Well, we’re reaching the end of the semester. I’ll be sorry to see you go when class ends for the last time, but at the same time, I’ve been delighted to see the skills you’ve showcased throughout the term. Remember, if you’re speaking in the last week, be sure to submit your outline to the SafeAssign link on Blackboard at least 48 hours before your scheduled presentation date.
Let’s jump right in! Earlier this week, a number of web servers connected to Amazon.com ceased to function, resulting in outages for a wide range of sites that were hosted by Amazon. Even popular sites like Reddit and Quora were negatively affected. Does this call into question the viability of a cloud computing infrastructure, or is this an isolated incident that could have been just as bad, or worse, under another framework? Do you think that this will affect Amazon’s credibility moving forward?
Apple’s winning big in the mobile phone market, as the company passed Nokia in the first quarter of this year to become the world’s largest mobile phone retailer in terms of earnings. It doesn’t seem to matter what carrier the phones use, whether it’s Verizon or AT&T. Apple phones just sell, regardless of carrier or even country. That success bodes well for the iPhone 5, slated to begin production this summer. Not that all the news is positive — recent reports revealed that a set of hidden files on iPhones record detailed information about the user’s location, store it on the device without any encryption and transmit that data to Apple as well as any other device with which the iPhone is synced (such as, for instance, a computer with iTunes). It is believed that the location tracking file is a bug that could be fixed in a future update. Curiously, law enforcement has been using the location data in criminal investigations for quite some time, but news of the tracking files has angered lawmakers who believe that the tracking function may represent an invasion of privacy and a personal security risk. What do you think about Apple in terms of its success as well as this new controversy? How did the company’s phones become so popular? What qualities of the phones, the company, or the marketing strategy attract customers? Do you think that the location-tracking revelation will dampen consumer trust in the Apple brand and allow competitors like the upcoming Droid Charge to gain ground, or will customers ultimately ignore such concerns? Has Apple committed any wrongdoing here? What are the ramifications for public policy? How about other privacy breaches and questions about other services, such as security flaws in the Android phone, Facebook’s ever-changing privacy policy or Dropbox’s ambiguous terms of service? For that matter, should we even be worried about our whereabouts or other personal information being monitored?
Jeff Immelt, who was appointed the U.S. “jobs czar” in January, has come under fire due to the unflinching unemployment rate and growing offshoring trend. With the value of the dollar falling and gas prices jumping, some analysts are saying that capitalism as a whole isn’t working for the middle class on the new global economic stage. The government has been having plenty of fiscal problems as well, but many deficit proposals continue to face fierce opposition from voters. President Obama has targeted the GOP in the midst of the crisis, apologizing to voters for compromising with Republicans on the issue and calling the GOP’s proposed budget “radical, not courageous.” In the meantime, ratings agency Standard & Poor’s changed its outlook on the U.S. economy from “stable” to “negative” for the first time in the group’s history, sending stocks spiraling downward. However, some analysts are hesitant to trust the S&P report given past conflicts of interest, as they may have skewed reports preceding the current recession. What are your thoughts on the ongoing economic calamity, challenges for both employees and the unemployed, and the way in which administrators are handling the situation? What does it mean for the upcoming elections and legislation in the near future? How will the crisis ultimately end (if, in fact, it is brought to a close)?
Expanding our gaze for a bit, Libyan rebels are fighting back and moving into territory long held by Moammar Gadhafi’s regime despite the relative lack of direct U.S. involvement in the conflict. While NATO has perhaps played the largest role in assisting rebel forces, President Obama has ordered the deployment of armed drones to assist in the battle, a development welcomed by Libyan opposition forces. The support won’t restore the lives of those who have fallen, including prominent photographers Tim Hetherington and Chris Hondros who were killed during a Wednesday skirmish, but rebel forces hope that overthrowing Gadhafi will restore some peace to the bloodied region and prevent similar tragedies in the future. Little has stabilized elsewhere; From Syria to Yemen, Turkey to Belarus, and Pakistan to Egypt, national unrest is leaving its mark on the international community this year. And, of course, Japan is still dealing with plenty of problems of its own. The latest nuclear recovery plan? Air conditioning. Contrast that with Kyrgyzstan’s leaders, who sacrificed seven rams before their Thursday morning meeting in order to banish “evil spirits,” and… well, you can decide for yourself how you feel about that.
