This article is extremely relevant to what we discussed in class a couple of weeks ago.  When there is technological innovation, there are both intended and unintended consequences.  Do the acceptable benefits of a new technology outweigh the possible unintended misuses?  In this Wall Street Journal article, they use the example of the BinCam.  BinCam is an example of a new “smart” technology that includes sensors and cameras on everyday objects.  What BinCam does, is every time you close your kitchen garbage can, it snaps a photo.  This photo is then analyzed by a web service.  You are then given points for being “green” and recycling things you’re supposed to or having points deducted for disposing of recyclables in the trash.  Then the photo is posted on your Facebook account.  This sounds like something that is good for the environment, how could there be unintended misuses?

The author describes how these new “smart” technologies are going to become more invasive into our lives.  Soon, it will not be competing for recycling points against your Facebook friends.  There will be smart forks to tell us if we’re eating too fast, smart toothbrushes to tell us to brush more and smart kitchens to tell us that two ingredients don’t go together.  What is wrong with this?  The answer is out loss of autonomy.  Humans aren’t creative and responsible because we’re told what we “should” be doing by technology.  We are creative and responsible because we make mistakes, try new things, and generally enjoy doing things we shouldn’t do from time to time.

For now is smart technology like BinCam is mostly “good” smart.  That means that although the technology can deduct points, the user still has the option to disregard it all together.  But what happens when there are smart technologies that can’t be avoided?  The author describes these as “bad” smart.  Even though these bad smart technologies sometimes have good intentions, it completely removes the free will of a human user.  These choice removing technologies for now are driving sensors and facial recognition sensors.  However, there are endless possibilities in the future for technologies to be developed that remove the choice of a human, and the consequences won’t be so beneficial.

Would any of you use a “good” smart technology, such as BinCam, a scale that tweeted your weight to your followers, or a pill bottle that “pings” the pharmacy when your medication is low?

What other intended benefits or unintended misuses can you see coming from smart technology?

People are always skeptical of new technology and especially unforeseen circumstances that come about. Frank Abagnale, a con-man who is now a security consultant is warning Facebook users that the more information is listed about them on social media, the easier it is for cyber criminals to steal their identity. Abagnale explains how easy it is to steal one’s identity and even easier when provided with a name, date of birth, and birthplace.

“If you tell me your date of birth and where you’re born [on Facebook], I’m 98 percent [of the way] to stealing your identity,” he said at an Advertising Week Europe conference on Wednesday. “Never state your date of birth and where you were born [on personal profiles], otherwise you are saying ‘come and steal my identity.'”

Facebook can also make users more exposed to being tracked. If your mobile device is linked to your profile, hackers can use programs to see your physical location, even if the website or app is not logged on.

Facial recognition software is also being linked with Facebook:

“Another program that is owned by Google has the ability to recognize faces and match them with profiles on social networking sites, such as Facebook. This can all be done “in just seven seconds,” Abagnale said. If someone were to snap an image on an iPhone of a passerby and upload that photo to an app, like PittPatt, that app could then be used to determine who that person is.”

With all this concern about our privacy being leaked and identity easily stolen, will there  ever be a way to still use social media without increasing our chances of personal harm?
Or will we all shift to profiles without pictures, using fake names and not being able to see upcoming birthdays of our friends?

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ON RT.COM

Facebook was in it prime when most of us were in middle school or highscool, and many of us left MySpace for the newer fad that was Facebook at the time. When talking to younger people I realize how “old” Facebook is becoming much like what MySpace was at our time. They seem to choose Instagram as their social network of choice, which makes sense because if you go to Instagram’s Popular page you’ll see teenage related pictures such as Spongebob “memes” or One Direction pictures. While checking Twitter I saw that many people and some celebrities were posting things on a new social network site called Pheed. Curious to learn more, I googled it and found this article about it. Pheed provides users with a platform for sharing all forms content which includes text, pictures, audio,voice notes, video, and live broadcast. Users can subscribe to other users’ channels and view their subscribed channels’ almost like what you would do in Youtube. Also, they can “love” or “heartache” specific pheeds, hashtag, pheedback as well as share content from other channels to their own via a feature called “remix” similar to a retweet. The app became #1 on the app store and it seems like it’s caught the attention of the demographic that Facebook is losing. It easy to see why people are so attracted to this new site, it has an edgier modern contemporary look and in a way it’s like all top social netwroking sites combined into one. So if you’re sick of the same old Facebook, consider giving Pheed a try.

Do you think this site has potential to have the same popularity as the top dogs of social networking? (ie. Facebook, Twitter)