Hello once again! Our class is almost done, with only Persuasive Presentation II remaining. Please remember, as before, to submit your outline via SafeAssign at least 48 hours before your scheduled presentation date.
Let’s jump right into the deep water this week and review the world stage. Moammar Gadhafi is still fighting back against the rebellion, as the regime’s military has been using cluster bombs against civilians in Misrata, the last town held by rebel forces. Civilians lashed out at NATO for failing to protect them from the deadly assault, while NATO, in turn, attacked Gadhafi’s hometown of Sirte. U.S. President Barack Obama argued that the military battle has reached a stalemate which will ultimately end in Gadhafi’s departure, but some analysts speculate that the battle cannot be won without an influx of ground troops to combat a possible al-Qaida role, which would represent a classic case of mission creep. Elsewhere, the Syrian government is coping with its largest wave of protests yet. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad promised on Saturday to lift emergency laws that have stood for 48 years and to make further reforms to rectify corruption in his government, although that promise has done little to placate protesters angered by his mixed messages of reform alongside further violence and control. Yemen’s protests have remained peaceful for the time being, Nigeria held its first peaceful elections in over a decade — although there have been reports of voting irregularities — but the Ivory Coast is investigating its own ministers in blood crimes. Radioactivity is sharply increasing in seawater around the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima, and the parties bidding to conduct the cleanup have projected that it may take anywhere from 10-30 years. There’s enough here that, if you’re interested in these issues and have been keeping up with the events as they’ve unfolded and we’ve discussed them here, you’ll be able to find something to discuss, so I’ll just let you decide on the important questions instead of suggesting them myself.
Apple is facing a class-action lawsuit from a father of two Pennsylvania girls over unauthorized in-app purchases. The lawsuit alleges that the 15-minute window between entering a password and making purchases allows anyone who gets the device within that time period — whether or not they’re the actual owners — to freely purchase whatever they want. In the case of Garen Meguerian, his nine-year-old daughter purchased around $200 in games. Apple has since changed its policy to require a password for in-app purchases, but Meguerian argues that the company has already pocketed millions in unauthorized purchases, that the system was tantamount to “child exploitation,” and that even the new password system is insufficient. What are your thoughts on this, and what are the implications for other online communications? Should other retailers tighten their policies as well? Do you see the problem of electronic identity verification extending to other domains besides sales?
The House passed a $5.8 trillion spending cut on Friday that has immediately divided Republicans and Democrats, as every Democrat voted against the bill. The showdown could have implications on the 2012 Presidential Election, especially since Obama was caught on tape bashing the GOP on the budget issue when he didn’t realize he was being recorded. The Republicans have not been free of criticism, either, as some analysts believe that the proposed changes will generate other budget and policy problems. Where do you stand on the issue? What do you think about the divided political scene and the recording of Obama? How will this bill and the caustic political climate affect our government and nation in the future?
In a stunning move, the FBI shut down the three largest online poker sites, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, on Friday, a “bold move that brings serious question to the law.” All three sites have been charged with bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling. Restraining orders were also issued against over 75 bank accounts used by the sites. There have long been concerns that internet gambling might be considered illegal based on current laws — some have speculated that allowing prominent sites to remain active would prevent difficult-to-track underground rings from surfacing — but “Online Poker’s Black Friday” will certainly test the legislation. It’s also unclear what will happen to players’ money now that the accounts have been frozen. What do you think about the legal action taken here? Do you think that it was appropriate or justified? What are the consequences of shutting down these sites, both for online poker and for other industries?
Finally, recently leaked E-mails appear to reveal that, during last year’s Gulf oil crisis, BP officials tried to control what scientists said about it. At the time, BP announced a $500 million pledge to research the impact of the oil spill, but new reports suggest that both the company and the White House were working to control the dialogue. Do you see any similar influential forces in your work or field? How does this affect the nature of science and its ability to improve society as large? Can scientists effective navigate these tensions to ensure that their work can have its intended impact?
Just as always, feel free to comment on any of the above or below stories, or make a post of your own. I’ll see you in class!
Other articles of interest:
Barry Bonds verdict shames the game
Scenes from what might be the final Sacramento Kings game ever
UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones Saves The Day… Again
Buffalo taxpayers will be paying the Bills to not play football
NFL, players complete second day of mediated negotiations
Why BYU has asked Jimmer Fredette to stop attending classes
Video: Carson Wiggs hits a 67-yard field goal in Purdue’s spring game. Seriously.
Chicago school bans homemade lunches, the latest in national food fight
Another air traffic controller suspended for sleeping
The Most Dangerous Thing You’ll Do All Day
Just how much are those space shuttles worth?
