Do we stay "the real us" in Cyberspace?

Everybody of us somehow once or more times was a part of a kind of a network society,a video game, a forum or just a site where we have to make our own profiles, choose nick names and avatars. In this way we decide how the others can see us, we chose the eyes they look through and create their general perception about us.

When we select our nick name in many cases we don't use our real name but names of our favourite person, movie personage , pet or just best-loved name we wish we had. Then we can include whatever information about us we want. For example, biography, date of birth, diaries, political and personal issues, photographs, address. We define who our friends and family are. And the questions here is " IS ALL THIS RIGHT?" You never know who have access to your personal data since we live in age where nothing is absolutely secure. There are hackers whose only purpose is to mislead people and use their records for illegal actions.

All of us always say "No, that will never happened to me" but we should take the precautions before it happens in real.( how to prevent from identity theft )


Another interesting fact is that we choose what we want to be according to the people who we will communicate with - our audience. For example, in MySpace we provide information about our music tastes, favourite singers and songs because we know that the others members of this site will search for people with the same music preference since Myspace emphasize on music preferences.On the other hand,  when we log on Facebook we supply the others with more personal information because we expect them to do the same in order to make friendships or to impress somebody. What is more, in pursuit of others' approval we even change personal information to fit in certain demands and requirements.
In other words, we change our "real us" in Cyberspaces sometimes purposely,sometimes unintentionally to present ourselves, to grab the others' attention or to deceive somebody. We put profile pictures, we link to sites and topics we are interested in, we publish songs and share our mood ( for example in Facebook ), we create a new version of ourselves, which embodies some of the characteristics we possess and the ones we dream to have.

Augmented Reality - What Does It Offer More to the Real World?

Today  we are fully surrounded by the technology. We cannot escape its impact on our everyday life.As a digital natives we get what we are offered for granted and completely use it. With the advance of the digital technology the reality is converged with a new , digital one.
Augmented Reality( AR ) - this is the new life. It combines in it the real world as we know it with the virtual one. We take part in this innovative way of thinking and perception of the world around us.
For example, there are special applications for your iPhone, which combine those two "realities" in order to facilitate us. ( Example of iPhone Innovation ) . This kind of convergence has been made with the aim that we can easily have access to necessary for us information with only one click on our phones.For example, we are able to find out where is the nearest restaurant,coffee,museum or theatre in a city we don't know.

It is , on the other hand, as the video says a bit contradictory ,because it is not possible to walk all the time with your phone in your hands and trying to observe the world around you.
Another implication of the AR is in most of the new computer games and they are absolutely engaged with this new reality. If the consumer wants to enjoy fully the game, he/she should wear special 3D glasses which enables the player to absorb in the game and forget about the surroundings. Moreover, games makers have created special gloves and suits, which enable the player to get into the game without sitting in front of the screen, but moving in order to run the character.

Furthermore, some advertisers use this method to familiarize the public with their products. It works very simple. The consumer needs just to put the right object in front of  the camera of the computer and it visualises  particular images on your desktop. ( AR in Advertising )
Augmented reality was used in the cinema since the late 1890s when a man called William Friese-Greene projected two movies at the same time and the audience had to look through a stereoscope to combine both projections. This early type of  3D was further developed and now we can enjoy the movies using those special 3D glasses.

  All these new generation technologies are made in order to improve the quality of life and make us fully enjoy them.

A Mobile Phone or a Personal Computer ?

Nowadays, the technology has made so rapid development that the new items we are offered converge two or more of the previous ones. In this way those, who we can call "old" , are out of use. For example, the generation mobile phones can offer the same as our personal computer, which wasn't possible with the first self phones at all.
Is this conception right? Let's look at it in terms of one particular site - Facebook. What can mobile Facebook gives you that the ordinary computer cannot and the opposite?

Firstly, we should consider the design of the site using those different means of technology.No matter with device you sign in Facebook , it is always painted in blue and white.These colours are used to hint that the site renders purity,security,innocence, peace and truth.When we use mobile Facebook we can see the logo of the site on the top left hand side. This information you can be received from the computer version as well. Then , right to the logo, we can see the main options that this particular site provides to its members. And here comes the differences between the two versions. While on the computer version you can see additional options and shortcuts on left, on the mobile version we cannot. What is more, the computer version shows all your friends publications whatever they are whereas the mobile one can expose all the applications available on this particular site.

Secondly, both versions have various functions. There are different games applications, which the user can open from the PC (Personal Computer) while many of them are locked for mobile phones ( except certain games such as FarmVille, which is accessible for IPhone ). The notifications are received in a form of a list from the mobile version and as little red balloons in the top left from the computer Facebook. There is a menu with options from the site that can be seen from the phone as well.

From the computer the user have access to Facebook chat which enables him/her to have a conversation with his friends. This functions is not approachable for phones.
Both versions give you the chance to upload pictures, videos from Youtube and post things on your wall.
To sum it up , both PC and Mobile Phone have their advantages and weakness. While the PC gives you a wider range of functions and possibilities, it keeps you home, in front of the computer. The Mobile Phone enables you to be in touch with your friends wherever you are with the only condition that there is Internet source.

Citizen Journalism - a New Way of Reporting the News

What is Citizen Journalism? It is a new phenomenon when ordinary people can take part in covering the news without being professionals in this area. In this way journalism is  not seen as a boring lecture but it lead the viewers,listeners, receivers of the information to participation in creating the news. There are special citizen journalism sites where everybody can edit, comment and put further materials about certain topic. Moreover, they are accessible to everybody who have Internet all over the world. Examples of such sites that are made especially for the purpose of this new method of reporting the news are http://www.globalreporter.com/  , http://www.backfence.com/ , http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Main_Page . Youtube is also such site because it gives its members to upload whatever videos they want on various topics.
With the advance of the technology citizen journalism became even more popular. People have the necessary equipment to furnish the others with details about  a particular event. What is more, with this kind of journalism we give voice to the democracy because everybody feels free to say their own opinion, to express their view, to stick to certain believes without being afraid  or punished. Even in countries with severe regimes where the media is regulated by the government this kind of reporting the news becomes more and more popular among people, who yearn for neutral, unbiased news. Of course, there countries such as China which still does not count the citizen journalism news as legitimate source of information.
( Citizen Journalist Deported from China )
What is more, in cases of natural disasters many people accidentally become journalism when they send photos and video materials to the official media. Such is the case with the floods in Pakistan in 2010 ( How citizen journalism turned into the main source of information in Pakistan)


Some people may say that this kind of journalism cannot be trusted because non-professionals report the news. To a certain extend they are right, but in that way the news are more understandable and approachable to the public. All the information is served in a easy to comprehend language, with everyday words and phrases.

 I firmly believe that this kind of new way of collecting data will become more and more popular in the next years. In this way people will get more involved in the process of creating the news and will make them more authoritative, reliable,unbiased and closer to ordinary people.