In this essay, I will give an overview of Donald A. Norman's thoughts about simple and difficult technology what he describes in his book Living with Complexity. He portrays different partnerships between users and designers and I will reply to this topic with the approach based on creativity. It means that creative people can do great design when they are in convenient environment. This isn't the only way of approaching this interesting topic but is one of them.
At first, I must say that the book is written in a fun and fluent way and it is easy to read. The more so, the expression ubiquitous computing itself is complicated enough. The author says that questions that are most frequently asked from him, is Why is our technology so complex?, Why can't things be simpler? He explains that there is a big difference between complexity and complicated. I find the author's illustration of these words clever - the word complexity describes the state of world, the word complicated describes a state of mind.
Designers have to produce things that tame complexity (Norman, 2011). Every element of a design, every move that a designer makes, has a variety of potential consequences (Carroll 2000). Thereby Norman (2011) doesn't think that world should be simpler and sees complexity as good thing, but he is saying that devices can and should be designed for elegant handling of the irreducible complexity of modern life.
There is a widely spread guess about new technology - people tend to think the more complicated design, the better it is. In fact, the truth is the other way round. What we are seeing at the moment is the emergence of a new information and technology environment with a large number of technical gadgets surrounding us daily. The problem isn't about technical gadgets alone, but the difficult design of easy things.
For example, the cover of the book has salt and pepper shakers on it. It seems so elementary which one is which, but it isn't. According to Norman, people around the world split 50/50 on the question. There are several similar examples which are not from that book, but from the life around us. For example, cooking range with its difficult drawings on the buttons which should help to use the machine instead of confusing. Also, alarm clock built in mobile phone. It should be quite difficult task to find a consumer who manages the system right a way without doing hard thinking with his brain, especially a bit older people.
This doesn't mean that there shouldn't be “difficult” designs. I'll bring out the example of airplane cockpit, given in Norman's book. It is complex in different ways but all this stuff is required to control the plane safely. Design analysis is always indeterminate, because design changes the world within which people act and experience (Carroll, 2000).
Machines have rules they follow. They are designed and programmed by people. As a result, they are often designed by technically trained people who are far more concerned about the welfare of their machines than the welfare of the people who will use them, says Norman.
All this leads me to thinking of how could the things that should be simple, designed simple? One is clear, there are designers today and will be tomorrow to create new products. Clearly the solution is in one simple word – creativity.
Two years ago there was a project in Estonia which was called the Year of Innovation. The biggest goal of the people behind the Year of Innovation was for innovation to become a natural part of our lives, both now and in the future, with 2009 creating a new level in the way we think and act. As the project was about new ideas, creative thinking and acting differently, I'll focus on creative thinking and making life better though it.
Some people may think that creativity is something one is able to use only in architecture, music or art. But it is usable in all the areas of life and actually it is even a must to use it. It is important to use it while doing accounting work, being a cleaner or carpenter. Creativity is needed in all areas of life.
Creativity can be defined in different ways, but according to Kolk (2005) it always contains:
* Action (to create something – creativity) – all the feelings felt during the process: conflicts, problems, information search, thinking, feeling that dead end is received because there is no solution and then new solution will come unexpectedly.
* Result, outcome – something which is created, made up – creation. New idea, product, process, etc.
Creativity is human ability to find some new ways to improve old techniques or habits or ways of solving the problems. Hanson (2006) finds that we don't need more suggestion boxes or more street mimes to fill people with a spirit of creativity. We instead need to better manage the flood of ideas we already have and to reward managers for actually executing them.
Theorist say that creativity is something that every person has. Every one can be creative in the area one really like and what inspires for the bigger achievements. There are hundreds of not traditional ways how to react to the traditions and structures which are full of all kind of rules, orders and veto’s.
More choices and competent of making choices designer has, the happier he/she is. More motivated one will be to find the solutions to the problems. There are no hard problems. The key question is HOW to solve the problem not IF it is possible to solve it.
Creative thinking helps to find solution
When people are up against the problems then first should start analyzing the situation to map the area of the problem. But usually this analyzing part is more from negative side not finding totally new ways or creating more opportunities.
While solving problems one should be critical and creative at the same time. If one is too critical then nothing good may happen, but if one is too creative then problem may not be solved. First information should be analyzed and according to that generate some basic ideas, then choose between the ideas, put the idea into practise and last but not least evaluate the result of the solution. Evaluation is important because if one is not estimating the solution, then one may be not learn from the mistakes that may occur. Usually people tend to act whether creatively or critically, but not equally both ways at the same time. Most of them prefer one or another.
