When buying an expensive product, I usually tend to consider the price, usage and effectiveness the product will bring me. Just last year, I along with a group of mine purchased Macbooks. Given that the total sum of each Macbook we purchased was priced around $2000 we had to think the decision well. One factor that I did not think about was, what is the life expectancy of this product, will it last me a year or two?
A while later I watched a video, titled " Are Apple Product Made To Break?. Within the video the topic of planned obselence is discussed. The concept of planned obsolescence dates back to 1932, when it was used to identify a scheme by which the government would impose a limited shelf life on products in an attempt to help the world emerge from the Great Depression. For now, the term is used to refer to the practice of continuosly improving and reinventing products in an attempt to influence consumsers into replacing their purchases more often. In the video, many tech experts accuse Apple of building products that consistantly need replacing on an annual bases so Apple can keep sales and profits at a high level. New York Times columnist Catherine Rampell notes that Apple's software updates make older products run slowly. This happened to be the case for Marco Tabini, when he upgraded his iPhone 4s to the new iOS7 update but could'nt help but notice that the user interface felt sluggish and that the battery did not last as long as it used it. Furthermore Rampell, notes that the releases always coincide with the release of a new product and that the cost of replacing batteries within Apple products or a screen repair are nearly the same as buying a new product. Rampell isnt the only one to point out planned obselence within Apple.iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens agrees, saying Apple uses its own patented five-point screws which prevents users from repairing product themselves. He says when Apple introduced the new screws in 2009 they replaced normal screws in old products taken in for repairs without warning or getting the permission of customers. Personally I believe planned obselence is a matter of regular wear and tear along with advancing technological advancements. In the case of Marco, I know a battery is supposed to hold it maximum charge for about 400 or so charge cycles. This means within a year, the battery will begin to hold less and less charge eventually needing to be replaced. Furthermore, for the upgrades, it makes sense that an older device is not able to operate the same pace given that the software was written for different features and the new update has new features. What do you think? Do companies utilize planned obselence for profits?
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Every now and then, a real world controversial event will occur that leads to a major discussion and debate on social media networks. Usually these events are filled with emotion and lead people to voice their opinions online which is followed by either support or opposition from other members. Events such as these have raised awarenessed for several topics but have also cost the life's and jobs of others. This occurance is known as bandwagon aggression.
One of the most recent occurances of bandwagon aggression was on May 28, 2016, the day Harambe, a gorilla, was shot and killed. The incident occured whena three year old boy fell into the moat at the Gorilla World habitat. The shooting was viewed heavily controversial as several onlookers noted that it was unclear whether Harambe posed any real danger to the boy.Furthermore, others blamed the parents and or the zoo for the death of the gorilla. On social media the mother of the boy became an easy target for others to voice their hatred for her "lack of parenting skills". One thing to note was that often in debates, people would repeadtely note how gentle gorillas are by nature . Most deiscussion revolved around the same sentences and responses, "Gorillas are kind", "Horrible mother" "He could have been saved". People who epreviously never showed any signs of admiring gorillas or such an opinion were now jumping in dicussions and admitting they always cared for gorillas. Personally, I do not think bandwagon is truly a horrible thing but I do believe it to be unethical that people begin caring after an event occured and almost seems fake. One usually tends to join a discussion is a majority of people have done so, hence the name bandwagon aggression. The only pro I can say about bandwagon aggression is that it raises awareness and makes people take notice. The 2016 presedential election was synoyms with fake news. A vast amount of news articles, posting and reports on social media timelines may have been distributed from computer bots programmed with a political agenda. The FBI counter intelligence division has been investigating whether news sites like BrightBart benefited from or took part with Russian opertives during the 2016 election. The issue arises from how sophisticated and quickly the bots can push out content and news article that would help Donald Trump and would hurt Hilary Clinton in the process according the report from McClatchy reporters Peter Stone and Greg Gordon. The investigation is determining whether the bots simulating genuine political activity such as publishing news articles on social media in order to generate interest in both the election and for a particular candidate had an effect on the election's outcome. An example of this case is on October 17, 2016 which was the homestretch of the election, Hilary Clinton had hit her highest poll position by 49% and Donald Trump holding on to his lowest poll number at 41.9% as he has suffered from his Hollywood leak regarding sexist comments about women. The polls would drastically change when a leak involving Hilary Clinton and her email controversary was published. Donald Trump's poll numbers would then skyrocket.There is nothing wrong with voters hearing new information and perhaps changing their minds but the investigation is looking at how Russia may have distorted that informaton as the bots pushed links to stories about Clinton's on email and defamatory false information such as the PizzaGate scandal that involved a story about Clinton overseeing a criminal enterpirse at a Pizza parlor in Washington.The bots targeted millions of Twitter posts that caried links to conservative sites such as BrightBart which was being run by Donald Trump's chief strategist Steve Bannon up until August before the investigation began in July. BrightBart has now reported high traffic numbers which may have influenced form the bots. It is one thing to believe the worst about your political opponents its worse to believe the worst about them to only find out you were fooled as part of a foreign campaign in order to distort the election.
