Music & digital media: moral standing on music sharing

I have no qualms with sharing music online. I feel like all music should be available to everyone for free no matter what and money for the artist should be made through concerts and exhibitions. I feel this way because buying music is much too expensive, I would stream all of my music before I would buy any of it. I find pandora to be an extremely useful music resource because I listen to music that I would have never discovered without it.

9. extra credit: me & my shadow

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From Me & My Shadow from week of 10/29

https://myshadow.org/#

We live in an era where everyone is tracked all the time and his or her information is constantly being recorded despite whether or not that person wants anything about him on the Internet. The only way to avoid this of course is to never use the Internet, use a cell phone or any other device that accesses the Internet or uses any outward communication in any way. Many people nowadays are asking if we should allow these companies to harvest this information and sell it without our permission. Technically they do have our permission, but most people do not know the extent at which the information is being used since they do not read the small print in the agreements. I want to ask if we should care. As long as this information is secure and not given to those who would use that information to steal from us then why would be care? Yes the occasional annoying ad at the side your screen will appear with an item that you looked at the day before, but are any of these ads hurting us. Our information being sold to ad companies seems like a small price to pay for the use of an information and connection source that gives us access to anything we can dream of. The Internet has become an incredibly powerful resource, but one with a price. This price is something that fights against what humans have thought is only their right since the beginning of time. A person’s privacy being invaded goes against everything we know, but what if we didn’t ever know a time of privacy, then the internet would seem like a power without a cost. The other part of this privacy is that the information that is being used only goes to people who are trying to sell us things, this information is not going to the people we know so again why should we care that this information is being utilized?

8. Extra Credit: biomodd

From Biomodd from week of 10/22

http://www.biomodd.net/overview/artist-statement

The structure of technology and living organisms has always been vastly different and no real connection between the two has been really seen. The only real comparison between the two is that both use electrical currents to function. This difference has been because the technology up to this point has not been available and the need for a combination of the two has been nonexistent. We have finally reached an age where the combination of the two seems to be possible and desirable. Culture has evolved to find saving the environment a top priority and design has become seemingly more important as of late as a sort of counter to the hardness and coldness of machines. Even some houses have become organic in that they use trees and vegetation for the structure and power of the house. It seems ironic then that recent technologies have moved to a more organic style. Flexible displays and fiber optic cables are just a few visual examples of this transition. This transition may be the effect of move towards technology becoming part of the person. Wearable displays and electronics will become everyday. The hybrid between the organic and the technologic is not only as part of a movement for a future in technology but also as a movement for art. A group known as biomodd uses technology and plants to create art projects as a way to reuse old computer parts and show how plants can be used a power source. One example of a project that was created was a secondhand computer that was made of scrap parts that was powered by vegetation and played modded open-source multiplayer games. The entirety of the project was to show the potential of using nontraditional objects to build fully functional computers as not only art, but also as a way to become part of a natural creative environment to create and establish new ways to build.

war and technology quotes and conclusion

"we can't get past our age old need to destroy each other"

"World War II was the first war in history in which the weapons in use at the end of the war differed significantly from those employed at the outset."

"technology, more than any other outside force, shapes warfare "

Technology does not evolve because of a certain need. Technology goes at its own pace and war evolves along with it. Technology is now growing at such a fast pace that warfare cannot keep up in many areas, there is now a race to learn the technology and utilize it before something better comes out and they enemy can utilize it. Last, war exists now and always because humans have a need to destroy each other, but technology occurs because of a need to be creative and more forward for the sake of moving forward.

Beforehand: IT & War

The relationship between information technology and war has always been a race for the most efficient way to relay information to save lives. The technology has evolved to keep up with the needs of the military.