Let’s lighten things up a bit. How would you like a singer called “Sweet Micky” running your country? Well, that’s who Haiti’s getting. In a landslide election, Michel Martelly won the presidency with 67.6% of the votes, handily defeating the country’s former first lady Mirlande Manigat. Having lost two of every three voters to the pop star, Manigat declined to contest the results. Do you think that Martelly will make a strong statesman, looked upon in the same way that some Americans remember former president Ronald Reagan, and aggressively tackle the challenges his country is facing? Or does this whole affair remind you more of the old Snickers “President” commercial? I’m not sure even that can beat North Las Vegas’ recent “high card wins” city council primary that was decided casino style.
Earlier this semester we spoke quite a bit about the space shuttle Discovery, so it’s only fitting that as we near the end of the term, we consider Endeavour’s last launch, scheduled for next Friday. The first family will be in attendance to watch the start of NASA’s second-to-last manned mission. How do you look upon the event? Now that you’ve had more time to think about it, what are your thoughts on the end of NASA’s manned spaceflights? What does it mean to you that the program will end 30 years after NASA’s original projection for a Mars mission? Do you think that such lofty goals are important in this day and age, or would we be better off to explore newly discovered lands on our own planet for awhile longer or just view the cosmos from afar? In light of the great difficulties in reaching Mars, does it make sense to seek alternative means of reaching that goal, such as corporate sponsorship?
Finally, given that the long-celebrated wedding between Britain’s Prince William and Kate Middleton will also be on the 29th, it’s about time it earned a place in our course blog. The nuptials have garnered tremendous media attention, whether viewers are scrutinizing Middleton’s dress or hats, the couple’s honeymoon or three wedding receptions, or the future princess’ vows and the prince’s quest for normalcy. Some are chatting about it every ten seconds, some wish that William would get to kiss the bride (it’s forbidden), some are scrutinizing Middleton’s inheritance rights, some are stunned by the $163,000 wedding bill handed to the Middleton family, some think that Middleton should have accepted the multimillion-dollar tabloid offers following the couple’s brief split three years back, and some are more interested in the broader trend of royal-commoner marriages. Perhaps most divisive, though, is that some see this as “the party for a generation,” filled with soon-to-be priceless merchandise (well, maybe not), while others just want the media frenzy to stop. What are your thoughts on the wedding? Is this as significant an occasion as the media coverage would indicate? What does all this mean for the future of Great Britain and the international community?
You know the drill by now — you can comment on any of the stories in this post, or make a post of your own. Until next time!
Other articles of interest:
A Soccer Ball That Can Kick Start Your Cell Phone
Video: Watch Philadelphia’s baseball robot deliver the first pitch
The Psychology of Cheating
Indiana high court rules in favor of NCAA in Final Four ticket case
Yahoo! Sports Minute: NFL prospect’s hair color an issue
Bud Selig: Baseball playoffs likely to expand to 10 teams in 2012
New Tiger, old Tiger, they both sound the same
Man runs 99 miles home after completing London Marathon
Paralyzed Bride Jennifer Darmon Walks at Wedding
Sony blames ‘external intrusion’ for PlayStation Network outage
PlayStation Network Goes Down, Anonymous Is Not Responsible
Report: Sony, Microsoft Aren’t Launching New Consoles Until 2014
Wii 2 controller sports 6.2-inch touchscreen?
PCs Are Adopting Features from Tablets Like iPad
Quantum Teleportation Breakthrough May Pave the Way for Quantum Computing
For AP Students, a New Classroom Is Online
Amazon Kindle Library Lending to Roll Out This Year
Bergdorf Goodman Invites Consumers To Design Fendi Bag on Facebook
Greenpeace Criticizes Apple, Twitter, Facebook for ‘Dirty’ Data Centers
BP oil spill: Forgotten but not gone
CDC: Entire U.S. Will Have Non-Smoking Laws by 2020
DOT Requires Taxes, Fees Be Included in Advertised Prices
Blagojevich watches jury selection for corruption trial
Would U.S. voters tell Trump, ‘You’re hired’?
Army, Navy add citizenship option to boot camp
FBI investigating after pipe bomb found on Columbine anniversary
Lower IQ in children linked to banned insecticide
You Know Your Blood Type. What About Your Gut Bug Type?
Check out the world’s most advanced … toilet?
CIA Cover-Up Alleged in JFK’s ‘Secret UFO Inquiry’
McDonald’s Lawsuit is Three Fries Short of a Happy Meal
Taco Bell asks litigious critics: Would it kill you to say you’re sorry?
Russian leader dances to “American Boy”
Lady Gaga’s Ears Are Broken
Frey, Glass, and Blair: Where are they now?
b0bcampbell
.
