Ubiquitous computing

Ubiquitous computing is transfer of technology that becomes invisible. This means instead of having a desktop or a laptop machine, we will have the technology implanted in the environment around us. When it came to what Riley said about “is it responsible to ignore or minimize the potential for misuse of a technology simply to realize its benefits?” I believe that he is right. By misusing the technology you realize the benefits of having it. If someone doesn’t have it then they won’t know how much people need technology.

In Mark Weiser article he speaks about how technology changes or even disappears. For example he is says “Such a disappearance is a fundamental consequence not of technology, but of human psychology. Whenever people learn something sufficiently well, they cease to be aware of it.” I believe that what he foresees for the future with the technology changing will come true but some technologies won’t disappear.

The article in the BBC Bill Gates said, “In particular, he said, touch, vision and speech interfaces would become increasingly important?” I feel that he might be right because of ubiquitous computing and technology changing.

When it comes down to it ubiquitous computing is going to be around for a while. It will be technology implanted in the environment around us and it won’t disappear.

When it came to the podcast it was interesting. That was the first time that I ever listened to a podcast before. I might seek them out now since this one was something that I am now interested in.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Hey all, these are the advantages and disadvantages of tracking technology from different websites.

Advantages

1. That is, Intel devices will know where they are, know what objects and places are nearby, and be able to communicate with other devices and servers over new, standardized protocols, such that location becomes a new data type in our applications and on the Internet and World Wide Web. http://www.deviceforge.com/articles/AT7857629578.html
2. Cell phone carriers install geographic-tracking technology in order for 911 dispatchers to pinpoint their calls. http://www.news.com/Wireless-location-tracking-draws-privacy-questions/2100-1028_3-6072992.html
3. Automatically reconfiguring itself, such that it always (1) uses the right network settings (for firewall proxies and VPN), and (2) prints on the right printer (i.e., use the home printer when at home, the work printer when at work) http://www.deviceforge.com/articles/AT7857629578.html
4. RFID sounds futuristic: A transmitter smaller than a dime embedded in everything from a T-shirt to human skin, communicating data over a short distance to a reading device. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/07/10/rfid/index.html

5. iTrack123 AVL devices are the most commonly distributed and utilised tracking means for both commercial vehicle and asset tracking and for personal vehicle security. http://www.itrack123.com/content/view/35/35/ (Tracks our vehicles if it is stolen).

6. ULocate is among the first of the new cell phone tracking services. Once you sign up (ULocate works only with a few Motorola phones that use Nextel's service), you can find a phone's last known location, see the path it has traveled, and get the average speed at which it moved from one place to another. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,114721-page,1/article.html

7. When RFID chips are embedded in your ID cards, your clothes, your possessions, you are effectively broadcasting who you are to anyone within range," he said. "The level of surveillance possible, not only by the government but by corporations and criminals as well, will be unprecedented. There simply will be no place to hide." http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/07/10/rfid/index.html

8. FCC would be "any more open to the idea than they were then." http://www.news.com/Wireless-location-tracking-draws-privacy-questions/2100-1028_3-6072992.html (FCC would have to look it over before)

9. "When RFID chips are embedded in your ID cards, your clothes, your possessions, you are effectively broadcasting who you are to anyone within range," he said. "The level of surveillance possible, not only by the government but by corporations and criminals as well, will be unprecedented. There simply will be no place to hide." http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/07/10/rfid/index.html

10. Making it secure, only allowing access from designated physical locations http://www.deviceforge.com/articles/AT7857629578.html

Disadvantages

1. RFID chips, injected under the skin, can store a medical history or be used to control access to secure areas. The next generation of passports and credit cards are hotbeds for RFID. It could make bar codes obsolete. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/07/10/rfid/index.html. (This is a disadvantage because this is unhealthy for a person to have.)
2. Is the government allowed to track your cell phone's location without a warrant based on probable cause? http://www.eff.org/issues/cell-tracking (Invasion of privacy)
3. Meanwhile, the controversy over location tracking doesn't appear to be going away anytime soon. http://www.news.com/Wireless-location-tracking-draws-privacy-questions/2100-1028_3-6072992.html
4. However, hackers and analysts are exposing potentially serious problems. Hackers could disable a car's RFID anti-theft feature, swap a product's price for a lower one, or copy medical information from an RFID chip. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/07/10/rfid/index.html
5. All of these capabilities are just the beginning. It's worth considering that notebook computers are not used for the same things, nor are they used in the same way as cell phones or PDAs. http://www.deviceforge.com/articles/AT7857629578.html (Just the beginning so right now it still has negatives
6. It's not hard to imagine ways in which cell phone tracking could invade your privacy. http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,114721-page,1/article.html
7. Phone service providers, sensitive to these privacy issues, all reassured me that any phone with a GPS chip in it lets you disable the tracking features http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,114721-page,1/article.html

About Me

Hi all, my name is Richard Unger and I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I came to the University of Bridgeport in 2004. When I came here I decided that I wanted to study Mass Communication with a concentration in Journalism. For that last two years I have been on The Scribe. Last semester I was chosen to be the Editor-in-Chief of it. When I graduate from this school I want to work for a local newspaper back in New York.