This week’s reading, or rather exploration, of Will Thomas’s and Edward Ayer’s historical site, The Difference Slavery Made, was an excellent example of digitizing history in a way that is accessible and informative to a wide array of audiences.

In looking through the site, including the introduction and method pages, it was clear to me that the creators of the site kept the audience in mind, particularly in the ease of navigating the website. For example, the research for the topic of slavery in the Civil War included on this site covers a wide variety of factors and sources, so much so that it would be easy for a viewer of the site to become lost quickly. However, this site thought of a few ways to organize the information that made it less intimidating, as well as easy to search through for those with specific topics in mind.

 Sections of data in the image above are organized based on the topic they include

Sections of data in the image above are organized based on the format the information is relayed in 

As the two images from the site show, the creators of the site included numerous ways to search through their data, creating a practicality to the information as well as the ease for participation on the part of the viewer (one of the key goals of the site stated here).

Another aspect of the site that I appreciated and felt added a level of professionalism to their work was the detailed data given in the form of images and maps. From a wide variety of subjects, as hinted at in the images above, Thomas and Ayers include a number of images and maps on their site, such as the one below:

 As shown in the map above, the data incorporated on this site usually includes multiple points of analysis and covers topics that I would not have even thought relevant to the topic of slavery, such as soil type.

In addition to the data included on the site, the interface and searchability of the site are key in making the information easy and accesible to viewers. Under the tools section, viewers can see which articles they have or have not read concerning a given topic, search through data by subject or format easily, as well as view the citation for various sources quickly.

This site was by far one of the more viewer-friendly and data inclusive that I have seen in the course of this class, and is one of the better examples of historical digitization I have seen while at Mason.

Percentage of American Smokers based on Gender 

Data taken from this website

My Daily Commute:

My daily commute from my dorm to George Mason University 

Starting from my on-campus housing just down the road from Braddock

Finishing at one of the entrances to George Mason 

View My Daily Commute in a larger map

This week’s reading was all about Google Documents, something that as a college student I am very familiar with – making the material a nice break after midterms. Listed below are the basic sections under Google that were discussed:

1. Spreadsheets
2. Charts
3. Maps

Spreadsheets: 

Out of the subsections of Google discussed in the readings (taken from Google Tutorials available here), this is a pretty straight forward app, much like the rest of those offered through Google. Spreadsheets can be used to create files for work, organize personal data, or a wide range of other activities. Also, as with other programs on Google, creators can edit their spreadsheets as well as share them with others for viewing only or for editing purposes.  Also, preexisting spreadsheets can be uploaded to Google Docs to make sharing and editing easier and faster.

Charts: 

Included within spreadsheets, charts can be inserted to an existing or newly created spreadsheet to give a visual for the data contained in the document. One of the things that I found neat about Google Docs is that you can format and choose what type of chart you would like to place in your spreadsheet. There is a page you can pick from, broken down into style and type of chart available. And, should none of these charts appeal to you, you can go ahead and create your own.

Maps 

The final section discussed in this section of the reading was maps, one that I am not too familiar with outside of Google Earth or maps.google. Similar to the spreadsheet and chart functions within Google Docs (specifically Google Earth), maps allows a Google user to create a visual digitized map of anything they would like. One thing that was interesting to me was that this isn’t just some simple map that you could create through Paint on any PC, with insertable icons and clip arts that make a map or image look cartoonish and unprofessional. Using KML, discussed in further detail in this reading, Google Earth allows users to search for locations all around the world and add layers to their maps, including oceans, weather, buildings, and roads. This is the section that I am most looking forward to  studying and using in this course as it is the one that I have little to no familiarity with outside of searching for directions using my GPS.

I have to admit, prior to reading this week’s assignments, I thought I had a pretty good grasp on internet security. Don’t use your social security number as a password, don’t open emails from people you don’t know, and especially don’t post personal information to social websites. I thought I was in the clear. Wrong. Putting myself in Matt Honen’s shoes, I found many, many things to change about the way that I use the internet and create and maintain my personal sites.

