Make room for Big Brother.
Mark Treiber Hutchinson English II-H (3) 3 March 2003 Make room for Big Brother The majority of us have at least once in out lives read George Orwell's 1984. The idea of this long time classic about a man living in a society with no privacy from the leader Big Brother is closer than you think. Weather we know it or not, we are watched everyday. Most people know this but they do not know the true extent of this surveillance, or more so the limitations of their privacy. You are never the only person to know about something you do in private, there is no such a thing as privacy anymore, it have been violated by spy satellites, surveillance cameras, hidden cameras, telephone taps, audio bugs, ECHELON, or by the FBI's Carnivore program. When the local police want to search a persons house what is required? We all know the answer is a warrant. But higher branches are not required to have warrants to gather information on a person by invasion of Internet privacy, or to monitor all telecommunications ever sent. Do not get the wrong idea from these facts though, governments are not the only ones invading our privacy, it also corporations wanting the publics business or perverted camera operators. Your privacy is gone, nonetheless. What you may learn from this may shock you, scare you, and may even cause paranoia. Read at your own disturbance. Do you have any secrets that
Illustrate some of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of technology.
" Many have assumed that the Internet changes everything, rendering all the old rules about companies and competition obsolete. That may be a natural reaction, but it is a dangerous one . . . decisions that have eroded the attractiveness of their industries and undermined their own competitive advantages." Michael Porter Technology is revolutionising global business, this in turn is affecting international consumer behaviour. Some examples of technological advances could include the Internet, mobile phones and modern aircraft. The consumer can now easily purchase items from a variety of sources worldwide, this encourages competition between manufacturers reducing costs to the customer. Before the advances in technology, the supply and demand tended to be influenced by industry, whereas nowadays the customer needs and wants lead companies in different directions. The purpose of the following essay is analysing this behaviour to illustrate some of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of technology. The industrial revolution has never ended though at times economic recessions have slowed it down. The present day is sometimes referred to as "Age of Automation" and has major effects on economies of relevance to marketing management. (D. Foster & J. Davis, 1994) Although the Collins Dictionary (1982 edition) defines technology as "the total knowledge and skills
Marshall McLuhan's theories of technology as an extension of the body.
Marshall McLuhan's theories of technology as an extension of the body It seems to me that Marshall McLuhan loved wordplay. The title The Medium is the Massage is no exception. Maybe he was making a statement about the way that the media massage or beat us, or perhaps he was making a pun on the new "mass-age" - the era of message to masses. McLuhan made this wordplay the subtitle of Understanding Media, his best known, best-selling book. It is easy to overlook how far-reaching McLuhan's thesis is, partly due to our habit of accepting metaphors as metaphors. However McLuhan believed that metaphors, similes, puns, and other literary tricks have the power to reveal the true nature of things, rather than just accelerate the writer's task of getting points and information across. Therefore, McLuhan's investigations in his Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964) deal with the media and its effects. To McLuhan, any medium is an extension (actually, a virtual extension, or "prosthesis") of our bodies, minds, or beings (just as a prosthetic arm is a physical extension of the body, clothes are an extension of the skin; the bicycle, and the car extend the human foot; also, the computer can be thought of as extending our central nervous system, and even more "Man becomes...the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling
Information technology and its impact on Portugese society
