Blog #10

I had never heard of deep learning before this video. Deep learning is able to study a person's behavior and use it to predict an outcome. In this case, Alpha Go was able to predict a player's next move and beat the human. Because Alpha Go is a form of artificial intelligence, it was able to make a move that humans could not understand, thus winning the game. Therefore, this backs up the idea that artificial intelligence is smarter than humans. 

I find it scary that artificial intelligence is replacing humans in the work field. As a result, more people are unemployed, and therefore, more and more people are living below the poverty line. The scariest part is that because artificial intelligence has been replacing human jobs, the morality rate increased by twenty percent. This is because more people are becoming depressed and suicidal because they were replaced by a robot. Another statistic that alarmed me was that women are being disproportionally affected by artificial intelligence. To expand, artificial intelligence is replacing employees in fields that are typically dominated by women. Consequently, more and more women are becoming unemployed and impoverished. 

In terms of how this relates to our class, artificial intelligence could be detrimental to our safety. For example, products like Alexa and Siri are trained to recognize who you are and compare your data over time. For instance, if your voice changes, if you are sneezing more, etcetera. Using this information, these devices will determine things like if you are depressed or if you are sick. This can be useful because it makes people's lives easier. For instance, if your Alexa detects you are sick, it will advertise medicine on Amazon to help you. However, this can be extremely harmful as well. Because so much information is being collected on people, their personal security is at risk. For example, if artificial intelligence can pick up on patterns, it could determine what your passwords are. Artificial intelligence can access sensitive information, such as your bank accounts. This could lead to an increase in credit card theft. Hackers can go as far as stealing government information, such as classified documents. If other countries, such as North Korea, get ahold of artificial intelligence they could hack into top-secret government information, thus causing utter chaos. 

Blog #7

Netflix paved the way for what streaming services are today. Netflix is worth over a hundred billion dollars and is continuing to grow. While Netflix is a global corporation today, it did not start off that way. In fact, Netflix took years to become what it is today.  The original pioneers of Netflix were the creators Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph. Starting in 1998, customers could rent DVDs via the USPS postal service. The people who originally rented these films were Netflix's early adaptors. Netflix started to shift into the early majority once they introduced a subscription-based model. A subscription-based model had never hit the DVD market before, and it quickly gained popularity. The addition of the "queue" also helped Netflix become a bigger brand. This allowed customers to pre-select the next movie they wanted in advance. The transformation of Netflix really occurred when they made the switch from DVDs to being a streaming service app. Now you can stream Netflix on your phone. Netflix has become a standard part of today's society, and now so many other companies have created streaming services as well. In order for Netflix to continue regaining traction, they continue adding new shows and movies. 

In terms of the late adopters, they felt obligated to join because of how many shows and movies were exclusively on Netflix. Nowadays, there are so many different streaming services, and the cost can add up quickly. The negative side of Netflix is the price. Not everyone can afford to have Netflix and, therefore, will never be able to adopt Netflix. For this reason, Netflix will never reach one hundred percent penetration. Additionally, the cost of Netflix is continuing to increase. For me, the good outweighs the bad. I like how many shows and movies are available exclusively on Netflix and therefore the options outweigh the price. 

 

Blog #6

I have never heard of any anti-war websites before this class. I thought it was interesting to learn that there are many websites online that protest America's involvement in the war in Ukraine. While these websites exist, they are not readily talked about, rather, they are disregarded. When you do a Google search for the word "American wars," no anti-war websites come up. Instead, many of the websites listed talk about when, where, and why the wars took place. 

It is interesting that in school, when students learn about war, they are taught that serving in war is a patriotic thing to do and being anti-war is associated with not being loyal to your country. Only one side of the story is taught to impressionable children. School curriculums do not explore the topic of being against America being involved in war. From a young age, students are encouraged to join the military because it is a way of supporting their country. However, it is important to point out that just because a person is anti-war does not mean that they are not unpatriotic or disloyal to their country. In fact, some people's reasoning behind not wanting America to be involved in war is that they do not want American lives to be lost in a war America is not obligated to be in. 

While citizens of America have the right to freedom of speech via the First Amendment. Companies like Google have the power to pick the order in which websites appear. Typically, users do not scroll and do not look at all of the websites listed simply because there are so many. Search engines like Google are able to silence anti-war websites by not putting them high up on the main page. It can be very difficult for anti-war websites to gain popularity simply because people are not able to find them easily on Google. 

        

Blog Post #5

I was very interested Luis Rolando Robles Delgado's presentation about the history and impact Bluetooth. Bluetooth is an ancient concept. Dating back to 910/911 AD in Denmark, Bluetooth was named after King Harald Gormsson. King Harald Gormsson was the king of Denmark and he united the country of Norway in 958 AD. King Gormsson was an identifiable figure because he had a miss colored tooth. Due to lack of proper hygiene he had a tooth that died and therefore turned a bluish gray color thus the nickname "Bluetooth". The Bluetooth icon is a tribute to him because it is shaped in his initials. 

Jim Kardach was a pioneer for Bluetooth. In 1996, Kardach teamed up with Jaap C. Haartsen to create a way to let mobile devices get short-range radio connections. From there the world of Bluetooth blew up and now people use it everyday. Bluetooth is managed by the company, Bluetooth Special Interest Group. They partner with over thirty five thousand companies. Bluetooth can be used for computing, consumer electronics, networking, telecommunication, and trading sites. Bluetooth hopes to expand into the markets of smart living such as lights, toys, tools, and appliances. 

