Cloaked Websites

In our discussion in class today on cloaked websites, I began to think of examples of other cloaked websites that I know of. A cloaked website is defined by Jessie Daniels as "sites that disguise any number of political agendas, but not limited to cyber-racism." One type that I thought of were websites that are known as "pro-ana" or "pro-mia" websites. These sites are made by people affected with the eating disorders anorexia nervosa and bulimia . If you were to type into Google, pro-ana (pro-anorexia) or pro-mia (pro-bulimia) you find a plethora of sites to choose from. Some of the links lead you an opening page saying it is for support for treatment, but really it is a cover up for people who support having or wanting to have the eating disorder. The sites are filled with tips and tricks for people who are, or want to have an eating disorder. Message boards are filled with sickening advice, from people all over the country, such as how to properly starve your self. These type of sites I guess would be categorized by Daniels as 'white' propaganda sites. This is because the creators identify themselves and eventually their mission. Although they are being truthful in that sense, they are filling their website visitors head with nonsense, in the same way a racist website would. Although we have freedom of speech, these types of websites I would consider a form of cyber-terrorism for the way they are hurting people with their sick support.

Daniels also explains the use of cloaked websites by large companies such as Wal-mart. Called 'astroturfing' companies create fake websites in hopes of bettering their public image. For example, they created a site that looked as if it was made by Wal-mart customers and employees that wanted to thank the company for what they have brought to their families. This would be categorized as a 'black' website by Daniels.

When I thought about other 'black' websites that I might know of, I thought of the thriller film "The Fourth Kind". The film is supposedly based on real events and people, which of course makes a story about alien abductions more scart, and thus more attractive to go out and see. When I tried to look whether or not the story was really real online, the first link that I was brought too by Google, was one that looked legitimate at first. The website had a news story and even links to documents. But after more investigation I found out it was made by the movie studio that made the film. This showed me how prevalent cloaked websites are and how cautious we have to be in viewing websites because we never know what we may stumble upon...

Cyberterrorism

Recently there has been much discussion on all different types of cyberattacks. The January suicide of a 16 year old girl over cyberbullying made the world look at the internet much more seriously. The fact that one of the students involved in the incident had the nerve to post "accomplished" on the victims Facebook wall after the news of her suicide, shows just how disconnected people feel from their actions on the internet. A recent article in the New York Times said that the website Google was the victim of a cyberattack of their own. Apparently the hackers gained access to all of Googles password systems which contains users personal information such as their email activity. A source says that with one MSN instant message sent to one of the operators of Google, contained a "poisoned link" disguised as an advertisement. With one click by that operator, somehow all of those important Google internet files were obtained by an outside source.

This is the link to the article if you would like to read it. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/20/technology/20google.html?scp=2&sq=google&st=cse

There have been many more examples of cyberattacks affecting different parties around the world. Whether one person is being victimized or one of the most successful companies on the internet, everyone is at risk of being harmed. It is extremely scary to think that there is such a thing as online criminals that have the ability of remaining unknown to the outside world. The fact that you could be fooled or hurt by someone on the other side of the world or right down your street through the internet without ever knowing is a current issue our generation has to deal with.

Online Democracy?

This week I showed the class two websites that allows its users to participate in their very own online debates. The website convinceme.net has three basic debating sections, entitled Open, Battle, and King of the Hill. Each of these sections allow its users to give their arguments for every topic up for a debate including, Gay Marriage and even "Is the Easter bunny real?". Viewers of the website then have a chance to vote on who they think won the argument, by giving them a point. The second website I showed was called onlinedebate.net. This website seems to be less used by serious online debaters. The website allows one user to post a debate and then anyone who wants to argue it can post in the arguments thread. Therefore, fifty different people can be involved in the debate.

According to Sunstein the internet is detrimental to the future of our democracy and preventing us to hear different viewpoints. Personally, I think that websites like convinceme.net and onlinedebate.net, show that people are interested in hearing other peoples points of view. Although the internet makes it easier for people of like-minds to come together, it also makes it easier for people of different views and opinions to hear outside views as well.

