Ethics and Technology

I agree with Ray Kurzwell that technology has the possibility of curing diseases and easing our daily routines. In the past 40 years, technology has revolutionized how we eat (Genetically altered food), how we cook (Microwaves), how we shop (Amazon.com), how we get entertainment (streaming video online) and how we communicate (email, cell phones). And while this progress has become intertwined with our daily life, where do we draw the line? Do we allow for computer chips to be placed in our heads, just so we can access more information? For me, I draw the line the line with technology when we begin to lose our human qualities. While exterior assistants, like an Iphone or Blackberry, are most certainly helpful, to have that technology inside would make me unnatural and as if I was not in full control. But how does one stop or stall human progress? We cannot sit idol as beings, we are driven to progress into the unknown. But we must be aware of where we draw the line ethically about how we use technology in our daily lives.

Turing Test

What defines something as “human” or “human-like” is a great philosophic debate that many have tried to resolve through different theories and tests. The Turing Test is designed to test a computer’s “intelligence” through language. In the test, if an alternate party cannot detect whether they are talking to a human or computer, than the computer is “intelligent”, or human-like. But to achieve this, a computer must understand the subtleties of spoken language through text, and not the formulas of numbers and theoretical sentence structures (which are not always proper)
The Turing Test is a thought experiment proposed by Alan Turing to determine whether a computer is intelligent. The computer would also have to be prepared to respond to a wide range of topics, since any topic is fair-game in the Turing Test. But it is not simply about storing facts, but linking them together. It is these transitions that often require the most creativity, and it is creativity that ultimately separates man from all other natural organisms, as well as machines. Today’s machines are unable to master this or emotions, because these are things one gains through interactions in the 3-dimensional world.

Electronic Voting

Elections can be a complicated process, lasting for months, costing billions of dollars just so the voice of every American can be heard. But with the establishment of electronic voting for over 10% of America’s vote, in hopes to provide some convenience to the process, the voices of individuals have been silenced through lost votes hackable software and election riggings. One example of this is found in the documentary Hacking Democracy, Harri Hursti is able to easily hack into the Diebold voting machines, the most widely used electronic voting system, proving that the votes on the memory card can be changed undetectably. These machines also are at high risk for computer viruses that can modify collected voted. Anyone with access to these machines (aka the voting public) can inflict these changes and corrupt the system. These errors can only be remedied by changing the systems hardware to increase security.

To remedy this, I would propose a paper ballot or record to verify the data and votes collected by electronic voting machines, because we cannot deny that electronic voting is the way of the future with the continuous growth of the Digital age. These paper documents can be electronically audited, saving the state time and man power that is often wasted in these situations like in Florida in 2000. This electronic voting would require human supervision and some manual checks, but despite the cost to the state, these steps are vital to insure that every vote and voice is heard because that is the basis of democracy and what sets us apart from other nations. For how can we claim that the elections in places like Iraq or Kenya are invalid when votes in our own country are not counted? If democracy truly is the back-bone of Washington (which is sometimes debatable) the voting system of today must be made secure for the votes of tomorrow.

Mash-Ups

As if my internet addiction wasn't bad enough, I have now been introduced to programmableweb.com where I can find hundreds of useful sight I did not even know about. In this brief, in-class search I found 3 that were practical for my daily life or explored points of interest in my life.

www.doctorwholoactions.org.uk brings out the inner nerd in me. A weekly ritual of me and my roommates, Dr. Who is one of several shows we religiously watch on the BBC and Sci Fi channel (along with other tacky soap operas) and this sight will prove to be very novel and fun as I plan my trip to London in a few months. I can use the Google Map application on there website and find out exactly where one of my favorite episodes was filmed, and possibly visit there.

But because I am a poor college student going to London, I will also find londonforfree.net very useful. Using Google Maps to provide comprehensive walking tours with specific themes, hopefully I can experience all the history, etc. of the city without paying for it.

But outside of using these mashups for travel, I can use sites like www.broadway2day.com for my everyday passion (and Job) by using Google Maps to display the precise locations of theatres in New York, what show is playing there, tickets and other important information.

