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.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Chapter 8
Digg.com is a type of ranking website for news stories from various other websites. I happen to stumble onto a function that digg.com offers where you can post stories that you "dugg" directly to your blog (as long as your blog was part of one of the services that they are able to post to). This is useful, because it allows digg.com members than have blogs to share certain stories with the viewers of their blogs with a simple click.
This is a lot easier than copying and pasting the entire article, or emailing several people, or even manually creating a link. Readers have the option to click to read the article, or not to.
Also, with this digg.com option, I could have written my entire post. All the text except "WooHoo!" was generated by Digg. All of the text, including the subject line, is able to be edited or added to.
Neato idea! :)
This is a lot easier than copying and pasting the entire article, or emailing several people, or even manually creating a link. Readers have the option to click to read the article, or not to.
Also, with this digg.com option, I could have written my entire post. All the text except "WooHoo!" was generated by Digg. All of the text, including the subject line, is able to be edited or added to.
Neato idea! :)
Deathly Hallows to be split into two films
It's official! The LA Times has confirmed that Deathly Hallows will be split into two films AND will be directed by OOTP and HBP director David Yates.Woohoo!
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
Monday, March 3, 2008
Chapter 7
This week's post (ok last week's post that I forgot to make, but didn't have anything to say..) is about something we talked about in my English class. Copyright and Authorship on the web.
There is an on-going lawsuit between J.K. Rowling/Warner Brothers and RDR Books over the publication of an encyclopedia type book based on the Harry Potter Lexicon website written by the site's webmaster Steve Vander Ark.
Here is the article posted on the Leaky Cauldron about this issue.
I'll summarize it. The HP Lexicon is an online unofficial encyclopedia. It is well known in the Harry Potter fandom as one of the best places to find information about the HP books and other parts of the HP fandom. What I mean is, 99% of the information is pulled directly from the books and presented in an easily searchable way.
J.K. Rowling herself gave this website her "fansite award" for Steve Vander Ark's dedication.
Now, the webmaster wants to publish the Harry Potter Lexicon in print form. That is, publish an encyclopedia for the Harry Potter books. And, J.K. Rowling has responded. It has never been a secret, or a very well kept one anyway, that she plans to release her own encyclopedia. She mentioned it in an interview she did with PotterCast (Leaky's podcast), and I believe it was mentioned a while ago on a Biography interview show where they filmed her house and she showed some drawings and books and things. This material is what is mentioned in the PotterCast interview as 'some' things that would be in her "Scottish Book" (the attempt at hiding the intent to publish an encyclopedia).
So, part of the argument on the side of Steve's Lexicon is that there are other books published about the series with no lawsuits.
This is true, there are. But they don't reprint word for word the books in the series. The 2 that come to my mind are Mugglenet's What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7, which is an analysis of popular theories about things that may or may not happen in the 7th book, which was written even before the title of book 7 was released. If something from the book is mentioned, its quoted. Otherwise, its the 3 author's opinion as to the big questions of what would be in the last book. The other is called The Great Snape Debate, which is a 2 sided book, one side talks about the reasons that the character Severus Snape is "good", and if you flip it over and upside down, the other side the explanation and theory on why Snape is "bad". I have the mugglenet one, and only glanced at the Snape book. Neither one infringes on copyright because they don't pull text from the books for the majority of their book, and if they do use text, they quote it. I believe they have sources at the end as well.
So the question of copyright arises. J.K. Rowling wrote the books, therefore has full copyright of the characters, and the world that she created.
Steve Vander Ark compiled the Lexicon. Where he states he's not the author, and originally made a statement that he put his webpage online so that others wouldn't try to publish an unofficial encyclopedia because J.K. Rowling should be able to do that herself.
Now, i'm all for his website. You can tell he put a lot of time and effort into it, gathered other fans to help, and produced a great resource for Harry Potter fans. However I don't believe he should be able to publish a print version of his website. Why would someone pay for something they've been looking at for free for years? And something that isn't official, yet being passed off as the definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia.
There were also statements made by RDR Books and Vander Ark that fans would buy both. Um no. Personally, I would wait however long for the official J.K.R encyclopedia. She says she'll publish one, so she will when she's ready. I can wait.
I wouldn't buy the Lexicon book even if JKR never releases her own encyclopedia. I have seen the website, if I want to look something up, I'll go there. Or, I'll re-read the books. Or listen to the audio books. Or watch one of the movies. Or go to another site where the webmasters aren't trying to gain profit on something that isn't their's and that they wouldn't even have if the books had never been written.
