Ask Slashdot: The Hazards of Developing the Internet 143
mog asks:
"I am currently starting a large research paper
for my senior High School English class, and
have chosen the topic "The Hazards of the Internet."
Obviously this is intended to mean the dangers of the
internet, but I have chosen to interpret it differently.
My interpretation is that of the dangers encountered upon
the development of the internet.
I am looking for any information anyone can supply me about
the Intellectual Property issues, Monopolies / OSS movement
issues, and the general issue of standardizing internet
protocols."
Internet Standards Paper (Score:1)
internet standards and how proprietary can lead toward anti-trust and
sap interoperability.
http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~jgoldsch/standards.
hope this and my references will help.
goodluck
-Jason
Re:dangers from my experience (Score:1)
4. Don't try to hotswap processors, memory, and cards that aren't supposed to be hotswapped. Even if you're bored.
5. Don't touch circuit boards or connectors with metal objects when the system is turned on (altough abusing the video card will result in pretty displays).
6. Make sure the power switch is really attached to what you think it is before pressing it.
7. Mice and other objects with cables should not be hung from ceiling fans unless you like missiles flying at you. (Yes, this really happened in my computer class while the teacher wasn't looking)
Thinking too much (Score:3)
This question is interesting for the fact that you're writing a "Hazards of the Internet" paper at all. What kind of in-class material was taught before you were given the assignment (if any)? I can just *hear* what 99% of the teachers and administrators at my catholic high school would have had to say about the internet...
Also interesting, I suppose, will be all the otehr student's answers to this -- it'd be neat to see how many of them buy into the mass media's "internet is evil" stereotype and talk exclusively about Columbine/Duke Nukem/Porn/Nazi Web Sites/etc. After all, this is the generation who should know better, having had the net around during their formative years.
----
Re:monopolies cannot etc. (Score:1)
freenet (Score:1)
Well, if your looking for info on freedom from censorship then you might be interested in the freenet project... the web site is at
http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/~iic/4yp/ [slashdot.org]
Main hazard - government interference (Score:1)
The main hazard to the internet in my humble opinion is that governments want to censor and regulate it to death. Just ask an Australian user.
I hope that by now the internet has sufficient momentum behind it for people to develop protocols and communications networks that reduce the ability for governments or corporations to control our communications. But I ain't sure.
Vik
One reference to the incident (Score:1)
Looks like it was 1932. In his book Declarations of Independence: Cross-Examining American Ideology, Howard Zinn recounts the story as follows:
Focus on one thing (Score:3)
I would focus on the pseudo-monopoly held by NSI and its ramifications for internet development. This story certainly has the juicy details to make for an interesting paper.
While open-source software has played a role in developing the net (TCP/IP, BIND, Sendmail, etc), I don't think the connection is particularly interesting in itself. In the early days of the internet, the open/closed source debate wasn't as apparent as it is now.
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Actually, if you ask something on /. you will usually get quite a few links to raw data, as well as links to several different views on the matter. It's really a great place to start digging.
Re:Rewrite your paper (Score:1)
Re:I did something a lot like that last schoolyear (Score:1)
This must be sarcasm, right? Or do you really think the way to get an education is to read web bulletin boards!?
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
About the idea that this somehow prevent people from forming their own opinion (while studying in a library somehow doesn't), remember the old description of Usenet: "Usenet is great! Ask a question on Usenet, and within five minutes yuu will have at least three answers. Unfortunately, all three will be different."
Re:I did something a lot like that last schoolyear (Score:1)
I think he was referring to going out and doing your own scratching beneath the surface, instead of just taking in and believing what they feed you in school.
Really, which is worse? the biased opinion of the education system or the biased opinion of thousands of
Re:heh heh heh (Score:1)
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAAHAHHAHA Careful, I am certain you could ask the admins of Amazon.com and find out people searched for the foreign translation.
Made my day anyway...
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Of course
one resource (Score:1)
Katie Hafner, Matthew Lyon
Touchstone Books
reprint 1998
It should be in your public library and it even has a colon in the title which should look great in your bibliography.
Hope it helps.
monopoly (Score:1)
Standards and standard wars (Score:1)
You can find more information on the associated website: http://www.inforules.com [inforules.com].
Re:Integration of the Internet and Everyday Life (Score:1)
classical example: Java (Score:3)
A few month ago news.com had a nice story called "Microsoft's Holy War on Java" summarizing what happened. That alone should be enough for a sizable paper.
Then there's also DHTML and the much-hyped XML. Both of them allow a certain company to proprierarize standards.
As for intellectual property and stuff, you can write about the domain name rules. About a month ago there was a story on
You could also write about spam...
hope that helps
To Cliff or mog (Score:1)
I would like to see the final results of the paper. I am not sure how you feel about throwing your writing to the sharks that occupy this arena.
But I am curious about which opinion you will take and your personal stand on this issue especially with regard to the reaction of your profs. I got sent to the resident HS psych when I turned in a paper on the death penalty. (For those who are curious, read HL Mencken's view on it, his view was my senior paper thesis.)