NASA Space Shuttle Contractor Announces Layoffs for 2,800 Workers
Kepler satellite and citizen planet hunters
UFOs in FBI’s Vault
A taxpayer receipt: Calculate exactly where your tax dollars go
Mom on Facebook sentenced in son’s drowning death
Royal wedding watch: Jelly beans, rings and German cars
Techie Toilet Ships in April
Jerry Lawson, Inventor of Modern Game Console, Dies at 70
‘Wii 2’ Codenamed ‘Project Cafe’
Lack of 3DS Sellouts Not Due to Modest Demand
Apple Is Said to Ready White IPhone Following 10-Month Wait
Post office uses Vegas Liberty statue for stamp by accident
World’s oldest man dies in Montana at 114
Drug-resistant staph in meat — and what consumers need to keep in mind
b0bcampbell
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bossmanross
brianbritt
Chris Dix
dareyes
dmack5
ecuevas7
erictheguyjin
jakerjones
jhhong
jiefeili
jkrebsba
jleoni24
jmesker
junbug2005
jvogie
kcvogel
mchuff
mrupley
Rebecca K Britt
tdmcardle
COM 315 Course Blog 
Apr 17, 2011 @ 00:39:41
I think that the lawsuit against Apple for its application password policy is unnecessary because much of the problem lies with the user. Users can be in the same situation if they allow their software to remember their password(s) for them.
I don’t believe that anything will change from the lawsuit because users would prefer convenience over 8+ character, secure passwords. Even though smartphones and tablets are becoming more powerful, I’m not sure how strong their cryptographic policies can go before they show effects on the operation of the rest of the operating system.
Apr 17, 2011 @ 09:48:59
It is interesting to think about the issues regarding the illegal gambling sites. Since online gambling is illegal, I feel the action of the government is not technically wrong though it suddenly froze players’ accounts. I am not sure how many the damaged people from the legal action, including players and investors, already knew that online gambling was illegal, but if they knew, they must expect some legal actions regarding the illegal activities – obviously, the people have intention to get involved in one of illegal activities. However, I believe it could be controversial when it comes to the innocent people (people who didn’t know it was legal at all).
However, in a long term, it is not all bad. Since there were some illegal financial issues regarding the gambling sites, the government should be responsible to do legal actions for security of the players; bank fraud and money laundering actually can affect the players’ security so that it was inevitable to do it, in my point of view..
– Ji Hyeon
Apr 17, 2011 @ 11:08:08
Apple Store is becoming more and more popular. Also, Apple Inc makes so much money from iPhone and iPod. I have used iTouch to purchase program two times. Perosnally, I feel the function “15-minute window between entering a password and making purchases allows anyone who gets the device within that time period” will make things easier for normal use, but if you are the only person use it that time, it’s fine and most people won’t pay attention to it after they purchase program. They just close the Apple Store. So, at this point the Apple should do some actions for the problem like the “changed its policy”. Anyway. Apple is super big company. They need to face all kinds of problems and try their best to solve them.
Other retailers should tighten their policies as well. It’s not that necessary for electronic identity verification extending to other domains besides sales.
Apr 17, 2011 @ 15:25:54
In regards to the issue about radiation, I think that’s a super long time 10-30years! I’ve heard stories already about people in japan asking other japanese people where they are from and when they say fukushima, they get avoided simply because of the radiation. Who knows what will happen with all the radiation in Japan. It seems things are continually getting worse and worse for Japan. Hopefully all of this will be taken care of soon.
Apr 17, 2011 @ 16:58:03
The illegal gambling thing is pretty odd. I actually had an account on poker stars a few years ago, but there was a way to play without actually setting up a money account. I don;t know if that changed or not because I didn’t use it too much. I was just playing to learn poker, but regardless. It’s kind of that “dodged a bullet” feeling for me, because if I had used money on there I’d be in the same hole as those 75 other accounts.
As far as online gambling being illegal, I think it’s a bit ridiculous, considering that some free to play video games use a cash system and with that in game currency it gives you, you can gamble on for items. (Given, you always get an item and don’t directly waste the money, it’s a similar concept.) I mean, as long as there are regulations for the sites such as keeping track of age and the company keeps its hands clean I don’t see the big problem. Even more so because of how everything is making the online transition. But with the advantages come the disadvantages like security and how much you can trust the system and the coding behind it so it’s not rigged.
Of course, I still think regular gambling would have priority over online gambling due to security issues, and the fact you’d have to mix your own drink when you’re gambling online. It just depends on what people are into.
