OTM: Safe Harbor No More.

Lately a small battle has been won in the war of internet privacy; The high court in Europe ruled on the side of Max Schrems, a law student from Austria who received evidence from facebook that his rights were being infringed upon. This ruling will hopefully help Americans wake up to the use and abuses of their private data; it has certainly woken up some of the companies at fault in the USA as to having just as manly customers in Europe as in the states and how they have to change their policies in order to not be banned from European servers and clients. This is foreshadowing of events and court cases to come Max and the host of OTM think as this ruling will be just the tip of the iceberg that follows making a better future for the internet and the people who use it.

Physical: The court ruling will start stricter laws that affect internet traffic that comes and goes out of europe. Some of these new rules will enable their citizens to be forgotten by companies; for example, after a period of time a company has to delete any data on that person which gives a whole lot more privacy to that individual than what they had before.

Temporal: This court ruling sided just last week so it is very relevant to us right now; however, it has taken some time to come fourth. From the story, big internet companies like facebook have been ignoring privacy laws set up by the Europeans for quite sometime time now as Max found out about it in 2010 five years ago. It is interesting what other counties will come next to defend their people.

Psychological:  Like Max more people are becoming concerned about the use and storage of their private web data. They are demanding more privacy and stricter laws on how companies use this data and how long they can keep it. Max and others like the hosts of OTM hope that this court case and its ruling will stir-up people in the US to stand up against companies for their personal data rights.

Social: This could start snowballing all the way around the globe and be big enough for when it hits the US it will no longer be able to not care about this issue, particularly because the US is the leader in internet businesses. With more and more people around the world becoming educated on the internet and how internet companies behaved I think we’ll see a huge movement for change; like the guest host said during the broadcast, the internet is more like the wild west now than it ever was before. Like the wild west, the internet will settle down from the coming of regulations that will protect people from present day data barons, data ransom outlaws, data rustlers, and virtual vigilante gangs.  

Thanks for reading

Climate Change 1.0

Climate Change 1.0

It has become the agenda, the main topic of discussion, the most prevalent in both the media and political domains now that the subject of gay marriage has been dealt with by the supreme court. It’s become so big, so mainstream, that it can no longer be ignored. Around 98 percent of scientist around the world are arguing for action even though it might be too late. Like today in class where we talked about how the oceans would rise and we thought so; we don’t live there so why should we care? Well my friend climate change affects us all in one way or another. To see some of its effects that are happening right now watch this video by Discovery News. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyZg985pBY

Here is a video explaining the threat of climate change toward the nation of Maldives and other island nations.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRzO4HlPUUw

Its safe to say that there is so much massive evidence and scientific reviewed papers and journals on climate change that to deny it would just make a means to display how ignorant someone can be. St George is already really hot, how much harder would it be for people to live here if it were to be even hotter?  California right now is suffering a huge drought, what would happen if a drought that size hit the midwest, you know the breadbasket of America? If you want to see the effects of a limited water supply you don't need to look farther than the conditions of developing countries. Also If that wasn’t enough convincing for you just go to your local store and check the price of bottled water to that of soda.

Of course there are always two sides to a story and if this issue was easy to solve it probably already would have been fixed. Nearly all of our energy needs are met through the use of fossil fuels or nuclear energy here in the US. These sources don’t stop working when the wind doesn't blow or the sun don’t shine unlike green energy availability; hence why finding a solution to climate change isn’t as easy as just taking the bus or walking to your destination.  

Religion 3.0

As seen from today’s class discussion, religion has been diminishing from newer generations because of the introduction of the internet into our society.  There are outlets on the internet that have made expressing religion easier. These outlets are seen from apps designed for religion itself or just the use of social websites like seen in this article I found here.

Link: http://www.worldreligionnews.com/religion-news/christianity/5-ways-social-media-connects-religion-to-younger-generations

On the other hand, where traditional religions are stagnating on bringing in new members there has been some new brand new religions birthed through the internet. For example there is a religion based off of file sharing on computers. It is even recognised as real religion in Sweden.   There are some even weirder ones out there that you don't have to look far on the internet to find; however you’ll probably be the judge on their authenticity.  

I found the file sharing religion here, It is number ten, the first one shown so you don’t have to watch the entire video. This is just for citing where I found it and the guys who make these videos cite their sources and from my experience on youtube seem to be that they aren’t really biased and are more concerned with facts.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=461IR-Pa2JI

Darkode and what happens on the dark side of the web.

Darkode and the dark side of the internet. In this weeks story we followed an old woman and her experience from being hack and the tale of how some of this dark side of the internet culture started. It began as a kid in his parents basement with an interest in computers and then over the course of time blossomed into the world’s hub for black market computer hacking. I won’t get further into the story because as a class we all listened to the same story this week.

Physical: With more and more people gaining education on how computers work some use their knowledge to prey on others for financial gain in the form of file/data ransom or by other means. The FBI took down this black market website darkode and made a large number of arrests; however, due to the nature of the internet the site sprung right back up again just two weeks later. When I talk about the nature of the internet in this sense I am talking about how anyone from anywhere can make an input to create and add code to something like a website. Computers and the internet have been a great tool for man but as seen with any tool, it can be used to create positive or negative aspirations and we as a people need to educate ourselves and others on how we can protect us from these attacks.

Temporal: The timing of when darkode was taken down was just three months ago. We will see more events like this were a governing body will try to stop or lay siege to places on the internet’s dark side in an attempt to help people from criminal activity, but we do not know when the web and computers will be safe if ever from vicious persons.

