Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is the act of harrasing someone through verbal abuse over the internet.This usually happens through making fun of someone, as it happens in bullying in real life, just that there is no physical violence inflicted.  This occurs in mainstream social media outlets such as facebook and other instant messaging sites. This issue is common amongst the youth. There have been cases so extreme that have led to suicides amongst the victims of cyberbullying. In Girl’s Suicide Points to Rise in Apps Used by Cyberbullies it states: "It is impossible to be certain what role the online abuse may have played in her death. But cyberbullying experts said cellphone messaging applications are proliferating so quickly that it is increasingly difficult for parents to keep pace with their children’s complex digital lives." This implies that the conflict is so large, and it is even more detrimental because most parents are unaware it even exists, making it more difficult for victims to be helped. It seems that now more than ever it has become a problem in our society.

Legal and Ethical Issues

         I believe all journal articles, TV, movies, music, and databases should be free.  When approaching this issue one can direct attention towards the internet, considering the fact it contains all if not most of these things.  I think all information no matter what form it is in, should be made public and not restricted to a limited amount of people.  Things such as music albums and movies playing in theaters is another story as they are forms of revenue collection.  It is also beneficiary to make this kind of mediums of information free, because it is a way to educate people on a plethora of things that one can learn from the forms of information such as research.

This is what open access refers to, making information such as research available to the public for no monetary compensation.  It is vital that the public be informed about issues or recent breakthroughs in science. This helps avoid going through the issues of copyright where one potentially illegally downloads or uses another’s content without permission. Such as issues regarding copyright and open access are discussed in Open access research grows in popularity, where it states: "Swartz, one of Reddit’s co-founders, illegally downloaded a great number of MIT journals in protest of closed-access research.  Swartz was later charged with wire fraud, computer fraud and other charges, which, if convicted, could have resulted in a maximum penalty of 50 years in prison.”  Such conflicts like this one can be avoided by making all information or at least research publicly available.

Privacy and the Internet

I believe the issue of privacy and the internet is a bigger deal now than it was years ago. People are constantly finding ways to interfere with private accounts whether it is to steal information, transfer viruses, etc. Things such as these viruses and malware have always been a dilemma, but now I believe the bigger conflict is going towards defrauding and phishing. Since it is easier than ever now to make online money transactions such as bank account  transferring and shopping, scammers are taking advantage.  One may think their computers are protected and their information is completely private, but people are always finding ways to steal social security numbers, bank account information, etc. Even from a less detrimental aspect, our privacy online is being invaded. Each website one visits is directly correlated to certain ads, aimed at targeting what one searches for. In The Web’s New Gold Mine: Your Secrets, it states: “ The code knows that her favorite movies include "The Princess Bride," "50 First Dates" and "10 Things I Hate About You." It knows she enjoys the "Sex and the City" series. It knows she browses entertainment news and likes to take quizzes.” It is as if every time someone is online a personal profile is developed for each user, and from there, ad campaigns target the user according to this information. On social media sites such as Facebook, anyone can access the user’s profile and be exposed to content such as pictures, even if that individual is not  one’s friend on it. In Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even the Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private, the question is posed: “Wait, so if it was private, how did a stranger get access to the Zuckerberg family photo in the first place? And if Facebook's privacy settings are too confusing for a Zuckerberg, how are the rest of us ever supposed to post anything that's truly, completely private?” This gives sense that once one uploads photos, statutes, and content that is more personal, it is like an open database where anyone can access it. This is why internet privacy seems to be a bigger issue now than ever before.

Robots and Humans

 1. Can robots do what humans can?

Though robots are capable of many things that humans aren't, robots cannot do everything humans can. For instance, they are unable to feel emotion on its own unless programmed, they are unable to make higher level decisons in terms of thinking. Also robots are unable to make on the spot decisions, in terms of adapting to certain situations. In Autonomous Robots in the Fog of War it states:"As robotic systems become more autonomous, they will also need the ability to consider the advice, guidance, and opinions of human users. That is, humans won't be dictating behavior or issuing hard directives, but they should still be able to influence the robot's planning and decision making." This proves that though humans are able to influence a robot's decision making, a robot still cannot entirely think for itself.

