Cyberbullying has become the new thing when it comes to attacking someone verbally. The only difference is that it's just a wall of text. Seriously. I believe that Cyberbullying is not an issue as anyone with a brain can just turn off their computer or block the person. It's that simple. Example, if Rebecca Ann Sedwick, a 12-year-old girl, would have just stayed away from social media, then she wouldn't have had the thoughts to commit suicide, which she did. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/us/suicide-of-girl-after-bullying-raises-worries-on-web-sites.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130914&_r=0)
Sure, disconnecting from social media sucks. But what can be done about it if you're being terrorized by people online? Just delete your profiles and start a clean new slate. I was cyberbullied in grade school. I dealt with it. Now I'm happier than ever and still using the same damn username since then because it's who I am.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Legal and Ethical issues
Should information, such as movies, articles, tv shows, music and more media technologies be free?
Here is the main deal here, Copyright. The main point of a copyright, in my eyes, is for a company to make sure that no one else uses their products for profit. Example, a video game such as Pokemon is owned by Nintendo and Game Freak. People cannot go about creating content and making money using the trademarks of Pokemon, such as characters, music, sound effects, etc. But people create a lot of content to show their love and appreciation for something like this. So you go on a website like Deviant-art and see a billion pieces of art on Pokemon, some people selling prints at conventions, others mini figures they made. Copyright is difficult to enforce when there are many people.
Youtube/Google has parameters to help these companies stop users on uploading their content to Youtube.com. Now, it's all fair ,since someone made it and doesn't want someone else benefiting from work they did not do. But the problem with the Content ID program they run is that only big companies can use it. Not individual users. I've seen some of my fellow animators' work put up on other channels without permission and Youtube doing nothing to shut them down. It's unjust. (Youtube Alters Copright Algorithms, Will 'Manually' Review Some Claims)
And we can tell how much these companies have power with programs such as Content ID. Copyright is just there to make sure they make more money, and their hands in the US Government shows that. The case of Aaron Swartz is one to see indeed. The punishment the US Government was considering on Mr. Swartz was approximately 35 years in jail and millions of dollars, all for pirating articles he wished to read instead of paying for a substitution. It eventually led to his death. What the government did was harsh. You don't see rapists, murderers, and psychopaths get treated this poorly. It's unnecessary but copyright gives a lot of power and money to these people. Horrible. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/technology/aaron-swartz-a-data-crusader-and-now-a-cause.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&partner=rss&emc=rss&)
Here is the main deal here, Copyright. The main point of a copyright, in my eyes, is for a company to make sure that no one else uses their products for profit. Example, a video game such as Pokemon is owned by Nintendo and Game Freak. People cannot go about creating content and making money using the trademarks of Pokemon, such as characters, music, sound effects, etc. But people create a lot of content to show their love and appreciation for something like this. So you go on a website like Deviant-art and see a billion pieces of art on Pokemon, some people selling prints at conventions, others mini figures they made. Copyright is difficult to enforce when there are many people.
Youtube/Google has parameters to help these companies stop users on uploading their content to Youtube.com. Now, it's all fair ,since someone made it and doesn't want someone else benefiting from work they did not do. But the problem with the Content ID program they run is that only big companies can use it. Not individual users. I've seen some of my fellow animators' work put up on other channels without permission and Youtube doing nothing to shut them down. It's unjust. (Youtube Alters Copright Algorithms, Will 'Manually' Review Some Claims)
And we can tell how much these companies have power with programs such as Content ID. Copyright is just there to make sure they make more money, and their hands in the US Government shows that. The case of Aaron Swartz is one to see indeed. The punishment the US Government was considering on Mr. Swartz was approximately 35 years in jail and millions of dollars, all for pirating articles he wished to read instead of paying for a substitution. It eventually led to his death. What the government did was harsh. You don't see rapists, murderers, and psychopaths get treated this poorly. It's unnecessary but copyright gives a lot of power and money to these people. Horrible. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/technology/aaron-swartz-a-data-crusader-and-now-a-cause.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&smid=tw-nytimes&partner=rss&emc=rss&)
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Privacy and Security
Privacy on the web has been a great concern in the last few months after Edward Snowden, ex-worker of the NSA, leaked files for the public to see that their government was spying on them and collecting data. Not only that, but the U.S. was also collecting data from overseas, from allies such as Germany and the U.K.