Basic Security: Steps Towards a Safer Tomorrow 

In the George Mason University ‘Computer Security‘ page, the IT Department offers a list of useful and highly recommended steps to take towards securing your computer’s information:

1. Activate a Password Protected ScreenSaver
2. Use Strong Passwords for All of Your Accounts
3. Automatically Receive Critical Updates
4. Verify Antivirus Software is Configured Properly
5. Use Anti-Spyware Software
6. Unique Passwords for All User Accounts
7. Back up files weekly

Out of these seven helpful hints and suggestions, I can say I only honestly only follow the first three. As a college student with college age friends, you learn the easy way that a computer left unattended is a computer hacked, the first site most often gone to being Facebook. I’ve had many a status expressing my undying love for small fuzzy rodents and my desire to pursue my dream of yodeling posted under my name, neither of which is true (especially the yodeling part…). So, in order to physically protect my computer, I placed a password protected screensaver on my Mac to deter the potential hooligans. In addition to protecting my information physically, I also have gotten into the habit of using strong passwords for all of my accounts. As the daughter of a security analyst and programmer for the government, this one came as a no brainer. All of my passwords contain both numbers, letters, and symbols, at least 8 characters in length. If someone is going to hack into my account, I wanna make em work for it. Finally, I always set up new applications or existing files with the option to receive critical updates. One important one I always look out for is the changing of my passwords. If it doesn’t match up with my own account of reality, obviously something is wrong.

Aside from these, however, I really do a horrible job at protecting my information, a shocking and terrifying thing to realize writing a blog post for a gen ed class at 3 in the morning. One thing that stood out to me in the Basic Security reading was the use of unique passwords for all accounts. While I knew it was a bad idea to use the same password for all of your accounts (doesn’t take a genius to figure that out, really), I hadn’t realized that my 2-password option wasn’t much better. While it may be a pain in the neck at first, holding a separate password for each account you access will be beneficial in the long run in terms of protecting your identity and your personal information.

Having been thoroughly terrified by this week’s reading, I’m looking forward to implementing a few of these new security techniques to ensure that my information stays right where it belongs, in my hands.

iCloud 9: Not All Its Cracked Up to Be 

This week’s readings were by far the most interesting and the most terrifying. As an avid user of the internet, including a majority of Apple applications and products, the story of Matt Honen’s epic hacking scared me senseless. I thought to myself, “If this can happen to a technological journalist like Honen, how can any of us regular folk be kept safe?”. That’s just it though, according to Honen, none of us, not even gurus like himself, are ever truly safe from hacking.

In the discussion of his virtual attack, Honen discussed what is referred to as the Cloud. A cloud can be defined as the use of computing resources that are delivered over networks, such as the internet. It is through this ‘device’ that your cool technological gadgets can be linked and synced to operate in harmony with ease. It was precisely this harmony, however, that let to Honen’s worst nightmare. While the cloud has its obvious advantages, the cloud-based systems require different security measures to be put in place in order to protect users in the same way as they were before the onset of the cloud. It was through this source that the hackers who ruined 25% of Honen’s data forever were able to receive his billing address and last four digits of his credit card number, the exact two pieces of information they needed to rework his entire digital life. Scary, huh?

The most terrifying part of this story, however, is not the fact that it happened. Honen was not the first person to be facing this dilemma and he will not be the last. Rather, it was the motive behind the hackers attack that most worried and frightened me. The hackers had no greater motive to perform such an act than the use of Honen’s twitter account name, which one of the hackers wanted. If they went through all of this ‘trouble’ simply to get a twitter name, what will others be willing to endure to receive far more than that, say, banking and financial information? A truly scary thought.

Behind Enemy Lines: A Rescue Mission for Matt

While his story is indeed terrifying and cautionary, all hope was not lost. Surprisingly, it was the same function that allowed the hackers access that eventually restored 75% of Honen’s personal files, the cloud. Through a company specializing in restoring lost data, Honen was able to get back his most valuable data, the photographs of his daughter and family memories stored digitally on his hard drive. Great reward, however, comes at a price, specifically to the tune of around $1.600. While you can’t place a price on retrieving life memories, restoring all of that data places a heavy price on your wallet.