Technology in Information Society The case of Portugal Álvaro Jorge Albuquerque Informação e Sociedade Mestrado em Gestão de Informação 2003 FEUP (Lecturer: Dr. David Allen) (Body Wordcount: 2837) Table of Contents Table of Contents 1 Abstract 2 Background 3 Technology 3 Philosophies of Technology [1] 4 Instrumentalism 4 Social Determinism 5 Technological Determinism 6 Technology in action 7 Portuguese Information Society 8 Introduction 8 View of Information Society 8 Current state 10 Values 11 Information Society for all 11 Open Government, Quality and Efficiency on Public Services 11 Learning and Available Knowledge on Information Society 11 Richness of Balanced Opportunities for Commerce 12 Rich Contents 12 Security, Protection and Rights of Individuals 12 Conclusions 12 Reference Notes 13 References 14 Abstract "...technology must never be accepted as part of the natural order of things, that every technology- from an IQ test to an automobile to a television set to a computer - is a product of a particular economic and political context and carries with it a programme, an agenda, and a philosophy that may or may not be life enhancing and that therefore requires scrutiny, criticism and control." (Neil Postman 1992:185) I am supposed to discuss this sentence having in mind the technology on Information Society in Portugal. This is a
Dogmat nowej gospodarki g³osi: najszybsi i wybiegaj¹cymyœl¹ w przysz³oœæ przedstawiciele starej gospodarkibêd¹ wykorzystywaæ
Dogmat nowej gospodarki glosi: najszybsi i wybiegajacy mysla w przyszlosc przedstawiciele starej gospodarki beda wykorzystywac Internet do przeksztalcania prowadzonej dzialalnosci oraz eliminowania debiutantów i mniej zapobiegliwej konkurencji. Prawde te najlepiej ilustruje przyklad General Electric. Koncern ten, zalozony w ostatnim cwiercwieczu XIX w. przez Thomasa Edisona, skutecznie przekonywal, ze znalazl sposób, jak za pomoca Internetu odkryc nowa formule dzialania. W 2000 r. bowiem GE rozglaszalo wszem i wobec, jak to nowa gospodarka umozliwia podnoszenie zysków przy jednoczesnym obnizaniu kosztów - i to o kwoty rzedu miliardów dolarów. Pod koniec 2000 roku i na poczatku 2001 r. GE przewidywalo, ze dzieki wykorzystaniu Internetu, zaoszczedzi do 10 mld dolarów. Biuro prasowe koncernu nie krylo zaangazowania w promocje wysilków spólki na rzecz handlu elektronicznego. Jedna z jego inicjatyw bylo przygotowanie plyty CD pod nazwa Nowa gospodarka@GE, który zawieral deklaracje typu "Internet bezpowrotnie zmienil sposób prowadzenia przez nas interesów". W materiale promocyjnym wystapili szefowie poszczególnych dzialów GE, przechwalajacych sie jeden przed drugim, jaka to czesc ich dzialalnosci przypada na transakcje online. "W 1999 r. przez Internet zlozono 30% zamówien" - stwierdzal Marian Powell, wiceprezes ds. e-biznesu w spólce GE Capital Fleet
Computer mediated communication has become an increasingly common form of interaction.
Computer mediated communication has become an increasingly common form of interaction. The communication networks that today span the world were unheard of 25 years ago. Now, they connect millions of computers in many different countries. In 1992, around 1.2 million people in the United States were regularly using electronic mail and according to the Internet Society, its use is constantly growing (Perry & Adam, 1992). Previously, computer and Internet users were stereotyped as 'socially unskilled males' with little or no social life and self-confidence. However, the spread of cheaper and easier to use home computers has meant that women, children and retired people have also become regular users. We are fast approaching a time when the computer will be as ubiquitous a communication network as the telephone is today. Thanks to the proliferation of discussion groups in the computer medium, sending a message to many different people is just as easy as sending it to one person and it is now just as easy to communicate with someone on the other side of the world as it is with someone in the next room. Throughout this essay, I shall be entering the 'Computer-Mediated Social Environment' (Wood & Duck, 1995), and looking at some of the reasons why people chat on the Internet, whether or not the absence of face-to-face interaction improve or harm social relationships and some of the
What are the implications for individual identity in relation to the rise in Internet cultures?
