Creator's log, (Star)date 3/31-09 - Entry #06

DD has not changed.

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New assignment is to assess a couple resources on technology and privacy. This is posted a bit late, but hopefully valid nonetheless.

1. http://www.hastac.org/node/1960

A good look at the privacy worries that Facebook causes, as well as the privacy settings on Facebook itself. Discusses how such issues may affect life or change people as well as society, and is rather thorough. However, it could have been longer and more thorough, as he notes the change in Facebook's ToS, but chooses not to comment on it (more than just "Facebook is a jerk for doing it, here's a link to a source) and instead ands the article there.

2. http://www.uic.edu/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2378/2089

A very long and very thorough article. However, this article applies nigh exclusively to China, and so it's use for us, in California, is very limited and hard to see. Also, is this article needed its own table of contents, I feel that it could have been made shorter in order for it to be more accessible/friendly for the average person.

3. http://consumerist.com/5150175/facebooks-new-terms-of-service-we-can-do-anything-we-want-with-your-content-forever

This article once again concentrates on facebook as a facet or example of today's privacy issues. This article, however, is different because it focuses on this site's ToS change, instead of privacy for facebook in general. The article, however, is short, to the point, and rather opinionated, so some people may be left wanting a bit more detail, whereas the other too gave a very good amount of detail (possibly too much so in the second article). It will however be a very good source for people who just want to be able to figure out what's happening in a short time.

Creator's log, (Star)date 3/17-09 - Entry #05

Brainstorming Technology:

What is Technology?
Something that is not operated completely manually, usually is electronic in nature, and is made to help achieve things faster than would otherwise be possible.

What represents THIS technology?
A computer, or a car.

Who controls this technology?
The user, through the designed interfaces.

What happens when you lose control of your personal information:
Then everybody knows who you are, and you will no longer need to fill out long tedious forms for medical bills, etc. People are no longer interested in your life, if they were in the first place, and you will suffer depression from acute lack of privacy.

Creator's Log, (Star)date 03/03-09: Entry #04

I'm running out of ways to update creatively.

Today's assignment: a thesis statement and outline about California's new budget cuts.
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Schwarzenegger's budget plan should be getting more support that it currently is. He is indeed cutting a lot of services to save money and a lot of people will be hurt, but it is completely true that people cannot spend money they do not have. There have been people that argue against the cuts saying that we should just raise taxes a little instead of cutting our way out of deficit. However, what Schwarzenegger said is correct, people should not have to suffer high taxes simply because the current system does not work. California needs to save itself and cutting, while it will hurt, is at the very least the morally correct way to do it.

Outline:
I: Intro
A. Thesis statement^
II: P1
A. Cuts and how they will help
i. Different cuts he's planning
ii. How much the cuts will shave off
iii. How they will affect people
III: P2
A. Why we should try to cover our deficit with cuts only and no raised taxes
i. both moral and fiscal reasons.
IV: P3
A. How this will all put us closer to our goal of no deficit and why this is better w/o raised taxes
i. basically combine the above two to give a sense of whole and how this will move.
V: Outro
A. Reiterate everything
i. Make it compact so reader gets accurate summary
B. End with flair