Dear Professor Brooks,
I turned eighteen in 2003, just in time for the 2004 election. I'll bet you can't guess who I voted for. Give up? Is that your final answer? Are you sure? Alright then.
Gotcha. Trick question. I didn't vote for anyone, because I didn't vote at all. Good thing too, because after getting all this information regarding electronic voting, who knows where my potential vote could have gone. Alright, so the real reason I didn't vote was due mostly to laziness and my inability to get an absentee ballot.
Nevertheless, the documentary Hacking Democracy really opened my eyes to some serious crimes occurring in America, right under my very nose. While I type away, some old lady could be rifling through my trash at this very moment. That is quite a disturbing thought. Also, that whole thing with the voting machines. Who would have thought they'd be so easy to hack into? Our good friends at Princeton sure did. They feature a video demonstration on their website showing how easy someone with a fair knowledge of programing, not to mention a screwdriver, can rig an election. Worst of all, they can do so without leaving any trace of foul play. So who's to say that traitor Benedict Arnold couldn't beat old George Washington in a fair election? If a Diebold voting machine were used in such a contest, we'd have a different face on our one dollar bill.
Hackers aside, the Diebold corporation didn't help to calm concerns people had about electronic voting. Sure, they used complicated programing and security measures in order to make their machines nearly untouchable, but then they accidentally left all of that information easily accessible on the world wide web. Heck, if some soccer marm can crack their secrets, surely a hacker can as well. In addition, Diebold's apparent pay off from the Republican party, as well as one of their top execs practically ensuring a win for G.W., probably didn't sit so well with the liberals of America.
I say just get rid of all electronic voting. The first step in robot domination is allowing ourselves to be reliant on machines. As technology advances, not even programers and hackers will be able to match artificial intelligence. If we keep with these electronic voting machines, don't be surprised when RobotX83 is announced the winner of the 2024 presidential election. Keep it simple. Go back to counting votes by hand. In order to keep the process free of tampering, assign secret numbers or codes to the candidates. This way, the vote counter will not know which candidate is which, therefore their personal politics won't come into play. Once the first count is finished, there will be second count conducted by a different set of vote counters. The process would be very tedious and time consuming, and the results wouldn't be available for weeks, but at least it's more secure than using Diebold voting machines. It would also produce less e-waste.
Love,
James
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Friday, September 21, 2007
Week 5 Writing Assignment
Dear Professor Brooks,
Although the amount of jobs in the fields of CS and IT are on the rise, there has been a drop in Americans pursuing education in such careers. According to the article from Computerworld, "the percentage of college freshmen listing computer science as their probable major fell 70% between 2000 and 2004." The site claims that this has to do with a "nerdy" image that is associated with anything having to do with computers. Perhaps that was the case twenty years ago, but not today. Many, if not most, young Americans use computers on a daily basis, therefore it would be hard to argue that computers are just for nerds. The social stigmas that computers once had are long gone, so what could cause this decrease in CS related majors? The answer is outsourcing.
Outsourcing just might be the scariest word to any recent American graduate that majored in anything related to CS. Why would a big corporation hire an American when a foreign person could complete the exact same job for half the salary? It's simple economics. The bottom line is money, and corporations can make more of it by outsourcing. I don't really see a reason to argue for or against such a practice, as there are both pros and cons depending on which side of the debate you are on. However, there will come a time when all of the American jobs have gone to foreign workers, leaving US citizens unemployed and broke. The foreign employees will eventually demand the luxuries that their American counterparts once enjoyed. Because Americans won't have had jobs for so long, they would have no means to pursue an education in cutting edge fields such as IT. This would leave the big corporations in quite a pickle, and they would eventually have to pay their foreign workers the same as they did their American workers. Either that, or some sort of global minimum wage will be established.