I think the slashdot.org readership deserve to view it.
Thanks,
Don
don@bigdon.com
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Write your Paper! Good Luck! (Score:2)
In hindsight, this illustrated to me the vast cultural and intellectual differences between the nerds and the rest of the world. Most ppl do not care about technical issues despite that fact that they are very important when it comes down to the pragmatic issues of implementation. Ignorance of the technical issues allows one to just wave their magic wand to make things better, to make problems disappear. Unfortunately, the problems (as perceive by the masses) will not disappear unless you understand aspects related to implementation.
Hence, to the High School student: Educate the masses! Write your paper! Ignorance is a terrible thing to waste.
I too will be interested in finding how the other students stereotype the internet.
Read Cliff Stoll's "Silicon Snake Oil" (Score:1)
For the the lazy/poor/librarily-challenged, his basic premise is that if we rely on computers too much, we forget about reasoning and other important things like that.
Cliff's earlier book "The Cuckoo's Egg" on his exploits to catch two West Germans trying to break into security systems is also entertaining.
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
I don't believe it. (Score:1)
If you're thinking of a different speech, which one?
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
That kinda thing just gets on my nerves that's all. If s/he doesn't like it here why don't they go elsewhere instead of adding to the noise.
"The general issue of standardizing protocols" (Score:1)
So developing sufficiently complex specifications in an open environment with live business-critical implementors ain't much fun.
-Adam (an HTTP/1.1 server/cache/proxy author)
6.085 Ethics and Law on the Elec. Frontier (Score:1)
Developing the Internet (Score:1)
we were just a handful of people sharing scientific
data. We had absolutely no idea that
it would evolve into a worldwide popular
phenomenon. I still get a kick out of seeing
URLs on the sides of city buses.
heh heh heh (Score:1)
Warning!! Dangerous Web Site Ahead!!!
Other than driving someone bezerk, the only dangers are a little obesity and maybe eye strain.
Kinda reminds one of the 'good ol' days' of book burning, censorship, burning at the stake by the authorities - see 'Fahrenheit 451' (foreign translation 'Centigrade 233') - to save people from 'dangerous ideas'. The authorities hate that, not because it's bad for people, but because it threatens their authority.
Chuck
The Web is mightier than the Bomb!
Ammunition (Score:1)
Paranoid? Yes, but it's the only reason I'm still alive.
cya
Hazards (Score:1)
&c &c &c
I would have emailed a copy of this post but there's something wrong with your email address. You should fix it.
mp
Re:Rewrite your paper (Score:1)
Thermal imaging devices have been been powerful enough "to see through" walls for two decades now.
There is talk of putting black boxes in automobiles similar to what one finds in airplanes, so that vehicle state can be reconstructed after accidents. Some law enforcement agencies have been asking that these boxes serve as tracking devices and also have the ability to shut the vehicle down remotely.
Have you not heard of the proposed "smart card?" It would be a credit card-like device that essentially allows you to carry your financial and medical (an any other) histories around with you at all times. It has been proposed that these things replace cash.
There is a lot of other scary stuff going on if you pay attention to the right channels, and most of these are nonsensational, open sources. ("Open source" is spook speak for non-governmental, non-classified sources: media, industry rumor, etc.)
There is a lot of other stuff that goes on that the media doesn't talk about because the concerned parties don't advertise their actions. Yet, if you listen on the proper channels, and know where to get the info. (again, from open sources, but more obscure titles), you can piece together some of what is going on.
There is so much good intel on this stuff out in the open, that I shudder to think of what is actually being kept under some classification or another.
If you think I'm paranoid, think again. I don't believe in the "New World Order" and "black helicopter" conspiracies, even though it does say "Novus Ordo Seclorum" on the U.S. one dollar bill.
Seclorum, an interesting choice of wording, that.
No, my name isn't Ted Kazinsky, either. I don't think that anyone is really trying to subvert democracy in the U.S. with all these gadgets and the application of technology. Law and Order types are basically lazy, and they want to do their jobs with a minimum of risk and effort, kind of like hackers, but with a slightly different social ethic. Yes, there is a potential for these tools to be abused, just as any tool can be abused, but I believe that it is up to the individual, and the individuals collected in a society, to safeguard their own freedom. I don't bitch and moan about the apparent erosion of freedom in the western world in private, because I agree with Voltaire in that the people usually get the kind of government they deserve.
Re:Read Cliff Stoll's "Silicon Snake Oil" (Score:2)
The social aspects of online communication are, I'm sure, well known to most slashdot folks, but certain things do need to be looked at, or at least thought about. Is it good for people to do all their communicating from behind a terminal rather than in person? Is it really healthy to prefer spending a day on your own browsing the web or MUDding to going out with friends
or walking in the hills?
