Final Blog Post: Presentation Reaction

Online Harassment and Threats of Violence: Olivia Purnell Olivia spoke about the degree to which a great majority of women experience in the realm of online harassment. I had mostly known about online harassment toward groups and individuals but did not fully understand the lengths that some internet users will go to shame women in particular. She spoke about the ubiquity of revenge porn perpetrated on an incredible amount of women. The creation or distribution of this material seems to be attributed to spurned ex-lovers, internet trolls and stalkers, and other deeply disturbed individuals who needed to shame these women to prop up their own egos. Sometimes these women find this material on their own or have someone find it and bring it to their attention, and sometimes it just floats around the internet unbeknownst to the victims. She even spoke of how in a few cases a woman would have to take nude photos of themselves and send them to a site to prove that their bodies pictured were, in fact, theirs and had to claim illegal use of the image, in an attempt to have the image removed. Women experience harassment, threats of violence and rape, cyber-stalking and a host of other despicable acts just because they are women with opinions and stances. I sat there and listened to Olivia talk with my mouth agape from the realities of the vile abuse of their person and violation of their rights to privacy. I felt as if she did a tremendous job in portraying a very real, and very dangerous side of the internet. A+ in my book.

What makes a community and does tech provide those things

Online communities: fact or farse We must ask ourselves one major question in the conversation about online vs/and In Real Life communities. The first thing is that we must decide whether or not we would define a community as a group of individuals that are working to together in an effort to achieve a common goal or just a passing association of individuals. Both exist but personally, I do not consider people trolling one another in an effort to be counter-productive a community. So a lot of spaces on sites like Reddit or 4chan that exist primarily as a source of online griefing would be realized in reality as just a room of people facing their respective walls, screaming as loud as they can in an effort to only out-scream the other people in the room. But that being said, places like crowd funding websites and even forums that exist to create a better understanding of other's opinions, despite whether or no not they share your viewpoint, are what I would consider a community. Now I know that sounds like I'm saying that the only way a community can exist is by creating a "kum ba yah" circle, holding hands and swaying while someone else almost know how to play the song on the guitar, but discourse is only productive if all parties are willing to at least listen. I have had hundreds of perfectly constructive conversations and heated debates with people who would otherwise be diametrically opposed to me, but we were able to interact with civility because we mutually respected each other's opinions and, more importantly, their humanity. A community can come in many shapes and sizes, but what is true is that when we recognize each other's personal soveriegnty over themselves we, as humans, can create communities virtually anywhere.

Dot Com to Dot Bomb

The collapse of the internet's first wave of companies Investing money into companies that inherently are not designed to make money seems like a risky strategy at best. I can understand that when technology is advancing not all of the bodies causing forward momentum are going to exist when the dust settles but in a purely economic sense, it seems foolish. I'm all for pumping money into advancing technology in almost all cases, but for it to cause mass economic damage like layoffs and bankrupting companies is counter intuitive. I think greed plays an important role in the inflation of the intangible goods market and, much like the gold rush, leads to a mad dash of people scrambling to claim their stakes in the mysterious and magical world of wealth creation. After it's all said and done it is good at least to see the market better managing the invisible goods marketplace. Companies like Google and Yahoo have even branched out significantly into other marketplaces to help create wealth, advance technology, and stabilize the market. Google has begun to create an Internet Service Provider called Google Fiber, a cell phone service provider named Project Phi, and has also created cell phones, tablets, and an operating system. Yahoo has even begun to get into producing online television series much like Netflix. The internet may be completely different from its inception and fall, but what died made way for a better managed and much more stable, albeit very difficult at times, internet marketplace and experience.

Joel Larson Visit

Joel Larson presented to the class his explanation on databases It was interesting to have described for us how the disintermediation of technology and data entry was merged together. He talked about how before technology was implemented in grocery stores, a grocer would not have an accurate understanding of their stock on hand or how much they needed to order to keep well-selling items in stock and minimize the amount they purchased of low-selling items. With the advent and implementation of Universal Purchase Code (UPC) Barcoding, it gave all retailers, not just grocery stores, and accurate representation of their stock in an editable electronic database. He further showed us how databases were structured and how databases were also collaborative to be able to create specific search criteria to access and interact data. Joel also talked about the "information continuum" and how it has the capacity to predict based on trends of that data. I thought this was pretty interesting because it's like "technological clairvoyance." Joel surmised that the use of large bodies of information to categorically identify trends in buying, selling, occurrences of use, and other patterns can lead to a more efficient and streamlined approach to the systems we encounter every day. I found this guest speaker very interesting. I didn't really think it was going to be especially useful but was presently surprised at how learning how internal databases are important to our everyday lives, from our student information on our ID cards, all the way to buying groceries.

The World Wide Web Revolution: Jobs Lost

How Technology is making the world a better place, and the jobs it is destroying the in process Time Magazine has a pretty good infographic on jobs that are becoming obsolete due to technology. Their list includes obvious things like travel agents, postal workers, video rental clerks, and photographic processors but includes some others that were a little surprising. On the list were office clerks, supermarket cashier, call center operator, and taxi drivers. With the advent of the world wide web, and subsequently the internet, people have been able to chop away at the "middle-man" that was handling even mundane, everyday things. Clerks are disappearing because clerical work has been streamlined by email and the access to a single document for alterations by anyone who has access to it; in many grocery stores, supermarket cashiers were given the ax because the efficiency and accuracy of a scan it yourself machine that can count bills, read and collect coupons, and charge credit and debit cards without any hassle; but the most significant job I am blown away by is taxi drivers. Taxi drivers are soon to be going the way of the dodo thanks in no small part to driverless cars. A few states in the U.S. have already been approved for use of driverless cars on their roads and highways. With access to wireless internet technology a driverless car can easily be flagged down with an app, drive directly to you, pick you up, and deliver you to your destination; no tip required and the absence of rude and smelly men and women. The internet has radically changed the world in the past 20 or so years and it will continue do so, mostly unabated. http://time.com/84780/technology-is-making-these-10-jobs-obsolete/