What are the implications for individual identity in relation to the rise in Internet cultures? To begin with, it is important to define what is meant by identity. "Identity relates to the understandings people hold about who they are and what is meaningful to them" (Giddens, 2001, 29). One of the ways in which people build up their identity is by interacting with others and experiencing things. In the pre-internet world, all the people with whom it is possible to interact with and the experiences available are limited by geography, ie. it is only possible to interact with people who you can meet face to face. It is possible to have a relationship with someone based purely on the use of telephones of letter writing, however, it is unlikely that random mailings will inspire long term friendships. The internet, however, seems to be unique in that random people can end up talking and building friendships. The possibility for a far wider range of interactions means that the possibility for identity building is greatly enhanced. The power of the internet and the services available cannot be ignored, to the sceptic; the internet is just a lot of text with a few pictures thrown in. The total immersion necessary to simulate a new reality is still the stuff of science fiction. However, Heather Bromberg argues that through the use of "MUDs (multi-user dungeons/dimensions...and
Account for the association of technology with masculine culture. How is this culture affected by the development of Information and Communications Technologies - ICT's?
The Digital Age - Written Assessment Account for the association of technology with masculine culture. How is this culture affected by the development of Information and Communications Technologies - ICT's? Introduction Computers and information and communications technologies (ICT's) have always been associated with a masculine culture. There has always been that stereotypical image of 'the toys for the boys' and this technology culture has always has always been one the more dominant cultures among men. This report aims to research into this issue and address the reasons as to why this is. I will also be addressing how this culture will be and has been affected by the development of information and communication technologies in our society. The association of technology with masculine culture Ever since the so called 'muscle jobs' started to dwindle from our society around 30-40 years ago, men started to loose their traditional role and identity in society and as this transition occurred, another change was also taking place. Women, who were once seen in a very sexist light and thought only good for looking after the home and children, started to move out into the working world and were seeking careers of their own. This movement started during the Industrial Revolution when additional labour was needed. Such change over the years has caused a turnaround in the
Information Technology New and Old: James Patrick Kelly's Big Guy and E. M. Forster's The Machine Stops
Information Technology New and Old: James Patrick Kelly's Big Guy and E. M. Forster's The Machine Stops Ever since the team Clinton/Gore came up with their suggestion for a "National Information Superhighway" during the Presidential campaign in 1992, information technology in general - and the Internet in particular - has been in the focus of the media in the United States. As a result of this, a vast majority of the American public is aware of information technology. The question arises though, whether this awareness also includes a knowledge of facts. A recent survey1 found that 57% of the interviewees did not know what cyberspace meant, yet at the same time 87% were certain that information technology had made their life better. Another indication of the ignorance of the public are the releases of the first major Hollywood productions on the topic in the summer of 1995. Movies like The Net or Virtuosity are plagued by numerous factual mistakes inadmissible for an informed audience. Science fiction authors, on the contrary, are faced with a much more sophisticated audience as a recent reader survey2 of an American science fiction magazine illustrates: 44%, up from 27% the year before,3 of its readers were found to use the Internet itself and many others used various commercial Online services and Bulletin Board systems. This familiarity is not surprising since at the core
The Media As an Institution
THE MEDIA AS AN INSTITUTION '..... it will create forgetfulness in the learners' souls because they will not use their memories; they will trust to the external written words and not remember of themselves. They will appear to be omniscient, and will generally know nothing; they will be tiresome company, having the show of wisdom without the reality.' Plato's Phaedrus The media has become the institution that it is today because of the associated commercial concerns. Mass media is financed due to the massive influence both the print and electronic media has on Australia's society. Whilst Socrates quote from Plato's Phaedrus, referred to the invention of writing, many hold the same opinion in relation to the mass media today. Major Changes Several major changes have occurred in the media industry in the last two decades that have fundamentally altered the way in which the media institution operates. The most major changes of note have been: a. the growth of the media industry, b. the advancement of satellite communications, c. women's increased role as consumers of mass media, and d. the growth of the internet. The media has seen spectacular growth since the first daily newspaper for the 'common man' was produced on 4 May 1896. 'The Daily Mail' was a halfpenny paper of eight pages with advertisements on the front cover and was described as 'A Penny Newspaper