Tuesday, June 4, 2013
TWIF Flattener 9 - In-forming
Use one of the current events sources linked at http://svhs-hwc-fall2013.blogspot.com/2013/06/approved-sources-for-twif-current.html to find a recent news article that relates to, supports, or refutes Friedman's assertion that in-forming was a "flattener." Your comment should include the title of the news article, a link to the article, and a summary of the article including an explanation of how the article relates to this point. Don't forget to check your rubric for evaluation criteria!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Prism and privacy: What could they know about me?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22853432
This article discusses the security of personal information in Britain in regards to the U.S. Prism aftermath. The article covers different types of information that can be found out about someone and where the information can be found. For example, going online can give out information about the type of computer that one owns, and search engines track the searches of the user. Additionally, email, apps, e-readers, social media, cell phones, transportation systems, shopping, driving, credit agencies, and electoral roll are the things that reveal the most information about a person and the information is easily accessed by many. This article relates to the flattener of in-forming because search engines give everyone the power of information at one's fingertips, but they also give information about everyone to anyone that looking for it. This proves that it is a flattener because basically anyone in the world can research anyone else and find out tons of information. Furthermore, businesses utilize personal information about consumers for marketing purposes, such as which cookies one clicks on, and can further flatten the world by distributing their advertisements to anyone that they find fits their product standards. In essence, the advent of information at the fingertips of the world brings decreased individual protection, but flattens the world even more by allowing everyone to have equal access to the information and communication opportunities.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23328665
ReplyDeleteSri Lanka ban on film Flying Fish sparks anger
In this article, the Sri Lankan government censorship of the movie, Flying Fish, is addressed. The movie, Flying Fish, depicts the bloody Sri Lankan Civil War which lasted twenty six years and claimed over one hundred thousand lives. The war ended only four years ago in 2009. The government does not believe the movie should be made accessible to the Sri Lankan people. The government of Sri Lanka believes that the movie favors the rebels which are known as the Tamil Tigers. A government spokesman has also released a statement saying that the movie makers had associations with the Tamil Tigers. Since the government decision, state run TV broadcasted that the filmmakers and Tamil Tigers had links. However, the government does face some opposition. Sri Lanka’s most prominent filmmaker and Sri Lanka’s Free Media Movement have both released statements that support the movie. Overall, this news story directly contradicts Friedman’s idea of In-forming. To begin, the movie being banned refutes Friedman’s idea that people can find information using search engines. Even though movie watchers would be using a movie theater instead of a search engine, the information is still not accessible due to government restrictions. This shows that In-forming can come to an abrupt halt when governments interfere. Next, the state run TV that pushes the government’s agenda is an example that contradicts Friedman’s theory. The state run TV does not give people the choice to inform themselves. Instead, it is a public station that pours out the government’s agenda of control and oppression. In order to keep control, the government will not let this movie be viewed. To conclude, Friedman states that In-forming is the biggest flattener; however, the article proves that In-forming can be controlled and used to enlarge the world.
Harry Potter's Diagon Alley: visit on Google Street View
ReplyDeletehttp://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2013/0717/Harry-Potter-s-Diagon-Alley-visit-on-Google-Street-View
This article from the Christian Science Monitor describes a new opportunity for Harry Potter fans, courtesy of Google Maps. The Street View function, one of Google's many services for Internet users, shows pictures of streets shown on a map, which helps drivers recognize landmarks. It also helps the majority of Harry Potter readers, who will not have the opportunity to go to London and see the set where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. Photos of Diagon Alley, a street from the books and movies, are now visible on Google Street view. Friedman explains that in-forming is a flattener because individuals anywhere and everywhere want to and can access the same content as any other individuals, and companies like Google make it easy for them to find and collaborate around their interests. The set tour provided by Google Street View exemplifies this flattener because anyone who wants to see the set can do it, whether or not they can get to the Warner Bros. studios. They can see it right from home, on their computers, or anywhere else with a mobile device like a smartphone. All in all, people's access to Google's Street View of Diagon Alley on the Internet supports Friedman's argument that in-forming is a flattener.
Webscape: Free undergraduate textbooks
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23454263
This video series from BBC News called Webscape brings to light the best new apps and websites. In this episode from July 26, the host discusses a new website called Flooved.com. This website allows allows anyone to view college level textbooks free of charge without a subscription or buying the content. Whats even more beneficial is that even though its content is on the Internet, the content is downloadable as a PDF file to take it on the go. Even though their main target audience is college students on a budget, it is accessible by anyone of all ages who just want to learn on their own. This exemplifies Friedman's theories by giving society a form of self informing. It is accessible all over the world to anyone who is able to connect to the world wide web. The textbooks mainly focus on math and science, but then they expand into so many different subtopics among those two subjects. These online sources give anyone the opportunity to teach themselves any topic at an advanced level, and even at a person's own pace. In essence, this video proves Friedman's assumptions by giving anyone with WiFi connection the opportunity to teach themselves any topic at an advanced college level and at their own pace.
