Blog #2 Final Paper

Okay, so I thought this was going to be an easy paper to write, but I am so wrong. There's a lot more research that must be done besides reading the book itself - although, Slade's book does have a great deal of information alone. The process of my final paper goes like this: 1. skim over the book and pick parts that are related to the paper 2. research online for information on where the e-waste ends up, solution to the extensive amount of e-waste etc 3. make an outline and follow it! 4. I found it easier to compose a research paper when I write it on paper first so I did that. So far, I've gotten 5 pages done and I have 5 more hours to go till it is due. I find myself ranting on and on about the topic using the knowledge that I have already gained so I have a lot of revising work to do.

Blog #1 Final paper

I've had a really terrible and busy week trying to cram every little detailed information to my puny brain, so it's Thursday at 1:31 PM - a day before this is due - and I can finally start my final paper. Yesterday, my friend got a new cell phone and I asked him how long the other one lasted.. he said, "7 months and then it broke down." In my head, I knew that it didn't really break down and even if it did he could've gotten it fixed... plus! the average cell phone user replaces their phones every 14 to 18 months, when cell phones are designed to last for 5 years... This conversation led me to think of Mr. Slade and his disgust in our society's rate of wasting away perfectly normal electronics. And it's the holidays and the season of giving so I'm guessing a lot of consumers out there are buying new gadgets for their loved ones... so I'm thinking, where would their perfectly usable gadgets go when they are replaced with better and more updated versions? Well, I'm about to do my research on just that. I have chosen the second topic of this research paper and before diving into the paper, I'm going to write an outline. I've found this awesome website called planetgreen.discovery.com which has a lot of information on where e-wastes go after they are recycled such as being exported to China and how to go green! It also leads me to think that our society's movement of "going green" is all just a propaganda but I won't talk about that in my paper since it's not an opinion-based paper.

the Facebook Effect part 2

In these chapters, Zuckerberg shows profound skills in leadership as he deals with multi-billion investors. Zuckerberg befriends Sean Parker, who worked for Napster and Plaxo, and the dynamic duo worked together to further expand thefacebook. Many investors were interested in thefacebook's growth in popularity as the ultimate social network website. Companies like the Post and Accel were willing to cooperate with thefacebook. Out of many investors, Donald Graham at the Post was one of the candidates that both Zuckerberg and Parker were interested in working with. However, Kevin Efrusy of Accel put in a lot of work into convincing Zuckerberg and Parker to take his deal. Although the duo was more interested in Graham's offer by the Post, Efrusy was not hesitant to give up. As Parker kept on turning down Accel's numerous offers, Accel finally made an offer that thefacebook could not refuse. When Zuckerberg finally made his choice to be partners with Accel, Accel brought in a few minor changes to the company by bringing Breyer to join the board at thefacebook. The growth of the company was expanding at a tremendous rate which only meant that thefacebook needed better equipment and a larger staff. The only problem to this was that many people were not willing to work for twenty-something year old college drop outs. Further, Sean Parker's shady reputation of drug use was another factor that made thefacebook hard to hire employees. Although Zuckerberg showed tremendous amount of loyalty to his friend and his partner, "Breyer thought Parker was a liability for the company well beyond his actions in North Carolina, whatever they might have been" (Kirkpatrick 147). The end result of this dispute left Zuckerberg with the total control of three board seats when Parker gave Zuckerberg his board seat after he stepped down from his position as president of Facebook.

the Facebook Effect part 1

In the first part of David Kirkpatrick's book, "The Facebook Effect," he talks about the background of Facebook's creator, Mark Zuckerberg and how Facebook came to be the number one social network website. Reading about Mark in the first chapter reminds me of the movie I saw for extra credit, The Social Network. It all started with a girl that Mark was hung up over and to keep his mind off of her, he created a small, "harmless" website called Facemash where the user has a choice to pick from two contestants based on their looks. This website became an instant hit, which led Mark to think of more projects that would essentially connect students online thus creating his own version of friendster, thefacebook.com. Zuckerberg soon realized that Harvard wasn't the only school that needed a social networking website, so he began to expand thefacebook elsewhere starting with Columbia, Stanford, etc. "So at Harvard, Dartmouth, Columbia, Stanford, Yale, and other schools, Thefacebook quickly became an essential social tool - a considerable advance over the outdated paper book" (Kirkpatrick 91). This type of expansion meant that he needed more money. Managing a website where the growth of its users were constant wasn't easy to do so he staffed his roommates. "In September alone they nearly doubled membership, to around 400,000. The number hit half a million on October 21, as growth began to accelerate" (Kirkpatrick 95). With constant popularity and traffic growing, thefacebook team desperately needed more money and funds. Thus, Y2M has made a partnership with thefacebook which placed ads on the website. This advertising income helped thefacebook team buy new equipments and servers to support the website's growth.

Current Event Blog

Oops, didn't know that we had to blog about our current event presentations.