The Gray Area of File Sharing

Downloading and sharing files has become so wide spread and commonplace, that the ethics behind it are no longer black and white, but gray. When it comes to downloading a song from a major label artist, I feel that it is okay to download these songs because artists on major labels no longer make a lot of money through record sales. Instead it is through touring, which the record companies do an excellent job publicizing and charge a ridiculous amount for tickets (I recently paid $118 dollars for a Spice Girls ticket. For what? Five females in flashy costumes lip syncing. But I enjoyed every second). I also feel like it is okay to download independent artists. Often times I have a hard time finding the work of small artists in stores, and often times the websites their CD’s are sold through are not reliable, so I find it simpler just to download their work. But in me listening to their work, I am also sharing their music with my friends, which hopefully helps their ticket sales and notoriety. I have never had to download a second copy of a song I already own, but I would hate to repurchase something I already bought, so I guess I would probably download it to avoid paying. However, even though I would do it, I think it probably is more ethical to shell-out the 99 cents on Itunes than to download it because just because you already own something does not mean you own every copy. Like, if I own a sweater, and I want a second one to leave at my boyfriend’s house, I have to buy a second one. Maybe the shame should apply to music.
While I feel like downloading music, in most cases, is okay, many argue that it is identical to shoplifting a CD. However, shoplifting and stealing from a store effects many more people than the practice of downloading music. When you steal a CD, you are effecting the artist, the music label, as well as the music store and its employees, while downloading only effects the artist and music label because there is no middle man. I also do not agree with downloading music just to “sample” before purchasing. Why would someone purchase something they already got for free? I would not.
When it comes to something like copying a CD from a friend, I think this is fine because it is so mainstream and common place that the ethics behind the it have been dismissed. It is the evolution of the mix-tape. It is the sharing of music on a small basis. When it comes to sharing music on a world level, on networks like LimWire. Such a massive level of file sharing does take an impact on the music industry.
When it comes to the ethics of this issue, if we looked at it as a business, all of these scenarios would clearly be wrong. But because music is an art that we so closely identify with ourselves we feel a certain sense of ownership and therefore making the ethics behind file sharing all gray area for personal interpretation of the situation.

Digital Media

Like most people, music has been a main component of my life and my memories. Wanting to play my parents’ Go-Go’s records over and over when I was four, watching my father install our first stereo system with a CD player, getting my first CD (the Backstreet Boys, of course) and listening to it on my boombox in my bedroom. These are just a few memories that I have growing up and the way I listened to music. But with digital music, listening to music has changed from an activity that had little variety (you only have a certain number of CD’s or tapes at your fingertips, and sharing is a pain) and required heavy equipment. Now I have thousands of songs at my fingertips in a small compact device that I take everywhere. And if I hear a song I like, I can easily and instantly purchase it and listen to it. While the digital process may cause music to lose some of its “authentic” sound due to compression like AAC (which my Itunes uses), but I do not have a keen enough ear for such things.
The benefits of the amount of digital material one can store also affects photos. Because of compression I can get photos of my baby cousin via email and I can post photos of my artistic work online for others to enjoy. But I while I can’t tell the difference in compressed digital music and analog music, I can tell the difference between compressed photos and high-quality photos. Photos are too easily distorted in colors and pixilation when compressed, sometimes ruining photos and memories. I might just be a bit bitter, since I ruined quite a few photos of my trip to Italy, simply because I was trying to post them on my Myspace. But I feel the pro’s out weigh the cons, because digital photos allows for easier sharing and transferring of information. Also, Photoshop is quite addicting and makes cool stuff.
While digitizing media does take away from the quality, the ability to share this information easily is far more valuable. It allows for a transfer of knowledge, culture and the human experience (which is best expressed through mediums like music and imagery) and without digitizing or compression it is much more difficult to do this.

Math, Math, and More Math

1) Convert the following numbers from base 2 to base 10.
1. 1011= (2^3) + (2^1) + (2^0) = 10 + 11= 21
2. 101010= (2^5) + (2^3) + (2^1)= 32 + 8 + 2= 42
3. 11111= (2^4) + (2^3) + (2^2) + (2^1) = 31
4. 10010= (2^4) + (2^1) = 16 + 2 = 18
2) Convert the following numbers from base 10 to base 2.
1. 31= (2^4)+(2^3)+(2^2)+(2^1)+(2^0)= 11111
2. 51= (2^5)+(2^4)+(2^1)+(2^0)= 110011
3. 7= (2^2)+(2^1)+(2^0)= 111
4. 103= (2^6)+(2^5)+(2^2)+(2^1)+(2^0)= 1100111
3) Suppose that we want to download a 100 MB file. How long will it take on each of the following connections?
1. 56 Kilobits/sec
(56 kilobits/sec)/(8)= 7 kilobytes/sec
7 kilobytes/sec=0.007 megabytes/sec
(1s/0.007MB)= 142 sec/MB
(142 sec/MB)x(100)= (14200sec)/60=236.67min.
237/60=3.95=~4hours
2. 5 Megabits
(5MB/sec)/8=0.625MB/sec
(1sec/0.625MB)=1.6s/MB
(1.6 s/MB) x (100)= (160 sec.)/60= 2min. 40 Sec.
3. 10 Megabits/sec
(10 MB/sec)/(8)= 1.25 MB/sec
(1 sec/ 1.25MB)= .8s/MB
(.8 sec/MB)x(100)= 80 sec.
1 min 20 sec
4) If we have an Internet connection that can upload 3 Megabits/second, and an MP3 is 60 Megabytes, how many MP3s can we upload in an hour?

3mb/sec=.375 Megabytes/sec
1 sec/ .375 MB= 2.66 sec/MB
(2.66 sec/MB) x (60)= 160 sec= 2.66 min
60 min/2.66= 22.5= 22MP3/hr.