A visit with Brian Forth

A visit from Brian Forth.



It was interesting to hear from someone who is on the cutting edge of information dissemination and collection.  It was encouraging from a business perspective to see that as a teacher trying to instruct his students on using HTML to construct webpages, he was able to turn his knowledge into a viable business.  His business model requires him to always be thinking about the next step he needs to take in order to keep current with the technology that is being invented and be able to apply it successfully.  He must always be considering new applications that can benefit his customer base and his business.  I believe he made some very good points about ethical decision making.  His products are used by his customers to collect information from their customers and there has to be a point where the line between the ethical use of the information collected and the potential abuse of the information collected doesn’t get crossed.  The fact that information technology has progressed far ahead of the legal systems that protect the end user is distressing.  The “virtual” rights of the public can be easily abused by someone who knows how to use the newest technology to their advantage.  I believe that many bad things can and have been done to people and as of yet there is no legal recourse to protect them from the potential forms of online predation that have yet to be regulated.  Another unfortunate aspect of personal data collection is that most consumers do not realize the depth and use of the information that they freely share online and they are not informed enough to make good decisions about who uses their information.

EPIC 2015 review

EPIC 2015: a short film about the potential information sharing capabilities that can dominate our personal lives.



EPIC 2015 shows us where the future of information sharing can go if we don’t take measures to control the data that companies can collect and share about us.  It also depicts how our society will transition from print media to electronic media.  Newspapers will cease to exist and books will become files to be read or listened to.  Probably a good thing for the environment since we won’t need to cut down as many trees to make paper products for any type of literature.  It is, however, a potential disaster for humankind if we allow personal information collection sharing to go unchecked.  We will lose any privacy that we had and we will no longer be able to trust the information that we are shown because it hasn’t been verified by any reputable source.  Even today, ‘Fake News’ has become a problem, as has been shown by Facebook’s policy of allowing political rivals post any media information they wish without ensuring the truth behind the advertisements or information they post.   This shows the need for regulation, otherwise we can and will be easily duped into believing whatever is put out for public consumption.  Verification of sources of information is essential to our survival because decisions made from intentionally distorted information can result in life or death situations.  We must ensure that the legal systems we have in place to protect us are current and reflect the nature of our rapidly advancing technology.  If we don’t, then we place ourselves in peril of victimization by any tech savvy person who understands how to effectively manipulate the information we receive to their own ends.

My scavenger hunt experience

This is about our class scavenger hunt experience:

What surprised me? 

What is the greatest advantage of being able to find this much information so quickly? 

What is the greatest danger?

My greatest dilemma on the scavenger hunt was that I had not used Google Docs before and had no idea how to share information efficiently with my scavenger partners.  I think I slowed them down because I had to ask questions and be shown how to use the system.  They should get some extra points for expanding my knowledge base.  As to information accessibility, I was not surprised at all.  I was an investigator for the Department of State and did background checks for security clearances for the military and diplomats.  I used other official formats to gather information since information gathered from secondhand sources, like the ones we accessed, are not reliable.  I am also familiar with internet criminal activities-phishing, hacking etc. and I realize, as some people don’t, that anytime you access the internet, fill out a webpage with your information, or use social media, you are leaving an information trail that can be followed and you are allowing corporate/business entities to gather personal information on you as well as what your personal choices are with regard to products or services.  The next time you buy something on the internet pay attention to the pop-up advertisements and you will see that they are targeting products you have purchased.  If you willingly use a service such as Amazon and accept their terms, you have given them the right to monitor and share information about you.  Read the privacy notice that you must accept to get the service.  You will be amazed at what they are able to collect, use, and share about you with other services.  Social media is even worse because you are sharing personal information about yourself with anyone able to access the service, not just your circle of friends.  


The ability to share information freely is a great boon for mankind because the sharing of knowledge freely can help make our lives easier.  Knowledge that is shared can save lives.  How would we know what is going on in the world without having access to the news media?  Or survive a potential weather disaster without the Weather Channel?  Information freely shared is important but we must realize that, like all things, it can be abused by unscrupulous people.  Identity theft happens.  Your personal information can be collected and sold on the dark web.  Keep that in mind the next time you use the internet.

