Khatchadourian, Raffi. "No Secrets." The New Yorker. Condé Nast Digital, 07 Jul. 2010. Web. 23 Feb. 2011.
Read this article
Raffi Khatchadourian is the author of, No Secrets, which focuses on Julian Assange. Raffi focuses a lot on Assange’s creation of WikiLeaks, and then he turns to explain about his childhood and up bringing. WikiLeaks is a group of documents all sorted on his many computers. He has created a website to show bits and pieces of some of the information that he has collected from the different countries and news sources. He told Raffi that some of the information that he has found, may in fact terrorize the countries. Raffi never really comes out and states his point of view, but he never disagrees or states that he is opposing this situation either. Raffi may believe, from the hints that were given through out the article that Assange is not trying to harm anyone; Assange just wants people to know the truth. Julian Assange will somehow offer an ultimatum to the president and things could get a little out of hand. Raffi may be a neutral candidate when speaking about WikiLeaks and what could come out of this set of information. He saw the video that Assange and his group created, which is a start at showing what kind of information that Assange may have in his set of credentials. Raffi doesn’t have a straight forward opinion on this subject; he just gave us information containing WikiLeaks and the creator of WikiLeaks. He does agree with the fact that WikiLeaks can be threatening because Assange told Raffi that he is already creating a Project G. Assange also told Raffi how secretive his team is when they are traveling to different places. They hide out because they can’t be found and Assage doesn’t want the government to find him. Assange stays at friends of friend’s places and supporters of WikiLeaks. Raffi came to the conclusion that those who are supporting WikiLeaks are just trying to make known that WikiLeaks is “An instrument for good in societies where the laws are unjust.” (Khatchadourian) The supporters and ones who are working with Assange don’t want to war when the projects come out in the open, Assange has just mentioned, “By releasing the information he would allow judgment to occur in the open.”
Assange is unwrapping information that is contained in WikiLeaks. Depending on what issue he lets out next, he could start a really big fight with those who are involved with that issue. Americans may start getting angry once they see what Assange brings out of WikiLeaks. Raffi does believe the statement above about how Americans who are involved in whatever the issue may concern could be at risk for some problematic issues. The President and Congress could be in danger with some angry Americans; they should have gotten a warning sign when Assange released the video “Collateral Murder.” This point of view Raffi is undergoing is pretty important and should have most Americans thinking and brainstorming on what issue could be released next in WikiLeaks. This concern may not be really important for some people, but if they research and even watch “Collateral Murder,” the mind will surely change into worried mode. Assange is a powerful man that may be in control because of the information that he is holding from the media that has been given to him. He stores all of his information on his computer and then documents whatever is given to him on WikiLeaks and he is the one that will call the shots on when to allow the public to view the information. I feel as though Raffi is challenging those who are concerned with the society to research and study up on Assange and what he is planning on doing because the next project could concern that person.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
The Real World: Computers
Quote Response for In the Beginning . . . Was the Command Line, pp. 43-69
New Idea:
“And-- much more important--what we're buying into is the underlying assumption that metaphors are a good way to deal with the world.” (p.61)
This idea helped me realize that . . .
People are either living their life in a easy and convenient matter or they are going the extra mile and actually learning new information. This quote is a little wordy but the word, buying, helped me figure the quote out a little better. When he said buying I thought about as Americans we are easily conformed into falling into the lazy environment. As technology is getting more and more complex, life is getting easier and easier for us humans. We, as humans, are “buying” into these metaphors which are explanations of intelligent things put on an unintelligent level. In this generation, we have come attached to search engines and cellular devices to do all the thinking for us. Those who are working in the technology field has figured out that the society is going down hill on the intelligent level, so they are creating these metaphors to grab our attention. Instead of grabbing a book to read and researching on certain topic that you are confused about, as Americans we are always trying to find an easier way to find the answers.
Interpretation:
“On the other hand, if you are raised within some specific culture, you end up with a basic set of tools that you can use to think about and understand the world.” (p. 53)
In writing this statement, the author seems to imply that . . .
