Tbotbotbot


The nickname originated from my brother, who called me that once in front of most of my friends back in high school. They thought it was hilarious, and it was all I was called for several years. Most people expect the story to be much sweeter.

 

 

May 9, 2007

 

It's fitting I'm working on the wiki phobia research for the project.  Because this wiki scares the shit out of me.

 

 

 

April 2, 2007 

 

I read Lessig's talk on Free Culture from start to finish.  Some of the statistics he brings up are incredible.  The one about music piracy in 2001 having ambiguous impact on actual record sales was the most interesting to me because you hear so much about the record companies struggling due to illegal downloads.  To use that word "illegal" just seems wrong now after reading Lessig.  Lawyers have just created the intellectual property system to propagate their own labors so they continue to have a job.  At least, that seems to be the case in light of Lessig's impact on me.  I am actually planning on becoming a lawyer and I was interested in practicing in intellectual property.  Maybe I'm not so sure now, or maybe I can impact the field in a positive way.

 

 

 

March 27, 2007 

 

 

 

Here's my Ubik remix, not as crazy as other people.

 

https://cms.psu.edu/AngelUploads/Files/trh5015/Eng473UbikRemix.doc  

 

March 20, 2007

 

Coming back from the stereotypical college spring break trip in Florida, I often wondered if any of the wristbands I had to wear included RFID chips.  Sometimes I wish they did, so if I got sold into slavery, someone could find me.

 

 

 

 

 

February 20, 2007

 

I've been working on essay on Pennsylvania's version of Megan's Law. I just realized the issues surrounding this law relate to the class because a sex offender's privacy and civil rights are at stake. For those of you who may not know, Megan's Law was created in 1996 and requires convicted sex offenders to register with the state police so that communities can identify them in their neighborhoods.

 

The law has survived countless court challenges and really all an offender can challenge anymore is the level of threat he is labeled as in the registry. What kind of control is our society trying to exert with such a bold law? The ACLU argues that this law simply makes it even harder than it already is for a released convict to assimilate back into society and put their life back together. I can't help but agree with this statement but do people really have a right to know that a convicted sex offender is living next door to their family, especially when that offender might be labeled as a Sexually Violent Predator meaning they have the mental disposition that makes repeat offenses likely?

 

 

I'd like to think that if a person was such a sexually violent predator that I would be fearfull of living nex to them, they'd still be in jail or therapy. It seems to me that Megan's law is a bandaid over a bullet hole, and a poor one at that. The problem is that we don't have an adequate system to rehabilitate sex offenders and our prison system isn't the right environment. I'd say that putting a sex offender in a cell with a murderer would only worsen the condition of each of them...and upon release they're more prone to re-offend. In other words, should the person with a mental disposition making them likely to re-offend be released and tracked, or released and forced to undergo counceling or therapy (rather than drug tests at a parole office). Of course, in a situation like the one we're in, where people who shouldn't be near children (i.e shouldn't particularly be out in society) are being sent out into the world, Megan's law makes some sense. But again, the problem is the lack of therapy/rehabilitation and proper sentencing procedures. ~ Ceridwen

 

 

 

 

February 12, 2007

 

I've only completed about 60 pages of Ubik but I can already tell how it relates to the material within this course. I find the simple idea of a control group in the prudence organizations created solely to control the psionics who are used to help control norms very circular in nature as explained in the early part of the book. I couldn't help but be reminded how a bureaucracy finds ways to survive and propagate itself and its discourses. Ubik creates a worst case scenario for people trying to create a "secure" state because there are people being used to read your thoughts, the final frontier of security.

 

After all, isn't implanting an RFID chip under your skin just a way to monitor your life so closely, one could make educated guesses about what you're thinking? Ubik seems to be cutting out the middle man.

 

 

 

February 8, 2007

 

Security Commons

 

It seems as though the movies have led me astray on how advanced government intelligence technology had grown. From the sounds of this article, some teenagers with laptops in Afghanistan could establish an easier flow of sensitive information than our own intelligence agencies.

 

To their own credit though, they deal with an absurd amount of information and people fear change. How bad would the lag be (especially for older, less computer literate analysts) to change the system constantly? It would be quite constant if you consider how fast technologies move and change nowadays, especially internet based technologies.