Myself, I'm fascinated by the difference between people's writing styles on Usenet, IRC, whatever, and the way they are when you meet them in real life. Can the constant switching between online persona and real-life personality affect your
image of who you really are, or does it improve
your self-image by letting you explore aspects that you wouldn't usually explore in reality?
Don't get me wrong here - I love the Internet, I've been around it for the best part of a decade, I wouldn't want to be without it, but sometimes I wonder whether the "digital utopia" that so many are touting is really going to bring that many benefits to society, or whether it is, as Cliff said, snake oil, or smoke and mirrors.
And yup, I know this is supposed to be a technical discussion, but there's more to the Net than just routers and hosts.
Re:I did something a lot like that last schoolyear (Score:1)
teacher, but you can't snowball a newsgroup or
bulletin board. Eventually, after a couple of rounds of posting articles with weak arguments, bad spelling/grammar, and logical errors, and being royally flamed and embarrassed, you learn how to write
- jms
Wrong title (Score:1)
You title certainly will catch some attention from the teacher in light of recent news events, but after they read the paper and find the title has nothing to do with the content I think they will be less impressed.
-josh
Damn the ring! (Score:1)
What happens if we start dropping little "rf bombs" around town? next to every little grocery? They don't have to be tricky devices.. just something with a battery and an antenna, sending out garbage as loud as it can.
(Would using a reception system like GPS units use defeat the bombardment of noise?)
I did something a lot like that last schoolyear (Score:2)
Fall semester last year, I needed more social studies credit to graduate. I added an economics class. It was easy, stupid, and boring, so I quit. Instead, I arranged to do an independant study. The topic: "Law and the Internet" (it had to be social studies credit, remember.)
Over the course of the semester, my day to day thing that I did for the study was basically to read and participate in slashdot discussions and sometimes go roaming around the internet for more info on my specific topics (I didn't even have to give continuous updates. It was a sweet deal)
My topics were encryption, censorship issues (porn/hate sites) and intellectual property. I learned waaaaaaay more just doing the day-to-day slashdot thing than I ever would have in school. I also liked getting several angles on each issue. Yes, I know that people think the
For the study, I wrote 3 or 4 rambling katz style essays and finished off the semester with a powerpoint presentation in our school's brand new forum with a huge video screen and speaker system. The teachers (and principal) loved it - especially the powerpoint presentation. I snuck in some non social studies related stuff by including in the presentation a complete explanation of public key cryptosystems, complete with animated diagrams. And they actually understood it! (I wasn't too heavy on the math) That whole experience was definately cool.
I think you will be plesantly surprised by the whole experience when it is over and done. I was. In my presentation, I'm sure I said things the administration didn't agree with, but they were very impressed anyway, because I made the case pretty well (I presented each of the 3 issues from 2 or 3 sides, and then took a stand and argued it.)
It made a bigger impression than I could have imagined. By the next day, every teacher in the school had heard about it, and were actually congratulating me, even though they weren't there! They have looked at me differently ever since.
So anyway, to wrap up, I say put enough effort into this that it will be something that you can be proud of. It will be fun and your teachers will probably be genuinely surprised and impressed.
What did you end up doing? (Score:1)
So, uh... how did the paper go? :-)
One weakness of Slashdot as a research tool (Score:1)
Folk need to be able to edit their own pieces, at least by posting add-on notes. Sometimes flagrant mistakes just can't be corrected.
Kids who expect other people to do their research? (Score:1)
Open topics, my $0.02, IP rights... (Score:2)
Take for example mp3s and their relatively easy access. What is intellectual property worth when production costs and such dilute the value? In terms of costs of bandwidth, file size, song quality, and the unquantifiable/unqualifiable pleasure or utility, how do you determine value? Economically, digital media is worthless because of oversupply; not that it isn't worth owning, but because there is so much(infinite, really) available that prices drop to download times and internet access issues.
How should/will the music industry respond to that? How should money, profit, distribution, etc be handled? Is it good or bad?
Same issues with movies, like the rogue Phantom Menace CDs floating around. Or video games. Or applications. Is anything truly worth $400 when it only costs some time, a couple of burned CDs, and ISP connection charges? Is Microsoft actually cheating us by charging us $400 for their Office Suite when it costs mere dollars to download? Or are we cheating Microsoft for not paying the price *they* choose to set?
How does market economics and dynamic change, when the Internet can literally make interaction personal and 1:1 as well as nameless, faceless, and substanceless?
Have fun. This is my $0.02
-AS
eavesdropping (Score:1)
You could mention both the security issues involved (passwords out in the open), as well as privacy issues.
You could conclude with a strong argument for the use of encryption, and the release of the export laws involved.
Re:I did something a lot like that last schoolyear (Score:1)
With exceptions for certain people, I never implicitly trust anyone's judgment on any issue. That is a strength and a weakness. It means I like to do in-depth research on issues that matter to me, but I simply cannot listen to a lecture spewed forth by the common educator. And I especially can't read a history book without questioning the validity of most of the analyses made by the authors.
