Questionable Content

Blogs Battle Brutality

2007-03-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

Egypt is ripe with police brutality and government corruption that allows for the detention and torture of mostly innocent civilians. Ridiculous charges (such as insulting the president and giving a wrong description of the situation in Egypt) have led to the jailing and torture of Egyptian citizens and even foreign visitors. Since protestors usually receive the same treatment as criminals and the media is mostly run by the state, the project of changing Egypt’s political terrain has fallen into the hands of bloggers.

Videos of tortures and police brutality have been anonymously brought forward to the emerging network of Egyptian political bloggers. These videos, mostly taken with camera phones, depict truly horrific acts, comparable to Abu Ghraib. Bloggers post these videos as well as descriptions of government abuses. Access to these blogs, as well as the number of bloggers, has exploded in recent years in Egypt.

This relates a lot to our class discussion about the possibility of using the internet to hasten the acceptance of democracy. This still seems exaggerated, but the use of blogs as an advocacy tool shows great potential. Still, the gains made by bloggers have scared the Egyptian government President Mubarak has been escalating their campaign against electronic activism and protestation. Many bloggers have already been jailed, beaten, and shut down for their posts.

Chatroom Class Feedback

2007-02-26T11:58:00.000-08:00

I feel like a broken record, but I remain a starch supporter of the first half of our online class discussion over the second half. I enjoyed the open exchange of ideas, and, though somewhat chaotic, interesting discussion. Had Professor Castle's text been in some way unique, I would have no gripes with the discussion at all. I thought it was definitely a useful alternative to classroom discussion.

I did hear about legitimate complaints that the chat screen was moving too fast, making it hard to read and making it seem like people's contributions were not being seen. I personally did not have this problem, since my chat screen was full screen. Also it was easy to scroll up slightly, which stops the chat screen from moving on its own.

The second system was much, much worse. As far as I am concerned it was just a slower version of in class discussion. The hand system was somewhat clumsy as well, which only slowed the process. On top of this, waiting for responses takes away any passion or fire that a debate might have had otherwise.

Presentation: Online Relationships and Community- Facebook/Myspace

2007-02-17T18:48:00.000-08:00

An online community is simply any group of persons who communicate through the internet. These are often called computer-mediated communities (CMC), and have an unlimited range of uses and subjects. Almost every interest, activity, hobby, location, industry, and topic has a CMC dedicated to it and its participants. In addition, there are CMCs that are topic-less, and serve to allow users to communicate in whatever manner they see fit. Others CMCs are created for the sole purpose of entertainment.

The technology behind CMCs is derived originally from Multi-user domains(MUDs). As CMCs have become more complex and serve more roles, they have incorporated internet relay chats (IRCs), chat rooms, mailing lists, and MUD object-oriented, (MOO). CMCs run a type of program known as social software, which designate what activities users can perform.

Types of CMCs

-Listservs were one of the first types on CMCs, and are basically just a tool for collaboration over email. Each listserv has an email address and keeps a list of subscribers. A subscriber can send a message via email to the listserv, which will then relay that message to all other subscribers via email. Listservs tend not to be moderated or supervised.
-Chat rooms are small, real time virtual communities intended to discuss certain issues, or bring certain groups into contact with people like them.
-Discussion Forums allow users to post user generated content and contribute to discussions, or start their own. Unlike many other types of CMCs, discussion forums are usually moderated and posts may be edited by some sort of authority.
-Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOs) are another form of CMCs that focus on entertainment rather than utility. These games contain very complex and often necessary social structures
-Social Networking Sites, such as Facebook and Myspace, are more personally oriented. These sites contain personal information that is usually limited, or can be limited, to other users who are familiar (in real life terms) to the homepage’s creator. These sites are generally entirely socially oriented and are not focused on widespread discussion. Facebook and Myspace, along with other social networking sites, are used as a supplemental form of communication.

It is important to note that instant messengers are generally excluded from CMCs because there is no avenue for open community discussion or activity. Still, some instant messengers contain programs for chat rooms and group chats, so there is no clearly defined line.

One interesting aspect of CMCs is the process by which people become members. Almost universally, people start to read forums, listen in on chat rooms, or browse homepages without contributing. These people are referred to as lurkers, and may remain simply a consistent visitor to a site for a long period of time before posting or creating an account. As a result, when new members join a CMC they often have some knowledge of the community they are joining. At this point, a new member will post occasionally on topics of specific interest, usually in a limited fashion. Eventually, these users become more comfortable with the environment and community, and will post more frequently on a larger variety of topics. I’ve provided a link for a more in depth explanation of this process below.

http://www.scottburkett.com/index.php/online-communities/2006-01-09/the-lifecycle-of-online-community-members.html

During my presentation on Monday I will be going into the many societal benefits and detriments of CMCs, mostly involving social networking sites like Myspace and Facebook.

David Lehre, creator of Myspace: The movie, a short online film, is just one among thousands to poke fun at some of the characters that appear on these online sites. It is pretty hilarious if you have the time to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAh6WwKILfk

I Hate Jack Thompson

2007-02-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

If you agree, join the club, buy a shirt:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/gaming/7a15/

Jack Thompson is an attorney and, until a recent investigation and Penny-Arcade-related debacle (http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051019-5458.html), was leading a religious and moral crusade against violent video games.

Unfortunately, even with Jack out of the picture, the fruitless fight against video game violence continues. This is the same fight that conservatives fought against violence in movies, and mature content on television. I do understand that on this particular issue, their hearts are in the right place. They are not, however, doing anything remotely helpful to alleviate the 'problem'. They place blame on the ESRB, which rates video games based on content, and then requires a label that limits what age groups may buy the game. This means that a standard for age requirements for violent video games is already in place, and has been for years. Responsibility, in my mind, now falls onto the parents to regulate what their children get their hands on.

