Information technology empowers people

     

     The topic I have decided to discuss is “Information technology empowers people.” The pros of the Internet have increased expeditiously. People can now gain knowledge about anything in the world by a click of a button. It is amazing how much information is held within the worldwide web. Writing papers has been made drastically easier by information mainframes like even Cabrini Colleges, Holy Spirit Library. By simply going on their website, students can access a tremendous amount of information. From movies to scholarly journals, the library has created a mainframe of accessible knowledge without even leaving the comfort of your own dorm.

     Even going beyond writing a paper for a philosophy class, the web has created avenues of self-help and realization. The web will bring you to answers to your mundane questions of the day. People are naturally curious creatures and if they pondered whom the twenty-third president of the United States was then they would simple type it into Google and Benjamin Harrison would pop right up. The web has even created modes of safety where what your browsing can be held confidential to an extent. Incognito mode and websites like “DuckDuckGo” help open up options for those less inclined of being tracked and examined. The web is a resource that can be used for good and honest curiosity. It is there to help people learn more and more about the world around them. They simple have to apply themselves to the information given to them and not be silly and abuse it. Overall, I feel the web is a helpful tool to me that I cannot think to live without.

"Improve Internet Privacy In 15 Minutes"

     In the article "Improve Internet Privacy In 15 Minutes" the author talks of keeping your searches private at your leisure. I would think this would appeal to most people nowadays because of the recent wiki-leaks scam and the distrust of the governments actions. I think people would really find the information in the article useful to feel a little more secure in their browsers. Also, others who do not really care for the constant cookies that pop up on something you have looked at will appreciate the satisfaction of not having any. Cookies honestly annoy me and it would be great if I did not have to deal with advertisements of something I looked at for only a second. I also like the fact that the author mentions a password manager because I use the same password for almost everything. Having a stronger password can save a lot of people from getting hacked.
     My thoughts on internet privacy range from being uninterested to hesitant. I honestly do not think too deep into internet privacy except when it comes to applying for something online involving my address or applying to colleges and having to give out my social. I would never think I would get hacked because I'm really not that important. I would hope I never did get hacked, but I would look over some of the options listed in the article. I will take time to think about being hacked, but honestly I would not think too deep into it.

PhotoMath

A program I have utilized most frequently while being in college is the phone app called PhotoMath. The user would hold their phones camera up to the problem they are struggling with and the answer would pop up on their screen. The user can also press a button to get the step-by-step instructions on how they figured out the problem. The person just opens the app, points their phone camera in the direction of the problem and a box will pop up. The user just fits the problem in the box given to you by the app and then the answer will automatically pop up in red. The app has helped me a lot with certain problems I did not understand in class. By looking at the steps on how the app figured out the problem, helped me understand the subject matter a lot better. When the teacher could not explain the subject the best way, I would use the app to help me out. I can use it during the math session and use while the teacher was writing on the board. It can be used with textbooks, computers, or on the board, as long as the problem is written visibly and legibly. This app has honestly helped me out various times with coursework that I just could not grasp. I think it was a smart app to make and makes math a lot easier. The app is free and was created in 2015 by Microblink. 

Google Car

The author Jim Kersetter dicusses in his article, “Google’s Driverless Car Learns to Navigate an Imperfect World,” the scrutiny of drivers and their relation to Google’s new smart car. The car was built to respond to all the rules and regulations of the road. The driver can be overrun by the cars knowledge of the “rules of the road.” Unfortunately, the car recently has just had its first accident after having a perfect safe-driver insurance record. There is speculation as to whether it was the car or the driver being at fault for the accident. The car approached at crosswalk and slowed to a stop. There was a “safety-driver” inside the car since they are not fully operated to handle themselves on the road alone, yet. The driver inside of the car applied the brakes as well to allow the pedestrian to cross. The pedestrian was not the cause of the accident, but the car behind the Google car did by hitting the Google car from the rear. After Google did a further examination of the car, they noticed that if the car was left on its own the it would have stopped closer to the crosswalk, giving the car behind it more time to stop.

I found this study to be interesting since man cannot take in the probability of a car nearing upon them, but people have built a car so well it could. I personally hate driving and a car that can drive itself sounds pretty fabulous. Not having to worry about the rules of the road can come at a price and make people lazy and unaware of laws. People eventually could lose their sense of surroundings in general, but I doubt one car will lead to scene out of Disney’s “Wall-E.” I think the invention is pretty nifty and I cannot wait to see what other new era cars are coming in my lifetime.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/09/02/daily-report-googles-driverless-car-learns-to-navigate-an-imperfect-world/?ref=technology