Technology PerspectiveAfter Info 3.0

Posted by NKirchoff , , Wednesday, December 8, 2010 11:55 PM

I feel my perspective about technology is similar to the beginning of the semester because I recognized that technology has both negative and positive aspects.  However, after taking Info 3.0 I feel like I am more in touch with some of the technological aspects of life and also slightly in awe by the scope of technology use.  I never really sat down to seriously think about and analyze the way technology is being utilized in practically every field of study, which is evident by our many different blog topics.
 I found the discussions on the social aspects of technology really interesting.  Some of the negative impacts of technology would be research discoveries of low self-esteem or loneliness associated with the excessive use of using the internet.   Also, conducting my own project on the use of mobile technology in public settings was really interesting.  It’s weird to think about what people did while waiting for the bus when there weren’t cellphones or iPods to make you look and feel less awkward.
 A huge topic we discussed that has negative aspects associated with technology, and is definitely a topic I will think about while using technology, is the issue of privacy and security.  I was aware that the internet can be a shady place, but the amount of different scams that can be created is just crazy.  For example, we talked about hackers completely copying a popular website in order to get your username and password.  I actually also always think about thieves placing that credit card imprinting contraption to copy your credit card number in the card swipe every time I go to the gas station. While I don’t think I knew specifically that people had the ability to tap into someone’s Bluetooth, I usually just assume the worst when it comes to privacy.  I am aware that wireless can be hacked into so others having the ability to tap into Bluetooth didn’t really surprise me.
I also find myself judging every photograph I see in news material and even on Facebook to see if the rule of thirds is being used.  This is any area I think technology can have a positive influence with; the sharing of information via the news.  For example, when we had the journalists from the Middle East come visit us, even though some countries are banned from investigating and reporting on certain topics, information on these locally banned topics are able to be learned from other countries from across the world that don’t have such restrictions.  And this information is just a click away and can be uploaded very quickly.
The increasing technology use in the classroom was another aspect of technology that I didn’t seriously think about.  I enjoyed this class as we used Wimba and laptops in the classroom. Plus, the online class was really nice.  This class just really pushed the limits of not only the amount of technology I used, but how I used it.  For example, I’ve had an iPod Touch for a long time and I never knew there was a really easy app you can use to record audio.  I never really realized the wide variety of actually useful applications there are for iPods.
For those who didn’t take this class, I would just say to be aware that gaining information with technology has both a good side and a bad side.  So if they’re researching online for a paper, they should become familiar with what a legitimate source and a poor source looks like.  When using mobile devices and other technology they should know security is key.  Use passwords and keep them safe.  When you know how to safely surf the internet you can discover and research useful possibilities for using technology such as learning about new applications.

Also, I found this really cool "Nature VS. Technology" picture online that I'm sharing just for fun because I thought it was interesting.

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Role of Technology in the Future of Environmental Conservation

Posted by NKirchoff , , Monday, December 6, 2010 8:37 AM


Improvement in medical technology saves more lives than ever before and facilitates a strong growth in the world population.  With a higher world population, there is a higher demand for energy that fuels technologies. Fossil Fuels are becoming a rapidly decreasing resource because of the technology of vehicles and many others that consume gas or electricity.  To improve environmental conservation the role of technology must be to address and help create alternative and sustainable energy sources.
                Sustainable energy sources can be divided into either those that create energy from biological or chemical reactions such as ethanol production from corn or those that create energy from natural occurrences in nature such as wind power, solar power, geothermal power, and hydro power.  These are all possible technological advances that can be improved on in the future.  As of right now, however, the viability of some of these is less than others because the technological progresses of them have not reached a widespread and advanced point.  Also, some of these are limited based on the amount of natural availability.  With the current level of technology certain alternative methods of obtaining energy are not that viable and will only serve to provide energy to certain patches of energy-seeking areas instead of whole, large areas.
                One of the possibilities for alternative energy in the nearest future would be technology contributing to nuclear energy.  Nuclear power has always been a terrifying concept to the general public and this is why nuclear power alternatives often don’t receive much funding for research.   The only true concerns for nuclear power would be the safe elimination of waste and cost for construction and maintenance.  Other countries such as France can vouch that nuclear power is a good short-term solution for energy needs as we develop technology for other sustainable methods.  France has almost eighty percent of their power generated by nuclear energy and they’ve reduced their carbon footprint as well as their consumption of depleting resources such as oil and gas.  With improving technology, more stable and safe nuclear power plants will be able to be built and a safer way of disposing of waste will be developed.  This eases the issues with nuclear power and nuclear energy can be used while technology looks toward even more alternative energy sources.
                As of right now, energy is often produced in large central areas.  This means that energy must travel long distances to reach its destination.  Energy distribution is not very efficient and undergoes losses when it has to cross multiple grids to get to a house.  Smaller, more dispersed energy facilities are what would be best for conserving energy.  At these smaller facilities informative technology such as near-real time sensors coupled with digital control systems will monitor and control these facilities and help make them more efficient in energy production.
                One of the key areas that technology can certainly help in is public awareness.  The public are a truly strong force that can make or break the fruition of certain environmental technologies.  Improving the awareness for the public’s need to reduce energy consumption with the calculation of carbon footprints, stressing the importance of environmental conservation and protection, and urging companies as well as individual to choose greener practices are all contributions to awareness that have a positive result on the environment.  The technologies of radio, TV, and mostly the internet can help achieve the spread of awareness.
                There are software programs that can help small business and even average folk at home calculate their carbon footprint.  By using this technology many business and people alike will become motivated to reduce their emissions and consume energy more wisely in order to see their carbon footprint decrease.  Some companies can announce the good results of their carbon footprint via the internet to serve as a good model and make other companies want to compete or live up to their high standards.  The ever advancing technology of the internet does and should continue to make this possible.   With the increasing introduction of laptops and other technology in the classroom, students would be able to calculate and monitor their own carbon footprint right from class.
                The world of environmental conservation is an ever-changing subject.  Students who learn today that a certain alternative source of energy such as hydrogen fuel cells are seriously expensive may experience and learn information completely different to future students who hear that hydrogen fuel cells are becoming a more feasible source of energy because the improving technology has made them cheaper.  Specifically discussing the teaching of environmental conservation, the change in the future will be in the content of the subject.  Any changes in how environmental conservation is taught could be applied to other subjects such as the introduction of laptops into the classroom or having online class.
                I haven’t attended an environmental class at UMD, but in high school I feel like our teacher made a valiant effort to include technology into the classroom.  She used power points and often posted YouTube videos related to environmental topics.  For homework she had us examine carbon footprints and other calculators online.  I suppose to improve technology use, students could further this by showing environmentally related videos or information on their mobile devices.

