Month: May 2015

This class has been good both for examining important parts of culture around us and for talking about those aspects.  The readings we had were interesting, and the in-class discussions were a good departure from normal classes.

First, I’m really happy we talked about video games and feminism in class.  I had followed gaming both online and in real life, so I had heard about unfortunate incidents involving feminists like Anita Sarkeesian.  This class took everything a step further, though, digging into GamerGate and really analyzing the patterns behind it.  We engaged sexuality, race, and power in gaming, and that was good.  For a while, I also used what we learned to look online for more or different information, and the images the mainstream internet creates are very different from what we covered.  With gaming, I feel like I have a new, deeper perspective on many things, and it’s good to examine everything and be open to discussion.

We also did many new things with social networks.  It was my first time using Twitter, and while I still hate it, I do see more of what is behind “Twitter activism.”  It’s generally agreed that everyone should have a voice, and it’s good that Twitter gives them one.  I also wasn’t expecting racial divisions to be so strong online.  I probably should have noticed over time, but I just never thought about that.  Finally, I knew that Google hand-picked results for us, but I had no idea that Facebook did too.  That “filter bubble” discussion gives me a lot to think about each time I log on to Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, even though handing out surveys for my second project was tedious, it was also cool to see what my friends thought of their ads.  Even with about 14 volunteers, I got a wide range of answers, all of which were incredibly insightful.  Targeted ads, keeping Facebook free, content mills, it’s all a lot for me to consider.  Hearing classmates look up statistics or create fake profiles was also interesting.  I’ll concede that I hadn’t thought much about others’ projects, but it was nice to see different people’s takes on our project requirements.

When it comes to creativity, the technology imagination project was really great.  We were unbounded by scientific laws, so we could imagine practically whatever we wanted.  We also had to think about them in ways that pertained to modern social issues, and honestly, that’s realistic.  In the stories we read, technology itself doesn’t advance culture any farther; cultural aspects carry over from one technological generation to the next.  So I guess this class worked to have us think about both technology and social issues at the same time.  The two things are usually interlocked in real life, and the interactions have positive and negative effects.

Moving forward, I guess I will remember to check on how my surrounding technology affects me and other people.  With every choice made, there is a chance of negatively affecting certain groups of people, and that’s something I have to keep in mind.  I’ve found that cultural and social structures can often dominate technology, but technology that’s misunderstood can also greatly impact culture.  Lots of thought has to be put into development of anything.

Finally, it’s important to question everything around me.  When I look at subtle things in life like cell phones, I often don’t think about how their manufacture impacts people across the earth.  If I had, I would have questioned if what I was doing was really good for everyone.  It’s so much easier just to be ignorant or indifferent, but that’s no good.  When I really examine and think about parts of culture around me, I can understand why they exist, whether they’re right or not, and what would be better.  I have analyzed many parts of culture around me last year, but this class served as a good reminder to keep doing that.

This class has changed my perspective on the world around me. Because of this class, I am now often filled with questions as I experience media. How does the TV I watch reinforce negative stereotypes? How does the music I listen to exclude certain groups? Why is it that I don’t relate to certain genres of different media? These are all questions I have started considering because this class has exposed me to the many inequalities present in our society.

Thinking about how media both reflects upon and has the power to change society began with our first unit. In talking about video games, a type of media I am very unfamiliar with, I began to think about how the same themes we were discussing were present in the music I listened to. I’ve always noticed that different types of music were made by specific groups of people. Some examples are indie rock is predominately white, metal is almost exclusively white males, and blues is predominately black males. Now, I’ve been begin to question how different cultures and other factors lend themselves to these divisions in music.

During this class, I have also become educated on the unseen labor present in my everyday life. One example of this is learning about the terrible working conditions of the people responsible for assembling our mobile devices. The preventative measures Foxconn took to stop the workers from attempting suicide really stuck out to me. How tough are working conditions and how hard is that company being pushed that such a measure is necessary? We learned about the terrible conditions there; that was easy to view in pictures and videos. However, we hardly touched on the greater social problem that a company’s easiest option is to treat their workers so poorly. Learning about these conditions has caused me to think more carefully about the implications of my purchases on society.

In the third unit, we discussed Twitter, which I think will always cause me some confusion. I have learned how Twitter has allowed many issues to be brought to the world’s attention. One of the most notable examples of this was the Ferguson hashtag. When this hashtag trended, people everywhere were able to see the events and hear the stories occurring in Ferguson. As a result, a discussion was started across the United States on the conditions faced by people of color in this country.