Creative people are very curious about things going on around them. They would like to know Why?. And these why-questions are part of their positive attitude for life. If someone asks them “Why do you want to know it?” then creative thinking person has already answer for that: “Because I don’t know it yet”. Knowledge will make this person happy and will make premises to be even more creative in the future, because best ideas will come from the rich mind.
The ideas of creative people can be at first very weird and strange, but when more time pass the better the idea will seem. And therefore creative people need to have ability to flexibly evaluate the solutions and ideas. Very many today used tools didn’t get positive evaluation when they first created. But today everybody use them (e.g computers).
Intelligence and creativeness are directly related with stimulation and quality of the brain. Often one notices something in the environment that needs to be changed. To have better and braver ideas in the future one needs to put some ideas into practise. Carroll (2005) says that there is a tendency to think of the indeterminacy of technology development in positive terms: the world is getting better, albeit sometimes in ways we didn’t expect.
Norman (2011) says that life can be complex but we can learn to cope. Sometimes it is the technologies that provide the complexities; sometimes even simple technologies yield complexity when they come in too many sizes, shapes, and forms. And sometimes it is technology that will rescue from complexity. We need just when we need it.
References:
Carroll, J. 2000. Five Reasons for Scenario-Based Design
London: The MIT Press
Kolk, L. 2005. Loovus – ettevõtte arengu võti
Tallinn: Äripäeva Kirjastuse AS
Hanson, R. 2006. The Myth of Creativity. Bloomberg Businessweek
Retrieved from: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_27/b3991115.htm
Monday, May 2, 2011
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Contribution and review
My role with Gert in the project was to write the story, keep the work in line with it and work with others to create a coherent campaign - we were the Story Managers. We brainstormed many possible scenarios (with some other team members) and came up with few original ideas. At least we thought so. For example, at the beginning we had the idea to create an ironic story about estonians and finnish people in the 90's.
Threaded idea was to have a battle for plastic bags that were quite ordinary "products" for finnish at this time but not for estonians. The game also included the fight for different products which were also very rare for estonians. For example, who gets more bananas or bubble gum in the plastic bag, is the winner.
Later, when we started to program the game, it came out that the idea was not so easy to do. Therefore we had to come up with a simpler and more doable scenario. Then we invented the character called Rocco who started to fight with the cafeterias and its owners in his small hometown.
Considering the whole project I liked best the management of the group that allowed to share the roles. This way everybody could contribute in the part of the campaign they had most skills.
Unfortunately we were too late with finishing our work and we can not say that we are good time managers, but I was nicely surprised by the spirit of the team members. For example, during the last week (mostly) programmers spent their nights and days building the game and facing different problems, thereby enjoying the whole process.
At the end, we managed to finish the game but reviewing the blue team's game, I somehow wasnt able to open their game. I was using 1.6.5 stable version, but didn't success. In such cases it would be great to have some more knowledge in technics and programming.
Though, The Battle of Wesnoth game was a great experience, because I didn't know about such kind of OS-based games.
Threaded idea was to have a battle for plastic bags that were quite ordinary "products" for finnish at this time but not for estonians. The game also included the fight for different products which were also very rare for estonians. For example, who gets more bananas or bubble gum in the plastic bag, is the winner.
Later, when we started to program the game, it came out that the idea was not so easy to do. Therefore we had to come up with a simpler and more doable scenario. Then we invented the character called Rocco who started to fight with the cafeterias and its owners in his small hometown.
Considering the whole project I liked best the management of the group that allowed to share the roles. This way everybody could contribute in the part of the campaign they had most skills.
Unfortunately we were too late with finishing our work and we can not say that we are good time managers, but I was nicely surprised by the spirit of the team members. For example, during the last week (mostly) programmers spent their nights and days building the game and facing different problems, thereby enjoying the whole process.
At the end, we managed to finish the game but reviewing the blue team's game, I somehow wasnt able to open their game. I was using 1.6.5 stable version, but didn't success. In such cases it would be great to have some more knowledge in technics and programming.