So Slashdot is a real research tool. The issues surrounding software licenses, which appears to be the topic of mog's paper, are increasingly difficult to grasp and resolve. The last thing you want to do is read something from an encyclopedia. Through research, you want to form an opinion that can be backed up solidly with facts.
That kind of research is what people need to learn to do. Educators are supposed to prepare students for the workforce, right? And do we really need people that are no better than robots?
If I were writing this paper, I would try to give the reader a vision of the process of creating the Internet. If I remember correctly, first they just wanted to be able to get military communications from point A to point C even if point B had been destroyed. Once that was working, they started tinkering with doing university-level research. Then they realized they could send personal messages. Each stage led in a natural way to the next stage. It was difficult to see where the project would be in ten years, but all issues somehow worked themselves out. The future of the Internet will be the same.
Now here's the best part--you don't have to agree with me in order to get something meaningful out of what I have to say! Other comments will be posted that say education should be wrapped up in a neat little package or that the Internet, and especially
I for one stick to the opinions that you should never accept forcefed info, that every view can be validly disputed, and that teachers should encourage students to *DOUBT* what they are taught.
Re:Interpretation will get you a bad grade (Score:1)
I'm hoping mog will have the courage to talk to the teacher before starting work on the paper and ask permission to deviate slightly from the intent. He can say he has found a way to potentially interview the very people who were (and are) involved in developing the Internet. He'll be able to do some interesting research that really stimulates thought.
Of course, one problem is that it may be difficult to put this kind of material at a level that non-geeks can understand.
Whatever happens, though, mog, be sure you keep us updated on this. In light of the recent series of articles posted by John Katz regarding persecution of Internet-literate kids in high schools, I think your experience is very pertinent to the current
Re:Starting? Now? (Score:1)
Re:One weakness of Slashdot as a research tool (Score:1)
Hmm? I just looked at your user info, which lists 20 of your recent 39 postings. You might try clicking your user name at the top of the page once you've logged in; that should give you your user info.
In fact I look at my own user info page regularly to find out when people have replied to my comments. Good feature, Rob!
It would be nice if we could edit our own stuff, but Rob seems to have an interesting theory of how
... ByeNow.
dangers from my experience (Score:1)
1. Never cut the long ends off zip ties used for cable bundles until AFTER you hang the cables. Otherwise your arms will not forgive you.
2. Never connect a pair from a T1 with your body. Depending on distance, there can be about 40-50 volts on there.
3. Type 66 punchdown tools. 'nuff said.
-Chris
hmm new topic???? Chronological Displacement? (Score:1)
I guess this is a perfect example of how the Internet is NOT just a global complex entity relying on technology solely, but rather a transport mechanism for human thought. It also shows that posts to Ask
Congo Rats on the graduation, and enjoy your summer.. now where's my coffee?
Re:Thinking too much (Score:1)
>To be sure, the Internet is a hazardous environment, but all but the most reactionary recognize that the rewards outweigh the risks.
Make up your mind man!
Re:I did something a lot like that last schoolyear (Score:1)
Past what is *required* of formal education, I do happen to think that you can learn from many informal sources, including Web-based BBS systems. And what about home-schooling, anyway? How formal does that have to be? (entirely different topic, so I'll leave it be for now)
Re:Read Cliff Stoll's "Silicon Snake Oil" (Score:1)
No. It's not healthy. But often, these people have no "outside" friends to turn to, and either no idea or no willingness to get some. Personally, I spend a lot of time online because I've lost touch with all the folks I used to hang out and play games with.. our gathering place closed, and we had nowhere to meet.. and then the active members all moved. I still have friends, though, and still keep in verbal, visual, and tactile "touch" with people every day. But every night, when I've got nothing better to do, I get online to read and play.
Myself, I'm fascinated by the difference between people's writing styles on Usenet, IRC, whatever, and the way they are when you meet them in real life. Can the constant switching between online persona and real-life personality affect your image of who you really are, or does it improve your self-image by letting you explore aspects that you wouldn't usually explore in reality?
First, you misuse "affect". Of course this stuff affects you; it's almost always a learning experience to log on and look around.
On to the next thing. I've made a personal project of analyzing self-descriptions of MU* players' characters, and the aspects of themselves that pop up in conversation. There's an interesting correlation between the feeling evoked by a description and the feelings evoked by the person's speech and actions; and an even more interesting thing happens when those feelings are dissonant. Attitude plays a big part in this. While I don't have solid numbers or relational charts, I have learned to stay away from most "twinks". The next step would be to meet with more of these people, and especially more of them I've met online already. But before that, I need a car.. this town is only now relearning public transportation.
And yup, I know this is supposed to be a technical discussion, but there's more to the Net than just routers and hosts.
Something I recognized within two months of first getting a connection from a university. Life is out there, if you can see it.. another draw to the folks who feel a need to disconnect from reality. All the serious decades-long studies on the Internet's true effects on mental health are probably just taking off, now that all the hype is getting old.
