The Security Of Private Information Is Becoming Suspect...

In 2013 Edward Snowden shocked the entire world by releasing documents from the NSA that exposed the illegal practice of collecting data both on American citizens and American allies without consent. Snowden’s act led him to become a fugitive hiding under Russian asylum and the rest of the world to worry about their privacy and security in an increasingly technological world. Snowden was just a symptom of the rising lawless international arena that exists in cyberspace. While technically the entire international system lacks policing, cyberspace has the unique feature of connecting every country at the click of a button, bringing citizens and industries in direct contact with each other outside of international guidelines. With an†¦show more content†¦Before explaining how to establish international cyber security and peace, it is essential to understand why cyberspace presents such a threat to national security. Adam Segal asserts that the most prominent issue of cyb erspace is the anarchy in which it exists (Cite). According to Segal, the past 60 years of international relations, known as the â€Å"nuclear age†, have been governed by a very clear set of rules, predominantly arms control and international institutions that do not apply to cyberspace. The result of an unregulated cyberspace is the emergence of cybercrime that cost over a trillion dollars a year and the stealing of private information by individuals and governments (Cybersecurity: A Global Issue). In 2015 the Washington Office of Personnel Management was the victim of a cyber attack traced back to the Chinese government that exposed the records, addresses, and personal details of over 14 million US government employees (Bremmer). Later in 2015, even following an agreement between the US and China to attempt to limit cyber security breaches between their nations US technological group Crowdstrike reported that several US pharmaceuticals were targeted by multiple Chinese indu stries (Kharpal). ISIS also has breached US security by tapping government twitter and Facebook feeds to announce an ISIS Caliphate determined to target American soldiers and domestic security (Lohrmann). ISIS has been able to find private information on the lives of countless US soldiers

The Zen of Listening Free Essays

Douglas, Susan. (2004). The Zen of Listening, in Listening in  : Radio and the American Imagination (22-39). We will write a custom essay sample on The Zen of Listening or any similar topic only for you Order Now Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. Abstract Radio is examined here as a shaper of generational identities, as a uniting force for the creation of’ †imagined communities† or nations, and as a nostalgic device with associational links in our past. In addition, it is portrayed as a powerful aural gadget that stimulates us cognitively not only through our imagination; our creation of images or ideas based on listening, but also through music, which engages us emotionally. Further discussed is a comprehensive history of radio in America and its contrasting relationship with newspapers and literacy, and television and its visual component. This contrast, and the existence of the radio and the ways we listen have important temporally bound characteristics that are important in understanding times, the medium itself and our relationship with it as it becomes engrained or interwoven into our everyday lives. The text examines the social implications and reasons for being of radio and refers to various scholars who have examined the form and its effects of this revolutionary device which unites listeners through simultaneity of listening and the physical responses listening engenders. Through the physiological, social, cultural, and technological spheres of this medium, it is obvious that it is much more complex than commonly believed, and the text brings to light the ramifications of its introduction into a literary, visual culture, creating a hybrid America  : a conservative, literate society entwined with a traditional, preliterate. ral culture. Word Count  : 230 Keywords  : nostalgia, radio, imagined community, modes of listening, music, ritual Response †With radio, the interior †I† began oscillating with the voices of those never met, never even seen (31). † The permeating qualities of the †voices of radio† in the minds of listeners is an iss ue, in my opinion, that clearly implicates radio as a persuasion tool, which is an element of the medium that appears to be neglected in the text. This neglect to fully examine the implications of the medium and the various elements that are quintessential to the formation of a complete and comprehensive understanding of the workings and complexities of radio presents a rudimentary portrait of the form which should definately be corrected. I argue that Susan Douglas presents an incomplete account of the rise of radio in her idealization of the medium and that, like the listener who is †inclined to remember [radio] at its best†, she fails to examine the intention of radio messages and focuses more on the experience of listening to the radio (Douglas, 2004, p. 5). Firstly, with a basis on the above sentence, she idealizes the form and effects of radio by overlooking or barely touching on the idea of the commercial hand that plays a rather large role in the medium, and affects the intentions and motives of the speakers and the content they disclose. Furthermore, the pervasiveness of these voices is cause for concern fo r listeners