Research Questions

1. How do online maps affect how one would plan for a camping trip?
Now people do not use hard copy maps, they look online and then if they really feel like it they will print something off to look at.

2. Why did people think they needed to make online and interactive maps and directions?
It is easier for scientists to process data in the field, as well as update existing data. There is also the fact that the average person is "too busy" to learn how to actually use a map, so they just look at their computer/phone.

3. How do GPS's work?
How did the scientits come up with the equations and everything to know where you are. Also, where did the money come from to put the satellites up in the sky?

better late than never...

1. The myth that feminism killed chivalry... more like saved equal rights! I really don't know how I'll research this... But there is plenty new media involved with this. Plenty of false perceptions goin' around.

2. I'd like to talk about the whole issue of midwifes vs. doctors. Or maybe it should be homebirths vs. hospital births. Why everyone has babies in hospitals, what its pros and cons are.

3. I'd LOVE to talk about the negative connotation connected with the term "feminist." New media has really influenced it and tied it to some false traditions. Media links fiminism with sexism, not okay.

New Media Issues

1.) Historical movies-Movies that portray historical events (such as "Glory") have actually had a positive effect on the learning of history rather than create a historically inept society.

2.) Internet gaming addiction-Yes, I know that I am kind of stealing this a bit from Chelsea but this is something that interests me too. I think it would be interesting to look into gaming addiction (to games such as World of Warcraft, Everquest, etc.) and research how the development of MMORPG's (Massively muiltiplayer online role-playing game) has impacted society. I don’t really know how to describe the new media connection though other than they are online games. (So literally as I was writing this Ty posted his as well, just in case anybody was wondering)

3.) Blogging-This would be focused around how blogging has either helped or hurt communication or writing. I could focus on political or personal blogs.

Hey you want to go on a virtual date!? :)

1. World Of Warcraft... I have never personally played this game but had plenty of missionary companion that did that filled me in more than enough! haha but really would be interested to see the effects this has one especially the raising generation and 1. obesity 2. anti socialism from the "real world" 3. social disorders. (everyone that plays this game seems to be heavy addicted)

2. Facebook and its effects on relationships between people. It seems that in some cases it can be used as a positive tool to stay in contact with lost friends and to see Pictures of Family and Friends far away.... yet haha sadly its used more to simply have a "relationship" with your friends that live down the street!

3. Cell phones. It seems like everyone (including myself) cant live with out a cell phone. And particularly with their texting abilities. And I think that this had big effects on the youths and young adults abilities to have actually "real conversation" (especially on dates, haha I have met people who are great talkers with a girl over text, but when they don't have time to think of what to say and its real time... they collapse lol)

I hate thinking of new titles

Target advertising – way back when the only way to advertise was to newspapers or fliers. These were very limited in their audience and had limited appeal. Nowadays there are a lot of way to target a specific audience and get them hook on your ad. From videos, to games, to interactive. How has that changed advertising?

2) Apple Design – apple has perhaps the most unique approach to products. As David Pouge said “apple makes you need something you never knew you wanted”. They don’t take product surveys rather they try and stay ahead of the market. And design is so important to them. Why is there strategy effective?

3) Economic theory of free trade- there has been a lot of controversy over protectionism versus free trade, especially with china. People wonder how that will effect our economy. Will it be harmful or helpful in the long run?

so much cooler online...

1) It has become a rising trend to build alternate realities online and living through them, rather than living in the world around them.

2) The internet has allowed people to become extremely anonymous and allowed people to break the "social contract" between people. Because they feel that they won't have to face the consequences because nobody know who they are.

3) In contrast the internet has plenty of personal information allowing people to stalk one another easier.

Potential Research

1. Development of Human Image-I believe that I could find a lot of psychological and possibly some anthropological research about the development of human image in the heavily media-based world. Human image is already such an interesting and intriguing subject (one with potentially a lot of research) and one that is greatly influenced by society and personal interaction.
2. Indian Music-I am in a Humanities of Asia class and have studied, rather deeply, the concept of classical music of India and the affects of the modern world on such a tradition. This is very interesting because I am sure that the classical music of India is now being heavily affected by new media.
3. Internet Popularity-This is just interesting to me because often I see something on YouTube or something on the news and think to myself "Really? That person became famous AND got a T.V. show because they were popular online first?"

Three questions.

I've already decided my topic: How has recording technology influenced the music industry?

In the 19th century, going to a symphony was the hot social venue. And it remained that way until recordings boomed in quality with invention of magnetic cassette tapes in the 1950's.

What are the consequences?

Live performances are becoming more and more infrequent, and often enough they are heavily aided by the use of technology.

The ease of distribution pollutes the music industry with low quality music, and over time, America has become numb.

Classical professional symphonies are going broke because of lack of interest.

The act of listening to music itself has been reduced from soul moving moments designed by a composer to mere background noise.

The music scene changed once again once distribution of the internet became commonplace. Artists and labels can no longer make justifiable profits. They are further hampered by piracy.

Research Questions

1. New media seems to be partially, if not majorly, responsible for the deterioration of spelling and grammar these days. With the free landscape of the internet and mobile texting, people seem to be much more concerned with how short they can make a word than how much sense they are making. Also, I can't even begin to recall the number of times I've seen the word "then" mistaken for "than".