Where Honen Went Wrong: What Not to Do With Your Data 

Honen’s story of his epic hacking is no doubt terrifying. However, there is more to take away from this than sleepless nights and nightmares of vaporized data. Honen is quick to list several things that he could have done to prevent the hacking, placing a portion of the blame on himself, where I believe it rightfully belongs. In short, a few things to do:

• Back it up: Don’t think your information on your hard drive is permanent or safe. Back up your information one a week
• Utilize Strong Passwords: No, abc123 is not an effective or secure password
• Create Unique Passwords: Just like every account and username is unique, so should your passwords be. If a hacker can get one password in a matter of seconds, you leave them only a matter of minutes to ruin your entire digital life

When I first looked at the Archive Team site, I was convinced that there was some form of copyright violation going on. From my years of schooling and forced copyright informative courses, my first glance at this site had by illegality senses tingling. I have to admit, after browsing the site I am still not sure which camp I reside in, but the discussion below shows a few reasons why I think this site could be illegal, but not necessarily unethical.

Copyright Law: What Is and Isn’t Covered

According to the George Mason University Copyright Office PowerPoint presentation, entitled “The Basics“, copyrightable work is defined as an original expression that appears in tangible form. As such, this would not include: titles, facts, names, short phrases, or ideas. Also not included under copyright is what is known as Public Domain. This includes work that is: non-protected, lost copyright, abandoned works, expired copyright, or federal government works. Within these lists, the one that stands out most for the purposes of analyzing the Archive Team site was the ‘abandoned works’ and ‘facts’ sections.

Taking the issue of abandoned works, I would say that the majority of what appears on the Archive Team site is from other webpages on the internet that have shut down or abandoned their sites entirely. One example of this is the MobileMe project being pursued on the site. When the site shut down on June 30th, 2012, the Archive Team had a wide variety of information on their site concerning the old Apple application. Another area of the copyright issue is that of facts. According to the copyright presentation by George Mason University, facts are not protected under copyright law. As such, any historical fact presented on the Archive Team site, such as facts that could come from appropriate webpage information, would not be copyrightable. Having said this, however, it seemed to me that most of the information presented would not fall under that category, although there were definitely a few exceptions.

While I have listed two possible exceptions, the majority of the Public Domain qualifications don’t apply. Taking the lists from above, the information that appears on the Archive Team site, in my mind, should not be allowed. Yes, some of these sites are being abandoned, but not all. One example of this is the starwars.yahoo.com archived data. This site, which was held on Yahoo for a period of time, contained the information on the movie series, as well as the information shared by users of the site. When Yahoo gave a 30 day notice of the closing, Archive Team was quick to jump on the page and start collecting data. While the Archive Team site indicates this information came from that page, technically giving credit to Yahoo, I do not feel that this would fall under something that would be considered Public Domain, especially considering the information is no more than 4 years old.

Illegal? Sure. Unethical? Not So Fast

While I have presented information that would put this website on the boarder line of illegality, I do not believe that it is, in nature, unethical. Taking the definition of unethical as being morally reprehensible, I do not feel that this site is taking the information it collects for improper use. It is my opinion that this information is being used to educate the wider public. While this would not count under the TEACH Act of copyright law, morally it is not a crime to inform the general population on information that would otherwise be made unavailable. So while it would appear that in the initial glance of this site the Archive Team was engaging in illegal activity regarding the copyright law, much of the information on the site is questionable as to its copyright protection, and the main use of education places the issue of legality into a gray area as far as I am concerned.

Like a few other writers that chose to discuss the videos for this week, I did a bit of a double take when I saw how long they were, but not for the reason one might think. For me, copy right law had always been a clear black and white issue: if you use it, you should pay for it. That changed, however, when I viewed it through the lens of music sampling.

As a music consumer of the 21st century, I’ve heard of music sampling before and have encountered various examples of it numerous times through listening to the radio and albums. What did come as a surprise to me, as seen in “The Amen Break” video, was the extensive use of sampling music outside of the typical producer’s studio. In this clip, the creator explains that the break, taken from the song ‘Amen Brother’ by The Winston’s, has been used not only in hip hop songs like ‘Straight Out of Compton’, but also in commercials used to sell cars. I have to admit, after about 10 minutes of this being explained over and over again, I was getting pretty bored. So artists sample songs, so what? It wasn’t until the very last clips of the video that I started to understand. In these closing scenes, the creator discusses digital sampling in light of today’s copy right laws. In his opinion, artists are no longer free to appropriate pieces in the same way that they used to, that ‘free reign’ over music is no longer possible. In this sort of environment, creativity is stifled for the sake of capital gain. While this video gave a rather negative light copy right laws, the second, and even longer, video in this weeks material gave a mixed bag of results.

