Post 4

      Perhaps, one of the most interesting phenomenons within the last fifteen years is the unforeseen impact of Social media. According to the Alexa top 500 websites, Facebook is currently ranked number two, Youtube is in the number three spot, and Twitter is at number eight. People like to interact. Social Media provides the ability for anyone to interact with a one to many approach. This has frustrated the business world which is now under the constant pressure of negative reviews surfacing and spreading. Yet, this isn't a bad thing because it holds any business with customer service to a higher standard of ethics and service. People tend to trust the reviews of their fellow peers despite the bias. For better or worse, people post their opinions and views. Even the growing threat of the radical terrorist group ISIS, is using Twitter as a means of recruiting internationally. While others are posting articles relaying the brutality of this middle eastern organization. Social media has been an intricate part of the evolution in the world wide web and the interactions the world now shares together. 

Study Journal 6

Tuesday Mar. 17

• Women are a minority in the CS field, which is to their advantage. However, i don't believe in a causation that can be attributed to this result. I personally think, most women probably don't find it to be an attractive major of study. Most sane people don't. 
• I didn't realize that gender had anything to do with technological barriers or differences. It sounds like hog wash. The fact that anyone is saying that technology needs to be adapted to a specific gender sounds like they have an excessive amount of time to waste. Why is this a concern? 
• I do see validity in getting both genders involved in a predominately gender specific field. Both bring character and insight to the area of interest. If more women were in computer science, we would probably be years ahead in technology due to their contributions. 
• Hearing all the harassment stories makes me feel a bit uneasy about what I may encounter in the workforce. Probably best to keep my composure in a situation as such. 

Thursday Mar. 19

• The "problem" of getting women in the field of computer science is not a problem in my opinion.In fact it seems laughable to think it is a problem.People get caught up with minimal trivial issues that warrant no attention. A problem in my mind is the growing threat of ISIS or the people suffering in prison camps in North Korean. Bigger fish, real problems.
• Women or other minorities of any given field shouldn't feel the pressure of being forced one way or another. For instances, pressure to get more men as elementary school teachers. Let people follow their own pursuits. 
• I have made it a point to introduce people to programming. It is a wonderful thing to learn. Perhaps if they introduce programming to children at a younger age then they would get a much broader range of people in CS fields. 
• The statistics shown in class were really annoying. There are advantages to being a majority and a minority. Our class discussion was so focused on minority that we completely discredited the majority.

Tuesday Mar. 24

• Time is arguably one of the most precious assets a person has. It is irreplaceable. Therefore, wasting away in front of a television or video game should be a huge red flag. Video games can be a good way to distress, but they should never take precedence. 
• When I was young I got sucked into the online game Warcraft. It is the closest thing to an addiction I have ever experienced. However, now that I'm older and my time is constrained, I don't play or even consider playing games that could in anyway have a negative impact. 
• Not to discredit "parental spot-checks," but I personally respected the trust my parents enlisted in me. 
• 53 hours on entertainment each week sounds horrible. If people took those 53 hours and developed a talent or skill, just imagine what the world could accomplish. I probably spend 53 hours or more a week, but about 90% of my time is spent preparing a future for myself.

Thursday Mar. 26

• the article stated that it took a random sample through phone polling. If I've learned anything from statistic 101 it is that phone surveys carry heavy bias in their results. Which frustrates the validity of the results. 
• What is the standard of measurement of a "major impact"? The article isn't clear on this. This again makes the results difficult to follow. 
• The power of information is incredible. The recent Sony attack is an example of how damaging information leaks can be. 
• Sexting is an interesting addition to the worlds culture. No matter the advancement in technology, people are always looking to fill their appetites by making sex a part of it.

Tuesday Mar. 31

• the article The Church and Computers: Using the Tools the Lord has provided was a nice breathe  of fresh air. Whenever computer use is brought up in a church setting 99% of the time pornography is mentioned. It was nice to hear more about their benefits and less about their harm. 
• The redesign of Mormon.org in recent years is a risky bid, because some members may post harmful information despite having good intentions. However, I believe this is minimal and I feel the use of peer to peer is effective.
• Computers, "If we don't use them to teach his gospel, Satan will use them to lead the people astray" (Elder Packer). This inspired me to maybe let my testimony be heard by starting a blog or simple post on various sites. We never know the good we could have. 

