Apr
7
A Great Big Varied Set of Links
Filed Under Computing, Film, Life, The Internet
Here are several links that I saved to share on the site in the past several weeks, all rolled into one big post. Big Project is keeping me busy, so for today let’s just catch up on anything and everything a furious reader might want or need. It’s better than not sharing at all, and besides, two of the links actually come from sources outside of the NY Times!
An op-ed article about the dumbification of America.
Why do I feel as if I have been reading different and worsening versions of this same article since I was a senior in high school? Anyway, this latest version contains everything you might hope for from the “liberal” media: 1) Bush and Cheney bashing, 2) New data to support obvious information that we already know, and 3) A subtly snooty tone.
Between the three of these, a reader can be sure to receive exactly what we don’t need…more argument. I completely agree that Americans are getting dumber. It’d be a real surprise though, to run into an article (from either side of this bi-partisan struggle) that focuses more on the issue and less on the blame game. As for my contribution to the solution…oh…time for the next link…
I don’t have too much to add to what’s actually covered in this quick blog post about computer science in the classroom, but I do want to say something about the topic in general.
Namely…wow…it’s unbelievable how little people know about how computers work, and how to use them. Let me say it in a way that should be pretty clear: if children don’t learn computer science, they aren’t going to go very far in life - career-wise or even in terms of intellectual development. Are there exceptions to this? Yes. It’s not an end-all statement, so don’t start whining in the comments section of this post. Instead, take a few minutes to consider why this might be true. How do you communicate with people most of the time? What do you do at work? How do you buy shit? How does shit get sold (and delivered)?
I grew up in a decently-sized suburb in a very small (okay - the smallest) state where all I had to do to pass in computer literacy was either take one or two courses over the course of four years or one big proficiency test somewhere along that same line. I took the test (which was “written” on ditto paper) and passed. Then I got to college and learned that I didn’t know shee-ott about computer science. I wasn’t alone either…and this is a problem.
For anyone with corporate office experience (or something like it) you know what I am talking about. Older generations of workers only understand how to operate a computer to a certain point, and then have to be hand-held through operations processes. Unlike many other people, I am all right with this. Patience usually gets things moving more quickly than you might think. But as time goes on…I worry that we’re headed towards a situation where many many people know how to use a computer (and various software applications) but remain clueless in terms of what’s actually going on inside the machine. But then again I don’t know why I bother. Geeks already control half the world.
This one topic could go on for thousands of words. Next!
For sports fans (or fans of insanity-caught-on-camera), a fun link from my Japanese informant in Texas.
The weird thing about this video is that at the end of it I kind of felt myself empathizing with Chad Jackson.
For any film and video geeks out there, an interesting segment on editing. Link courtesy of Mike Jones of Mike Jones Digital Basin.
This link could also serve as a good example of how easy it is to edit reality television.
A NY Times blog post about a controversial (or soon-to-be-controversial) technology that is apparently meant to give computer users more privacy protection by tracking which websites they visit and sharing this information with advertisers.
You may be saying “this is already being done.” There’s a difference at play here, though, and that difference is actually what the companies behind this technology are advocating as the big and important difference between the current way of doing things and their way of doing things. The gist? Web sites (particularly search engines) are already collecting a bunch of personal information about you anyway. And while I think most people would agree that not much is being done with that information except in the areas of advertising and sales…the honchos at this company think that their way of doing things might make people more comfortable about the process.
What do they do? Instead of your personal information being collected by the web site, it’s collect by a chip plugged into the computers at your Internet Service Provider (ISP). The demographic data is then taken, used, and discarded. As the Times blogger who reports on this information in the above link points out…there’s a lot to discuss here.
My feeling, though, is that there’s a big difference between the two ways of doing things that extends past the facts-of-the-matter. I’ll leave it to someone who knows more about these things than I do to confirm this guess, but I think that something important would be compromised by moving this sort of data collection to ISP servers. The individual, if he or she wants to do it, can take steps to protect his or her self (or remove his or her self) altogether from this practice. Not so in the second case. I don’t care how responsible the technology proclaims itself to be. You’re still talking about big companies watching over the behavior of individuals - without a seeming “way out.” Also - do we take the chance that someone like Bush won’t come along again and try to use something like this to lean against our civil rights? Nah.
Well…here’s a link about a T-shirt for rape victims.
In case you’re interested, the woman behind the T-shirt for rape victims is also the woman who was responsible for the “I Had An Abortion” T-shirts a while back. Not going to touch this one, because I’m not sure it’s something that a man should try to touch until he’s had several long conversations with several differently-reacting women on the subject (at the very least). But check out the comments section for the article. As a people, we may never agree on such an ultra-sensitive subjects as this one…but it never hurts to listen.
Tags:Americans, Bush, Chad Johnson, Cheney, computer science, editing, Internet Service Provider, ISP, liberals, New York Times, privacy protection, rape victims, reality television, snooty, T-shirt.Comments
2 Responses to “A Great Big Varied Set of Links”
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the reason a lot of Americans hate intelectuals and ism is because they act so smug and try to be condecending to everyone, like this NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF asshole. Reading this made me want to believe in counter evolution theories just to prove him wrong.
how do you get mini pictures of the article just by moving your marker over it…that’s a nice feature there Dibbsy!