Course Evaluation

This class has been a very interesting, getting to learn not only what others do on the internet but what I my self am capable of. Communication online has its good side and its bad side(s), learning more about them was intriguing. I was a bit worried when I first signed up for this class because I am not a strong writer but I love to talk. Seeing the amount of postings and responses needed for the class I was fearful of my ability to stay up with the class. But I found with everything outlined ahead of time and the reading was not boring or hard to read, I was able to keep up for the most part. The class seemed more based on the interaction we, as classmates had with our postings and responses then again with our blogs and responses to them and our follow ups to comments on our blogs. As an online student this class represents what online classes are all about. To be able to communicate with other students about a subject within a time frame during each week of class, so responses can be posted is normal for online classes. Also structuring your own time so you have read the materials and have a good grip of the subject so you can hold these internet conversations and keep up with others is also a needed ability for this class and online classes. This class requires that you keep up with both the reading and the communication, which makes you as the student structure your week so you are prepared for class deadlines. I enjoyed this class because I got to meet new students who are from different backgrounds and programs at Oregon State, and I was accepted as a student just the all the others. Being a returning student who is a bit older then most of my classmates can sometimes put up road blocks in communication because people are uncomfortable talking about stuff or may not understand what I might be talking about(or I might not get what they are talking about). I am not that old but when I let it out that my daughter is a student on campus at Oregon State they figure I am a bit older then they are. So being accepted with out prejudice was very nice. Thank you to all of you who I spoke with (posted, responded, or blogged with), and thank you to not only our instructor but the university for offering this class, I really enjoyed this term.
Casey

Internet in the News

The use of the internet to distribute Pornographic materials has been happening for years and the nature of these materials has legal constraints to them. Distribution of child pornography is illegal and punishable by law. This has in now way stopped these sick individuals from obtaining and trafficking these photos and materials. Just this last week there was a bunch of arrests made of people who were distributing child pornography online. One of those arrests was here in Oregon this is only a drop in the bucket when it comes to stopping this problem. The World Wide Web is just that world wide and in some places it is not illegal (or is not stopped by police), this opens the door for these individuals to gain and traffic more illicit photos. There have been some real high profile cases in the news over the last few years; like the man who said he killed the young JonBennet Ramsey, just to be extradited back to the United States to then find he was not telling the truth, he just did it to get out of charges he was facing overseas. Then there was the coach from South Salem High School in Salem who was pleaded guilty last summer of sending and receiving illegal photos of girls and boys. He admitted to sending and receiving photos while he was coaching students at the school. No comment has been made to whether or now any of the photos were of students he coached or students from the school he was at. The FBI has developed a group of agents who actually spend time searching the World Wide Web for deviant internet porn, tracking and searching for those people who are involved. Several laws have been put in place to like the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which was violated first amendment rights. By the media coverage given to these arrests shows there is a news interest; or at least the news planners think we as viewers want to know about this. I understand we need to know when the people who commit these crimes are school teachers, clergy, medical professionals or political figures because these people are in direct contact with either our children or are making decisions that affect our futures. What we as citizens do with this information are where the real change will happen. If we ignore these criminals who distribute or take these photos and those child predators that molest young children and then get away with it because the legal system doesn’t want to proceed with charges, we are tacitly approving this behavior. A different story all together is the prosecution of the predators and those who help them stay out of the legal system. The articles I used to form this are the news story about the arrests this week, also an article from the Oregonian http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/12/exsouth_salem_coach_gets_priso.html and then this web site http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20050923-5346.html