As an English writing major, I feel pretty secure that my future career is safe from outsourcing. Say a big time American publishing company wants someone to write a short story about being in high school. More than likely, this job will go to an American writer, as he or she probably went through the same experiences that most of the potential readers did. Surely American movie studios, record labels, publishing companies, etc., are more apt to hire writers (or whatever) that can relate to a large portion of their demographic, which I assume would be Americans. In the same way, it is unlikely that I would ever be hired to write a screenplay for a Bollywood studio because I do not have a deep understanding of Indian culture. I still can't figure out why the characters break out in song every so often during those movies. The best I could ever hope to do is parody the genre, but I doubt that people in India would want to see a movie that pokes fun at their culture. The American entertainment market is pretty hard to break into, whether it be film, music, or literature. Most of the people who do succeed don't even make that much money, and there really is no job security. So forget outsourcing, I'm more worried about computers being programed to write creatively. When that happens, it's just a matter of time before they brainwash the human race into slavery.
Love,
James
Although the amount of jobs in the fields of CS and IT are on the rise, there has been a drop in Americans pursuing education in such careers. According to the article from Computerworld, "the percentage of college freshmen listing computer science as their probable major fell 70% between 2000 and 2004." The site claims that this has to do with a "nerdy" image that is associated with anything having to do with computers. Perhaps that was the case twenty years ago, but not today. Many, if not most, young Americans use computers on a daily basis, therefore it would be hard to argue that computers are just for nerds. The social stigmas that computers once had are long gone, so what could cause this decrease in CS related majors? The answer is outsourcing.
Outsourcing just might be the scariest word to any recent American graduate that majored in anything related to CS. Why would a big corporation hire an American when a foreign person could complete the exact same job for half the salary? It's simple economics. The bottom line is money, and corporations can make more of it by outsourcing. I don't really see a reason to argue for or against such a practice, as there are both pros and cons depending on which side of the debate you are on. However, there will come a time when all of the American jobs have gone to foreign workers, leaving US citizens unemployed and broke. The foreign employees will eventually demand the luxuries that their American counterparts once enjoyed. Because Americans won't have had jobs for so long, they would have no means to pursue an education in cutting edge fields such as IT. This would leave the big corporations in quite a pickle, and they would eventually have to pay their foreign workers the same as they did their American workers. Either that, or some sort of global minimum wage will be established.
As an English writing major, I feel pretty secure that my future career is safe from outsourcing. Say a big time American publishing company wants someone to write a short story about being in high school. More than likely, this job will go to an American writer, as he or she probably went through the same experiences that most of the potential readers did. Surely American movie studios, record labels, publishing companies, etc., are more apt to hire writers (or whatever) that can relate to a large portion of their demographic, which I assume would be Americans. In the same way, it is unlikely that I would ever be hired to write a screenplay for a Bollywood studio because I do not have a deep understanding of Indian culture. I still can't figure out why the characters break out in song every so often during those movies. The best I could ever hope to do is parody the genre, but I doubt that people in India would want to see a movie that pokes fun at their culture. The American entertainment market is pretty hard to break into, whether it be film, music, or literature. Most of the people who do succeed don't even make that much money, and there really is no job security. So forget outsourcing, I'm more worried about computers being programed to write creatively. When that happens, it's just a matter of time before they brainwash the human race into slavery.
Love,
James
Friday, September 14, 2007
Week 4 Writing Assignment
Dear Professor Brooks,
I'd like to think that I have a little more experience when it comes to recycling than most people. When I was young, my mom would make me sort the recycling on garbage day. It was a messy job. I also worked for USF Recycles for nearly three years. Thanks to us, the department was ranked fifth in recycling in all of San Francisco, although I'm not sure if that meant county or city. If that isn't enough, my Dad owned and operated American Iron, which, according to their website, is the "Upper Midwest's Leading Metals Recycler." Needless to say, recycling is in my blood.
What happens when someone from America sends his old computer to the local recycling plant? Apparently it ends up in junkyard in a third world country, where poor inhabitants pick through the rubble in order to salvage what little valuable pieces they can in order to earn a living. The process of extracting the material is quite dangerous, and with no real regulations to speak of, the workers don't appear to wear much safety equipment. In addition, the hazardous materials embedded within machine can dissolve into the air or drinking water of the local inhabitants, causing illness. Now, does this happen with every computer that goes to a US recycling plant? No, but due to America's ever increasing consumption of technology, it happens quite often.