This past weekend, I watched the 2016 thriller movie, The Thinning. The movie's plot revolves around in the year 2039 when the Earth's resources have been depleted due to overpopulation. This leads the government to create a test known as 10-241 to cut the population by 5% each year. Students who pass the exam, are allowed to live while those who fail are "decontaminated". I won't go deep into the plot for any of those who wish to see this movie, and I highly recommend you do but it brought great questions into my head. Out of all the films I have seen that attempt to depict the future of the world, this one I felt impacted with me the most. I could literally relate to how nervous each student felt while they were taking the test. The feeling of dread while awaiting the test results was all too relatable. If the government could create such an exam to this magnitude would this be ethical? We are already discussing how a GPA does not accurately represent the intelligence of a student so why should one state wide exam determine if a student is fit to live? Can the government even decide to pass a law such as this? Why should it be a test, why cannot it be another form of exam with multiple tries? Overpopulation is ongoing topic, with different solutions that need to be executed yet a passing exam score should not be one of them.
About two weeks ago, we were informed on the death of a CSUMB faculty member. After hearing several details about the given person, as a class we were instructed to discuss if it was ethical to disclose the name, and specfic details about a person's death online. Before discussing this topic with my group, I flashed back to the day I read a KSBW news report stating that a 21 year old man was killed by an incoming train in Soledad. That "21 year old man" was a long time friend of mine, and at the time I was in utter shock to hear about the devastating news. I would like to point out that the news report was very short and to the point with no name and only a time estimate for specific details. No follow up report was ever issued after both the parents and other family members verified the death of the person. I do not know the exact process of reporting a death from a community but I can see both the benefits and the negative aspects of it. For one, many people were questioning, including myself if it was our longtime friend who had passed. This worried and troubled many people as they were very close to him while others were out of the loop by not even knowing that he has possibly passed away. Reporting ONLY the name, would allow many other the friends of the given person to attend the funeral and possibly assist the family expenses along with emotional support. Despite of this, I can also imagine the parents not wishing for their son's name to be on the report and only the news to travel through word of mouth. This would ensure that only the closest family members and friends attend the funeral.Personally, I feel that both the death details and name will be at some point disclosed as an event like that never tends to remain a secret. The only control one may have is at the beginning in how much information should be disclosed but oever time, everyone might eventually know the details and name of the person.