Though, The Battle of Wesnoth game was a great experience, because I didn't know about such kind of OS-based games.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow is a Canadian blogger and journalist, science fiction author, activist and the co-editor of Boing Boing. Doctorow believes that the laws of copyright are too strict. He finds that digital media rules should be much more lightened and the creation (and files) should be available for everybody for no cost. He has this opinion as far as nobody will earn money with other author's product without having the copyright.
He is against to digital rights management, that is used by many companies such as Sony, Apple and Microsoft. He doesnt find it right that digital rights technologies try to control the user and forbidding copying (for individual use).
I really like the way he thinks of copyright. He is not prohibiting the use of his works and he has found his business model, by earning money by selling his books and articles, also performing by giving speeches and sharing his knowledge, etc.
He is against to digital rights management, that is used by many companies such as Sony, Apple and Microsoft. He doesnt find it right that digital rights technologies try to control the user and forbidding copying (for individual use).
I really like the way he thinks of copyright. He is not prohibiting the use of his works and he has found his business model, by earning money by selling his books and articles, also performing by giving speeches and sharing his knowledge, etc.
IT companies using Open Source as a part of their business strategy
There is one Estonian company that is made on PHP and MYSQL platforms - Edicy. Therefore it is not the best example but still half of the business model is using open source as a part of their business strategy. Edicy was created in order to provide businesses and individuals a service to create professional websites easilly and without any technical knowledge. For example, one can create individual site really fast by using simple tools provided.
Better example of the open source business model is Joomla that uses entirely open source model in their business. Joomla enables to build websites on OS solution and it is free to use for everyone - therefore it has become one of the most popular sites sharing the software for websites.
And then Red Hat that is world's leading open source provider. The company truly believes that open source creates better software. And when everyone collaborates, the best technology wins, they say. Additionally to the above mentioned leading OS provider, Red Hat is also the world's most trusted provider of Linux.
Better example of the open source business model is Joomla that uses entirely open source model in their business. Joomla enables to build websites on OS solution and it is free to use for everyone - therefore it has become one of the most popular sites sharing the software for websites.
And then Red Hat that is world's leading open source provider. The company truly believes that open source creates better software. And when everyone collaborates, the best technology wins, they say. Additionally to the above mentioned leading OS provider, Red Hat is also the world's most trusted provider of Linux.
Copyleft
Copyleft can be defined as the opposite to copyright. When copyright protects author's creation, then copyleft has the purpose to maintain the freedom to use, spread and modify the creation by other people. The first and most spread copyleft licence is GNU GPL that holds the right to protect the user.
Copyleft licences give usually the user rights to research, use, copy, modify, share and distribute.
Example of weak copyleft is Mozilla Public License that is a free and open source software licence (for different Mozilla softwares: Application Suite, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc). Example of the strong copyleft is the mentioned GNU GPL - it means that the original author has the most of the rights to the creation.
Copyleft licences give usually the user rights to research, use, copy, modify, share and distribute.
Example of weak copyleft is Mozilla Public License that is a free and open source software licence (for different Mozilla softwares: Application Suite, Firefox, Thunderbird, etc). Example of the strong copyleft is the mentioned GNU GPL - it means that the original author has the most of the rights to the creation.
Monday, February 1, 2010
FSF vs OSI and Battle for Wesnoth
FSF vs OSI
The biggest difference between the terms Open Source Initiation and Free Software Foundation is the point of view, but both are created for free use. That means a possibility to develop and create, instead of using a software as a basic help for creating something.
The meaning of the term 'free software' may be a little misleading, because there is nothing to do with money. Actually it is a game of words, meaning a software that allows more freedom for its user. Therefore, the better word for the term would be 'freedom' instead of 'free'.
Open Source, therefore, is a movement - like an expansion for the term FS. It means that the main accent isn't on the freedom, but the possibility to improve and develope the code by having an overview and access of the source code.
There is still lots of confusion between FSF and OSI, as both still seem to refer to the same principles. I differ them this way: 'free software' is all about the freedom user gets in his moves, 'open source' is more methodological and practical way of improving the code.
Battle for Wesnoth
I don't consider a free software game 'Battle for Wesnoth' an easy one, because I am not familiar with computer games. Though, the assignment of making a campaign as a groupwork is challenging, because it gives a real practical touch of FS game.
The logic of the game is to conquer the enemies, thereby, a player has time to think through his moves - time isn't counting. The game is more on strategical thinking than just 'being a first to finish'.