WILD CARD

Wild Card
So this story is from a few years back.
I had AOL DSL at the time so the service included the ability to have multiple screen names. We let other family members have these names because one of them can be online while we are online via DSL. It allowed one dial up access at a time, so each family member who had dial up had to work with each other so they didn’t boot the other family members who might be online. But this is a different story. So my niece had a screen name through our account and she had computer troubles. The person she had fix her computer had her save her password for her internet so he could see what was wrong. The person logged in and changed her password and then saved the new password so she didn’t know it had been changed. He then used his own computer with her screen name and AOL service to launch an email attack on people and companies. AOL shut down our internet service and locked out all of our screen names because of the attacks. We were able to regain our service and lock out that screen name so the person could not continue. My niece was able to figure out who did when she was told by AOL the times the assaults were launched. She was at work and her boy friend and his buddy (the computer repair guy) were either hanging out or playing online games at the buddies’ house. These attacks were upwards of 1000 emails sent to others at one time to fill inboxes and overload servers. AOL didn’t say that any of the emails were threatening but several were offensive and graphic in nature. Lesson learned is that when you have passwords saved on your computer and you let other people have access to your computer you run a risk of then gaining control of your password protected information or services. In this instance the predator changed the saved password so the user didn’t even know it had been changed. Then he was able to do his damage when he was ready and she was the one blamed for the problem. This was a few years back when this kind of stuff was happening (pre 9/11/2001). So to protect my self I always change my passwords that I have saved before and then after I have someone work on my computers. I also try not to let people I do not know use my computers, because someone can hack into my computer and do damage later. This holds true for those who use internet communities or sites that you log in to use. Someone can access what you have on MySpace or Face Book and make changes to your page and mess with your friends’ pages. My daughter made the mistake years ago of accessing her Neopets web page from another person’s computer and either didn’t log out or let them see her password so they stole all of her points and pets. So; just as a note internet security is not just a spam blocker or the little lock in the lower corner or virus software it is how much information you are willing to give out and how you protect yourself by your actions. EBAY warned users about ghost pages that look like the EBAY log in page but they are not so you are giving someone else your information. The email tells of things to look for like the www. Address should be there site and you will only be directed to log in pages through certain actions so if you are directed and have not done one of these functions you should leave EBAY and return through the front page.

Casey

Interview

I interviewed three people who I know and are in the different age groups. My subjects were my daughter who is 19, my mother in-law who is 61, and my wife who is 37. I decided on these three because they have some computer skills and have been exposed to the internet; also it is a good look at how 3 generations of women in the same family are effected by technology.

What are their primary uses of the internet? (61<) I use the internet for surfing, communicating with family and friends (36-60) School work, and to stay in contact with family, shopping, playing games. (18-35) I use it for school work, to contact friends and family, and to do some shopping, playing games, posting online stuff to MySpace and face book.

How comfortable are you with communicating on the internet? (61<)Not very comfortable, getting more use to it the more I use it. (36-60) Very comfortable I do most of my communicating with family online so sending email and posting stuff to our family MySpace page is normal for me. (18-35)I am extremely comfortable with communicating online.

How have changes in technology changed the way you live your life? Are these changes better or worse then before? (61<)I have to put a piece of tape on the VCR to block the flashing clock, and a piece of cardboard to cover the bottom of the TV screen to block the scrolling text. Soon I will loose TV broadcasting if I don’t have cable. If there is an error on the computer I have to get one of my kids to come figure it out. Worse because life has changed and the old ways are gone. (36-60) I am becoming a hermit, can order pizza online pay for it and have it delivered. Play games at home, work from home, can communicate with family at home. Don’t have to leave the house. It is better for me because I don’t like to deal with people. (18-35) there is not very much of a change because I have grown up with it. I am faster typing then with out it but my spelling is not as good with out spell check. Better because I don’t really know what it is like with out it.

What do you think of the internet? (61<) It is Interesting there is lots of stuff to learn and it is fun to email and chat with family, makes it easier to stay in contact with them on a regular basis. (36-60) Love the internet. (18-35)Really like it, need more ways to connect to it.

Have you made purchases online? (61<) No. (18-35) Yes, musical instruments, books for school, EBAY. (36-60) Yes, EBAY, Netflix, Books, school Classes.

I really enjoyed seeing the differences in the generations and how much the internet has influenced each of them. My mother in law has been connected at work for her job but on and off at home for years. We just helped her get back online after about a year of not having internet. And yes I do get the calls to come see what the error(s) are and sometimes they are really simple ones but with an older computer you get lots of fun errors with new programs not being able to run on this old of machine. I often find the computer and the power strip unplugged because she was frustrated with something and just pulled the plug. Also the differences with how each of them have integrated technology into their own lives; How my daughter has really not known life with out it and my wife has grown up with the changes and my mother in law has seen the changes and has only just begun to get involved with them in a personal basis, she has used computers at work for years. Also my daughter is very connected and always looking for new ways to be in the know, from phones, cameras, PSP (personal Sony Play station) and wireless laptops.

