Thursday, May 9, 2013
Thursday, April 25, 2013
5-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility
5-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility
There are many jobs that replace humans with robots, the most commonly known are the ones that replaced the assembly line worker with precision robots. The replacing of the air-force pilot with unmanned drones, or even bomb defusing robots taking over for bomb defusers. There are numerous robots that can take over for some of the simplest jobs and the number will continue to grow with each technological advance.
The benefits of replacing people in the workplace are numerous to start with some money can be saved, as robots don't take holiday or sick breaks. When it comes to military uses the benefit is the ability to keep humans out of harms way. When defusing a bomb its safer and quicker just to send in a robot to explode it. This is quicker since they just take the bombs and blow them up anyways. The same applies for unmanned drones, keeping people out of the equation and losing so much weight allows the delivery system to be quiet and small. This keeps people safe and the missions secret as the drones can be used for spying or sending in missiles.
The negatives are what to do in tight spots with the bomb-defusing robots or if the area is full of innocent lives. The unmanned drones would not be able to fly for to long as battery life and range of controller would limit most missions but as we've seen with the current administration we can use these drones for assassinations keeping soldiers out of harm's way. With the change in the factory one could argue that it would hurt the economy through the decline of human labor, impacting the spending money for normal people and as less people are spending money the economy takes a hit.
In conclusion robots are both good and bad in many ways depending on the economy of the country. If the country is growing and has a low unemployment robots can make an impact that would devastate the poor and uneducated due to the fact that the hard labor jobs that uneducated rely on are the ones that can be replaced by machines. We've seen this before in the great automobile city of Detroit, the jobs were lost and the city has become a wreck of a city. In the matter of future robot jobs i feel they can be best used for mundane jobs and policing the world with giant mech warriors.
works cited
Lescarbeault, Gérald Project IRSST "Impact of robotics on work organization, employment, the economy, and occupational health and safety"-.irsst.qc.ca
The Robotics Institute- ri.cmu.edu
The negatives are what to do in tight spots with the bomb-defusing robots or if the area is full of innocent lives. The unmanned drones would not be able to fly for to long as battery life and range of controller would limit most missions but as we've seen with the current administration we can use these drones for assassinations keeping soldiers out of harm's way. With the change in the factory one could argue that it would hurt the economy through the decline of human labor, impacting the spending money for normal people and as less people are spending money the economy takes a hit.
In conclusion robots are both good and bad in many ways depending on the economy of the country. If the country is growing and has a low unemployment robots can make an impact that would devastate the poor and uneducated due to the fact that the hard labor jobs that uneducated rely on are the ones that can be replaced by machines. We've seen this before in the great automobile city of Detroit, the jobs were lost and the city has become a wreck of a city. In the matter of future robot jobs i feel they can be best used for mundane jobs and policing the world with giant mech warriors.
works cited
Lescarbeault, Gérald Project IRSST "Impact of robotics on work organization, employment, the economy, and occupational health and safety"-.irsst.qc.ca
The Robotics Institute- ri.cmu.edu
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
3-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility
3-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility
Scenario 1: Software theft occurs is when someone copies a copyrighted piece of software, such as Word, and instead of purchasing a new license for each computer in an office or school they distribute it any ways without purchasing new licenses for each computer (SIIA).
Example: After you buy a copy of word from your school, and after loading it on your home computer, you take it to the dorms and allow anyone to buy it or maybe you just give it away for free, either way it is theft.
Scenario 2: Using "warez" software to distribute software across the internet what you have already copied (SIIA).
Example: Pirate Bay used warez software to distribute anything a person might need regarding computer programs.
In the first scenario i feel there should be no justification to go after people for allowing them to use your programs that were bought and paid for, even if it is on their computer and not yours, but on the other hand someone did go through the trouble of writing the code and developing it through each stage until it was good enough for the market.
To be fair you paid for that copy and you should have the ability to use it where you want. The companies are so worried about the uses of how someone might use them and what they will do with their purchase that they jack up the price or even make it so you don't get upgrades. These tactics keep people on edge of what to spend their money on, allowing for only big companies to shell out the big bucks for a bunch of licenses, and they only do this so they don't get sued or have to pay a major fine.
According to the SIIA website:
"The rules protecting software apply on the Internet just as they due to more traditional media. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect software created, posted and traded on the Internet. Internet service providers (ISPs) may be liable for copyright infringement if their users illegally copy or distribute software, through downloading, uploading or transmitting software files without the copyright owners' authorization and they fail to avail themselves of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act."
In conclusion, if companies allowed the reproduction of source codes, then there would be so many perfected software programs out there. The ability for these companies to put out so many inferior products year to year is maddening to the computer world. The concept of "free software" is a beautiful one. A belief that if given the chance we can work in harmony to perfect something that can aid the world.
Work Cited
SIIA.net
safenet-inc.com
tarleton.edu
Example: After you buy a copy of word from your school, and after loading it on your home computer, you take it to the dorms and allow anyone to buy it or maybe you just give it away for free, either way it is theft.
Scenario 2: Using "warez" software to distribute software across the internet what you have already copied (SIIA).