But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Re:The Internet is nothing new (Score:1)
In which case, having their opinions freely and openly available to be seen for what they are is the focus of debate. If you see someone with a bald head and semi-combatant dress hanging around on a street corner, what will you think? Now go read a website filled with slick, professional graphics; clear, concise, accurate commentary; and highly usable links. Who made the website? What do they look like? What if the skinhead on the street made it?
And what opinions were expressed in that website, anyway?
Can you fear the shameless self-expression made possible by speaking to an audience of strangers who seem like they aren't likely to meet you? Depending on subject, I certainly can. Even with a slick presentation, even with the coolness of it being on the internet (not so cool anymore), there are some things I just don't want some random stranger telling me. I properly admit to that.
"Report Helper" Sites (Score:1)
Each of these issues would certainly help a teacher understand the dangers involved with immoral and illegal actions resulting from the internet.
Interpretation will get you a bad grade (Score:1)
Sorry, but if I were your teacher, I'd claim that you focused on a narrow slice of the whole topic, and I probably wouldn't understand what you were talking about.
Here is a brief outline describing the kind of topics that I would expect your teacher to anticipate. Each topic tries to tie in with what your teacher has heard in relation to it. It may be a book, a movie, a historical event, or a potential threat.
1) Privacy
A) Individual from government
("Enemy of the State")
(Encryption export/control)
B) Individual from business
("Business @ the speed of thought")
C) Individual from other individuals
1. online stalking
("The Net")
(The Diagnosis Murder with an online killer)
2. ease of information retrieval
(Geneology info from the Mormons online)
D) Encrypted Communications
1. Government
(WW 2 and Enigma)
(NSA)
2. Business
(EU claims USAUK steals trade secrets)
3. Individuals
(terrorism and organized crime)
E) Anonymity
(Anonymous re-mailers)
2) Living your life online
A) Online dating
(some movie here)
("You've got mail")
B) Telecommuting
("The Net")
2) Objectionable Material
A) Racist speech
(Hate sites)
B) Dangerous information
1. Bomb making
(Littleton)
2. Chemical, biological, or nuclear weapon
plans
(Aum Shinrikyo and the Tokyo sarin gas
attack)
C) Protecting children
1. Parental monitoring
2. Filtering software in the home
(That teen who offers information on
cracking filtering software)
D) Schools
(Recent Supreme court decisions defending
the right's of High School students to
have web pages insulting teachers/staff)
3) National Issues
A) Filtering software in libaries
(Supreme court cases)
B) Legislating Content/Censorship
(Communications Decency Act)
(Old "Time" cover story with kid looking
at computer)
C) Hacking
(Government web sites hacked)
(Credit card numbers stolen)
(Kevin Mitnick)
(The Cuckoo's Egg)
D) Intellectual Property
(Warez)
(MP3, Diamond Rio, and RIAA)
5) International Issues
A) Use of filters
1. China (a lot)
2. Australia (some)
3. US (none)
B) Information Warfare
( CIA and Kosovo )
( Web site attacks in Kashmir )
4) Business
A) Use of internet at work
1. Monitoring
2. Filtering
3. Liability
4. When you work at home.
(Recent Harvard case)
B) E-commerce
( Disintermediation and the "death"
of retail)
( Getting perscription drugs online )
These are the types of main stream American topics in which your teacher is probably interested. Of course, I'm assuming that you're enrolled in an American High School.
Re:Starting? Now? (Score:3)
Starting? Now? (Score:2)
A) You screwed around during the school year and were told "do this huge project and you'll pass".
or
B) You aready failed, and are in summer school, so you can do the same.
Now, I'm not meaning to be negative, (in high school I ended up in categorey A a few times, in college, categorey B) but what you need to do is "impress" the person grading your paper.
So, make their head spin. Do some research on the "neo-tribal"* theorys, and write it up good and scary, guaranted "A+".
* "neo-tribal theory"
The idea that with the proliferation of massive information (and the joint proliferation of filtering software and "portal" sites) viewers see only what they wish to see, and social sub-groups become more and more insular.
ex. White power nuts go only to white power web pages, now for ALL their news, so they have no challenge to their perspective.
Just a Thougt.
Open/Closed Source Debate is not new (Score:1)
I tend to agree, although there were sources of sources then. One of those was NASA's COSMIC, but the main web site is shut down -- any mirrors around?
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Good Start - But Keep Working (Score:1)
Decide do you want to look at the past development of the Internet or the future of the Internet?
How technical do you want to get?
Do you want to focus on the development/implementation/enforcement of technical standards?
Do you want to focus on the government, academia, or the private sectors role?
Do you want to look at social issues - privacy, pornography, security?
Do want to emphasize economic or legal issues?