I think, even if Vander Ark is able to publish his book (which I doubt.. but still, for arguement's sake), he'll lose money on it anyway. Especially after this lawsuit. It makes him look HORRIBLE! He makes the members of the fandom look bad. He makes webmasters who put up honest pages look bad. What fan would buy into something like that? Although it would be fun to see what he'd say should his book be published and then flop...
And I'll end my rant there...
There is an on-going lawsuit between J.K. Rowling/Warner Brothers and RDR Books over the publication of an encyclopedia type book based on the Harry Potter Lexicon website written by the site's webmaster Steve Vander Ark.
Here is the article posted on the Leaky Cauldron about this issue.
I'll summarize it. The HP Lexicon is an online unofficial encyclopedia. It is well known in the Harry Potter fandom as one of the best places to find information about the HP books and other parts of the HP fandom. What I mean is, 99% of the information is pulled directly from the books and presented in an easily searchable way.
J.K. Rowling herself gave this website her "fansite award" for Steve Vander Ark's dedication.
Now, the webmaster wants to publish the Harry Potter Lexicon in print form. That is, publish an encyclopedia for the Harry Potter books. And, J.K. Rowling has responded. It has never been a secret, or a very well kept one anyway, that she plans to release her own encyclopedia. She mentioned it in an interview she did with PotterCast (Leaky's podcast), and I believe it was mentioned a while ago on a Biography interview show where they filmed her house and she showed some drawings and books and things. This material is what is mentioned in the PotterCast interview as 'some' things that would be in her "Scottish Book" (the attempt at hiding the intent to publish an encyclopedia).
So, part of the argument on the side of Steve's Lexicon is that there are other books published about the series with no lawsuits.
This is true, there are. But they don't reprint word for word the books in the series. The 2 that come to my mind are Mugglenet's What Will Happen In Harry Potter 7, which is an analysis of popular theories about things that may or may not happen in the 7th book, which was written even before the title of book 7 was released. If something from the book is mentioned, its quoted. Otherwise, its the 3 author's opinion as to the big questions of what would be in the last book. The other is called The Great Snape Debate, which is a 2 sided book, one side talks about the reasons that the character Severus Snape is "good", and if you flip it over and upside down, the other side the explanation and theory on why Snape is "bad". I have the mugglenet one, and only glanced at the Snape book. Neither one infringes on copyright because they don't pull text from the books for the majority of their book, and if they do use text, they quote it. I believe they have sources at the end as well.
So the question of copyright arises. J.K. Rowling wrote the books, therefore has full copyright of the characters, and the world that she created.
Steve Vander Ark compiled the Lexicon. Where he states he's not the author, and originally made a statement that he put his webpage online so that others wouldn't try to publish an unofficial encyclopedia because J.K. Rowling should be able to do that herself.
Now, i'm all for his website. You can tell he put a lot of time and effort into it, gathered other fans to help, and produced a great resource for Harry Potter fans. However I don't believe he should be able to publish a print version of his website. Why would someone pay for something they've been looking at for free for years? And something that isn't official, yet being passed off as the definitive Harry Potter encyclopedia.
There were also statements made by RDR Books and Vander Ark that fans would buy both. Um no. Personally, I would wait however long for the official J.K.R encyclopedia. She says she'll publish one, so she will when she's ready. I can wait.
I wouldn't buy the Lexicon book even if JKR never releases her own encyclopedia. I have seen the website, if I want to look something up, I'll go there. Or, I'll re-read the books. Or listen to the audio books. Or watch one of the movies. Or go to another site where the webmasters aren't trying to gain profit on something that isn't their's and that they wouldn't even have if the books had never been written.
I think, even if Vander Ark is able to publish his book (which I doubt.. but still, for arguement's sake), he'll lose money on it anyway. Especially after this lawsuit. It makes him look HORRIBLE! He makes the members of the fandom look bad. He makes webmasters who put up honest pages look bad. What fan would buy into something like that? Although it would be fun to see what he'd say should his book be published and then flop...
And I'll end my rant there...
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Chapter 6
Google.
Google is amazing. One stop shopping for your research, entertainment, or educational needs.. and more.
I noticed something there today that I hadn't seen before, Google Scholar. Its a search engine that searches newspaper articles. It could have been there a while, I just never noticed it.
My favorite features, aside from the search, are Earth, Blogger, and Books.
The next time you're on google.com and you've got time, click the 'more' button and check some of those other things out. If you've got even more time, click that link and check out all of THOSE things that google has to offer.
