User:SohrobR
Sohrob Rouhani
I am a student at De Anza College.
Contents
- 1 CIS Project- Grand Challenges- Rainforest Preservation
- 2 Individual Project
- 2.1 1- Introductions
- 2.2 2- Privacy and Freedom of Speech
- 2.3 3- Intellectual Property
- 2.4 4- Crime
- 2.5 5- Employment, Education and Entertainment
- 2.6 6- Employment, Education and Entertainment
- 2.7 7- Evaluating and Controlling Technology
- 2.8 8- Risks, Failures and Responsibilities
- 2.9 9- Anytime, Anywhere
- 2.10 10- Technology Advances, Social Trends
CIS Project- Grand Challenges- Rainforest Preservation
Sohrob Rouhani
https://rainforestfoundation.org/
The goal of rainforest preservation is one that will be difficult to achieve, but there are many charities that are trying to do their part in order to help save the rainforests of the world from not only human interaction directly through deforestation/logging, but also indirectly through climate change caused by CO2 increases in the atmosphere, which leads to global warming. This charity, Rainforest Foundation US, is attempting to help keep the rainforests of central and south America safe from further damage, and work with indigenous peoples of the area in order to help preserve the forest while keeping in touch with the local peoples' needs as well. Currently, their main ways of helping local communities to practice preservation is by by giving legal support to local environmental agencies, providing equipment to them, and building networks of indigenous experts on conservation that can work together.
In terms of solving the technology issue with this group, I believe that the main way to help people in these indigenous areas is simply education of technical tools and how to use them. You cannot simply send equipment to people who may not know how to use them. Usage of fundraiser money to pay for educators to help indigenous people learn how to use preservation tools can help drastically with rainforest preservation efforts.
Recent changes in image mapping technology is providing researchers with better tools to understanding the dense, hard-to-access areas of the rainforest, previously unreachable by humans and hard to map even with technology. With new advances in LIDAR technology, researchers are now able to see more details into biomass mapping, which then allows researchers to more accurately calculate the amount of carbon emissions a country produces. With this technology, it will be much easier to measure by the single tree how much carbon is being used by trees, and the general health of rainforests as well.
I believe that Lidar can be very useful in terms of saving rainforest worldwide. Due to the way in which it operates, it can chart the growth/removal of biomass in a way that we have never seen before, and the clarity of difference and ability to sort differences per area by how much difference in biomass has occurred in a determined space of time can help check for illegal logging/growth.
Here is an example of a current project that is trying to be funded in the area of rainforest preservation. In Ecuador, there is an area of the rainforest called the Choco forest, which is currently suffering the fastest deforestation rate out of anywhere in the country. This fundraiser is attempting to purchase more land of the rainforest in order to keep it under the protection of Canandé Reserve, and then it will be safe from industrial deforestation. This area is extremely important to the biodiversity of Ecuador. Less than 2% of the original vegetation of the area remains, and it is necessary to protect as much of the remaining land as possible, in order to protect native Ecuadorian plants and wildlife from extinction.
I believe that one way in which technology can be useful with this issue is actually with the previous article's technology- LIDAR. By surveying the areas in which the Rainforest Trust wants to work, we can get a "damage report" and then calculate which areas of the rainforest need the most attention to be restored, so priorities can be clear and not muddled in a mess of rainforest which data we cannot understand.
Individual Project
1- Introductions
New Search
This paper is an interesting one, discussing the rise of computers' influence in our everyday lives, and how our perception on the world has changed alongside their evolution. The paper is very in-depth, discussing the time period of computers from the very earliest with the Turing devices, to the modern era. In the meantime, it discusses how these machines influenced people as they went, so it shows a good evolution of that as well.
New Search
This article goes heavily in depth on what influence computers have had on different sectors of our day-to-day lives. It specifies this into multiple fields, different categories which all matter to most people at some point in their lives. I picked this article in particular as it shows how common interacting with computers is with our lives.
Out of these two, I believe the article is best, as it is a short and concise way of showing the influence of computers on our society.
2- Privacy and Freedom of Speech
New Search
This is an interesting article that has come out relatively recently, as far as the internet goes, involving an interview which discusses how due to human nature, search engines such as Google can retain information of ours that almost no one else would know about you, which is frightening in terms of fears of data breaches.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2019/05/01/microsoft-office-new-privacy-controls/
From Discussions
This article, brought up by Stephen Miller in the Privacy and Personal Information discussion, does an interesting job explaining how Microsoft is attempting to "one-up" the hackers by constantly evolving their databases/virus protection systems. I feel this is the better choice out of the two, as it shows what efforts are being put into place to combat hackers, which is a good step forward.
3- Intellectual Property
https://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/
New Search
This small site from the World Intellectual Property Organization shows a short definition of intellectual property, as well as how it is used and what are its limits. It splits up into different types of intellectual property, and what makes them different from one another. It allows you to click different links to learn more about the different types as well. Overall, I think that this selection is best.
https://lighthouse.mq.edu.au/article/december-2019/AI-generated-art-who-owns-the-copyright
From Discussions- Art and Computers
This article, brought up by Fantazya Kemnitz, shows how recent ways of making art can make intellectual property sort of a grey area. In many other ways, intellectual property laws have been tried and tested, but with the introduction of AI into the creative space, it can be confusing as to who the real copyright owner is.
