Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is basically being an asshole to someone by using technology as a medium.  Cyberbullying can vary from gossip or rumors to be directly malicious to the recipient by harassing them with strong language, threats or inappropriate pictures.

Somini Sengupya's article Warily, Schools Watch Students On The Internet starts off by telling a story of a 12 year old girl who committed suicide because her peers were tormenting her at school as well as online.  This brings up many questions about how things like this should be dealt with.  You're never going to stop all the bullying that happens and there is no way to monitor what kids say to each other on the internet, so what do you do?  We've all seen or been the focus of bullying and we know it doesn't feel great.  I grew up in a time when you could go home and get some peace and quiet, away from all the BS, and get yourself mentally prepared for the next day.  These kids don't have that freedom anymore.  Everyone and anyone is connected and if somebody has it out for you, chances are they'll find you and bring other along for the ride.  Sadly "unplugging" isn't much of a choice now-a-days since most of a persons work, social life and free time are based on the internet.

AI and Robotics

It's hard to say what robots can do.  We program them, so they do whatever we want them to.  Over the past few years we've built robots that can do a variety of things such as assemble a car or even drive a car itself.  I recently saw a table tennis match between a robot and a human (one of the worlds top players).  The robot was fast and gave the human a run for his money, but in the end it was the little human nuances that the robot could not replicate.  The human ability to maneuver the ball and themselves still cannot be matched by a robot...but they're close.  I believe humans are more prone to making errors.  When we repeat mindless tasks all day it begins to wear us down.  A robot, however, would be able to do the same task several thousand times with the exact precision of the first one.  Unfortunately robots can cause errors as well, which is why a human (or humans) need to be attached to each machine, checking it constantly for any errors or odd behavior.  If a machine were to injure somebody, the first person they can look to would be the person(s) in charge of operation/maintenance.  Steven Henn's article When Robots Can Kill, It's Unclear Who Will Be to Blame he mentions that many technologies are being used for war purposes.  This brings us to a bit of a dilemma, who is to blame for the actions/errors of this robot?  The man who built the technology for a use other than war?  The US Government?  The Military?  It's all up in the air when it comes to war and i think that is one of the factors that make it so desirable for the US.  It seems like we're fighting this invisible war and "protecting" ourselves from non existent threats, when in reality we should be protected from ourselves.

Legal and Ethical Issues

Creative commons helps people distribute what they made but still have some of the copyright protection.  Using conditions you choose, your creative work will reach people without having to hassle over certain laws.

 "Should information be free?" is a very hard questions to answer.  Personally i believe knowledge (journal articles containing math, science, etc) should be free because knowledge helps us as a society.  Withholding vital new information, breakthroughs and discoveries will only hurt us in the long run.  Other types of media such as movie, tv, and music should still be paid for but the access needs to be easy.  If it's easier to just steal it, people will most likely steal it without a second thought.  But selling it for a fair price on a variety of mediums will most likely get you the cash. Unfortunately greed is a big part in the sharing of information and companies would rather fight tooth and nail against pirating when they should be competing with it.  According to Joseph Havey's  article Open Access Research Grows in Popularity, research in particular is getting a heavy push to be free after the activism and death of reddit co-founder and creative commons member Aaron Swartz.

Security and Privacy

Privacy has become a bit of a luxury we've taken for granted.  If you're old enough to remember the days of limited internet access and no cells phones, then you remember how easy it was to be "off the grid" in a sense.  Pictures were shared in person in large binders called "photo albums", music was shared by recording it onto a tape or cd and physically bringing it to your friend.  If the person you called was not at home, there was no way you could reach them.  They were simpler times.

Today, our privacy (and in some ways safety) is up in the air at all times.  Unfortunately the biggest social media site in existence (the place where people willingly share ridiculously personal things) has some of the worst privacy flaws.  In Rebecca Greenfield's article Facebook Privacy Is So Confusing Even The Zuckerberg Family Photo Isn't Private, she takes us through an unfortunate incident involving a family photo and the sister of the man who created this unholy mess.  Luckily this was just a harmless Christmas photo.  Imagine if racy or incriminating photos were uploaded? what then?  I thinks it's unfortunate that we've put so much blind faith behind social media.  It's time to step back a bit and think about what we're doing and how we should go about accomplishing it.

World Wide Web

The future of the Web will see an upgrade in pace.  Faster internet will be inevitable because of the amount of use that's happening every minute of every day.  Google fiber is already making it's way into homes in the rural south and hopefully to the rest of us very soon.

"The Cloud" is another tool that has popped up in the last few years.  It's a god-send for those of us who have tons of information that we need to keep protected on servers far, far away.  Although there are some folks who don't trust the cloud just yet.  Many of my friends still feel safer keeping their files on an external drive, in their home, right next to them.  The cloud is a great idea, but you never know who might be snooping around your stuff.  Especially if the files you have were acquired with less-than-legal methods.  

Ryan Nakashima's recent article, Microsoft CEO to Focus on Mobile, Cloud Technology, focuses on Microsofts big push for mobile/cloud integration.  I have a few friends that currently work for Nokia and the impact Microsoft is making is huge.  There have been many lost jobs and plenty of focus being placed on new mobile technology.  Cloud computing is the future and Microsoft has a chance to come back strong with the right choices.

Networks and Communication

There's no doubt that the technology we have at our fingertips is helping us communicate.  Fortunately, people are finding new ways to use these state of the art methods.

My parents recently sold their home and moved in with me (ugh, i know...).  Fortunately it's temporary and I'll have my "safe place" all to myself soon enough.  In these past few days i have learned that they use Skype an awful lot.  We have family over seas and Skype is a fantastic way to communicate for free over long distances.  Nikelle Snader's article on Skype and the classroom gives us a small glimpse at the unique ways this program can enlighten children.  3rd grade students in New York were able to have a Skype chat with a penguin researcher in Antarctica and ask her questions about her research and her lifestyle in such a harsh climate.

I recently read that it was possible to route a door buzzer to your cell phone.  Many condos have locked front doors and need a person to buzz you in through a land line located in the apartment.  Apparently now it's possible to have that signal transferred to your cell phone.

If you give people enough time, they'll find a different (and mostly useful) way to take advantage of a technology.

Introductions: Always ahead of the game

Seeing as though I've introduced myself several times now, you'd think I'd be a natural.  Not the case.  it might have something to do with my grasp of the English language...

My name is Danny.  I have been a long time sufferer of back pain.  Sadly this has left me completely unable to move some days.  Haven't had a debilitating day in a while...so i have that going for me.

On a lighter note...

Courses can integrate Web 2.0 by using the social aspect to encourage discussions.  Rather than talking about topics in class, teachers can have their students post articles/video/pictures/personal experiences so the whole class can get a feel for the information.  The linear method of teaching is becoming less dominant and those teachers who fail to make the transition will find themselves losing students interest.  Steve Mollman's article Web 2.0-Saavy Teachers Testing Old Assumptions talks about how some teachers are putting their lectures on podcasts so the students can listen at home, leaving class time open for hands on activities and labs.  Gaggle.com was created for this purpose, to help kids collaborate and manage files.  21st century skills that will be needed later in life.  Teachertube is another site listed in the article that, like youtube, is ad-supported and is designed to focus on educational clips.