Share Take Care
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-21293438
In the article, Share Take Care, published by BBC, the author discusses internet safety, and how the internet allows criminals high access to personal information. The article shares this information through telling real life stories of families in the UK. The article discusses how minor information such as mothers maiden name, birth date, and favorite sports team is highly valuable to criminals because this information is often used in passwords. The main example was mother's maiden name, because this is a very common security question for bank accounts. Once a hacker finds this information on a social networking site, there's no telling what he could do with it. This article also discusses tips for the internet such as, making sure your account is on private, only use private messaging systems, and to not post anything revealing personally even if it is just for fun. Moreover, this article proves that in-forming is a flattener because it gives anyone internet access the ability to access private information. Since the internet is a world wide tool, it gives anyone in the world the ability to "become you."
Badar Azim: Does the Queen's ex-footman live in a slum?
ReplyDeletewww.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-23681083
This article from BBC discusses news reporter, Rahul Tandon, who went to India in search of the queen of England's former footman, Badar Azim. When Azim was located, he made a comment about Indians living in slums. When another reporter asked how exactly a slum is defined, Tandon pulled out his phone and googled the question. The term slum often offends many of India's less fortunate inhabitants. The country prefers to focus on the middle class of the country, and those who are more successful. Unfortunately, the poor areas still exist in India, and those who live in these areas see their lifestyle as inevitable. This article supports Friedman's points about in-forming because anyone at any time can pull up any information. With the help of websites, like google, people in the same position as Rahul Tandon can quickly find the answer to any questions that may arise. Information about anything or anyone is so easily accessible in this day thanks to the flat world.
Facebook to test mobile payment feature
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23722063
In this BBC article, the author discusses Facebook's next move in order to make their company grow even bigger then its current state. Facebook now wishes to test a feature that allows users to pay for advertised items through Facebook. The company plans to join up with Paypal to achieve this and make it accessible to its one billion users. An interviewee believes this move could potentially prevent Facebook’s success from plateauing and could proof to the rest of the world all that Facebook is capable of. I think this relate to Friedman’s assertion about in-forming because everything about this new feature supports his idea of instant education and efficiency. Friedman uses examples like google and Yahoo!, but social networks like Facebook could add to the flattening process as well. Being able to interact with a customer and make a sale from anywhere that is convenient to the customer revolutionizes the sales industry and ultimately flattens the world to an even greater extent.
Wicipedia Cymraeg: New manager looks to expand Wiki in Welsh
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-23402054
In an article from BBC News, Robin Owain, a retired teacher and newly appointed Wikipedia manager, hopes to add more articles to Wicipedia Cymraeg, the Welsh version of the popular website. Wicipedia Cymraeg has been around for ten years and has already accumulated 100,000 pages, but this pales in contrast to the surplus of four million articles that the English version of the site boasts. Owain, who is Welsh himself, hopes to increase the number of users by travelling around Wales and educating people on how to post and edit these articles. Furthermore, Owain, who has worked at Wikipedia for six years, hopes to make the Gwyddoniadur Cymru, a widely used Welsh encyclopedia, free on the website; he also hopes to add over 120,000 pictures to the website as well. This article, which relates directly to Friedman’s ninth flattener, in-forming (the power to educate and gain access to information online), reflects the concept in two ways. For one, it illustrates how easily available online content is today. With millions of articles on an array of topics, any individual, whether he or she lives in America or Wales, has access to quality content that is viewable on any device with internet access. In addition, Wicipedia Cymraeg plans on implementing articles from Gwyddoniadur Cymru, proliferating the number of articles and increasing accessibility by implementing an online platform for the popular encyclopedia. The second way in which this article reflects the flattening of the world through in-forming is related to the fact that Wikipedia itself is available in Welsh. Like Google, the popular search engine that supports over seventy languages (as discussed in The World is Flat), Wikipedia also supports a wide variety; these broken language barriers show just how flat the world really is. In total, the exponential growth of Wicipedia Cymraeg and other versions of Wikipedia illustrates how people can now inform and educate themselves with a plethora of articles supported in a myriad of world languages.