Post 3

     The ongoing internal battle that individuals have to overcome once inflicted with an addiction, can be a frustrating pursuit. This is exemplified in the Ensign article Tangled in the Web. The best measure of fighting an addiction is to never develop one. Yet, through curiosity or just unlucky stumbling across the web, one may find themselves encompassed in a net. Such addictions maybe the result of an unhealthy amount of time on a social network, or more commonly, a lure towards pornography. The boldness of our recent guest speaker Charles Knutson was a refreshing reminder of the plague that pornography has had with the growth of the internet. As he pointed out, it is within reason to assume that most individuals in class, if not all individuals, have seen or still currently see pornographic material. This causes a stirring question, if everyone is doing it, is it normal? Regardless, what the world agrees as acceptable, it does not mean that it should be acceptable to us. If an addiction is taking control of one's life, take life back by getting help. Everyone has his or her own shortcomings, some more visible than others, but everyone has a divine potential that he  she can reach if not hindered by an addiction.

Study Journal 5

Thursday Mar.5

• It's a frightening thought that such a fundamental financial  instrument such as the stock market can be exploited. Everyone invests in the stock market, most putting their live savings in. It would be tragic to lose it due to the inside knowledge others may have about certain stocks.
• Taking a company public before they are even profitable sounds like the climatic plot in a horror movie. This is is utter non-sense. One might as well fabricate the very existence of a company and list it for an IPO. 
•  "Venture capital is the definition of greed". I resent this statement because it groups all venture capitalist together with the label of selfishness. I hope to be financially well off enough to fulfill the role of a venture capitalist. I'm more about the vision, but I admit the money is a good perk.  
• The very corruption that is brought on by greed does effect the market and people who invest. So much so that it could lead us into a recession or a depression after a market crash due to bad stocks.

Tuesday Mar.10

• The trade off that comes with new technology made me think of all the times I've tried to have an intelligent, personal, conversation with a girlfriend only to have her face buried in her stupid cell phone.
• The author of postman is a bit pessimistic concerning trade offs  He is valid in assuming that such trade offs exist, but if new advances in technology where really that bad, then we would do away with them.I believe the world is better off today in regards to living a comfortable life than it ever has been. 
• The example of a blacksmith losing his job due to the inventions of the automobile, may arguably be someone who was harmed by advances in technology. However, automobile manufacturing created numerous jobs, from the factory worker to the road construction workers.
• Why can't we solve the world problems if we have all the information to do so? There are many lurking variables to this question, but I do believe that the world has the means and knowledge to solve or at least make the an accurate solution to world problems like finding a home for the homeless.
• The amount of bias the author holds is extremely frustrating to me. He makes some valid points, but more often than not his foot ends up in his mouth because he leans so far to one side without approaching potential positives of the other side.

Thursday Mar.12

• I have heard that people become so engrossed by aspects on the internet (besides pornography) that they spend a disproportional amount of there day on the computer. It reminds me of myself, but most my time is not on the internet, but programming. How frustrating!
• The ideal behind temptation being a funnel was pleasantly logical. Once in, it is difficult to get out, but certainly not impossible. Everyone falls in once in a while, the trick is not rebounding. 
• If I knew that creating something as simple as a website could have a drastic detrimental impact, but provide more good than bad, I would proceed. I tend to follow the form of pleasing the majority over the minority. This made me think of my website I'm currently creating,  a lot of good with the potential of a lot of bad. However, it is the users agency, not mine. 
• I also wanted to point out that I liked how blunt the guest speaker was. He made solid points about pornography and did not deny that most people have or had a problem with its enticing lure.  