What I like about the game, a user can create a game of his own. One can create a whole new storyline, units, weapons, characteristics, etc. At the same time, the main logic goes the same with other video games: a player gets points by occupying and also extra points by some certain action are available.
As I mentioned before, I'm not a fan of computer games, I definately find strategical games more interesting than games that are on time and where only thing that matters is shooting or racing.
The biggest difference between the terms Open Source Initiation and Free Software Foundation is the point of view, but both are created for free use. That means a possibility to develop and create, instead of using a software as a basic help for creating something.
The meaning of the term 'free software' may be a little misleading, because there is nothing to do with money. Actually it is a game of words, meaning a software that allows more freedom for its user. Therefore, the better word for the term would be 'freedom' instead of 'free'.
Open Source, therefore, is a movement - like an expansion for the term FS. It means that the main accent isn't on the freedom, but the possibility to improve and develope the code by having an overview and access of the source code.
There is still lots of confusion between FSF and OSI, as both still seem to refer to the same principles. I differ them this way: 'free software' is all about the freedom user gets in his moves, 'open source' is more methodological and practical way of improving the code.
Battle for Wesnoth
I don't consider a free software game 'Battle for Wesnoth' an easy one, because I am not familiar with computer games. Though, the assignment of making a campaign as a groupwork is challenging, because it gives a real practical touch of FS game.
The logic of the game is to conquer the enemies, thereby, a player has time to think through his moves - time isn't counting. The game is more on strategical thinking than just 'being a first to finish'.
What I like about the game, a user can create a game of his own. One can create a whole new storyline, units, weapons, characteristics, etc. At the same time, the main logic goes the same with other video games: a player gets points by occupying and also extra points by some certain action are available.
As I mentioned before, I'm not a fan of computer games, I definately find strategical games more interesting than games that are on time and where only thing that matters is shooting or racing.
Friday, December 18, 2009
E&L: week10: The Digital Enforcement
The law and rules are the most difficult part of the wide web. A great number of big enterprises are trying to figure out how to protect their products from spreading in Internet. And it seems a bit like a fight with windmills. The opportunities the digital world is offering, are greater than the monitoring.
How can companies pretect themselves from massive copying? It seems, that instead of enforcing the rules that are not followed, it is easier to go with the flow and be innovative somehow. I am not sure if the (copying) restrictions are justified anymore, because it is so easy to get the products in easier way without paying for them. And I'm quite sure that many people doesn't even understand at all that they are doing soething wrong. Therefore - a company should have some new way of protecting themselves at the very beginning.
How can companies pretect themselves from massive copying? It seems, that instead of enforcing the rules that are not followed, it is easier to go with the flow and be innovative somehow. I am not sure if the (copying) restrictions are justified anymore, because it is so easy to get the products in easier way without paying for them. And I'm quite sure that many people doesn't even understand at all that they are doing soething wrong. Therefore - a company should have some new way of protecting themselves at the very beginning.
E&L: week11: The Uneasy Alliance: Free Software vs Open Source
For me, the difference between free software and open-source software is the same as described in the wiki introduction: same idea, different ways. I understand it as As Richard Stallman puts it: 'Open source is a development methodology, free software is a social movement.'
Review: Comments and ethics
As my coursemates have covered many interesting themes, I decided to choose the subject that intersests me most. This is actually 'Social Media, Viral Marketing and Crowdsourcing' (our team's subject) but it combines good with 'Social data for fun: ethic and privacy concerns on Facebook apps', 'Legal and Ethical problems with clips on YouTube' and 'Comments and ethics'. As the last is also connected with my every day job, I'll focus on that.
As there were only two people in the group, the amount of text is a bit smaller. But this way there was nothing supefluos and all I found was relevant and interesting. I'm definately coming back to the reference list/article collection.
Commenting in internet has lately become a big topic. Though the most known court-case about commenting - Delfi vs Leedo - started already in 2006, it had a progress during this year. The problem is: who is responsible for content of (anonymous) comments. Is it the commentator or the site that allows the comments? From this year Delfi has hired few moderators whose job is everything else but easy. Though it might seem like a easy one. The line between acceptable comment and not acceptable comment is thin. Besides that, people can be really agressive towards them when they have removed some (unwanted) comment.
