Guest Lecture: Erik Hanburg

So, I was not here for Erik Hanburg but I've read over ten blogs on his visit to the classroom and found it to be in line with everything I know about how to be safe on the internet and what not to do. He spoke on social networks, how these sites can be problematic for people in a variety of ways, all involving what kind of information can be found using these sites. Were I in class that day I would have asked after the ethical guidelines (i.e. do they exist?) for the internet and the way our information is  traded without our specific consent or even at the level of general knowledge. I probably would have left the classroom with a little less faith in humanity to resolve these ethical quandaries.  

The machine is using us.

We watched a movie in class today rife with sensationalism that speculated on the near future where technology replaces our other sources of information, eventually corrupting information to tailor it to the individual's preferences. I found the movie to be silly, advances in digital technologies are supposed to be beneficial to humanity, and in general they are at least useful. I do think we have to police just how much we allow technology to do for us, we need to understand how this corruption of information is already taking place on the internet, our browsing history is sold to companies that market to us specifically on the individual level. Is that ethical? Why is it that I can't get on the internet without my every keystroke is monitored? While we are a far cry from the insidious inter-connectivity described in the movie I sometimes think we've already gone too far down that path to ever turn back. It's up to the educated individual to discern valid information in a sea of misinformation and protect themselves from the insidious developments of current technology.

TINST 207 What I want from this class.

I chose this class even though it has nothing to do with my major because I am aware of a vast holes of ignorance in my knowledge about technology in general. I'm interested in the history of digital technology, its development, and its future trajectories. I only have a working knowledge of computers even though I'm surrounded by them in my day-to-day life because I try to limit how much I use them. Today's high-tech devices are so invasive that I often hesitate to use them, I'm interested to learn the ethics behind current developments in technology and ways to protect myself online.