Unlike the first video, I felt that the second video, “Copyright Criminals”, did a much better job displaying both sides of the sampling and copyright law issue. One of the arguments that stuck out the most for me in favor of loosening copyright laws was the imagery of sampling as an instrument. While some in the video argued that this example was invalid and even cheap, the example of a photographer capturing something like a painter would seemed to blur the lines in my mind between what was original and could be claimed as your own, one of the main arguments being made in my opinion. However, after viewing the video, I would have to say that the complete lack of recognition for the artists being sampled is unethical and disrespectful to the very music artists attempt to pay tribute to. As one DJ said, “When I’m sampling I get all these legendary musicians in my band”. If you have such a privilege, why wouldn’t you want to honor them? In my mind, it doesn’t take away from the performing artist to place in their credits where they are taking a few of their ideas from. Much like writing an essay, creating music doesn’t come entirely within ourselves, and when we use information or talents that are not our own, we need to give the doer credit.

Analyzing the Reliability of Wikipedia

In seeking to test the credibility and reliability of Wikipedia as a valid and accurate research source, I chose a topic that I am well-versed in: the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. Divided into the sections below are my thoughts on the history, discussion, and references encompassed on Wikipedia’s page of this topic.

History of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: Did Wikipedia Get it Right? 

Initially upon my first overview of the history section of the conflict, I was impressed overall with the coverage given to the historical events.  In many ways, this conflict is complicated in nature and definition, with many various ideas circulating among the academic community as to a concise definition of the conflict. The one provided on the wiki page is very clear in my opinion and does not confuse the reader by inundating them with terms and events that are not central to understanding the heart of the issue. While I am sure many scholars or students of Middle Eastern history and/or politics would see the simplified definition as un-inclusive and understated, I believe that for the purposes of Wikipedia the article did a great job. When I think of Wikipedia, I view it as a source of initial resort, the first page that readers go to in order to gain general knowledge on a subject, not for an academic analysis. For that reason, I think it would be a disadvantage to Wikipedia and to its general audience of users to have definitions and explanations more in line with the general academic public. Most readers are trying to get the gist of things, not write a dissertation on the subjects they search through Wikipedia. Having said this, I felt that the history of the issues surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict were lacking in that human rights was for the most part, kept out of the discussion, and the introduction ended with the year 2010, rather than 2012, the current year of when I viewed the page. While both are seemingly minor details, the fact that this conflict is one that is still ongoing demands that articles discussing it be kept up to date.

Discussion of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: What Wikipedia Had to Say 

Again, I felt that the range of topics covered by the Wikipedia article on this subject far exceeded my expectations for the site. Included below is an image taken from the webpage depicting the issues covered within the conflict:

Table of Contents: Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Prior to viewing this page, I had a number of key events in my mind that I felt must be included on a discussion of the conflict. I was impressed to find that a majority of these were included on the wiki page. In addition to this, I really enjoyed that the page also included polling data on the desirability of a two-state solution from the view point of both Israeli’s and Palestinian’s over a number of years. During my time studying the conflict, I had gained extensive knowledge of the two-state solution, as well as the average number of proponents on both sides, but I had never seen the data compiled together. This, I felt, was very advantageous as well as easy to comprehend for those you did not have much background on the issue. I also enjoyed that they included a few maps related to the settlement issues, allowing readers with little knowledge on the region to have some idea of what was being discussed.

 In addition to this inclusion, the wiki page also discussed the current issues surrounding the conflict, most of which centered around the Israeli government and the violence of the Palestinians. If I had anything to harshly critique it would be these areas. As far as the Israeli government was concerned, the page introduced terms and offices specific to Israel that, unless the reader was well-educated on the subject, would not understand. Also, the majority of the discussion of violence in the conflict was biased, implying and even explicitly stating that the Palestinians attacked Israel unprovoked, not even going into the numerous accounts of Palestinian deaths at the hands of Israeli government officials. Another aspect of the conflict that I felt was not handled well was the treatment of Palestinian refugees. To start with, the wiki page confined the discussion of refugees to those forced out of the country only in 1948. In addition to this, the page failed to cite the root cause for the existence of these refugees, namely the Israeli government and their illegal acquisition of Palestinian homes. The article in this section, for myself at least, felt too biased to be considered academic value. This being said, I would reiterate that I view these pages as simply starting points for academic research, rather than the final stop. If a student or reader would continue to do more research after this article, they could clearly see the issues that I have pointed out and factor that into their work. Given this idea, I would not discredit this wiki page, or even Wikipedia, as a source of good information on the web.