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 24, 2011 @ 14:25:26
Apple’s success on phone market is really impressive. Since 4 years ago, Apple first announce iPhone. iPhone is indeed a revolution to the phone market and it bring smart phone to more and more people’s lives. The most obverious reason why iPhone is attactive to customers are the iOS system and apperance design.
About the tracing location invasion of privacy problem, I think most of people will ignore it. They know since this news come out, Apple will face in charge and will fix the problem.
My personal thought on those smart phone:
Smart phone can offer so many functions. Smart phone combine the function of traditional phone and pocket computer. More and more people like to use them and become addict into them. They use them all the time, sometimes in a public place or classroom, all the people just look at their smart phone and pay less attention to the surrounding.
Smart phone can offer easy web blog access funciton. So, it will be easier for people to update thier bolg such as facebook, or just take a picture and put it on your blog. It really changes the way people used to live. We put too much time and energy on those information communication not the actually communication.
As a conclusion, smart phone change our lives. I am really sure it’s really human suppose to be or not.
Apr 24, 2011 @ 19:51:13
I’d like to talk a bit about the cloud computing with Amazon. There are definite pros and cons to cloud computing, and recently we saw one of the cons. Ideally, the cloud should be able to support everything even if a bit of it goes down. Instead of fully incapacitating one web site, it should just slow down a few until it’s fixed. When things get too large to handle, more websites will go down and become extremely unstable. This will probably set cloud computing back a bit just because this gives evidence for people to avoid cloud computing. Just like the nuclear reactor in Fukushima, people tend to back away from technologies that have recently been shown to cause problems.
Overall, it’s not a serious issue as this does happen. As cloud computing gets better, less will be impacted when a small amount of the cloud becomes incapacitated.
Apr 30, 2011 @ 22:12:00
I agree that the EC2 problem will be a bit of a set-back for cloud computing. I think people have the incorrect view that the cloud provides better redundancy than using a machine (or machines) in a data center. When the cloud fails and the company isn’t using an alternative cloud-hosting company, the company loses. As long as the company can afford to use at least two different cloud hosting companies, the company will have a better chance of not being greatly affected by a cloud failure like EC2.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 08:14:54
The soccket looks and sounds like an incredibly simple design, but I am impressed with the intentions behind it. They are not only thinking of a way to come up with a little invention to make some money, but the main angle they were looking at was too affect the lives who lack access to electricity. I love the idea. I’m sold, I want to buy one first opportunity I get!
Trump, don’t run. That’s all I have to say about that.
Apr 25, 2011 @ 22:13:11
Personally, I’m getting tired of hearing about this stupid wedding. Sure he’s a prince and all, but who really cares? Weddings are for family and friends of the bride and groom. And seriously, I heard there’s a movie about it? Get real people.
May 01, 2011 @ 20:35:21
I do believe that too much attention has been paid to the wedding, but I still find it interesting. Not for the fairytale prince stuff, but the fact that a monarchy still rules. I think it’s fascinating that they still play a role in government, though it’s definitely not as much as the rulers of old had. I believe that the wedding is important to the monarchy because the British people look to the Windsors as a symbol of power and health for their country and they are not exactly pleased what will happen when Charles takes over. Charles is tarnished, but with William married and successful in his duties the people have something to look forward to. So, very important across the pond, way to played out here.
Apr 26, 2011 @ 09:39:34
I thought the Quantum Teleportation article was fascinating. The steps and leaps in technology that we are making is an exciting, and frightening, time to live in. Even though I don’t understand the science behind Q.T., I do understand the technological implication. The ability to transfer information by using light as a carrier will revolutionize data exchange, but where will this technology lead from there….?
Apr 28, 2011 @ 15:44:37
Hey Brian,
I wanted to comment on the Apple iPhone 5 story. First I just want to say, wow, Apple really struck gold with the iPhone. Ever since the first one came out, they have been selling like screwdriver drinks during breakfast club! It’s not surprise to me that, regardless of the carrier, the iPhone goes to the top in terms of its competition. What amazes me is how fast these iPhone’s actually come out. I remember just last summer when it was the coolest thing to have the iPhone 4. You just had to have it, no other phone was better in Apple fans’ minds. I feel like the reason Apple has had such great success with this phone is the fact that it was first to market and is a highly differentiated product. Apple iPhone took our razors phones and shoved it away in a closet. The iPhone was and still is very innovative and unique. The success this phone has achieved has also created a big movement towards “me too” products that may not be made by Apple, but still hold generally the same functionality. Other smart-phones in the market have definitely made a significant impact on the iPhone’s performance, but at the end of the day hard core Apple fans will always buy the latest and greatest Apple product, whether it be an iPhone 5, iPad, or iPod. Personally, I’m not much of an Apple guy, but I do respect Apple for all of its success across all of its products.
