Coms 205 tutorial, surviellance: positive or negative

This was a really great tut, just because i am doing my essay on surviellance and i had a bit of back round knowledge and research that i had done, there proved to be many talking points and points of view!I never realised how much surviellance is in the world, but when we discussed different aspects of it, it kind of gives u a reality check. I think our generation has somewhat grown up in a survillance generation and we are used to it, and most importantly we are aware.....of most of it. I bought up the point as to why ECHELON cannot capture osama bin laden but they are able to moniter other criminals, is ECHELON as good as we think. I think the concept of it is great because no one knows keywords they monitor etc, so we are really all left in the dark. For my essay tho i have tried to come up with alternatives to surviellance on the internet. as i said i think ECHELON is a good idea but i think we need something like a worldwide agreement that states clear outlines as to what can and cant be done, but i also think it needs a sense of mysteriousness about it, eg no one knowing keywords they moniter etc. it will be an extrememly hard contract for everyone to agree to but there really seems no other way, unless surviellance is done without anyone really knowing. But that would make me angry and would fall in the category of unacceptable surviellance.

copywrite, sorry this one is a wee bit late

i found this lecture quite interesting as i never knew that for copywrite to be enforced properly, that the creator had to chase down copywriters that were using there work without permission. i think it makes the whole copywrite thing quite confusing when you refer to downloaded music! the interent these days is far to big to have anything protected, nothing is private, so how is it possible for one person to chase down thousands or millions of people using their idea? i feel this idea also refers to wikipedia where everyday people copy and paste work without looking at copywrite etc. i think creative commons is a great alternative to copywrite, as it allows authors to distinguish how people are able to use their work (which is kind of a compromise), instead of enforcing strict rules.

Surviellance

Ahh iv been waiting so long for this topic to come up, as this is the question that i am doing for my essay!!since iv already done my research i came into todays lecture thinking, we definitly need surviellance when we are online, because it seems only bad things happen on the interent, and i think these badies have kind of ruined it for internet users like us who use it fully for recreational purposes. But todays lecture broadened my horizons on surviellance, as i never really thought about workplace and music surviellance, although it is such a common occurance in todays society. Because when i think of a need for survillance i think we need it to catch criminals that are involved in identity theft, cyber terrorism, online stalking or bullying, the makers or worms, viruses trojan horses etc. And these people i think are the ones that have turned the internet into big brother, they are the trouble makers that no dont allow people reading there emails to have any privacy whatsoever.
So when erica brought up ECHELON and CARNIVORE it really grabbed my attention, as it was something i had never heard of or thought about. I did a quick search on ECHELON and this was what i found: ECHELONECHELON is a term associated with a global network of computers that automatically search through millions of intercepted messages for pre-programmed keywords or fax, telex and e-mail addresses. Every word of every message in the frequencies and channels selected at a station is automatically searched. The processors in the network are known as the ECHELON Dictionaries. ECHELON connects all these computers and allows the individual stations to function as distributed elements an integrated system. An ECHELON station's Dictionary contains not only its parent agency's chosen keywords, but also lists for each of the other four agencies in the UKUSA system [NSA, GCHQ, DSD, GCSB and CSE] .
Now as i said i had never heard of this but i think in order for the internet to run smoothly i think we need a worldwide ECHELON, with specific laws that they and us computer users must abide, these laws also ave to be flexible and not too strict, but strict enough to catch criminals. As erica said this plan has worked so far, it has enabled security forces to catch terrorists before planning attacks, so i feel if it can do this than it should be able to catch any other criminal. I realise it is more than likely that countries will disagree on some terms, but i like to think it could work. But i think until internet security catches up than the internet will continue to be filled with criminals breaking the law.

Blog Week 7: MMORPG, virtual worlds and augmented reality

I never realized how intense online computer gaming was! Nor did I realize you could become a millionaire by selling virtual properties online. I find it absurd that people waste money on a life that doesn’t really exist, and on things that don’t really exist or that they need. I think it’s cool that the internet can allow you to be whoever you wish, but a fake identity can only go so far, especially in the dating world. In the readings Michael Hardey discussed online and offline relationships, basing his essay on dating websites. So I reinforce my point that a made p identity can only be used for such a time, as if you wish to meet someone and your identity is opposite to what you describe, it is highly likely that person you meet up with will want nothing to do with you. Personally I would never embark on internet dating, I think it is for people that are unsocial and who don’t go out there and meet someone like everyone else. Although I think Hardey made a good point by saying that the internet provides a medium and it in many cases is a far more effective tool as opposed to newspaper advertisement dating. This is because more can written and described, and communication between the two is far easier. I then come back to the issue of money being spent over the internet when it really doesn’t need to be. For example some sites make you pay to contact people, wouldn’t it just be easier to go up and talk to someone that you liked. Not only would this be more social but it would boost ones confidence. Another reason I wouldn’t embark on internet dating is because there are so many people that aren’t what the say at all. For example on Oprah, there were three women that were ‘dating’ a guy they met on a website. He provided them with a picture and he made telephone calls to them on a regular basis. He made out he was living in Africa when in fact he was situated somewhere in the USA. The women fell in love with this ‘person’. This man got the ladies to put money in his bank account so he could try and ‘get out of Africa’ so he could then start a life with these women. After money was submitted into his bank account, the man disconnected his phone line and the women never heard from him again. All of these women were tricked by the same man, were stolen of money and left in the lurch. I think you have to be an idiot to put a large sum of money into ones bank account that you have never met, but im hoping for their sake it is a lesson learnt. But who am I to judge, this type of communication obviously benefits some people that are too busy for dating in their spare time, but I reinforce I think it is slightly weird and creepy to have thousands if not millions of users on the internet with fake identities. Its not normal and I feel in th dating world it is no way to fine ‘true love!!”

Week 6

Hey guys
How did everyone find todays lecture? I found it ok, history etc isnt really something that reaches out and grabs my attention but i think what made the lecture interesting was the small amount of time it has taken for blogs to take off. I also ofund it interesting the way in which there are class and how different blogs work. Iv just done some research on the whole political blogging business. Iv found a political editor from the herald posts blogs about what is happening in parliament (not something i wish to read!!) I also found big organizations such as abc news (political punch) and the new york times, post political blogs to keep the world in touch with national or international political news. Another example of political blogging i thought could be found is in the way john key has made a facebook website. H followed in the footsteps of kevin rudd who won australias most recent election, Rudd also had a social networking profile. Its very interesting the lengths that some politians wil go to, to reach a certain audience. But in all seriousness just because Key has a facebook site, doesnt mean ill look on him more favourably. It sounds a bit desperate in my book, but it worked for Kevin Rudd so who am i to judge. Im happy to say iv made quite the start on my essay, i have a ridiculous amount of information to go through!i suppose the more the better tho. the good thing is im finding my topic really interesting, and one topic im writing about has recently poped up into the news!! Iv just really started surfing other peoples blogs and maknig comments, if you havent done so already you must try it, you may learn a thing or to (i know i certinly did), plus you also get a view on other peoples ideas and reasons for certain things.
Anywho thanks for reading:)