as they are prey to subtle influence from these †familiar voices† who infiltrate themselves into the very thoughts of individuals. Susan Douglas’ article addresses many ideas that revolve around radio, but does not seem to pay much attention to the commercialization of the medium despite her mentionning that †by the 1930’s, with the highly commercialized network system in place, a great majority of these voices—which sought to sound familiar, intimate, and even folksy—represented a centralized consumer-culture (Douglas, 2004, p. 31). ‘ Beyond the idealized concept of the †imagined community† and the positive unity it creates among the listeners, the commercial hand in the medium of radio implies a certain intention in the scale of the medium; one that seeks numbers. Douglas does mention that in an effort to maximize profits, the network and advertisers aimed for the largest possible audience, promoting the medium of radio as a †nation-building technology (Douglas, 2004, p. 24). ‘ This emphasis, however, on the maximization of profits casts doubt on the integrity and the intention of radio. The oscillating voices of †those never met, never even seen† which interact with the inner voice of the listener are tainted by an underlying struggle between social consolidation and betterment, and commercialism. This leads to the need to examine content and intention in radio, and to the need for a critical assessment of this revolutionary device. Secondly, these voices which penetrated our minds, spoken by unknown radio personalities, did more than allow us to free our imagination. In effect, these voices which now interacted with the inner voice of the individual could become subtle influences of our ideas, and beliefs without our even knowing. This danger, which I greatly believe is applicable in this mass medium, especially when taking into consideration the novelty of the device in the 1930’s, could leave listeners unguarded against potential manipulation or influence. The idea that the voices of the radio speakers have a certain familiar or intimate quality illustrates this desire to identify with the listener, which leaves that latter to fend for himself in the identification of the veracity of messages, and in the intention of the speaker who is trained to please an audience. The various personalities that would speak to the nation through radio—the †politically powerful and the rich, [†¦ ministers, educators, [†¦] comedians, singers and actors†Ã¢â‚¬â€could have various intentions in their speeches; they could seek to sway auditors to favor certain ideologies, to act in certain ways, or could misdirect or misinform listeners (Douglas, 2004, p31). Furthermore, the ability for radio to adjust to various circumstances of listening makes it even more alarming as it becomes the background music of our daily lives, making these voices that much more likely to become a part of our interior dialogue (Douglas, 2004). In conclusion, as mass media of various sorts—newspapers, television and radio—become national, and all-encompassing, the need for critical analysis of every aspect of each medium becomes necessary to understand the limitations of each, and their intentions. Since there are many underlying motives to every medium, especially commercial or political ones, and since mass media have developed into such huge social entities with powerful nfluence, it is important to think by ourselves, without the implication of unknown others in our reasoning; to question why we believe certain things, and how we came to so as to remain individuals in the mass, and to be able to ward off unwanted influences which may find their way into our subconscious. Word Count  : 782 How to cite The Zen of Listening, Essay examples

Introduction to Computing Re engineering

Question: Describe why Actor Network Theory is a relevant theory for studying computing. Name and categorise the actants in your stories. Describe how they are acting upon other actants in the assemblage. Include the connection between the hardware and software actants, as well as other categories of actants. Discuss how the actions of the software actants can enhance management functions within the computing news stories. How can you link your analysis to some of the larger issues/questions raised due to the constant use of computing within modern society. Discuss some of advantages/disadvantages of contemporary computing. To achieve this, compare and contrast the viewpoints of a range of theorists and critics explored throughout the module. Conclude by summarising how your answers relate to the statement Within modern computing, every actant acts on or is acted upon by at least one other actant, in order to fulfil the aims of the assemblage. Answer: Introduction The computing technologies have drastically evolved with passing time to innovate new ideas and new methods that utilize the power of scientific data and processing techniques. The rapid advancement of information technology brings about new concepts and elements onto the field that collectively participate in forming an assemblage of computing. These technologies consist of several aspects of science and communication study. It is important to perform an effective evaluation of the system assemblage essentially involves identifying the human and non-human actors that interact with each other by playing individual roles; and ultimately form a network of information systems (Willcocks 2013). For this purpose, the paper analyzes two modern computing stories based on actor network theory to