The Cloud

Today on television I saw the first real introduction of the next step of technology. I saw the first real commercial for practical use of the “Cloud.” For most people the Cloud might cause them to think of the really lame Windows commercials where normal people go onto the cloud to do their work. When I watch that commercial I just think “Look at these people using an application on their computer that works well with other applications and syncs with the Internet.” In their attempt to educate the public about cloud technology they have completely confused everyone, even me who had an idea of what cloud technology is.

So what is cloud networking or cloud technology? The most basic way to explain it is to say that computers will no longer need hard drives. The hard drive of a computer stores all of the information that you save and stores the applications like Microsoft Word and Photoshop that you may want to run on your computer. So how do you even have a functioning computer without a place to save all of the work that you have done or run the applications that you need to have at your fingertips. The answer is in the “cloud” also known as the Internet or more specifically, the servers of your preferred operating system company.

Microsoft, Google, and many major companies have been creating new updating their operating systems so that you can access your computer no matter what computer you are on. Imagine being able to go over to your friends house and still be able to use your computer by logging into your account with Google. This is currently not possible because usually the information that is necessary is on your hard drive, but since Google keeps all of this information on their hard drive at their headquarters then you will be able access it on any Google device and an Internet connection.

There are two basic issues with this technology. I think the most obvious is that Internet is not available everywhere. However, with the widespread 3G and 4G technologies, this is becoming less and less of an issue. It may soon be true that hard wire connections to the Internet will become obsolete. Companies like Comcast might not farewell if computers and TV all receive fast Internet connections. This is still a little ways off, but the improvements in the technology and the wider spread acceptance of cloud technology make this more of a reality everyday.


Another issue with cloud technology is privacy. I personally will make sure that my future computing devices will have hard drives. Although I may not ever hold classified information, I do not really like that everything I work on, on my computer is available from anywhere. This means that any smuck on the Internet has as much ability to access my stuff as I do. There are plenty of clever hackers out there and this is a problem.

However, I doubt that any of these concerns will discourage anyone, because this is so great. The commercial that I recently saw showed a phone being connected to a computer and then the person could use their phone to do all of their work. This is the beginning of cloud technology!

24/7 Networking

The biggest concern for me about the Internet is the increasing loss of one’s self. Is it possible that through Facebook and Twitter and things like that that we are losing our individualism? We are all interconnected almost 24 hours a day. It used to be, less than two decades ago, that our home phones were the only quick and reliable way to contact someone else. Before that was Morse Code, before that was mail, and before that was seeing them in person.

I received a text message that woke me up at 3 am last night. And although it was from a good friend of mine, I did not want to be awakened by that. I started to get this feeling that even sleep, my only place for personal time, was being taken away from me. I can socialize, but I don’t want to be a social person in this modern society. I do not mind having a cellphone, because I can ignore a phone call or choose to respond to a text message later. But I have become uncomfortable with the introduction of Facebook and Skype and Places and the multitude of other ways of getting in contact with others. It is starting to feel like the social life is becoming more of a 24/7 job that I will have a harder and harder time getting away from as I get older. As companies become more and more aware they will start to introduce cross platform media and soon your television will tell your friends what shows that you are watching without you having a say in it.

With the introduction of the 24/7 social connection I feel that I have to represent myself more carefully than I would like to. On Facebook I have to worry about the types of pictures that get posted because it is likely to affect my future job endeavors. I have to worry, even if it is subconsciously, what people might think of me if they saw this or saw that. I am tailoring myself to look the best in public rather than being myself and letting people like me for being the messed up me that I am. We can choose who to be on the Internet and as we increase the amount of time and ways that we spend on the Internet it becomes more and more our reality and we lose what we really are. We lose all of those annoying things about ourselves that we hate and yet makes us who we are.

It would be impossible to be successful and yet shun all of this development. I think the only thing that can be done in preparation of this inevitable future is to recognize what is going on. That people are beginning to lose themselves on the Internet. Those who are able to control this intake and still be functional in the real world are the ones who will be the happiest.