Clever Hacks Give Google Glass Many Unintended Powers
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/07/17/202725167/clever-hacks-give-google-glass-many-unintended-powers
Friedman explains that Google in particular empowered the individual with easy access to information. Anybody with a computer hooked up to the internet could get on Google and find information on almost anything or anyone. At the time this was an amazing step forward, but now with modern technology, Google has taken not a step, but a huge leap forward. Google has created Google Glass, allowing anybody to take pictures and surf the Web on the go. Now with hackers inspecting this new product, not only can you take a picture with a blink of an eye, but you can use the glasses for facial recognition. Now just looking at a person can take in-forming to the next level, giving you information on anybody from anywhere. However, this power brings concerns of safety and privacy to light. Friedman notes that with Google anybody could search and find information about a person, but now Google Glass make this ten times easier. Google can try to fix this or ban this, but there will always be hackers. The world waits to see where this product will go next.
American Idol Season 12 spotlights new judges over contestants
ReplyDeletehttp://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/TV/2013/0117/American-Idol-Season-12-spotlights-new-judges-over-contestants-video
This Christian Science Monitor article gives information about the new American Idol judges and how they are becoming the main focus of the show, rather than the contestants. New judges Nikki Manaj and Mariah Carey cause drama with their constant bickering, and Keith Urban has shocked viewers with his accent. The country singer is actually from New Zealand, which the journalist, Jodi Bradbury, pointed out could be discovered by a “quick Google search.”
The fact that Bradbury brought up the use of a Google search supports the ideas expressed by Friedman in flattener 9, in-forming. Freidman explains that Google is the most popular way for people to educate themselves on any topic that they could possibly want to gain information about. This process, when individuals seek information on their own, is called in-forming. Many people, including Bradbury, use Google to look up information about other people, only to find that the answer is almost always easily accessible.
Koogle: A Kosher Search Engine
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105731320
This article written by Alison Stewart explains how Koogle is the kosher version of Google. Koogle is in a Hebrew language that is mostly targeted towards people that are Jewish. The developer Yossi Altman explained that the sight was supposed to encourage people to search for what they needed on the search engine without coming in contact with unrelated topics. Koogle has links to news and shopping sites for Jewish people. Friedman talks about Google and other search engines when he explains flattener #9. People ‘search for knowledge.” Koogle has the same capability that Google provides to people. Although it may not get as many searches as Google does in one day, over one billion, it is still progressing with many searches. Like Google, Koogle allows individuals to be enabled with personal ‘power.’
Silicon Valley Seeks to Translate the World
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theworld.org/2013/08/machine-language-translation/
This article explains how two Silicon Valley teams are currently working on making progress in machine translation. One of the associates, Roya Soleimani explained that with one easy click of a button, she has access to many different web pages in 70 different languages. She goes on to explain that " You can have access to the world's languages right in your pocket. " This corresponds with flattener 9, In-forming. Friedman explained that having this kind of source on Google, enables a person to inform themselves on many different topics; any one that a person is interested about. Google is a website that can be used all over the world, as long as internet access is available. Because of this, English cannot be the only language available for users. Having a machine translation is very helpful for foreign countries so they can inform themselves on topics they want more knowledge in. Having a machine translator on Google, equalizes the ability to access information.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteChildren to have Linkedin profiles
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23766251
This article, published by BBC, talks about how the age requirement to have a Linkedin will lower from eighteen to thirteen on September 12th, 2013. Profiles for children will be much more defaulted, but by allowing children to have accounts on this website, they can separate information that they want available for employment from personal information that they want to share with just family and friends. Dr. Bernie Hogan says that this will lower discrimination that may arise from employers as they look for prospective employers through Facebook. This both supports and refutes Friedman’s arguments about in-forming. It supports his argument because now there will be another available way to track histories on people, especially those between the ages of thirteen and eighteen. However, it also refutes his argument as Hogan believes that this change of the required age for a Linkedin account will cause employers not to search prospective employees’ Facebook accounts to make their decisions about who they will hire. Even so, logically speaking, most employers would still like to see how individuals act around their family and friends, and adding this Linkedin account will likely do little to protect the privacy of teenagers. This once again strengthens Friedman’s arguments, as anything posted online can follow you through interviews.
'Boyfriend Tracker' App raises stir in Brazil
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=214386779
In this article from NPR, it tells about the tens of thousands of people who have downloaded the "boyfriend tracker" app on their smart phones. In Brazil the app is called "Rastreador de Namorados" and is used by the people as their own pocket detective. It allows the Brazilian people to spy on anybody that they would like to using their phone. The app was created by Google, and is available to any random person who has access to the internet. This article relates to Friedman's statements on in-forming because almost everyone in the world has a chance to use this app. Friedman talks about being able to get any information you want just by using a computer. This app gives you the location of another human being just from using a phone! The app shows that anybody can get any information that they want by just using the incredible new technology and utilizing sites like Google. Although in this article it is used as a negative, and Friedman uses "in-forming" as a positive, they both show that the average person has the information to the entire world thanks to the Internet.