Apr 17, 2011 @ 22:27:11
I wanted to comment on the article regarding the budget cuts and the governments inability to agree or come to any sort of compromise. I don’t believe that it is going to be the failure of a specific proposal or decision, such as the budget cuts, that would damage the country the most. What will actually damage the country, regardless of the issue, is the fact that neither political party can come to any sort of compromise on any given issue. I feel like now, more than ever, we are so divided as nation. The fact of the matter is that 2 very different visions on how to fix our problems exist in our country. Not that one is better than the other, but we simply cannot agree on one common approach. This really scares me because, in my opinion, this situation resembles the civil war with the country divided. I know that may be somewhat of a harsh comparison, but the war between democrats and republicans has been so severe lately, and as a result we can’t agree on anything. How long will this go on? How long can you go back and forth between issues before we realize nothing is getting done and the country suffers? This is the kind of situation that really causes me to avoid politics in general and not even choose sides. I guess I will just focus on my own life, let the dogs go at it, and stay out of the ideals war,
Apr 18, 2011 @ 00:24:46
Speaking of the Gadhafi affair, it was interesting because usually when such warfare begins Chinese government will usually pick a side and say how good/justice are they in media, but this time its kind hard for them because they cannot chose rebellion side since they absolutely dont want people hear anything about revolution, on the other hand Gadhafi’s behavior makes him hard to be a positive role anyway, so it its quite fun to watch their reaction.
Apr 18, 2011 @ 01:41:20
I disagree with freezing all the bank accounts for online poker and classifying it as illegal. If people would like to gamble with their money, then let them. I could see how people that don’t have the opportunity to go to a casino everyday like some others but have the addiction to gamble, would take advantage of this sort of opportunity. I know of someone that actually pays his tuition at Purdue by gambling online. It could be considered to be a dependent income for some people. They thrive on it and I think it is wrong to take it away from them. I don’t personally gamble online, but I don’t think that it should be prohibited and shut down. I think the laws should be altered and changed to coincide with the differences and advances in today’s culture and technology. The world is changing, the laws should too.
Apr 18, 2011 @ 12:15:13
I am a little disgruntled about the school in Colorado banning homemade lunches. Their reasons, from my P.O.V. are not completely legitimate. They want to make kids eat a healthier, more wholesome lunch, and from my own personal research into nutrition compared to the nutrition of the meals that are prepared by most schools, there is no way that all kids get a “healthier” meal as prepared by the school. Sure, some kids probably bring junk from home but I can’t see almost every student bringing in a Coke, 2 Twinkies, a bologna sandwich.
I would be interested to know the facts that they are basing this ban on, whether it be an overly-obese student population or what. Unless this school is on the cutting edge of dietetics and food nutrition, which I’m almost sure they aren’t, they have no basis for this banning. I could see a restriction on what kids bring in their meals, and have the lunch room attendants enforce those restrictions, but banning any child’s lunch except for those with food allergies just feels wrong. It was stated in the article that a family was opposed to the restriction because they can create a lunch for their son at a much lower cost than $2.25 with approximately the same nutritional value. This highlights a much more logical reason for the school officials to be enforcing this ban; and it all boils down to dollars and cents. Which, in my opinion, is completely irresponsible.
-My rant is over.
Apr 18, 2011 @ 14:01:12
Excuse me, Chicago, not Colorado.
Apr 18, 2011 @ 18:40:03
In regards to the Apple lawsuit, This seems pretty outrageous. Apple should not be held liable for a customers lack of ability to monitor their phone. A customer should always beware of who is using their cell phone, regardless of security on the phone itself. The folks who are suing Apple, might as well sue nearly every online shopping business who utilizes log in cookies. For example, if I log into Amazon, all I need to do is click one button to order a product. This is far less secure, albeit convenient, way of buying goods. Nevertheless, Amazon allows this with the understanding that a customer needs to be aware of their logged in status. I truly hope that this case falls flat on its face because their will be some terrible presidents set if the plaintiff wins.
Apr 20, 2011 @ 23:11:39
I agree with jakerjones. There is really no reason why anyone should leave their handheld device lying around after logging into their account that has stored credit card information. The full blame for this kind of incident falls on the user, not Apple
Apr 21, 2011 @ 11:13:34
It’s always entertaining to read what people are thinking about these issues as the week progresses. I’ll just briefly respond for now….
