Updated

My blog, Into The Pages, linked here, has been updated recently with the addition of my most recent reads for anyone who is interested.

Chapter 13

A note about blogs. I know when I started this I gave a rough explanation of what a blog IS. This post is more about what I'm realizing blogs DO.

When written for a purpose, blogs are informative. The Wall Street Journal has a Law blog. A professional blog that talks about legal issues. I stumbled onto this through what the law blogger has been posting in regards to the J.K. Rolling vs. RDR Books copyright trial. This blogger is IN the courtroom, like a reporter. And he reports on what happened in his blog. Its instant news. I'm sure there were a lot of media outlets there, news reporters for tv and newspaper, and other internet news sites, but this person makes his living blogging. Its great. I think it gives a little bit of a personal spin, more so than a newspaper or tv news story.

My blog for PSH Admissions is written for a purpose, but since comments have been disabled, I'm not sure what people think of it. I can check to see how many hits I've gotten, and where the traffic came from (where the link was that they clicked on to arrive at my blog). I know I'm getting traffic, and thats a good thing. Its like me being able to talk to all the people interested in coming to penn state harrisburg, all at the same time, and when its convenient for them. Something that would not be possible without the internet, or a blog (or some other form of writing text and putting it on the web).

Chapter 12

Soo the court hearings between J.K. Rowling and RDR Books has started (yesterday actually). Mugglenet and The Leaky Cauldron both have news releases and links with up to date news regarding the trial.

From what I read yesterday, and in the months leading up to this, the case is really about authorship and copyright. Yesterday, in one of the articles, on Mugglenet (which I think was a link to the Wall Street Journal), JKR was quoted as saying (and i'm going to paraphrase here) that if RDR is permitted to publish their book, it will have a negative effect on authors and well-meaning fans. This relates to the post I did a while back about this case and authorship, because we were talking about authorship in class at the time. But not only is the idea of authorship at stake here, but copyright issues overall.

Right now, as JKR has also stated in those articles (you can read them, I just don't want to keep linking or quoting from the same page over and over again), that there are books in various languages that criticize or analyze harry potter, and those she's got no issue with. The ones I know of, and have probably mentioned are Mugglenet's What Will Happen in Harry Potter 7, The Great Snape Debate, and Who Killed Albus Dumbledore. But I'm sure there are tons more, there is even a book called Finding God In Harry Potter. So, as an author, to have allowed these books, it can be guessed that she isn't out to stop everyone and anyone from commenting or analyzing her work. Where she draws the line is directly using her work, practically word for word, without adding to it, or offering any kind of extra substance, and then selling it for profit. Personally, I don't think RDR Books or Steve Vander Ark have a leg to stand on. Without Harry Potter (without JKR) there would be no hp-lexicon.org (Harry Potter Lexicon website), therefore no print version of said website would have need to exist.

I can understand how a win for the publishing company would be a bad thing for authors and fans. Authors would have to guard their copyrights and not allow any kind of unauthorized use of them. That would mean no fan sites. No fan books. Probably no fan fiction. Suddenly the world where reading has become interactive and fun, there is the possibility that it could become quite lonely and boring. Websites like the 2 listed above have staffs that are fans first, and want to meet other fans, offer themselves as people for others to converse with about these books. They are respectful of the author, and in return have had many opportunities that most fans don't get - such as visiting movie sets, interviewing the author, book release information and the ability to host a live podcast at such releases or openings. And those that have the opportunity don't flaunt it, they share it with the rest of us who aren't as lucky. I listen to the podcasts associated with the sites linked above. They have more to lose as fans, and as fandom persons, than I do (personally, that is). Those websites wouldn't be able to exist, the podcasts might have to watch what they say, all that time put in would be wasted. This can't happen. I am fully behind J.K. Rolling and hope for a win, because I know, as well as she's stated, its not just a win for her, but for authors and fans everywhere.

Chapter 11

E-mail is how more people are communicating. More often people are choosing to write e-mails to family and friends rather than writing letters and mailing them. Not only does it save the cost of a stamp (which has been increasing at least once a year in recent years), but it saves time, e-mail is almost instant. If the recipient is in front of their computer when the email was sent, they will be able to recieve it immediately.

E-mail is not only used to communicate informally with family or friends, a lot of businesses are using e-mail as a primary form of communication. Websites such as Monster.com that allow users to upload a resume also allow users to respond to ads posted by employers. The most common contact information in those ads is an e-mail address and a phone number. More often than not, the ad requests that interested parties email their resume. Monster gives users the option to email directly from their website, or you can include a job reference number in an e-mail if the user chooses to send the message from their personal e-mail client (program).

Internally, companies use e-mail to communicate between departments and share information. They also use e-mail to communicate with outside companies.

Chapter 11

At the start of this blog I mentioned talking about books and writing on/for the web, and have spent some time talking about all different kinds of writing and communication on the web, and now I'm coming back to books.

The world wide web has made books more accessible. There are numerous websites that post books online in full text, most for free. An example is Page by Page Books.

There are also sites like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble online that sell books and also offer a preview of most books, as well as customer ratings and reviews.

