We live in a society where we are dependent on technology and what it can do for us. We welcome new, more advanced technology without giving it any thought. Society rarely thinks about how technology can work against us. Protecting our privacy or what little privacy we still have should be a major concern in today’s world of new and developing technology. And although it is on the minds of some, for others it is not. Individuals need and should have the opportunity to decide and control what personal information about their lives or personal affairs is in public view (Wikipedia). Our privacy as it is is already limited. Everything we do can be traced back to us. We should all be able to set boundaries on what people know and don’t know when it concerns us. It seems to be that in today’s world of computers and the Internet people are more willing to give up their privacy or simply less careful. Internet privacy allows individuals to choose what information is exposed about them but also lets individuals to decide who has access that information. The Internet is a place where anyone who is anyone can be found and where personal information can be stolen. Some things deserve to be confidential. Here are twelve tips I found for protecting your online privacy include:
1. Do not reveal personal information inadvertently.
2. Turn on cookie notices in your Web browser, and/or use cookie management software or infomediaries.
3. Keep a "clean" e-mail address.
4. Don't reveal personal details to strangers or just-met "friends".
5. Realize you may be monitored at work, avoid sending highly personal e-mail to mailing lists, and keep sensitive files on your home computer.
6. Beware sites that offer some sort of reward or prize in exchange for your contact information or other personal details.
7. Do not reply to spammers, for any reason.
8. Be conscious of Web security.
9. Be conscious of home computer security.
10. Examine privacy policies and seals.
11. Remember that YOU decide what information about yourself to reveal, when, why, and to whom.
12. Use encryption!
It seems that with today’s youth or the younger generations we are more willing to share our personal information. Boyd (2007) describes how “today’s teenagers are being socialized into a society complicated by shifts in public and private.” Teenagers are joining Social Network Sites like MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo. Along with so many others, I have accounts on both MySpace and Facebook. I do worry about my privacy online so I try to limit who I allow to be my friends. I only allow those people I know and have met and I never list my address or my telephone number. I think it’s very important to minimize what you share. So many people are capable of taking advantage of personal information and there are certain things that people just do not need to know. I personally have not encountered any privacy problems online but that doesn't mean I never will. This is one of those issues that could happen to anyone. We need to learn how to protect our privacy and in order to do so we all need to be more responsible. Technology will only continue to improve and we need to protect what little privacy we have left.
YouTube
Boyd, D. (2007). Social Network Sites: Public, Private, or What?. Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://kt.flexiblelearning.net.au.tkt2007/?page_id+28
Stanton, M. (2002). EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy. Retrieved September 28, 2007, from http://www.eff.org/Privacy/eff_privacy_top_12.html
Friday, September 28, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Com 225- Assignment 4 Gift Economy
What is a gift economy? According to Wikipedia, a gift economy is an economic system in which goods and services are given without any explicit agreement for immediate or future quid pro quo (“Latin for something for something”). In other words, a gift economy is a transaction or even more so an agreement that involves an unstated obligation to repay the gift in the future. The article by Peter Kollock defines a gift as “(1) the obligatory transfer, (2) of inalienable objects or services, (3) between related and mutually obligated transactors.” Kollock also differentiates between gifts and commodities. He uses the example that gifts are unique; it is tied in an indisputably to the giver. As for a commodity, it is the complete opposite. Other distinctions include that gifts are exchanged between individuals who are part of an ongoing interdependent relationships; commodities are primarily based on self-interest. Also gift economies are driven by social relations while commodity economies are driven by price.
One gift economy that we should all be aware of and acknowledge is the free software community which supports the free software movement. Free software helped impact the Internet, the World Wide Web, and dot-com companies. Wikipedia also goes on to explain that the basic purpose of the free software movement is to defend the right that “individuals, groups, and companies should be allowed to use free software because they believe that the freedom to help yourself and to collaborate with others should be fundamental human rights, and it includes those who see free software as a way to make money.” More importantly to college students, Markus Giesler has developed music downloading as a system of social solidarity based on gift transactions (Wikipedia).