Does the title of my pot sound familiar or fake? Perhaps you saw the news posting on either your Facebook or Twitter timeline? On Sunday, December 4, 2016 28 year old Eddie Maddison Welch was arrested for walking in the front door of a popular PIzzeria(Comet Ping Pong) in Northwest Washington. What was this man's motive for shooting a simple pizza restaraunt? When asked by police Welch replied by saying he was self investigating a news report he read online that involved Hilary Clinton and her campaign manager were running a child sex ring from the restraunt's backrooms. With all fake news reports, there are users who can see right through the fake news post but there is others who take it very seriously and just like Welch did, believe it far enough to walk down to the restraunt and point his weapon at employee and fire his weapon in order to "presumably look for alleged tunnels where the children were hidden and tortured. Comet Ping Pong was a victim of fake news and outrageous conspiracy theories that were highly spread during the presedential election. As James Alefantis, owner of Comet Ping Pong, states, "What happened today demonstrates that promoting false and reckless conspiracy theories comes with consequences. I hope that those involved in fanning these flames will take a moment to contemplate what happened here today, and stop promoting these falsehoods right away." This is a perfect example of possibly one of the worst case examples of what fake news can cause. Up until this point, all I thought was possible through fake news was spreading false information online but now I see what is possible with fake information such as even purchasing a fake product from an fake source. The fake news did not end with Comet Ping Ping as other restaraunts around the area were also victims to fake news. Matt Carr, the owner of a coffee shops reported that he began recieving a large amount of crank calls due to fake news. He even begins to state his fears, "“This was our worst fear,” he said, “that someone would read all this and come to the block with a gun. And today it happened.”I found it very interesting to read about this particular report because it was fake news circulated on social media not on television. It is now even more important to not quickly "Share" a click bait news report, read it and verify the claims within it. No one should be harmed with fake news stories.
Let's take a look at a typical night out with friends. Together you plan out a trip to a certain destination or you decide to grab a bite to eat. What is the usual action the happens right after arriving at the location or the moment that your food arrives? Instead of taking the moment in or begin eating, people will reach into their pockets and make the extra effort to capture that perfect photo for, "The gram". Instagram, is actually one of my favorite social media platforms to use and I like scrolling down checking out what my friends are up too. There is however, detremental effects from using Instagram that I have seen within myself and others. With Instagram, we begin thinking that "the grass is really greener on the otherside" from the posts from our friends. We scroll down and see that jaw-dropping photo from your friend visiting a landmark, a well filtered photo of a meal, or a photo of a bodybuilder/model with each of these photos reaching hundered if not thousands of likes and comments. From these posts, emotions such as jealousy, envy, anger or even depression might subside. Little do we know that, that meal photo was heavily edited, and filtered to look the way it is and for some reason we don't see how manipulative these images can be just like a magazine. Personally, I have scrolled down and wished I could travel as much as one of my friends has, or have that beatiful car, yet I cannot understand the reality of those photos. What may look like a happy and cheerful post can only show half of the picture. When posting, a person can go to extreme lengths to capture the perfect photo, create a well worded caption and carefully selecting the appropriate filter. Why do we chose to do all of these things for a simple "Like"? Usage of Instagram creates a culture where everyone is interested in being accepted, trying to show how fun their life is and trying to recieve the most likes in comments to reassure sometime of insecurity. I can easily, recall seeing posts of my friends posting workout photos in which they would recieve praise or a photo of a girl after doing her makeup. It may not always be the case, but we seek acceptance and satisfaction through the certain amount of likes and comments we get on Instagram. When we go through the long effort to capture,edit and post the photo only to recieve 10 likes and 0 comments we feel like a failure, unaccepted, or unattractive. I feel as if moments that should be appreciated are no longer apprecaited because everyone is attempting to capture or record it to show off online. With this being said, I know I cannot stop using Instagram, it remains my go to application tos see how my friends are doing. I have however stopped and thought of the effects its usage can have on me. The day was November 27,2008, I was happily awaiting as my godfather and father set up my first computer. My godfather had just purchased a new computer and was handing down his old HP computer along with a desk to my family. I was fascinated with the internet and began playing games along with watching Youtube videos. Over time