Sources for the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict: Did Wikipedia Get it Right?

This was one of the areas where I was most impressed with the wiki page. The list of references in this article reaches over 200 sources, many of which I had heard before or read myself, giving me a sense of confidence in the article I had read. This is one aspect that I really like about Wikipedia and that even makes it a viable source of information for me. While it is true that anyone with a computer or access to the internet can go in and change the information on a page or add new things to it, it is not done without reference to their source (or, if it happens to be included without it, Wikipedia is quick to notify the reader to that fact). This really places the power of determining accuracy in the hands of the reader. While many complain that Wikipedia is not accurate and that it deceives students and readers into believing information that isn’t true, I would be quick to turn the accusation around on them. As a researcher or true academic, it is your job to determine the validity of the sources that you read, whether they come from Wikipedia or from an academic journal.

“Neither camera, nor lens, nor film determine the quality of pictures; it is the visual perception of the man behind the mechanism which brings them to life. Art contains the allied ideas of making and begetting, of being master of one’s craft and able to create. Without these properties no art exists and no photographic art can come into being.” — Helmut Gernsheim, 1942

In the readings for this week, Errol Morris discusses his investigatory journey into the famous set of photos of the Crimean War, entitled “The Valley of the Shadow of Death”. Initially in his argument, Morris states that the ON photo (the photo in which the cannons are placed on the road) came first, and that the OFF photo (the photo in which the cannons are on the sides of the road) came second, counter to the argument posed by Susan Sontag. In his quest to discover whose analysis is the correct one, Morris enlists the help of various scholars, as well as relying on technological advances since the 19th century date of the photos. Below are a few image results from Morris’s final scholarly tool, in which he enlists the help of technology to scan the photographs, focusing specifically on the movements of the rocks in each:

The rocks analyzed from the OFF photo

The rocks analyzed from the ON photo

A visual analysis on the OFF and ON rocks

In a debate that has been ongoing, from my understanding, for a majority of the 20th century among historians of the Crimean War, Morris is able to definitively say which image came first by studying the rocks in the image, rather than the character of the photographer. Not only does this show a shift in the analytical response to this debate (turning to technology rather than mere speculation), but it also shows a shift in reasoning behind answering the debate at all. As Morris points out throughout his three part response, Susan Sontag and other historians had cited Roger Fenton’s motivation for moving the cannonballs into the picture as cowardly and motivated by the intention to deceive. While Morris in the end proves Sontag and others correct in their ordering of the photographs, he disproves them on a point that I feel is more central to their argument. They ordered the pictures based on a false perception of Fenton, namely that he was trying to get a rise out of his audience. In the end, Morris uses something that no one cared about or thought to investigate (the placement of the rocks) to determine the true order of the photographs.

While generally speaking I didn’t have too much of an investment mentally in this argument as compared to a historian on the Crimean War, I did think it was interesting that it was technology in the end that allowed the true order of the photos to be determined. We have talked a lot in this course so far about the pros and cons of the web and moving historical things onto the internet. For me, this is one of the reasons why I think, overall, digitizing data is beneficial to the world of academia. Had these photos been lost, or only kept to a specific part of the population, its a great possibility that no certain answer would have been found. In addition, the use of the software program to analyze the rocks is another technological advancement that aided heavily in determining the order of the photographs, an advancement that would not have otherwise been possible if not for the use of digitized data.

For this week’s exercise, we were assigned the following three pieces of information to search for on the Internet:

1. An op-ed on a labor dispute involving public school teachers from before 1970
2. The first documented use of solar power in the United States
3. The best resource for the history of California ballot initiatives, including voting data

To say the very least, this assignment definitely put my searching skills to the test, and even resulted in changing the way in which I search for material. Below is the journey of how I attempted to find those items, and the tools that helped me achieve success (or at least extremely close second guesses).

