By: Christopher P Johnson
Student Number: 14337022
Curtin University
Instructor: Cynthia Verspage
SP4: 2008
Unit: Net11, Internet Communications
Abstract
This article is an assignment to reflect upon four concepts of the use of the Internet selected from a list provided in the unit Internet communications. There is an outline of each concept to provide an understanding to what the four articles are about.
- The mobility of electronic data looks at the idea of mobile data and its formats to provide proper communications in an electronic form
- The impact of text-based real-time chat looks at the value and impact of real-time chat
- Public space and regulation looks at what regulation if any is needed for the Internet.
- Privacy and security looks at what it means and if you could become anonymous
The annotation provides good links to web sites that provide further information on each concept.
Table of Contents
The four concepts of Internet use
Concept 5. The mobility of electronic digital data
Site 1: Email Replies.com http://www.emailreplies.com/
Site 2: Netmanners http://www.netmanners.com/
Concept 17. The impact of text-based real-time chat
Site 1: http://www.chat-zone.com/
Site 2: http://www.communities.com/
Concept 22. Public space and regulation
Site 1: http://www.savetheinternet.com/
Concept 26. Privacy and Security
Site 1: Australian High Tech Crime Centre http://www.ahtcc.gov.au/
Site 2: The Center For Internet Security http://www.cisecurity.org/
Concept 5. The mobility of electronic digital data
Outline
“Email and similar forms of asynchronous communication carry with them the possibility for rapid, efficient, almost invisible 'multiplication' of the addresses to which communication is being sent. Functions such as carbon copying, forwarding and so on enable the most rapid form of communication 'expansion' - bringing other people into communicative circuits - yet seen. It is very easy, with forward for example, to simply 'pass on' information without processing it or, without processing the dynamics of the communicative relationship between you and the forwardee or without realising that you are establishing a third relationship - between the original sender and the final recipient.
Moreover, once people begin to use email and realise that information can be copied and forwarded very easily, there is a tendency for this 'mobility of data' to become a cultural given in which, routinely, we include more people within circuits of communication than are necessary; or include them in ways that are inappropriate.” (Curtin University n.d)
“Another complex aspect of the ‘mobility of data’ can be seen in the way internet users routinely send each other URLs. The addresses, or reference points, of Internet information are incredibly mobile, then. But, to exploit this mobility requires a little work prior to sending, or after receipt. For example, sending URLs to work colleagues without any ‘contextualising’ information is not very useful. You can assist recipients of your URLs by briefly indicating why it is being sent, what is ‘behind’ the URL, and how useful it might be. You should also recognise that passing URLs around may be less effective than passing around summaries of information or comments. For example, would you prefer to receive a short précis of an important article 9and the URL) or just the bare URL? While the ability to move data rapidly and simply, and the cultural sensibility of constantly forwarding and sharing information, is to be valued, it does have certain problems.”(Curtin University n.d)
Response
Introduction
The mobility of electronic digital data is something that all users of email should be aware of and develop practices as how they produce, transmit, receive and manage the data so as to provide the best outcome for the purpose of the data. This can be not only email as highlighted in the outline above but can also be graphic images, software, document files and video. Some of the considerations and not all are security, readability, meaning and purpose that are defined by an etiquette that is acceptable to others. As time constraint play an important part of how we communicate via electronic digital data it is easy to develop habits that unless criticise continues and not provide the intended communication.
Details
Electronic digital data can be produced by 1000's of different software applications that try to make the effort of producing electronic digital data easy on the user. Some software achieves this and some do not. Competition in the market provides means of updated software to perform tasks better however almost all software will not perform every detail on behalf of the producer. An example of this is spell checking. Although a valued tool can not correct miss spelt words that may be spelt correctly but used in the wrong context known as homonyms as the sample in the table below shows.
-
Homonyms
you're | your
they're | their | there
its | it's
Rhetoric Butler | Rhett Butler
except | accept
prejudice | prejudiced
allot | a lot
that | then
no | know
weak | week
to | too | two
brake | break
who's | whose
lessen | lesson
hear | here
forth | fourth
seam | seem
buy | by
board | bored
affect | effect
Table 1: Similar words that are spelt different with different meanings (Wilkes University)
The problem been as Alan Cooper writes in his web page “I consider homonyms to be the prime numbers of the English language. Like primes, they cannot be predicted by any rules of grammar or diction. In the way that you can't search the number line for primes, you cannot systematically search the dictionary for homonyms. You just have to find them, like Easter Eggs in the dictionary.”(Cooper, 2008) Poorly produced data may not only end up in the hands of the intended but can also be viewed and used by many thought the rapid distribution methods of networks and fixed and mobile device that deliver the data.