unveil the major aspects of fulfilling the technical objectives of the assemblage by establishing proper interactions among the actants. Actor Network Theory Actor network theory or ANT provides a conceptual framework that guides the socio-technical processes involved in different technological systems. The main components of actor network theory are actor and network. The core of ANT describes interrelationships among the various actors in scientific networks. It is closely relevant to the present study of identifying the participation of actors in modern computing assemblage (Sayes 2014). It is mainly because ANT helps understand the technical innovation processes and scientific knowledge creation. The actors (both human and non-human) act on the network, more specifically, between sociology and technology sciences. Computing story 1: Xiaomi's $45 billion formula for success Xiaomis Mi Pad specifications (pink / green/ blue/ white) entirely resembles with iPad Mini 4s specifications, including display of 7.9 inches, resolution of 2,048 x 1,536, and per inches 326 pixels (Wired UK 2016). In this regard, the CEO and co-founder of Xiaomi, Mr. Lei Jun, have stated that the design of Mi Pad has been greatly influenced by Apples iPhone (Farias and Bender 2012). For this purpose, Xiaomi approached Apple manufacturers and as a result, Mi Pad happened from the inspiration. However, the real story lies in the pricing strategy adopted by Xiaomi that made them worlds most valuable technology start up business (Qiu 2013). It enabled them to not only run successful smart phone business, but also initiated a potential fan base out of its existing as well as new customers. These fans participate in co-designing, facilitating transfer of market demand risk. The strategy enabled Xiaomi to enter into Indian, Indonesian markets and many more. It soon became Chinas biggest smart phone company, selling 7.2 million phones in 2012, 18.7 million in 2013, 61 million in 2014, and finally over 70 million in 2015 (Shih, Lin and Luarn 2014). From the ANT viewpoint, the actants directly involved in the scientific and socio-technical network work together to establish an assemblage that develops a connected life style with a new era of technological innovation. The actor network theory considers the customers as significant human actants in the network of smart phone business. The product it develops and sells can solely determine the fate of the business (Lajoie and Derry 2013). It essentially necessitates the adoption of internet thinking. According to Barra, China has tremendous potential and capability to reach the leading position in consumer electronics in both innovation as well as execution. The socio-technical aspects on the concerned network involve focus, entrepreneurship and scale. ANT analysis reveals Xiaomis mission and the evolution applied on strategies for making Chinese products. In relation to this context, the story seeks to identify the relationships between Xiaomis customer existence and the influence of social elements in the technical objectives of the business (Rainer et al. 2013). Furthermore, it has been identified that the network significantly relies upon and functions depending on the valuable feedbacks from customers, friends, and users; that are considered as the non-human actants indirectly acting upon the assemblage. Computing story 2: The app AutoGo is fixing China's mess of petrol stations The innovative idea of Guang Xiao facilitates a significant boost to the petrol station business in China by means of using an app called AutoGo that transforms the independent petrol stations into a single integrated business brand (Farias and Bender 2012). The AutoGo app is targeted to establish a networking system bringing together all the petrol and fuel stations that presently operate in the market, including Sinopec and PetroChina (Wired UK 2016). This particular app of AutoGos have been able to capture a million users within five months after it launched in 2015 April. Therefore, through this app, an integrated network can be enabled where the petrol stations signs up for free to learn about methods and strategies to enhance their level of service. Apart from that, the app also facilitates the customers by providing them a platform to make online payments for fuel purchase (Fenwick and Edwards 2012). In addition, many other benefits and services can be presented brought to consumers the single platform facilitated by the AutoGo. Some of these features and facilities include easily and efficiently targeting the loyalty discounts, presenting retail offerings through the app online. This particular process brings about significant changes in the mindset of society. It requires analyzing the social-technical aspects from the ANT point of view in order to develop the loyalty programs for doing the marketing at scale (Wired UK 2016). The primary goal or strategy formulated by AutoGo essentially involves building loyalty with the consumers and expanding the retail offering. The independent petrol and fuel station owners in China can now implement easy payment mechanism, loyalty payments, retailing and other relevant services (Davenport 2013). In this context, Xiao shared that he has significant inspiration from the US Company Fleetcor that provides fleet management services. It includes features such as signing up facilities for the gas station owners, loyalty discount offers to fleets and many more. In relation to this context, Xiao utilized the fragmented nature of the petrol station business to apply