Media Digest

1/17
Music - 7 Hours
Angel - 15 mins
Blog - 1.5 Hours
Reading - 1.5 Hours
Newspaper article - 3 hours
Email - 5 minutes
Texting - 30 minutes (25 texts)

1/18
Music - 45 minutes
Texts - 12 texts
Email - 15 minutes
Wall Street Journal - 15 minutes
Hulu - 1 hour

1/19
Hulu - 2 hours
Music - 30 minutes
Radio (91.1) - 1 hour
Gmail - 5 minutes
Wall Street Journal - 1 hour
Texts - 30 texts 45 minutes

1/20
Texts - 7 texts
Music - 5 hours
Radio (91.1) - 2 hours
Wall Street Journal - 10 minutes

1/21
Reading (Ethics) - 3 hours
Music - 1 hour
Gmail - 15 minutes
Photoshop - 30 minutes
Texts - 27 (45 minutes)


After cutting out Facebook my media consumption has become very bearable to look at. Had I still had a Facebook then these numbers would not be right. I would be logged onto Facebook at every moment that I was doing work on my computer and since most of my media consumption comes from the computer my total numbers will have doubled. What my media numbers now tell me and something that I have noticed is that I spend much less time on my computer. Any time I check my computer now I only check my email. If I have a lot of homework to do then I put on music and do my homework. Rarely I watch tv on Hulu to catch up on my favorite TV shows, but I no longer dwell infront of the screen to kill lots of time.

I think these numbers are relatively correctly for other people in my age group. The biggest difference would be the use of Facebook compared to my non use of Facebook. I would wager that 90% of my friends, when they are lounging on their computers, are mostly on Facebook and then surfing the internet on the side. My friends who are doing work I would wager are doing 75% school work and 25% Facebook. Maybe these numbers are inflated because I used to be addicted to social networks, but I do not believe that they are that far off from reality.

In regards to society and the use of the media around them Id say it varies depending on the person. My parents regularly use the internet to keep up with the news in India. To them the internet is a means to an end of getting information. However, the younger the person is and the earlier their use of the internet causes a change in their behavior towards the internet. It is more of a form of entertainment and time killer than to those who are older.

I can't say for certain that I would like to change anything in my media diet. Maybe increase my reading of books and reading of the Wall Street Journal, but otherwise I feel like I use the media to serve me and I don't serve the media too much.

Technology and Social Interaction

Facebook and social networking has had a negative impact on my life. With that being said I would like to highlight all of the benefits before I delve into what I think is wrong.

Social networking is a very good thing in theory and for the most part in practice. The invention of the cellphone has made it possible to be in constant contact with others and has also made life much safer. I remember being able to take the train by myself to school everyday in 7th grade only because I had a cellphone and therefore my parents didn't really have to worry about where I was. Social networking on the internet is even better in some ways. Now even if you're in a different country you're able to communicate with your friends and family very efficiently and cheaply.

However, I feel like social networking has made an negative impact on people who are the closest to me. Sometimes I will just talk to people on Facebook when they are merely a few houses from me. Some of these conversations amount to "We should hang out soon!" I feel like Facebook makes socializing with large numbers of people I know too easy and therefore meaningless. I already have those superficial conversations with many of my acquaintances as I pass them by around campus, I don't need to nor do I want to attend to those people on the internet. The last I checked I had 800 friends on Facebook. All of these people were only added if I had one good conversation with them (My personal qualification for "friendship"). But its not like I talk to all of these people on Facebook or even in real life on any sort of a regular basis. I just give them a means to stalk my life and easily contact me. I enjoy being in the real life presence of my friends. And I believe that a lot of kids are beginning to realize that and have started to reduce their use of Facebook, although usage it is still very high. I believe it will be a while before people become completely aware that they have begun to live a much more digitalized life. People do appreciate and see value in human interaction and so I do not think that there is worry about a completely digitalized interaction like in the movie “Wall-E”

There is nothing wrong with the use of social networks to meet new people in real life. I have recently begun to warm up to the idea of online dating. In the end they do in fact introduce you to a real life person and you will have an interaction. This interaction is really important and may or may nor develop into a relationship. I believe that this is a positive and forward moving step. The meeting of people on the internet forums and things of that nature are not good or not really that bad. I think it would be bad if emotions are invested into that relationship, but if there are not then there is nothing wrong with that. There needs to be a progress in the friendship into a real life relationship in the end for me to understand and approve fully of a online social interaction. That means that Facebook chatting with my friends from real life is not good. Because I have gone onto a negative path of human interaction.

