Creating an html

So, I constructed a webpage using an online web page creator and constructed a website from a template. I used the alias Fitz Fitzgerald, my user name was fancyfacedfleaflicker1 and the website was cool and then the online web page creator asked me to sign up for a monthly subscription to their site and I laughed at the computer screen and closed out of the page and my template site. This all took place inside of five minutes and if I had paid for the subscription I believe I would have a simple html up and on the internet now. It's surprising to me how quickly someone can create a custom web page tailored to individual needs in such a short time.

Epic

So, watched a strange movie in class today. Where do these search engines get off scrutinizing my every keystroke, I'll never know. But they know where I go, what I look at when I get there, and they have all these insidious suggestions that are the product of this information which they sell for a song to advertising agencies. Now my grocery stores are keeping tabs on me? When do we just get supercomputers that jump from camera to camera, photographing your every move no matter where you are, no matter what you're doing? I understand why this information is valuable, but shouldn't I get a say in what information is being absorbed from my searches? And if I do, shouldn't I get a cut for selling my information to companies to better serve me and get me to buy there crap? I don't understand why it is that collective America either doesn't have a very good grasp on this or just doesn't care.

What I would never buy online

I buy things from trustworthy online-brand name catalogs on the internet. I'm not limited to buying christmas presents online. But I would never buy clothes online. Hands-down there's nothing more annoying than getting the shipment and finding out the article in question is too tight, or too large, or inadequate in any fashion-no pun intended.
It's just one of those things that the internet cannot do just yet. But I do see a time on the horizon where you can scan yourself and clothe your digital self to exact proportions. If you go that far you might be able to customize whole wardrobes as though you had been fitted out at the tailor's, all from the comfort of home.

Derek Young

Derek Young was a guest speaker we had in class, he offered his unique perspective and wealth of experience to the classroom by explaining the evolution of business in the constantly changing geography of the technology market. He went into great detail about business models where workers are essentially given contracts for a period of time, after which they must find another contract possibly doing different sorts of work along the way. Several companies that these people work for can be owned by an entrepreneur and maneuvered in equally diverse ways for a profit. This sort of model, for me, seems sort of shaky, but Mr. Young seems to have used it to great effect.

 I can't deny that the job market is changing, it's no longer feasible for many people to hold a single job from the beginning of their working career to the end. It seems like we're nearing the end of a transition from yesteryear's idea of working to a place where people are expected to work different jobs, possibly in different fields over their lifetime. Mr. Young was just the first person I met who seems to have picked up this idea of a diverse-worklife and run with it. 

Scavenger Hunt

We went on a scavenger hunt, I-as always-was late and was assigned to a group who had already answered a few questions. The tasks were of a personal/demi-public nature which I thought would be difficult to gather on the internet. Turns out all you need is a simple web browser or a subscription to a super-creepy information server to find out about any one body and anybody around them. This task was completed with ease in a reasonable amount of time-this frightens me people. Googled myself later that day, found out all sorts of stuff that you would need to know to steal someone's identity. I'm uncomfortable living in a world where all this is open to the prying eyes of any casual observer.

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.