My current event was called "Where's Jimmy? Just Google His Barcode" by Gene Koprowski.
I found this article on FOXNews.com.
Basically, it's about the creation and wide spread use of RFID (radio frequency identification) tags. I have first heard about RFID tags a long time ago and I have decided to do a follow-up research on them because I was so outraged by this when I heard about it. RFID chips are being embedded in people's hands, arms etc and these chips store personal information about the beholder such as credit card usage, bank statements, tracker of whereabouts, etc. It also can be used as your car keys - just wave your hand on the handle of the car. It's amazing what technology could do but I think the advancement of technology went too far with RFID. I mean, there's chips for your dogs just in case they get lost or whatnot but for humans?! This is far too creepy - I imagine one of those science fiction movie going horribly wrong. And if RFID chips are being used as tracking devices... who's keeping track? Certainly not yourself.... parents? Personally, I think these chips are an invasion of privacy and a barrier to our freedom if it is being used as a tracking device. “RFID tags make the perfect tracking device,” Stanley said. 


“The prospect of RFID chips carried by all in identity papers means that any individual’s presence at a given location can be detected or recorded simply through the installation of an invisible RFID reader”(Koprowski). 

The article goes on to say that the staff of Mexico's attorney general has RFID embedded in their arms to ensure the safety of information, trespassing of drug lords and etc.

"Already, the government of Mexico has surgically implanted the chips, the size of a grain of rice, in the upper arms of staff at the attorney general’s office in Mexico City. The chips contain codes that, when read by scanners, allow access to a secure building, and prevent trespassing by drug lords" (Koprowski). 


Questions I thought about when reading this article were:
1. What would happen if someone (hypothetically) cut off the person's arm to use their identification?
2. In what ways could this be advantages/disadvantages to society?
3. Who controls RFID? maybe a government conspiracy?!

Midterm: Wikipedia Auditing Process

It was very interesting to work with my team, Chris, John, Alex and Zach. For our wikipedia auditing midterm, we picked Grand Theft Auto series. The wikipage listed 46 sources that we latter came to find as either reliable or unreliable sources. As a group, we each part took in auditing the sources that were listed and we have come to the conclusion that news websites like ABC and CNN were deemed reliable whereas, fan websites and blogs were unreliable. I was pleased that everyone in this group contributed equally if not more - John: auditing resources, making/editing the powerpoint, research Devin Moore case, handout. Chris: auditing resources, making the powerpoint. Alex: auditing resources and finding real GTA clip. Zach: auditing resources and making the powerpoint. Me: auditing resources, create powerpoint (make it presentable), research Devin Moore case, and handout. After all the auditing process, my group has decided that Wikipedia page on GTA is not a scholarly source. Although, they have reliable information, there were many subjects where the facts were hindered by opinions, fan blogs, and bias.

Made to Break pt 3

When purchasing a TV, cell phone, or ipod, do you ever think about where these items will go after you no longer use or need them? "When e-waste is burned anywhere in the world, dioxins, furans, and other pollutants are released into the air, with potentially disastrous health consequences around the globe" (Slade 261). The amount of e-waste is growing exponentially in that people are throwing away perfectly useable products to buy newer and better ones. For example, cell phones are having the shortest life cycle of any electronic consumer product in the country. I, myself, am the contributing factor to this exponential growth of e-waste. I had 14 cellphones since I was in 6th grade. Most of them were either broken, lost, or perfectly normal but outdated. With an extra charge of $10 per month, consumers can get a warranty in which one can replace or update one's electronic devices. Phone companies also have a plan where you can easily update to a better/newer cell phone every year with the addition of another 2-year contract.
- So why does e-waste occur?
The main contributor to the exponential growth is due to the media and advertising strategies of manufacturers. "The average American, one analyst has noted, will have watched more than three years of television advertising by the end of his or her life" (Slade 265). That is a lot of time spent on watching manipulative advertising.
- So what happens to all the e-waste?
It is important as a consumer to understand the effects of e-waste on our environment. The universal problem has been compounded by fast growing technological advances, and a lack of resources to deal with the resulting e-waste. The waste that is left over from consumers' electronics consists of PCB's or polychlorinated biphenyls, mercury, lead, and cadmium. These are very TOXIC and studies have shown that PCB's may cause cancer. Our water and soil may become contaminated, which would eventually enter our food chain, if these wastes are not properly disposed of. Almost all of the e-waste is being dumped into landfills due to its hazardous toxins. From there, the e-waste becomes incinerated, recycled, and reused. Incineration releases heavy metals like PCB's into the air and ashes which can cause both ozone depletion and health problems through inhalation. Much of the remaining e-waste are being exported to developing countries where laborers, under unsafe conditions, are working to recycle the e-waste. 

- Is there a solution? 

Most people today upgrade after about a year or so and leave their old laptop or cellphone lying around abandoned until it's no longer any good to anyone. If people sold their one or two year old laptops, PCs, cellphones, cameras, etc as pre-owned, then the e-waste would be cut by a huge percentage... So why not people? Sell your "old" and "outdated" one or two years of used items and get money and save the planet. DUH.