PRISM is one of those programs that the NSA use to collect and save data. Director of Nation Intelligence James R. Clapper said "information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we collect and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats." (US Intelligence Mining Data From Nine US Internet Companies In Broad Secret Program) That said, I find that the U.S. is over analyzing threats from overseas when we have the largest military in the world. Any threat that can come out of nowhere can be easily stopped by the mass amount of weapons and soldiers, and drones, we have.
Now, the fact that there are programs in your computer that analyzes what your browsing history says, what programs you use often, and how long you use them, and can be sent directly to the NSA, is a scary thought. Unfortunately, it's true. The info people have taken from them are sold to companies so that they know how to advertise themselves. It's a bold move and a smart one for marketing, but it's wrong for entering into someone's privacy without them even knowing it. (The New Gold Mine: Your Secrets)
PRISM is one of those programs that the NSA use to collect and save data. Director of Nation Intelligence James R. Clapper said "information collected under this program is among the most important and valuable foreign intelligence information we collect and is used to protect our nation from a wide variety of threats." (US Intelligence Mining Data From Nine US Internet Companies In Broad Secret Program) That said, I find that the U.S. is over analyzing threats from overseas when we have the largest military in the world. Any threat that can come out of nowhere can be easily stopped by the mass amount of weapons and soldiers, and drones, we have.
Now, the fact that there are programs in your computer that analyzes what your browsing history says, what programs you use often, and how long you use them, and can be sent directly to the NSA, is a scary thought. Unfortunately, it's true. The info people have taken from them are sold to companies so that they know how to advertise themselves. It's a bold move and a smart one for marketing, but it's wrong for entering into someone's privacy without them even knowing it. (The New Gold Mine: Your Secrets)
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Artificial Intelligence and Robotics
Robots are able to do most human functions. They are able to drive cars (Driverless Cars Get California License) statistically better than humans. Without the factors of fatigue or distraction, a self-driving car would be able to drive, plus robots have better response time than humans. The driverless car is definitely something that I look forward too. Last week I was driving with some friends, and somehow ended up in a no outlet zone. I didn't even realize how we got there. So humans blanking out on the road can be common compared to a robot, which is never.
Humans are clearly able to make more errors than a robot. Granted, machines have made errors in the past, such as a robotic cannon accidentally firing during an exercise, taking 9 lives, (Should we put robots on trial?) but mistakes happen and we learn from them for the future.
Humans are clearly able to make more errors than a robot. Granted, machines have made errors in the past, such as a robotic cannon accidentally firing during an exercise, taking 9 lives, (Should we put robots on trial?) but mistakes happen and we learn from them for the future.
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Creativity and Social Media
When it comes to social media, I haven't been involved in it as I have been in the last 2 to 3 years. I enjoy animating. A great hobby and time killer that has results to please an audience. Below is a work that I did with custom voice acting that I rounded up after scouring the internet and then eventually making it to the front page of a website known as EquestriaDaily.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdUj8fSyyc4&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLndidBUp4vmYKvRWtJIUTRuktp1peTSEs
Using the free program "Source Filmmaker" and using many techniques, I was able to bring the project to life within a week. Shorts are shorts after all, although I'm glad it came out the way I had imagined.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JdUj8fSyyc4&feature=c4-overview-vl&list=PLndidBUp4vmYKvRWtJIUTRuktp1peTSEs
Using the free program "Source Filmmaker" and using many techniques, I was able to bring the project to life within a week. Shorts are shorts after all, although I'm glad it came out the way I had imagined.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Social Media
How many social media sites am I on? Way to many in my opinion, but there are communities I am a part of that are exclusive to these social media sites. The first one I joined was Youtube. Aftewards was deviantart, which I'm using more than I have 3 years ago since I started animating. After that was Facebook, then Twitter, then Reddit, and recently Tumblr (love cat gifs).
