Social Networking and Virtual Worlds

Virtual worlds can be used for both entertainment and in the business world. Virtual worlds are created in order to give the user a fantasy world in which the user can be whatever they want that may not be possible in the real world. Based on the article "IBM Learning Programs Get a ‘Second Life", IBM has created a virtual world that is used to conduct employee orientation and mentoring. This simulated world will work just like in the real world, but give employees a more fun and different experience. IBM employees can be able to interact with each other in the virtual world, even if they are miles apart in the real world. Employees can wear anything from a business suit to a Halloween costume in the virtual world. This creates a more at ease environment for the employee. IBM has created a virtual world that is used to conduct employee orientation and mentoring.

Virtual worlds can bring many people from different parts of the real world into one world, where a person can become anything he/she wishes to be. Virtual worlds may have a dark side in the sense that maybe in the future people will depend on these types of worlds to much. Human interaction in the real world in my opinion is one of the things that make us human and part of life; virtual worlds make it easier to interact because the people are not face to face. But face to face interaction has the human aspect to it because mental and physical emotions play a part in the interaction. Just as the makers Webkinz created a virtual world for their product, in which the user can buy certain items like lip gloss, clothing items, etc; i believe virtual worlds will evolve into a tool used in business to conduct business meetings, as a entertainment factor and as a way to distribute information around the Internet and world.

Term Topic: New Media and the Distribution of Music

My topic for my term project is:

"New Media and the Distribution of Music"

Music has always been a love for me. The way music is being distributed to the public has dramatically changed in the last 15-20 years. I still remember when i was younger and my father would play his "old records" and i thought that technology was ancient. From their cassettes were introduce, then CD's and then MP3 files. Certain artist do not distribute a hard copy CD anymore, but as a digital CD which can be bought and downloaded onto the computer. People can also buy songs and complete albums online via itunes or any other website. This technology has changed and i will try to explain how much change it has really gone through and how it benefits the public and artist in my research.

CIS New Media

This course is a "fresh class" in the sense that we discuss topics that are fresh and innovating and are part of our everyday lives. My definiton of New Media is any kind of technology used at the present point in time in any aspect of our lives is considered New Media. Based on www.webopedia.com, the definition of New Media is "in relation to “old” media forms, such as print newspapers and magazines, that are static representations of text and graphics. New media includes:

• Web sites
• streaming audio and video
• chat rooms
• e-mail
• online communities
• Web advertising
• DVD and CD-ROM media
• virtual reality environments
• integration of digital data with the telephone, such as Internet telephony
• digital cameras
• mobile computing"

New Media can not be summed up into a one sentence definition, but into a list of technology that is being used and developed today. A ipod may be considered new media at this point in time but in the next 10 years it will be considered old media for the present people.

Introduction

Well my name is Daniel Canelo, but most of my friends call me Nelo(last 4 letters of my last name)....it's a name that stuck to me since i was about 15 and i've accepted it as my own. Im currently a Junior at Baruch College, im mayoring in CIS. I was born and raised in Bronx, New York, and my parents are from the Dominican Republic. I consider myself to be very "Dominican", in the sense that im very proud of my background. I love music. Music is my life. Without music life would be pointless and dull.