 

I think the truth to be seen here is that should definitely be our government's responsibility to keep up with technology so they can run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Maybe buy a few less tanks, and a few more data servers. The servers could prove more dangerous to our enemies if used right.

 

 

 

 

My first shot at a link.

 

\"Web 2.0 is teaching the machine\"

 

Pretty catchy little video here about how the internet is changing the world. Probably relates most to the Digital Proposal.

 

-T.Bot

 

 

 

 

February 5, 2007

 

I have to say this wiki thing is truly overwhelming to me. I like the idea of blogging in principle, but have only engaged in it sporadically. I am realiing now even more as I read over all the material on this wiki that I need to pick up my speed to get into the flow of this thing. Hopefully I'll find some groove to getting my ideas on this thing. Any recommendations from those who seem to be the experts?

-T.Bot

 

Just do it. Good insight, I know. -modernifeiswar

Call Me Ishamel : I like to get some good music flowing. If I'm enjoying the environment, especially the music, I'm likely to be content with sitting in the same position and scrambling my brain for thoughts.

"You can see I'm in no shape for driving

And anyway I've got no place to go"

-Gin Blossoms

 

 

Society against the State

 

This excerpt made a lot of sense. A government's power, in my opinion, is just as much economical as militaristic, especially within its own society. I have to admit that this excerpt makes me wonder why I only seem to have about 3-4 hours of leisure time a day and still eating pasta and Ramen noodles. Looking forward to discussing this in class.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 24, 2007

 

Anyone else think it was pretty hilarious and out of the blue when Dikembe stood up at the State of the Union? Overall I thought the address was hollow and full of lots of recommendations and idealistic suggestions but with little evidence of how any of it could become a reality. (Agreed. I was also offended by the superficiality of his invocation of the Darfur tragedy. - loadstool)The gist of the speech to me was we're already in Iraq, we're screwed, let me (W) find a way out. Fair enough as far as I'm concerned.

 

Yes, but how did "we" get in Iraq? I ask not out of a desire to blame - that is easiest enough to assign, and shall be so assigned by history - but my hope is that we might avoid similar premise lock in the future. BTW: I "blame" the Democratic "leadership" as much as the Bushies ( Gephardt should end up in Guantanamo with Cheney and Wolfowitz) for failing their obligations as an opposition party, let alone their obligations as citizens,and refusing to listen to their own military experts and informed citizens who spoke out. Millions of us protested loudly across the planet and in every media while being treated as \"focus groups\" and attacked for our alleged lack of patriotism. Free thinking in a time of premise lock is a an act of patriotism. - mobius

 

 

 

February 1, 2007

 

Maybe RFID could be used to track species in danger of becoming extinct. Then we could track their movements and keep tabs on their survival without interfering in the capture and release sense.

 

Reminds me of when I saw Jeff Corwin talk last semester and one of his friends took him into this ridiculous compound to show him a hummingbird. Corwin asked, "What's the big deal about this bird?"

 

His friend replied, "It's the last one on Earth of its kind."

 

Thanks to whoever brought Mosquitoes and bird flus to Hawaii

 

 

^-- "In 1826, the whaling ship Wellington, in from San Blas, Mexico, brought Hawaii its first mosquitoes, which were dumped ashore as the sailors rinsed out water barrels. Some of these insects (Culex quinquefasciatus) carried avian malaria and pox, diseases Hawaii's native birds were not genetically equipped to cope with."

Link here

~s.claus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

January 22, 2007

 

In response to the proposal to integrate wikis into composition classes, I think it would be a great idea. I definitely agree that it is important for composition to adjust to the changing forms of media and embrace the sense of community a wiki offers.

 

I think the proposal underestimates how quickly students could adjust to a format such as the wiki. It seems to be an innate skill of our generation to blog and record daily thoughts or anything similar online. Students born in the 80's are already used to having their thoughts and ideas flying around cyberspace, but they still might be a little hesitant to allow academics into what used to be a private and social sphere of their lives. I think with some practice, it would work for the benefit of all and basically generate an ongoing class discussion where anyone, including the professor, can interject an idea or comment at any given time.