Week 7 BOC: Companies that spy on you

Two companies that can spy and take your personal information right off the internet are Google and Microsoft.

In the case of Google, geotagging, that is, the portion of metadata that is sent when pictures are taken or apps on your mobile phone use your current location are sent to the host server. The risk that this presents can be very serious depending on how the features are used. It can also be less serious. In the case of Google, which is a company that has always unashamedly sought your personal data so that it can use that data to sell you products and tailor advertising directly to you, it can now send you these ads to you based on your location, where you are up to the minute you are there. “Security experts are particularly worried about the pictures posted on social networks, since they are usually accompanied by real-time statuses. They say that anyone with a modicum of programming knowledge can write a program that could search for the combination of geotagged pictures and "On vacation" statuses” (Net Security).

Microsoft on the other hand, has just recently debuted their newest gaming flagship, the Kinect. Almost immediately an online uproar of articles an opinions came out claiming Kinect’s ability to see what you are doing in the comfort of your own home, how many people are there, the types of gestures being made, who left during specific advertising messages, and so on. “He seemed to suggest that Kinect could tell the Imperium how many people were in the room when an advert was being shown and how many got up and went to the loo.” (Tech Eye).

All of this comes for the sake of information gathering, whether it be for financial gain in relation to targeting advertising to specific people, or political motivations and household numbers. Information is king, and these two mediums can get it from your if you’re not careful about what you put out there.

Week 7 BOC: YouTube Video

This video is a short video intended to be a funny parody of the online gaming community surrounding Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is a game that I play with friends on occasion, and it can be quite fun and challenging if this type of entertainment appeals to you.

However, one element that I have noticed surrounding the game and its so called community is the lack of respect and politic that is fostered by it. For the most part, people forgo be polite and nice with a desire to have a good time for being rude, childish and unquestionably insulting. It can be, and is in many ways, pathetic.

A game, by definition, is supposed to be fun and entertaining. Unfortunately some of the lesser elements of the community don't take it as fun, but as a means to insult and degrade other people, simply because it is part of a community that is for the majority, anonymous and virtual. It becomes sad to see that many people in our culture get more enjoyment out of using games and forms of online entertainment such as this as more of a digital shouting board for their rude, juvenile opinions rather using them as they were intended, for fun. And for the record, no, just because you have a good time insulting other people online does not mean it's a valid form of fun or entertainment.

All in all, the game is still fun despite the negative aspects of the community that have surfaced because of these types of services. But it is still worthy of play from time to time.

Week 6 BOC: There's an app for that!

As it turns out, though the idea does seem preposterous, the British smart phone app to provide diagnosis for sexually transmitted diseases is a real thing. Researchers from St. George University in London have acquired funding for an application to help alleviate problems brought on by a recent outbreak of common sexually transmitted disease. "It's bringing the diagnostics to the population rather than having the population come into clinics. We've really wanted to do this process because there's been this huge burden of sexually transmitted infections." (Daily Tech). Gross, yes, but also useful in certain societies that can a times revolve around shame, or fear of exposure to certain types of information. It does show the overall utility and versatility that modern smart phones are beginning to develop. I mean, why not do everything on your smart phone, including pee on it, virtually and in private instead of in real life?