Cultural: Computers and the web have created a diverse cultural of people from those who like pictures of cats to people who ransom anonymous innocent users for untraceable currency. I see it as being very ironic that some of these people doing these crimes has a sense of power now when ten or twenty years ago they could have been the geeks and nerds picked on in highschool. Since computers are constantly being upgraded and updated the culture of us as people I feel like update and upgrade with it but at a slower pace.

Social: The way the internet works in layman's terms is that computers talk to one another to create this network of information. That in a sense makes computers probably close to as social as us maybe? Anyhow the acts of cyber terrorism are being more seen today through the news and other media outlets which can better enlighten people about the dangers they face with their computers.

Psychological: These events I think can be very psychologically disturbing. For those who use computers but don’t know a lot about them they can see this as never being safe again from criminals. The evolution of internet crimes has evolved from spamming, to viruses, and now to file ransom; so that asks the question what is next? The only limitations it seems are what these hackers can think up next in their imaginations. Will we see real life kidnappings from people’s cars being hacked as they drive them? You may laugh at this assumption but care to think how close we are to self-driving cars. They can already track where you are from your phone, you know that device which everyone has from seniors to children have now. We know they sell or rent the technology to anyone relatively cheaply. So what will happen when it falls into more sinister hands?  It really calls for a voice of concern on how we can protect ourselves from these criminals.

Thanks for reading.

Privacy 2.0, The beginning of no privacy?

In our present day we live beside computers, not above them, beside them literary. I was taught in school from an early age how to be “Proficient” when using one but what they didn’t teach me is how monitor the privacy setting on it so that any joe off the street could hack into the computer I was using and see everything I’ve done on it and probably more some. Now to be clear computers are not limited to your at home PC or Mac laptop, they are found in your phone, your car, your child’s tablet, even in your credit cards there is a computer chip in there too. I found this video where this guy is interviewing a man that attends ,every year, this convention of hackers and government associates that work in the hacking of computers and privacy and how the mission of these conventions are to enlighten the public on how easily they are vulnerable to cyber attacks. CAUTION: this video does contain some strong language due to its unprofessional nature: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3_7ahmjJY

So how can you keep yourself safe against criminals that want to spy and use your data? Well you could seek further education and become an expert into how computers work or just google how to avoid having your information stolen on computers but there is more to it than just that. Websites collect your data without you even knowing about when you use them. Ever care to read that twenty page document that pops up when you first use some software or a website called the “term and conditions” ? Inside that legally binding document is a contract that you sign when you click you’ve read it, which allows them to do whatever they want almost since you agreed to it. It almost begs the question is there such a thing as privacy anymore let alone a new form of it called privacy 2.0? Yes you have curtains and doors on your house that block people from looking in but if spy movies have taught us anything, that is if someone want to listen in or look in on you they’ll find a way. Maybe the only true privacy we can fathom now is if one were to move to the last frontier, Alaska or some other extremely out of the way place, but then again there are satellites looking down at you and if you don't think there is just go to google maps, and in street view you can find a picture of your house.

In some of my other classes such as Voice and Civility in Public Discourse we have been studying Edward Snowden and how he has blown up the discussion and attention toward privacy and how the US government was ignoring the fourth amendment when it collected billions of data on its citizens with them knowing about it. From these other classes I have gotten a somewhat of a background to how privacy works today; however I’m not sure if anyone really has it all together when they talk about privacy because the tools in which it is broken are constantly being updated. I had almost no knowledge of metadata or how privacy is viewed today before I came to college this semester but after finding out more about it, it can be pretty scary to think about not knowing who’s listening in on your phone or computer’s webcam. So that begs the question, Is privacy 2.0 the era of no privacy?
Thanks for reading.

OTM: The Pope is Not a Politician

During this week pope Francis visited the United States. He is only the third papal ever in history so far to come to the US so it would seem that the media would pay much attention to him and respect his messages, however this is not the case as seen through this week’s on the media show. Listening to the program they showed, or since this is a radio show played, that the media was covering the pope and his visit as if he were a politician running for office. Some newscasts went as far as saying that the pope’s approval ratings were low instead of just conveying his message for people to be more compassionate and to promote peace.

Physical: Pope Francis visits the US and during his tour is made into an “larger than life character” for the media to over-analyze while misinterpreting and contorting his messages.

Temporal: This event happened last week so it's very relevant and that this is only the third time the pope has came here it would signify that this event should have received better coverage in light of just listening to what he had to say instead of portraying him as a political figure.

Social: I feel like this could make people see the pope and the catholic religion in a bad way since the media has shown him in a light that depicts him as a governing body influencing political agendas including elections for presidency. The people viewing the media when trump called out the pope saying that the things he was saying were going to make isis go after him could cause backlash around the world seeing that at this point in time trump has the best shot for being the next president.

Physiological: This event could cause people to totally misinterpret the pope’s message of be nice to others and promote peace into him becoming a communist. The image of the pope inside the minds of people viewing the media could cause them to make a change from seeing him as an advocate helping humanity to dark person trying destroy america.

 Cultural: What can be said about our culture if we paint the pope in the media the way we do? Media is thought to reflect the ideas and morals of society. In this case did we really care to listen to the pope or did we make him a figurative punching bag like an escape goat for the political runners to point fingers away from themselves?

Thanks for reading.