Religious restraint on technological progress

2007-02-11T20:46:00.000-08:00

One of my sources, Challenging nature : the clash of science and spirituality at the frontiers of life, by Lee Silver, discusses in great detail the damage that religious belief have done to some areas of technological advancement. Most affected is the area of biotechnology, where many condemn scientists for 'playing god'. Both sides of the political spectrum have taken turns assaulting this area of science: liberals against genetically mutated crops and conservatives against stem cell research. Dr. Silver defends the scientific specialization, saying advances could help slow the deterioration of earth's ecology among many other benefits. He goes on to say that most of these biases are defined by a fear of a spiritual or religious authority. His work was a great source to learn about the conflicting paths of religious belief and technology.

Copycat Technology and Windows Vista

2007-02-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of discussion about the similar designs of Windows Vista and Mac's latest released OS, Tiger. Many would say that Microsoft blatantly copied a large portion of Mac features, and went so far as to make them aesthetically similar on top of near identical purpose. Windows has been receiving a lot of criticism for this, but I do not feel that it is due. I agree that Windows perhaps lacks innovation at the very least. Yet, it would be moronic of the company not to steal the best idea from apple.

Imagine if, following the release of the N64, Sony ignored the new innovative features that it brought to light. Can you imagine console gaming today without rumble features or analog sticks?

We as consumers want Microsoft to take these features, copy them, and maybe even best them (however unlikely that may sound). This way, Microsoft products continue to improve, and Mac developers have to keep on their toes, either way its better merchandise for us.

If you are interested in some of the similarities between Mac OS10 and Windows Vista, watch minutes 24 to 28 of Steve Jobs's keynote speech at the 2006 World Wide Developer's Conference. It is pretty entertaining.

http://www.apple.com/quicktime/qtv/wwdc06/

Class Conflict in Johnny Mnemonic

2007-02-08T11:46:00.000-08:00

The most interesting aspect of Johnny Mnemonic was the interesting interpretation of class conflict and class identity. In many ways, social class in today's society is displayed through luxury goods. In this story, these luxury goods took the form of advanced electronics. There seemed to be a direct correlation between amount of technology and position in the social ladder. The low-techs, obviously low on the social ladder from their description, are also devoid of much of the serious technological advancements that the rest of society enjoys. The Yakuza on the other hand, who were greatly feared and respected, owned 'comsats and at least three shuttles.' Although in some ways this system of class identity mirrors our own, it differs a great deal from most dysutopian science fiction. Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451 all great dysutopian classics entirely revamped the social conflict of our race. Also, traditionally the goods of status were luxury goods that by definition were without utility. It seemed that this was lost on the society of tomorrow, and that even the rich and powerful symbolized their status through useful technology.

Theological Theory and AI

2007-01-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

Late last semester my roommate and I began a theological discussion that spanned several hours, and I was pleased to realize it relates to this class. I, as an atheist, was arguing that there was nothing super physical or metaphysical about the human brain. This contradicts a notion of free will, because in a scenario when only physical processes control thought, your decisions are just a product of neurons firing back and forth between synapses, and setting off other neurons. Although this idea has implications in endless contexts(includeing a scary notion of predesterminism), applying it to the idea of artificial intelligence is one of the most prominent. Assuming that there is nothing super physical about the brain means that there are no processes that would prove irreplaceable with synthetic materials or machines.

You want a discussion question? How about this:

Why do you believe in free will?

If you are not religious, this should not be an easy answer, and if you are, try not to hide behind that.

Blog List

2007-01-29T11:45:00.000-08:00

LIT 101.040 College Writing Seminar
Blog Address List

Altieri – http://ilovelenin.blogspot.com/
Habib Awan – http://mexistan1006.livejournal.com/
Jeff Bloom – http://bloomj.blogspot.com/
Stacey Cohen – http://scohen06.blogspot.com/
Adam Dexter – http://cw1040.blogspot.com/
Alex Engler – http://alex-questionablecontent.blogspot.com/
Kate Gradijan – http://happytinsel.blogspot.com/

Anisha Imhoff-Kerr –
Evan Leurding – http://evanluerding.blogspot.com/
Stephen Nagle – http://metallicinflux.livejournal.com/
Stetson Nunes – http://stetsonn.blogspot.com/
Josh Offsie – http://joshoffsie.blogspot.com/
Kellen Quigley – http://kellenquigley.blogspot.com/
Saverio Romeo – http://technologyhub.blogspot.com/
Ryan Rosoff – http://ryanrosoff.blogspot.com/
Clare Shepard – http://clareshepherd.blogspot.com/
Liz Watson – http://elizabethwatson.livejournal.com/
Will White – http://itsatraaap.blogspot.com/
Jeff Wilson – http://nine-thirty.blogspot.com/

Interesting Computer Safety Issue... thing

2007-01-24T19:53:00.000-08:00

Apparently there has been a rise in the number of laptop thefts as they become smaller and more portable. In response, the Commerce Department has started encrypting all government files so that a stolen laptop only makes a fancy doorstop. The contracted company, SafeBoot, claims that its encryptions are near impossible to break. Corporations are starting to jump on the bandwagon, but a new problem is arising. Lost passwords or the inability to access the people who know certain passwords also prevents legitimate use of the computers. This is a bit of a predicament, if you have to sacrifice accesibility for safety.

Test

2007-01-21T21:26:00.000-08:00

Yo.