4- Crime
https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/compcrim.htm
From Discussions- Computers and Crime
Coming from Emmanuel Monteon in the discussions for this section, this provides a clear list of what crimes would be considered cybercrimes. I think that this is the best selection for this section of the class, as if you are learning about computer crime, it is good to know exactly what is a crime that is caused through a computer and what is not.
New Search
This article is good to show the bad side of using computers, in terms of the human nature and how people treat others online. In the middle of a crisis, such as the Covid-19 pandemic currently taking place, people are using this as a way to scam and hack people online. This goes to show that cybercrime is just an extension of the human nature's wish to make money off of the misfortune of others.
5- Employment, Education and Entertainment
http://www.gamesforchange.org/
From Discussions
This site, from which we all looked to play educational games and share with each other our experiences, is a perfect example of how video games can help to teach children subjects in an innovative and engaging way. From personal experience, games are the best way in my opinion to teach, and I think this site is the best example of showing computer education.
New Search
In the realm of computerized technology helping with employment, these Japanese employees use a new apparatus that helps to control weight of lifting objects, thus allowing more workers to work more efficiently as well as without as much risk of damaging their backs. This is important to this discussion as we can see how employment is directly being affected by the influx of new assistive technology.
6- Employment, Education and Entertainment
https://scitechdaily.com/turning-co2-into-fuels-plastics-and-other-valuable-products/
Posted by Tien Tran on Grand Challenges
This amazing article, posted by Tien Tran, discusses how researchers at Stanford are learning ways of taking CO2 and making it into chemical fuels and feed, which would be an amazing way of converting a harmful chemical into something that we can all benefit from.
This website, posted by Marlena Kramarz for the Grand Challenges project was the most interesting to me. Just the scale, how this company has been able to make so many activities available for children's learning, is very impressive and inspiring to me. I feel that this will likely be the way of the future for most children in the United States, as it is an affordable way to have students learn.
7- Evaluating and Controlling Technology
From Discussions
This website, brought up by Evan Roland, is my personal favorite for this topic. I believe it is the best, as it is a perfect example as to how we can control technology, and bring it together using tools in a way so that we can teach people all around the world a new language, many different ones at that, which was previously very hard to do.
From Discussions
Marcin Ossowski brought up this website in the Great Technologies topic, and I have to agree that it is a great use of technology as well. I am a fan of learning languages, and I think that Google Translate, although somewhat unrefined with languages that are less represented, is a great resource not only for those trying to learn a new language, but also as a tool for helping people converse with one another in a much easier way than before.
8- Risks, Failures and Responsibilities
https://www.techwalla.com/articles/10-ways-computers-are-used-in-medicine
From Discussions
This article, brought up by many people in the Medicine and Computers topic, does a great jogb at explaining ways that, as part of switching to the modern world of computerized databases, doctors and pharmacutical companies can benefit from the usage of computers. Whether it is for surgery or medicine, computers can provide a lot of benefits to health, which is why I think that this is the best selection for this module.
https://helpdeskgeek.com/help-desk/7-health-issues-caused-by-computers-and-how-to-prevent-them/
New Search
This article helps to identify some health concerns of people who use their computer often, and what can be causing them. Personally, I can relate especially to the migraines section, as what the article states about bright screens causing migraines is an area that I have personal experience with.
9- Anytime, Anywhere
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/04/technology/election-tech.html
From Discussions
This article, brought up by Abigail Proffitt, discusses the usefulness of apps when it comes to voting. Personally, I think that this article does a great job at explaining the doubts that many have with voting using technology as a whole, so I think this is the best selection as it discusses the issues that people have with ready-to-access technology when it comes to important events.
https://www.howtogeek.com/423720/how-worried-should-you-be-about-the-health-risks-of-5g/
New Search
This article helps to explain that with the rise of the new 5G capabilities of cellular reception, how some people are worried that the radiation from this will be harmful to them. I personally feel that this is a very important step forward for showing how people react to new technologies, as you can see people are very skeptical when it comes to a leap forward in technological capability.
10- Technology Advances, Social Trends
From Discussions
When we were discussing the Tech Awards with Social Impact, one of the main websites that was selected to be talked about was Solvatten. I think that this was the best example of the technological innovation for this module, as I believe that it provides the best resource for the people that are living in underdeveloped regions, which can benefit millions of people around the world. These companies deserve to win awards like this, as they are providing a service to communities that I think outweighs the others.
https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/3/11/21174720/coronavirus-amazon-robots-air-purifiers
New Search
In an interesting change of pace from the normal doom and gloom of coronavirus updates in the news, this shows how technological advancement is being influenced by the Coronavirus pandemic. This goes to show that innovation can be spurred on by the rise of a crisis, as well as society's reaction to the crisis at hand. That shows that, as a result, society has a profound effect on shaping technological advancement through its demands.