I <3 Google!
Hmm.. never used that text heart thing before.. probably won't again.. :)
Google is amazing. One stop shopping for your research, entertainment, or educational needs.. and more.
I noticed something there today that I hadn't seen before, Google Scholar. Its a search engine that searches newspaper articles. It could have been there a while, I just never noticed it.
My favorite features, aside from the search, are Earth, Blogger, and Books.
The next time you're on google.com and you've got time, click the 'more' button and check some of those other things out. If you've got even more time, click that link and check out all of THOSE things that google has to offer.
I <3 Google!
Hmm.. never used that text heart thing before.. probably won't again.. :)
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Chapter 5
Save The Internet
This is something interesting going on, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would stop big providers (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, etc) from trying to control the free flow of information on the internet.
In plain english, this bill will stop internet providers from creating "roadblocks" on the information superhighway. It will protect the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted when we go online - mainly that we will be able to look at the websites we want to, say what we want in our blogs (and have others be able to read them!), view streaming video put up by websites that we enjoy visiting, etc. Its like freedom of speech, and of the press, as it relates to the internet.
This reminds me of book banning, those in positions of power taking books away from the public without regard to each person's right to read whatever they want. A current example of an attempt at book banning is happening in Georgia right now, where a parent is attempting to have the Harry Potter books removed from shelves in all libraries (school AND public) because she feels they are anti-god, or anti-religious, or whatever. Its one thing for her to censor her children by not allowing them to read certain books, its a whole other thing for her to think she's got the right to go the great lengths to have those same books removed from public access.
If those who provide the internet access begin to control what information will be available for public view, we run into the same issue. One person, or a group of people, preventing the public to pick and choose which sites they visit based on their personal likes. As with the above example, in each household, if the person who controls the computer (ex. a parent) wants to keep certain people in the household (ex. children) from looking at certain sites that is just fine, and there are many ways to do that. However, I don't want anyone (comcast, verizon, etc) trying to tell me which sites I can access when I go surfing on the web. That is up to me.
This is something interesting going on, a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that would stop big providers (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, etc) from trying to control the free flow of information on the internet.
In plain english, this bill will stop internet providers from creating "roadblocks" on the information superhighway. It will protect the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted when we go online - mainly that we will be able to look at the websites we want to, say what we want in our blogs (and have others be able to read them!), view streaming video put up by websites that we enjoy visiting, etc. Its like freedom of speech, and of the press, as it relates to the internet.
This reminds me of book banning, those in positions of power taking books away from the public without regard to each person's right to read whatever they want. A current example of an attempt at book banning is happening in Georgia right now, where a parent is attempting to have the Harry Potter books removed from shelves in all libraries (school AND public) because she feels they are anti-god, or anti-religious, or whatever. Its one thing for her to censor her children by not allowing them to read certain books, its a whole other thing for her to think she's got the right to go the great lengths to have those same books removed from public access.
If those who provide the internet access begin to control what information will be available for public view, we run into the same issue. One person, or a group of people, preventing the public to pick and choose which sites they visit based on their personal likes. As with the above example, in each household, if the person who controls the computer (ex. a parent) wants to keep certain people in the household (ex. children) from looking at certain sites that is just fine, and there are many ways to do that. However, I don't want anyone (comcast, verizon, etc) trying to tell me which sites I can access when I go surfing on the web. That is up to me.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Chapter 4
Now that I've talked about some of the technologies I use or have used to connect with others, let me related it all back to the 'enchanted bookshelf' that I call the internet. The vast, never ending, shelf of books and people who enjoy books, available all the time.
I have always enjoyed reading, and maybe had a friend or 2 that read as much as I do. The issue that would come up is that we didn't always read the same books or the same type of books. When I was younger, that wasn't much of an issue, but now it comes up a bit. I have one friend that reads a lot, and she reads a whole lot of different books that I'd never pick up.
This brings me back to the internet. But first, I need to explain something - it was Harry Potter that first lead me to the bookshelf. I hadn't purchased any of the books until after I had seen the first 3 movies. The first 1 had me hooked, but I waited. I hadn't READ any until I moved from philadelphia to harrisburg, by this time I had the first 6 books and plenty of time to read them. So I started with book 1 and read through 3, then I saw movie 4 at the IMAX (so awesome!), and then read books 4 through 6. I was hooked from book 1, paragraph 1. When I was out of books, and after I had talked to a friend of mine about all the books, I went to the internet to search.