I admit as a kid I was on social networks all of the time and therefore my tiredness and subsequent deletion of it comes mostly from that. Had I not deleted my Facebook a couple weeks ago I would be on Facebook right now as I was writing this blog entry.

It wasn't the superficial relationships that annoyed me because that is always avoidable. I gave up the far more important ability to stay in tune with my social surroundings and my far distance friends for more serious reasons. It was the idea that there was a database with all of my personal information and thoughts available on the internet. I do not know what that information could be used for and it is very possible that my information could be easily farmed. Someday in the future if I were to run for any sort of a public office there is a possibility that my opponents could “farm” for information about me and find some of the stupid stuff I wrote when I was 13. Another thing that disturbed me into deleting Facebook is that there shouldn't be a public business (when Facebook goes public next year) around my personal business. I do not think that this is a very safe idea. Companies not centered around people’s personal information already have a difficult time observing the rights of their users and so I have high doubts that a company that is based on personal information will not infringe on those rights sooner or later. However, I am not a fool and you can bet that I will be buying stocks and owning a share of the business that has to do with your personal business if you still have a Facebook account.

Social Networking

I still remember the day that I first got my AIM account in the 6th grade. My cousin who was in college made one for me and it was “Lakerboyjosh” or something like that. I used to go home and watch television or read books, but after I got AIM I started to occasionally log into my AOL dialup. It hadn’t gotten to the point where I would spend hours or anything drastic like that, but it was definitely the beginning to my obsession with the Internet. During the AIM era and before I still had no real use to be on the internet. Back in middle school and before the internet and computer for that matter was only useful as a tool to play video games. The computer wasn’t much different from my playstation, except that I had fewer games on my parents computer. Occasionally I would do some research with Google for some class projects, but being in middle school those kinds of projects were not often and did not necessarily require the internet.

The era when I began to frequent the internet and social media a lot was when I was in 7th and 8th grade with the beginning of Xanga. I would post some of the most foolish things on Xanga, like specifying how much I disliked some kids and I had made fake accounts with a friend of mine to post rude comments on some of the girls in our class’ Xangas. I definitely am not near proud of my behavior back then, but from my recollection I never did anything that I know of that would warrant my complete shame and banishment from society. However, a girl in a lower grade did get in trouble with our school for posting really dreadful and scary messages. I was called in and talked to because the school felt that I was the leader of everyone using Xanga. I still am baffled by what they meant and how they came to believe that I had anything to do with that situation. It’s not like I was organizing anything; however, it did occur to me that since I was one of the first people to adopt social media at my small middle school the kids who were after me would adopt my public behavior. 

It was then that I started to clean up my social media behavior. I had stopped using Xanga after that incident and began to use Myspace. It was not that popular in 8th grade, but once I entered into high school everyone was on Myspace. This was also around the time that I created a Facebook, although none of my friends who were my age had one. I remember there being so many kids from my high school on Myspace. I met a lot of kids through Myspace in high school because everyone would add each other. I still said foolish things on Myspace, but nothing I would really regret in the future. Back then I did not feel like Myspace was really unsafe and I’m not sure if Myspace collected information. I liked Myspace a lot but by the end of my sophomore year people had started to migrated to Facebook due to the influx of spam on Myspace.

Facebook was really interesting and I did spend a lot of time on it. I began to get tired of Facebook because it is really repetitive (I guess all of social media is) and there are some people that will always say hi to you on Facebook and never show up in real life. I’ve started to appreciate those who are in my life and talk to me face to face. That is one of my reasons why I deleted my Facebook. Those who need to contact me have my cellphone number and email and those who matter have always texted me anyways. My use of Facebook was a lot greater than anything else I did on the Internet and I started to feel like the only reason that I was on the Internet was to  be on Facebook. 

Also I don’t think that Facebook is good my future. I don’t want to have that much information available about me on the Internet and I am not comfortable with the idea that Facebook collects information from other sources like banks about me. Had Facebook stayed purely a social media entity with the ability to be the passport to the internet so that I didn’t have to log into every website then I would still use it. But I do not need to put myself at risk if someone were to hack Facebook.

If I had to categorize I would say that I would check my cell phone and email the most. I used to spend the most time on the internet while on Facebook, doing nothing. I don’t really want to do nothing on the Internet anymore.