Final Exam; essay question

Write a blog post that focuses on separate examples of what you feel to be both the best and the worst aspects of the internet. You are welcome to use sources from the Scoop It channels or any other sources you find to be credible. You will be expected to provide two sources for both your best and worst example. If you use a source that is not available online, you will need to cite it at the bottom of your blog post in MLA format.

              Because of the spread of the internet, all kinds of information could be known to everyone in the world immediately. In addition, the information is not just one way communication; it is possible to communicate among several people. The telecommunication technology succeeded to remove the borders between countries, and it also removed different social status or environment of every person. People using the internet have the same rights, and the information shared in the internet is basically treated equally valued.

              It seems this virtual world succeeded creating the ideally equal world which is difficult or impossible to create in the real world. Certainly it is very important to be guaranteed that people can freely speech without limitation caused by their social status etc. However, the apparent equal opportunity also has possibility to bring unnecessary confusion in the information society.

              When the internet began to spread, most people welcomed to use one without any concerns because it allowed us to send any information freely. However, that means, it is possible the unreliable or false information covers the web. Moreover, if so, there must be many people who cannot decide which information is reliable, and so the false information could be treated as the true information. No limitation causes confusion.

              For example, people publish their sentences AFTER the publication company’s check which is to evaluate whether the article is valuable for the company to make money. If you can pass the evaluation check, you can publish your article. Because of this process, people can know the articles can be treated as reliable source, or useful for us.

              However, if information without this process can be read or seen by anyone, it becomes hard to believe what is the true information, or which information is useful for us. In other words, we have to move in the confusion of too much information. We always face this problem when we write a paper about something and use internet sources.
             This cite tells us 10 negative aspects of the internet! Check them!

              However, I personally appreciate to the good aspect of the internet. As I mentioned below, the internet allows us to communicate beyond time and distance. That means it is easy to keep in touch with people I encountered. For example, the social network service such as facebook or mixi plays an important part in my life because I have many friends who are not in my country, or who are still in my home town (I moved to Tokyo 5 years ago). Some of them are pregnant or have little kids, so it is hard to go out many times for them.

ds106 #5: Writing: Kuze-Kannon

ds106 Tell me a story

     The item that I have an extreme emotional attachment to is...Kuze-Kannon (Guanyin) in Yume-Dono, Horyuji Temple. I like looking at Buddha statues from childhood (I'm Buddhist so it is not only for interests but also for religious reasons). but I didn't have any speific "favorite Buddha statue" until high school.
     I learned about this statue when I was in 2nd grade of high school, and soon after I heard about the story, I planned to see the real statue in Nara prefecture. The story is so mysterious and a little scary.

     This statue had been covered with white cloth from ancient time (probably Kofun period) to Meiji era. When famous historian Ernest Francisco Fenollosa decided to take the cloth off, many monks in Horyuji ran away from the temple because no one hadn't seen it for a reason which nobody knew.
     Fenollosa found that the statue was not like a nomal Buddha statue because of its facial expression. Moreover, no one knew why it had been covered not to be seen. However, the most impressive thing was its aureola. Usually people built a bar behind statue to express aureola, but for this statue, the halo was put by punching nail into Buddha's head!!

(Left: normal way to put halo, Right: the way to put halo in Kuze-Kannon)

    
      On April of the year I went to Nara to see the statue. When I faced it, I started crying and couldn't stop. I didn't know why. Maybe I love the statue, and at the same time I'm scared by it. I think this is one of the most mysterious sacred object in Japan.

ds106 #4: Writing: Quote

ds106: 1Quote a day

“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”

ds106 #3: Visual: Toyota Century

ds106-Car Lust

     I think Century from Toyota is the best car in the world!!
     One of my friends used to drive this car, and I sometimes had a chance to drive his. It was amazing that you can't imagine how confortable this car is...from both driver's point of view and passengers'. I was so surprised when I found massage chairs and they can be warm to make passenger more confortable. I can totally understand why Japan's emperor chose this car!
     In addition, I love its looks, too. I love older model much better than the new one because old one is more like square whereas the new one has curve lines and ball-like shape. Black is the best color for this car I think. However, the "Black" is not just "Black": it says "Kamui Black". Kamui means "God", and this term perfectly fits to this car !!!

more details in the youtube...Check it!!

ds106 #2: Mashup: Kirin Beer

ds106-consumer mashup

     Many of my friends say I am famous for beer lover. YES, I love beer!!! Despite beer is alchole, it is good for your health (I'm not saying "drink as much as you can". It's up to you and your condition of course.)