But if you just want a good topic with lots of information out there, how about software patents
Great Book (Score:1)
Re:Starting? Now? (Score:1)
Ex: when I only visited slashdot
Re:Thinking too much (Score:2)
Actually, all but the most reactionary people and organizations seem to think that the Internet is more trouble than it's worth. I've seen an Internet-connected computer lab at a Catholic grammar school. They certainly had posters telling the kids how to avoid getting "mugged" (never reveal your snailmail address tends to be the biggie).
To be sure, the Internet is a hazardous environment, but all but the most reactionary recognize that the rewards outweigh the risks. While I hesitate to use the analogy again, it's much like a road system. Roads are hazardous; people who don't understand how to use them have a good possibility of being run over. We accept the hazards because most of us feel that the benefits of roads outweighs the hazards, even with the huge body count roads are possibly responsible.
There are a number of data points to back this up; take the most conservative people and/or agendas you can find, and run a search engine over them. One data point stands above the crowd, especially after discussing Catholic schools; even the Pope [vatican.va] has a Web site.
Re:Neo Anarchy (Score:2)
If you want to hide personal income from the government (disclaimer: this is illegal in the US, and I don't recommend that anybody do this), you want to keep income-generating activity out of databases at all costs, preferably out of paper books as well. E-Commerce makes it easier for the government to track your economic activity.
Besides, even if governments can't track the personal income of its citizens, the government will not collapse. One can certainly run a government without income taxes. My home state of New Hampshire gets along well without one (we tax entertainment and property, and the state owns a monopoly on liquor sales)
Re:Thinking too much (Score:2)
D'oh!
The second statement is correct. I got my inequalities reversed earlier. Sorry.
Internet Hype (Score:1)
The San Jose Mercury News ran an article last month profiling the shift in venture capital away from medicine and health care and into Internet companies. An investment in a biotech company might take years to pay off, but the Internet is a get rich quick scheme. Drugs and devices to save lives and ease suffering are being put on hold so we can auction Beanie Babies at faster speeds.
Here in Silicon Valley, people are quitting other jobs to do Internet-related things. Talent as well as money is being drawn away from other real problems. People are chasing the chance at being another Yahoo! instead of solving real problems. It is widely regarded as a virtue for an Internet company to have no idea how it will ever provide a product or service that someone might find useful enough to pay money for.
And when the Internet stocks crash, it will mainly be young people who are hurt since they disproportionately own these stocks and they represent a greater portion of their portfolio.
Mass Media (Score:1)
The internet is competing with Mass Media for it's role as an information source .
I would think that it would be more common for them to talk about the dangers of the internet than for them to discuss the dangers of the Mass Media for obvious reasons . Also , The internet , by it's nature , has no sole authority to defend it .
Re:Legal incidents in Europe. (Score:1)
ISTR that in Germany a couple of Compuserve execs were actually convicted of distributing child porn because they were running a news server.
Also, on Demon's web site you can find out about the libel suit brought by one Dr. Lawrence Godfrey. Someone posted a newsgroup posting libelling LG. Demon refused to delete it when asked, and LG is now sueing Demon for propogating the libel. The law appears to be against Demon, but the problem is that it effectively requires ISPs to remove articles from their News spools on demand.
Good luck with the paper.
Paul.
Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Re:Do homework on your own. (Score:1)
Find Hitler's 1939 speech... they'll buy it... (Score:3)
See how that goes.
Re:Starting? Now? (Score:1)
Heh, that how I graduated last Friday. I was behind, so the last day I dumped 70 pages of rough drafts and half-finished papers on the teachers desk. AFAIK they haven't read far enough to see that 20 pages of it is source I wrote while supposedly doing English. But I *did* graduate.
If this is in fact a late paper--though some schools have a few weeks to go yet--my only suggestion would to pad it, a lot. It's nice to have be inventive about the contents, and it great to reinterpret the assignment like that. But you can gain a *lot* from using long sentences and explaining everything twice. And analagies, metaphore and my favorite, discussion of *related* issues; the last is esp. good if you're writing for a non-tech audience, so you can justify the padding as important explanations.
Whoops (Score:1)
This is very interesting (Score:1)
Software should simply be property whereas TJ sounds like he's talking about "ideas" or what we now have as patented ideas such at certain cyphers. (RSA, ect) With patented ideas, we're not *directly* diminishing the holder's value by using it - we're diminishing his ability to make money on it. If you view it solely in economic terms, then yes, you are taking away profits from him.
By this logic and TJ's logic, all patented ideas should be free for noncommercial use. I think the open source community and thus the world would benefit greatly if the laws were changed in favor of this.
Patents have a life span of 20 years, no? I wouldn't mind trading an unlimited life span for the ability to use the idea for noncommercial use.
(But in case ms and other companies try to release stuff for "free" with patents, I suggest we kill the loophole by making it nonprofit orgs and individuals only)
Write your senator guys!!
Neo tribal theory, eh? (Score:1)
hmm.... maybe that's why I'm so screwed up
Just wondering (Score:1)
Just a thought
Try this for a hazard: (Score:1)
this is a big hazard for many hard core code hackers
Dear Slashdot, (Score:1)
Signed,
Some lazy kid
[seriously, though...]