Facebook Leads an Effort to Lower Barriers to Internet Access
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/21/technology/facebook-leads-an-effort-to-lower-barriers-to-internet-access.html?ref=technology
This article by Vindu Goel spotlights Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his plan to give affordable internet access to the rest of the world, especially developing countries. Zuckerberg and other tech companies have joined together to make this happen. They will begin their mission by trying to make it so that phone applications will run more efficiently and so that the phones will have a longer battery life even while using data. Zuckerberg mentions that "The Internet is such an important thing for driving humanity forward, but it’s not going to build itself." Mark Zuckerberg and these tech companies are participating in the flattening of the world and support Friedman's flattener of informing. This will allow more people to create and customize their own websites online. They are making it so that anyone in the world, even developing countries, can have access to every bit of information that is obtainable through the internet.
How Technology Helped FBI Narrow Field Of Bombing Suspects
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/2013/04/19/177905012/how-technology-helped-fbi-find-bombing-suspects
This article written by NPR shows how technology helped the authorities catch criminals. The particular crime that this article references is the Boston Bombing a truly tragic event. The article says that the authorities searched through more than 10 terabytes of data to catch the suspects. That is an obscene amount of data and the article predicts it would take five years for one person to search through all the data. This supports Freidman’s arguments of how information on the Internet is now easier to find and informs much more than it was previously. Freidman says that technology is helping to inform people faster and quicker than it use to and this article definitely supports that assertion.
Getting Smart About Mobile
ReplyDeletehttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-23746059
Over the past few years, mobile devices have seen a major increase in sales. Over 900 million, or one seventh of the world’s population, phones have been shipped by manufactures this year, and that is expected to increase. People aged sixteen to twenty-four access the internet frequently, making up ninety-four percent of people who access the internet away from home. This huge increase in mobile usage spurs the idea for phone providers to use a person’s current location to send them advertisements about local stores. Google glass is a product that may one day act as a mobile device to view information. Eddie Sinnott, vice-president of strategy at Wolfson Microelectronics, foresees a device such as Google glass to await commands or instructions of its owner. People could speak to this device to search for items on Google or to call people. A device like this has endless opportunities. In “The World is Flat,” Friedman mentions Google and its goal to make knowledge available to everyone, especially with the introduction of technology that disabled people could operate. Google glass is such a product that is both mobile, yet usable for the populous. Friedman also mentions that Google allows people to search for anything and how Google uses its search capabilities to send advertisements to people. With the introduction of devices that know your location to send advertisements and the creation of a product such as Google glass that allows users to search Google for information, the world will be more informed than ever. This supports Friendman’s argument that “in-forming” is a flattener because Google informs people throughout the world with information. This flattens the world because it allows anyone from across the world to access the same information as others. With mobile devices that can do more, people will be able to “in-form” themselves from anywhere at any time across the world.
Cracking The Code: Just How Does Encrypted Email Work?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/08/17/212613677/cracking-the-code-just-how-does-encrypted-email-work
In this article published on NPR, tells the story about how internet hackers can follow every key you press and every site you visit while in a public place. Although many of us are familiar with internet cafes and wifi "hotspots," we don't always realize that while your enjoying your coffee and trying to get work done other people connected to the public wifi can see your emails and private messages. Nowadays there is such thing called encrypted email, however it entails you to own separate software and the person receiving the email must also have it. Encrypted email allows you to send a message, that makes complete sense, however to the provider, such as Facebook, it appears to be gibberish. This article supports Friedman's argument that in-forming is a flattener. This is because wifi "hotspots" are not always private and it allows others to tap into your information. Internet hackers can now "in-form" themselves about your private life and it makes for a level "playing field"
More Employers Use Social Networks to Check Out Applicants
ReplyDeletehttp://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/20/more-employers-use-social-networks-to-check-out-applicants/
This article discusses how many employers use social networks and media to check potential employees' profiles before hiring them. 45% of the employers in the study admitted to using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to look at job applicants' accounts, Facebook being the most popular. Employers typically look for provocative images, posts concerning the use of drugs or alcohol, and any reviling of previous employers. Employers using Facebook to find information about job candidates relates to Friedman's ninth flattener, in-forming. Through search engines such as Google, people became able to find all kinds of information previously unavailable to them. This was a flattener because any one person, no matter how different her or she is from others, could easily find the information that he or she wanted, leveling the playing field. Like the people googling information, employers using Facebook to check possible employees' Facebook pages are also informing themselves. Through the use of social media, employees can gain access to important information about their employees' lives that they may not have been able to learn previously.