Privacy

Google Earth and Privacy

Google has been using their Google street car to map out the streets of major cities in order to update Google Earth. Unfortunately, Swiss officials are against Google showing people who don’t want to be shown. When the car passes by, it records everything that is happening at that moment on the street. It could be invading people’s privacy by taking a video of people when they are not aware themselves. Some people have also said that the car is relatively easy to miss. The main reason Swiss was against this was because the people in their country have control over the use of their own images. Since Google only blurs out the faces and license plates, the people who do not want to be shows have control over whether or not they want to appear. It definitely seems like an invasion of privacy especially if people are unaware the car is nearby, but if people became aware of the car, then their actions would most likely change as well which means that Google Earth will not have an accurate representation of the street photo. These street photos allow us to take a look at the natural lives of people in other countries that we have never seen, to be within the streets of a major town that we have never been to.

3-D Laser Mapping

Navteq 3-D Laser Mapping

Right now Navteq is beginning to collect data to create detailed 3-D models and maps of the US. This new device uses it’s 64 lasers to create 3D maps by using data points. The lasers can capture about 1.5million points per second and can catch it as far as 150 meters away and even works at high speeds, such as on the highway. These people are hoping to give people on foot and cars a better understanding of the graphical area. The 3D mapping not only tells you where you are, but also tells you slope as well as the road curvature. This may help people when they are looking at online maps, or even just help people who are already there if they need to know something about how steep a certain part of the road is.

Growth of Charlotte

Metropolis

Metropolis is a video of the growth of Charlotte, North Carolina. The entire video is 9 minutes long, but this is the last 3 minutes since the beginning was only a slideshow of photos. The last 3 minutes show how the city has changed within 20 years. It is a completely different experience to see it being played out this way because you actually see how the city changes, what is build, what is torn down, what is moved, you can see the entire landscape changing. People can tell you all they want about what was built where and how the city was before, but by seeing this, you are effectively comparing the city it was to the city it is now, 1 small piece at a time and therefore you’re able to see each and every change that was made on the city and how it developed.

GoogleEarth and the Environment

GoogleEarth and the Environment

Google Earth’s uses just keep expending and increasing. It is now being used to show people the top 100 endangered species, where they live, and what threats they are facing right now. By using the high powered satellites people are able to just click and zoom to see the species and its habitat. This will allow people to become more aware of the fact that endangered species are there and that the actions of humans could further endanger them. The other interesting thing is deforestation. People are not too concerned about it, but according to him, you are able to clearly see borders between countries due to the fact of deforestation, which shows that we may be cutting down too many trees if boundaries are able to become clear between countries.

Late Night Gaming Ban

In South Korea, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has incorporated a 6 hour black out period where teenagers can not play certain games on the internet. It seems that many of the students and children have been hooked on late night gaming marathons and have been completely addicted to the internet. The fact that they need this ban shows how much of a problem it is for children to be on the internet. Their real lives are ignored just for a virtual one. There was also the case of a Korean couple neglecting their real baby in favor of the virtual one they had, resulting in his death. The virtual world has really gone under major development and improvments, so much that people are favoring it instead of reality. I think this ban may be for the best so that people at least still interact with one another face to face instead of online as well as allow people to care about their real and personal life instead of the virtual and fake one they have online.

Lost City of Lizard People

Lost City of Lizard People

This article was very interesting in how a geophysicist engineer used a radio x-ray device and found a series of caves and tunnels under Los Angeles. Of course, this was never found and deemed a hoax. It seems interesting how easily people were able to believe that such places exist, even when none were found. Also, his device, the radio x-ray, seems very odd in that it was able to map out that entire pattern of caves and tunnels by using sound or something. He was also able to label all of the rooms and describe how it even looked like a lizard. He believed so much in this work that he was able to see the picture of a lizard and try to convince other people of it. This doesn’t seem uncommon nowadays since people have made several artistic works from maps of countries.