Community

Finding a community to join was interesting because there are so many to choose from. The search became more of what the community offered and what the make up of the community is. The things I might be interested in and subjects that I would like to chat or talk about. This narrowed the list of options and even limited my options. I joined several different groups because of a few points I was very interested in; 1. How disputes are resolved. 2. How the groups participants interact with each other. 3. The types of groups and the differences in participants and how you join and become a member. I made a choice and joined two groups I think have a large audience, AOL Hometown because even today they have more members then any other internet service provider and with each membership you are in the AOL Hometown. The other group (Talk City) I decided to just look and play as a guest because the groups were very tight nit and the members were in conversations with each other in the chat rooms and when you ask a question or comment the members would either ignore my post or I would only get a brief response from a member of the chat room. I found disputes are handled in much the same way between the two groups, although AOL has made some changes because of the new free service people who violate the rules have other options, in the past AOL could suspend the service of an unruly member. If there is a problem and it breaks one of the rules set by the terms of use agreement that you agree to when you join or log into for the first time, then there is procedures that are followed to deal with the dispute. In my searches I did find a group that was interesting and I watched the group for a few weeks before I joined. I wanted to see how disputes were resolved seeing as how the rules for the site are clear and the members break the rules all the time. The group is called “The Lost Diner” the main page looks interesting and the rooms sound very interesting. I follow a link to a room and find that members have filled them with Pornographic photos and links. I return to the rules page to read and find that the terms of use say that you agree not to post this kind of material and the administrators can not prevent it and they will remove it when they can. I can see how the administrators can keep up with the posts, because there are so many of them, but the majority of the posts are these kinds of postings. As of the time of this blog I have asked an administrator of the page how they deal with the mass quantities of pornographic material that is flooding the site everyday. I will post any update once I get a response from the administrator.


Casey

Research Paper

Research Paper
I decided to choose a subject that fit the class, which involves the internet and communication. I decided on internet crime because it is a topic we have discussed a little bit and I wanted to learn some more. So off to the library I went in search of sources for a research paper.
First thing is to explore the subject of internet crime and what is a crime one the internet, also how is it perpetrated by the internet user or internet predator. A crime that is committed on the internet could be as simple swiping a photo or logo from a web page, or just like with plagiarism steeling someone else’s work off of the internet. Or worse there is the use of internet web sites, email to spread viruses or worms to gain information from other users. Hacking as it is called where someone uses a computer to break into another computer, computer system, web site, or business to do harm. With this information I started my search. I found a limited supply of available sources that were available at my local library.
One thing I found was that for adults the internet subject was full of resources most of which were how to use the internet, or how to become more of a player in the internet world. There was not much about internet crime; the ones that were available yet checked out at the time were about how to let your kids be online and things to do to protect them. So I found my self in the teen and children’s section looking at books. There was a significant difference in the amount of sources available from the library and online. I separated the two when it comes to where I could get the information from since many libraries have online catalogs where you can access the same sources you do at home online. So I excluded those from my library search. The differences in information types between the two sources many of which were to same, magazines and publications were available (online not always as thorough) for the information, but it cuts down on the noise around It (advertisements in the pages of a magazine).
Going to the library is always interesting you have to pay to park, then if you go later in the day or evening you can avoid the petition drives. The driveway entrance is always interesting with congestion from entering vehicles and exiting vehicles, along with traffic just driving down the road. The big difference between sitting at home searching or going to the library where you get to walk, use stairs, bending stooping stretching, and in some places climbing to find sources. At home it seems simple and easy, sources at your finger tips, data mine online pages and articles, instead of reading books and pushing pages. I guess the exercise is and was good for me, and the cost of gas, and the parking meter really was not that much. Plus I was able to pick up books for other purposes outside of class, so the trip to the library was not bad. The changes in my life from the visit to the library were the chance to spend some time with my wife, and exercise.
Library resources
Always give a look at the Library of Congress reference book, just to get some ideas and other search words or topics.
Gordon, Sharon Mabry. “Downloading Copyrighted Stuff From the Internet Stealing or Fair Use?” Enslow Publishers Inc. Berkley Heights, New Jersey. 2005
Grant-Adamson, Andrew. “Crime and Detection Cyber Crime”. Mason Crest Publishers. Broomall, Pa. 2003
Eoghan, Casey. “Digial Evidence and Computer Crime, Second Edition”. Academic Press. San Diego, Ca (2004)
A few internet sources I found
http://www.fbi.gov/majcases/fraud/internetschemes.htm
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/internet_2_2001/
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/badguys/070416/top_10_internet_crimes_of_2006.htm
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/cybercrime/reporting.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_crime