The intended audience may not be the original audience that the data was produced for. To forecast that audience may take some experience or study into that audience to insure of the desired outcome. If you are producing the data to business, youth, children, academics or others, will any other person identify that the data was produced for that intended audience. This could be in the form of text explaining the intended audience for the data as you now see often in email documents.
Conclusion
There are several references on the internet about how you should produce certain types of data and offer suggestion on how you would go about producing the data to a standard and most are very similar in detail. The important thing is when you produce mobile electronic data is to establish your own etiquette that achieves the desired outcome of communications to the standard of the intended audience.
Annotations
Site 1: Email Replies.com http://www.emailreplies.com/ (Email Replies,2008)
Email Replies .com is a simple site providing practical advice on email. The home page provides advice on net etiquette that is easy and straightforward to understand. It is an ideal website as a starting point for people who may wish to get a basic understanding of how to manage email for a corporate environment. It is referenced and a page for further reading and books that are written on the subject linked to Amazon.com. This site may be set up so sell books for Amazon but has very useful information including links to article and other web sites on the subject.
Site 2: Netmanners http://www.netmanners.com/
Netmanners is a more comprehensive site to that of the EmailReplys.com and would suit some one who wishes to go into netetiquette in more depth. Email Etiquette 101 gives you 101 email etiquette rules and also has a user blogs, news letter, books and articles. This is a very professional web site that has laid out similar to what you would find for a newspaper web site. After reading a couple of articles makes you feel it is has developed some of the 101 rules from the feed back from its user group or visitors been critical about their email. There is some good reading on the site and well worth a visit if you want to learn more on the subject.
Concept 17. The impact of text-based real-time chat
Outline
“You might think that, with the widespread availability of telephones, an internet-based system of real-time communication involving the typing of text messages would be hardly used, or at least, of little relevance. You would be wrong. Real-time internet-based text chat is a significant part of contemporary internet use. The question then to be asked is: what is the difference here that makes this mode of communication popular; and then what impact does it have of the kinds of communication and social interaction that take place?
Setting aside cost the main differences are
that you can imagine yourself with others in a public space
that your use of text provides a different form of communication, more 'fictive', more controlled, and still very expressive, but also one that enables you to monitor and reflect on the forms and meanings of communication, including your own
you can have multiple conversations without apparently being rude (including both public and private ones) “(Curtin University n.d)
“Whether this effect of real-time communication will survive the rush towards AV conferencing is a moot point. However, a skilled Internet user will appreciate that text is, in some circumstances, a highly effective mechanism for communication. In particular, because text can be captured so much more easily than speech, it provides a mechanism for preserving and reflecting on conversations.”(Curtin University n.d)
Response
Introduction
On-line chat provides a method of communication all over the world that enables people to come together and communicate their ideas and values though text. Users have developed relationships with new people and learned more about other cultures than was ever possible before chat was invented. The first major break through was ICQ “established in June 1996 under the name Mirabilis. The founders were four young avid-computer users in their twenties - Yair Goldfinger, Arik Vardi, Sefi Vigiser and Amnon Amir.” (ICQ, 2008) Today ICQ is still one of the most popular chat applications on the net with “more than 700.000.000 messages sent and received every day” (ICQ Numbers, 2008). Apart from privacy and security issues chat continues to be a vital part of every day life of millions of users. The relationships built by on-line communities through nothing more than text has seen intimate relationships developed even some as far as marriages across the world. There are a number of web sites devoted to counselling these days for people who may find themselves in cyber relationships. Does this make on-line text chat a dimension of communication that has more power than most would conceive?
The Power of Chat Text.
Text chat brings with it some communication power that can be emotional. “Three factors are presented in social information-processing theory that influence interpersonal relationships within computer-mediated communication CMC. First, people are naturally motivated to build an affiliation with others. Second, over time, CMC users develop the skills to decode textual cues to form interpersonal impressions. Finally, individuals that communicate through these technologies adapt strategies for attaining psychological-level knowledge within this new environment” (Yifeng Hu, Jacqueline Fowler Wood, Vivian Smith, Nalova Westbrook, 2004)
Could it be that business can use this personnel relationship through text to develop business relationships with their clients? An example would be that a real-estate salesperson could use chat to develop relationships with buyers and seller. The buyer and seller would be able to ask question of the salesperson online and do most of the work in the office. Company such as Dell Technical Support Service are using chat for customer service.