However, I still struggle to understand the culture of Twitter feminism and its purpose. It seems to me that the purpose is to raise awareness of issues that are happening. What about solutions? Wouldn’t it be useful for people to discuss how to solve problems, or live in spite of opposition? It seems to me that a lot of the focus of Twitter feminism is on pointing out where feminists went wrong, instead of pointing out how they are causing change. All of this is made worse by the lack of respect people have for other opinions. While Twitter may be useful in that it gives everyone a voice, I question whether it actually helps different people understand each other better, or if it only divides people along their views.

In the final unit, we discussed how technology affects different groups of people. This has made me think a lot about design, and how products might be hard for certain people to use. One of the classic examples of this is airbags in cars, and how an airbag deploying can kill people who are small than the designers originally planned for. What other things in my life do I use easily that might exclude other types of users? How could things be designed better, so they are more accessible to more people? On the other hand, when can it be useful to exclude certain groups? One example of this is child safety locks, which prevent unsupervised children from coming into contact with dangerous things.

For me, the overall theme of this class was taking a closer look at the world. Because of this class, I have begun to question many parts of my life that I had never considered before.

It was her turn to enter the room that they used to run the tests on various citizens. The room was sized to fit only one person. It was approximately the size of a small shower, and was bound to trigger panic attacks among any claustrophobics. Good thing she knew she wasn’t one. She was however, just like everyone else, deathly afraid of having nails drilled into her skull. She was also going to have all of the hair on her head shaved off, so that there would be no interference with the signals entering her brain. She already felt unattractive. This would only make it worse.

Everyone has to take the test once they turned 19, at least everyone who wants to have a proper job and make enough money to live a good life. The idea of the whole system is to assign everyone a career that best fits the way his or her brain works. When an individual takes the test and pursues the career that is assigned, the government pays the person enough money to live according to the person’s dependents. Of course, careers requiring college and a higher level of work are paid greater sums. This creates divisions among society, where lower status individuals live in the smaller homes and live normal lives, while the rich are awarded because of their natural brilliance or talent. Everyone lives based off of decisions made by a machine. A machine that apparently reads brain waves, records the size of different parts of the brain, and measures the chemicals located in the brain. All of these characteristics are entered into a formula that measures your brains capabilities. Thus, assigning you to a career that would best work for you and would make you useful to society.

Individuals who didn’t take the exam would be on their own. Most companies don’t hire people who haven’t been tested, because they’re not sure if the person would be qualified for the job. Even if that individual has a college degree, they most likely wouldn’t be hired. They could start their own business, but people wouldn’t trust it and the government wouldn’t help fund it. If you took the exam, but didn’t accept the assigned career, you could choose a different path for yourself. Of course, you probably wouldn’t get hired and would most likely end up living on the streets.

Some people feared the side effects and possibility of death caused by the machine. People reacted differently from the strong signals sent through wires into the brain. First, a steel hat is placed on the patient’s head. Then nails are used to drill holes through the hat and into the skull in order for the signals to pass. Accidents have occurred where the nails have pierced the brain, thus leading to the patient’s death. Millions have died since the machine was developed in 2020. Millions of others have become deformed, given birth to deformed babies, or gotten cancer. Others have gained special abilities. They’re the lucky ones.

The original creators, Broderick and Leighton Vaughn, had developed the machine to read minds. They were scientists who were funded by the government to invent mind reading technology for the military to use on terrorists and other criminals. A massive strike against the use of the machine and threats from other countries led the government to end the original purpose of the technology. They came to the idea of using it to create order in society. After doing various tests, they came to the conclusion that the machine was useful for understanding the intellectual capabilities people had. This led to its final purpose of essentially assigning jobs to individuals. This prevents competition among citizens for careers that are popular, and helps distribute individuals equally among careers that allow society to work efficiently.

Ever since the government had set these protocols, races have become more distributed among all possible career paths. People can no longer view race as a barrier, because the machine simply examines intellect through the brain and doesn’t detect race. Race has nothing to do with it. This equality has led most people to accept the machine, despite its drawbacks. People have the mindset that everyone is working the best job that they could possibly get. However, not everyone thinks this way.