Libraries have more of a web presence now than they had before. People with a library card can log set up login information through their library's website and have access to their accounts to see what they have out, due dates, and if they have a balance. The other benefit of this is that users can search the library's catalog to see if their library has a certain book, which they can request (or be put on a waiting list if it is out). If the library is part of a system of libraries, such as the Dauphin County Library System, if your home branch doesn't have a book, it can be requested from another library and picked up at the branch of choice.

Lastly, and probably the greatest little-known resource for books, the swapping sites like Paperbackswap.com. People that would use a site like this are those that have a big collection of books that they want to get rid of or share with others, and at the same time, get books in return. The way this site, and others like it, work is simple. You create an account, follow the wizard to create the list of books you want to make available to swap (usually by entering the isbn). With this specific site, once you post 10 books, you get 2 free credits. Credits are used to "purchase" books from other users. You earn additional credits each time you send a book to someone who requests your listed book, once they mark it received, a credit gets added to your account. No actual money is exchanged, each person only pays the cost of postage, usually media rate. You spend credits by requesting books from others. Its a good way to keep your collection of books fresh, and maybe not spend as much.

Personally, if I'm not sure I'll like a book enough to want to keep it, I look for it on one of the swap sites I have an account with. I can spend a credit, read the book, if I like it, I'll keep it, if not, I can repost it and possibly earn a credit for something else. There will always be certain authors, certain books, that I will spend the money to buy new - and never get rid of.

Chapter 10

An interesting conversation arose in my English class this past tuesday. The following question was posed: How would it effect you personally if you woke up tomorrow and the internet no longer existed? How would it affect your community? How would it effect your profession? Now, take a minute to think of that before you read my response.

***

Ok, now, this is an expansion of the notes that I jotted down during class to add to the discussion. The first thing that popped into my mind was that scene from the IMAX 3D version of Order of the Phoenix where Ginny "reducto"'s the rows of prophecy balls and everything comes crashing down and little glass fragments are flying everywhere in 3 dimensional slow motion. Back in reality, my first thought is, I would be out of a job and have a degree that has become pointless, and I have been working for years toward a bachelors degree in a program that would no longer exist. I would have to start over in a completely different field.

Next I thought about school in general, mainly penn state. A lot of professors make use of Angel for communication, grade tracking, posting assignments, and even quizzes/exams. This would all be pen and paper again. Not that it was so long ago that I sat in a classroom and took a pen and paper test. I've just gotten used to the convenience.

On the topic of convenience.. its easy to shop, pay bills, get directions, and gather general information online. It's so simple to hit up google or mapquest rather than the way we used to do it prior to those sites. I have had hand-written directions to follow, I have spent hours in a library doing research, I have written checks to pay bills, and I still do the majority of my shopping in actual stores. It wasn't so long ago that we didn't have these conveniences, I personally have just adjusted too nicely to them.

Entertainment wasn't much of an issue for me, I do play games online, but I also read books (the printed paper kind with covers) and go out to movies. I listen to music, on the radio, actually since I've had to recover my hard drive I don't have much downloaded. Thats not to say that I don't enjoy playing games online, or downloading podcasts and music. But this is probably the only area of my life that wouldn't be completely affected by the internet disappearing.

Communication is another area that may get some taking used to in having to go back to the prior way (I hate the term "old way", I am not old.. just older.. and did things differently previously :) ). I had pen pals, I even wrote letters to friends that lived in the same city as me over the summer when we weren't in school. We also talked on the phone, but at 12 or 13, it was nice to get mail once in a while. Now, its very simple to write a quick email, chat with someone on aim or yahoo messenger, or meet tons of new people at any number of message boards or forums. I moved from philadelphia to harrisburg, so I use email and messengers to keep in touch with friends and family. But could do this over the phone or through a letter, but like I've said before, I've gotten all too used to the convenience of it all.

One of my classmates wrote a similar blog about using texting and ims to communicate, and he's absolutely right, there is no replacement for human contact. I'm not quite as bad as someone who sends and im or text to someone next to them. Although, I must confess, I have sent an im to someone I was on the phone with. But, what happened there was that we were chatting on aim, and the conversation got a little complicated so my friend called me. We stopped our aim conversation while we were on the phone, but I needed to send her a website addy that was relevant to our convo. It was easier to im it.

Any thoughts?

Chapter 9

Not much has caught my eye in the way of news about the ways that people are using the internet to communicate.

I am participating in a class wiki, where my part within my group is to talk about the same type of things. The evolution of writing on/for the internet. I just realized that I haven't talked about wikis yet.. so the subject of this post has been decided - the Wiki.

The definition of a wiki, as posted by the most popular wiki in the world - Wikipedia, is: software that allows users to easily create, edit, and link pages together. Wikis are often used to create collaborative websites and to power community websites.

What this boils down to is, a web of information posted and edited and updated by users. Some wikis are specialized, such as The Penn State Wiki, and others are general like Wikipedia (which is more of an online, open source, encyclopedia).

There are pros and cons to wikis, the major pro is that information can be constantly updated and edited to make sure it is valid. Of course, there is some authentication process (some require a username/password combo to be able to update, others have admins fact check information before it officially gets posted). This also leads to the biggest con, wrong information getting out before someone fact checks it, or someone else comes along to correct it.

Overall, I believe wikis can be a good source of information. As with anything you read on the internet, it is always good to double check sources for validity.