It looks like a lot of people were shocked by the Apple lawsuit — just as I’m sure Apple executives were, themselves. Password-retaining features are fairly commonplace nowadays, as Chris noted. Cookies make that easy enough, and almost any site allows you to engage in some activity before automatically logging you out again. Jun makes a good point, too, that simply closing the application after using it would (I believe) be enough to keep your child from just grabbing your logged-in phone and going on a shopping spree. It’s a little odd, as Jacob and James noted, that the customers’ lack of responsibility is being held against Apple. Then again, personal responsibility has declined quite a bit in recent years. When you can (successfully!) sue McDonald’s for spilling coffee on yourself, you can sue anyone for pretty much anything.
Ji Hyeon, that’s a good point. Online gambling is illegal based on the legislation, so the government isn’t just wildly overstepping its bounds here. Legally, you can’t make a profit on “criminal” activity, no matter how minor some may argue the infraction is, so that would probably explain the account freezing. On the other hand, it certainly must be rough for people who had accounts and figured that the law would never be enforced, rather like other wild U.S. laws that may have been on the books for decades but are never actually taken seriously. I’m sure quite a few people, as Justin indicated, think this action is a little over-the-top given the widespread legalization of gambling across the country and the growing use of the internet for businesses in general. As Tommy said, the prevailing wisdom that has come along with (real-world) gambling’s legalization is that people can do what they want with their own cash, so this step is certainly interesting, to say the least.
Eric, that’s an incredibly long time, you’re right! It makes some sense, though, given the continued question of Chernobyl. The Fukushima incident might just be the next failed reactor that makes the public at large terrified of nuclear power. It begs the question, though, of whether that perception is wholly warranted. What’s the downside of rejecting this form of energy production? Either way, one has to be concerned for those still at risk in Japan right now. Let’s hope something can be done to short-circuit this tragedy.
I think you’re right about the bipolarity of the government, Manny. It seems like the last few presidents in a row have used bipartisanship and re-unifying Congress as a campaign platform, but the result has been roughly the same each time. (Just look at the budget crisis which extended for months, with emergency bills getting closer and closer to the deadline each week!) One has to wonder how effective a starkly divided government that’s practically at war with itself could ever be.
Jiefei, I hadn’t thought about that side of the issue! I’ll have to start looking into some of the Chinese media to see what sorts of things they’re saying, because you’re right, that is an awkward position. For a government that can’t support human rights violations but which also doesn’t like the idea of revolution, there’s no right answer.
I’m glad someone mentioned the homemade lunch issue, Kyle. That story really threw me for a loop when I read it. It’s little wonder, when you see stories like that, that some people are so scared of the government ekeing out more and more control over our daily lives. I could see it as a little more legitimate if this was a private school — enrollment is voluntary, the lunches would already be paid for by the tuition, and parents who are paying for private school education might be more economically able to regularly take their children out to lunch — but doing this in a public school gives parents no real choice in the matter. (On a side note, granting case-by-case exceptions based on food allergies also concerns me, if only because I’ve personally witnessed schools consistently fail to abide by their own agreed-upon exceptions, but that’s another story for another time.) This seems like it may be little more than a money drain, Kyle, or for the conspiracy theorists, a ploy to increase control over our private lives. Neither of those options sounds particularly altruistic to me.
Keep those thoughts coming!
Apr 21, 2011 @ 15:44:18
In response to the Jimmer Fredette article, I think it’s kind of humorous. For one thing this is the first time I have seen an article like this. The question I have is why hasn’t this happened before? With athletes like John Wall and Blake Griffin, I imagine that they got the same attention at school. I think it’s weird how all of these students at BYU are reacting, and I also feel sorry for Jimmer for having to stay inside most of the time at college. It would be terrible to have to stay inside during the day everyday of the week. I would imagine that he gets the same publicity if he goes out to lunch or to the library. I think that BYU students need to grow up and realize that he probably wont even be that good in the NBA, considering he can’t play defense.
Apr 21, 2011 @ 15:54:00
I agree with Jared. This is bogus. He’s just a kid just like everyone else. I have many friends on the basketball team, and they do everything just like us. they play video games, go to parties, and often dont like to be treated any different than a normal kid in college should. I think its unfair to Jimmer. I think this is a way for BYU to get as much national attention that they can before he leaves, because in a year, they will go back to a school that nobody talks about. They are squeezing every last thing they can get out of him, even though he has no basketball eligibility left. JaJuan Johnson is predicted to be better than Jimmer at the professional level, and there’s nothing wrong at all with him going to class every day like us.