This autumn 4 Estonian media companies (Eesti Ekspress, Delfi, Maaleht, EPL) came up with a campaigne "Ära sigatse" with slogan: 'Don't throw thoughtless comments - there is a person on the other side of screen'. Time will show, if this project justifies itself. Let's hope it does, because even now it can be said that the amount of "bad" comments is decreased. One interesting fact, though: comparing the comments to daily news articles and entertainment news articles, there's a concrete difference, as daynews get more sensible comments than the tabloids where the amount of thoughtless comments is bigger.
Both themes - the campaigne and courte case - are (slightly) covered in the groupwork. But what could have been done different/better? I didn't see any conclusion and disbutation on subject 'what could be done to improve the situation?' For example, I would have expected some discussion about anonymous and non-anonymous comments and a little bit more reasoned structure.
Nevertheless, the theme is interesting and the work got me again thinking of the ethical part of the comments.
As there were only two people in the group, the amount of text is a bit smaller. But this way there was nothing supefluos and all I found was relevant and interesting. I'm definately coming back to the reference list/article collection.
Commenting in internet has lately become a big topic. Though the most known court-case about commenting - Delfi vs Leedo - started already in 2006, it had a progress during this year. The problem is: who is responsible for content of (anonymous) comments. Is it the commentator or the site that allows the comments? From this year Delfi has hired few moderators whose job is everything else but easy. Though it might seem like a easy one. The line between acceptable comment and not acceptable comment is thin. Besides that, people can be really agressive towards them when they have removed some (unwanted) comment.
This autumn 4 Estonian media companies (Eesti Ekspress, Delfi, Maaleht, EPL) came up with a campaigne "Ära sigatse" with slogan: 'Don't throw thoughtless comments - there is a person on the other side of screen'. Time will show, if this project justifies itself. Let's hope it does, because even now it can be said that the amount of "bad" comments is decreased. One interesting fact, though: comparing the comments to daily news articles and entertainment news articles, there's a concrete difference, as daynews get more sensible comments than the tabloids where the amount of thoughtless comments is bigger.
Both themes - the campaigne and courte case - are (slightly) covered in the groupwork. But what could have been done different/better? I didn't see any conclusion and disbutation on subject 'what could be done to improve the situation?' For example, I would have expected some discussion about anonymous and non-anonymous comments and a little bit more reasoned structure.
Nevertheless, the theme is interesting and the work got me again thinking of the ethical part of the comments.
E&L: week7: The Author vs the Information Society
Brian Martin discusses in the 3rd chapter of his book Ínformation Liberation' the problems with Intellectual Property. According to Martin, challenging intellectual property must involve the development of methods to support creative individuals.
His strategies for improving: Change thinking; Expose the costs; Reproduce protected work; Openly refuse to cooperate with intellectual property; Promote non-owned information; Develop principles for crediting intellectual work.
I agree that the way of thinking has much power and influence to everything - including framing are thoughts in legislation.
Exposing the costs is in the interest of reducing the legitimacy of the world intellectual property system.
Reproduce protected work - I think this is the hardest part. Ofcourse it is not fair to reproduce smb's work freely but it would be really difficult to set up a penalty-system. Martin compares illegal copying with theft. There are so much information around us, so it is quite hard to "stay clean". Therefore I like Martin's idea to hold as much information as possible free by sharing it wisely.
I definately agree to the strategy 'Openly refuse to cooperate with intellectual property'. Being open-minded in whatever field helps to understand the rules better and to stick to them.
His strategies for improving: Change thinking; Expose the costs; Reproduce protected work; Openly refuse to cooperate with intellectual property; Promote non-owned information; Develop principles for crediting intellectual work.
I agree that the way of thinking has much power and influence to everything - including framing are thoughts in legislation.
Exposing the costs is in the interest of reducing the legitimacy of the world intellectual property system.
Reproduce protected work - I think this is the hardest part. Ofcourse it is not fair to reproduce smb's work freely but it would be really difficult to set up a penalty-system. Martin compares illegal copying with theft. There are so much information around us, so it is quite hard to "stay clean". Therefore I like Martin's idea to hold as much information as possible free by sharing it wisely.
I definately agree to the strategy 'Openly refuse to cooperate with intellectual property'. Being open-minded in whatever field helps to understand the rules better and to stick to them.
E&L: week5: Different People, Digital World
This is the place where we can say that Internet has made life better. At least for minority groups. In Internet everybody is equal and the "side-effects" cant influence the person to talk/collaborate to. Also, people with disabilities have equal chance in Internet to come with some good idea as every other.
