Privacy Lost

Most people have cell phones. Their ubiquitous presence makes the ongoing development of new services for use with cellphones a natural outgrowth of this technology. This week’s article points out benefits and concerns regarding the GPS chips that are placed in many cellphones. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment about the article and my questions.

Does your cellphone have GPS capability? Do you know others who have cellphones with this feature? Do you agree with the comment about people your age being fond of sharing your comings and goings on the Internet? Is a service like Loopt or Buddy Beacon available here in Jordan? If it were, would you use it? How much would you be willing to pay for this service? What privacy risks should we be concerned about with this service? What other nascent services for cellphones do you know of?

Privacy Lost Article

Ads in Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds for kids are becoming increasingly popular. As the audiences grow, executives from companies are taking an interest. This week’s article looks at the use of advertising in these virtual worlds. Go to the link below and read the article. After reading the article, go to one of the sites mentioned or a similar site that you know and look at some of the Web pages at that site. Write a reflective comment that addresses the topic and my questions.

Why do you think that people are worried about the introduction of advertising in virtual worlds? Are their concerns justified? Does marketing at a subconscious level work on younger children? Does it work on you? What laws would you create to protect children from this? How would you enforce it? Which website did you explore? What were your impressions?

Virtual Worlds Article

Possible websites to explore
Stardoll
http://www.stardoll.com/en/

Whyville
http://whyville.net/smmk/nice

Gaia
http://www.gaiaonline.com/

Barbiegirls
http://www.barbiegirls.com/home.html

Hasbro
http://www.hasbro.com/

Millsberry
http://www.millsberry.com/

Talk About the Web

Most of us use the Web on a regular basis. A recent survey produced some interesting findings about the communication that parents and their children have with regard to use of the Web. Go to the link below and read the article. Write a reflective comment that expresses your thoughts and addresses some of my questions. The website requires registration to read the second page. If you do not want to register, I have put a copy of the text from the second page in the Read folder for our class. The file is named “Talk About the Web continued.”

What kinds of websites do you talk to your parents about? What kinds of websites do they talk to you about? Have your parents ever spoken to you about Internet behavior? Do your parents need advice from you about what Internet behaviors are safe? What aspects of the survey’s findings are accurate for your family? What gaps do you think need to be filled and how should we fill them? Why do you think that fathers’ opinions were different than mothers’?

Talk About the Web Article