Letters

Letters
Well, finding two people who inspired me, that’s not difficult because I can think of two people right off (both of my grandfathers) well that is where the problem falls, both are no longer with us. So I chose two people who helped me get to where I am at now. My mother because she echoed many of the things her father had said to me over the years and showed that yes he is correct a four year degree puts some distance between the two year degrees and separates you from those who don’t have a degree. First hand experience of actually having a job and a new boss feels you should have a degree to be in that position so you are let go. The second person was my brother because it was seeing him walk at his graduation from Oregon State that made me feel I could do it. I always dreamed of attending OSU and sitting there reading about attending school and how many credits and what you need really made me think about coming to school. Sending the letters is another big thing I have not shared my feelings or story with either of them up until now. The actual sending them was simple I just looked at the way each communicates with me the most and found other then the phone that email works for both, but I don’t have my brothers new home address so I emailed him, and sent the letter via the old mail system. The length of each letter was over 250 words each and the tone was thankful, yet complementary. Getting a response was not hard, my brother likes how he influenced me and made a difference in my life. Mom is just happy she has and her father has gotten through to me and that the door is almost open.

Casey

MySpace

I built a My space page for this class then I could not access it, so I fixed that. And here it is http://www.myspace.com/gobeavers2010. I didn’t put my real age just because, I didn’t feel comfortable but as time goes by I might change that. I don’t like to just put it all out there for every one to see, but I am not making things up and putting false personal info (other then age). I posted a photo for people to see, some might recognize me others will not. Truth in advertising and not putting to much personal information out for the world to see is that road block for me.
Several questions I face when I was deciding what to put on my page.
Why have a my space page (other then for class)? To meet people and keep friends and family informed of what is happening in my world.
How much is to much personal information, and where do I draw the line between true personal information and false? When you purposely place fake information about yourself is when it becomes false. Too much personal information is when you post enough information that someone could use to make identification or make purchases (steel your identity). This is my fear, that if I post too much info someone could either steel my ID or commit crimes against me or my family. I see people posting information that could be used to locate them and when they put information about travel or leaving home it just opens the door for house break-ins, or other crimes.
How can you protect your self from these kinds of threats? Keep your real personal information away from you’re my space or face book pages. Pictures are ok, but if you put your location (address, or city) you open the door for people to search you out. Be careful who you respond to online (email, instant messages) and be very careful what you put in responses, and what you down load.
I was uncomfortable when I first started building my page because I am not sure if I will make a page worth visiting and one that is not to revealing and open. I see how other people are constantly updating pages and putting information on what they are doing and how they are feeling at that moment. I don’t think I can keep up with that; I might be online and updating once a day not every hour. My previous experience with a web site was when I built a web page for me and my Jeep Wrangler, I joined clubs and web rings. I have not kept up my web page so the last updates are over a year ago. I will some time soon get in there and fix links and photos and add more current information. I just could not keep up with the page and keep updating and building. If you would like to visit it and see what I drive and see how a web page that has not been updated looks (all the dead links and photos that are not currently working).
http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/saturn/279/page1.html
Sorry I ramble and get off track,
Casey