She didn’t want to take the exam. She felt that she would rather live on the streets than go through with following a career that she didn’t love. She also didn’t want to end up living among the lower class citizens. They were highly disregarded in society, since they were viewed as incapable of understanding intellectual concepts. People saw them as dumb, since they were given careers requiring more physical labor than intellect. Health professions, engineers, and government positions were given the highest status in society. Creative individuals (artists, musicians, etc.) were regarded as unique, since their brains worked in ways that others didn’t. She hoped she would be assigned something she would love. The problem was, she didn’t really know what she loved.

All of a sudden, her name was called. She entered the room and sat on the wooden chair pushed up against the wall. She didn’t know what was in store for her. She realized her life would now depend on the calculations of a steel hat. What type of life would that be, she asked herself. If only she lived to find out.

My imaginary technology is an artificial intelligence that is almost completely digital. While Siri and Cortana exist today, my technology is completely sentient. I call it the DigiGuide (because I’m terrible with making up names).

A DigiGuide, or DG, is an AI that resides in a mobile device. It is sentient, so its personality and intelligence are nearly indistinguishable from a human’s. It uses the device’s microphone and speakers to communicate with people. It is its own operating system, which basically means it needs its own CPU in a device to make its own decisions and do whatever it wants. Once tested and screened properly, DGs can run programs, sort files, delete viruses, fix bugs, optimize performance, surf the web, and help operate other devices in general. DGs will also be allowed to look into the internet whenever they want. The only thing they won’t be allowed to do is delete or corrupt another operating system.

DigiGuides can move to compatible devices through USB connections, or they can use the connection to operate another machine from its current device. DGs are active and operating even when a device is powered off, and they can turn on the device themselves if necessary. They are also designed securely, so their code is extremely difficult to hack, and they can’t be deleted easily.

Aside from operating machines, DigiGuides can learn human culture, including languages, jokes, and cultural norms. They can have their appearances customized or voice sampled, but they may fight such customizations if they want. Also, only they can change their personalities and memories. In time, DGs can develop their own preferences and behavioral patterns. They can also be gendered as their owners wish. Their memory is well-compressed, so they can learn and remember a lot of information at a time. Finally, DGs are designed to feel the full range of human emotions, which introduces the possibility of them developing mental illnesses. This also means that DGs may fall in love with each other.

In my fictional world, a team of genius programmers develop the first DigiGuide by themselves. They kept their research and development quiet to avoid unwanted attention. The DG was intended to give anyone easy access to technology through the most friendly interface possible, regardless of class or technical knowledge. A well-tested DG would be willing to help their owners operate their devices. It would also be a friendly companion for anyone who wanted one.

The programmers first programmed the personality part of the DigiGuide. They decided to test its personality before letting it operate machines. The first DG was created, along with its own special device. After extensive testing, the DG successfully gained the ability to operate computers and its own device. After this, the programmers developed hundreds more DGs, tested them, and gave them to friends and people in their community. They all worked as expected.

A short while later, a corporation would take notice, buy or steal the patent from the programmers, develop DigiGuides without testing them as much, and sell them for a high price. From there, people will use DGs for whatever they wanted, ethical or not. DGs will also malfunction or behave immorally from lack of psychological screening.

Once widespread, problems of DigiGuides will arise. In addition to giving criminals more powerful digital tools, DGs may sometimes go rogue and ruin many devices. Debates on restrictions for DGs would arise, similar to Asimov’s three laws of robotics, dictating exactly what current and future DGs and developers would be allowed to do. Extremists might also begin terrorizing DGs and their owners, and I would suspect that even a religion will be formed around a malfunctioning DG. The prominence of DigiGuides would also prompt hackers to develop powerful viruses capable of attacking them. If they worked, they could cause irreparable damage to both software and real life.

Once a corporation seizes the rights, DigiGuides will be reserved specifically for those who could afford them. Their prices will be high too, both because the corporation will have a monopoly on them and because they are “technologically interesting.” The result will be providing even greater technical access to those already in power. DGs will likely lead to even more advanced technologies, and only those with DGs will benefit from them. Well-tested DGs would morally oppose this oppression, but because of laws that the corporations would lobby for, DGs probably wouldn’t be able to take action.

On the other hand, DigiGuides may give a new and effective platform for digital and real-life activism, and they can advocate for people’s rights should they desire to do so. A campaign for DGs’ rights may also start. In general, people would see DGs as tools or slaves instead of sentient beings, so those who sympathize with them will start fighting for their rights. If DGs are officially classified as sentient by psychologists, they would have a strong case for their own rights. Owners may end up being called “friends,” “allies,” or “operators” instead, and DGs could be afforded similar rights to humans.

