MITx Article

What is MITx?

1. Synopsis of the article - This article is about MIT's new online education program, MITx. The goal of MITx is to offer quality education to those who do not have access to it. MITx will also be used by MIT students as a supplement to the education they get in school. The program itself is free but a fee is needed to obtain a credential.
2. Identify the stakeholders (people who have a vested interest in the scenario) - The stakeholders in this scenario are people who do not have access to quality education, the college education system, and students at MIT. 
3. Identify AND describe the social and ethical issues related to the article - The social and ethical issues are equality of access and globalization and cultural diversity. This scenario is related to equality of access because many of the people who will use MITx do not have access to quality education. An issue with MITx is that a computer is needed to access it, so some people will not be able to use it. This scenario relates to globalization and cultural diversity because everybody can use MITx, not just the students admitted.
4. Identify the area of impact (look at the front board on the left) - The area of impact related to this situation is education and training. 
5. Describe the advantages/benefits in your example? One benefit of MITx is that many people can have access to quality education. It also serves as a reinforcement of what MIT students learn in class. 
6. Describe the disadvantages/costs in your example? A disadvantage of MITx is that people without computers cannot access it. Another disadvantage is that while the education is free, learners will have to pay a fee to obtain a credential.
7. What is your opinion of the issue? I think that MITx is a very good idea that can potentially help to educate many people. High school and college students can use it as a supplement to their education, much like they use Khan Academy currently. 
8. Would you take advantage of MITx? Do you think other people will take advantage of it? Explain. - I would take advantage of MITx. Although I find online courses difficult because there is no direct contact with a teacher, I believe that MITx could be a supplement to my education. I think that other people will take advantage of the program depending on the level of difficulty the classes offer. If the classes do not offer a beginner's level, many people will not have enough background knowledge to successfully pass the class. 

Podcast on the Vault150 Security Module

Podcast

Screencast

Screencast Assignment: Create a mixed CD

Technology Article

Inside Secure announces NFC chips to help distinguish knockoffs from the real thing

1. Synopsis of the article - This article is about the French company Inside Secure, who has created the Vault150 security module, a chip that can be placed in a product and be read by a smartphone. The company hopes that it will be used to halt the problem of counterfeiting by having companies place the chips in their products, such as bags, shoes, or a bottle wine, so buyers can be aware of authentic products. 

1. Identify the stakeholders (people who have a vested interest in the scenario) - The stakeholders in this situation are the companies who produce valuable products, the retailers who sell the products, and the buyers. 
2. Identify AND describe the social and ethical issues related to the article - The social and ethical issues related to this article are intellectual property and people and machines. Designers create valuable products and counterfeiters steal their designs and create look-alike products. The situation is related to people and machines because buyers can be aware of whether the product they are buying is authentic or counterfeit.
3. Identify the area of impact (look at the front board on the left) - The area of impact related to this situation is Arts, Home, and Leisure because people buy valuable products for their leisure and they often want to buy real products instead of counterfeit. This situation is also related to business because consumers want to buy authentic products which support the original designer or company. 
4. Describe the advantages/benefits in your example? The advantages of this product is that buyers can be aware of whether a product is authentic or counterfeit. Selling counterfeit goods is a major problem and this chip provides a solution to unknowingly buying a counterfeit good. 
5. Describe the disadvantages/costs in your example? - A disadvantage of this product is that street vendors who sell counterfeit goods may not get as much business because buyers will realize that their products are counterfeit. Also, there is no guarantee that the chip will be able to tell whether every product is authentic or counterfeit. 
6. What is your opinion of the issue? i.e. How does it affect you? How do you feel about that? - I am happy that this chip has been created because I believe that it helps the designer who originally created the product. The designer will earn more money from buyers purchasing their authentic goods. Also, it will end the confusion of determining whether a product is counterfeit or authentic when there is no way to tell. 
7. Present one or more solutions to the issue(s) at hand. - One solution to the issue of counterfeit goods is for the police to use this product in order to crack down on counterfeiting, which is a major problem in many countries. 