Programmers of free software communities allow their source code available; allowing anyone to copy and modify or improve the code. Not only are the programmers recognized, the community benefits as well. However, don’t confuse the free software community with Software Corporation. Jem Matzen describes a software corporation as an exchange economy which is like an isolated community where ideas are passed around and improved upon internally before being developed and sold as a licensed software product. In a gift economy of the Free and Open-Source Software world, the community is larger, more open and non-exclusive, thus being a larger reserve of intelligence and experience to formulate and cultivate ideas and implementations. Matzen also goes on to say how “gift economy approach is more conducive to the formulation and development of new ideas and technologies, and in that respect it is beneficial to both the consumer and the developer.”
One of the most major examples of free software available is Linux. Linux has been used as an operating system for a wide variety of computer hardware, including desktop computers, supercomputers, video game systems and embedded devices such as mobile phones and routers. Many of us may not have even known we were part of a gift economy or that it even existed. It’s hard to believe that a gift economy would still survive in our materialistic world. A gift economy doesn’t just have to even technology either. Our whole lives we were a part of an economy that gave us so much, our family. It’s hard to imagine that we aren’t expected to give something in return.
Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in
Cyberspace.
Matzen, J. (2004). The Gift Economy and Free Software. Web site:
http://www.linux.com/articles/36554
Wikipedia. Gift Economy. Retrieved September 21, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wik/Goft_economy
One gift economy that we should all be aware of and acknowledge is the free software community which supports the free software movement. Free software helped impact the Internet, the World Wide Web, and dot-com companies. Wikipedia also goes on to explain that the basic purpose of the free software movement is to defend the right that “individuals, groups, and companies should be allowed to use free software because they believe that the freedom to help yourself and to collaborate with others should be fundamental human rights, and it includes those who see free software as a way to make money.” More importantly to college students, Markus Giesler has developed music downloading as a system of social solidarity based on gift transactions (Wikipedia).
Programmers of free software communities allow their source code available; allowing anyone to copy and modify or improve the code. Not only are the programmers recognized, the community benefits as well. However, don’t confuse the free software community with Software Corporation. Jem Matzen describes a software corporation as an exchange economy which is like an isolated community where ideas are passed around and improved upon internally before being developed and sold as a licensed software product. In a gift economy of the Free and Open-Source Software world, the community is larger, more open and non-exclusive, thus being a larger reserve of intelligence and experience to formulate and cultivate ideas and implementations. Matzen also goes on to say how “gift economy approach is more conducive to the formulation and development of new ideas and technologies, and in that respect it is beneficial to both the consumer and the developer.”
One of the most major examples of free software available is Linux. Linux has been used as an operating system for a wide variety of computer hardware, including desktop computers, supercomputers, video game systems and embedded devices such as mobile phones and routers. Many of us may not have even known we were part of a gift economy or that it even existed. It’s hard to believe that a gift economy would still survive in our materialistic world. A gift economy doesn’t just have to even technology either. Our whole lives we were a part of an economy that gave us so much, our family. It’s hard to imagine that we aren’t expected to give something in return.
Kollock, P. (1999). The Economies of Online Cooperation: Gifts and Public Goods in
Cyberspace.
Matzen, J. (2004). The Gift Economy and Free Software. Web site:
http://www.linux.com/articles/36554
Wikipedia. Gift Economy. Retrieved September 21, 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wik/Goft_economy
Friday, September 14, 2007
Copyright this!
Today, the topic of copyright has become extremely controversial .Copyright is a set of exclusive laws regulating how many times information or an idea is used (Copyright). Copyright infringement is a violation of copyright, or simply using someone else’s work without permission. As college students we are all guilty of copyright infringement. A few more common terms associated with copyright infringement include bootleg, piracy, or theft. Some of the most common methods of copyright infringement and are common to us include unauthorized downloading of videos, music file sharing, and bootleg recordings.