Manny
Apr 29, 2011 @ 11:26:22
In regards to the wedding, i thought this picture from reddit “FFFFFFFUUUUUUUU” was appropriate.
Besides that though, I agree with bossmanross. It’s a family and friends affair. Parliament rules England to my understanding and the royal family are just for show at this point. Even if this is not the case, it’s still way over dramatized. I can’t say I’ve met a single person who found the matter interesting.
Apr 29, 2011 @ 16:02:25
Jun, you’re right that Apple has really made its mark on the market. The original, highly dramatic announcement of the device was a prelude to many years of successes for Apple and the broader growth of the industry. Of course, there are still concerns about privacy, but you make a good point that in previous privacy “fallout” stories, as long as users weren’t affected in extreme ways (such as losing control over their bank accounts), it wasn’t a major detriment to the company in the long run. As Manny noted, Apple has a massive, dedicated fanbase (“Macheads”) who continue to support Apple products, and the populace has largely followed their lead to drive Apple to success. There’s little sign that that will change any time soon.
Marcus, I’m inclined to agree with you on the Amazon story. Cloud computing is still in its fledgling stages, so it makes sense that it might be a bit buggy in its present form. Of course, some of the recent issues might dampen confidence a bit in the short term, but it’s hard to make a decisive case that it will derail the technology in the long run.
I was inspired by the sOccket as well, Tommy! It’s an incredibly innovative idea that may have major benefits for a lot of people across the globe, as long as it can be properly implemented. This is one idea for which I have high hopes. Imagine using a game to pay for your electric bill… what a concept!
James, I certainly understand your frustration, and you’re not alone in that sentiment. I imagine most of the hype will recede now that the wedding is over, but with the movie on its way, we may still hear about it once or twice more over the next few months. I will say, while it’s not the highest on my list of news stories to follow either, Brian, a friend of mine made a point of driving to her parents’ house and watching the ceremony from 3-6 a.m. today. Everyone has their own priorities, I suppose.
Finally, the concept of quantum teleportation could indeed be revolutionary, Kyle. It’s hard to say what the next step is, especially since serious implementation of this breakthrough still has many hurdles left to be cleared, but one can’t help but fantasize about the future of computing. Will we see faster systems, easier interconnectivity, or something else entirely? Who knows! In any case, I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops.
Apr 30, 2011 @ 10:21:36
Regarding Apple’s issue:
Apple’s most of marking strategies, including emotional design, series of products (generations), and so forth, were successful. As a result, I have seen a lot of Apple manias all around the world, including in Korea. Those manias might not care about this issue because the reason they bought Apple’s products is the products are from Apple. Therefore, these kinds of people don’t positively affect Apple’s competitors. However, not all Apple customers are manias. Some people should concern about and don’t want location tracking so that Apple should care those types of customers as well. I am not sure if location tracking is a wrongdoing but if the location tracking has an issue regarding invasion of privacy and if customers are not comfortable with it, I am sure Apple should do something to deal with this issue. Even though Apple has been successful so far, all businesses should keep watch their customers and Apple is not an exception.
Apr 30, 2011 @ 19:14:02
Topic regarding Apple and their goldmine:
I want to comment on Apple’s success with the iPhone. It’s very surprising to hear about the success of the Apple iPhone. Not even five years ago there was no such thing as an iPhone and now it is the number one phone retailer after only four short years. Apple really nailed the design, hardware, and the interface for their iPhone. Thanks to the iPhone it began to what I like to think of as the “Arm’s Race” of smartphones. Before the iPhone, I couldn’t think of another smartphone besides BB’s poor user interface. Now days I can’t read through engadget online without coming across some smartphone review or latest buzz. So it’s certainly impressive how Apple reinvented the cell phone industry…at least I think that they did. Although they could develop better names for it…iPhone 5…really??…they couldn’t come up with anything more creative. They came up a new name for the mouse and called it the mighty mouse but they couldn’t come up with a better name for their most profitable product. I just hope that it doesn’t get ridiculous and they have an iPhone 15.
