Discussion Post: Week 14

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

Discussion Post: Week 13

Hello again, all! Just one more presentation to go. Please be sure to send in your topic before class on Tuesday!

We’ll return this week to the conflict in Libya, but let’s start with a different angle. Have you ever used the bit.ly URL shortening service? How about ow.ly, vid.ly, graphic.ly… the list goes on. But I’ll bet you never considered what the “ly” represented, did you? The suffix, which is ultimately controlled by Moammad Gadhafi of the Libyan regime, has long been attractive because of the adverbial potential (if you were hoping to register the smel.ly domain name, it’s taken). The Gadhafi link has caught a number of people off guard, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, the Human Rights Watch, and the U.S. military and United Nations, all of whom are distressed by the connection. What do you think about it? How does this affect U.S. plans to announce terror alerts via Facebook and Twitter? Is the Gadhafi link as big of a problem as some seem to think? If you led one of the organizations that used or otherwise relied on a .ly domain, how would you handle this situation? Does control over the unique suffix offer any strategic advantage to Gadhafi in the Libyan conflict?

Speaking of which, the back-and-forth struggle between Gadhafi’s military and the rebel forces has hardly let up, most recently centering around Ajdabiya, a key city 60 miles south of the rebels’ interim capital, Benghazi, with sizable oil reserves. As we all know by now, the unending conflict has cost countless Libyans their lives and, in the global economic scene, has been pushing gas prices skyward for weeks, but perhaps the biggest fiscal shock is that during the U.S. government bailouts over the past few years, one of the largest beneficiaries was the Central Bank of Libya, which received “tens of billions in loans from the Fed.” What are your thoughts on the continuing conflict and the international community’s role in it? What about the set of friendly fire mistakes by NATO? Where do policymakers go from here? How can the conflict best be resolved, and what can be done to limit international consequences as well? For that matter, since nothing on the world stage happens in a vacuum, how does the Libyan crisis relate to those in Syria, Yemen, the Ivory Coast, Egypt, and even Japan?

We haven’t talked much about the prospect of a government shutdown, which Congress seems to avert anew each week. That’s a particularly dangerous prospect when you consider that the U.S. military is presently scattered in various ongoing missions around the globe, and a shutdown might make it impossible to pay them or to keep other government departments running. Considering that the most recent act by Congress will only keep the government functioning through Friday and that its implementation just over an hour before the deadline required “painful cuts,” is such a failure ultimately unavoidable? Was the hurriedly-made deal at the center of this most recent aversion as much of a catastrophe as some experts suggest, or is President Barack Obama correct that it was a laudable step that will benefit the country’s future? What will happen if the U.S government closes its doors for the first time since the dual shutdowns of 1995-1996? What would the ramifications be for the 2012 elections, particularly given reports that the 1995-1996 shutdowns and restorations under a divided government boosted President Bill Clinton’s approval ratings?

Let’s again try to close with a story that’s a little less depressing. In the wake of Sony’s lawsuit against hacker George Hotz, the group Anonymous attacked and successfully shut down several Sony websites. I won’t explain all the details about what “Anonymous” actually is in this post, as a complete explanation could easily span a full book (or just a Wikipedia article), but in this most recent attack they also “‘played’ with” the PlayStation Network (PSN), causing system instability which affected a number of users over the past week. However, the diffuse group has now announced the suspension of attacks against PSN, as their first efforts were detrimental to gamers as well as Sony. Just because their first efforts have been halted hardly means that Anonymous is done, however, as their next move is apparently an April 16 boycott of Sony stores. Do you think that the offline actions will be more effective than the PSN attacks? Do you think that they can successfully attack Sony without further inconveniencing gamers, or for that matter, is that in fact the group’s priority? How should Sony or, for that matter, law enforcement react to such activities? Do you think that Anonymous is correctly fighting for the people, or are they a menace that needs to be stopped? What about other individuals and groups that support Anonymous’ efforts? Finally, what are the ramifications of groups like Anonymous, and what does it mean that a group of individuals who do not even know one another beyond their common claim as “Anonymous” can be so effective in their efforts?

That’s all for this week’s post. As usual, feel free to post about any of the above or below stories, or make your own post on a new topic, if you like. Keep working on those final presentations, and I’ll see you in class!

Other articles of interest:
How one Oregon lawmaker convinced his colleagues to ‘Rick Roll’ the state legislature
Vote count ‘human error’ shadows Wisconsin Supreme Court election
Google’s Size Pertinent to Broad Antitrust Case
3 Ways Social Media Can Wreck Your Career
PlayStation chief: Nintendo makes ‘babysitting tools’
New book reveals Apple’s Steve Jobs mentored Google co-founders
The Sleepless Elite
Texas Speed Limit Raised: Is it Safe?
Is Your Brain Liberal or Conservative?
Six industries hurt by an NFL lockout
Purdy: Defense threw the better pitches at Bonds trial
Ramirez was a huge talent, colossal waste
Charlie Sheen Tour: What the Critics Say About the Disastrous New York Show
The New Commodore 64, Updated With Its Old Exterior
Video Games Help Stroke Victims Rehab Motor Functions
Your commute is making you stupid, study suggests
Is it a new particle, or just a fluke?

Discussion Post: Week 11

Well, we’re now a week into Persuasive Presentation I! If you’re one of our remaining speakers, just make sure you submit your outline to the SafeAssign link on Blackboard by 4:30 today.