Many of us are common with Napster, a file sharing service that set the stage for other decentralized P2P or peer-to-peer file-sharing programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, iMesh, Morpheus, and BearShare(Napster). Illegal file sharing and music downloading has caused a series of law suits because the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) claimed that this practice was damaging the music industry. Many of the networks were shut down and I know for a fact the government is continuing to crack down on individuals who violate copyright laws. I used LimeWire my freshman year at SUNY Oswego and after a short time using it received a letter that my internet would be shut off for two weeks and I would have to meet someone concerning the situation. Luckily I didn’t get into any more trouble than I did and there was no further punishment. This just goes to show that copyright infringement is being looked at more and more and that it is a serious crime and yes it is stealing!
Copyright holders and pro-copyright organizations have release statistics showing their expected lost profits due to copyright infringement. For example, the MPAA estimated the global cost of the unauthorized copying of films in 2002 was $3.5 billion and recently in 2005 the MPAA estimated that the global cost of unauthorized copying of films was $18.2 billion (Copyright Infringement). Copyright holders are joining to fight copyright infringements. You can click, but you can't hide is an advertising campaign being mutually run by several international associations, most notably the MPA, the MPAA, and the GVU, as part of the larger "Respect Copyrights" campaign against peer-to-peer filesharing of motion pictures .
As ways of helping our copyright holders, certain companies like Apple have designed a way to help prevent theft. By creating the iPod and iTunes, Apple allows you to connect to the iTunes Store in order to purchase and download digital music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audiobooks, various podcasts, and feature length films (iTunes). ITunes Library songs can be shared over a local network using the closed, proprietary Digital Audio Access Protocal(DAAP), created by Apple for this purpose. As a way to prevent copyright infringement only computers on the same subnet can share music. LimeWire is also a peer-to-peer file sharing client which also encourages users to pay a monthly fee which will then give the user access to LimeWire Pro.
With the help of companies like iTunes and Limewire music stealing has become less common. All the protection software has made it almost impossible to steal songs without at least paying some kind of price. For me it was losing my internet for two weeks but for others it could be fines or even jail time. I feel fortunate that I only recieved a slap on the wrist, compared to what I could have recieved. Musicans are pressuring the companies to help them crack down more to help protect the music that they made from being stolen and used for free.
Many of us are common with Napster, a file sharing service that set the stage for other decentralized P2P or peer-to-peer file-sharing programs such as Kazaa, Limewire, iMesh, Morpheus, and BearShare(Napster). Illegal file sharing and music downloading has caused a series of law suits because the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) claimed that this practice was damaging the music industry. Many of the networks were shut down and I know for a fact the government is continuing to crack down on individuals who violate copyright laws. I used LimeWire my freshman year at SUNY Oswego and after a short time using it received a letter that my internet would be shut off for two weeks and I would have to meet someone concerning the situation. Luckily I didn’t get into any more trouble than I did and there was no further punishment. This just goes to show that copyright infringement is being looked at more and more and that it is a serious crime and yes it is stealing!
Copyright holders and pro-copyright organizations have release statistics showing their expected lost profits due to copyright infringement. For example, the MPAA estimated the global cost of the unauthorized copying of films in 2002 was $3.5 billion and recently in 2005 the MPAA estimated that the global cost of unauthorized copying of films was $18.2 billion (Copyright Infringement). Copyright holders are joining to fight copyright infringements. You can click, but you can't hide is an advertising campaign being mutually run by several international associations, most notably the MPA, the MPAA, and the GVU, as part of the larger "Respect Copyrights" campaign against peer-to-peer filesharing of motion pictures .
As ways of helping our copyright holders, certain companies like Apple have designed a way to help prevent theft. By creating the iPod and iTunes, Apple allows you to connect to the iTunes Store in order to purchase and download digital music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audiobooks, various podcasts, and feature length films (iTunes). ITunes Library songs can be shared over a local network using the closed, proprietary Digital Audio Access Protocal(DAAP), created by Apple for this purpose. As a way to prevent copyright infringement only computers on the same subnet can share music. LimeWire is also a peer-to-peer file sharing client which also encourages users to pay a monthly fee which will then give the user access to LimeWire Pro.