Bluetooth has had a major impact society in both positive and negative aspects. For starters Bluetooth has transformed the way technology operates. Now of days so many devices use Bluetooth such as Apple AirPods, cellphones, televisions and many more. Bluetooth is used in all differs aspects of people's daily lives. Bluetooth makes it easier to transfer information, especially larger files, with out using an internet connection. However, it is important to note the negative side effects as well. Using Bluetooth has been linked to increased pregnancy loss, radiation exposer, and ADHD. While there are some health concerns people generally disregard them because the good outweigh the bad. Bluetooth is widely used because of how convenient it is. 

Timeline

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9IJeHuiOIY&t=224s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qnMm6_xG50

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0c0beUaNhI&t=6s

Blog Post Ted Talk #8

I believe that the government should get involved and make laws for the safety of their citizens. These plate readers are an invasion of privacy. These plate readers have pictures and know when and where drivers have been. This sensitive information goes into a data base. Hypnotically, someone could hack into these data bases and abuse the information. There is really not much we can do to protect ourselves. Anyone who drives a car is susceptible to location tracking. However, the video suggested that if the police station is governed by city council then laws can be implemented to require police to dispose of innocent people's information. 

I was very surprised to learn in the video that mass surveillance allows local police departments to access sensitive information about its citizens. I always knew that the government could spy on you but I was shocked to learn that at that local police officers can access information about you. This is problematic because police officers can access this sensitive information and abuse their power. To add on, they can sell or spread your information and you would have no idea. This can happen to anyone anywhere. 

To connect this to a modern day example these videos reminded me of Instagram wrapped. Instagram Wrapped is an app that tells users statistics about their Instagram account. For instance, Instagram Wrapped shows users who views the profile the most, how many people have blocked them, how many hours they have been on the app, etcetera. While this seems like a positive tool it has turned out to be extremely problematic. This is because in order to access the statistics of your account you need to put your username and password in. The site is taking the information you provided and hacking people's Instagram accounts. This can be extremely dangerous because Instagram is linked to your email, phone number, and possibly your credit card. 

Blog Post #4

The company Netflix has grown astronomically since it first came out and pioneered the way for other streaming services. In 1998, Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph created the company Netflix. Customers could browse Neflix's online catalog and order DVDs via the US Postal system. This was a new way of delivering film. Ordering by mail was unique because customers all over the country had access to an entire catalog of DVDs. This was different than other film stores because customers were not limited only to what their nearest store had in stock. While shipping DVDs was innovative it did pose a problem. Because these DVDs were being sent in the mail it would take multiple days to arrive. Blockbuster stores had a leg up because customers could buy a DVD from their and watch their movie right away. The second problem that arose was the rate of repeat renters was very low. People would try Netflix but would not continue to use the company. Additionally, people tended to gravitate towards whatever the newest releases were. This was problematic for Netflix because people would not tend to rent older movies. In order for Netflix to break even on a DVD they needed to rent it out on average fifteen to twenty times. 

To combat these issues Netflix needed to think of a solution. To solve the problem of not having repeat customers, Netflix created a subscription based business model. This was a successful tactic because since users were locked into their subscription they were much more likely to rent from the platform again. Additionally, to cope with the issue of how long it took to deliver the DVDs, Netflix implemented a queue. This queue allowed users to preselect what movie they wanted to watch next. With this late fees were taken away. Netflix believed that customers would be incentivized to return their DVDs because it meant that they could get another DVD once the first one was received. Another new tactic that was introduced was the recommendation feature. Based off of what customers previously rented they were given recommendations to other films that they would like. This was beneficial because users were given suggestions to older movies which in turn helped the company to profit off of their older DVDs. The concept of "you may also like" has become a standard tactic in all of the popular streaming services today. Netflix introducing a subscription model is what put them on the map. According to the article, "It was Reed’s insight that the subscription model would resonate with consumers in a compelling way. He re-engineered the Web site and software to support a subscription model…we began to grow exponentially overnight. In 1998, I think the business did $1 million in revenue. In 1999, we did $5 million, then $35 million and then $75 million and $150 million and then almost $300 million…We were I think five years to $500 million and another three years to a $1 billion, all because of the subscription model.”

Then in 2000, Netflix introduced their unlimited rental program. This allowed subscribers to rent up to four DVDs at a time for only $19.95 a month. By 2007, Netflix made one billion dollars in revenue. In 2008, Netflix started devolving the idea of becoming a streaming service. Netflix partnered up with the company Microsoft to make a streaming service app on their console Xbox 360. This allowed Xbox Live Gold members to access Netflix on their television through their Xbox. This laid the ground work for how Netflix and other streaming services work today. As technology continued to evolve Netflix has grown with it. The invention of smart televisions allowed Netflix to stream their content to millions of users. 

The company Netflix revolutionized streaming services. Today, 247.2 million people have a Netflix subscription. Now other streaming have arisen such as Hulu, Peacock, and MAX. Streaming services have become so popular because it allows people to have access to thousands of movies and shows instantly. Additionally, viewers love being able to binge series. 

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