     According to a waitress in Kirin City, beer helps your stomach work well, and contains vitamine and mineral.
    However, the greatest thing that beer brings us is that it helps to release stress. Think about your life..if you have something bad in your life, do you want to drink beer? Don't you think beer fits to an atmosphere with your friends to communicate?
     Kirin City is one of my favorite place to drink beer. There are 5 kinds of draft beers; Kirin Breau Miester, Kirin Lager, Stout, Half and Half, and Heartland. Thus you can enjoy many different beers in one restaulants. Moreover, there are bottled beer, Guiness, many types of wines and cocktails. Even if you want to drink with a person who cannot drink beer, you can bring her or him to the place.
     My drinking style in that place is; 1. Lager, 2. Half and Half, and 3. Stout. Lager is good to drink with foods (foods there are also great by the way), and Stout is tasty to drink by itself. I recommend you to drink Lager or Heartland first, and then try other ones :)
     Staffs making beer there have to have lisence to make beer. It seems kind of easy, but it is not actually. The taste is different by the staffs. They have to practice a lot before they take the exam, and of course sometimes they cannot pass. Moreover, they have to have knowledge about beer. In short, staffs in the restaulants are all professionals of beer.

Why don't you start planning to see friends with fabrous beer?

ds106 #1: Video: "Sakuran"

ds106: Video essay

    Because I liked Mai's blog, I want to introduce another movie. However, if we talk about movie trailers that contain effective color or music use, it is impossible to ignore "Sakuran"

     When this film was released, it surprised many people for its blliriant color use and its music director was Shiina Ringo, who is popular and personal singer in Japan.
     Unlike other movies made from novels and Mangas, I like the movie much better than the original Manga because of the music (I'm a huge fan of Ringo actually) and vivid colors. Looking carefully at the trails, we can see that there is not only vivid colors, but also a scene of black and white, and natural colors for cherry blossoms.
     The vivid colors are used to describe the characters' life in Yukaku (prostitutes' house). Their wearings and their hair ornaments are all red, yellow, or gold. The main character's past has no colors but black and white. The most interesting color use in the trail is the natural color, that represents the main character's dream.
     It is rare that color use and music is treated more importantly than story. It may sound strange, but it worked in this movie.

Malware in Smart Phone

I want to introduce news I read the other day.

How many of you use smart phone? If you use one, BE CAREFUL!! From the beginning of this year, Malware for smart phone is increasing rapidly. A number of Malware against iPhone, Android, or Black Berry in the world was 3 in 2009, 5 in 2010, but there are over 40 until the middle of October this year.

The reason why the number of Malware increased suddenly is not only because more people started to use smart phone. Especially for Android, we can open the OS and application software to the public. Thus it is easy for the Malware creator to attack. In fact, the major way to get Malware is through downloading application software.

Even though there is anti-virus software, it is not certain your phone can be safe for 100%. A vicious Malware takes root authority, and works outside of anti-virus software. Because the Malware has root authority, e-mails, address book, pictures, and any other information can be accessed. What is worse, there is a vicious Malware that doesn’t tell users that their phone is infected, so you may send someone’s information every time you make a call, text, or take a picture.

 Now, we can't live without cell phone. It is necessary to communicate, to make friends, to make better relationships, or for bussiness. Smart Phone is much convenience (seriously, my phone is not smart phone so I have many difficulty), but it also is dangerous. If Malware keeps expanding, and if anti-virus softwares don't work well, what can we do?

 so...do you still want to change your phone to smart phone?


::Final exam question::
What is the difference between Winny and Malware?