Michelle A. Seidman

The Search by John Battelle

The term search was one of the first useful services to inhabit the Internet and later to become one of the first applications to adopt an actual business model. At the beginning of The Search, I learned quite a few things of value. First John Battelle, the author, explains that, “The Database of Intentions is simply this: the aggregate results of every search every entered, every result list ever tendered, and every path taken as a result” (Battelle, p.6). I felt this was something of importance considering I was not really sure the point of having an entire book on searching for things on the internet. Come to find out that this is a significant cultural artifact in the history of humankind. It holds massive amounts of data that grows, “crawls” and expands daily.

John Battelle is an exceptional writer that discusses Google and search in general. He writes it from a business like perspective and tries to help the readers understand how Google is on top today, but to keep in mind that they were the latecomers and have grown extremely fast. It all began on September 7, 1998; Google Inc. was formally incorporated with Page as CEO and Brin as President. These two founded Google while attending Stanford University graduate school of computer science while hacking and just doing a research project. It is interesting how they came to the name “Google”. It was named after googol, which I have learned is the term for the number 1 followed by 100 zeros.

Overall, The Search was at times dry, but it seemed to give a pretty good overview on the term search and why it is virtually everywhere on the World Wide Web. This book has inspired me to think bigger and look at the broader view of search and how it’s not just about Google, but about the entire internet and the way we search. And finally the question, Is this book of value? Honestly… Of course this book is of value. Anyone who uses Google on a regular basis should read this book. It explains the secret of how and why things work. It’s not magic, its genus. However, this book is not entirely about Google. It teaches us about many other people who are brilliant and basically know how to take initiative. For instance, I really enjoyed the story behind Bill Gross. He was a born entrepreneur, and incredible man. He was one of the people that got involved with Google early on and helped them grow to 3 billion in 5 years. This book discusses the life of Google, the ups downs, and struggles that this company had to go through to succeed. Search is changing industries today, and as The Search states, tomorrow as well.
The Search

Posted by Michelle Seidman at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Value of Generating Buy-In

I had to read this book; Generating Buy-In for Dr. Steele in 601 and I felt that it would be of added value if I shared my feelings. Generating Buy-In is about how Mark Walton, the author of the book, explains different ways and examples of how leaders have the attention and interest of the people they are leading. This term buy-in means obtaining an understanding, commitment, and action from the people the leader is leading. Also, this book discusses how leaders can recognize certain situations that need to be generated with this buy-in term and how they can go about getting the job done strategically. The purpose of this book is to provide the reader with a language of buy-in and leadership.

I felt that this book was of great value to me and should be of value to everyone in the CICS program. Each and every one of us are striving to be leaders. In the future, I would like to lead, influence, and persuade in whatever career I pursue. This book discusses the history of powerful people and how their stories influenced the world today. “Stories not only capture, they expand, our attention, and with it, our enjoyment of time” (Walton, pg 14). The use of these strategic stories helps to capture and manage others and exert tremendous influence and power. To develop this story to tell others, you need to first set a goal and determine your buy-in objective. Then establish your story line, and after that develop a story line in three chapters that target your audiences agenda. Finally, call your audience to action. These steps are important to keep in mind when generating buy in towards the positive future, especially in crisis management situations.

Overall, I think this book would be an important tool to keep with me as I move into the workforce. The steps that Mark Walton uses would be especially beneficial to the marketing and advertisement field. “The route to real buy-in- to generating peoples understanding, commitment, and ultimately, their action- is to impact, not just their thinking, but their emotions” (Walton, pg 15). I learned from this book that the age-old secret to generating buy-in is to strategically design, target, and deliver a story that projects a positive future.

buy the book!

Posted by Michelle Seidman at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As I searched for what the term Information renaissance meant, I realized that it is just a rebirth of information. More or less an explosion of technology and information in the world today.

Information renaissance
As I searched for what the term Information renaissance meant, I realized that it is just a rebirth of information. More or less an explosion of technology and information in the world today.
So I searched for some articles on this topic and came across this one!
http://csdl2.computer.org/comp/proceedings/isss/2002/2246/00/22460001.pdf
This article is called Mobile, Broadband, Ubiquitous, and the Information Renaissance by Kouji Ohboshi. The author discusses how the Internet has developed into a global phenomenon. He also states that the information-oriented society has evolved from a technological novelty into a major force fueling the transformation of society. I agree with him since it is true that the information society is starting to move into a different direction rather than just the normal expansion. The Internet-oriented society is by far having an increasing qualitative impact on people’s lives by supporting greater diversity and popular value-added capabilities. “Overcoming the flat dissemination of knowledge and information and the unavailability of information on both supply and demand sides of the market will create an information society that awakens public knowledge and opens up a vast wealth of information; indeed, this will create a self-actualization society that can be fairly characterized as an information society renaissance” (Kouji Ohboshi). Overall, I feel that the information renaissance is where we are right now. The expansion of the information communication field and the recent technology advances and how they are all being implemented today.