Create a simple Webpage with HTML

The HTML formatting was interesting to interact with as it seemed to be very basic and as long as you followed the rules you could format some very simple concepts on the webpage that you created in a somewhat short space of time.  The more difficult the concept, the harder the project began to be as you had to be very specific about the results that you wanted.  One of the most difficult things was to find images that you could use for free and then link them to the webpage.  I had to go to an HTML tutorial website that showed me the way the language could be used successfully the first time.  It was a lot of trial and error.  I used the website HTML.am to copy example codes and then execute them and see how it would be displayed on the webpage I was creating.  This allowed me to play with established codes that worked and then try to make them do what I wanted them to do.  I spent a lot of time trying to find things that worked and that I could use to convey what I wanted.  It took a considerable amount of time just to get things working in a manner that was not totally dysfunctional and had a somewhat coherent presentation on the webpage.  It required the naming of multiple text files as each iteration grew upon itself and then saving them as an HTML file separately.  This made it easier than to have to start over each time I made a major mistake.  I am sure that with experience you could program with less lines of input and achieve more.  I couldn't figure out how to attach this as an .html file so:


The final code: Copy and save as a .TXT file and then rename as a .HTML file and execute.

<html>

<head>

<title>Beer can make a perfect world better!</title>

</head>

<div style="background-color:pink;width:1000px;height:50px;"</div>

<body>

<h1>Beer can make a perfect world better!</h1>

                 

<p style="color:#000099;">So drink more beer!</p>



<b>In order to have a more perfect world let's all sing together!</b></body>

<br>

<br>

<div style="background-color:yellow;width:1000px;height:400px;"</div>



<br>

<br>

<marquee behavior="alternate">99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall!</marquee>

<br>

<br>

<marquee behavior="scroll" direction="left">98 bottles of beer on the wall, 98 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 97 bottles of beer on the wall!</marquee>

<br>

<br>

<marquee behavior="alternate">97 bottles of beer on the wall, 97 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 96 bottles of beer on the wall!</marquee>

<br>

<br>

<marquee behavior="scroll" direction="right">96 bottles of beer on the wall, 96 bottles of beer! Take one down, pass it around, 95 bottles of beer on the wall!</marquee>

<br>

<br>

<marquee behavior="scroll" direction="down">One more time!</marquee>

<br>

<br>

<div style="background-color:green;width:500px;height:50px;"</div>

<br>

<body><i><b>Check out my Beer Wall!</b></i></body>

<br>

<img src="https://i.pinimg.com/736x/2c/f8/6e/2cf86e1c60a7ac4b8a7842805a89b1b3--corporate-design-corporate-branding.jpg



" alt="The beer on my wall!" style="max-width:100%;">

</html>

Email vs Regular mail

What are the differences between email and regular mail?


     I think the most significant difference between email and regular mail is time.  An email is an almost instantaneous method to communicate with someone.  The only real delay is that the receiving person must access his email service in order to read his email.  Any response to the email follows in the same vein.  Conventional mail services require the physical pickup and delivery of the mail and are time dependent on the type of service used and the distance between the sender and receiver.  Both mail services have associated costs.  An email program is something that must be purchased for personal use, usually bundled in the software used to access the internet, and then a fee must be paid for internet access.  Regular mail has the costs of the writing instrument, the paper written upon, the envelope, and the required postage for delivery.  Addressing for an email must be specific and with no error or the email will not be able to be delivered.  Regular mail is more forgiving as an error in the address can sometimes be corrected by the delivery service if an obvious mistake has been made.



What were some of the barriers to people adopting email?


     The biggest barrier to adopting email was that a person had to purchase a computer, understand how to connect it to the internet and then successfully utilize the required programs to send the email.  As soon as a person learned the process, they realized email could be used as an efficient tool for communication.  Another barrier to email was the lack of understanding of the potential that there was in its use.  Once people realized what a timesaving process using email was, it became a common method for communication.

What do I want out of this class?

I would like to be aware of the current platforms and programs that exist, fully understand the perils of using the internet, learn the best ways to keep my personal information out of the hands of ill intentioned people and circumvent them.