the computer began fuctioning slowly and I did not understand why. Previously, I had heard to not visit suspisicuos websites and to be cautious of what I am downloading in order to avoid getting a virus. With this being said, I asked the help of my uncle and cousin to take a look at the computer and see if they could help me in any way. Unfortuntely, their efforts were unable to solve the sluggishness of my computer but recommedned I either have a computer repair man to take a look or to take the computer to Best Buy's Geek Squad in Salinas. My father was able to reach out to get in contact with such a repair man but only diagnosed the computer and never returned for the repairs. Together my father and I drove up to the nearest Best Buy and waited in line in hopes of Geek Squad being able to solve our computer issues. As I loaded the tower on the counter, I informed the employee of the slowness. The employee began running a diagnostics while my father and I waited. It was not until that very moment that I realized, "Wait, how much will this cost?!" I immediately began searching for a menu listing the pricing but there was none around. It was then the employee notified me there was a virus and spyware within the computer and that removal would be priced around $200 dollars with a three day wait period. My heart sunk as I knew this was an outrageous amount my father would not be willing to pay for. Together my father and I left Best Buy with the slow computer and with the thought, "Wow, computer repair is expensive!". That event occured nine years ago, now as I am about to complete my college degree I reflect on all that I have learned. One of those things have been how to open a laptop and install ram. I had a similiar encounter with GeekSquad as I returned eight years later with a friend to purchase RAM. We asked how much it cost to have RAM installed on a laptop, again I was meet the outstanding reply of "$200 dollars". Wow, I could not believe that these prices existed. That evening I googled, "Geek Squad scam". Thousands of searches filled the screen with horrible customer reviews and expereinces of the Geek Squad franchise. One of those results was a news segment dedicated to putting computer repair shops to the test. With virus-free computer and an unplugged hard drive, a news reporter would drop off the laptop to several computer repair shops to see how much a customer would get charged for repairs. PCParamedics, was able to solve the problem within minutes at no charge. The reporter then took the computer to local GeekSquad. The technician there informed the reporter that he could not find out what was wrong with the computer and that they would have drop it off for a $70 dollar diagnosis. Two days later GeekSquad calls the reproter to inform her she has a "broken hardrive" and it would cost $580 to replace. Furthermore, at the store pickup the technician also informs the reporter of a virus as well. GeekSquad recommended several times to purchase a new laptop instead and that then they would be glad to help. $650 all for an unplugged harddrive. Reflecting on my experience and this news cast, should those who have an understanding of something take advantage of those who do not. There are thousands of stories online of GeekSquad memebers encouraging less tech savy customers to purchase a luxorious laptop. Seeing as how simple it was to replace RAM, I cannot think of paying $200 dollars for such a repair.
Let's think about the typical usage of either Facebook or Instagram. When logging in, you are bombarded by various photos and videos from your followers or friends. You engage with the content by either liking, commmenting or spreading it by sharing it to your timeline. Then the inevitable occurs, you spot a meme and it causes you to laugh so much you decide your to share it. What happenes when you select the "Share Button"? Does it simply share to your friends and it ends there? The effects can be astounding as it will reach all of your friends timeline, and if one of your friends share the content it creates an enormous domino effect. One of the most popular content to share today has become a meme, a self-replicating unit of information and as of now the most popular meme is of 13-year old, Danielle Peskoqitz Bregoli, but you may know her as the "Cash me outside,how bow dah?" girl from Dr.Phil. In September 15th,2016 Danielle appeared on Dr.Phil show as her mother attempted to get her int a straight path. Things took a turn when Danielle began referring to the audience members as, "a bunch of hos" and followed by, "Cash me outside, how bow dah" which quickly become into the hottest meme on the internet. Despite the purpose of Danielle being on Dr.Phil was to change her rebellious ways, she has been catapulted into internet fame as she appeared in Kodak Black music video, has 6.8 million followers on Instagram and her now famous meme. But being put into internet fame is not what is seems, Danielle has continued her ways and recently got into an Spirit aAirlines altercation and have been a target of threats and bullying. It seems as if the internet has only fueled her attitude and mentality as she has not changed. Yet not all stories are the same, take for example Ghyslian Raza or better known as the Star Wars kid. Raza is famous for recording himself wielding a lightsaber from Star Wars. His film unfortunately fell into the wrong hands and received over one billion views. Despite the video being funny, Raza was