They're Watching You

Too often the media runs a scare campaign revolving around some hardly understood aspect of technology, and it works. From people re-posting links claiming that Facebook maliciously added in new security features, to Google being on the path to world domination (yes, I've heard both), people fear that which they don't understand. This fear cripples them into the borderland of paranoia, making them susceptible to hacks, phishing, and lies. These victims rely on us to remove the mystery from the machine, to make false scare reports ineffective in raising the mass's ignorant cry. We fight the pandemic.

Link to Article: Facebook Is Tracking What Users Buy In Stores To See Whether Its Ads Work

Google Police

Censoring strikes a strong chord in me. I am not sure where I stand for recognizing the when and where censoring is appropriate since it is far out of my experience. I am an admin of the facebook page my apartment complex uses. Most of the time my position is that if something should not have been posted, the users will reprimand that person well enough without me exercising admin privileges. The less I get in the way, the more natural censoring happens. However, I do not have to worry about lives being in danger. My method would not have worked for Google, yet their actions makes me wonder where the line resides. Law has yet to decide how much responsibility internet service companies have over the content their service is carrying, even when it's user generated. Google police starts to sound too much like a 21st century Orwellian antagonist.


Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/14/technology/google-blocks-inflammatory-video-in-egypt-and-libya.html

Writing Skill

My untouchable field, computer science, isn't so immortal. HP announced that they're predicting 29,000 job cuts over the next two years. Ouch. Great computer skills do not equate to job security. In lieu of this I recall how several CS professors stress developing good writing skills. When it comes down to the line, those with exceptional communications skills will keep their jobs, while their practically mute counterparts will be on the job-hunt again. For my ideas to be shared, decisions respected, and accomplishments appreciated, I will need to constantly polish my writing abilities.

Link: HP Now Sees 29,000 Job Cuts In Restructuring Plan

My Actual Priorities

Yesterday in my design class we discussed how to gather details from users. The professor mentioned that surveys and plain Q&A interviews mask the details we need because people tend to answer "how they think they should answer." For a different class's seemingly unrelated reading assigment I studied Focus and Priorities by Elder Oaks. These two events provoked the internal question: "What really are my priorities?" I would normally regurgitate the expected "God, family, church, school" but at this moment it wouldn't be true. I would have to earnestly look over how I spent my time to find my actual priorities. Perusing the moments of yesterday reveal a disappointing answer: school, school, work, school, God, more school, and food. I feel imbalanced.