2. What do you think of a robotic car?

I think the robotic car would be a very innovative progression in the field of automotive technology. It would also provide more freedom to the driver, who are always being distracted by talking on the phone or texting, which often lead to accidents. They can also help reduce the drunk driving effect due to the fact that the driver would not be manually operating the car. This is noted in Shut Your Eyes and Drive, when saying: "With fallible humans taken out of the loop, autonomous cars should even reduce the risk of accidents. Yet many legal and practical challenges remain before such vehicles can be given the freedom of the roads."

3. Who is more likely to make errors - robots or humans?

Though a strong case can be made for both sides, I ultimately believe a human is more likely to make errors than a robot. The reason being that if robots are programmed and assembled correctly, they will carry out these various tasks and directions in repetition doing the same thing every time,  reducing the error margin. Humans on the other hand are constantly making mistakes.

Creativity and Social Media

When I was younger I was really into the social interactive games online. I was a big fan of Warcraft and the Sims. I liked the idea of creating a customized character in a customized world and playing with friends. I still do it with games like Call of Duty where players can talk to each other. Last semester I took a computer course and used Alice which dealt with creating a personalized world. Below is a screenshot from actual gameplay from a Minecraft account I have. In it, I strived to create a jungle-like world with trees and animals through placement. The neat thing about Minecraft is that it allows the user to place almost anything anywhere. For instance one can place a dragon in water, it's all up to the imagination. I don't go on it as much now that video games with better graphics and features are constantly being developed. I had also created my own blog about Family Guy[ thetruthbehindfamilyguy.weebly.com ]and the media back in high school in which the students had to comment on each other's blogs.

Social Media

I am on two social networking sites. I am on Facebook and Twitter. I use Facebook to interact with friends, both that I don't see on a regular basis, and still talk to daily. I also use it to play games and keep track of news such as in sports. I use Twitter mainly in part for this class to interact with other classmates about certain assignments and information regarding the class. I also use Blogger for similar tasks. I'd say I prefer to use Facebook because I find myself using it more on my free time, and I have had an account longer.

Virtual worlds are simulated worlds online requiring players to take part in the community. It is very similar to a video game. There are Second Life and MMORPGS'(massively multiplayer online role playing games). Examples of those are games like Warcraft and Starcraft. Virtual Worlds, like Facebook and Twitter, can also be used to interact and communicate with friends while playing the game at the same time. Not only that, but in Going to the virtual office in Second Life, the article talks about new innovative ways to make business conferences and more easy and convenient by having the meetings virtually through Second Life. These sources of communication can also span into the medical realm. In iReport: 'Naughty Auties' battle autism with virtual interaction, the articles talks about new ways to communicate through Second Life as well by helping those with autism. In my personal virtual world I would like to be a sort of ninja or warrior.

 

World Wide Web

The cloud is using various servers on a network online to contain and process information, in contrast to a server on a personal computer. There are different types such as public clouds which can be accessed by anyone, and private clouds which are reserved for specific people. There are also community clouds that can be shared amongst companies, and hybrid clouds which can operate personally and publicly amongst a private entity as well.

In terms of what the future of the World Wide Web has in store for us, the possibilities are endless. For instance, the way we use technology is becoming more and more personalized. We can adjust the settings of our computer, and edit anything from hardware and even software. We are able to create our own playlists, and our personal computers keep track of our favorite things such as websites and locations. In Google’s New Director Of Engineering, Ray Kurzweil, Is Building Your ‘Cybernetic Friend’, the idea of a more personalized search engine on our personal computers is discussed. This takes the idea way past simply keeping track of our search history, and rather search engines will be becoming more personalized. Kurzweil says: “is the window to creating a genuine artificial brain, that can understand the meaning of ideas and concepts”.So in the future we might see computers that can actually keep track of all the activity on our computer such as email, and then later correlate it to our search engines to provide a better experience. A similar idea of how the World Wide Web is becoming more personalized and user-friendly is discussed in Facebook search: Facebook adding search feature, in which the search engine has been incorporated into Facebook, to help the user keep better track of their friends, and favorite things like music and restaurants.