With the help of companies like iTunes and Limewire music stealing has become less common. All the protection software has made it almost impossible to steal songs without at least paying some kind of price. For me it was losing my internet for two weeks but for others it could be fines or even jail time. I feel fortunate that I only recieved a slap on the wrist, compared to what I could have recieved. Musicans are pressuring the companies to help them crack down more to help protect the music that they made from being stolen and used for free.
Friday, September 7, 2007
COM 125 -Assigment 2 The evolution of E-mail
Thinking of a topic for this assignment was pretty easy since I don't really use the Internet for too much and don't really understand computer talk. So it was either chatting online or e-mail and the one thing I do use on a regular basis is e-mail. Although I don't think it's the best way to keep in touch it's convenient.
Since the last decade or so electronic mail, the exchange of messages over an electronic communication system, has become extremely valued. Our society today depends on e-mail, whether it be for work or pleasure. I know for myself and most others e-mail has become our primary way of contact. Some may disagree but e-mail is the one thing I value the most on the web. E-mail definitely has it's down sides. For one it isn't as personable as face-to-face contact. It doesn't take the time and effort of writing a letter or sending a card. But we still do it. Keeping in touch has never been easier. It is fast and easy. It's a short cut. We no longer need to depend on snail mail. We know within a matter of seconds we can send and receive mail; letters, forwards, cards, pictures, etc.
Growing up in a Technology Era we know that what may be in one day is out by the next day. Regardless of what all the World Wide Web has to offer, e-mail we know will never grow out of style. We know this because there is an estimated 1.1 billion e-mail users worldwide and approximately 171 million e-mails sent per day (Fun fact). So many people in our culture depend on e-mail. We can check our e-mail accounts where ever we may be.
The first development of e-mail dates back to 1965 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They referred to the electronic mailing system as MAILBOX (History of e-mail). The early stages of e-mail allowed multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate but only allow messages to be sent to the same computer which was until Ray Tomlison. Tomlinson was officially credited with inventing the e-mail in 1972. He created the way to address or represent sending e-mails from one computer to another with the symbol @.
With the help of the ARPANET computer programming system and the hundreds of military users, e-mail expanded and things steadily developed.Eventually e-mail helped towards creating the Internet. In 1975 John Vital developed some software to organize email and by 1976 e-mail had taken off (History of e-mail). Today anyone can use the Internet, as well as e-mail. It's hard to imagine our lives any different.
Since the last decade or so electronic mail, the exchange of messages over an electronic communication system, has become extremely valued. Our society today depends on e-mail, whether it be for work or pleasure. I know for myself and most others e-mail has become our primary way of contact. Some may disagree but e-mail is the one thing I value the most on the web. E-mail definitely has it's down sides. For one it isn't as personable as face-to-face contact. It doesn't take the time and effort of writing a letter or sending a card. But we still do it. Keeping in touch has never been easier. It is fast and easy. It's a short cut. We no longer need to depend on snail mail. We know within a matter of seconds we can send and receive mail; letters, forwards, cards, pictures, etc.
Growing up in a Technology Era we know that what may be in one day is out by the next day. Regardless of what all the World Wide Web has to offer, e-mail we know will never grow out of style. We know this because there is an estimated 1.1 billion e-mail users worldwide and approximately 171 million e-mails sent per day (Fun fact). So many people in our culture depend on e-mail. We can check our e-mail accounts where ever we may be.
The first development of e-mail dates back to 1965 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They referred to the electronic mailing system as MAILBOX (History of e-mail). The early stages of e-mail allowed multiple users of a time-sharing mainframe computer to communicate but only allow messages to be sent to the same computer which was until Ray Tomlison. Tomlinson was officially credited with inventing the e-mail in 1972. He created the way to address or represent sending e-mails from one computer to another with the symbol @.
With the help of the ARPANET computer programming system and the hundreds of military users, e-mail expanded and things steadily developed.Eventually e-mail helped towards creating the Internet. In 1975 John Vital developed some software to organize email and by 1976 e-mail had taken off (History of e-mail). Today anyone can use the Internet, as well as e-mail. It's hard to imagine our lives any different.
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