Blog 6: Electronic Voting

The major concern with the Diebold voting machines is that there is no paper traceroute for each vote, the software can be hacked easily, and there is secrecy within the software. The machines are not secure because the software can be tampered with to produce a certain result before the votes have even been cast. There are many problems with the voting system. There should be no secrecy in the voting software, the voting machines should be the same thoughout the state, and to ensure fairness two systems of vote counting could be used. For example, electronic voting and paper ballots. The major problem is with the voting software. There is no reason that the cards should be able to hold any information other than the vote. By placing regulations on the voting software electronic voting could be more secure.

Blog 5: Outsourcing

From my knowledge, American students shy away from CS/IT because there has been a reputation built that computers and the Internet are way too cryptic and take very specialized people to work in those areas. The people who work it CS/IT have recieved reputations for being "nerdy" or "anti-social," regardless of whether there is any truth behind these reputations, they have not become very desirable to American students. While computers have been present in my life as long as I can remember, I have never felt that I understand how they work which makes them intimidating and frustrating. I imagine that this is true of most students and they have never considered CS/IT as a potential career. As I am an Art History Major, I am not too concerned that my potential job will become outsourced. Museums or galleries in America depend on worker who are knowledgeable in the arts and can communicate this knowledge with the viewers/customers.

Blog 4: E Waste

What is most appalling to me is the realization of my own apathy. It is amazing how we can allow our waste to impinge upon the lives of others with little thought or shame. Yet, I cannot be one to condemn. It is just as easy to curse and complain about this huge problem as it is to shrug it off as yet another problem which has become too large to tackle, in which case we don't waste our time worrying. What does it take to stir change in people from being objectors who continue to be part of the problem to being an active member in the solution? This is a difficult problem because we all have good intentions. No one wishes that their waste will be causing cancer to men, women, and children in China. If you think you have done all you can is that good enough, or do we all own the responsibility to really trace where our junk ends up? And if each individual does not own this responsibility, than how can we expect one person/or a group of people, to own that responsibility for the entire country? Reducing e-waste and consumerism in general is a good small step towards taking responsibility. I would like to think that now, having awareness of this issue, I will make a significant effort to reduce my contribution to this problem. Instead of thinking, "I want a new cell phone because this one is ugly and doesn't hold enough pictures," I will think, "My cell phone functions and not having the newest, prettiest technoloy is a small price to pay when considering the damage that it might do to others." It is nice to hear that there are groups who will dispose of your electronics in a safe manner and that they are easier to access than one might have thought. As with all products, it is always best to recycle or reuse. Instead of throwing away a computer, camera, cell phone, etc., I can donate it to a second hand store, sell it on ebay, give it to a friend, and as a last resort take it to a group or store who can assure that they will recycle my electronics and that they wont end up on the road side of some third word country.

Blog 3: Internet Archive

As you stated, the creators of the Internet Archive are archiving everything they can because of the Internet's ephemeral nature. They are creating this online library to preserve and provide access to societies cultural artifacts, prevent the Internet and web information from dissappearing, to provide the public with free access to educational information, and to document history. The Archive captures information about anything it can, ranging from Web, moving images, texts, audio, software, and education. My favorite aspect of the website is it's access to classic films and documentaries. Three potential uses of the Internet Archive are finding online lectures from Universities, listening to recordings of books and poetry, and watching films. I think this site is a great project and will provide the public with information that may otherwise dissappear. It makes it more convenient to access this information and preserve our history.

Blog 2: The Internet

In the beginning of high school, I was lucky enough to have gotten my first cell phone and was excited to chat on Instant Messenger over my dial up connection internet. The rapid improvements in the technological field make these day-to-day tasks more efficient, but have turned us into a lazier and more impatient society. Today, I would be hard-pressed to find someone who truly appreciated a cell phone with no color screen, no Internet access, and no built in camera. Dial up connection is unheard of as its speed is completely outdated. While improvements have given us the ability to watch movies over the Internet, listen to music, load several pages at one time, and share information more efficiently, they have trained to become more frustrated and impatient. Going out to the movie theater has become such a task now that we can sit at home, log onto a website, and watch anything at the click of a button. We are even too lazy to go to the movie store. While this benefits us because information and entertainment is cheaper and easier to access, it encourages illegal downloading that is arguably unethical. Technological developments have just created more grey area when it comes to ethics. The Internet alone has blurred the line of what is considered ethical. Eight years ago, I probably would have believed that taking music or movies, without paying, would be completely unethical. Now, I have no problem listening to free music or watching movies for free on the Internet. The question then is, have my ethics changed because of age and maturity, or has the Internet really had this large impact on my life? I believe that the Internet has desensitized me in some aspects and has therefore changed my ethics, for better or for worse. Wikipedia, the amazing site that it is, still has a negative and controversial side. While it has become a great forum to share information on just about any subject, the information is not always reliable. It is so easy to answer your questions and do quick research using sites such as Wikipedia, that the academic standard seems to be lowered. Because anyone can publish anything on the web, reliability becomes a huge problem. Unfortunately, we seem to be satisfied with questionable information, sacrificing academic integrity in favor of convenience.