Conclusion
As this article has little room to go to much depth on this subject an in-depth study on how the relationships that is developed through chat can be of commercial value to both consumer and business would see some new and innovated idea come to the internet. Take for an example a commercial traveller who is selling merchandise to a regular clientele. Now the salesperson would maybe phone the customer to make an appointment get in the car and travel to the client and take an order and then process the order thought the internal system. Through chat the salesperson could contact the customer, provide a link to the new catalogue items, make a suggested order and confirm the order with multiple clients within a few minutes.
The world of instant replies on how to get your broken iPod or you is your new washing machine working. A commercial traveller may some day do his travelling from the computer through chat. An instant message may be all that is needed rather than a face to face sales call.
Annotations
Site 1: http://www.chat-zone.com/
Chat zone is a chat room where people can meet new people through the internet in a java based application with no downloads. You do not have to register to chat just enter a nickname and your in. No email address is used or any other form to identify you only you need to confirm your Date of Birth. The site is has six Chat rooms catering for general chatting to adult content. One chat room for younger teens and when I entered the room and place my DOB as January 1st 1959 I was able to enter the room with no restrictions. You would have to be concerned about that as these are suppose to be children between the ages of 13 and 15 but the software did not filter out a 50 year old.
The site is simple and easy to understand and is moderated but I can not see how this would stop anyone lurching on other in this site. They have a couple of banner ads on the site that look like their just affiliate adds. The ads that shake and are suppose to get your attention. The site claims it has been running for just over one year and has hundreds of members. With a domain name like chat-zone.com you would think that it would have been a lot more commercial. A good team of developers and marketers may love to take this site on but until they claim they have millions of users then they will remain a small chat site.
You would only recommend the site to some one who was very comfortable with chat rooms to use the site as there would be some concern as to the legitimacy and validation of the users.
Site 2: http://www.communities.com/
Communities.com is a similar web site to Chatzone only you need to become a member to participate and then you select a community that you’re interested in. Most communities looked at were requesting that you ask to be invited to join the community. You can however create your own community. This is great if you have a special interest group that you want to bring together with instant messaging and chat room. The software is very functional and provides easy navigation. The site may have problems competing with the big players like Face Book but have always have hundreds of users online. By joining a community you get to meet people of similar interest as you.
Concept 22. Public space and regulation
Outline
“Originally, Usenet was a very useful place for shared communication because the only people using it were, by and large, committed to the maintenance of the system and were careful (mostly) to observe rules of good practice. As the size of the Internet grew however, Usenet has become increasingly 'uselessnet' with its news groups deluged by spam and inconsequential 'noise'.
What we can learn from this history is that public spaces often operate best when there is some form of regulation: who can speak, what sorts of things can be said etc. For example, binary files (mostly pictures) are very much larger than text files. Hence, some newsgroups ban binaries so as to ensure that people downloading the newsgroup's contents are not paying for very large data transmissions. These bans are only partly successful, but indicate that - in pursuit of a useable communication system in public, regulation is sometimes appropriate. Of course, the question then becomes: who decides and how. (Something for you to think about).”(Curtin University n.d)
“Advanced Internet users are alert to regulatory processes in public discussion and ensure that they do not break them without good cause.”(Allen, n.d)
“One could make similar comments about the vast number of websites: who is regulating all that content to see if it is acceptable, accurate, up-to-date etc. No one is, frankly. Aside from some regulation of ‘obscene’ or ‘illegal’ content in some countries, the Internet is a very unregulated publishing space.”(Curtin University n.d)
Response
Introduction
Regulated Internet has been hotly debated all over the world since its inception but the highlight of the internet that made it what it is today is the freedom that user have had to do any thing in what has been a very unregulated environment or so it seems. This freedom however has seen many attempts by governments and user to control the internet and to day the new threat is large telecommunication companies in America trying to gain control though regulation. (Save The Internet, 2009).
Argument
You could argue however that the internet has its own controls as far as moderated by content providers and restriction of use. Example would be the use of a web site like MySpace where they have terms and conditions of use and if you do not comply they will delete your account. Newspapers will not publish comment on article unless they approve it first and YouTube publishers have the ability to bloc and delete comment other user may put on their content. Self regulation of the internet has worked for many years.
Government role
Government and Policy makers have a role to play in the legal aspect of internet content with issues like Copy right, Privacy laws and anti competition laws.