Youtube is obvious. I make videos, so naturally I want to share them. Also, I love viewing people's creativity and adding my thoughts on improvements or what I really liked on certain videos.
Deviantart I am there to comment on people's 3D modeling work and the occasional comic or 2D art. I also download a lot of resources for my animations from dA.
Facebook is Facebook. Chat with friends and see what's up with them.
Twitter for seeing what members of the Brony community and animators are up too. Always fun.
Reddit because I love memes.
Tumblr because I love gifs. Although I find it weird as to why Yahoo would buy it and not change anything about it. (Yahoo Acquires Tumblr, Promises Not to Screw Up) It seems the same to me before they bought it out. But the reactions from the hardcore users were hilarious from what I've seen in this article: http://mashable.com/2013/05/20/yahoo-officially-acquires-tumblr-promises-not-to-screw-it-up/
A virtual world is basically a simulation of the real world, for example "Second Life". (Going to the virtual office in Second Life) You have an avatar that you control that goes around doing what you would be doing in real life. There are some virtual worlds that are more on the fantasy side, such as "World of Warcraft". In these types of virtual worlds, you can explore dungeons, caves, and go on fictional adventures. In my virtual world, I'd totally want to take up a lightsaber and slash away at Sith lords and Droids. It'd be cool and something I couldn't experience in real life.
Youtube is obvious. I make videos, so naturally I want to share them. Also, I love viewing people's creativity and adding my thoughts on improvements or what I really liked on certain videos.
Deviantart I am there to comment on people's 3D modeling work and the occasional comic or 2D art. I also download a lot of resources for my animations from dA.
Facebook is Facebook. Chat with friends and see what's up with them.
Twitter for seeing what members of the Brony community and animators are up too. Always fun.
Reddit because I love memes.
Tumblr because I love gifs. Although I find it weird as to why Yahoo would buy it and not change anything about it. (Yahoo Acquires Tumblr, Promises Not to Screw Up) It seems the same to me before they bought it out. But the reactions from the hardcore users were hilarious from what I've seen in this article: http://mashable.com/2013/05/20/yahoo-officially-acquires-tumblr-promises-not-to-screw-it-up/
A virtual world is basically a simulation of the real world, for example "Second Life". (Going to the virtual office in Second Life) You have an avatar that you control that goes around doing what you would be doing in real life. There are some virtual worlds that are more on the fantasy side, such as "World of Warcraft". In these types of virtual worlds, you can explore dungeons, caves, and go on fictional adventures. In my virtual world, I'd totally want to take up a lightsaber and slash away at Sith lords and Droids. It'd be cool and something I couldn't experience in real life.
Saturday, September 28, 2013
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web, or just Internet for short, is constantly connecting people together and collecting, sharing, and saving data easier everytime a new idea is put out. Cloud Computing is the latest in this sense of data sharing. Companies have been made, such as Mediafire or Dropbox, that allows you to save files and share them to other users and computers at ease. This is the basic idea of what Cloud Computing is for. Although some requires certain software to be installed and regularly updated, (Cloud Computing: As software migrates from PCs to distant Internet Servers...) it allows one to keep everything with them without having to sacrifice a lot of system memory. This allows for faster performance on your devices. Back on connecting people together as stated earlier, Ray Kurzweil, Google's new Director of Engineering, says that language is an important part when it comes to the future of the Web, specifically artificial intelligence. Google can combine the personalized recommendations of a friend (who often know us better than we know ourselves) with the sum of all human knowledge, creating a sort of super best friend. (Google's New Director of Engieering, Ray Kurzweil, Is Building Your 'Cybernetic Friend') In order for that to happen, this "best friend" will have to know different languages in order for it to work with people across the globe.
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