May 01, 2011 @ 03:08:30
As a soon to be Purdue graduate, I look forward to owning a Kohler NuMi toilet. For far too long I had to suffer through sitting on cold toilet seats. Nothing wakes you up faster in the middle of the night than a cold toilet seat, so it’s good to know that through the education I’ve received at Purdue, I no longer have to worry about such trivial matters. $6000 for a toilet may seem like a lot, but you really can’t place a value on not having to every deal with a cold toilet seat ever again.
May 01, 2011 @ 11:42:53
Speaking of NASA’s shuttle mission, it reminds me that yesterday my friend told me something she saw in Nature Museum in Chicago. She told me that there were five big extinguish happened on the Earth before human comes onto the stage, and an “omen” of these whole race extinguish coming is there will be about 9 species wiped from the Earth every year. However, she told me that currently we lost about 36 species every 10 mins… So I should say at this moment a space travel project will be particularly essential to us. Because who knows what will happen in future, maybe not far from now we will all be launched into space and find a new planet to live ╮(╯▽╰)╭
May 01, 2011 @ 16:30:16
Apple’s iPhone really did reinvent the phone. I didn’t realize how much of the smart phone market they had until last week when i was talking to my technology stupid dad and he wanted to get “one of those iPhone things”. He then went on to ask about the different brands of iPhone. This made me think/realize that when you think smart phone the first phone is iPhone and it is really the gold standard. I’m curious to see if apple can keep it up and lead the market or if at some point they will just be another phone company.
May 01, 2011 @ 23:22:18
In response to Matt’s question, I think that Apple will definitely be able to become one of the largest producers of smart phones, just for the fact that like Samsung, and LG and other powerhouses, they recently expanded their services to more than just AT&T by going to Verizon, the nation’s largest network. And going back to earlier discussions from this class, Apple has the app store that nobody can compete with. I most definitely think Apple and the iPhone will become a powerhouse in cell phones.
May 01, 2011 @ 16:32:59
I would like to comment about the Tiger Woods article. I dont really know what people expect from Tiger. He is still one of the best golfers of all time. The way I see it is that he is in a slump like every athlete goes through. To expect an athlete to be the very best for their whole career is expecting way to much and you are setting them up for failure. As far as the “New Tiger”, I think that is pretty stupid. How do people expect someone to change who they are and the way they act when thats how they have been their whole life. Tiger is Tiger and thats who he is gonna be the rest of his life. Yes some say he should change because of what happened in his PERSONAL life but you shouldnt expect it. I mean Kobe Bryant had I would say a bigger personal scandal then Tiger’s and everyone has forgotten about it. No one expected Kobe to change that so why do people think Tiger should. I think people need to give Tiger a break and let him be himself. Thats the Tiger Woods that I enjoyed watching.
May 01, 2011 @ 16:58:12
As I’ve said in a previous post a few weeks back, I just don’t see any private corporation providing the kind of funding required to send a manned mission to mars. The only possible way would be through government funding and since that funding will not be provided by the United States I see either Russia or China putting up the necessary capital. Other then that possibility I think that for the moment manned exploration of space is at a stand still.
May 01, 2011 @ 18:49:12
I think that Apple is a very succesful company. Everything that Apple has ever made, has been high end and high quality. They are the top competitors in the computer world and now they are the leading competitors in the mobile market. I don’t think that this new controversy is going to affect their sales. I’m not a huge fan of Apple products at all but I have slowly been more and more attracted to the iPhone and to the Mac Books. Apple is just hard to compete with. Their designs are futuristic and their phones are at unbeatable prices. In July with an upgrade, you can get the iPhone 5 for $200. A month after they release the iPhone 5, it will be worth around $600 and people will buy it for that price on eBay!! All of Apples touch screen devices have a unique user interface design and they are by far the most responsive touch screen devices in the market. They are succesful because they are doing things that other companies are not but if other companies are doing them, Apple is doing it three times better. For instance, Apple was the first phone company to create an app store. That was an ingenius idea for Apple. Android is striving to compete but they are far behind Apple.
However, I do think that it is pointless for Apple to have that kind of information. They have millions of people buying their phones and each phone would have hundreds of locations. Why try to possess location history information? I mean I guess it could be useful to the government. I personally don’t think it is a huge controversy because there are not a lot of people reporting identity theft because their iPhone was stolen but maybe I’m wrong. Idk..
Overall, I don’t think that this new controversy will really do any damage to Apple. People want Apple products and until a bunch of people are affected by this controversy, I don’t think anything is going to stop anybody from buying an iPhone. Well, it won’t stop me from buying one.