Given that we’ve been talking about international crises like those in Libya, Japan, Yemen, and now Syria and the Ivory Coast for a number of weeks, we’ll try to add some new topics on top of those global issues this time around. They’re important, certainly, but I get the sense that many people want some more options at this point, so we’ll try to accommodate those desires.

How about we start with the brand-new Nintendo 3DS? It’s hard to say what today’s release will bring but Isaiah-Triforce Johnson (real name) has spent about a week waiting at a Manhattan Best Buy in anticipation of Nintendo’s official release party. With Johnson’s goal of the first 3DS finally upon him, experts are sending mixed messages about the device. Some claim that it’s truly innovative, particularly with the adjustable 3D effect for which it is best known. Others argue that the 3D quality is inconsistent or even dangerous for young gamers and that its low battery life represents a serious flaw. (One might harken back to the old Sega Game Gear, my first handheld system, which was technologically far superior to Nintendo’s competing handhelds but which drained batteries almost as quickly as you could load them.) What do you think about all this? Will the 3DS be Nintendo’s next big hit, following in the footsteps of the groundbreaking Wii, or will its limitations keep it from grabbing the market share that Nintendo desires? For that matter, do you buy claims that the 3DS could be used by optometrists as a diagnostic tool? Either, you have to feel sorry for reviewers desperately trying to figure out how to convey 3D depth in 2D screenshots. Perhaps it will be easier once we all have 3D computer monitors… that day may be closer than you think.

In national news, potential candidates in the 2012 presidential election are already posturing for position. Obviously, this story isn’t nearly as well developed, since the elections are so far in the future. While Barack Obama looks to be the likely Democratic candidate, though, his counterpart in the Republican party isn’t nearly so clear. Some speculate that Mitt Romney’s second bid will be more successful than his first, while others think that Mike Huckabee holds the advantage over Romney, Sarah Palin, and others. How do you think the sheer number of Republican candidates could affect the race? Do you find the fact that campaigning begins (at least) a year and a half before an election to be a good thing for American politics or a problem? Relatedly, how could the race change in the next 19 months? What about speculation that some states will cut their presidential primaries to save money?

Next, you knew it was coming… March Madness is in full swing, with the Final Four to be finalized before the weekend is done. The public places a great deal of value on making it to the Final Four, even though three of those team will ultimately lose — it’s certainly more value than we place on a semifinal finish for almost any other major competition. Do you think that the players and coaches feel the same way, or are they as devastated by losing in the final weekend as they would have been on day one? Do you think it’s different for a national powerhouse like Ohio State than an underdog like Virginia Commonwealth, the eleven seed now one win away from the Final Four? Looking at it another way, why are many people so much more inclined to watch the men’s tournament than the women’s tournament? It’s certainly not based on the results, since Purdue lost both in the second round this year. What do you think about the disparity, and how do you think the competitors feel about it? Has the Title IX legislation to equalize athletic opportunities been effective, or are there any problems with it? What about our obsession with the mythical perfect bracket? Will anyone ever get closer than Alex Herrmann did last year? And what do you think about laws in some states that prohibit bracket competitions?

I’m adding one last topic to this post at the last minute. My fiancee, Becky, who also teaches COM 315, forced me to watch Rebecca Black’s Friday video on Youtube.

I don’t want to unduly bias you by sharing my opinion, but let’s just say that as of this writing, the viral video has 109,169 “likes” and 910,327 “dislikes.” Despite the ratio of over 8:1 against the video, though, it has quickly accumulated well over 54 million views since being posted to Youtube on February 10. What do you think it means that a video which so many people appear to dislike is nonetheless garnering so much attention and, some speculate, making Black a millionaire? Are viewers being too aggressive in their criticisms of the 13-year-old’s tune? On the other hand, is it possible that the general public is overlooking something important about Friday? Lady Gaga called Black a “genius,” after all. If “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” as some might suggest, then should we conclude that all the spoofs (my favorite example below), including ones by Conan O’Brien and the Jonas Brothers, mean that Friday is actually a special, pure piece of music?

(Feel free to follow the other COM 315 discussion on this topic as well, once the link becomes active later today.)

As always, any of the above or below topics is fair game, as are other items of interest beyond those listed here. Have at it, and I’ll see you on Tuesday!

Other articles of interest:
Approval For Drug That Treats Melanoma
Plosser: Fed must tighten in not-too-distant future
Wisconsin union law published despite court order
Researchers Plan to Drill Deepest Ever Hole in the Earth
NASA Investigating Shuttle Worker’s Death at Launch Pad
Judge to music industry: ‘Worth trillions? Forget it’
Bret Michaels Sues — The Tonys Almost KILLED Me
‘The Book of Mormon’ Hits Broadway
LOL, OMG, FYI Added to Online Oxford English Dictionary
Qatar: Robo-clouds to cool World Cup
Qatar stole its artificial cloud idea from The Simpsons
Defense: Trainer misled Barry Bonds
Let’s Play Few: MLB’s Half-Baked Opening Day
Cleveland Browns fan sues NFL in attempt to end lockout
The box scores from ‘Space Jam’ for a nostalgia kick
Zero G on Ford’s factory floor
Flying robots swarm to the task of disaster rescue
Japan nuclear crisis gives Earth Hour added poignancy