3 Thing I Wouldn't Buy on the Internet

Below is a list of things I, and others, would not and should not buy on the Internet 1. Authentic Collectibles The vast amount of false certificates of authenticity online creates a breeding ground of unauthentic merchandise. Fake signatures, cheap reproductions, and blatant rip-offs exist online, and consumers buy these items especially in a time of greater trust and enthusiasm in online purchases. Cyber Monday brings millions of people online in hopes to find the perfect holiday gift for their family or friend and turn to many places to supply them with that perfect NFL player signed helmet or Cast signed production still. Only a handful of companies have the rights to verify the authenticity of a product and having your friend or family member scream in excitement, only to open a box containing a "Rushel Wilsop" signed Seahawks helmet or "Jakes Earp Bones" signed Darth Vader lithograph would be devastating. 2. Easily Perishable Food For the simple fact that it may get lost in transit and arrive at my home as a rotting mass of biological warfare. Fish, steaks, milk, cheese, ice cream all have to potential of turning quickly disgusting. I've purchased food off of both Jet.com and Amazon and have been happy to receive very the reliability in their delivery of non-perishable food items, so I am no stranger to buying things I eat online. But something just turns me off to the idea of something perishable spending more time in delivery than in my car ride home and then consuming it worry-free. Sickness due to meat or fish that spent just a few too many minutes at the wrong temperature and then my subsequent hospital stay both sound awful. 3. A Wife I would never purchase a human-being on either the internet or in person. So in turn, I would never search and then pay for a woman to be imported and delivered to my home with her permission or not, with the express intent of marriage. No matter what spin you put on it, it's still human trafficking.

Erik Hanburg Guest Speaker

Erik Hanburg Guest Speaker Erik Hanburg had some interesting things to say about how to be successful in today's world. He made the statement that in order to reap better returns, one must make the realization that you cannot simply have only one source of income. Being able to manage many smaller things rather than one big thing is essential to a person's individual success. Erik writes books, starts companies, holds elected office, and the list probably continues for a while. Long gone are the ideas that the "nuclear family," or even a one income household for that matter, can survive in today's American economy. And he is absolutely right. His insight into the changing landscape of the way people purchase goods online is very helpful in the way that i have begun to plan my future. He then talked about the impact that the internet has had on the way that authors have been able to bring their books to the public. Amazon, for example, created an incredible avenue for them to be able to release their titles with virtually no risk. That being said, he did say that a bad review, on Amazon in particular, can considerably hobble the chances the book has to be successful. But that seems to be the case with large scale releases as well anyway. Overall, I enjoyed his time with us. He gave us a lot of good information, as well as advice, about how he has been able to be successful, despite the uncertain and volatile nature of the internet.

Blog Post built in HTML

I remember my first encounter with the internet. It was the mid 90's and my father brought home a Gateway PC and a dial-up modem. Now these were the days where you had a land line in your home and no cell phone (oddly enough my dad had a car phone), so if you happened to sign on to the internet your phone became a large, corded, paperweight. The handful of web pages you could visit were probably all built just like this, where a person has a simple interface, like a word processor, and typed every minute detail and hoped that they had not missed a simple keystroke. Now programmers mostly still have this problem, but for the average joe trying to get their web page up and running is as easy as paying a service, selecting the template you like, and inputting whatever typeface, verbiage, and pictures you want. I prefer the new way. I've never dabbled in HTML before, but it seems much like guess and check. Even now as I write this I keep hitting the "preview" button just make sure that it all works.

But it is an interesting exercise. It gives me a whole new perspective and level of respect for the dot-com pioneers. They probably spent far too much time typing out the exacting details for whatever business or organization that they were building the site for. I accidentally hit F12 constantly and see the complexity and inner workings of the website. I can barely fathom this much, much less something as complex as a large website like Amazon or Walmart. It's pretty crazy, but kind of fun.

Email vs. Snail Mail

Email seems superior in many ways to traditional snail mail. We can send an infinite amount of copies of something to as many different people with virtually no added effort, not worry about having a stamp handy, and not have the anxiety that maybe it just never showed up. But even email has its limitations; overly exact addresses, data corruption, and the fact that you can not send tangible items are real issues that email has.

But I think there is a certain amount of joy that comes with getting a hand-written letter. I received numerous letters from my family and a few friends when I was in basic training. While I was there it felt as I if were traveling back in time. I was cut off from the internet and access to a convenient phone I could use whenever I liked and receiving those letters made it seem easier to get through. I have NEVER received an email that made me fell like those snail mail letters made me feel. So very much like the happy little guy picture below, I think the biggest difference is that the effort put into a snail mail letter makes it more special. Knowing that someone went through the effort of finding paper, an envelope, and a stamp, sat down and wrote something, sealed it in that envelope and walked or drove their happy ass to the nearest post office and deposited the letter in that bin just for me makes it feel real. Email just doesn't have that "X" factor.

Through taking this class, I would like to have a better understanding of the inception and changes that the digital world has gone through. I've spent a great amount of time over my life in the pursuit technology. My father first brought home a Gateway PC in the mid 90's and I became instantly addicted, and as a result now, build PCs, spend way too much time playing games, and daydream about the next great piece of hardware, software, and everything in between.

I hope that my time in Living and Working in a Virtual World will add a tighter grip to my grasp on technological advancement. Especially knowing that fast moving obsolescence is all too real in the technological world. Adapt, or die.