Homework 3 - example

CSU Long Beach
ENGR 350
Computers, Ethics, and Society

Syllabus
Schedule
Grading
Portfolio
Homework:
  Guidelines
  Standards
  1 - Images
  2 - Risks
    -- example
  3 - Infobahn
    -- example
  4 - Dataveillance
    -- example
  5 - Worklife
    -- example
  6 - Killer Robot
Term project

HW#3 - example

The Daily Routine

Note for UCI - ICS 131: "ENGR 350" = "ICS 131." The first two grading categories are combined into one at UCI.

Writing:
5 __Spelling and syntax errors caught by Word (max. 5, -1 per error)
4 __Other errors (e.g., word usage), not caught by Word (max. 5, -1 per error)
10 __Readability and organization (10 max.)
10 __Relevant and correct use of sources (10 max., 0 here may mean 0 on the assignment).

Content:
10 __Did you do what the assignment asked for? (10 max., 0 here may mean 0 on the assignment)
10 __Did you show real understanding of the course material? (10 max.)
10 __Did you go beyond the "minimum" to analyze the topic in depth? (10 max.)

59 __Total (60 max.)

I use the Internet daily. My morning ritual gives e-mail precedence over caffeine packing Java and getting 100% of my recommended dosage of vitamins and minerals in one bowl of Total™. I’m addicted to it, can’t get enough of it, and in short: I’m an Internet junkie. On average I spend about an hour and a half daily on the Internet. I check e-mail, go over the days news, check assignments, submit assignments, order things, sell things, talk to people; Basically the Internet has become such a major part of my day that were it to vanish, my life would be incredibly different.

My IBM Aptiva™ wakes up at 8:00AM every morning and urges me out of bed with a, "Good morning. I am Aptiva." Unfortunately there’s no snooze on Aptiva™. She calls America Online (AOL) and lets me talk to him. He always tells me about the mail I have. "You have mail!" he says. The thing about AOL telling me I have mail is that it’s a lot like when the mailman tells me. They know I have some, but weather it’s junk or not is for me to decide. There are two types of mail they give. It’s either "Junk Mail" or it’s "Not Junk Mail." The Junk Mail that AOL and Joe (my mailman) give me is in many aspects similar, but in others different. AOL’s Junk is mostly ‘ATTN: Business Opportunity $1000’s in 10 Minutes’ (This one really likes me… he’s visited 4 times) and other get rich quick schemes. My finger gets tired from hitting the delete button so often (I rest half way through). Joe’s Junk is mostly coupons and my arms get tired from taking so many coupon stuffed garbage bags to the dumpster. I’ve wondered, about both sets and question why companies send them. I hate it; I’m going to trash it, so why do they bother? Then one day in economics class I stumbled upon the answer. It seams there’s an economic phenomenon called Selective Discrimination. Selective Discrimination "occurs when different classes of customers are charged different price markups for the same product (#1 p.643)." Companies want to sell their product. They want to give price breaks to those that want the product but don’t want to pay full price for it. The Junk e-mail from AOL and Joe create the two different classes: Those who will buy the product without coupons (myself included since I delete or trash them) and those who will only buy it with a coupon. The Internet is simply another advertising medium for companies. The difference between AOL’s coupons and Joe’s is that Joe’s are plain as day and AOL’s wear sneaky disguises to masquerade as letters from friends. The frustration of distinguishing between e-advertisements and e-mail is unfortunately an art I haven’t yet mastered.

After finally sifting through the trash and a few hand stretches to relieve repetitive motion cramps I discover that in fact I have received real e-mail! Through the years of sending and receiving I’ve found that e-mail is actually a good alternative to face to face communication and oftentimes is more effective. I disagree with Sproull & Kiesler’s view that electrical communication should be used regularly only by those who have little access to "mainstream" communication (#2 p.474). While both are forms of communication, both also have uses that are better suited to one type or the other. In conferring with my professors, my ideas are conveyed more clearly and logically in written form. I’ve often sat at home after a verbal discussion with a professor and remembered a forgotten question or idea I wanted to present. I’ve found with e-mail that I am able to more logically present these. Also, I receive feedback more quickly than Joe the snail-mail guy could ever hope to keep pace with. E-mail is probably the most expeditious communication medium that also allows me to take the time to digest the expressed ideas fully and reply thoughtfully at my convenience.

Once, a couple of years ago, I received e-mail from an old friend I grew up with that I hadn’t talked to for years. I hadn’t had e-mail when I knew him last, so how could he have gotten my address? Since then I’ve figured out how to do the same through the Internet and now use the technique regularly myself. The Internet is a great source for this kind of information. For example, http://www.yahoo.com has a tremendous search engine for addresses and phone numbers. I type in a person’s name and receive their address, phone number, and sometimes their place of business. While that’s pretty neat, the cool part about it is that I can also get a name or phone number from entering an address. Try that with "Ma-Bell!" In using the Yahoo search engine for phone numbers, I also arrived at another economical realization: "Ma-Bell" charges, Yahoo is free^*. (note: ^A) I figure that’s why they call it ‘yahoo!’