Unfortunately, I can't come with some bright example of minority group could use the Internet to reduce prejudice an alienation.
Unfortunately, I can't come with some bright example of minority group could use the Internet to reduce prejudice an alienation.
E&L: week6: Social Engineering in Social Networks
Social engineers on internet field know how to take advantgae of people's weakness and natural state of mind. It is very easy to manipulate with people, because there is not so much paranoia that could prevent the frauds.
Though I find more interesting the cases of social engineering without technology, the first frauds that come in to my mind are manipulations that are connected with technology. It could be done very easilly. "Social engineer" just needs to know his/her victim (it is enough to know at least the age). The scheme is similar to thiefs. For "successful" criminal action they get to know the backround. Same thing is with social engineering. For example - a call for some elder lady who is being told that the caller is from the bank. He/she needs her bank account data to assure that also next retired pay will be transfered to the account.
How to avoid social engineering attempts? If people are familiar with some of these schemes they can be aware of the possibility of unpredictable frauds. A lot of conciosness can be gained through media.
Though I find more interesting the cases of social engineering without technology, the first frauds that come in to my mind are manipulations that are connected with technology. It could be done very easilly. "Social engineer" just needs to know his/her victim (it is enough to know at least the age). The scheme is similar to thiefs. For "successful" criminal action they get to know the backround. Same thing is with social engineering. For example - a call for some elder lady who is being told that the caller is from the bank. He/she needs her bank account data to assure that also next retired pay will be transfered to the account.
How to avoid social engineering attempts? If people are familiar with some of these schemes they can be aware of the possibility of unpredictable frauds. A lot of conciosness can be gained through media.
E&L: week6: From Hacktivism to Cyberwar
In August 2009 the fast-growing messaging service Twitter was attacked. Because of the attack the site was shut down for half the day.
"Twitter said later in its status blog that it was "defending against a denial-of-service attack," in which hackers command scores of computers to a single site at the same time, preventing legitimate traffic from getting through." At the same time Facebook also experienced problems.
I remember the live feed afterwards, where many people were talking about the shut down and asking: what has happened? (Though it didnt last very long.)
"Twitter said later in its status blog that it was "defending against a denial-of-service attack," in which hackers command scores of computers to a single site at the same time, preventing legitimate traffic from getting through." At the same time Facebook also experienced problems.
I remember the live feed afterwards, where many people were talking about the shut down and asking: what has happened? (Though it didnt last very long.)
E&L: week5: hacker ethic found in today's world
Hacker ethic found in today's world - I think it still is there, but not as much than before (when the sky was bluer and grass greener :). It is hard to predict what will happen in the future, because the amount of (online)information sharing has powerfully increased. Therefore I think the hacker ethic is rather decreasing. The more people dealing with hacktivism, the less the ethical rules are followed.
E&L: week5: The Hacker Ethic in a Networked World
For a start, I had no clue that hackers use among themselves slang for fun and social communication. Some of them were predictable, some not. I found more interesting the non-abbreviaton terms that are less technical. For example: dancing frog, angry fruit salad. Also drunk mouse syndrome that happens to everyone once in while. If the mouse cursor on the screen moves randomly, it can be corrected by replugging the mouse. I found out another recommended fix for optical mice: to rotate the mouse pad 90 degrees.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
E&L: week4: Digital Divide
According to EMOR's 2008. year's internet survey, the computer and internet usage of the inhabitants of Estonia and the existence of a computer and internet connection in households has raised to 806 000 people in age 6-74.
The gap between estonian urban and rural regions isn't big. Though, there are families that still dream about having computer in their household. According to the survey every 3rd family couldn't afford buying a computer in 2008. The survey also reveals that homecomputer is connected with internet in 316 000 families.
As most most of Estonia is covered with wireless internet connection, internet is available almost everywhere. Definetly the availibilty of internet connection in bigger cities is not equal to the situation in smaller cities, but if you need it, you definately find it quickly.
The gap between estonian urban and rural regions isn't big. Though, there are families that still dream about having computer in their household. According to the survey every 3rd family couldn't afford buying a computer in 2008. The survey also reveals that homecomputer is connected with internet in 316 000 families.
As most most of Estonia is covered with wireless internet connection, internet is available almost everywhere. Definetly the availibilty of internet connection in bigger cities is not equal to the situation in smaller cities, but if you need it, you definately find it quickly.