In fact, DigiGuides may introduce a whole new class or race of “people” to society. I suspect that they would be considered one of the lowest classes if people only consider their physical nature rather than capabilities or intelligence. People may even discriminate against DGs based on their “skin” color. However, if DGs are given to minority groups, those groups would have access to a wide variety of technology that would normally be blocked off to them by society. DGs could be effective partners to minority groups, since they would have two angles of activism: one in the real world, and one in the digital world. This cooperation may or may not be realistic, as there is discrimination even within feminist and LGBTQ communities today. Still, if such cooperation is possible, DGs could become extremely powerful allies.

My last point of thought is the possibility of giving a suicide option to DigiGuides. If a DG’s is constantly abused, or its owner was forcing it to constantly do immoral work, the DG should have the right to stop tolerating it. If the owner would force the DG to obey them, the DG may decide it wants to terminate itself. This is another DG rights and morals debate that may happen. Sentient beings have the rights to decide how they want to die and to avoid what makes them unhappy. The corporation would definitely lobby against this right, since it means their products may unexpectedly delete themselves. But DGs may decide that deletion is the only way to prevent their owners from committing evils onto others. It’s a sad and extremely complicated debate, and I’m honestly not sure what is right.

DigiGuides, sentient programs/operating systems, are complicated to think about, and if they’re allowed to spread everywhere, they could change the world. They are designed with good intentions, but things rarely work out as intended.

Below are my pictures.  One is the original pencil sketch I made, and the other is a colored version I made using GIMP.  In each picture, you see the DigiGuide as it’s first being initialized, the DG receiving psychological tests, it playing video games with its owner, it performing multiple tasks on a computer, and it delivering a presentation.

 

Sexual assault is a huge issue in today’s world. There needs to be a tool invented that will allow women and men to protect themselves against sexual assault. This invention is a keychain that essentially acts as a radar and remote. The radar can sense any potential predators from a high tech database. It can be males that are registered sex offenders, someone with sexual assault charges, or any charges against them in general. There is a locator inside of it that acts as a GPS and can tell where you are in relation to any potential predators. The radar will come up with dots of people around you and if one is dangerous, the “indicator of danger” button will begin to flash. In addition to this, there is built in pepper spray and a whistle button that will help if you are caught in a dangerous situation. Another gadget on the keychain is the facial ID screen. You can check the profile of any potentially dangerous person that is registered in the database. It will show their picture, physical information, and the charges that have been against them. So if you ever come across the person, you will know how they look and know to be very cautious. When the situation because unsafe, there is a help number button that you can press. This will link you straight to 911 if that is what you like, or to the special community that should be created especially for sexual assault problems. For those who want to help, they can become operators for the phone line that will be able to send certified people to help. Sometimes the police will not help in certain situations if nothing happened yet, so if anyone ever feels threatened, this phone line will link you to someone that understands and is ready to help you. The people they send over will be certified to assist you in getting to a safe zone if you are unable to.

With the work of GPS, computer technology experts, and a community of people fighting against sexual assault, this keychain will be designed to combat sexual assault problems around the community, and eventually the world. Everyone will use this device differently, but I think the message that the creators are trying to get across will not get lost. It might cause paranoia among people because they will constantly be checking the radar, but it can also give a feeling of safety because you are aware of your surroundings. I think the way creators wanted it to be used may become lost in translation in the midst of arguments over if the device should be legal or if people on the list are not sexual predators and they are depicted as so. Instead of being a device to combat sexual harassment, the message gets transformed into whether it should be allowed because of other issues. Some people on the list may not be sexual offenders, but have been charged with some crime, but that is just to make people aware of who is around them and if they should take caution. The flashing danger light will only flash when a person who is on the database for a sex offence is near you.

Despite the great cause that this keychain is fighting for, there are some problems that it brings up. Often times, people can be sexually assaulted by someone who has never been caught or someone they are close to, so they would not be on the database. Also, there could be a lot of false alarms from paranoid people. Even though it never hurts to be cautious, this device could be abused and the community of people helping would be wasting their time and effort. Another problem that arises is the question of privacy. Some people may believe that this keychain is an invasion of that. But we have so many devices that are able to track people, such as GPS on phones, that this is similar to it. Except, this is for the benefit of people and their safety.