Lawrence Lessig whom is an avid campaigner about the freedom of the internet claims “the protocol of the internet architecture is the limitation to government regulating the internet. These architectural features of the Internet mean that governments are relatively disabled in their ability to regulate behaviour on the Net”. (Lessiq, 2000) China is probably the most interesting case of internet control Tsui Lokman thesis Internet in China: Big Mama is Watching You conclude that “The current measures are quite effective in preventing users from accessing prohibited content and the government is certainly not powerless in its effort to control the internet”. (Lokman, 2001) The main threat to people in the western world with regulated control of the internet is the government and main players control over service providers. Company like Google who have control over search results to generate revenue from sponsored hits and telecommunication companies who wish to control the bandwidth to non subscribing content providers hold the biggest threat to the freedom of content on the internet. “But as Google’s influence has grown, some website owners have begun to see Google rankings as a right, not a service.” (Crossfield, 2009)
Conclusion
If you can only access paid content on the internet and the only information you get from the internet is what is dictated by big brother then the future advance to new technology will be limited to what Big Brother provides us. If what you get on the internet is the same paid content you get on television or newspapers then this may be the doom of the internet as we know it. Regulators need to be very conscious of the outcomes in any attempts to regulate the internet.
Annotations
Site 1: http://www.savetheinternet.com/
SavetheInterenet.com is a political site set up by “Free Press who is a national, nonpartisan organization working to reform the media”. (Free Press, 2008) The purpose of the site is to raise awareness and supporter for a campaign against the telecommunications giants wanting the American Congress to change legislation in giving them control over the internet. The site has plenty of content to explore what the history behind this campaign and where they are now with the upcoming change in government. There is some very good blogs on the subject and any one who is interested in the subject would find the site very informative.
Site 2:http://www.efa.org.au/
This web site Electronic Frontiers Australia “EFA” provides some great resources to both Australian and international issues in control, regulation and censorship of the internet. It is well ran web site with all the issue surrounding Internet censorship and regulation. The EFA have a vocal voice in Australia about Internet regulation and other issues and provides some good links and articles. With the Current Australian Government pushing ahead with censorship laws on the internet EFA is a major objector to the proposition. “Electronic Frontiers Australia Inc. (EFA) is a non-profit national organisation representing Internet users concerned with on-line freedoms and rights” (EFA, 2009)
Concept 26. Privacy and Security
Outline
“The Internet’s great strength is its openness. It would not flourish, nor work efficiently if it did not encourage people to share material, and to identify themselves for the purposes of networking people as well as computers. However, as a consequence, Internet users are vulnerable to various threats. They are, principally:
viruses or other malicious programs, sent as attachments (most common) or as part of mail messages that contain HTML (growing in occurrence), or as files via real-time communications (also common) channels, or within pages served to a web browser (rare but possible)
offensive, objectionable or unwanted content (generally known as SPAM), almost always via email but also through messaging systems
the collection of personal data that is used either to further in the previous two problems or for other malicious or commercial ends.
But advanced Internet users know that, even without resorting to extensive and complex methods involving encryption, secure networks and the like (most of which are expensive, time-consuming and require detailed technical assistance), they can protect themselves by carefully guarding their personal data and only ever giving out information when absolutely necessary. Even then it is possible to subvert the system. For example at a website where you are registering for a free email newsletter, you might be asked your email address and some personal data for marketing. Obviously your email address must be given – but you can set up an anonymous account with hotmail or similar free mail provider and use that instead. Your personal details (age, location, gender etc) can be falsified.”(Curtin University n.d)
“The Internet is a profoundly ‘open’ system and advanced Internet users are cautious about either accepting or sending material from and to unknown sources and are careful in releasing information about themselves in any form. Conceptually, the Internet challenges us to take greater responsibility for the protection of privacy and security than perhaps we are used to when dealing with the media.” (Allen, n.d)
Response
Introduction
Feeling secure on the internet has long been a problem and becoming involved in online communities often requires you to take precautionary measures to avoid your privacy and security. The question is how ever are we really able to use the internet anomalously or is this impossibility. Mathew Tanase blog on the Register says “the answer of course is, it depends.” (Tanase, 2005)
Been Anonymous
“Anonymiser Company provides a service called Enterprise Chameleon that distributes dummy IP addresses to users within an enterprise to use when they visit a web site anonymously”. (Stairs, Reynolds, 2008, p.187) However Tanase claims “the catch-22 with any proxy are the log files. While the destination machine never sees the client it is truly interacting with, the proxy certain does and records this interaction in a log file.” (Tanase, 2005) If you just take your favourite search engine Google it uses statistical data to profile your use habit and you only need to search the Internet to find hundreds of blogs on the subject. Every time you do anything on Google site it is recorded. Google knows who your friends are from your address book. What you like to buy from your searches, you’re on line collaboration habit from Google Docs. You may not be concerned about this collection of data but just imagine if Google is using this to sell you your next book. Rather than sending you to Amazon they may send you to bookstore.com where the book is a higher price but they get a better commission from the purchase. All the social network sites are also collecting huge amounts of data on your Internet habits. FaceBook is one that you may find harmless but in fact has an enormous profile of their users. The database knows your friends, your favourite applications, what groups you belong to, your political views and even sexual preferences. We trust these providers with this information every time we use their services and would hope that it’s secure and used for your benefit and not theirs.
