Prior to this assigned reading, I had never heard of the Feltron Reports. I looked at the first 3 years available on his Blog, from 2005-07 because I wanted to see how it evolved in consecutive years. I think the way Mr. Felton presented his information is unique, and, even though the information in the reports is trivial, it is interesting to read about. Most of the information he presents is relatable to many younger Americans, such as iTunes songs played, world travel, favorite types of alcohol, etc.

In the three articles from 2005-07, I keyed in on specific facts that were somewhat consistent in each. From the information provided, I assume Mr. Felton enjoys traveling at home and abroad, logging about 150,000 miles traveled in three years. Felton probably made a lot of use of iTunes during his travels, and included his play count in each Annual Report. From 2005-07, he played 16,862, 26,059, and 25,247 songs, respectively. Not surprisingly his music tastes remained consistent throughout the 3 years; Radiohead and solo artist Cat Power were mentioned in all three reports.

In addition to traveling, and frequently using iTunes, Felton drank a wide array of alcoholic beverages. Anyone who reads a couple of his reports would come to this same conclusion. Stella Artois was his personal favorite beer in 2005 and 2006, however in 2007, he reported his Stella consumption decreased by 46%. His consumption of one beer (Stella) went down, perhaps he had so many, he got tired of them. The fact he presented numerous facts about beer, wine and bars, I assume he is a social person who enjoys a night on the town (or two).

The information presented in Nicholas Felton’s Annual Reports is insignificant, but also creative and interesting. The reports are well designed; his facts are presented in bullet form, with graphs, charts, and maps. In my opinion, if the same information was presented in complete sentences, or in a list, no one would read it. In addition to the excellent presentation, the author uses facts that many 20 to 40 somethings can relate to, such as iTunes, traveling, and dining.

I think the interactive city-web sites on Philadelphia and Cleveland are very interesting. The PhilaPlace site was my personal favorite. The map itself had a colonial appearance, and was very detailed. There are numerous icons to explore, each one tells the historical importance of that location and includes photos and videos. This type of site is a great tool, not only do interactive city-sites give residents a new way to learn about their city but they also help promote the cities lesser known history to tourists. PhilaPlace also allows residents and visitors to share their personal experiences for the entire community to see.

The map for Euclid Corridor History Project, about Cleveland, Ohio, is a solid web site but I don’t like it nearly as much as PhilaPlace. There is only one tab that is interactive, the Art History tab, the other three are plain and need improvement. Compared to PhilaPlace, Euclid Corridor has significantly less icon-links, making me think Cleveland doesn’t have much to offer as tourist destination. In the end though, it still blows non-interactive city web sites out of the water.

Google has revolutionized the way we use the Internet. They continue to develop and update cutting edge technology that keeps its users on its toes. I use Google Maps on a weekly basis, not only for directions but for creating running and biking routes. Its absolutely remarkable how detailed google maps is. Users can see real-life satellite photos of millions of places throughout the world. 

Google Earth is similar to Google Maps, however I am not well versed with former. The major difference is that Google Earth allows you view 3-D images of cities, buildings, bridges, etc. Google Maps can be used through your web browser whereas Earth can be downloaded (a premium version is available for a yearly fee) to your computer. Earth uses Keyhole Markup Language (KML), which I believe is a specific markup language for Google Earth. Both of these technologies have very practical uses, and allow people to see the world like never before.

Despite the fact that technologies such as these are remarkable and have numerous practical uses, there is a major issue that people have with them, privacy. Google Earth has photos of your home and yard. It is hard to deny that these programs are extremely creepy. For many, especially people who grew up before the Internet age, Google Earth makes people paranoid and is an invasion of their privacy. Mostly because anyone can use it, and in the age of the Patriot Act people are very protective of their privacy.

Matt Honan’s articles in wired magazine about hacking opened my eyes to the fact that hacking can happen to anyone, and that I need to be more careful with my personal information online. The Hackers were able to break into many of Honan’s systems by knowing the last four digits of his credit card, and his address. They found bits and pieces of his information from various sites, put them together and successfully accessed many of his personal accounts.

In talking to some of my friends and family, it seems to me, most people never even stop to consider the reality that they could be hacked, or how much of an impact it would have on them. I know prior to reading this article I never thought twice about getting hacked. Like many people, I try to use as few passwords as possible so there is less chance that I forget my login information. I have three base passwords, and occasionally use variations of them depending on the requirements of the site I am making an account for.

It would be one thing, if Mr. Honan was hacked because he was using some sketchy website with poor security, but that was not the case. The sites, hackers pulled his information off of are well known, and have excellent reputations.