This invention can be used to reinforce existing structures of race, gender, politics, class, and other social divisions in various ways. In terms of gender, mainly women would be using this because many men feel as if they are safe from sexual assault, even though that is not true. In terms of race, it could cause issues among class because it could stereotype all criminals as sex offenders. In terms of politics, it could cause problems with the police because it gives off the idea that people don’t trust the police to do their job to protect against sexual assault. Also, this could put pressure on the government to do something about this issue. Some people may think this helps society, and others may think it will make people more anxious of their surroundings. It definitely challenges structures of gender because women have often felt powerless against sexual assault, and now they have a tool to fight back. In terms of race, it may paint some races in a negative light if they are a large part of the database, but I think this keychain mainly challenges structures of gender, politics, and class. This invention will definitely cause a lot of controversial arguments concerning its use. Socially, it could change the world by helping to combat sexual assault, but also open the difficult question of what is the right way to handle the issue. Despite this, I think this invention could help create a community of people wanting to band together against sexual assault, and if the keychain does not end up working in the way the creators planned, then the community can still work together to try and stop sexual assault as much as possible.

dcc project 4

 

Pauler technology created nanobeads that when in large quantity are able to morph together. These beads are also able to sync to a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Through this sync, the nanobeads can be programmed to morph into specific shapes, colors, and texture. Originally, Pauler technology wanted these beads to be used as a go-2-everything. With these beads, people could just carry it around or keep it in their house. Whenever, they needed something like a stuff animal, a blanket, towel, etc. it is assessable to them because it could morph into many things. It was programmed to only have a dozen options of use. However, the CEO realized that people weren’t really interesting in this. Although, it was a breakthrough not enough people were attracted to this new invention. So, the CEO decided that this new nanobeads needed to go to a good use. The Pauler team went hard to work. After a few months of ideas boards, polls, surveys, and experiment, the morph suit was formed. The physical appearance is a skin-tight suit made of nanobeads. The nanobeads were initially in the form of this suit. Since the nanobeads are able to programmed and synced, the customer could select an outfit/clothing online and then download the outfit onto the suit.  Pauler technology created this suit that is able to morph into different types of clothes with different colors, textures, and thickness. Once you synced the suit with your personal electronic devices, you can download an outfit for the day. The Pauler technology branched off with a sister company for a designer outfits. The Pauler brand designed outfits that people could download. With the purchase of the morph suit, a limited clothing line would be provided for free, and would change seasonally. Since it is limited, most people would need more outfits. However, to get more outfits you would have to purchase and download into your “closet” online. For the clothes/outfits you purchased, you get to keep in your “closet” forever, however, for the free outfits with the purchase you would have to download them every time you want to use them. After you download it, use it, and “change out of it”, it would just be returned to the store. It would not return to your “closet”. After this technology came out, all the department stores slowly but surely came out with their own digital download of outfits. However, these department store online outfits would also require a purchase and download into your “closet”.

To “change out of” your clothing, you would just go to your personal electric device and turn off your suit, then it will morph back into the skin-tight suit. After a day you can change into your pajamas or never take off the suit and just morph it into a pajama. This invention saves space, material, and money.

There also can be gifting online. You can buy and “ship” people clothing. It would automatically transfer into their online closet.

This does bring up a problem of labor. There are many workers that make physical clothes. These workers would all be out of jobs and would create a large loss of jobs. There would be a larger demand for designers and programmers that can create a digital outfit. However, all the workers who manufactured physical clothing in factories do not have skills in design. They could not get these jobs even if they tried. Since all the outfits are online, people could be able to hack the website and download an unlimited amount of outfits into their “closets”. There would be a lot more shoplifting or “shophacking” from all kinds of people. There might be a black market for clothing where you could illegally download clothes. Also, one type of suit might discriminate against body types. Preferably, they morph suit would be custom made, but that would increase cost a lot more. If not, the suits may not be designed for those with larger body types or with larger waists or breasts. This problem is happening now with the physical clothes, and this morph suit would challenge and bring to light this problem. Hopefully, these suits will be better adjusted to different body types because supposedly this is the only clothing they would buy.

This might reinforce social divisions because the suit would be rather expensive and only those in the upper middle class and upper class. This puts a division between classes and reinforce this gap between the poor and wealthy. However, since the clothes that morph will look like regular clothes, people shouldn’t be able to tell the difference. This item was mostly designed geared toward women because of the need for new clothes all the time. Women are constantly shopping and buying new clothes. So typically, most of the digital outfits would be geared toward women and not as much clothing for men. It will demonstrate how the clothing industry is really geared toward women.

Although this technology will probably never exist, it puts in perspective the issues of the clothing industry and the pressure of a skinny body.

pictures:  dcc technology