Technology in Schools Article

• A Silicon Valley School That Doesn’t Compute
• 1. Synopsis of the article - This article is about the Waldorf School, a private school in California's Silicon Valley that does not use any technology in the classroom. Instead of learning with tools such as iPads and SmartBoards, the students learn the old-fashioned way, with pens and paper. The school believes that people can teach children better than computers can, so technology is banned in the school. Only when students reach the eighth grade can they start learning with technology.  Many of the parents of the students work with technology and they agree with this style of education. 
  2. Identify the stakeholders (people who have a vested interest in the scenario) - The stakeholders in this situation are the students, the parents of the students and the education system. 
  3. Identify AND describe the social and ethical issues related to the article - One social and ethical issue related to this article is people and machines because the Waldorf School believes that children can learn better from people than computers. They agree with limiting computer use.
  4. Identify the area of impact (look at the front board on the left) - The related area of impact is education and training because the situation is about whether technology is good or not for young students.  
  5. What is your opinion of the issue? i.e. How does it affect you? How do you feel about that? I believe that technology is beneficial for education because it is a growing field and students will need to use it in college and in the workforce. This issue relates to me because I am able to type quickly because I took a mandatory multimedia class in 6th grade where I had to learn how to type. Knowing how to type is essential for a job because it means that you can get more work done in less time. Because I started typing early, I have an advantage over somebody who does not know how to type. 
  6. Do you agree with the Waldorf School? I agree with the Waldorf School to an extent. I believe that people do get sucked into technology so children should limit their usage and learn how to interact with their peers. At the same time, though, I believe that technology is essential and children should learn how to use it at a young age so they can have an advantage over their peers. I am also interested in seeing the effects of this style of education as the children grow older and enter the workforce. The results would affect my support of technology in elementary schools. 
  7. What positive and negative impacts have resulted with the introduction of technology into elementary education? Some positive impacts of the introduction of technology in elementary education are increased typing skills and faster work. One major negative impact is decreased social skills. Instead of playing and interacting with their friends, children are instead playing with their phones or other gadgets.

New York Times Article

1. Amazon Signs Up Authors, Writing Publishers Out of Deal
2. Synopsis of the article - Amazon is now publishing books for authors, so authors do not have to publish their books with the traditional publishing houses such as Penguin and Melville House. Many authors have gotten in trouble with their publishers because they publish other books with Amazon. The publishing houses are afraid of what Amazon will do to their business.
3. Identify the stakeholders (people who have a vested interest in the scenario) - The stakeholders are Amazon, the other publishing houses, the authors who want to publish their books, and the consumers who buy the books. 
4. Identify AND describe the social and ethical issues related to the article - The social and ethical issue related to this article is intellectual property because the publishing houses believe that they own their published books while the authors believe the books are their own. 
5. Identify the area of impact (look at the front board on the left) - The area of impact is Arts, Home, and Leisure because the issue deals with books, which is a form of entertainment. 
6. What is your opinion of the issue? i.e. How does it affect you? How do you feel about that? I believe that Amazon could turn into a monopoly if they continue to create services that knock out competition. This will affect me because I am a consumer and I will buy books at some point. If Amazon is the only publisher and seller of books, I will have to buy the products from them. 
7. What future impacts/changes do you think will occur? I think that Amazon will become a monopoly in the book world. They are quickly becoming a monopoly in the field of internet book sales and may become a monopoly in the publishing field. 

Voting Machines Article

• Summary: This article describes how Diebold voting machines can be hacked. The hacking process is easy for people to do, which puts the voting process in danger. The hackers are able to manipulate the machines by sneaking into polling places before election day and placing alien electronics in the voting machines which then intercept and change individuals' votes. This is problematic because many states will use the Diebold voting machines in the 2012 election.
• Stakeholders: The stakeholders are the voters, the hackers, and the presidential candidates. 
• Area of Impact: The area of impact is politics and government because the hackers can influence how many votes a candidate will receive. 
• Social/Ethical Issues: The social and ethical issue is security. The voting machines are not secure because they can easily be hacked. 
• Original intent of IT scenario: We have voting machines because it makes the voting process easier and faster for the voters. Also, the machines expedite the process of counting the votes because they are faster than humans. 
• Disadvantages of the scenario: A disadvantage of using voting machines is that it is easy to hack the machines and manipulate the votes. Hackers can change individual votes by placing alien electronics in the voting machines. 
• Solution: A solution to this problem is to design a more secure voting machine. To do this, designers can make the seals better and not use a standard blank key for every machine. Also, locks can prevent people from entering the polling places before election day. 

Open Source Software Alternatives to Office

• Openoffice.org - Openoffice is a suite that contains applications for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, and databases. It is currently maintained by Apache Software Foundation and has been downloaded 300 million times (recorded in Feb. 2010).
• LibreOffice - LibreOffice is an opensource productivity suite for Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Its applications include Writer, Calc, Impress, Draw, Math, and Base. It is maintained by The Document Foundation. 
• KOffice - KOffice is an opensource office suite. Its applications are KWord, KCells, KOffice Showcase, and KOffice Artwork. It is  maintained by KDE.