Technology can be a huge influence on someone’s life. In this quotation, Neal Stephenson is telling us that if someone is brought up by a certain culture or religion then they have something to base their thoughts and ideas on. There is no reason for them to look into someone else because they already have a set of beliefs running through their head. For those who are not raised on any type of culture are not able to fall back onto anything in life, therefore they are more able to go off the deep end because they have no belief in anything. They only know of things they have seen on television or have heard from a friend at school or on the playground. For those who do not have something to believe in growing up, go on in life not understanding the reason why they are even here. They lean towards technology for answers and guidance and technology will fail on that person some time in their life. This person will then get frustrated and feel let down and one again have nothing to fall back on because that’s all they know of, the use of technology.
Tie-In:
“Why are we rejecting explicit word-based interfaces, and embracing graphical or sensorial ones--a trend that accounts for the success of both Microsoft and Disney?” (p. 49)
Tell a detailed story from your personal experience to explain the TIE-IN:
This quote is discussing that in today's society we are more likely to rush home to watch a movie or watch television, rather than pick up a book and start reading. Personally I have always been the one to rush home and turn on the television. Now I don’t have the time to watch television but I have my phone to do many non educational things for me. To be specific, every time I read In the Beginning was the Command Line my head would start hurting because of the amount of brain cells I use to read this book. I have been out of school for a couple years and I did read novels throughout those years but never challenged my brain to do anything. So, whenever I read this book I am always finding myself re-reading parts and even having to write down a good bit of notes to actually train my brain to understand what I have read. Life in the real world outside of educational matters is very rocky, because we are not keeping our brain moving. When our brain relaxes and there is no challenging going on, we forget how to process intelligent things.
New Idea:
“And-- much more important--what we're buying into is the underlying assumption that metaphors are a good way to deal with the world.” (p.61)
This idea helped me realize that . . .
People are either living their life in a easy and convenient matter or they are going the extra mile and actually learning new information. This quote is a little wordy but the word, buying, helped me figure the quote out a little better. When he said buying I thought about as Americans we are easily conformed into falling into the lazy environment. As technology is getting more and more complex, life is getting easier and easier for us humans. We, as humans, are “buying” into these metaphors which are explanations of intelligent things put on an unintelligent level. In this generation, we have come attached to search engines and cellular devices to do all the thinking for us. Those who are working in the technology field has figured out that the society is going down hill on the intelligent level, so they are creating these metaphors to grab our attention. Instead of grabbing a book to read and researching on certain topic that you are confused about, as Americans we are always trying to find an easier way to find the answers.
Interpretation:
“On the other hand, if you are raised within some specific culture, you end up with a basic set of tools that you can use to think about and understand the world.” (p. 53)
In writing this statement, the author seems to imply that . . .
Technology can be a huge influence on someone’s life. In this quotation, Neal Stephenson is telling us that if someone is brought up by a certain culture or religion then they have something to base their thoughts and ideas on. There is no reason for them to look into someone else because they already have a set of beliefs running through their head. For those who are not raised on any type of culture are not able to fall back onto anything in life, therefore they are more able to go off the deep end because they have no belief in anything. They only know of things they have seen on television or have heard from a friend at school or on the playground. For those who do not have something to believe in growing up, go on in life not understanding the reason why they are even here. They lean towards technology for answers and guidance and technology will fail on that person some time in their life. This person will then get frustrated and feel let down and one again have nothing to fall back on because that’s all they know of, the use of technology.
Tie-In:
“Why are we rejecting explicit word-based interfaces, and embracing graphical or sensorial ones--a trend that accounts for the success of both Microsoft and Disney?” (p. 49)
Tell a detailed story from your personal experience to explain the TIE-IN:
This quote is discussing that in today's society we are more likely to rush home to watch a movie or watch television, rather than pick up a book and start reading. Personally I have always been the one to rush home and turn on the television. Now I don’t have the time to watch television but I have my phone to do many non educational things for me. To be specific, every time I read In the Beginning was the Command Line my head would start hurting because of the amount of brain cells I use to read this book. I have been out of school for a couple years and I did read novels throughout those years but never challenged my brain to do anything. So, whenever I read this book I am always finding myself re-reading parts and even having to write down a good bit of notes to actually train my brain to understand what I have read. Life in the real world outside of educational matters is very rocky, because we are not keeping our brain moving. When our brain relaxes and there is no challenging going on, we forget how to process intelligent things.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
A Second Chance for Those Who Made a Poor Choice
Wood, Graeme. “Prison Without Walls.” Atlantic Magazine. The Atlantic Monthly Group, Sep. 2010. Web. 27 Jan. 2011.