The amount of electronics purchased in America is staggering, due to the rate at which technology advances. A computer is deemed obsolete a mere two or three years after it is released. Don't even get me started on iPods. This leads to tons of electronics being donated, recycled, or just thrown out. However, because this influx of technology is fairly recent, the government hasn't had time to catch up with the rest of the country. There currently is no firm federal law concerning e-waste recycling, which is why it's so easy for a plant to just ship their junk off to a third world country. The US government, as well as American consumers, should take this issue into consideration.
Thanks to my mom, I am a pack rat (I believe that is the proper term). I rarely donate or throw anything out. Instead, I just let it sit in storage somewhere. I'm sure I still have clothes from middle school at my house. Off the top of my head, I've gone through four cell phones. The three old ones are in their respective boxes, collecting dust at my house. I got my first computer, an iMac, at the age of fifteen. It lasted me all the way through high school. Currently, it is also collecting dust at my house. Okay, you get the point I'm sure. It's not that I don't want to recycle these things, I'm just a lazy person. Also, the idea of someone using my old computer creeps me out. Do you know how much internet porn I saved on that thing? Tons. In my defense, my technology purchasing habits are pretty limited. I don't go out and buy the latest gadget just to be at the head of the techno front. Only when a respective machine breaks do I really go out and buy a new one.
Now, my solution for this e-waste problem is this:
1. Gather up all of the world's e-waste
2. Pack it all into space shuttles (this might require a lot of space shuttles)
3. Send the space shuttles to the sun where they will incinerate
This can also double as a solution to the world's garbage problem. It might seem far fetched, but surely this is what the robots will do with all of the dead human bodies once they take over the planet and enslave humanity.
Love,
James
I'd like to think that I have a little more experience when it comes to recycling than most people. When I was young, my mom would make me sort the recycling on garbage day. It was a messy job. I also worked for USF Recycles for nearly three years. Thanks to us, the department was ranked fifth in recycling in all of San Francisco, although I'm not sure if that meant county or city. If that isn't enough, my Dad owned and operated American Iron, which, according to their website, is the "Upper Midwest's Leading Metals Recycler." Needless to say, recycling is in my blood.
What happens when someone from America sends his old computer to the local recycling plant? Apparently it ends up in junkyard in a third world country, where poor inhabitants pick through the rubble in order to salvage what little valuable pieces they can in order to earn a living. The process of extracting the material is quite dangerous, and with no real regulations to speak of, the workers don't appear to wear much safety equipment. In addition, the hazardous materials embedded within machine can dissolve into the air or drinking water of the local inhabitants, causing illness. Now, does this happen with every computer that goes to a US recycling plant? No, but due to America's ever increasing consumption of technology, it happens quite often.
The amount of electronics purchased in America is staggering, due to the rate at which technology advances. A computer is deemed obsolete a mere two or three years after it is released. Don't even get me started on iPods. This leads to tons of electronics being donated, recycled, or just thrown out. However, because this influx of technology is fairly recent, the government hasn't had time to catch up with the rest of the country. There currently is no firm federal law concerning e-waste recycling, which is why it's so easy for a plant to just ship their junk off to a third world country. The US government, as well as American consumers, should take this issue into consideration.
Thanks to my mom, I am a pack rat (I believe that is the proper term). I rarely donate or throw anything out. Instead, I just let it sit in storage somewhere. I'm sure I still have clothes from middle school at my house. Off the top of my head, I've gone through four cell phones. The three old ones are in their respective boxes, collecting dust at my house. I got my first computer, an iMac, at the age of fifteen. It lasted me all the way through high school. Currently, it is also collecting dust at my house. Okay, you get the point I'm sure. It's not that I don't want to recycle these things, I'm just a lazy person. Also, the idea of someone using my old computer creeps me out. Do you know how much internet porn I saved on that thing? Tons. In my defense, my technology purchasing habits are pretty limited. I don't go out and buy the latest gadget just to be at the head of the techno front. Only when a respective machine breaks do I really go out and buy a new one.
