Presentation Process!

My group consists of Sraus Phoung, Justin Juntara, Alyssa Carpentar, Hellen Gakuru, and Ashley Walker. As a group, we decided to tackle the book "A World Without Secrets" by Richard Hunter. Email seems to be the best way to communicate our ideas and input about the presentation. We have broken the book up into chapter sections with each person reading at least three chapters from the book, preparing a slide for the power point, and presenting it to the class. In order to make sure we have all of our bases covered, we decided to try and complete, somewhat, of a "rough draft" by Monday so we do not fall too far behind. Plus, this will be one less project each of us will have to worry about. I have high hopes for this group. I believe, we are all talented and very intellectual, and each one of us has something to offer to the presentation.

Luckily, Alyssa found the book online through the University's library. This makes it easier for each of us since we won't have to purchase it, but I believe Hellen mentioned she ordered one online for only $0.53 so if each of us did have to purchase it, it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg. I can only hope Professor Fry enjoys our presentation, and hopefully he won't hesitate to give us an awesome grade.

Living in a Virtual World

I'm not much of a computer fanatic, and I didn't realize what an individual could do with this machine besides the obvious. The main reason's I use my computer is for research purposes for school, checking my facebook and myspace, paying bills, maybe a little shopping here and there, and emailing. Other than that, I never really paid attention to what we can do in the virtual world. The avatar thing is definitely new to me. I was not aware that other individuals would create, what sometimes, looks like a cartoon version of themselves and go into make-believe places online and build up a non-fictional world around this avatar. That seems to be a little too time consuming to me, and I don't understand the fascination with it.

However, if I could choose anywhere to go in the virtual world it would probably be somewhere similar to the real world; a nice warm and sunny place that provides the right amount of entertainment for me (whatever that is). I might even go on a mini shopping spree with about seven of my closest friends. If I'm feeling a little dangerous, I might try to figure out what an Ex has been up to (lol). Other than that I'm not really sure what the virtual world has to offer me that is going to capture my interest.

Kevin Freitas - Feed Tacoma

Kevin Freitas is the originator of a popular blog site in Tacoma, Washington known as feedtacoma.com. At this website individuals are able to get the latest news and informative information about what is going on in the city of Tacoma, and they are also able to blog and respond to other blogs which are posted. Kevin Freitas community blog site is one the most popular and longest running blog sites going today, with the exception of Derek Young's popular blog site, exti133.com. Kevin mentioned in his presentation, in Andrew Fry's Living and Working in a Virtural World class at the University of Washington, Tacoma, that he has been blogging for a long time. However, when he started blogging on the computer it was simply for journalistic purposes only. I bet he never would have thought that something so minimal would explode onto the internet scene.

Feedtacoma.com also offers other explorations from local shops and events to photos and videos posted by Kevin, himself, or others. This is definitely a site for every individual, and Kevin put it best, "A community resource by people who and live and love Tacoma".

The Online Shopping Crave

Given the dangers, cautions, and warnings, why do people still insist on purchasing items from the internet? I believe it all has to do with convenience. A person is able to avoid the outrageous lines and the hectic crowds. By shopping on the internet we are able to accomplish worry free, stress free shopping, in my opinion. For me, it's stressful going to the mall and shopping for an item because I have to deal with the immature high school kids that go or I'm constantly running into people who take up the entire walkway. It's just a hassle for me. Not only that, by shopping online, I don't have to wait in a line, or on occasions, deal with an inpatient cashier. For the most part, I don't have to worry about an item being out of stock. If anything, if I order something off the internet the worse that can happen is it gets lost or damaged in the mail or the item has been back-ordered.

Given the dangers of identity theft or having your credit card information stolen, I think it all boils down to convenience for people. They would rather risk the chance of purchasing an item online and having their credit card information stolen rather than facing the obnoxious crowds at the mall. Sometimes you even have to take in consideration a person's physical capabilities. Maybe physically it is easier to shop online. Also, I believe, online stores are heightening personal security to reassure the customer that their information is protected. Although, identity theft is a major problem when it comes to online shopping, I believe the convenience out weighs that issue.