With my e-mail answered and done it’s time for my monthly surf into http://www.Amazon.com. I pick out a favorite book of mine that I’ve always wanted for my own collection: Computerization and Controversy first edition and wait a few weeks for Joe to deliver. It’s about 25% cheaper on Amazon than over at Border’s Books. In saying that a book over the Internet costs less I need to state that the cost includes not only the price of the book and shipping & handling, but also the opportunity cost involved. That is rather, the value of my time spent ordering and waiting as opposed to driving to Border’s and picking it up. While Scheuer believes that "electric shopping is likely to put more local stores… out of business (#2 p.610)," I disagree. Primarily, local shops have the impulse buying market locked up. Using the Internet as a mall to window shop runs a very high associated opportunity cost. The "Virtual Mall" is still in the designing stages and browsing Internet shops just takes too long to load up the images. I can eat my Total™ in the time it takes for AOL to figure out what he’s doing let alone individual downloading time of web images. If it’s more convenient to shop outside of my terminal, I will. Border’s realizes how simple it is to purchase their product online. They subscribe to the universal law of anything that ever goes right: the Adapt Or Die Principle (AORP). Border’s is losing market share in the book selling market to Amazon.com and in the Compact Disk market to companies like BMG and Columbia House. The desire to live being central to every corporation, Border’s has adapted to their situation and now brings in their highest profit margin in coffee sales. Cruising around Amazon.com I buy what would otherwise be out of my financial reach. In figuring out which books to buy I easily pay for my share of the brewed coffee at Border’s.

"That’s right, it’s Saturday, February 7^th. Let’s see, I have two projects and a couple reading assignments due Monday. I’ll just: http://www.engr.csulb.edu and… ‘ERROR 404!’ Ah! It crashed again!" A number of my professors enjoy using the latest technology and methods in posting grades, assignments, updates, downloadable software, etc. on the Internet. On a ‘normal’ day, this is an excellent way to relay information and save exhaustible natural resources. February 7^th is not a ‘normal’ day. The ENGR Department net server is down and in effect has made my homework day useless. I am frazzled. All I can do is fume, wait, and check again. Needless to say, it won’t come back up today. I check every half-hour. The system does crash sometimes. Unfortunately it seems crashes are placed under the guise of ‘acceptable loses.’ While the system itself is not explicitly a safety–critical system, when it goes down, the safety of my grades is at stake. I’m on fire! By no fault of my own am I being delayed from discovering the enjoyment of my ENGR350 reading assignment! In Jacky’s essay on Safety-Critical Computing he’s quick to point out that while blame does lie with the system and vendor, equally at fault are the users (#2 p.771). In the Therac-25 case, if the technicians had been aware of error codes then people wouldn’t have died. Less critical, but still parallel, is the fact that if the users of our server fully understand what they are doing, the crash could be avoided. Had it been a planned shut down, the administrators did a poor job of informing the users, namely me! In the end, with both cases, the consequences lie with the user. My programs are delayed and I have to double my reading tomorrow night.

Screaming at Aptiva™ I slam my mouse (squeak!) and click on the ‘x’ and bid good riddance to ENGR Server at least for the rest of the day. Oh, what sweet vengeance to have e-mail contact to the designers who built it, the administrators who maintain it, the implementers who thought of it, and even the sweet little old lady who wipes down the screens of all those remote eyes to the heart of that fallen Medusa. I need an outlet. I’ve got to lay blame… Lay blame and Flame! Enter chat-rooms. There is nothing more therapeutic for me than entering a room entitle "We’re Mad" and Flaming for the sake of Flaming until I can Flame no more! After ten minutes of reading other’s trash I’m rolling on the floor in hysterics over their expressed sarcasm. I log off in a better mood and with a lot less baggage to carry around. In class we discussed flaming as it relates to e-mail and the undesirable aspects of it (Class notes: Feb 26^th). While I agree that most flaming is done with malicious intent, we should realize that blowing off steam is the productive side of it. Productive and helpful insofar as it’s controlled and directed towards an understanding and an audience that is not offended.

With my Internet Adventure completed for another day, I say goodbye to Aptiva™ and AOL. AOL replies, "Goodbye." I push the button and the fan cycles down. I sit back in my folding chair, prop my feet up, and dream about the Internet and what could be. While it probably won’t take the merchandizing industry by storm, it does offer a more efficient way to get some things done. For additional improvement we would need to continue to build on the Internet’s efficiency breakthroughs and have the services provided ‘cost less’ than implementing our next best alternative. Research on the Internet is improving daily, but it still lacks in providing complete text & magazine databases. Freely providing these would cut research time in half and increase the public’s aggregate knowledge level & awareness. If this were to happen the information provided in these databases would be more reliable than that currently provided through random topic searches using web browsers. Of course aesthetically a faster user interface is always desirable. The Internet hopefully will evolve from phone line input/output to dedicated line communication that would make downtime less common.

Press. Orlando, Fl; 1996.