DigitalShadow

This alternate reality game definitely ties into real life. We put this private information of ours out there for anyone to see. Digitalshadow.com shows you how truly vulnerable we make ourselves by putting this information out on the internet. Thankfully when reviewing my digital shadow there wasn’t too much that could be used against me. The site could not find a location for me so that means to me that I am doing a decent job at keeping my address and personal information private.

I definitely think that there could be a more powerful/better functioning example that is coded by professional data miners. There are some extremely intelligent people out there who know how to hack into your personal life. 

This all shows me that my online privacy is not so private. No matter what I do I could still be vulnerable to someone accessing my private information. This does not only pertain to social media, it pertains to everything and anything that we put online.

Sousveillance

 Sousveillance is the recording of an activity by an individual by the use of a wearable or portable personal technology. When I post photos online I am indeed making it easier for someone to research me or someone I know. I personally am always conscious about what I am posting an am always sure to omit any important personal information such as address or phone number. 

With the introduction of Google glass I do believe that there will without a doubt be an increase in crowdsourcing. I feel that this is a feature that could potentially become an issue at some point. Google glass is rather expensive so I don’t think that we will have to worry too much about the potential issues of crowdsourcing until the product becomes available to a wider range of people.

 

The World is Flat

Some benefits described in this view of globalization are off-shoring, supply-chaining, and outsourcing. Off-shoring is when a company relocates their manufacturing or other processes to a foreign country in order to take advantage of the lower costs for operation. Friedman compares the modern supply chain to a river. He notes that Wal-Mart is the best example of a company streamlining item sales, distribution, and shopping with the use of technology. Lastly Friedman argues that outsourcing has allowed companies to split service and manufacturing activities into components that can be subcontracted and performed in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible. These are some of the benefits that Friedman discusses. 

One issue with globalization is that it tends to move taxation away from corporations and onto individual citizens. Another issue is that it uses finite resources quickly and increases world oil prices and increases world carbon dioxide emissions. Lastly globalization transfers investments spending from developed countries to less developed countries. 

References:

Griswold, D. (2014). The Blessings and Challenges of Globalization. Cato Institute. Retrieved April 24, 2014.

The World Is Flat. (2014, April 21). Wikipedia. Retrieved April 24, 2014.

Online privacy and security

Personally I believe that individuals and organizations have the responsibility to report any and all digital security failures. I feel that this is not only the right thing to do, but also necessary to do because if someone’s credit card information gets stolen while purchasing something on your website you are partially responsible so that makes it your responsibility as an organization or company to make the consumer aware of the issue even if it may create poor attention from the public.

As a consumer I definitely think that I have a right to know if my private information has been accessed. Like I said earlier as a consumer I am trusting your companies site to provide a secure system for me to put my information into. If this privacy is compromised in any way I should be the first to be made aware of the situation.

I don’t know if I would necessarily be more or less likely to shop online knowing this information, but I definitely will be more cautious about where I am purchasing from and I will be sure to check the reliability of the site. Right now whenever I purchase something online I try to purchase only from sites that accept PayPal. If I am not sure about a site I want to purchase from I do extensive research and read reviews of the site to be sure I am taking all precautions to keep my private information secure. Something else that I will be sure to look for now is https:// at the beginning of the URL because this shows that the site I am on is secure (Microsoft, 2014). Now that I have done some more research I will from now on be sure to never click on any links from emails or advertizements because these links could look like real sites, but really be frauds (McAfee, 2014).

Personally I have never had my credit card information stolen when making a purchase online so I think in order for me to change my opinion to the opposite I would need to learn the hard way and experience that first hand.

References:

McAfee. (2014). Retrieved April 16, 2014, from McAfee Security Advice Center: http://home.mcafee.com/advicecenter/?id=ad_sos_wmap&ctst=1

 Microsoft. (2014). Retrieved April 16, 2014, from Safety & Security Center: http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/finances-rules.aspx

Is illegal downloading a victimless crime?

Illegal downloading is not a victimless crime. Essentially illegal downloading is stealing. The way I see it, illegal downloading could easily be compared to shoplifting since you are taking something and not paying for it. Stealing is taking another person’s property without permission or legal right or without intending to return it (Knorr, 2014). Stealing is stealing no matter if your doing it on the internet or in a store.

Neglecting to pay for people’s creative work is unethical and illegal. A copyright is a form of protection, granted by the laws of the United States, to the creator of an original work of authorship, usually for a limited time, after the work enters the public domain (Coakley, 2014). Copyrights aim to protect individuals work, but people find loopholes to access the material for free and this is wrong even if everyone else is illegally downloading material as well.

References:

Coakley, M. (2014). Illegal Downloads. Copyright, Files Sharing & Privacy. Illegal Downloads, Copyright, File Sharing & Piracy. Retrieved April 10, 2014.

Knorr, C. (2014). Illegal Downloads: When Sharing Becomes Stealing. Reviews & Age Ratings. Retrieved April 10, 2014.

MOOC’s

Since gaining experience with online learning via CodeAcademy, I really feel that MOOC’s can work. People are always looking to gain knowledge and MOOC’s have the ability of spreading knowledge to many people without the dreaded costs that comes with taking online courses at most colleges and universities. MOOC’s provides interactive user forums that help build a community for students, professors, and teaching assistants (Adams, 2013). I feel that MOOC’s have the ability to further my own education as well as anyone else’s.