Posted by Michelle Seidman at 05:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is European Renaissance?

European renaissance
What is European Renaissance?
Renaissance comes from the French word rebirth.
To begin, the renaissance began in Florence in the 14th century. The renaissance was drastic period of European History of new inventions and beliefs. During the renaissance, society was transformed into a society increasingly dominated by central political institutions with an urban commercial attitude. At this time, new schools and colleges became more and more common. It gave way to new forms of painting, art, and sculpture, which helped the artists become the same level as a poet or writer. A technology back then that became prevalent was the printing press. This was extremely important. The Europeans first used this to print a book on small pieces of metal. Johan Gutenberg is usually given credit for the first book printed, but by the 1500s printing presses were common. The European Renaissance also had an effect on the general people. They became interested in politics and world outside of just there towns. Religion also changed, and people started moving away from just the church and realizing that there is more in the world. “The Renaissance was a time of new awakening in Europe. It includes the general loss of power by the church, an increase in literacy and education, and an exploration period” (http://www.cyberessays.com/History/24.htm). Overall, that is why the Renaissance was really a cultural advance from the middle ages and called a historical cultural movement. This is why Leonardo da Vinci and Michaelangelo are called the Renaissance Men.

Posted by Michelle Seidman at 12:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

International body names 2007’s most creative technological efforts
By Jay Gillette, Network World, 11/09/07

International body names 2007’s most creative technological efforts
By Jay Gillette, Network World, 11/09/07

After reading this article it provided me with some insight as to what the World Summit Awards (WSA) was. They were handed out by the European International Telecommunications Union and its Global Forum 2007 conference held in Venice. “Since 2002 the International Telecommunications Union has been recognizing technology projects across the globe that overcomes the “digital divide” to produce a “digital dividend” (Gillette).

I then decided to further my research and find out more on the World Summit Awards. Apparently WSA is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best e-Content. This was started in 2003 and is held every 2 years. It is an invitation project and a global hub for everyone who sees the importance in e-Content creation. There are 168 countries involved today. To me, it would have been an honor to go to this conference in Venice.

Network World is the leader in Network Knowledge and is the leading provider of news, analysis, reviews, events, and education on information technology. This is why Dr. Gillette wrote an article on the Global Forum 2007 conference. I am very happy that Dr. Gillette also introduced this website to us, because it is a wonderful tool to use for our research in information technology. I wish I knew about this earlier, it would have come in handy when finding some web 2.0 technology.

Posted by Michelle Seidman at 12:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What is Web 2.0 and where did the term come from?

To begin, there is no clear definition for what web 2.0 is. Web 2.0 is still evolving because as technology progresses, so does the meaning of web 2.0. It is basically just a marketing term that means cutting edge which utilizes a next generation web function. “Web 2.0 doesn't have a hard boundary, but rather, a gravitational core. You can visualize Web 2.0 as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core” (Tim O’Reily). Overall, the term web 2.0 is just a newer version and improved World Wide Web.

Tim O’Reily known as the Father of Web 2.0. He is a computer book publisher and the founder and CEO of O'Reilly Media. He is also a large activist for open standards in software development. “In the year and a half since the term "Web 2.0" has clearly taken hold, with more than 9.5 million citations in Google” (Tim O’Reily). Tim O’Reily created different levels in the hierarchy of Web 2.0. First there is Level 3 which is mainly the applications that derive their power from the human connections and network effects. Examples would be eBay, craigslist, and Wikipedia. Level 2 applications operate offline but gain advantages from online. Flickr is an example that incorporates community and photos. Level 1 application also works offline but gain features online. An example would be Google docs and spreadsheets and iTunes. Lastly, level 0 applications would work well offline too. Some examples would be MapQuest, Yahoo maps and Google maps.

Overall, Web 2.0 is a complex and evolving technology that includes server-software, content-syndication, messaging-protocols, standards-based browsers with plugins and extensions, and various client-applications.

Tim O'Reily

Posted by Michelle Seidman at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)