Second Life

The empty corporate building that was featured in the video we viewed in class last week is located right around my father's house in Westchester, New York. The building, from the exterior at least, is an extremely interesting piece of architecture that clearly was meant to be used by important corporations. But in the same way it was described in the video it is now a ghostly structure, with overgrown foliage and empty parking lots. However, I do not agree that this is because of the turnover to virtual at home business websites such as Second Life.

In my opinion I do not fully understand the benefits of websites such as Second Life. In my opinion it is a waste of time to view a group of avatars sitting around a table, during a conference call. Although participants say it makes the meeting more positive and productive, I truly don't see how. It is not like the avatars are attached to the users body and could tell if they truly were paying 100% attention to the meeting shown. They are not physically in a meeting with their partners even though their avatars are, they are all still at home in their private places, where they can easily be distracted from the work at hand.

I personally would never be able to be apart of Second Life as a business woman. I would feel like I was playing a game, and fooling around, rather than actually getting anything done.

Social Networking Groups

Our discussions this week on various media networking websites, sparked my interest because just recently I viewed a documentary called "We Live In Public". The movie, which was released in 2009, is based on the internet mogul Josh Harris whom created Pseudo.com, the first online television broadcasting website. Although the film is aimed to reveal the negative effects the web is having on our society, it contains a segment about media networking websites as well. Josh Harris, the films focus, decides to have his entire life at home taped and broadcasted online, while allowing his online subscribers to communicate with him via chat room. During that time Josh had a wife living with him and although she agreed to be recorded as well, it ultimately caused them to break up. The reason this happened was because the people online viewing their lives started to turn Josh and his wife against each other, by posting their opinions of their every word and action. The people online took sides in the former private relationship, and even created their own networking websites to show either Josh or his wife, who was in the wrong. Eventually this caused the couple to separate and get a divorce.

This extreme example of a negative effect of a social networking website shows how influential this technology can be. I personally think that people should choose carefully which networking sites they should belong to, because they are more powerful then people think.

Free Software

In our class discussion on free software, the topic of illegal music downloads came up. Currently, I do not download music illegally. I buy my music on iTunes, usually using gift cards that I have received from the holidays or birthdays. I try not to use my credit card that I have registered on my account. But the fact that I buy my music does not mean that I haven't downloaded music illegally before. When programs like Napster, Kazaa, and Bearshare, were still up and running, I was an avid user, even though the threat of being caught and fined was possible. I know of other websites now that are illegal music sharing websites, and a lot of people that I know use them avidly. I could easily download one of these free music softwares and save a lot of money but I choose not to because when I used those websites before my computers would get so many viruses. I had to bring my computer to get fixed and cleaned out three times, each time costing me 60 dollars, and all of my songs had to be erased. On iTunes I could have had 180 songs with the money I spent getting my computer fixed.

In the long run, free software becomes expensive software because of the uncertainty in its security. Someone in our class mentioned that one of downsides to free software is that there is no customer service if something goes wrong. Paying for a legitimate software program is a good idea because your paying for the service, which can save you time and money.

"iBrick"

In Jonathan Zittrain's article, "The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It", Apple's iPhone was discussed. Launched in 2007 he thinks it is both a generative and tethered device, or in other words, good and bad. Stating that it was a device that wasn't only for hobbyists, like the Apple 2, and could be used by anyone in this age, he says it was a generative invention. However, he also says that the iPhone has its downfalls which also makes it a tethered device. For example, the first version of the iPhone only allowed the Apple company to create the applications on the phone. Therefore, the owners of the cell phones were not able to tamper with the handheld computer/phone, which did not allow for the growth or advancement that is needed with such a new and innovative technology. Also the fact that if the touch screen on the phone broke it would literally be useless, (with the coined term iBrick), makes it a tethered device.

After reading Jonathan's article, I began to think about the Blackberry phone that I just ordered on eBay. Although they just came out with a touch screen version, and many phones now are becoming touch screen, I personally would never want one, and many other phone users feel the same way. According to the reviews of the blackberry touch phone online, many people have gone back and returned for the older version because of the annoyance of the touch screen. This reminds me of our discussion on the procrastination principle, which was defined by Bill Thompson. Apple, along with the creators of Blackberry, puts new things on the market and fix the glitches as they go along, which is annoying at first, (tethered), but can eventually be to our benefit, (generative)