PETA

PETA, or People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is working to make the world a better place for animals. They protest cruelty to animals, use of animals in homes, entertainment, food, clothing, as well as testing. They protested the use of animals in clothing by going naked. They actively try to get the word of PETA out via social gatherings, social networking, bumper stickers, etc. They also encourage parents to teach their children how to treat animals early on. They bring animal abuse into the open so that authorities will be able to deal with it. I think this is very useful because first it encourages people to treat all living things with respect as well as bring the anime abuse that is going on behind the scences into the light so authorities can take action.

There seems to be an increase in online activism since more peoplle have had access to technology. It’s much easier to communnicate and organize events by sending 1 email instead of people trying to call and reach each other person. This is the same for fundraising as well. Instead of everyone getting together, being able to talk online with everyone at the same time may seem easier to people. It seems that online activism may have more participation than real life, but this is only to organize people and build a community. When the real event shows up, people will still participate because only being active online does not get anywhere.

Green Maps

It seems that there was an abundance of icons involving sustainable living, and within that, most of the icons represent bike parking spaces. The least used icons seemed to be those associated with business facilities and museums. Since this is a college, there should not be too many of those around to begin with. There are many icons that are very important to the green map, but I think that recycling and bike parking seems to be the most important. The recycling reduces the amount of trash and litter while the bike spots reduce people having to resort to using a car to commute, therefore causing air pollution. As for the least useful icons, the museums are the least useful in my opinion since they don’t do as much as the other icons in keeping the campus green. At a glance, it seems that the map is crowded with icons, but all the icons are very useful in determining the green places around campus, but it can be toned down a little bit so that people are able to get an overall picture instead of having to see a big clutter of spots in one area.

The quad, south quad, and engineering quad seems to have the most hits. This is mostly due to the fact that everyone needs to go to those areas for classes instead of arbitrary roads and streets that don’t contain the main buildings and facilities we use.  There is a lot of places that were missed, such as the smaller roads and streets, especially the areas around the quad and south quad. This is probably because there isn’t as much commotion or people there since there’s just houses and apartments for people to live there. The quad is far more populated in terms of people.

Indiana Map

Madison by Bike/Foot

Detroit Metro

Looking at all the other maps, the Madison and Detroit maps are the most similar to ours, although Madison has a lot more local food options than we do and Detroit has a lot more organic supermarkets and local businesses than we do. Indiana doesn’t have a lot of sites,  but they have a very large amount of community gardens within it. Ours is fine, but I feel that the Madison and Detroit are easier to look at because they don’t have a large amount of icons cluttering up one area of the map, which makes it harder to read than the others, and if you want to zoom in and get a better look, you’ll be excluding some of the areas that are not within that are, therefore not being able to see the big picture.

Our map should try to expand gradually so that it not only circles the quad. Also, the icons should be further apart or there should be fewer icons because having that many in the quad just clutters the map and makes it hard to read. By zooming in the get a better view of the quad, we lose the ability to see the map as a whole, and therefore not being able to see the big picture.

Cell Phone Use While Driving

Traffic accidents have always been a problem, especially with alcohol, but now there is another issue with driving, cell phones. People have been using their cell phones while driving in order to keep a conversation going with someone else. This can lead to many accidents since the driver will be multitasking while talking on the phone, not to mention using only 1 hand, and if he’s texting, he won’t be even looking at the road while he’s driving. This was why a new law was passed regarding the usage of cell phones while driving. Many states have already prohibited the use of cell phones without a headset while driving. Some states have just outright banned the use of cell phones while driving, others have limited it to a specific age group.

Most of the different viewpoints on the topic mostly concern the rule with distracted driving. Many of the people who are with the law say that people are not able to multitask small things, much less drive a car along with doing other things, including cell phone usage. A cell phone occupies one hand, or occupies some of your attention, or hinders your vision as you are looking at it or cocking your head to lock it in place in your shoulder. These people feel that the drivers who are using cell phones are dangerous on the road. Many innocent lives have been taken due to a driver being distracted on their cell phones.

The people who are against law think that many other things that people do in the car are also a distraction such as drinking, eating, tuning the radio, etc. People have and are doing many things while driving including smoking, shaving, applying makeup, reading a newspaper, etc, and sometimes even simultaneously. They feel that cell phone usage is not the only and certainly not the least distracting thing a driver can be doing, but all the other actions are still legal while cell phone usage is banned. The people feel that passing a law to ban cell phone usage will not stop the problem since there are many more things that can be just as distracting as a cell phone.