a target of bullying to the point he , "felt worthless, like my life wasnt worth living." Raza would later become deeply depressed and dropped out of high school. He would later redeem himself by becoming a lawyer. Out of all the meme stories I found, there was one that was the most heartbreaking. Hedi Yeh, a model from Taiwan says, " losing control of the image has ruined her career and her personal life". Yeh, posed for a photo for an advertising agency who promised to only use the image. However, the company allowed a plastic surgery provider to use the image with the title, "The only thing you'll ever have to worry about is how to explain it to the kids". Within the photo Yeh poses with a family of children who were digitally altered to have their eyes look small and their noses flat. The internet quickly created it into a meme with the caption "PLASTIC SURGERY, You can't hide it forver". Fake news began spreading of a fake story involving a man who became suspicious about his wife's looks after she gave birth to "ugly" children. He would then discover she had cosmetic surgery before thet met and decided to sue her. The news quickly spread and would lead to her family believing the story and her boyfriend breaking up with her. Yeh quotes, "The biggest loss for me is I don't want ot be a model anymore". It is very easy for me to overlook what I could possiblly be contributing to when I share a post. How could anyone forget, "The fall of edgar" on Youtube ? Facebooks main mission is to connect people around the world, yet when connecting everyone there is also a downfall. Life's could be ruined when sharing a post.
As I am completing my homework assignment, a ring is heard within from my headphone. I let my fingers stop typing and glide over to the track pad where I search for what list of tab made that noise. My eyes scroll from right to left to find I have a new message on Facebook. The message is from a classmate which quickly answer. My Facebook timeline begins to refresh and I see recent content from my friends. Some content is their status updates while others are posts they have shared, I begin scrolling down and watch several clips of funny videos but cease when I read the headlines, “Trump Offering Free One Way Tickets to Africa & Mexico For Those Who Want to Leave America”. My immediate reaction is, “Wow the president must really want to only have a specific group of people in the US or he is granting their wishes”. I open up and begin reading the article but stop reading when the source is from TMZ as I never considered them a credible source of information. Yet, when reading and viewing the article, it was well written and structured, giving no indication that it could possibly be “fake news”. At the time, I had not been keeping close attention to the political election, so I assumed it could be something Trump would say as he is known for saying some outrageous material. In the next coming days, I would see the repeated pattern in my timeline, clickbait and fake news. Scrolling down I would read unbelieveable titles such as, “Florida man dies in meth-lab explosion after lighting farts on fire” or even “Pope Francis Shocks World, Endorses Donald Trump for President, Releases Statement” titles like these were obviously fake news as they included typos and other giveaways. At the time, I did not understand the magnitude that fake news could potentially have on the presidential election or even the beliefs of a person, until my Software Engineering in Residence professor who worked at Facebook admitted that Facebook does contain and spread fake news. Perhaps, the source of fake news appearing on our timelines is not simply because our friends are sharing it but because of how believable it appears. There has been a vast amount of audio and technology advancements over the course of the years that may widen the gap of what is real or fake news. At Stanford university technologist created technology that can alter the facial expressions of a person in a video in real time. Furthermore, these alterations are not cartoonish but high quality and believable. In this clip, a video of former president, George Bush is shown while at the side is a man making face expressions. At the side by side comparison, George Bush is performing the same facial expressions the man is performing almost as if he did them himself. It made me think of some of the clips I have seen online and wondered if they were altered. In addition to this, a product nicknamed, “Photoshop for audio” was demoed at the annual Adobe developer conference. According to the website, “The product allows users to feed about ten minutes of someone's voice into the application and then allows them to type words that are expressed in that exact voice”. In the original recording a man is recorded saying, “In the morning I kissed my dog and my my wife”, which is later turned into, “In the morning I kissed Jordan three times” and it sounded exactly like the voice of the person! What if someone altered the audio of the president when he is speaking to a foreign country? Technology such as these have the potential to influence the mentality in which people view and think of their country and of the president and in the future I hope there is a clear line of what is real and fake news.
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AuthorFirst generation computer scientist that loves football. Archives
May 2017
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