You've Got Mail

The movie “You’ve Got Mail” shows how much people who are online can build a different personality of them selves and live a double life from their daily routine on Earth and the alter-ego in cyber space. In the movie both characters dive into alternative worlds in the communications (emails) between each other. Although they agree on a few rules in the emails where they don’t actually say what businesses they are in, they also only use screen names. This adds to the disconnection to their own worlds because they have become vague in translation and descriptions of themselves. This is where liberties are taken and truths are bent or fractured. When NY152 is talking with Shopgirl online about her business and the person she is having difficulty with (Joe Fox), NY152 tries to help her build her self esteem and gives her some business advice and insight. This was before Joe knew that Shopgirl was actually Kathleen Kelly, the shop owner his business was working to put out of business. When NY152 and Shopgirl decide it is time to meet and set up a meeting and Joe finds out that Kathleen is really Shopgirl he becomes intrigued and interested in Kathleen because he knows more about her and her personal feelings. His choice to play with Kathleen/Shopgirl for a while seems cruel and unfair but what I see is he (Joe) made an attempt to get Kathleen to fall for him for who he is, by gaining her personal trust and attention. This failed only because Joe set up another meeting with NY152 had he waited and not set the meeting I think Kathleen would have fallen for him. The feelings that both people shared for each other were built in the non-internet world and for Kathleen it was her dream that in the end Joe was NY152, for Joe he had fallen for her much earlier and both his worlds were the same only he had to make sure to keep both worlds apart (knowledge of what was said online) until he was told of it by Kathleen. This happens in the real world all the time part of that is because when you log into the internet for the first time with an internet service provider you set up a screen name and unless you are one of those who go online years ago and have your own name or close rendition of it you begin your internet life with a pseudo name. This is where it begins you become some one else, you make up a name that fits your feelings and personality for that given moment. Some become childish, others become a different person and act out on feelings or desires that they would not act out on in real life. Because of this new identity people never really know who they are talking to and then when they unexpectedly find out the person they have been chatting with online is their boss, or a coworker they are shocked and embarrassed because the two worlds have collided. I think in the real work this has added to some people developing split personality disorders and actual issues where the two worlds melt together and they almost become two different people and there is no line between worlds just between people (the internet frisky interesting person) and the (church going, child raising, wife, family person). People who when in real life they get around the people from one of the two worlds (life/internet) they become this other person either internet or real world person. I know someone who in the same internet session will send religious sites, and touching heart warming stories, and then links to all of the strippers, and dancers face book or MySpace pages.

Casey

Internet Abstinence

The assignment is to go 24 hours with out using the internet.

Bold and ready to show that going with out the internet for 24 hours would not affect me, I end my internet usage on Thursday. The assignment is for 24 hours of no internet usage which translates into no email, blogs, or instant messages. No searching for news or other information, or school work using the internet. I knew it would be difficult because of online classes. So I made a big push on my classes so I can go with out posting or needing to get online to check them during this period. To my surprise it was harder then I had envisioned, my internet dependency has increased and I have become very reliant on the internet. Personally it was interesting because you don’t really realize how much time you spend in front of a computer using the internet until you step away from it. Time filler was simple because of classes I chose to read materials for class. But then the things that you don’t really realize you depend on the internet for. I had social plans for the evening Friday and I needed to find out information before leaving home so instead of using the internet to look up needed phone numbers I had to dust off the old phone book and explore the pages to find what I needed. At work it was difficult to get through the day because most of our policies and procedures are now available online in our intranet (not internet) but the same thing, I had planned for this and if I could not get through the day with out looking something up I would start over. I was lucky and the only things that I would have needed to look up were still available in print form and I was able to find the needed fees and information for my customers, it just took a little longer. My employer has decided to no longer print and update printed policies and procedures manuals because of the cost involved with printing and inserting into notebooks. Our intranet has a very good design for searching and in most cases it is faster to find then in print form because you can search for what you need with common words or terms instead of what the rule is called in the paper form.
So the time ends, but is extended at the same time, I am able to get back online because the 24 hour period has ended but other things have come up (funeral, travel out of town) So I actually get 48 hours of no internet. By the time I am writing this I just got back online and have to mention that even though I stopped using the internet the internet didn’t stop, I have emails and messages that I have not read and have to respond too. And catching up with news online, sports scores and blogs takes time. I also see how dependent on the internet I have become looking up information and news, when I had to only use paper printed news and what is available on cable television I feel like I am out of the loop and all my knowledge is day old and it takes longer to get through all of the news and cut the extra information from the stories out and gain the true message of the story. Just look at the stories from the tornado in Vancouver Washington. The news stations had miss reported information and had posted warnings about tornados after the fact. So it took 2 days to get the correct information from the national weather service, which would be available online instead of waiting for the news stations to report it. It would take me just a few minutes to find out about the earthquake on the Oregon Coast instead of just a little note on the news.