Sebatian Thrun, founder of Udacity also believed that MOOC’s can work. He saw MOOC’s as the start of a revolution where interactive online classes would be run by the world’s best professors. These classes would be able to reach hundreds of thousands of students around the world (Adams, 2013). Thrun soon changed his mind. His students began to feel annoyed annoyed and lost among the masses of the large lecture halls. Thrun said, “We don;t educate people as others wished, or as I wished” (Chafkin, 2014). He had lost motivation and began to lack potential. All and all Thrun changed his mind on MOOC’s and their ability to be successful and work well.

REFERENCES:

Adams. S. (2013). Are MOOCs Really A Failure?. Forbes. Retrieved April 3, 2014.

Chafkin, M (2014). Udacity’s Sebastian Thrun, Godfather of Free Online Education. Fast Company. Retrieved April 3, 2014.

 

Aaron Swartz

The late Aaron Swartz was found dead in his apartment on January 11, 2013. Swartz had hung himself inside his Brooklyn apartment. There were many things that led up to Aaron Swartz’s suicide. Swartz was an American computer programmer, writer, political organizer, and Internet activist. He also helped to create Reddit. On January 6, 2011 Swartz was arrested by MIT police and charged with breaking and entering. He had downloaded academic journal articles from JSTOR and had them sent to his home computer. For this he was charged with a maximum penalty of one million dollars in fines and 35 years in prison. This all happened two years before Swartz took his own life. Swartz had mentioned in his blog in 2007 that he suffered from depression. 

Intellectual Property law is a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc. In the case of Aaron Swartz his rights were invaded and the Intellectual Property law was broken.

Sources:

Amsden, D. (2011, February 28). The Brilliant Life and Tragic Death of Aaron Swartz. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 25, 20144

Cartalucci, T. (2013). Global Research. Global Research. Retrieved March 25, 2014

Do you know who’s watching you?

When it comes to privacy I always wish to have mine respected, but I feel that anything I put out on the internet are things that are not private. What is private to me I will not put on the internet to be accessed by anyone who pleases. These things that I consider private are things such as my address and my phone number. I am aware that these may be accessed in other ways, but at least I am taking the precautions to keep myself safe from online predators. 

With this said I don’t see it as a problem for corporations and the government to review published information as long as they are not replicating that published information. I think it is a good thing that the government monitors the internet. There are some crazy people in this world and we need to take as many precautions as possible. If that means monitoring published information then so be it. 

Social Media vs. Traditional Media

Twitter vs. Instagram

When it comes to world news people get their news from many different sources. In the age of technology there are now sources like Twitter and Instagram which many people are beginning to rely on for current news and events around the globe. Although these are good sources to get a general idea of what is going on, you are limited to how many characters you can use on Twitter. 

When it comes to Twitter here are some of the benefits. You can view a wide range of news sources within minutes without having to switch from site to site. Another benefit of using Twitter is that you don’t have to read an entire news article to get to the point of what’s going on. Although there are more benefits to using this form of social media one last one is that even though the posts are short you are still able to attach a link to the entire article if you would still like to read more about the topic. Some cons when it comes to using twitter are that you don’t get a grasp on the entirety of what is going on, often times “tweets” are one individuals opinion and that may lead you to be misinformed on a topic. 

Instagram is a whole other world compared to Twitter. Instagram is more about capturing a moment through the use of pictures. When it comes to world news Instagram gives you a glance at what is going on in other parts of the world. This benefits any user of the app because a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. The flaw with Instagram is that a picture can be misleading depending on the viewers perspective. Instagram users are able to take what they want out of a picture and interpret it in their own way and the way that someone may interpret a picture could be totally different from what the picture is actually portraying.  

Major Uprisings

Anyone who keeps up to date is aware that there are many things going on in the world around us. Recently Ukraine has been going through a major uprising in the city of Kiev. The people of Ukraine are awaiting the next election. They are protesting in the streets of Kiev because they want a new president, a new government, and overall a better situation in the nation of Ukraine. The use of social media has had a significant influence on this uprising because of one young girl in particular, Olyesa Zhukovska. Olyesa was volunteering as a medic to tend to all of the injured people that were hurt while protesting. While Olyesa was assisting the injured she was shot in the neck by a sniper. She tweeted what she was thinking were going to be her last words, “I’m Dying”. This tweet went viral and was seen by many people on Twitter. The thing about twitter is that it is used all over the world so when Olyesa tweeted this she had no idea the amount of people she would reach and as a result of her tweet, she made many people aware of just how bad things are in Ukraine. 

Another major uprising that has occurred recently is the uprising in Syria. The conflict in Syria initially began in response to the Arab Spring. These protests were also in response to government corruption and human rights abuses. Social media for sure has been playing a major role in this civil war going on in Syria. Pretty much anyone with a smartphone is able to document the happenings in Syria for anyone who has access to internet to see. People have been uploading videos to youtube, using facebook, twitter and many other social media networks to show the world what is going on and to promote their cause.

Sources:

Karam, Z. (2013, October 19). Yahoo. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.yahoo.com: http://news.yahoo.com/syrias-civil-war-plays-social-media-115611009.html

Pleitgen, F. (2014, February 22). CNN. Retrieved February 27, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com: http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/22/world/europe/ukraine-kiev-tweet/