Biniam Gared

2/09/11

DEFINITIONS:

• copyright-A set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work.

ex: Thomas Edison put copyrighted many devices we use today allowing him to be the only distributor of the product.

• patent-A set of exclusive rights granted by a state (national government) to an inventor for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention.

ex: Thomas Edison also patented many devices we use today allowing him to say that he created each and everyone of those devices.

• trademark-A distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities.

ex: registered trademark(®)

1/24/11

• Google ready for action against content farms
• Google has been hearing many complaints about their search quality and has decided to act on it. This change in their website is estimated to cost around $1.3 billion. Google also plans to promote an extension for its Chrome browser, which allows its users to label sites as spam. Using this is going to help Google in that it provides feedback to Google on which sites are spam helping them in their filtering done on Google Search.
• The stake holders are the people who work at Google and the users. This is so because this change is going to affect the amount of work or type of work that the employees are going to have to do, while it also affects the users in that their way of searching on Google will be changed.
• The Social and Ethical Issues involved are Integrity and People and Machines. Integrity because Google's integrity as one of the best and most used search engines is on the line and People and Machines because this will affect the ability of searching by the users on Google.
• The area of impact is Arts, Entertainment, and Leisure and Education. These are the areas of impact because Google is a search engine in which each of these areas of impact uses.
• I for one am really going to enjoy the new change in Google's Search engine because of my constant use of Google and because of how the search will involve less spam sites.

1/03/11

• Italy rules YouTube and other video sites are like TV stations, are liable for content
• Italy wants to make YouTube and other video services into TV stations by putting many of their rules that are applied to TV stations on those sites. Because those sites have editorial control over their content they are then considered an "audiovisual service", which are subject to additional taxes, have to come down in 48 hours if it contains any slander, and are not allowed to show any inappropriate material at certain times of the day because of children. The stakeholders in this issue are the people who work on the website, people who regulate the websites, and people who visit the websites. This is so because the people who work on the website are not allowed to put what ever they want on the website, the people who regulate the websites have to make sure that the websites abide to the knew rule, and the people who visit the website will not be able to go to the website they wanted to or what they thought it was. The social and ethical issues related to the article are intellectual propertey, equality of access, and people & machines. Intellectual propertey because the website is owned by somebody and now it is being controlled and hurt by somebody else. Equality of access because people are not able to access what they wanted while people of other countries are able to access.

11/1/10

Facebook Developers Sold User IDs to Data Brokers 1. Companies have been buying User ID's from Facebook Developers, which has made them a great nuisance to the users. Those companies have been using these UIDs to spam people and focus their advertising to those people. Facebook has suspended those developers who have been selling the User ID's.

2. The Stakeholders are the Companies, Facebook, and the people who use Facebook.

3. The Social and Ethical issue which is related to this article would be privacy because the privacy of the users has been invaded by companies who want to advertise their products to them.

4. The area of impact would be business & employment and Entertainment because The employees of Facebook who have sold the User ID's were suspended from work and the entertainment of facebook now comes with a price of having your email spamed.

5. I believe that what they are doing is bad but I don't believe that they will be punished to the extent thay they should considering that what they are doing isn't really ileagal.

10/28/10

Xtranormal Allows people to work on videos online and collaborate with others on these videos. This relates to Web 2.0 because it involves the collaboration of people, allowing them to work with each other to create a video which suits both of their visions

1. The newly hired BMW U.S. autoworkers have a salary of about $15 an hour. In Germany those same workers are making $30 an hour.

2. I am really not that surprised about the difference in salaries between the German workers and the American workers. Their is a reason why they are considered to have a good economy. They are smart in their decisions, like offshoring to a country which has so many people who are desperate for a job.

3. I think that Japan might be one of the few countries that would actually offshore. I chose Japan because to offshore to the U.S. you need to have a strong economy, which they have. Also they have many companies that originate from that area, which could offshore their factories to a country that has both the skilled people to work their and the land to build them.

10/20/10

1. The fact that careers are all but selected for students in India and China also allows them to focus more in particular fields, providing them the opportunity to take classes in that field before they are even out of high school. This drastically contrasts with American high school students who usually do not even think about their careers until they are preparing to apply to colleges and may even change their intended careers halfway through college. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Why?

The process in which the students in India and China know their future profession and take the classes to get in that profesion is a good thing in their society. In those countries the children are all brought up to get a job involving math and science so they can compete with people of other countries, like the United States. Considering that both of these countries are Developing Countries, they have a low GDP and a bad economy. Compared to people in the United States, they are less able to get a job in their country which would result in a large salary, they have to go to another country and get a job. In the United States we have the oppotunity to choose from a multitude of jobs, which are able to give us a salary large enough to live well off of. The process used in the United States, India, and China is working well there and will continue to work well. If India and China become a Developed Country they are one step closer to changing to the American system.