Current Event Post 3

            When the newest technologies are released to the public, it is met with excitement and curiosity. One does not generally associate new technology as something that could be potentially hazardous or disadvantageous. Such an idea is mocked in big budget Hollywood films such as Terminator or The Matrix. However, the article makes one of the boldest of claims, namely that technology is consuming jobs as stated, "machines automate processes and do the work of 10 people with one computer". A valid point and at first glance a rather frightening perceptive. However, fields in technology are some of the highest in demand and are expecting to see a surge in job openings through 2020. In other words, there is more a demand than there is a supply of people to fulfill the jobs. Yet, one should not dismiss the assumption that more jobs could be available if not for the disadvantage of technology. Perhaps the only solution is for individuals to chase the surplus market of opening positions or for society to advance so far in technology that the machines do everything for the people.It doesn't seem practical to accept the Wall-E scenario of allowing the machines to run everyone's lives, therefore one should learn technology in a manner as one may learn how to walk or write.

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-disadvantages-technology-advances-12579.html

Study Journal 4

Thursday Feb. 19

• How reliable is the information on Wikileaks? The article pointed out that individuals come forward with information, so it is within reason to believe that a fair percentage of what is available is inaccurate. I still feel it serves no better purpose than gossip magazines. 
• Unless national security is threatened, Wikileaks should be able to publicly post what they want. The governments of the world have a lot to hide and it is nice to see a resource that is making them sweat. 
• The idea of the NSA collecting phone calls and email metadata seems like an inordinate amount of wasted time. Unless, it has proven profitable to national security, I feel it was a wasted effort and wasted taxpaying dollars. 
• NSA intrusion in the lives of Americans should be the evidence needed that the government doesn't trust it's civilians, thus why should it's civilians trust the government.

Tuesday Feb. 24

• The fact that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange life is being threatened seems to verify my question from last Thursday. Why would anyone want him dead if the information wasn't a valid hazard to them? Information can be a powerful tool, so much so that people can lose their life over it.  
• Hacktivism is a liberal approach to what should be available to the public via the internet. I don't see anything wrong with posting anything online as long as it doesn't directly impact my friends or myself. Personally I am content with the distraction Youtube provides me, therefore I don't need classified government documents to cloud my mind with conspiracy theories.
• I have noticed that most individuals have expressed aggravation in one way or another directed towards our national government. It is impossible to please everyone, but I would think the aim of the government would be to support the majority in one way or another. I don't think the NSA secretly monitoring our emails is helping to restore trust in the people.

Thursday Feb.26

• I have regularly used an NDA form in discussing potential start-up opportunities. However, in class it was brought up that they are difficult to enforce. Regardless, I'm assuming that an NDA agreement can serve as a potential threat to filing suit against someone if they break the contract. 
• The ethical dilemma of people buying up patents just to sell or lease them should not be tolerated. I believe that this demotivates people who want to create, invent, or start something. It is similar to a pain that I feel when trying to secure a domain name that is for sell for a non-sense price. 
• The debate over exact obedience in my view can in someways be more harmful than good. For instances, many people fall out of character and become robotic when they pursue exact obedience. It also can damage someones self-esteem when they fall short. 

Tuesday Mar. 3

• The image of the FBI agent that was arrested for selling information, really put things into perspective. For some people loyalty and integrity means less than money. Yet, he was caught and it seems that even the wisest criminal eventually ends up behind bars.
•  Economic espionage doesn't benefit anyone except for the individual or company that is responsible for the assault. As an app developer, I have to be cautious of people that may try to ripoff the unique games I create, for their own personal gain.
•  A few decades ago, thief relied on taking a physical object, where today it encompasses the very ideas we have. The redefinition of what a "thief" is, provides more liberty for people to create.What it means to "steal" has evolved and could potentially continue to evolve.  

Post 2

        No one should be entitled to anything, especially when someone else is working relentlessly to provide it for someone else. Ezra Taft Benson's political stance in his talk A Vision and a Hope for the Youth of Zion takes an unpopular stance by comparing socialism to welfare. It is ironic that the national government thinks they are helping deprived citizens when in reality, they are creating a heavier demand of dependent people. While on the other end of the spectrum, citizens who are financially independent are taxed in heavier brackets. In other words, the harder someone works for success financially, the more the government takes. The article stated that government considers it a "right" for citizens to receive welfare rather than it being a privilege. I feel that it should be a "right" of individuals to contribute to an assisted living program such as welfare, rather than a mandatory ploy to assist some individuals that have no work ethic.  Perhaps, I am embittered towards this ideal of government charity because I study and work tirelessly to provide a better future for my family, not someone else's.