I was not new to the internet, not by any means. But what I found 'out there' when I googled "Harry Potter" kind of floored me. As you may guess, I found A LOT! I looked through A LOT! Some was good, some not so much, books, movies, actors, directors, theories, etc, the list goes on, EVERYTHING related came up. (Google is a discussion for another time).
I have 2 main harry potter bookmarks, sites I go to at least 3 times a week. mugglenet.com and The Leaky Cauldron. These sites have news sections, image galleries, discussion boards, link library, downloads like wallpaper or buddy icons, just LOTS of stuff all in one place. They are both amazing sites with amazing webmasters.
These sites have affiliated podcasts (kinda like radio talk shows that you download). These are the greatest things EVER. People who record a show talking about Harry Potter - the books, the movies, prior to book 7 theories, news in the harry potter 'fandom', respond to listener email or voice mail, and lots of other stuff. They even went on tour and did live podcasts during the months just before the book 7 release. Both have extremely talented casts.
The idea of fandom isn't new to me, but just how vast Harry Potter's fandom is was just shocking. Its like Star Wars and Star Trek (I guess, i'm not into star wars or star trek). Conventions, fan sites, fan gatherings, etc.. its amazing. The internet makes this SO much easier! You can join a forum and discuss the books with people from other countries, or people right down the street. My next search, maybe for my next post, is to have some HP blogs to link to. I'm sure they are out there.
But its not just Harry Potter and fan sites. Libraries are making their catalogs available online, as well as a way to reserve or renew items. Library systems allow users to reserve a book from on branch and pick it up at another. PSU's University Library system makes the affiliated databases available as well as a catalog.
Sites like Amazon, and store chains that have websites, make purchasing books as easy as clicking.
Some books are available to read online.
Books are more available now than they have ever been before. As well as a meeting ground for people to talk about them.
I have always enjoyed reading, and maybe had a friend or 2 that read as much as I do. The issue that would come up is that we didn't always read the same books or the same type of books. When I was younger, that wasn't much of an issue, but now it comes up a bit. I have one friend that reads a lot, and she reads a whole lot of different books that I'd never pick up.
This brings me back to the internet. But first, I need to explain something - it was Harry Potter that first lead me to the bookshelf. I hadn't purchased any of the books until after I had seen the first 3 movies. The first 1 had me hooked, but I waited. I hadn't READ any until I moved from philadelphia to harrisburg, by this time I had the first 6 books and plenty of time to read them. So I started with book 1 and read through 3, then I saw movie 4 at the IMAX (so awesome!), and then read books 4 through 6. I was hooked from book 1, paragraph 1. When I was out of books, and after I had talked to a friend of mine about all the books, I went to the internet to search.
I was not new to the internet, not by any means. But what I found 'out there' when I googled "Harry Potter" kind of floored me. As you may guess, I found A LOT! I looked through A LOT! Some was good, some not so much, books, movies, actors, directors, theories, etc, the list goes on, EVERYTHING related came up. (Google is a discussion for another time).
I have 2 main harry potter bookmarks, sites I go to at least 3 times a week. mugglenet.com and The Leaky Cauldron. These sites have news sections, image galleries, discussion boards, link library, downloads like wallpaper or buddy icons, just LOTS of stuff all in one place. They are both amazing sites with amazing webmasters.
These sites have affiliated podcasts (kinda like radio talk shows that you download). These are the greatest things EVER. People who record a show talking about Harry Potter - the books, the movies, prior to book 7 theories, news in the harry potter 'fandom', respond to listener email or voice mail, and lots of other stuff. They even went on tour and did live podcasts during the months just before the book 7 release. Both have extremely talented casts.
The idea of fandom isn't new to me, but just how vast Harry Potter's fandom is was just shocking. Its like Star Wars and Star Trek (I guess, i'm not into star wars or star trek). Conventions, fan sites, fan gatherings, etc.. its amazing. The internet makes this SO much easier! You can join a forum and discuss the books with people from other countries, or people right down the street. My next search, maybe for my next post, is to have some HP blogs to link to. I'm sure they are out there.
But its not just Harry Potter and fan sites. Libraries are making their catalogs available online, as well as a way to reserve or renew items. Library systems allow users to reserve a book from on branch and pick it up at another. PSU's University Library system makes the affiliated databases available as well as a catalog.
Sites like Amazon, and store chains that have websites, make purchasing books as easy as clicking.
Some books are available to read online.
Books are more available now than they have ever been before. As well as a meeting ground for people to talk about them.
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