2. I think the students chosen to represent Americans were a pretty good depiction of some of the top students we have here. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

I believe that the movie was not a good depiction of the top students that we have here. The people who are considered as the "top students" have a GPA of about 4 since their sophmore year. The top students in the movie had a GPA of about 3.94, which is after their senior year, which should also include all their AP classes. The "top students" will probably graduate higschool with a GPA of about 4.3, which is way higher then the kids in the movie.

3. The purpose of viewing the video was to demonstrate a flat world - made flat by competing economies in China and India. And that happened because of the dot.com bubble which laid down the fiber optic cables connecting our country with theirs via the Internet. Now that you've finished viewing the video, what are some of your thoughts? Was it worthwhile to have viewed this video? Has it made you appreciate what you have? How can we say the world is flat and global all at the same time? Don't those images cancel each other out? Explain.

I believe that this was a really good and informative movie. It helped me understand that people getting into the field of computer science or any other science are not only competing against their own countrymen but are also competing against people of other nations.

10/12/10

• Technology in the Classroom
• The top 3 things that are most remarkable in my mind is:

1. The average for students per computer is 24:1 - This is amazing becauase living in Arlington I have always been fortunate to have a computer and have been able to use it when I wanted to. This relates to Equality of Access because this shows that not everybody is able to use a computer when they want to or even need to. 2. 64 % of U.S. schools have internet access - This is amazing on how a third of school are able to function without the use of internet. Our school runs on the internet and couldn't run as well without it. Theis also relates to the Social and Ethical issue of Equality of Access because some schools are not able to use the internet. 3. The percentage of students who said they never used a computer for school work - This is amazing on how kids are able to do their school work without the use of a computer. I wonder if teachers accept hand written papers or if the kids use devices like typewritters to write essays or other papers. This relates to Equality of Access and Policies and Standards because not all kids are able to use computers for school and the teachers standards are lowered for writting papers. 4. For these issues the school can ask the county or state for grants so they can improve the schools and libraries by filling them up with computers, which the students can use for academics. These schools will probably get the money because many people feel strongly on education.

1. Choose one of the issues, and describe in 2-3 sentences what you would do to solve the problem
2. Choose one of the "downsides of technology" and discuss in 3-4 sentences why it's a big problem. Discuss the origin of the problem, and a possible solution.

10/05/10

• Apple removes previously approved BitTorrent app from App Store
• Apple accidentally approved for a BitTorrent application to be put into the Appstore, which is then able to be put on the Apple itouch, iphone and ipad. This app allowed for the user to not only manage BitTorrent downloads it also offered free image and video uploading and sharing. The Apple has taken down this app, but what was interesting was that the app was able to go through the App Store's strict approval process.
• Problem: This issue relates to the problem of security and intellectual property because Apple's security team has finally taken down the app because it was not allowed to be in the Appstore (security) and this has stopped the ability of people to file share(intellectual property).
• This issue affects Business & Employment and Arts. Entertainment, & Leisure because the app allowed people to file share, affecting the business of the original maker of this file, and people were allowed to get free music and other devices, giving them free Entertainment.
• My opinion on this issue was that it is crazy for Apple to not notice this type of App but I feel that it was OK considering that they found out early about it.

9/29/10

• Hyperbolic Mapping
• The internet is filled with many problems and one that would be considered a great nuisance is the black holes. Black holes are places where data can't get in or out causing an internet outage, which happens 2 million times every day. New research has shown that hyperbolic mapping could stress routers less and reduce the number of black holes that occur. The stakeholders are the people who use the internet because this action of hyperbolic mapping could affect their use of the internet.
• Problem:This issue relates to the problem of reliability because the internet contains many bugs and "black holes", which affect its use and negatively affects its reliabilty to its providers.
• This issue affects all Areas of Impact because without the reliable use of the internet their is no way to do any of the Areas of Impact.
• My opinion on this issue is that I am all for the hyperbolic mapping because of its positive affects to the internet reducing its outages.

9/21/10

• Activision: Violent games law chokes free speech
• In 2005, California passed a law that banned the sale of violent and inappropriate video games to minors and now the makers of those games have chosen to fight back because of that restriction on their given right of free speech. Activision has joined this group of video game designers giving their full support to the challenge of this law. They have decided to take this law up to the Supreme Court to deliberate on the issue. The stakeholders in this predicament are the video game designers of America.
• Problem: This issue relates to the problems of Equality of Access and Control because the video game designers want all their games, from Early Childhood to Adult Only, to equally be able to be purchased by the young to the old and they also want the ability to sell to whoever they want to.
• This article greatly relates to me because I love to play video games of different nature. I would love to be able to buy any game I want to and to not be discriminated in account on my age.
• Solution:I believe that the law on the issue of selling violent games to minors should change but should still should be there. The law should lower its requirement for elegibility for purchasing games.

9/17/10

• Google has redesigned Google Health
• Google has redesigned Google Health making it more user friendly; they also made the application make the user focus more on wellness and fitness. This article relates to the subject of people and machines because Google Health (the machine) has been made easier to use (for people). This also relates to Privacy because it comes with a feature that lets people write down their prescriptions and their health while keeping their information only known to themselves.