Archives for the Month of November 2005 on Britt Wiseman
New Orleans - - Free Wireless Internet
The story can be found at cnn.com in the "technology" section.
New Orleans is starting the first free wireless internet network owned and run by a major city. They hope that the internet will boost the city's economy that has been slipping due to the recent hurricanes. The system started in the French Quarter today and will be available to the rest of the city hopefully within one year. Most of the equipment was donated by three major comapnies and was rallied for by Mayor Ray Nagin.
With all of the trgaedy that has occurred in the Gulf Coast, I am glad to see that technology can play a positive role in helping the people of New Orleans. It seems somewhat fitting that in the city where there was a major breakdown in communication (downfall of FEMA), there is going to be the nation's first free wireless internet for a major city.
The article does not mention how the internet will help to boost the economy, but some potential thoughts that I had were:
1. helping to find jobs for those unemployed
2. online shopping in New Orleans based businesses
3. information available concerning aid
My only concern with this was that a lot of the homes of people were completely destroyed. Do people even have computers? Do they have the funding to get them? I know things are slowing evolving in New Orleans and this news is great. We need to keep these people in our hearts and our prayers becuase there is still so much work to do.
This story intrigues me as to the role that the government played in getting this plan implemented. Throughout the course we have talked about the role that government has/should/can play in technology. So, I ask everyone to be on the lookout for any more articles concerning this recent announcement.
I'll be there in 5
Chapters 1-5 of Smart Mobs were very interesting as they were primarily concerned with the social elements of mobile technology. When the author said that presence no longer means being physically in the location, but rather being able to communicate has now taken over as being present. I have always been a person that is punctual and one that does not like to be late. I am organized and like to have things go a certain way and in a particular order.
What the author said is eaxctly true however. People think that it is okay to be late for a meeting or event because they have a cell phone and can communicate with someone about how long it will be before they are there. I know that it sounds weird, but I find it very rude when people show up late. Just because you call does not mean that you are present. I wish there were a way to reverse the trend that has ocurred due to the availability of mobile technology.
Going along with the social implications of cell phones, the author said that when people talk on a cell phone they are in two distinct separate spaces. This may seem very trivial, but when you stop and think about it this is very different from what our grandparents had ever known. A person can be making an impact in their current physical space and also be playing a role in a situation in which eh is communicating but not necessarilly physically present. The telephone does exactly this, but the mobile phone allows people to have their presence known in two spaces continually with very few limitations.
Its very interesting to step back and think about the social implications of mobile technologies on our lives as well as the people around us. As we continue on into the future it will be very exciting to see what types of mobile technology will evolve that will allow us to be perhaps in three or four different spaces all at one time. So, I pose this question to everyone. Do you think this will happen and if so, when?
President's Speech Nov. 11
After class on Friday, I came back to my room to begin working for the political science department and as I usually do I turned on the news. I saw President Bush discussing the Iraq War and the global fight on terror. It was part of the Veteran's Day festivities I believe. Despite not agreeing with the President most of the time and being very much a member of the opposite party, I always listen when the President speaks. It's just something I feel that we should do.
As I was listening to him speak, he began discussing "networks of terror" and "evil networks." He was saying that those devoted to terror were all connected in one way or another. He went on to discuss the tactics that the United States is implementing to break up such networks. He said that the US has made significant strides in killing and capturing the leaders of these evil networks. He placed heavy emphasis on this. He said that those that are focussed on terror are so focussed due to the leadership of a small number of people.
This was an element that we did not discuss Thursday in class. We discussed the role that networks play, why they exist, if they will continue to exist, etc.., but we did not discuss the hierarchical element within such networks. Who leads such networks? How do they garner support? What specific role do the leaders play? President Bush seems to think that the leaders play a very large role in the success of such "terror networks" and he has made it a priority of the US to seek out and kill such leaders. This is one thing that I can agree with the President on. I believe that leaders are the glue that keep all networks together regardless of whether or not the network is a group of terrorists or a group of Ebay users. There will always be some type of hierarchy within every group that allows the group to run smoothly and efficiently. If such efficiency is not reached, then the members of a network could replace or oust the surrent leadership. The leadership that I am discussing does not have to be formal leadership, it can be a leader that emerges from the cracks that takes on a role that helps to tie up the loose ends of a network.
Perhaps "Linked" will discuss this later on, but for now I would like to open this up to everyone. What do you think about leaders within networks? Do you agree with President Bush or is he underestimating the power of the members of a network? Please share your thoughts.
State CC Meet
This Saturday I went to the state cross country meet held in Clumbus, Ohio at Scioto Downs. My sister's team made the meet and they were so excited to participate in the meet. Her team has 3 freshmen, 1 sophomore, and one junior. Her team was by far the youngest team there and they ended up getting 12th out of 16 teams. Not great, but then again no one expected them to make it to state. I surprised her by going and she loved my t-shirt that I made. It said, "I am missing the Irish game to watch my sister run!" Everyone at the meet seemed to like it as well.
Anyway, after the race my family and I went to her team's tent to see her. She was taking off her running shoes when I noticed these little black clips on her shoe laces. I asked her what those were. She told me that they were called "chips". What? I asked what is a chip. She told me that instead of tearing off numbers as runners crossed the finish line, the chips told their official place. As a runner crosses the line, the chips (conating the runner's name, school, number, etc) are read by a computer. This helps to keep every runner in order and to get official results. It helps when there are close finishes at the line. No longer does a judge have to make the decision, the chip will whow who crosses the finish line first.
I thought about the chips on my drive back to Case and I knew that I had to write about it. It absolutley amazed me that such a device would be used in cross country. I got me to thinking about other sports. Perhaps a micro-chip could be placed in a football and when the football crosses the first down marker a light goes off. This could help the officials as to cut down on time for official measurements. The same could be true in soccer as the ball crosses the goal line. I don't know if such things have been debated, but if technology such as these chips are being used in highschool sports, then you would think that something of the sort would lie in the near future. What do you think?