Apr 22, 2011 @ 00:22:50
I dont know if i can say that Barry Bonds got what he deserved for doing steroids but i can say he got what he deserved for wasting my and many other people’s time taking up time on sportscenter. If he could have just been honest and told the truth from the start then we wouldnt be talking about this today. The only reason we still talk about it is because he wont tell the “truth” and I dont get why. To me, once your name comes up about using steroids in any sport, then your reputation is already hurt. Its one of those things where people grow up watching you, cheering you on, idolizing you, just to find out that the performances may or may not have been due to the use of drugs. To me the only reason the MLB makes a big issue about the use of steroids and other drugs is because baseball is no longer “America’s Pastime” and they are doing anything to keep people interested. To me lately I have found myself turned off to baseball because it feels like you cant watch a game without the talk of steroids coming up. Thats why I dont feel sorry for those players convicted/accused and also why I dont follow baseball like I use to in the past. GO NFL!!!!
Apr 22, 2011 @ 22:08:54
In regards to a Chicago school banning homemade lunches, I think it’s just silly. Who are they to say what someone should eat for lunch? This goes along with a few years back when several states, specifically new york if I remember correctly, banned trans fats. If I want to eat a delicious meal of greasy french fries and hostess cupcakes then I’m damn well going to. I know the risks. I know trans fats are terrible for you. I don’t need a government agency to tell me what I can or can’t eat. It’s frightening that our government leaders find us so incompetent that they feel it necessary to tell us what to eat. Collect my taxes and protect my freedoms but stay away from my diet.
Apr 23, 2011 @ 11:27:15
Can’t say that I’m surprised about the BP cover up and influencing scientists. BP was getting land blasted by the online community for poorly photoshopped pictures, trying to make it look like they were doing more than they actually were. I think it’s disgusting how we let them get away with it.
http://gizmodo.com/#!5592836/bp-photoshops-another-official-image-again-terribly
As for grievances like this in my planned field of work, I can’t see a disaster being created by the company itself most likely. As far as scientists go, there are plenty of honest, objective scientists out there, it just takes some searching to find them.
Sad how easily people are swayed with a little coin. But who am I to judge. I might rationalize funding my research that could help save millions if I lie about the magnitude of a disaster that can’t be stopped by my testimony.
Apr 23, 2011 @ 14:28:53
Whatever happened to honest people? Where did all of the hard workers go? Why has it come down to messing your body up only for people to think you’re great?
People throughout history have proven that you can be great and do great things just by being yourself. Anne Frank didn’t take couragoids (steroids for courage). Neil Armstrong didn’t take spacoids. And Jackie Robinson, most certainly, didn’t take steroids.
People have also proven that you can pretend to be someone else (Person B) and try to do great things as Person B, yet fail once people realize Person B is really Person A (yourself). Jose Canseco admitted to using steroids. Jason Giambi admitted to using steroids. Mark McGwire, A-Rod, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds. Even if they didn’t get convicted or admit that they used steroids, they still got mixed up with it enough to have their names attached to it.
That’s why I like Cal Ripken Jr. There’s a class-act. He broke an unbelievable record based on his character. You can’t play 2,632 games in a row by juicing yourself up. There’s no drug for that; just hard work and discipline.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 19:55:44
I’m responding to the Apple lawsuit. I think its dumb. I just got an iPhone and I HATE having to type in my password all the time. iPhone’s are known for their apps. Having to type in a password (sometimes the user login ID as well) for every app you get is really annoying. I do understand the potential dangers of the 15 minute thing iPhones have. There’s only so much Apple can do. I think people have to be extremely cautious of where they place their phones or monitor the individuals who are playing with them. If that’s not possible, log out immediately after downloading an app. I don’t think other retail companies have to tighten their security systems on products because it can become too strict. I think iPhone’s or any phone that has an app market or any system that is instantly connected to a persons credit or debit card should use biometrics. For instance, an iPhone should have a fingerprint scanner that recognizes a persons fingerprint. It should allow that person to instantly log in and buy an app and then instantly log out after the app has been purchased. If tons of people are complaining about this issue, I can definitely see this extending to other domains other than sales. If stolen identities were the issue than it would make sense for many companies to be more strict on their security. Since this doesn’t not seem to be the issue, Apple should not change too much of how their security system is designed. I think they should have a manadatory survey that Apple users must participate in.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 22:17:01
I read the article about the school banning home made lunches, I am really surprised that schools think that they know better than the parents. From my experience school lunches aren’t made from the highest quality food, and if parents don’t want their children to have that they no longer have any choice. This is just the latest place that government has tried to overstep their limits and try to manage our personal lives. I also read an article where some schools are banning tag and any contact sport. I really have a problem with this, let kids be kids. Get hurt, excluded and even lose at something. Its a good thing to learn that everyone can’t win all the time.