2. Is new media subtly setting in stereotypes? Too many ads nowadays drive the notion of "emo" teenagers and stick-thin supermodels. Only extreme examples of any niche seem to garner attention. A pathetic plea for attention of an example here, but hey, I played videogames as a youngin', and I think I'm adequately literate and physically fit!

3. Are parents relying too much on new media in raising their children? I speak in reference to the recent onslaught of such "educational" media such as "Baby Einstein" and other learning programs. Personally, I don't believe a television set makes a good baby-sitter; research suggests that children who are raised on educational programs turn out to be less advanced than their peers who learned through more conventional methods.

I'll be devoting hours to one of these.....

Topics

1. The main topic that I was thinking of writing about is suicide connected with the internet. I do not know what all is true, but I have heard some pretty interesting things about this. If research backs it up I am going to write about how the internet is increasing suicide rates. I don't know if that is true yet, but I am willing to bet it is.
2. It would be interesting to also write about the church and how it is using the internet and new media to its benefit. I'm not sure what I would argue yet, maybe just that it has been of good use to the church in some specific ways.
   
3. I think it would also be interesting to research internet addiction. Things like people basically living life virtually and wasting time on role playing sites and such. I do think new media is great in many ways, yet for this one I would argue how using the internet in excess (well like anything really) is doing a lot of damage.
   

Research questions

1.How is new media affecting the physical activity of children (and adults)? I think all the different things an the internet like games. youtube, facebook and such are effecting our physical activity. With the wii and x-box children are spending more time playing with that instead of playing outside or doing other active things. With all the different comercials for the television, the children are always seeing the new games comming out, or Mcdonald's happy meals, or junk food, which all affects the physical activity of children. As you gain more weight you do less active stuff.
2.Does new media help elementary children learn better? As I have been helping in the elementry I havce noticed that they use computer games to do reading practices. I wonder if they are really learning better, or is it the same or worse.
3.Something about orphanages in third world countrie. See if by using new media it will help spred the word. If it would help people know what condition they are in and be able to help more, or know how to help more.

It's Raining Brains

1. Body image and the internet: I think body image is still a huge issue and continues to be so through the advertisements, pop ups, and links to sites. The women seen all over the internet are portrayed as "beautifully" thin. They are electronically crafted images of women that are seen as the perfection of beauty. Another contributing factor would be the amount of dieting pop ups I keep seeing all over the internet. "Try this and you will lose 5 pounds!", "Want to know how to lose those few pesky pounds click here!"...it goes on and on.

2. Time Wasting endeavors all over the internet: Games, facebook, myspace, youtube...yes these are all useful and have a place. They also seem to be giant time sucks. People spend hours on them for no reason.

3. The use of the internet taking over book reading and decreasing the level of literacy among children: Kids spend hours playing video games and internet games and no longer sit down to read a book or play games that require imagination. The children are losing valuable spelling and grammar skills that can be gleaned from books. It creates a facade that everything must be fast and enjoyable. It also makes them think books are less enjoyable because it takes longer to find the enjoyment in them.

Questions

1. How is new media influencing civilization? Science fiction writers and sociologists have written countless jeremiads about the damage that technology is doing (or will do) to our civilization, but I'm not so sure that's true. We're different than our grandparents and great-grandparents, certainly, but I don't think the change is all bad.

2. Is new media destroying the English language? One of the terrors of George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 was the deliberate abbreviation and simplification of the English language, in order to diminish the citizens' capacity for abstract thought. If one's language is insufficient to express ideas like justice, freedom, or faith, then the mind has no symbols around which to organize such thoughts, and no means of conveying them to others. In our world, these words have not been eliminated, but by overuse and misuse they have almost lost their meaning. It seems likely that modern Americans' inability to speak or write intelligently is linked to their increasing inability to think intelligently.

3. What is the impact of new media on the public discourse? One of the great challenges to American democracy is the massive expense of disseminating one's ideas to a population of 300 million people spread across a continent. New media enables political candidates and pundits to spread their ideas without vast reserves of cash or Mephistophelian deals with special interest groups. This equalization of opportunity has its cost, however; for every great thinker who is empowered to communicate in this way, there are a thousand bigots and lunatics with exactly the same power, drowning him out.

Research Questions

1. Teaching history using new media. Because I'm a history teaching major, I would like to see how new media can be incorporated into the classroom to enhance learning. Practical? Yes. Instersting? Uh....debatable.

2. How social networking has changed our interactions and relationships. I'm not sure how much research has been done on this topic but think about how much something like facebook has changed "normal" relationships. You're not friends until you're facebook friends, you're not officially in a relationship unless it's facebook official, once you become friends with someone you MUST creep through all their pictures, and how many times have you had to pretend not to know something that you already did because you facebook stalked them? I could see this being really interesting.

3. How texting has changed communication. How many times have we avoided awkward situations by texting instead of calling or even better, pretended to text so we don't have to talk to the weird-o next to us. Also, has texting negatively impacted grammar and speech? Another potentially interesting topic.

“Issues” within Chino Hills, California

1. There seems to be a wide gap between the political/ moral standpoints of the parents and the children. This may indicate a lack of adequate communication within families.

2. There are occasionally children playing hooky and smoking in parking lots. Someone should intervene on their behalf, if only by talking to them.

3. There are still some street corners that can use a stop sign – a three second stall surely is worth the possibility of saving a life!

4. Neighbors, even those living next to each other, rarely visit or even interact with each other. There should be more social events for the community.