Social Networking

     Social networking has not changed how I communicate with friends and family significantly.  I do have a Face Book page but I do not update or check it regularly.  However, one aspect that has been helpful is reconnecting with old friends.  I have been able to find people that I have lost touch with over the years.  The actual communicating with family in friends I do over more traditional means such as email and phone.  I do not see social networking becoming a primary means of communication for me.

Network Tour

            It was interesting to see how an active network looked like.  The amount of wiring involved, although less than before, was still daunting.  It was intriguing to see the actual amount of servers that are needed to run the Edgewood network.  I had thoughts of racks and racks of servers, but the actually amount needed was a lot less than I would have thought.  The need for outsourcing was also interesting.  I would have thought that all of the work was done in house.  However, it does make sense that no one can be an expert at all things.  In all it was close to what I expected but not quite.  

Personal Networking Devices Impact

     The immediate impact that personal networking devices may have on the environment is the amount of pollution they cause.  This includes the toxic chemicals they contain ending up in landfills.  Another concern is the amount of energy that is required to manufacture them.  As they become more complex the energy cost will increase.  The long term effects of these devices could be linked to global warming or increased mining efforts.