Bitcoins

Bitcoin is an online commodity based on a encryption protocol. hey are subdivided into 100 million smaller units called satoshis. They are transferred to a computer or handheld device without an intermediate financial situation. It's purpose is to serve as money, which can be accepted by certain merchants in many parts of the world. It's confusing to understand how they work. Using cash is very easy. Writing a check or using a credit card isn't too hard either. Are bitcoins the same as using a credit card? It's easy to tell how much a dollar bill is worth, but a bitcoin might have a different value. Inflation could happen with this new kind of money. I think our currency should stay the same.

A Computer That Teaches Itself

As a way to pick up the pace in research and development, military researchers are trying to find a way to program computers so they can make easier automatic tools and to have computers teach themselves. The company, DARPA, is not happy with the way machine learning is being done today. Machine learnings makes the computers like humans when it comes to decision making. Machines like that are often seen in science fiction movies. In the movies, machines with a mind of their own can take over the world. It would be intresting to have that kind of technology. If self learning computers do exist, research and development can go faster. the military can get their informaton about the enemy in time to make a move against them. Weapons can be made quicker if needed. Self learning computers can be either a good thing or the beginning of the end.

Farewell To Arms

The article Farewell To Arms discusses what could happen if people get attacked through the computer. It ranges from a hacker stealin someone's identity to a war. Computers are capable to doing a great deal of damage to someone. People are capable of creating bombs controlled by computers. People can hack into computers to find out information about their targets. Other times, people can be cyber bullied on the internet. Anyone can get access to a computer and do whatever they want on them. Computers can be just as deadly as a gun.

The Downfall of Christopher Dorner (1979-2013)

Last week, a nationwide manhunt came to a violent end. Christopher Dorner was killed during a standoff with the police. He was wanted in two states and Mexico on murder charges. Christopher Dorner was born in New York on June 4th, 1979. He had worked as a LAPD police officer and later a U.S. Navy reservist. He was honorably discharged from the Navy on February 1st, but his career as a police officer ended with him getting fired. Excessive force was problably the reason for his termination. Dorner published a manifesto on his facebook page afterwards, a red flag indicated that he get violent. He was charged in connection with a series of shooting attacks on police officers and their families from February 3 to 12 that left four people dead. The victims were all police officers. The police eventually caught up with him and the standoff ended with a single "self-inflicted" gunshot wound to the head on February 12, 2013. The group Anonymous defended Dorner. They recognized that his manifesto was caused by the way he might have been treated in the LAPD. It's okay to feel sorry for the guy, but defending him is a different story. There is no excuse for going on a killing spree. Work places should be careful about how they treat employees. It's unpredictable about what people are capable of.

Free Wi-Fi For All, Good or Bad?

The article "Tech, telecom giants take sides as FCC proposes large public WiFi networks" discusses plans about setting up free WiFi services across the country. Many people are busy and always on the go. They are looking for places that have free WiFi services to help them do things from important assignments for school or work to just goofing off to pass the time away. Having free internet service would be a step forward in internet communication. We live in a time period where we use the internet do many of our day to day tasks. Not every place lets you use WiFi for free. Alot of people don't want to spend the extra money. Having free WiFi service would also help people save money when they do what they have to do on the internet. Having free internet service can also prove to be a bad idea. The article‘Six Strikes’ discusses a plan to stop internet piracy. Internet pirates are known for stealing someone elses WiFi service and the victims are left holding the bag when the consequences come into play. It almost sounds like a someone stealing their neighbors cable. The RIAA cracks down on those kinds of acts. Having free WiFi service may increase the chances of piracy. That would be a step backwards for internet communication. People out in public places should be the lookout for this kind of act and people at home don't have to worry too much.

Computers In The Future

Computers are what people all over the world use. There are desktop computers, laptops, and hand held devices that allow the users to surf the internet with. I predict that in the future, computers will stay the way that are today. In science fiction movies, people use computers and machines to do just about everything. Those movies often have robots, teleportation devices, or other things along that nature. That does sound pretty cool if life can be like a science fiction movie. Science fiction movies are great to watch during your spare time. I do see that there will be some changes and upgrades to our computer technology. As far as science fiction computer technology, it will not happen.

Steve Jobs

The late Steve Jobs was one of the major forces behind Apple. The article about Apple has talks about copyright, patents, and mobile technology. Copyright is ownership of a product. If another company steals some content from Apple, they could get sued for it. Patents are the rights a company or organization has. The mobile market is always changing and growing. The mobile market large enough for more than one company to exist inside. Is it right that Apple can sue for the shape of a phone just because they were quicker to apply for a patent? Apple can sue another company if they feel like they have stolen their somehow. If the competition showed that they were able to apply for the patent quicker, then it's wrong to sue them. It shows that they came up with the idea first and got the rights for that particular idea.

The Tragic Demise of Aaron Swartz

Aaron Swartz, an Internet freedom activist, was found dead in his apartment on Friday January 11, 2013. His body was discovered by his girlfriend. The cause of his death was suicide by hanging. He was only 26 years old. Aaron Swartz was born on November 8th, 1986 in Chicago, Illinois. He was the son of Susan and Robert Swartz. His father founded a software company and Aaron took interest in the internet at a young age. Swartz was the winner of the ArsDigital Prize at the age of 13. He was also a volunteer editor for Wikipedia. Swartz was known as one of the co-founders of Reditt.com. In 2009, Swartz was acussed of downloading 20% of PACER's database to the public. The FBI investigated him but no charges were filed against him. JSTOR pressed charges of their own against Swartz in July 2011. He was charged with wire fraud, computer fraud, unlawfully obtaining information from a protected computer and recklessly damaging a protected computer. Before the death of Aaron Swartz, JSTOR announced that they would make "more than 4.5 million articles" available to the public for free, but capped at three articles every two weeks. He was still going to be prosecuted in spite of this announcement. If convicted, Swartz would have had to pay 1 million dollars in fine and serve 35 years in prison. Due to him being an activist, Swartz fought for internet freedom. He wanted information on the internet to be free to the general public. The thoughts of prison and the fine caused him to take his own life. With net neutrality, Everything on the Internet should be open to the public. The pulic has the right to know what's going on. If people don't want the public to see certain things, they should not put them on the internet where hackers might get them. Efforts made to make any information pulic should still happen. It might get rid of hacking problems. The inequality between current laws and abilities with technology is something to be concerned about. Technology changes over the years and people develop new abilities with them. If people are able to do certain things with technology, they could get into trouble without knowing it. The laws and technical abilities should be equal to one another