7. Extra Credit: Street Ghost and Privacy

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From: Street Ghost from the week of 10/15

Google street view has always been a part of one of the greatest parts in the fight of invasion of privacy. The rules about invasion of privacy though are changing. New technologies are said to be an invasion of privacy because they are unexpected and because of very specific aspects of what is seen through the cameras on Google’s cars. In order for a large number of technologies to move forward the rules of invasion of property need to be changed. The current view is from a time where people did not have any of their information out on the internet and they were essentially anonymous all the time. This view is now a barrier to technology because new technologies will not function in a way that is quick enough and convenient enough for the common person without their personal information stored beforehand. Most people nowadays are changing their view on privacy to be accepting of storing their information. The problem then becomes why is the information being used in ways that the user did not intent? Why are pictures being stored on servers thousands of miles away just because that person uses a certain site? Why can a person have their information shared or their pictures used without their consent? This is the crux of the privacy vs. technology war. Sites such as streetghosts are using pictures without consent because they feel that the artistic perspective behind their works is more important than that person’s privacy. This is another issue of convenience. The project itself is not bad or particularly damaging to the people whose pictures are posted, but why is the only way to complete this project to use pictures taken without consent? The project is banking on the people whose pictures they are using not to know of the project of that their pictures are being used. Invasions of privacy are now possible if the user does not know that their information is being used. This wrap around is why the privacy war has started.

6. Extra Credit: Augmented reality

From article: Improving Our Depth Perception in Augmented Reality from the week of 10/8

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The biggest question that we must ask ourselves about augmented reality is how will this affect the general public when this technology becomes widespread. Will the constant companion of virtual objects become so commonplace that people will begin to no longer discern the difference between real objects and virtual ones? Augmented reality will become the real reality. So far augmented reality has been used mostly for enhancement of sporting event and the uses in medicine and war can been seen as indispensable. The extra precision for doctors and the heads up information for soldiers provides a new era in accuracy and will prevent needless loss of life. This is an area where augmented reality should become the norm and will aid in nearly all situations. Should we stop here and only use augmented reality for these purposes rather than give headgear to the general public? Google is planning on releasing augmented reality glasses in the near future with the hope that they become everyday objects. As of now the thought that everyone would be wearing these glasses seems silly to most and in no way seems feasible. What if they do become as popular if Google hopes and everyone starts to where these glasses? I believe that these glasses will become a source of distraction more so than the cell phone. The attention span of humans is dwindling and is soon to be almost completely gone. With augmented reality glasses a quick notification in the peripheral view may completely deter the attention of someone during a conversation. Normal conversation will no longer be possible if all “engaged parties” are only paying attention the augmented reality glasses that all of them are wearing. This is a shift that humanity is already heading towards, but augmented reality for the common people could be the final nail in the coffin. Augmented reality is a danger to the human race, which we cannot afford if we don’t want productivity and human relationships to no longer become part of a social norm.

5. Extra Credit: Stuxnet

From Stuxnet: Anatomy of A computer virus from week of 10/1

The power of cyber warfare doesn’t come from the complexity or the target even though these are important factors. The power comes from the misunderstanding and abstractness that viruses and most software has from the average person. An average may not be particularly complex or dangerous, but if someone who does not have experience with computers is confronted with a possibility of infecting himself or herself with the virus then they are most likely going to become infected. How is someone who doesn’t have experience with computers going to deal with a virus. Nearly everyone on the planet does not have enough experience to deal with or pick apart a virus. This realization that is coming with extremely powerful and complex viruses is that there aren’t nearly enough people who have the knowledge to deal with and combat the viruses. Cyber warfare has become so prevalent that training to become knowledgeable about computers has become a top priority. Is this training enough? Training more children to be able to program and fight viruses is what the infrastructure needs in order for any country to survive in this new era of computers. With computers becoming the ultimate source or information, communication and now warfare the need for all people to be proficient with computers has never been higher. Groups such as anonymous are also becoming more important because they are showing companies how vulnerable they are to cyber attacks. Stuxnet has shown the world that viruses are no longer just for people to make money off of stealing identities or for recreation in destroying other peoples’ computers. Nuclear interference and power outages are now the greatest threats. How soon until people are dying directly from the effects of computer viruses? Cyber violence is so much more dangerous because of the anonymousness. We have reached a new era where everyone must be proficient on a computer if they want to survive.