the asset-light model to integrate the common services in a sin gle brand. The application of ANT in this regard facilitates a contrast as well as interrelationship among the human and non-human actants based on the scientific advancements (Golub and Ortega 2014). Hence, the petrol station owners as well as the customers who pay for fuel online are the human actors who are acted upon by the non-human or technical actants i.e. the AutoGo app. Enhancement of management in the stories The co-founder and CEO took and utilized the positive aspects of Apples manufacturers. However, the he believed to view Xiaomi that brings about innovation and evolution in technological strategies as well as technical objectives rather than establishing itself as a facilitator of quality services (Hooper 2012). The high quality of the companys products e.g. Mi Pad solely and purposefully intends to develop a connected life style in the era of information technology advancements. The effective management of Xiaomi enabled them to become the third largest electronic commerce website (mi.com) all across China. Issues raised in the stories The fundamental strategy that it incorporated relies on the saying less is more. It is relatable with Xiaomis business method of developing a limited number of smart phone products that on the other hand, includes more number of services, facilities features and characteristics. A specific mission also adequately drives the consumers of Mi Pad (Tran et al. 2013). Maofang Road in north Beijing Haidian district there is a Xiaomi showroom that consists of Mi pads, Mi phones, Mi television smart display screens and Mi cloud remote storage. The administrative functions of Xiaomi are targeted to achieve constant improvement. On the other hand, the difference in the scenario for China significantly involves the sudden impact of mobile. The increasing use of mobile phones and smart phones essentially helps the process of making AutoGos app for petrol and fuel stations a huge success (Wired UK 2016). The comparison of actors and network in the story naturally clears the picture of the accurate relationships in its power to influence the society and its interaction with the technical aspects within the identified network (Feng et al. 2013). The human and non-human entities interacting within the network are properly functioning; this is investigated with the help of actor network theory. Conclusion The two stories have been explored from the perspective of actor network theory. A thorough analysis performed on the computing stories using the perspectives of actor network theory helps accurately identifying the actants (human and non-human) and the way the participate in the interactions within the concerned network. It effectively helps realize the importance of an integrated approach that is required to be followed by the associated actors in order to activate the assemblage and enable the operations. The smart innovation and technical developments of modern computing entities have been taken into consideration for evaluating and analyzing the role of actants in an information technology network. The network of technologies identified within the digital world of information and communication technology (ICT) radically transforms societys relationship to technology and the associated human and non-human actors. The study of social science deeply incorporates the identification of technical as well as non-technical components, human associations with the fundamental base. References Davenport, T.H., 2013.Process innovation: reengineering work through information technology. Harvard Business Press. Farias, I. and Bender, T. eds., 2012.Urban assemblages: How actor-network theory changes urban studies. Routledge. Feng, D., Siu, W.C. and Zhang, H.J. eds., 2013.Multimedia information retrieval and management: Technological fundamentals and applications. Springer Science Business Media. Fenwick, T. and Edwards, R., 2012.Researching education through actor-network theory. John Wiley Sons. Golub, G.H. and Ortega, J.M., 2014.Scientific computing: an introduction with parallel computing. Elsevier. Hooper, L., 2012. Actor Network Theory. Lajoie, S.P. and Derry, S.J. eds., 2013.Computers as cognitive tools. Routledge. Qiu, G., 2013. China Emerges as a Smartphone Power.SERI Quarterly,6(4), p.16. Rainer, R.K., Cegielski, C.G., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I. and Sanchez-Rodriguez, C., 2013.Introduction to information systems: Supporting and transforming business. John Wiley Sons. Sayes, E., 2014. ActorNetwork Theory and methodology: Just what does it mean to say that nonhumans have agency?.Social Studies of Science,44(1), pp.134-149. Shih, C.C., Lin, T.M. and Luarn, P., 2014. Fan-centric social media: The Xiaomi phenomenon in China.Business Horizons,57(3), pp.349-358. Tran, S.T., Le Ngoc Thanh, N.Q.B. and Phuong, D.B., 2013. Introduction to information technology. InProc. of the 9th inter. CDIO conf.(CDIO). Willcocks, L., 2013.Information management: the evaluation of information systems investments. Springer. Wired UK. 2016.AutoGo is connecting China's independent petrol stations (Wired UK). [online] Available at: https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2016/04/features/autogo-china-petrol-station-brands-guang-xiao [Accessed 19 Mar. 2016]. Wired UK. 2016.Xiaomi's $45bn formula for success (and no, it's not 'copy Apple') (Wired UK). [online] Available at: https://www.wired.co.uk/magazine/archive/2016/04/features/xiaomi-lei-jun-internet-thinking [Accessed 19 Mar. 2016].