Now, my solution for this e-waste problem is this:
1. Gather up all of the world's e-waste
2. Pack it all into space shuttles (this might require a lot of space shuttles)
3. Send the space shuttles to the sun where they will incinerate
This can also double as a solution to the world's garbage problem. It might seem far fetched, but surely this is what the robots will do with all of the dead human bodies once they take over the planet and enslave humanity.
Love,
James
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Week 3 Writing Assignment
Dear Professor Brooks,
The Internet Archive sure is a neat place. I've always wanted to take a stroll down memory lane and go to the boring old Yahoo of my childhood. Thanks to the IA, this dream can now become a reality.
A simple click on the "About Us" link leads any of the IA's visitors to their agenda and purpose. To quote directly from the IA, "the Internet Archive is working to prevent the Internet... from disappearing into the past.... we are working to preserve a record for generations to come." Now, perhaps the generations to come won't find it particularly useful to see what Yahoo was like back in the late nineties, but surely the oodles of information the library contains will come in handy to any student of the future writing a research paper on life in the late twentieth century and onward (assuming of course that the robots haven't yet taken over and enslaved the human race).
The question isn't what information does the IA capture, it's what information doesn't it capture? However, since the original question was the former, the answer is loads of info. Aside from checking out what websites throughout the internet's life-span looked like and contained, one can peruse many of the myriad works of literature that fall under the public domain. Sure, you could always just head to your local library, but with the IA, you don't even have to leave your house you dirty shut in. If books aren't your thing, there's always music. The IA hosts a number of concert bootlegs; they even have a whole section dedicated to the Grateful Dead. Interestingly enough, most people old enough to have actually seen the Dead perform live probably aren't internet savvy enough to stumble upon such a website. If you can't afford to go to college, just check out the IA's Education section, which contains university lectures and free courses. The best part is, no homework.
There are many uses of the IA based on the amount of content alone. Aside from the occasional nostalgia trip, the IA is an important tool for historians. Much of American society revolves around the internet and other forms of media, so it is vital to understand the web in order to fully grasp current affairs. The IA gives documentary film makers easy access to video clips that fall under the public domain; the same goes for electronic musicians who use samples in their music. The IA also seems like a great place for a bored internet user to waste hours of time. It might not ever become as big as Youtube, but anybody who visits the IA will surely leave slightly more knowledgeable.
Love,
James
The Internet Archive sure is a neat place. I've always wanted to take a stroll down memory lane and go to the boring old Yahoo of my childhood. Thanks to the IA, this dream can now become a reality.
A simple click on the "About Us" link leads any of the IA's visitors to their agenda and purpose. To quote directly from the IA, "the Internet Archive is working to prevent the Internet... from disappearing into the past.... we are working to preserve a record for generations to come." Now, perhaps the generations to come won't find it particularly useful to see what Yahoo was like back in the late nineties, but surely the oodles of information the library contains will come in handy to any student of the future writing a research paper on life in the late twentieth century and onward (assuming of course that the robots haven't yet taken over and enslaved the human race).
The question isn't what information does the IA capture, it's what information doesn't it capture? However, since the original question was the former, the answer is loads of info. Aside from checking out what websites throughout the internet's life-span looked like and contained, one can peruse many of the myriad works of literature that fall under the public domain. Sure, you could always just head to your local library, but with the IA, you don't even have to leave your house you dirty shut in. If books aren't your thing, there's always music. The IA hosts a number of concert bootlegs; they even have a whole section dedicated to the Grateful Dead. Interestingly enough, most people old enough to have actually seen the Dead perform live probably aren't internet savvy enough to stumble upon such a website. If you can't afford to go to college, just check out the IA's Education section, which contains university lectures and free courses. The best part is, no homework.
There are many uses of the IA based on the amount of content alone. Aside from the occasional nostalgia trip, the IA is an important tool for historians. Much of American society revolves around the internet and other forms of media, so it is vital to understand the web in order to fully grasp current affairs. The IA gives documentary film makers easy access to video clips that fall under the public domain; the same goes for electronic musicians who use samples in their music. The IA also seems like a great place for a bored internet user to waste hours of time. It might not ever become as big as Youtube, but anybody who visits the IA will surely leave slightly more knowledgeable.
