With the Good, Comes the Bad

Everything in this world has an advantage and a disadvantage (like every action has a reaction). Technology is no different. There are many advantages and disadvantages with different forms of technology. Internet is a service that has changed the way we live today. The positives of Internet is that you can easily find whatever information you want. The downside of this is that this information can be either good or bad, and some information may be trustworthy. The Internet is a vast area, and everyone can put anything. There are no laws which prevent pornography and gambling sites from leaking onto the Internet, but there are informative websites which can help people learn about certain material or purchasing or borrowing a book.

Also, the invention of cars has helped us and harmed us. We all have cars which can help us go from place 'A' to place 'B' a lot faster than walking or biking. This has allowed us to save time. The downside of this is that we are more likely to have less exercise as some may rely on vehicle transportation too much. This has led to obesity and is harmful to our long term health. Also, there is pollution. Cars let out toxins into the air we breathe. This has led to more smog alerts and cars are damaging the ozone layer, exposing us to harmful ultraviolet rays.

Television is also a form of technology that has helped and harmed us. The positives include the fact that we can be entertained by drama and informative shows, sport events, and specialty channels which also allow us to access content easier (The Weather Network and the TV guide channels are examples). This form of technology also causes us to be lazy. We might lack physical activity as we sit on front of a television screen, only your brain processing what you are seeing in front of you.

All forms of technology have an upside and a downside. There is no way of letting around it, so might as well use all technology to your advantage.

Are Wii the Children of the Revolution?

The Nintendo Wii is a new system to combat the release of the Playstation 3 and the Xbox 360. The new system has a unique way of playing. You have a Wii Remote, a wireless controller that can detect rotation and motion in three dimensions. 'Nunchuk', which you strap onto and the movements dictate the character on the display. There is also WiiConnect24. This feature enables you to send and receive messages while the system is in stand-by mode. Some of the unique features are from the DS, as the DS is a handheld that allows a stylus to control movements in games.

It is not a technological revolution. There have been Wii-like technology that have been created in the past. The Wii is only a new form of playing video games. Nintendo created Wii Sports as an add-on with the console so that you can play boxing, golf, baseball, bowling, and tennis. This is hype because Nintendo is the first of the 'Big Three' video game developers to create a system using this kind of technology. The target market for the Wii differs from the target markets of Sony and Microsoft. Nintendo is targeting people who have never played video games through motion, while the PS3 and the XBOX360 is created for hardcore gamers and next generation graphics.

There have been so much hype about the Nintendo Wii because this is a system of all ages. However, this technology has been here before, and Nintendo is only using the idea and creating entertaining games for all. This is a system that's definitely recommended.

Reading in Cyberspace

Google Book Search is a new tool to make it easier for people who want to either buy or borrow books. It gets these books from libraries and publishers. There are little pieces of information for people with a full view, limited preview, a snippet view, or bibliographic information for books without a preview.

The use of Google Book Search would result in a decent relationship with publishers. It would help promote their books. Google would publish a 'full-view' (reading the whole book) if it is deemed out of copyright, or given permission to be released as a whole to Google Book Search. Google Book Search has links to the publisher to directly buy their book, and to libraries for people to borrow the book. This is a new and effective to promote books.

This tactic might not go unnoticed by others if this is successful. Other companies like Yahoo! and Microsoft will introduce similar programs to compete with Google.

This project would have a major impact on the access to information. Society is becoming more technological based, and we have new ways to get this information more quickly than before. We now have the Internet to make our lives in searching for material a lot easier. There are bookstores and libraries that allow us to get the book we want, but Google Book Search would find all of books that have the title you have typed in expanding your results. This is a unique way of searching for books through a known search engine.

There would not be an effect towards job positions in libraries, and book stores. There would always be people going to a library or bookstore to get books. Also, libraries, and book stores already use the Internet to allow people to hold books and to purchase them, so their jobs are safe.

I think that Google Book Search is a "fair use". The jobs of librarians are not being jeopardized as it is like a book search engine in the library today. Despite some publishers may think this is 'free advertising', the same can be said with all websites. Therefore, there would be no search engines. Google is a trusted company and this would only benefit everyone.

The Genographic Project

The Genographic Project was launched in April of 2005 by IBM, the National Geographic society, and the Waitt Family Foundation, to find out human migration patterns through collecting and analyzing DNA samples from more than 100,000 people from five continents. For $100 US (in 2005), anyone in the world can order a self-testing kit with a saliva swab and mail it back so the scientists can analyze it, and find the person's genetic history.

There are mixed views about this. Over 115,000 people have participated in this project, but this project has come in suspicion. Indigenous people are an integral part of this five-year project. This project has caused great distaste towards indigenous people. As of December 2006, all recognized North American tribes have refused to take part in this study. The Indigenous Peoples Council of Biocolonialism (IPCB) protested after the launch, boycotting IBM, National Geographic, and Gateway Computers. The feelings towards this program was heard through Maurice Foxx, member of the Mashpee Wampanoag, and chairman of the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs "What the scientists are trying to prove is that we’re the same as the Pilgrims except we came over several thousand years before. Why should we give them that openly?"

This project would probably not have occurred a hundred, fifty, or even twenty five years ago. Yes, Friedrich Miescher was the first to isolate DNA in 1869, and Watson and Crick who found the first accurate model of the DNA structure in 1953, but technology was very primitive back then. The first "computer" was actually a person who could perform calculations under a mathematician. The first "modern" computer was developed by the US military in the Second World War, and computers only shrunk to the approximate size of today in the 1980s. The rapid growth of technology in the last twenty years made this project possible.

The scientists consider the indigenous people more accurate than anyone else in the results of this project. Yet, the indigenous people refuse this "intrusion" of western society. The distrust between the two parties will make it a lot more interesting whether their can be common ground. The scientists need the indigenous people but they are not giving in, and will probably not in the future. This will be interesting.