Skype, gmail chat, Elluminate with Amy and Peaches

Me, Peaches, and Amy were finally able to link up and Skype online. We discussed everything from what our favorite technology was, the final unit project, and computer technology in general. Not to mention we talked for almost 30 minute covering our careers and use of technology. None of us had a webcam but all 3 of us had pictures on Skype. I took a screen shot that I will delete later. I'm never one much on displaying personal info and at 1st was a little skeptical about Skyping.

In the end though I had a good time and it was really nice to actually talk to fellow students. It give the class the personal touch. I kind of wish we would have done this at the beginning of the course rather than the end. :( This might be one of the 1st classes where I can honestly say I"m going to miss my online companions. Soldiers in the trenches who survived this class! I learned a lot thought and I hope to use a lot of the technology from this class in the near future. Overall this online Skype session made me really miss going to a classroom to learn and getting to know the people a little better.

I set up an Elluminate session also but no one showed. :( I really like the technology that Elluminate program but for the amount I'll be using it I'll just stick with the 30 day trial for now. I posted a powerpoint presentation and really, really like that I was able to display my desktop. I have to figure out how to do that on xfire, gmail or some other free program. I know I pinch pennies and make them scream.

Cyberbulling

Cyber Bullys come in all shapes and sizes. After playing online multiplayer shooter games I've encountered a number of cyber bullys that do everything from try to track down your physical address to ping your IP address and try to hack your firewall. All this just over games online. I cannot imagine the amount of cyberbulling that goes on in place like school with access to facebook and other social networking sites now available. I know in the gaming PC community crashing servers, hacking, and hurassing PVP(Player vs. Player) type games can get pretty bad. The key point is never share personal information and utilize different gaming accounts to prevent cyberbulling. I read a few articles on cyberbullys on the web. Here is one that caught my attention about how we focus so much on getting the newest best technology but fail to realize what dangers it puts us in. The Aricle is called "Parents spending more on technology but forgetting safety." We teach our kids about being safe crossing the street but give them a cell phone and are shocked to hear they are getting illegal images, annoying phone calls, and taking pictures of things they shouldn't. In this article it says "33% of parents closely monitor their kid’s use of the internet and one quarter of parents admitting they haven’t spoken to their kids recently about who they should share their mobile number with."(Cyberbullyforum) Another article I glanced at was Psychology of Cyberspace. I hope to read it more extensively when I find the time. This article is about the ego and cyberspace and social interaction. I know a lot of use base our social standing in our comminity and it directly impacts our ego. This can be used for good and bad. Good to encourage learning, communication and understanding. The bad to attack and anti-socialize others. I hope to write more on it later after I find the time to read some of its article in depth.