10/20/14 Book Post 1

The Cuckoo’s Egg’s most profound statement is found in the second to last page of the book, where Cliff Stoll says: “I’m saddened to find talented programmers devoting their time to breaking into computers. Instead of developing new ways to help each other, vandals make viruses and logic bombs.” It is sad, indeed, that gifted programmers find more satisfaction in stealing information than creating ways to better technology; this begs the question, how can we as a society of coders create a paradigm shift to discourage this behavior? To have talented hackers praised by social media websites and popular groups such as Anonymous (which prides itself on being a group of “hacktivists”) overshadows the fact that hacking and stealing information is illegal and that they are criminals in the eyes of the law. When examining the motivation of these hackers, I keep considering one major question; can hacking be ethical? In the example of the book, Stoll is certainly dealing with an unethical hacker; the hacker is merely stealing information to sell in order to receive money for drugs. However, in the case of the group Anonymous, is it ethical to steal information from someone who is, from a legal standpoint, a “bad guy?” If a hacker steals information to expose a bad person and others believe it is justified, this is called consequentialism—the theory that the ends justify the means. I do not believe there is a black and white answer in regards to hacking, but it has forever changed the way that people have to protect themselves from a new type of unseen enemy in this dot-com world.

10/02/14 Current Event Post

The influence of technology has grown beyond all expectations; news, music, socializing, and almost all aspects of life have been altered using technology. One of the most important business changes that technology has influenced is the perception of customers. The example I have selected is that of the newly released iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+. It has sold a record 10 million phones in the first weekend since its release. A total of 9 (yes, single digit 9) phones have been officially reported to Apple about bending in pockets in the past week. Though only 9 in 10 million phones have bent, public perception (with the help of social media) is convinced the phone is fragile and a poor product. Overall, the effect of social media on business is beneficial for users because product issues become more transparent, but sometimes the information may be misconstrued by the mass amount of people sharing the information.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/09/25/technology/mobile/iphone-bend/index.html

09/30/14 Smallish Post

With the dawn of the .com era, written language was forever changed. Languages have suffered as a result of personal computers and handheld technology. When personal computers swept the nation by storm, so did a new way to communicate; this form of communication became so popular it developed its own nickname—chatspeak. Chatspeak is the term for acronyms and slang words used in texting and chatrooms. Examples of chatspeak are TTYL (talk to you later), BRB (be right back), ROFL (rolling on the floor laughing), and l8r (later). This informal language has negatively impacted users’ ability to communicate properly when necessary; due to the mass amount of technology used in modern education, it is easy to see the influence chatspeak has on the developing minds of children. It is, after all, an informal language and is not the only way that people communicate, but in order to have a more articulate generation it should be discouraged as common practice.

09/23/14 Current Event Post

The focus of class centers on technical writing; the article I selected represents an articulate way to present a highly technical topic using a lower technical description. The way to effectively articulate an idea to any audience is to write simply. It is crucial to develop the skill of writing simply to appease a non-technical audience. In industry, there may be a coworker who has no prior experience with the technology used in the documentation of a project, but he still has to be able to understand the specifications. It takes a strong understanding of a subject to be able to explain it simply; if it cannot be explained simply then there is still more to learn. A general rule to writing simply is to take a high level explanation and break it up. For example, a “bit” is short for binary digit; a bit is a single 0 or 1. By taking a technical term (bit) and breaking the definition into smaller sections, it is easier for the intended audience to comprehend.


http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/tech/innovation/nasa-finder-tech/index.html

09/22/14 Current Event Post

The article I chose is relevant to our course discussion about “borrowing” ideas from inventors. The article is about how Amazon is taking the business from Square, both are tiny credit card swipes inserted into a smart device. To me, the concept of inventors VS exploiters falls under the category of necessary evil. It is not, in the classic sense, fair to the inventor that another could take credit and fortune from a product he did not create. However, it is imperative to have competition in order to drive down prices for consumers. If there was just one company selling smart phones, just one selling computers, and just one selling software, the prices would be astronomically higher and the development would be exponentially slower. By having multiple companies constantly competing for sales, consumers receive cheaper and better products than they would with fewer companies; because of competition, consumers and the advancement of technology benefit.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/13/technology/enterprise/amazon-credit-card-processing/index.html?iid=SF_T_River

The focus of my post is the concept that "culture always pays a price for technology." Privacy is at a new low; with technology controlling finances, personal information, conversations, and ideology, there is less personal privacy than ever. For example, when tracking status updates, searches, and friendship interaction, a social media site may know as much personal information about a user as the closest friends of that person. Stealing money or identity is no longer a business of physical stealth, it has become a game of mental stealth and ability to manipulate technology. The cultural price of the 21st century from the revolution of social media is the same as its benefit--information is more accessible than ever.