Hard -G or "Giraffe-G"
This week in class, we transitioned from studying memes to studying GIFS (hard -g sound). We essentially began class with a Tweet-a-Thon, where we all tweeted out our favorite or most recents GIFS.
You can see the GIFS I love on my twitter page, but after poking around on GIFHY, I found a few more that I love! Give me a good Real Housewives GIF anyday!
After, we had a Studio Visit with Brian Lamb, "Re-Director" of the Learning Technology and Innovation team at Thompson Rivers University.
One thing I found interesting, was that in B.C. they have very strict privacy laws. There should be a consent form, letting students know they're data is being collect, but Brian says you're supposed to explain what is happening to the data, but what he says is interesting, is "who knows" what's happening to it! And then the screen went BLACK! Did Google kick Brian off our hangout? Hmmmm...veryyyyy interesting....
Brian then goes on to talk about the Big Five and how the main problem is that they have no ethics. That everyday, something new shows up in the news about what these companies are doing, they'll deny it, and then a few weeks later it will turn out it was true! I agree with Brian when he said that one of the scariest things was that we just don't know what these companies are doing and the vastness of how much we don't know is alarming.
He then gives the example that Facebook is trying to developing these sort of mind reading technologies, like if you think of something, then it will pop up on your phone! I do not feel great about that! What's the point? It's like witchcraft!
The next example that came up was the idea of Smart Toilets. What many think is that it's for comfort, which is what it is, but they are also promising that it will analyze your stool and urine samples, with the possibility of catching colon cancer or other illnesses earlier to save lives. But then Brian references that we have to think about where this data could go: like our insurance companies. Could our premiums go up if they find out we ate pizza at 2am? Who knows!
But Allan then brought up an interesting counterpoint-if these companies are transparent, do we as the public even have the capability to understand what they tell us.
In my opinion, all of this is so scary and also so absurd. There are so many problems in our country, and the world, that sometimes I think man if these people, who clearly are brilliant, could but their evil powers to good use, could we maybe save the world?
When I say it's absurd too, I mean, why do we need all of this cutting-edge technology. Truly. Who cares? I've posed this question to my students, and while they all seem very alarmed, it kind of relates back to what Allan mentioned earlier about a 'creepy' acceptance we've fallen into.
One article we came across when discussing with my students, brought up the new Smart Barbie technologies. Mattel put out this doll that listens to children using voice recognition technology. While there are many concerns, one is that the doll could easily manipulate and take advantage of children. Another is that, if it's always on, where does the information it collects go (the age old question it seems). And another concern is if it's recording, what if it records more than what serves its intended purpose, like if a parent in the next room is giving out personal information, like a credit card number, and the Smart Barbie collects this information.
Why does there need to be this doll? Children already suffer from lack of creativity and have a skewed perception of boredom, that they need more time for play and less for tech.
After concluding our Hangout with Brian, our next order of business was to explore the digital coffee shop: Arganee and consider how to approach digital alchemist who have begun to find their way into the light. After looking at the three clips, I obviously selected the telekinetic coffee shop one, as I love coffee and I love books. If I could fit a legit library into my house, complete with rolling ladder, I would! I made two clips: one where books came flying off the shelves with the caption "What if Facebook didn't sell our data?" and the second was a gif of a girl using her powers to throw the barista up the wall-aka Facebook's response to our suggestion. I tried to upload each here but for some reason it wouldn't work! You can find them on Gify!
I also was fortunate enough to spend time getting to know Luna Paragorus, who's love of books is both her strength and her weakness! I'm very much looking forward to getting to know her better!
You can see the GIFS I love on my twitter page, but after poking around on GIFHY, I found a few more that I love! Give me a good Real Housewives GIF anyday!
After, we had a Studio Visit with Brian Lamb, "Re-Director" of the Learning Technology and Innovation team at Thompson Rivers University.
One thing I found interesting, was that in B.C. they have very strict privacy laws. There should be a consent form, letting students know they're data is being collect, but Brian says you're supposed to explain what is happening to the data, but what he says is interesting, is "who knows" what's happening to it! And then the screen went BLACK! Did Google kick Brian off our hangout? Hmmmm...veryyyyy interesting....
Brian then goes on to talk about the Big Five and how the main problem is that they have no ethics. That everyday, something new shows up in the news about what these companies are doing, they'll deny it, and then a few weeks later it will turn out it was true! I agree with Brian when he said that one of the scariest things was that we just don't know what these companies are doing and the vastness of how much we don't know is alarming.
He then gives the example that Facebook is trying to developing these sort of mind reading technologies, like if you think of something, then it will pop up on your phone! I do not feel great about that! What's the point? It's like witchcraft!
The next example that came up was the idea of Smart Toilets. What many think is that it's for comfort, which is what it is, but they are also promising that it will analyze your stool and urine samples, with the possibility of catching colon cancer or other illnesses earlier to save lives. But then Brian references that we have to think about where this data could go: like our insurance companies. Could our premiums go up if they find out we ate pizza at 2am? Who knows!
But Allan then brought up an interesting counterpoint-if these companies are transparent, do we as the public even have the capability to understand what they tell us.
In my opinion, all of this is so scary and also so absurd. There are so many problems in our country, and the world, that sometimes I think man if these people, who clearly are brilliant, could but their evil powers to good use, could we maybe save the world?
When I say it's absurd too, I mean, why do we need all of this cutting-edge technology. Truly. Who cares? I've posed this question to my students, and while they all seem very alarmed, it kind of relates back to what Allan mentioned earlier about a 'creepy' acceptance we've fallen into.
One article we came across when discussing with my students, brought up the new Smart Barbie technologies. Mattel put out this doll that listens to children using voice recognition technology. While there are many concerns, one is that the doll could easily manipulate and take advantage of children. Another is that, if it's always on, where does the information it collects go (the age old question it seems). And another concern is if it's recording, what if it records more than what serves its intended purpose, like if a parent in the next room is giving out personal information, like a credit card number, and the Smart Barbie collects this information.
Why does there need to be this doll? Children already suffer from lack of creativity and have a skewed perception of boredom, that they need more time for play and less for tech.
After concluding our Hangout with Brian, our next order of business was to explore the digital coffee shop: Arganee and consider how to approach digital alchemist who have begun to find their way into the light. After looking at the three clips, I obviously selected the telekinetic coffee shop one, as I love coffee and I love books. If I could fit a legit library into my house, complete with rolling ladder, I would! I made two clips: one where books came flying off the shelves with the caption "What if Facebook didn't sell our data?" and the second was a gif of a girl using her powers to throw the barista up the wall-aka Facebook's response to our suggestion. I tried to upload each here but for some reason it wouldn't work! You can find them on Gify!
I also was fortunate enough to spend time getting to know Luna Paragorus, who's love of books is both her strength and her weakness! I'm very much looking forward to getting to know her better!
This is a great summary and reflection of your work this week. We look forward to seeing how you and Luna work together.
ReplyDeleteSo likely we cannot do much about the way big companies and their maybe evil powers. I say maybe because we just don't know always if data collection is purely for the dark purposes. Is it possible to imagine where the capabilities Smart Barbie has is really to help her converse better? Just because someone has suggested that she could be used for spying, does it mean she is?
Too bad the giphy was not being helpful ni class; I'd really like to see what you were able to do, but hopefully you understand how it works. There are ways with the same tool to mix and match images and other gifs into one. You will be asked to produce some for your project, and if giphy fails again, try one of the other tools we found while in class.
Where is the link to Luna's character sheet? Does she have an image? We will be doing more character development over the next 2 weeks.