I can't think of anything serious. I mean, enough's been said, here and other places, about everyone who has to do a paper and just gets all their facts off the internet -- or, gets pre-written papers off a certain site. Hell, even I did it when I was in high school, and that was a few years back. (Well, not exclusively. But instead of having to BUY books to write reports on, I downloaded them from Project Gutenberg.)
There has been a LOT said about the topics he mentioned (intellectual property, standardization of protocols on the internet, etc) both on Slashdot already, and everywhere else. Asking for it to be all wrapped in a nice little package in one discussion seems to be getting a bit lazy. [As if the whole mode of research isn't lazy enough. Although secretly I'm jealous of the people I know who get paid to consult on 'virtual learning.']
Well, hey, this comment is a good example of a hazard of the internet (although not in the context you are referring to). Anonymity breeds impoliteness (read: flaming). Which is not to say this is a flame, it's merely somewhat critical. But criticisms flow ever so easier when one can hide behind a silly name...
Integration of the Internet and Everyday Life (Score:1)
In the article, they give a scenario of what IBM envisions within the next decade:
---------------------[excerpt from IBM Think Mag.
11:30:05 The driver on his way to the airport, inserts a smart card into his car's dashboard. Funds are eletronically downloaded from his bank account [through the Internet] onto the smart card. At the same time, the smart card notifies the airline that the driver is en route.
11:30:10 The car has been engineered so that its electronic network detects early warning signs of malfunction. If a problem is detected, data is communicated via a wireless network to the manufacturer. In some cases, the problem can be "remotley" fixed. Subsequently, the manufacturer can forward data regarding the problem and its fix to tis development lab for analysis as well as for inclusion in its data warehouse.
meanwhile
11:30:10 At a nearby service station, sensores inside a soda machine detect a rise in outside air temprature. The machine performs a self-inventory and anticipating increased demand, notifes the distributor to request restocking.
11:30:15 A warehouse has caught fire! The networked building siglans the fire department. Floor plans and information regarding the materials in storage from the building's network center to the dispatched fire tricks. Simutaneously, the logistics operation center and insurance carriers that serve the building and companies that store goods there are apprised via the network.
11:30:35 A citrus grower is notified of the fire at the warehouse where its products are locally stored.
11:30:35 The grower's logistics operation headquarters arranged fro an alternative sotrage location and rerouted transporation of goods [which were going to the warehouse on a ship]. The chip-embedded packets used by the grower for tracking purposes are electoeronically updated from the logistics operation headquarters to include the new desitation and transport arangements.
Meanwhile [back to the guy driving in the car]...
11:30:35 The sensor device in a ticketed passenger's smart card automatically alerts an airline that the passanger is too far away to make the flight's scheduled departure time. Alternative travel plans are made and communicated to the passenger via the smartcard.
11:31:10 Held up in trafic due to the warehouse fire, the driver is advised via the car's dashboard scren that a new itinerary and plane ticket will be downloaded onto his smartcard.
---------------------[ END EXCERPT
Okay, very cool. That's like a utopian society. Except they forgot one thing
Just thought this might help you.
If you want to really impress your teacher... (Score:3)
Neo Anarchy (Score:1)
Not doing his own research? (Score:2)
I'm sure that the people that are complaining here are the same people that complain in some way about every topic. I know I shouldn't respond to trolls and flamers, but I just couldn't resist in this case.
I hope you do well with your paper.
Re:6.085 Ethics and Law on the Elec. Frontier (Score:1)
Don't forget DA's (Score:2)
Today there isn't the same problem with rural American DA's, but now sites may have problems from other countries complaining about the content.
Re:6.805 Ethics and Law on the Elec. Frontier (Score:1)
Re:Wrong title (Score:1)
Glyciren
good topic (Score:1)
Yeah...you could probably touch on a number of topics, but basically you could write an entire book on any of them!
Broad topics will get you a bad grade :) (Score:2)
Memories of an old professor of mine who said that my writing was "like a string of Christmas lights" -- too many little bright spots, any ONE of which could have been a paper topic, and not developed enough. I finally "broke the code" on the last paper I wrote for him, and got an A- despite turning it in late.
"Hazards of the Net" is a very broad topic. At that point, I wouldn't even be sure what you meant -- physical hazards? net-addiction? FBI arrests of teenage hackers? security system breaches? something else entirely?
Focus on something particular.
Re:Read Cliff Stoll's "Silicon Snake Oil" (Score:3)
First off, I'll "third" the recommendation.
Beyond that, something else good to look at might be the old
And as for my own thoughts/personal experiences on Net-as-social-circle (warning, this could get LONG):
I made many LOCAL friends on the 'net my first two semesters at SUNY Geneseo. One of my floormates and his old friends had put together a MUD, and soon I was "living on" it, and so were a lot of other people at my school. It also gave me a way to keep in touch with a friend from my previous school who was in Michigan.
