own safety if found in the wrong hands. Pictures and videos posted on these online platforms for solely innocent, entertainment purposes can be saved by viewers and used for inappropriate conduct. Facebook has continuously suffered from serious criticism regarding privacy issues and still faces them today. People have become very smart figuring out alternate routes to access private information especially on these types of platforms. As discussed in the article "The Wild West of Privacy," Joe Nocera states "Google, Facebook and other big Internet companies collect information about us, which t

 SecondLife          New media fosters creativity in numerous forms. It enables us to express ourselves in different and unique ways. For this assignment, I decided to join the SecondLife platform. SecondLife is an online virtual world which has approximately one million users regularly. SecondLife is available on Microsoft Windows, Linux, and Macintosh operating systems. The widespread of platforms that SecondLife is made available on allows users from all around the world to join and take part in the virtual reality community. With SecondLife, it allowed me to create an avatar of myself which portrayed a visual representation of the person I would chose to display online. Below I have included screenshots of my avatar and the encounters I experienced. SecondLife allowed me to be in London city and walk in the streets of London city, a city I have desired to visit for quite some time now. As many of us can relate, in most of our realities we are in the middle of a stressfu

HW Creativity             Technology plays a vital role in allowing us to express our creativity. As explained in The New Yorker article by Sasha Frere-Jones, Jeremy Brown, a.k.a. DJ Reset, was able to take apart songs and formulate a mashup including different vocals all by using his digital software. A mashup is generally when the vocal from one song is laid over the music from another. Sasha illustrated that "one of the thrills of the mashup is identifying two well-known artists unwittingly complementing each other's strengths and limitations." Mashups of songs and lyrics are one example of how new media fosters creativity. "Mashups find new uses for current digital technology. If there is an electric guitar of mashup, it is a software package called Acid Pro, which enables one to put loops of different songs both in time and in tune with each other." Technology enables individuals to unleash this creative side of them and play around with the fea

Modeling Reality with Virtual Worlds       Virtual worlds bridge community and creativity. They foster creativity by allowing users to express themselves however they choose to. Creativity is made or produced by having no boundaries, which these online worlds allow users to experience. Virtual reality mimics the real world and has many different ways they can be used. However, like many things, virtual reality has its own pros and cons. Virtual worlds can be used for simulation games to improve the overall performance of the user. The user in this instance depends on what the virtual simulation game is based on. From the Wall Street Journal "Avatar II: The Hospital," Stephanie Simon describes an online simulation game designed to help nurses make quick and firm decisions during emergencies. This online community is called SecondLife "where participants can build their own virtual clinics and stage just about any training drill they can imagine. Dozens of ho

Blog about Twitter    A Twitter discussion is very similar to a Blackboard discussion and an in-class discussion. A Twitter user can create a tweet by typing about any topic of their choice. On Twitter, tweets are allowed to get replied back to which in turn creates a thread of discussions from people all around the world (assuming the account is public). Thoughts and ideas are transpired through Twitter and allow users to converse through a screen. Through a Blackboard discussion the same concept is allowed by creating a thread. Once a student creates a thread and writes about a topic, other students are allowed to respond back to the post where conversation can take place. An in-class discussion allows the students to converse just like they would on Twitter or Blackboard except this form of discussion is in person and is vocalized. The differences between these forms of discussions are that Twitter has a character limit per tweet, however, a user is allowed to tweet mult

Blog: Social Networking Sites      Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are four social networking sites with many similarities and differences. All four media platforms have different layouts that create the site's image. Although these four networking sites are each different in their own sense, they all share a common purpose. Facebook is a social networking site that is used by all age groups in today's day and age. The platform serves as place where users can update their statuses depending on what they are feeling or want people to know they are doing. Facebook allows users to post pictures and videos with captions as well where people can hit the like button or even comment back. The like button represents that the viewer has interest in your post or relates somehow. This like feature is on Twitter and Instagram as well, except on Twitter it's called a "favorite" and on Instagram it's called a "love." Facebook also enables u

Blog Social Networking Social Networking allows individuals and corporations to engage on all types of platforms. Platforms such as Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, etc. are examples of social networking technologies where information is readily available for others to view and read. There are multiple purposes for these technologies that range anywhere from things like acquiring a cooking recipe to getting updated on the latest news. Corporations use Instagram and Facebook to publicize ads that promote their products with the motive of grasping the attention of users and attracting them towards their company. Like most things, these technologies definitely have their pros and cons. The widespread of information that these platforms allow is a big pro and benefit. It is incredible that the whole world can find out the latest fashion trends, cooking recipes, makeup tutorials, news, etc. However, when our personal information becomes available to the public, that is not

BLOG: Blog v Wiki Blogs and Wikis are two different types of media platforms. As stated by Wooster, "wikis are websites that allow multiple users to create, modify, and organize web page content." Blogs on the other hand are "websites that maintain an ongoing chronicle of information. A blog is frequently updated, include diary-type commentary, and have links to articles or other websites." Sunil Saxena lists many purposes for a wiki such as "team projects, internal communication, school lessons, meeting notes, etc." Blogs are used for a widespread of information regarding many different types of things. For example, In the Wal-Mart Tastemakers Write Unfiltered Blog reading, "it was a blogger on the Check Out, after all, who first disclosed last month that Wal-Mart would stock on high definition DVDs and players using the Bluray format, rather than the rival HD DVD system" (Barbaro 2). As discussed in the reading, real people are engaging in

Project Proposal Social Media: Loss of Privacy My research paper will discuss the impact social media platforms have on the privacy of individuals. The social media platforms I will narrow in on are Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat because these are the most crucial platforms that play a big part in our society in my opinion. I will discuss privacy issues that arise from interacting on these social media websites from multiple perspectives such as the educational, technological, economical, and moral aspects. Most users on these platforms interact for the entertainment and amusement factor but often don't think or realize how our confidential data is constantly becoming exposed to the outside world. My paper will discuss the many ways how our personal information becomes public through social media channels.