Sources:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/22999313/Role-of-Technology-in-Addressing-Energy-and-Environmental-Issues
http://www.ateec.org/projects/current/envtech.htm
http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/innovation/docs/10-843-role-of-technology-innovation-centres-hauser-review

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Middle Eastern Guest Speakers Reflection

Posted by NKirchoff , , Monday, November 1, 2010 8:47 AM

In Information 3.0 class on Thursday we hosted several guest speakers.  These speakers were journalists from several Middle Eastern countries and I must admit I was surprised by how much we were able to learn. I ignorantly had the initial perception that all Middle Eastern countries had the same journalistic guidelines of censorship and government control.  While it is true that some of the countries have strict guidelines, other countries such as Lebanon have strong freedom of speech.  However, even though some countries legally have freedom of speech, the general populace believes in a certain tradition of not touching certain topics in the media.  The most common topic that is not allowed or discouraged in the Middle East is news about the president, the king, the prime minister, the cabinet, and their families.  Basically the high government officials are off-limits.
There have been journalists killed or publicly humiliated because they came to close to this topic.  For one country, the media had posted a picture of the king’s son and the government asked them to just call them when they have another photograph of the royal family so they can approve it first.  Then, when they got another royal photograph and called for the approval, the government sent a bunch of police to surround their building and take all their photographs!  This is just crazy because the journalists were just politely doing what was asked of them.
The topic of women’s rights in the journalism field came up and one country actually stated that their journalism field and journalism schools were completely overrun with women.  This is in contrast to women rights in Saudi Arabia which are very restrictive.  Women are not even allowed to be considered journalists.  Women are considered “freelancers”.  In Saudi Arabia, women are not even allowed to drive so a “freelancing” journalist cannot even drive to get to a big story.  And then women are not even allowed to hire a chauffeur until they are 35!  I think this is really cruel and unjust because women are perfectly capable of being excellent journalists alongside men.  Also, I found it really shocking that our guest from Saudi Arabia was a woman.  I have a huge amount of respect for her because she’s independent and pursuing a career that is extremely difficult to succeed in in her country.  She even had the guts to ask her editor-in-chief why women didn’t have more rights in the journalism field.
The discussion of the availability of outside media was also very interesting.  Some countries had CNN blocked, but others were free to view it.  One guest even said that Google translate was blocked in his country so he wouldn’t be able to translate English news.  However, a lot of the guests said that journalists often try to access outside news sources.  Though, the guest from Morocco said that the relationship between local and outside news was more mutualistic in areas with a higher socio-economic level.  You never hear bad things about the areas with more money, and there’s bad news about the poorer countries.
Overall, this class was extremely enlightening and interesting and I am really glad we had this opportunity to see journalism from a different perspective.

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Photograph

Posted by NKirchoff , , 8:12 AM

This photograph displays a power strip with multiple cords plugged into it.  The power strip itself is not completely centered and it is at a slight angle to comply more with the rule of thirds.  The glowing power switch is my main focus point because its bright light contrasts with the rest of the strip and this is located in the bottom third of the picture.  With so many cords this can create a feeling of excessiveness.  In terms of environmental conservation, this shows a waste of electricity because of the use of technology.  The general rule is to turn off the power switch when the strip is not in use to conserve energy.

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Photograph

Posted by NKirchoff , , 7:19 AM

Here I took a picture of the kitchen sink at my house.  We see the sink's spout in the foreground with a pile of dirty dishes in the background. This photograph follows the rule of thirds because the focusing point of the spout is not centered and mostly in the left third of the picture.  This photograph can evoke emotion especially for those familiar with washing dishes.  The large pile in the background can be daunting.  Also, from the perspective of environmental conservation this could be daunting as well because in order to clean those dishes in the sink a lot of water will be needed.

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Creative Photo

Posted by NKirchoff , , Sunday, October 24, 2010 11:15 PM


I thought this particular photograph was very interesting and creative. The one house with solar panels is the only house to be bright and colored.  This could represent the ability of solar panels to pump electricity throughout the house and power appliances such as bright lights.  This also may represent the innovativeness and novelty of solar panel technology because only one house out of them all has it.  Because the one house that does have solar panels is the only one to look bright and happy, this image can also be considered a persuasive one.  To become bright and happy all the boring, drab grey houses must get solar panels.  Individuals viewing this picture may feel as if they should consider getting solar panels.

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Explanatory Photo

Posted by NKirchoff , , 11:04 PM

home solar panel kit
This graphic shows the specific purpose for solar panels.  Energy from the solar panels travels through houses using electrical lines to traverse to electric boxes.  Then from there, the energy travels throughout the house to power household appliances.  The presentation of the house surrounded by a green field in a rural area can support the fact that solar power is a more green and sustainable method of obtaining energy to power ones house.

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