4. Extra Credit: Crow Sourcing

From Crow sourcing from week of 9/24

The Internet has become not just a collective knowledge base, but also a collective base for jokes, idioms and general human observation interactions. I am referring to the explosion of the usage and popularity of the meme. The meme has become a tool to point out an observation to everyone around him or her. These observations can be anything from the general lateness of a bus at a college bus stop or an observation of the tendencies of a prominent political figure. These memes have opened a doorway to a more casual Internet usage and a feeling of closeness with people with whom you encounter on the Internet. This closeness resides in the fact that memes provide a common ground of perspective and hilarity between people. This recent development has opened an avenue for people to converse and build a knowledge base concerning topics that really do not matter in the scope of everyday life, but may provide a mutual interest. An example of this is crow sourcing. This name is a play on words from crowd sourcing, this site has people exploring and inventing idioms based on common animals. The content of this site is not the most important part of its existence despite exploring a topic that is not usually explored. The important idea is that people are coming together to build knowledge bases (crowd sourcing) about any topic even if it is very extract. The idea of collaboration is important in the fact that knowledge bases can be expanded quickly and include large amounts of information without bias, but also because this this idea is likely to spread to scholarly ideas and really any type of work. This is exciting because the volume and accuracy of works will increase. As this idea evolves many problems arise however. Who moderates to make sure that the information is accurate and genuine? This problem has already arisen with wikis. Who should have the power to edit and add information? Will collaborative works ever become possible let alone popular if these problems cannot be solved?

Virtual Reality Questions

 Initial Understanding: Virtual Reality is created by screens or helmets around the eyes and something to allow the user to interact with the world that they are seeing through these screens. These worlds can be anything.

From A Brief History of VR
1. Would the introduction of useable (inexpensive enough for public use and immerse enough that a people are fooled by the reality) VR be such a major shift that society couldn't handle the transition? What would happen to the morals of the people?

2. Are people ever going to be completely content by the current technology?

3. Would virtual reality world have to be monitored for illicit behavior in order to keep the minds of the public on track with the law in the real world?

Privacy and Security Questions

From the Transparency Grenade
1. Would a fear of information leaks lead to companies and governments being more open about their policies and actions?

2. Are companies only successful in many ways because they have secrets?

3. Would a concept like the transparency grenade ever become popular in multiple companies and governments?

From Device identification in online banking is privacy threat
1. Is there any way to fight privacy issues such as device identification when all banks use this technology?

2. At what time frames would banks have to terminate information about users in order for users to feel safe?

3. Is privacy or identity theft a more prevalent issue?

Open Source

Questions from Open Source vs. Proprietary
1. Will open source software ever become as popular as proprietary?

2. Is open source software promoting an interest in learning programming?

3. Can new open source software be trusted? Are bugs and the fact that the development team has no responsibilities reason enough to make open source not an option for most people?

Videos
1. The idea of free software is good because people get software that they can modify themselves for their needs, but can this idea be applied to all forms of software?

2. Is open source software the ultimate way of creation?

3. Is a certain degree of censorship and rules required for the internet to work properly and be useful to everyone?

Rheingold and Virtual Communities

Questions for Life on the Electronic Frontier
1. Has the age of true intellectual communities been lost now that all people have access to the internet?

2. Will there ever be a time where social interaction only happens through the internet?

3. Is the entity of television disappearing to be completely replaced my media consumption on the internet?

Question for Virtual Community
1. Will the internet ever truly be considered a formal meeting space?

2. How has the internet changed social behavior? Has it created split personalities?

3. Would the internet have ever become popular if it didn't apply visual appealing interfaces and dynamic interactions?