WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL? THE GENOGRAPHIC PROJECT.

WHAT MAKES YOU SPECIAL? THE GENOGRAPHIC PROJECT.

Could researchers have accomplished this project 100 years ago? 50? 25?
Why is the timing of the Genographic Project important?
How important are the indigenous groups to the project?

I’ve always wondered where we came from. Also what my ancestors looked like and who they were. Everyone has question, that they do not have answers to. The IBM and the national geographic will change all that. These two groups have created a project called “The Genographic Project.” This project would help discover the origin of humans and trace our ancestry back to the beginning of time.

To help out the geneticists’ everyone has to contribute in some way, thus, helping complete the research needed and giving everyone the answer to our origin and family tree. Geneticists’ need DNA samples from everyone to test it, Not only from one person but from different people of different culture around the world. Scientists around the world believe that all humans are connected in some way.

The Genographic project is a five – year study to establish the world’s largest collection of DNA, mapping out how mankind pas populated the planet. With this research and data, everyone on earth is one step closer to solving the secrecy of human existence on this earth.

Could this project have been done 100 years ago? 50 years ago? 25 years ago? To be honest, I don’t even believe it could have been created 25 years ago. I don’t believe we have the equipment, or technology to go through with the project. However now that we do, we can go through with the project. We have created the technology needed to figure out the question we have and give those answers. However, the question is, how much time do we have to come up with this answer?

Indigenous people of today are disappearing or dying, and they are the key to this project. The reason is because their genetic identities are isolated. They have DNA that is mixed with people from all around the world. With out these people there would be no Genographic project. The geonographic has caught a lot of attention and intested the world, it would be upsetting knowing that the project could not go through because a lack of information (indigenous people). This project would solve the mysteries of our human society.

WHEN WAR MEETS VIDEO GAMES

1. Why are war video games so popular now?
2. "If it's not realistic, it's not worth playing," is a quote in the article. Do you think realistic war games desensitive people to the horror of war or is it just fun?
3. What do you personally think of war video games?

“If it’s not realistic, it’s not worth playing.”

I do believe everyone would agree with this quote above. Every gamer has their own preference and looks for certain aspects and a certain degree of realism. There are several war games out there from Call of Duty to Socom II and Rainbow Six. I have played all theses games before and talking from a gamer’s perspective, it does give you the rush that a gamer would look for and that’s why I believe war games are really becoming popular.

Within war games it gives the gamer the sense of accomplishment or in other terms “mock – glory” when you have completed a campaign or section of the game that was really tough for the gamer. I believe gamers just really look for the ultimate rush within games, that’s why game makers put everything they got into it and are always topping what they have previously created. Gamers look forward to that, and its working.

War games such as Call of Duty does a great job in showing people that play the game what happened in key wars, it shows footage of World Wars and doesn’t make it looking like all happy and golly, because it isn’t. A lot of men died in the World Wars, it makes the game realistic and reflects what war was really like. I do believe it does give the gamer a good sense of how it was at the time and would have a thought about it.

Everyone has their own perspective on the topic of “Does war games desensitize people to the horror of war? I believe it would desensitize a gamer, but I would not know to what extent. War games are very realistic to a point where you are there. Judging from the game Call of duty on X – Box 360, as bombs go off your controller rumbles and etc. so you you have that sence of a bomb going off. However the only unrealistic thing that comes from war games is that people keep on playing and they die, they just restart, it isn’t like that in real life, however how can you imitate that in games? Another point I would like to point out is that gamers sometimes ten to forget these games lose the catastrophic effects that are in war, for example the emotional side of war, when one of your close friends die in war, when you see your friend die and get blown up right in your face. I believe the gamer would not feel that way ever while playing. However they may later on realize the effects of war on everyone.

Personally, I love games in general; war games are also on the list. War games I believe do not desensitize me, yeah while playing the game and shooting people does give you that thrill and rush however when I’m done it makes me realize the hardships the men and women had when they go into war. Depending on the gamer, it would give them a sense of hardships men and women went through.

Reading in Cyberspace?!

Reading in Cyberspace?!?

In your journal answer the following questions:
1. What effect will this library-based digitization have on Google’s relationships with publishers?
2. How have Google’s competitors, such as Yahoo! or Microsoft, respond to this challenge?
3. What impact could this project have on the access to information?
4.Will librarians be threatened by the new development?
5. What do you think?

What is Google? Google is an online website that runs on unique combination of advanced hardware and software. It is a program that was meant to make our search experience to be more efficient and incredibly fast.

Google began in January of 1996 as just a research project. People of Google believed that the relationships between websites would produce better results than other techniques, where other search engines at the time would search and give results according to how many times the search term appeared on a page.

Google has experienced many various controversies over the years. Their Book Search (library – based) has created them problems with publishers and authors. I believe that would weaken the relationship between Google and publishers. Google has put effort into digitalizing millions of books and make full text searchable. Publishers do not believe that what Google is doing is “fair use” thus, having the thought that it should be illegal.

Google has three categories of books contained in its index:

1. Books who are not under copyright and are assessable to the public.(books in print)

- These books, Google can fully display so it can be read online

2. Books that are under copyright and are available to the public.

- The publisher controls how much of the book is exposed/displayed.

3. Books who are under copyright and are not necessarily available in print.

- Google is only allowed to show “snippets.”

Google has been profiting from the book fragments, publishers believe that this is going against the law of “fair use” thus being illegal. This controversy has weakened the relationship between Google and publishers.

The whole purpose of Google is to increase the access to people that need information. People can research and find books that they desire, without getting out of the comfort of their own home. It would also help out book lovers, with what Google is doing, showing snippets of a book, they are showing the readers what the book is kind of like, so they would have an idea of what they book is like before they buy it. I also believe it is a great idea, where it gives consumers an Idea of what it is about, so they can ask them self if they are really into the novel.

I do not believe that Google is a threat to Librarians. The only full text displays of books are books that are no longer in print. Also the books that are available in a library or in book store, Google only gives snippets of the book. Liberians are not getting replaced; Google is just helping out the book lovers out there with their developed technology. Librarians should not be threaten or scared because what threat is there to be afraid of?

I do believe that what Google is doing is illegal and is within the fair use law. However would I ever use the Book search program of Google? I doubt it, I’m not all that of a book lover. It would not be all that useful to me, for some reason I can not just sit down and read a book, I rather watch it if its on video. Its not like I don’t read books though, it’s just that not a lot of books interest me.