I later branched out, started hanging out on BBSes, and I have literally talked to someone on every continent including Antarctica (OK, so that was my uncle, who was doing Navy research there). I have at least six net-friends in Australia who swear that the first thing they'll do if they win the lottery is send me a plane ticket. I've been sent TimTams, and I have sent Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups. I was one of two American sysops on an Australian BBS (and the other also went to my school).
I've found Web pages that have made me smile and say, "So I'm not the only one who thinks this! Maybe I'm not crazy after all
Now all this is lovely, but the Net has had a down-side. I was online when I should have been in class or doing work. My grades suffered, etc. However, in my particular case, all the Net was doing was giving me extra delivered-to-the-door opportunities to "hang out" with my friends and read interesting information, two things I did too much of WITHOUT the Net. (I also had problems doing library research because I would invariably get distracted by something else.)
In my experience, there seem to be three kinds of (for lack of a better term) "net addicts":
1. The ones who (for instance) had a tight circle of friends in high school or through something like CTY that then scatters everywhere, and who use the Net to try to hold on to those friends, sometimes at the expense of making friends or finding things to do in their real, physical location.
2. Info-junkies. (I admit, I fall into this category.) Generally, people who have a fairly obscure or specialized interest or set of interests. They'll search the net for every scrap of info on their chosen categories, spend tons of time on Usenet debating the finer points of their interets, etc. They generally get "hooked" because there aren't enough local people who share their obsession, or else all the "locals" are online as well. (This has been me with various topics: Amber, the band Rush, and Norse pagan/Viking history, to name three recent ones.) The net.goths might be a good example of this as well.
3. (IMHO, the most dangerous.) The folks who are genuinely using the Net as a way to avoid dealing with people face-to-face. Can be an outgrowth of either of the above. I've also seen this with some of the les/bi/gay teenagers I've talked to online, especially if they come from conservative households and are scared to come out. The Net becomes the only place that knows their "secret," and basically becomes a security blanket. Alternatively, I've seen this with people who just don't like themselves and are putting forth a new "persona" online.
Now with all three types, there can be problems as far as avoidance of reality. But the first two are easy to at least cut down on -- find compatible local people (over the net if you must!) and make an effort to spend time with them.
The last one is the one that scares me. A.J. Chodan (my real name) isn't THAT different of a person from fable2112. Or at the very least, there is nothing within fable2112 that *isn't* also part of A.J. I'm long-winded and opinionated IRL, too. (And that said, I'll shut up now!)
The Internet is nothing new (Score:1)
In essence, you don't really have a paper, because there is no "dark side of the Internet". It is people that can have dark sides, and focussing on the Internet only serves to bury heads deeper in the sand.
Criminy! (Score:1)
Define Hazard... (Score:1)
If so, I can think of one right off the top of my head (and I'm surprised it hasn't come up): the IP number shortage. This has a history (with items such as Mercedes-Benz pigging up a whole Class A that it won't give back because "eventually every car will have its own IP address.") You could tie in the death of Jon Postel (bless his soul), and its aftermath. The explosion of new InterNIC registrations, the new assigned Registrars, how the new 2 and 3LDs affect it (won't they need addresses, too?)...
Damn, maybe I'll go write my own paper...
Good Luck!
Re:Interpretation will get you a bad grade (Score:1)
Basically, my paper was on the Computer Revolution and the Y2k Bug. I paid (and still am) dearly for picking such a broad topic. What Doug said, and gave a few examples of (prob. should go on this too) is perfect.
Remember: DO NOT DO BROAD TOPICS!!!
Thnak you. --"LEVIATHAN"
Re:Find Hitler's 1939 speech... they'll buy it... (Score:1)
A place to gor for some intesting history. (Score:1)
Re:Thinking too much (Score:1)
Now, my little brother (age 16) has grown up with it and most of his schoolmates communicate via ICQ. It's AMAZING to see his "buddy list" with two hundred ppl on it. "Hey, wanna go to the football game this Friday? ICQ me."
Peace, and good luck with your paper.
Slightly OT Philly Inquirer (Score:2)
Yesterday they had an article about the 'Dark Net'. That was the actual term used by the Author. He went on for a while about how software companies have chased all the evil warez people off the web and then they've all moved to the Dark Net where they can trade their illegal software with impunity. After reading the article a couple times trying to figure out what he was talking about I noticed a single reference to FTP which is apparently the Dark Net.
The author seems to believe that anything done on FTP couldn't possibly be legal because the web is so much easier.
There were also some references to 'other software' and non-standard (non-web) protocols that make it simpler for pirates to trade stolen software at higher speed. All I can think of is Hotlne, but there's no reference to any real information. The entire article seems to be based on some vague notion of pirates being everywhere and being the only people who use high speed connections.
for more info you can read the whole article on the Inquirer's website [phillynews.com]
Hmm.. I think Society needs someone to blame again (Score:1)