Love,
James
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Week 2 Writing Assignment
Dear Professor Brooks,
The internet and I go way back. Some of the earliest recollections I have of using the net are instant messaging people from school that I normally didn't have any interest in chatting with (but using the computer was cool back then), looking up info on obscure cartoon shows (this took forever being before the days of Road Runner or whatever the kids use these days), and downloading porn with Dave-o. These days, I pretty much use the internet for the same reasons, minus IMing and whatever the other non-porn related activity I previously mentioned was.
I feel as a whole, the internet has been a positive force in my life. However, upon closer inspection, this might not be the case. For example, thanks to the internet, my music collection continues to grow and grow. I have nearly 100 GBs of music, some of which has yet to be released. It really impresses my friends when I somehow acquire a new album that isn't set to be released for months. Oh yeah, did I mention that most of it was free? I have the internet to thank for that. Of course, in the eyes of the law, this makes me a criminal. So while the internet has given me hours of free music, it could also lead me to a jail cell and/or a hefty fine.
Another example of how the internet has helped improve my everyday life is the wealth of information held within and throughout the world wide web. If I need to know an obscure fact like who the first president of the US was, or when Keanu Reeves birthday is, or even the addresses of all my current college professors, I need only to peruse the net. Of course, like with the previous example, this bevy of info is a double edged sword, particularly when it comes to school. I remember way back when, a research paper only needed two sources. Now, thanks to the internet, students are expected to use more, which means they have to read more, which takes away valuable television watching time. Also, who's to say the information on the internet is reliable or even accurate? Recently, it was believed that Sinbad (the comedian, not the sailor) had overdosed on cocaine and died, this according to the popular website Wikipedia. As you can imagine, due to Sinbad's ever increasing popularity, this caused quite a frenzy. As it turns out, Sinbad didn't overdose on cocaine and die. In any case, everybody knows that he prefers meth over cocaine. The point is, anybody can make a website or add their own opinion to the myriad of sites on the internet, and thanks to our crutch for using the web to access all of our information, this can be a big problem sometimes.
Of couse, the internet remains a remarkably reliable place to download porn, with or without Dave-o.
Love,
James
The internet and I go way back. Some of the earliest recollections I have of using the net are instant messaging people from school that I normally didn't have any interest in chatting with (but using the computer was cool back then), looking up info on obscure cartoon shows (this took forever being before the days of Road Runner or whatever the kids use these days), and downloading porn with Dave-o. These days, I pretty much use the internet for the same reasons, minus IMing and whatever the other non-porn related activity I previously mentioned was.
I feel as a whole, the internet has been a positive force in my life. However, upon closer inspection, this might not be the case. For example, thanks to the internet, my music collection continues to grow and grow. I have nearly 100 GBs of music, some of which has yet to be released. It really impresses my friends when I somehow acquire a new album that isn't set to be released for months. Oh yeah, did I mention that most of it was free? I have the internet to thank for that. Of course, in the eyes of the law, this makes me a criminal. So while the internet has given me hours of free music, it could also lead me to a jail cell and/or a hefty fine.
Another example of how the internet has helped improve my everyday life is the wealth of information held within and throughout the world wide web. If I need to know an obscure fact like who the first president of the US was, or when Keanu Reeves birthday is, or even the addresses of all my current college professors, I need only to peruse the net. Of course, like with the previous example, this bevy of info is a double edged sword, particularly when it comes to school. I remember way back when, a research paper only needed two sources. Now, thanks to the internet, students are expected to use more, which means they have to read more, which takes away valuable television watching time. Also, who's to say the information on the internet is reliable or even accurate? Recently, it was believed that Sinbad (the comedian, not the sailor) had overdosed on cocaine and died, this according to the popular website Wikipedia. As you can imagine, due to Sinbad's ever increasing popularity, this caused quite a frenzy. As it turns out, Sinbad didn't overdose on cocaine and die. In any case, everybody knows that he prefers meth over cocaine. The point is, anybody can make a website or add their own opinion to the myriad of sites on the internet, and thanks to our crutch for using the web to access all of our information, this can be a big problem sometimes.
Of couse, the internet remains a remarkably reliable place to download porn, with or without Dave-o.
Love,
James
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