Read this article
Graeme Wood has brought to our attention that convicted criminals are being sent out into the society with one condition, they have to be wearing a device on their leg. This device is also known as BI ExacuTrack AT. This device has a GPS installed and the felon’s parole officer will be able to track them quite easily. Wood mentioned the numbers of how expensive it is to hold prisoners in jail, especially in California. For one prisoner to be held for a year was about $50,000 dollars. This is a ridiculous number. He also mentioned this device would work if the crime rate was really high, but he did some research and he found it being exactly the opposite. He also found that when criminals are let out of prison they normally go right back to prison because they have committed another crime. He had also found in a study that those who are in prison come out more tough than when they went into prison, which makes them more of a threat to the society. That’s why this device is a plus because the person is able to go out into the streets and live their everyday life. This device will save the country lots of money, the outcome will be better than having someone locked up, and the crime rate may in fact get lowered. The prisoner will also meet with his probation officer and attend classes. The probation officer is able to track his parolees and they will be alerted if they go to a certain place they aren’t supposed to be at. They can also watch where they go and memorize their daily schedule. By doing this, the criminal is able to still be with their families, work daily, and have a semi-normal life.
This subject is important to think about because we need to see that sure there may be criminals walking the earth but they are being monitored, whereas, there are criminals walking the earth that aren’t being monitored. Who are we to lock someone up and not let them live a normal life, because they made a bad decision? Those who are in jail because they were at the wrong spot at the wrong time should still have consequences but shouldn’t be held hostage. He points out that people may freak if they see someone wearing an ankle bracelet but that shouldn’t be scary, that should relieve us. This should show that someone is monitoring them. He encourages us to see that prison is this horrible place and people who do wrong should go there but, in reality no one could get something good out of staying in there? He explains that this box may just have to symbolize the criminal’s conscience because they may not be strong enough to have their own. This box shows them that they should be in a far worse place than where they are at now, but they are in the real world doing things they never thought they would be doing because of something they did. This may give them hope and they may learn that there is good in this world, that they may get a second chance.
Read this article
Graeme Wood has brought to our attention that convicted criminals are being sent out into the society with one condition, they have to be wearing a device on their leg. This device is also known as BI ExacuTrack AT. This device has a GPS installed and the felon’s parole officer will be able to track them quite easily. Wood mentioned the numbers of how expensive it is to hold prisoners in jail, especially in California. For one prisoner to be held for a year was about $50,000 dollars. This is a ridiculous number. He also mentioned this device would work if the crime rate was really high, but he did some research and he found it being exactly the opposite. He also found that when criminals are let out of prison they normally go right back to prison because they have committed another crime. He had also found in a study that those who are in prison come out more tough than when they went into prison, which makes them more of a threat to the society. That’s why this device is a plus because the person is able to go out into the streets and live their everyday life. This device will save the country lots of money, the outcome will be better than having someone locked up, and the crime rate may in fact get lowered. The prisoner will also meet with his probation officer and attend classes. The probation officer is able to track his parolees and they will be alerted if they go to a certain place they aren’t supposed to be at. They can also watch where they go and memorize their daily schedule. By doing this, the criminal is able to still be with their families, work daily, and have a semi-normal life.
This subject is important to think about because we need to see that sure there may be criminals walking the earth but they are being monitored, whereas, there are criminals walking the earth that aren’t being monitored. Who are we to lock someone up and not let them live a normal life, because they made a bad decision? Those who are in jail because they were at the wrong spot at the wrong time should still have consequences but shouldn’t be held hostage. He points out that people may freak if they see someone wearing an ankle bracelet but that shouldn’t be scary, that should relieve us. This should show that someone is monitoring them. He encourages us to see that prison is this horrible place and people who do wrong should go there but, in reality no one could get something good out of staying in there? He explains that this box may just have to symbolize the criminal’s conscience because they may not be strong enough to have their own. This box shows them that they should be in a far worse place than where they are at now, but they are in the real world doing things they never thought they would be doing because of something they did. This may give them hope and they may learn that there is good in this world, that they may get a second chance.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
To love computers, or not to love? That is the question.