Example: Pirate Bay used warez software to distribute anything a person might need regarding computer programs.
In the first scenario i feel there should be no justification to go after people for allowing them to use your programs that were bought and paid for, even if it is on their computer and not yours, but on the other hand someone did go through the trouble of writing the code and developing it through each stage until it was good enough for the market.
To be fair you paid for that copy and you should have the ability to use it where you want. The companies are so worried about the uses of how someone might use them and what they will do with their purchase that they jack up the price or even make it so you don't get upgrades. These tactics keep people on edge of what to spend their money on, allowing for only big companies to shell out the big bucks for a bunch of licenses, and they only do this so they don't get sued or have to pay a major fine.
According to the SIIA website:
"The rules protecting software apply on the Internet just as they due to more traditional media. Copyright and other intellectual property laws protect software created, posted and traded on the Internet. Internet service providers (ISPs) may be liable for copyright infringement if their users illegally copy or distribute software, through downloading, uploading or transmitting software files without the copyright owners' authorization and they fail to avail themselves of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act."
In conclusion, if companies allowed the reproduction of source codes, then there would be so many perfected software programs out there. The ability for these companies to put out so many inferior products year to year is maddening to the computer world. The concept of "free software" is a beautiful one. A belief that if given the chance we can work in harmony to perfect something that can aid the world.
Work Cited
SIIA.net
safenet-inc.com
tarleton.edu
Thursday, April 18, 2013
4-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility
4-Critical Thinking, Ethics, and Civic Responsibility
Copyrights exist in order to protect the creator of software they have created from unauthorized copying or selling of their work. A copyright holds laws behind it, that state only with the creator's permission does this allow someone to make a profit from it.A Copyleft provides a method that allows a creator to distribute software with the ability to change or recreate the source software for everyone and remain free.
People are fighting for the right to allow people to have access to the source code one might make a product better adapted to one's personal needs and then have the ability to distribute it to friends and family to aid in their lives as well. One such group is called the GNU Project which was launched in 1984 and they are working on a new system called GNU/Linux that will aid in the development of the idea of free software.
While the other side is made up of anyone making millions from copyright laws by allowing sub-standard products such as video games or software to hit the market and with laws backing them up they keep people from modifying it because we live in a world where this makes millions for companies.
My view point on the world as it is, its horrible because people could find better uses for software that is just being used to make sub-standard products so they can sell add-ons or upgrades. It would be a better world if we could get rid of copyright laws as there was a movie called "Who killed the electric car?"
and in it they show how big business can ruin things through patent laws, so who knows what little wonders could be found with the aid of free software.
The advantages of copyright laws are like when someone is making some new software the law protects you from the theft of it allowing you to profit from your work.
The disadvantages our the crappy software that could be fixed by programmers without the upgrades coming from the companies who sold them to you.
Works Cited
"Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code" Copyright: United States Copyright Office www.copyright.gov
"What is GNU?" GNU Operating System www.gnu.org
Stallman, Richard stallman.org
Thursday, April 4, 2013
2-critical thinking,ethics, and civic responsibility
The problem within computer science is how long until Moore's Law will halt being true. Moore's Law is that every 18 months the number of transistors on semiconductor will double. I believe we are about to hit that point, in an article on Wikipedia the Semiconductors Industry Associations of the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan states that we could see this slow down by the end of 2013 as seen with this graphic from Wikipedia showing the growth of semiconductors.
This shows the growth up until 2011 and the law holds steady but in an interview with Michio Kaku, he is asked about quantum computers and their abilities and he states, "Moore's Law may begin to expire in the next ten years". What could this mean for computers if it stops being true? This means that the computer you have at home will become the same as all other computers. If the growth stops then why would someone buy a new computer 6 months from now if the new computer has the same processing power as the one you have at home. So if the law stops is that it for computers? No as seen in other videos throughout Ted Talks we see numerous other ways we can take technology such as molecular computers and atomic computers and my favorite quantum computers.
If the law stands it will be quite amazing to see how much they can put on these powerful semiconductors. And what would be the purpose of such devices? There is no way to solve this problem other than engineers and computer scientists to keep working on what they already are. Because if we do hit the end and make other types of computers without the need for semiconductors than the law is done, right? For some yes, some no. Some say he was talking about the power of the computer the other say he was talking about the power of the semiconductor. As this subject has moved from is he right to how can we make it seem like he is right by manipulating which parts he was talking about.
Either way we will just have to wait and see.
references: Michio Kaku; How to Program a Quantum Computer
Semiconductors Industry Associations of the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
Ted Talks
If the law stands it will be quite amazing to see how much they can put on these powerful semiconductors. And what would be the purpose of such devices? There is no way to solve this problem other than engineers and computer scientists to keep working on what they already are. Because if we do hit the end and make other types of computers without the need for semiconductors than the law is done, right? For some yes, some no. Some say he was talking about the power of the computer the other say he was talking about the power of the semiconductor. As this subject has moved from is he right to how can we make it seem like he is right by manipulating which parts he was talking about.
Either way we will just have to wait and see.
references: Michio Kaku; How to Program a Quantum Computer
Semiconductors Industry Associations of the US, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan
Ted Talks
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