Security
The problem of security would have to be the main concern. “There is a saying in the security community that says 'Services can be fast, cheap, or secure "choose two"”.(Burhan Syed,2008) The relationship of this data collection to you is very personal in that it can target market to you products and services based on your activity on the internet. Have you seen the ads where you’re offered to meet a new partner near you? The site guesses your location through your IP address. There is software like whois that knows where your ISP (Internet Service Provider) is and then can target the advertisement to your location.
Conclusion
When joining a new Web Service like Facebook some people advise you open a free email account with service like gmail or hotmail. This does provide you with some level of protection from scammers and spammers but you are still vulnerable to invasion of privacy from your IP address.
Tanse recommendation is “the use of someone else's Wireless Network is the he method to remain anonymous on the internet”. (Tanase 2005) Although you can take steps to minimise the impact the real answer will be in technology but to date no body has found a real answer to this.
Annotations
Site 1: Australian High Tech Crime Centre http://www.ahtcc.gov.au/
The AHTCC provides a nationally coordinated approach to technology enabled crime. “Its brief is to combat serious and complex high tech crimes, especially those beyond the capability of a single jurisdiction”. (AHTCC, 2008) This web site is ran by the Australian Federal Police 'AFP' and provide some excellent information about how criminals work on the Internet and what action you should take if you if you become involved with someone on the Internet that does not seem right. As a resource the information is accurate and up to date and a lot of new information about using the Internet from AFP prospective.
Site 2: The Center For Internet Security http://www.cisecurity.org/
“The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a non-profit enterprise whose mission is to help organizations reduce the risk of business and e-commerce disruptions resulting from inadequate technical security controls” (CIS, n.d)
This web site is somewhat technical for those who wish to set up a secure internet environment with guidelines on the sets needed to secure you Personnel Computers and servers. The information is reliable as the contributors are industry professionals. The benchmarks on Internet security are published free to download however they do encourage you to become a member. System Administrators of computer networks would gain a lot from this web site and be a part of the fight on Internet security.
Cited
Dell Technical Support Service
Big Brother Reality TV show
References
AHTCC, 2008,'Home', viewed 3rd January 2009 ,From http://www.ahtcc.gov.au/index.htm
CIS, n.d,'Charter', viewed 4th January 2009 ,from http://www.cisecurity.org/charter.html
Curtin University of Technology, n.d,”Concepts Document”
Electronic Frontiers Australia, 2009,'', viewed 2nd January 2009, from http://www.efa.org.au/about/
Free Press, 2008,'About Us', viewed 2nd January 2009 ,from http://www.freepress.net/about_us
ICQ, 2008,'The ICQ Story', viewed 2nd January 2009 ,From http://www.icq.com/info/story.html
ICQ, 2008,'ICQ Numbers', viewed 2nd January 2008 ,From http://www.icq.com/info/icq_numbers.html
Save The Internet, 2009,'FAQ', viewed 2nd January 2008 ,From http://www.savetheinternet.com/=faq
Stair, R. & Reynolds, G., 2007 Fundamentals of Information Systems, Forth Edition, Thomson Course Technology, Massachusetts, USA. p.187
Wow Chriso - I better get a move on!
ReplyDeleteYour assignment is finished!!!!
Congratulations by the way!!!
Will let you know when mine is uploaded,
Tess
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteYour assessment looks amazing, I am still in the early stages of mine....Wanted to say a HUGE thank you for sending me an email from my web page. It worked (obviously). Thanks so much for your advice and encouragement, much appreciated.
An amazing work. Read it and learned from it. Well done
ReplyDelete