Quote Response for In the Beginning . . . Was the Command Line, pp. 1-22
New Idea:
"These strings of bytes are commonly called files or (somewhat more hiply) streams." (p.14)
This idea helped me realize that . . .
Computers are as advanced as automobile’s engines. Before I had started reading this book I was very clueless when discussions were brought up about computers. I was raised with a computer in my household, so I’ve always have used computers. But I have never thought about how they worked. I would always stop myself when I started thinking about how car engines worked and I was the same way with computers. When I read this quote, I had started to try and wrap my head around how files and documents were made. This quote goes on and explains how linear string-of-bytes make up all these things which create everything we see on the computer. They make up the images, word documents, websites, spreadsheets, graphs etc. I still don’t fully grasp the reason why we are able to see what we see on the computer, but this quote helps out some of the questions that are going on in my head.
Interpretation:
"For a short time he was extending his body and his senses into a larger realm, and doing things that he couldn't do unassisted." (p.4)
In writing this statement, the author seems to imply that . . .
One who is passionate about something will hold that something very dearly. He/she will not want to upgrade to the next big thing because he/she loves that too much. This quote is in reference to a man who loves his car. Stephenson is explaining the way this man feels about his car. The man knows how to fix the car when the car engine has messed up or the breaks have failed. He knows exactly what to do and he fixes the car and he goes right back to loving the car again. This quote explains how the car may only last a little while but his feeling and touch to the car is putting him on a whole other level. He is living in the moment instead of thinking about what may happen to his car in the future. This may be a way people buy and look at their computers, they may love their old computer and would never want to upgrade, because they have that certain connection with the computer.
Tie-In:
"It ended in July of 1995 when I tried to save a big important file on my Macintosh Powerbook and instead instead of doing so, it annihilated the data so thoroughly that two different disk crash utility programs were unable to find any trace that it had ever existed." (p.18)
Tell a detailed story from your personal experience to explain the TIE-IN:
I was 18 years old and I had started my first year in college. My dad was this technology wiz, so throughout my adolescent years I had the latest technology and was educated on the latest technology, except a hard drive. I would have thought my dad would have told me about a hard drive before heading off to college where just about anything could happen to a computer. I carried my computer everywhere. I brought my computer to the school, the library, my friend’s house and obviously my apartment. My computer was my love. I had everything on my computer from, a book I had started to write, all my pictures from childhood all the way up to my 18th birthday, all my papers I had written and senior letters I had received through e-mails. My life was on this computer. One night I was writing a paper in my room and I had a cup of water next to the computer. Somehow I had knocked the glass over and instead of grabbing my computer out of the way I tried to catch the glass which had spilled all over my keyboard. I flipped out and turned my computer off immediately and did what my father had always told me to do in this situation. I took the laptop apart and dried the computer out. I was never able to retrieve anything from the motherboard. The motherboard had blown and everything was gone. To this day my father would ask, “Why didn’t you save everything on a external hard drive?” And I would always just role my eyes and say, “I had never known there was such a thing.”
New Idea:
"These strings of bytes are commonly called files or (somewhat more hiply) streams." (p.14)
This idea helped me realize that . . .
Computers are as advanced as automobile’s engines. Before I had started reading this book I was very clueless when discussions were brought up about computers. I was raised with a computer in my household, so I’ve always have used computers. But I have never thought about how they worked. I would always stop myself when I started thinking about how car engines worked and I was the same way with computers. When I read this quote, I had started to try and wrap my head around how files and documents were made. This quote goes on and explains how linear string-of-bytes make up all these things which create everything we see on the computer. They make up the images, word documents, websites, spreadsheets, graphs etc. I still don’t fully grasp the reason why we are able to see what we see on the computer, but this quote helps out some of the questions that are going on in my head.
Interpretation:
"For a short time he was extending his body and his senses into a larger realm, and doing things that he couldn't do unassisted." (p.4)
In writing this statement, the author seems to imply that . . .