E&L: week3: Internet Frauds
The frauds take place in internet as they do in "real" life. Media writes often about people who have been deceived with the real estate transactions, travel packages and so on, there are many examples. It would be naive to believe that there are no scams in internet, because virtually they are even more easy to carry out.
Some scam examples from recent past:
Young boys sent an e-mail to Hansapank's clients, asking to renew their codecard's numbercombinations. The e-mail looked like an official request from the bank and there was some people who couldn't see the hazard behind the request. Fortunately the word of scam spread fast and the problem was solved quickly and the boys got caught.
Besides banking there are big problems in e-shopping era. I remember the big scam from last year's Beijing Olympic Games, when dozens of people ordered tickets from the website www.beijing-tickets2008.com (there were few more). Those people paid money, but, of course, didn't get any tickets.
About the scambaiting website ScamBusters.org ... I don't see there any ethical issue, actually there can be found many amusing things. But one thing I find a little ironic is that after few seconds an over-screen request appears to my face, asking to subscribe. Although the site wants to share knowledge how to prevent getting into scam scheme, they suddenly want a user to give them name and e-mail address - just after few second from opening their portal.
Some scam examples from recent past:
Young boys sent an e-mail to Hansapank's clients, asking to renew their codecard's numbercombinations. The e-mail looked like an official request from the bank and there was some people who couldn't see the hazard behind the request. Fortunately the word of scam spread fast and the problem was solved quickly and the boys got caught.
Besides banking there are big problems in e-shopping era. I remember the big scam from last year's Beijing Olympic Games, when dozens of people ordered tickets from the website www.beijing-tickets2008.com (there were few more). Those people paid money, but, of course, didn't get any tickets.
About the scambaiting website ScamBusters.org ... I don't see there any ethical issue, actually there can be found many amusing things. But one thing I find a little ironic is that after few seconds an over-screen request appears to my face, asking to subscribe. Although the site wants to share knowledge how to prevent getting into scam scheme, they suddenly want a user to give them name and e-mail address - just after few second from opening their portal.
E&L: week3: Inside Echelon
Echelon is over 50 years old international global surveillance system that preserves many secrets which can affect the global community one or the other way.
Reading Duncan Campbell's article about Echelon got me thinking of powerful infotechnological (surveillance) systems, because actually no form of communication can be kept secret. (Unless you don't write a letter to yourself and hold it in locker, but then again it is not communication with the other part but more like thinking to youself.) In other words - in virtual world there is no absolute privacy.
Echelon system has been improved in time, but its core has remained. The collected information should prevent bigger threats and dangers in world. Still there have been major disasters (WTC, etc), but at same time we don't know what kind of catastrophes have been prevented so far.
Reading Duncan Campbell's article about Echelon got me thinking of powerful infotechnological (surveillance) systems, because actually no form of communication can be kept secret. (Unless you don't write a letter to yourself and hold it in locker, but then again it is not communication with the other part but more like thinking to youself.) In other words - in virtual world there is no absolute privacy.
Echelon system has been improved in time, but its core has remained. The collected information should prevent bigger threats and dangers in world. Still there have been major disasters (WTC, etc), but at same time we don't know what kind of catastrophes have been prevented so far.
E&L: week2: Testing a blocking software
Though it is an interesting task to download and test one blocking software, I tend to hesitate a bit. I browsed different softwares on the web and found out that the software may come with few side-effects. Such as blocking unwanted stuff and changing browser's settings, which would take time and patience to reset :) Plus the technical problems that were mentioned in the lecture.
Though, as the task is intereseting, I try to find some other computer where these side-effects wouldn't do any trouble and try out some of the blocking softwares then.
Though, as the task is intereseting, I try to find some other computer where these side-effects wouldn't do any trouble and try out some of the blocking softwares then.
E&L: week2: Nonmarket production in my field
Thinking of the example of applicability of nonmarket strategies in my field ... The first solution that comes in my mind is blogging. Being half-time journalist I follow the blogs of interesting people I could write about and other people in my field to explore what they have done and what do they think generally.
But what motivates people to blog? Blogs are the best way to share peer information and knowledge and get the backfeed. Most of what these people write about in blog is somehow related to their work. And they'll get their salary doing their job.
But what motivates people to blog? Blogs are the best way to share peer information and knowledge and get the backfeed. Most of what these people write about in blog is somehow related to their work. And they'll get their salary doing their job.
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