Image taken from http://marketingmatters.dexone.com

Exhibit One: Labor Disputes involving Public School Teachers, circa 1970

While I normally would have gone straight to Google, my go to search engine in times of need, this exercise stretched me to think more…outside the box. Putting on my detective hat for a few minutes, I thought about what other sources available to me online would help me get closer to finding the answer. Realizing that this information, as an op-ed, would be in a newspaper or magazine, I chose to go straight to ProQuest, specifically the historical newspaper database we had used in class earlier this week. Once I had pulled that page up, I used a few various keywords to limit my search, including: labor, dispute, public, and teacher. ProQuest came up with a long list of articles and newspapers that held a few of those keywords that I had selected, but i quickly found out that they didn’t fit the time specified in the assignment or the placement in the newspaper itself, specifically opposite the editorial page. After perusing the site a bit more, I found the ‘sort results by’ box, where I could narrow down my search results by a number of different characteristics. So, I narrowed down the timeframe, blocking out articles published before 1970, as well as the type of document that would be displayed, including editorial and commentary. After plugging these requirements into my new search, I quickly came up with a number of articles that fit what I was looking for, one of which is displayed here. Overall, once I changed the way in which I approached searching the item, this topic became one of the easiest to find.

Exhibit Two: First Documented Solar Power Use in the U.S.

In contrast, this item was much harder to find than the first, and to be honest, I’m still not sure I have the right answer (although I’m sure I’ll figure out the right answer tomorrow). Again, I tried to use the process of reasoning to figure out which techniques would be the most useful in helping me find this gem of a search subject. At first, I thought through what types of webpages or sites would hold the information I wanted. After thinking for a few moments, I figured environmental sites would be one of the first that I should check. While I had initially thought of government sites, specifically the Department of Energy or even NASA, I wasn’t sure that wouldn’t just lead to more deadends than it would unturn. So, with that in mind I searched Google not using the keywords of solar energy and documented uses, but I searched for webpages that had the history of enviornmental science of the United States. I had a number of results come up, some more scholarly than others. After browsing through a few of the 105 million results Google came up with, I decided to try the webpage from the University of Radford, conventiently the first page that was listed. Once I got to the main page, I re-evaluated the data that I needed to find, namely solar power in the United States and the earliest documented use. On the main page, there was a timeline at the top of the page, as well as a ‘special features’ side tab that broke down the site into various categories. Instead of going decade by decade, I decided to use the special features tab first, clicking on ‘fuel of the future’ as my first avenue of searching. While I thought this would include various types of powering of vehicles and devices, I quickly found that this was not the case. Rather, the page focused on the use of ethanol as fuel. Having used up that option, and not seeing any of the other categories as relevant, I chose to go through the timeline by decade, starting with the latest available. After searching through a number of decades, I finally found my answer: Baltimore inventor Clarence Kemp, also known as the “father of solar energy in the U.S”, patented the first Climax Solar Water Heater in 1891. While this was definitely not the method I would have preferred to have used to find my answer, it worked well and was relatively efficient, more so in my opinion than it would have been had I simply typed the search words into Google.

Exhibit Three: History of California Ballot Initiative  

Next to the solar power search, this was one of the hardest to find. Again, I used the logic of thinking through what my search topic was essentially. After determining that a site holding historical data and articles would be the best choice, I decided to use JSTOR. A site composed of journals, I searched through the site by looking at all of the listed journals and periodicals alphabetically. Once I had found the journals focused specifically on California, I used the search tool to look within these journals for the information I needed, specifically ballot initiatives. making sure to include the voter data information by inserting ‘+’ before it. By limiting my search, I narrowed down my search field from 215 entries to 74, finding the most comprehensive article at #44, titled “Constituency Preferences: California Ballot Propositions, 1974-1990”. Out of all of the potential journals and articles that were listed, I chose this specific one due mainly to the expanse of time that was covered concerning the topic (which I felt would give me a better overall feel of any trends in data).

Overall, I have enjoyed this exercise the most out of the ones that have been done so far in this course (granted, its only week three) because of the way it forced me to think outside of the box. Normally, I would have gone straight to Google to find all of these things, and would have been left frustrated or satisfied with the wrong answers. I’m excited to take this new way of thinking and searching to my other classes, especially those focused on historical research.