Personally, I think it was a good idea to ban the usage of cell phones while on the road. I’ve seen many cars just run through stop signs while I’m almost about to cross, and even a bus driver who missed my stop because he was too busy talking on the phone. Cell phones are definitely not the only thing that can distract a person while driving, but it is one of the most common since people will want to continue a conversation or take an important call either from work or from home. This is one step in the right direction of preventing some of the accidents that can happen on the road.

Cell Phones

Cellphones becoming a necessity

Using phones to purchase

Phones as video games

Children and cellphones

Cellphones as a part of our everyday lives

Everyone is familiar with the device known as a cell phone. Also known as a mobile phone, the cell phone has slowly incorporated itself into everyone’s everyday lives. To explain what a cell phone is, we must first go back to what a phone is. A telephone is a device that transmits and receives sound, mostly human voices, over a distance so that communication between two people at a distance would be made much more efficient. A cell phone takes that to the next level. At first, cell phones were used as a mobile phone, basically a telephone you could use on the go, without being restricted to within your house or by wires.  The cell phone eliminated the restrictions on the modern telephone by allowing people to make the telephone portable, but now it has grown into so much more.

The cell phone as evolved a lot since it was first introduced. The first models were very bulky and large, nowadays they are significantly smaller and compact. Before, they were only used for the sole purpose of calling people as well as receiving calls. Now, cell phones are flooded with technology. There is texting, internet, emailing, music, videos, games, touchscreen, and much more. People are now relying on the cell phone even more than ever. Since the cell phones have become much smaller and cheaper now, this means that people are better connected with each other since more people now have cell phones. Calling people may become an inconvenience, but the cell phones are not just limited to the abilities of a telephone. The cell phone is also capable of texting and connecting to the internet. By being able to connect to the internet everywhere, people will constantly be connected to information as well as to their emails and other people. They can also purchase merchandise online by using their phones. The other thing, text messaging, also keeps people connected. Text messaging are brief messages that are passed between people using their phones. Nowadays images, videos, and sounds can also be incorporated into a “text” message. So basically people are able to have conversations with others throughout the day without having to stop what they are doing in order to continue the conversation.

The number of people who use cell phones have increased dramatically. Children, job seekers, and businessmen all use it. One of the main reasons children first get a cell phone is in case of an emergency. It helps assure the parents that the child is able to get a hold of them in case of an emergency. From there it grows. The children start using it for apps, for texting, for games, even internet. One of the main dangers of children using the cell phone for those purposes is that they are able to rack up a huge phone bill without even realizing they are doing it. As children become more accustom to the uses of a cell phone, the harder it is to let it go at a later age. Many jobseekers and businessmen use cell phones with internet capabilities. One woman claimed so got her phone solely for job searching so she is able to stay in contact with whichever company she applied for the moment they contacted her instead of waiting until she got home. One businessman states that he feels he is basically carrying a mini computer in his pocket that he can use for anything. There are also dangers to how addicting and how useful the cell phone has become. People now tend to multitask more, while they are walking, driving, or working. This causes many problems, especially if people are not able to pay attention to their surroundings.

Cell phones have come a long way since they were first introduced. Cell phones were convenient since it removed the restrictions telephones had on us by making it portable. It has come to incorporate text messaging, internet, video, camera, games, emailing, and more. People are now able to purchase merchandise online, check the weather, check their location via GPS, even message their friends in other states. People now have become much more connected due to the cell phones, but they are also immersing themselves more and more into the cell phone. Some people are unable to function without it, it has become a necessity for some people while years before it was only owned by some.

One of the things that came up in our group discussion was how a product was made in order to please the customers. For example Microsoft and Apple both of different ways of marketing their products. Microsoft tries to spread out to their audience while Apple relies on their loyal customers. It was only a brief period of time after Apple came out with iPods that they became an instant hit. Cell phones have also been growing once people saw the use for them. It seems like as long the product makes its way out into society, the product will have the potential to become the next big thing, which will then see it’s way into everyone’s everyday lives.