One who is passionate about something will hold that something very dearly. He/she will not want to upgrade to the next big thing because he/she loves that too much. This quote is in reference to a man who loves his car. Stephenson is explaining the way this man feels about his car. The man knows how to fix the car when the car engine has messed up or the breaks have failed. He knows exactly what to do and he fixes the car and he goes right back to loving the car again. This quote explains how the car may only last a little while but his feeling and touch to the car is putting him on a whole other level. He is living in the moment instead of thinking about what may happen to his car in the future. This may be a way people buy and look at their computers, they may love their old computer and would never want to upgrade, because they have that certain connection with the computer.
Tie-In:
"It ended in July of 1995 when I tried to save a big important file on my Macintosh Powerbook and instead instead of doing so, it annihilated the data so thoroughly that two different disk crash utility programs were unable to find any trace that it had ever existed." (p.18)
Tell a detailed story from your personal experience to explain the TIE-IN:
I was 18 years old and I had started my first year in college. My dad was this technology wiz, so throughout my adolescent years I had the latest technology and was educated on the latest technology, except a hard drive. I would have thought my dad would have told me about a hard drive before heading off to college where just about anything could happen to a computer. I carried my computer everywhere. I brought my computer to the school, the library, my friend’s house and obviously my apartment. My computer was my love. I had everything on my computer from, a book I had started to write, all my pictures from childhood all the way up to my 18th birthday, all my papers I had written and senior letters I had received through e-mails. My life was on this computer. One night I was writing a paper in my room and I had a cup of water next to the computer. Somehow I had knocked the glass over and instead of grabbing my computer out of the way I tried to catch the glass which had spilled all over my keyboard. I flipped out and turned my computer off immediately and did what my father had always told me to do in this situation. I took the laptop apart and dried the computer out. I was never able to retrieve anything from the motherboard. The motherboard had blown and everything was gone. To this day my father would ask, “Why didn’t you save everything on a external hard drive?” And I would always just role my eyes and say, “I had never known there was such a thing.”
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
No More Room in My Head
Carr, Nicholas. "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, July/August. 18 Jan. 2011.
Read this article
Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, is supporting the fact that by using Google and by doing most things online these days, we are “losing” our mind. He has made many clear points that when people rely distinctly on the internet, we don’t use all of our brain. He is pointing out that when he reads particular things, he gets sidetracked with other thoughts. He is not staying focused on what he needs to be reading. He went around and read others’ blogs and they have similar views as Carr. They have mentioned that their ways of thinking are changing and when they read, they don’t always remember what they have read. Carr believes that these problems may be caused by the internet making everything so easy, not old age.
The point of view Carr is expressing is important because there are others who are also having this problem. In the article it was said, “That the person is working the hand, but Google was our mind.” And if this is true, this is a scary thought because by the time this generation is in adulthood they will be relying on the internet more than their own mind. This is definitely something to think about because if wise writers and composers are having thinking issues and concentrating problems then think of those who are getting out of their adolescent years in this century. The two men who founded Google have mentioned the fact that Google could be, “Smarter than or at least as smart as the human mind.” Carr is afraid that humans may start acting like robots because of the information they will hold by relying on the internet. He’s leaning towards maybe, life experience to learn about things instead of always running to an internet search engine to get information or just using their head and thinking.
Read this article
Nicholas Carr’s article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid”, is supporting the fact that by using Google and by doing most things online these days, we are “losing” our mind. He has made many clear points that when people rely distinctly on the internet, we don’t use all of our brain. He is pointing out that when he reads particular things, he gets sidetracked with other thoughts. He is not staying focused on what he needs to be reading. He went around and read others’ blogs and they have similar views as Carr. They have mentioned that their ways of thinking are changing and when they read, they don’t always remember what they have read. Carr believes that these problems may be caused by the internet making everything so easy, not old age.
The point of view Carr is expressing is important because there are others who are also having this problem. In the article it was said, “That the person is working the hand, but Google was our mind.” And if this is true, this is a scary thought because by the time this generation is in adulthood they will be relying on the internet more than their own mind. This is definitely something to think about because if wise writers and composers are having thinking issues and concentrating problems then think of those who are getting out of their adolescent years in this century. The two men who founded Google have mentioned the fact that Google could be, “Smarter than or at least as smart as the human mind.” Carr is afraid that humans may start acting like robots because of the information they will hold by relying on the internet. He’s leaning towards maybe, life experience to learn about things instead of always running to an internet search engine to get information or just using their head and thinking.
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