Web 2.0 Website

• Pinterest
• Pinterest is a 2.0 website because people upload pictures that they like and create boards with them. Other people can repin and comment on the pictures.
• There are about 1,471,536 monthly users
• Users can use pinterest to create "thought boards" based on themes such as style, home interiors, and diy projects. They can find inspiration from other users' pins and comments. For example, I use pinterest for  house decorating ideas. I also have a separate board for recipes that I want to try. All of these pins have been suggested from other users. 
• Social issues are: intellectual property and people and machines. For the issue of intellectual property, some of the pins most likely have copyright laws which protect them from being posted. For people and machines, pinterest makes it easier to plan design projects and to organize inspiration, which makes designing easier. 
• The area of impact is arts, entertainment, and leisure because pinterest is a site where people can plan projects and find inspiration, which is fun. 
• Link to presentation

My Website

https://sites.google.com/site/morgenswebsite/

Technology Article

"Amazon lets you check out Kindle books from library websites, asks you to shush yourself at home" (http://www.engadget.com/2011/09/21/amazon-lets-you-check-out-kindle-books-from-library-websites-as/)

• Amazon Kindle is now letting customers check their books out from libraries. With a library card and amazon account, customers can download books straight to their Kindle. The libraries have a limited supply of each book and customers must return the books after a certain date checked out. 

• The stakeholders in this situation are library patrons who own Kindles. Instead of checking out physical books, they can now checkout virtual ones. 

• The social and ethical issues are people and machines and equality of access. It is a people and machines issue because library patrons can check out books through their Kindles. It is an equality of access issue because not everybody owns a Kindle or can even afford one, so many people cannot check out these digital books. 

• The area of impact is arts, entertainment, and leisure because it involves reading, which is a pastime for many people. Education can also be considered an area of impact because now more people can read free books, which provide education. 

• I am glad that Kindle is letting their customers check out library books. Although I do not own a Kindle, I know many people who will be happy to hear this news because it means that they do not need to spend a lot of money buying the books from Amazon. This news also means that more people have access to the library because they do not need to actually visit the library to check the books out. 

Computer Hardware Project

	Name	Price
Comparison Computer	HP Pavilion p7t series	$700.00
Case	GIGABYTE gz-ph1a3 Black SGCC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case	20
Power supply	RAIDMAX RX-380K 380W ATX12V Power Supply	16
Motherboard	Intel BOXDH61WWB3 LGA 1155 Intel H61 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard	70
CPU	Intel Pentium G620 Sandy Bridge 2.6GHz 2 x 256KB L2 Cache 3MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor BX80623G620	78
RAM (memory)	Crucial 2GB 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Desktop Memory Model CT25664BA1067	15
Hard drive	Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive	50
Video/graphics card	ECS NGT520C-1GQK-F GeForce GT 520 (Fermi) 1GB 64-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card	48
CD/DVD burner	LG CD/DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM	17
Monitor	Acer G185HAb Black 18.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 250 cd/m2 50000:1(ACM), 1000:1	80
Keyboard	DCT Factory KBJ-006B Black 107 Normal Keys PS/2 Standard Keyboard	9
Mouse	GIGABYTE GM-M5050 Glossy Black 1 x Wheel USB Wired Optical 800 dpi Curvey Mouse	8
	Total:	$411.00
	Price Difference:	$289.00

The original computer that I chose was the HP Pavilion p7t series, which cost $700. If I had made my own computer, it would have cost $411, with a difference of $289 between the two computers. 

Newspaper Article

• Judge Forces Employer To Rehire Workers Who Vented On Facebook (http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/09/07/judge-forces-employer-to-rehire-workers-who-vented-on-facebook/)
• This article is about an employer, the National Hispanics of Buffalo, who fired some of their employees after they complained about a co-worker online. The co-worker claimed that it was cyber harassment. The case was taken to the National Relations Board who decided that under the National Labor Relations Act, the workers had a right to complain about their working conditions. As a result, the non-profit was forced to rehire the employees.
• The stakeholders in this situation are the people who post about their jobs online. 
• A social issue presented in this article is the privacy of the employees.  Employees should know that their employers have access to what they post online. Another social issue is freedom of speech. The employees argued that they should be able to complain about their jobs without being fired.
• The area of impact is business and employment. 
• I feel like while the employees should have the right to post about their working situation online, they should be aware of the consequences that may come out of it. A possible solution for them would be to put privacy settings on their facebook account so their employers would be able to view it. 

Did You Know? Video Responses

1. What 3 things surprise you? I find it interesting that Obama used social media to raise most of his campaign funds. Also, that some people have tvs in their bathrooms. That's just weird. Another thing that I found interesting was that 93% of American adults have cell phones. The statistic doesn't sound very surprising but it's interesting how so many people have this technology. 
2. What questions come to your mind? Where did the creators find their statistics?
3. What do you think the world will be like 5 years from now? 10? 20? In five years, I think that people will have less face-to-face interactions than they do now. In 10 years, I think that education will rely even more on technology. I don't think that books will be used in classrooms in the future. In 20 years, I think that the military will completely rely on technology rather than humans.
4. What kind of effects do you think that this will have on people? I think that the technology will make people less willing to interact with others. Also, I think that people will have longer life spans because of advances in medical technology. In respect to the military using more technology, I guess it would decrease the death rate in the military but at the same time it would make it easier for us to send out troops of machines to kill other people.