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Arafat Chowdhury

Scientists Worry Machines May Outsmart Man - 5 views

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    This article poses the traditional dystopian view of the future of robots and their eventual dominance of humanity. According to the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence however, humans are a long time away from being controlled by robots. For now, there are worries that increase use of robots will wipe out jobs (i.e. cleaning, service jobs). This may just lead to an increase in competition for jobs that require more skills (skills that robots can't yet do), and a university degree. Perhaps there will be an increase in poverty rates as a result, or a revolution might begin. The possibilities are endless. For now, humans must be aware that robots are gaining ground in the search for intelligence. Control of such machines is an issue that humans will eventually have to face.
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    This article is about the social and ethical issue of people and machines. As technology advances, scientists are becoming more aware of the future consequences that can arise from creating advanced robots. They have realized that there is a risk of technology getting out of hand and become dangerous. As they become more advanced, robots can become a threat to society. Not only do they pose a security threat but they also threaten human employees. Robots are more accurate and can work 24/7 unlike humans. Jobs with robots still require human labor to operate them but in the future, robots might start taking over jobs.
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    This article brings up the issue of machines that possess Artificial Intelligence, possibly limiting the roles of humans in various area such as the work force. Often when the idea of robots and Artificial Intelligence is considered people think about the negative effects of smart machines. They worry about control and the interaction.
Elisavet M

"Virtual Reality tackles tough questions" - 1 views

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    Scientists in Barcelona have constructed a technological device, enabling users to engage and "live" within a virtual reality; this digital world however, is bound by the oppressive and devastating human conditions experienced by the victimized individuals of physical and verbal maltreatment. The device, although it may conjure ethical realizations within the user's mind, also poses as an ethical dilemma for it brings the cruel severity of the downtrodden and exploited people into visual and mental display terrorizing the emotional stability of the participants.
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    Technological breakthroughs in decoding the human mind have blossomed ever since the invention of a device through which users are immersed within a virtual reality, to live and experience the trauma and distressing scenarios of people victimized by physical as well as emotional abuse. Developed by a team of Spanish scientists, this device is breaking down the mind's irrational judgement in relation to discriminatory or wrongful perceptions against others. The user of the device, once transported into the anguished lives of the virtual characters, comes face to face with the agony of living through abusive violence, and begins to form a clearer impression about the effects of such experiences upon the lifestyle, behavior and well being of any victim. In doing so, the participant ultimately widens the boundaries of his mental state of thought, and begins to appreciate and acknowledge the peace given by a happy life rid of gnawing internal complications. However, in engaging with such a virtual reality the user becomes an unshielded target of bitter misery, felt and illustrated by the depictions seen through the device. The software that is included in this article is the technological device that offers an entrance into the virtual world for the user. The stakeholders within this article are the users of the device, whose mental and emotional stability is controlled by the virtual reality developed by the scientists. The scientists hold the success of the entire experiment in the palm of their hands, and really are the source of the effect upon human behavior. One has to take into consideration the physical and psychological considerations (in "Health" scenario) of technology on the user of this particular device; although this device does help others modify their morality as they expand their considerations for the factors that have made people what they are today. The device however, does inflict the same trauma and terror depicted by the gestures and movements
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    I agree with the ethical and social concerns involved within your article. Although there are some benefits of recognizing the pain and violence inflicted on others, it can cause emotional stigma and trauma upon the person who is using this technological device. Technology controls our ethical morality, in developing software that explores the way the human brain works we destroy this boundary of what is right and wrong because we begin to focus on research and forget the effects involved. In this case, those involved in the experiment are unaware of the effects that this virtual reality exposed to the user will eventually have on them mentally and emotionally.
Ariel A

How the society and human impacts of technology affect us - 1 views

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    "The idea of engagement -- using technology to bring about discussions -- as well as incorporating commonly held human values should be brought into the design process, the researchers said.The notion that a piece of technology can be simply be produced and plunked down in front of a person "is unlikely to move us forward," said Tom Rodden, a professor of interactive systems at the University of Nottingham."\nJeremy Kirk, IDG News Service\nSat, 5 Apr 2008 23:00:00 UTC\nThis information I felt was very important because it helped me think of technology in a whole new way. Technology is not what is going to help us make the future, its us(humans) who are going to have the idea and the capacity to create this future using robots/machines to help us create the basses of it. Robots will have a huge impact on how we live in our everyday lives.
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    I think i should get a Sufficient Criteria(2 marks)
Noreen C

TAGSYS Develops Airline Industry's First Reusable RFID Baggage Tag for Qantas | Busines... - 1 views

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    In airports nationally and internationally, flyers have to stand in line to wait to check in. The process is anything but welcoming for those who are running late, dislike crowds, and are just simply impatient. The process is just has grueling for the workers who have to deal witht the annoyed customers day after day. Luckily, the ticket kiosks have made the check in time shorter, being great for those who have no luggage to check in, but still just a part of the process for those who do. With RFID tags, the check in process isn't as dreadful. Companies are now begining to use reusable RFID tags that can track up to four flights at a time for each luggage, and can be programmed to track upcoming flights. This technology reduces the check in time, and increases effciency as the luggage is already associated with the flyer, and it's location is known at all times. Lost luggage can be found easier, and the manual labor needed for check in is cut down. There is also less paper being used, since the RFID tags only involve electronic mediums. For both the flyer and the company, the RFID tags can be a bright future. However, with more and more ways to eliminate time and human error, it is possible that the jobs of the people at the check in will be reduced. This seems to be a problem with many technologies, but this is the way in which our future is going. But, even though technology seems to be super efficient and a lot better than humans, it has it's flaws. RFID tags are read by radio rignals. If the tags are broken, or placed in an area where the radio signals cannot reach, then the tags are useless. There also needs to be new technology that allows airline companies to begin to use the tags, which may be costly. Another major issue is that in order to increase efficiency, all of the customers must be on board. There is no guarantee that this will happen any time soon, or that all of the airline companies will wish to use the technolgy.
Madeline Brownstone

NOVA Online | Cracking the Code of Life | Watch the Program - 7 views

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    Please use this bookmark to post your reflections. Using a Paper 2 style approach, CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. CRITERION D) Evaluate the efficacy of a solution to the problem.
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    Criterion A- The IT system (research DNA database) that allows medical researchers to record and track medical histories throughout generations, arise a variety of issues. One of these issues is privacy, where the database holds genetic information that many ethical doctors call a "future diary". These medical databases can be analyzed by a variety of people and those who have access to this information are handling private information. The major stakeholders were those patients who gave up their DNA because their genetic information put into the hands of these medical doctors creates the privacy issue. This information needed to be well stored and doctors take implications such as encoding social security numbers and no names are used. Criterion B- These research DNA databases begin with the obtainment of genetic information. In a relational database, there are several tables containing various information. Each table contains data that all have attributes related to the subject of the table. All of the tables might be interconnected, as well. For example, a retail business using a relational database would likely have one table containing data regarding employees, another with data regarding customers, another table listing inventory and so on. A database user could run a report to find connections between data in different tables, such as the customer table and the inventory table. Criterion C- From the point of view of the major stake holders (patients who given up their genetic information) the IT system (research DNA databases) (Not done)
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    Criterion A) The IT system is a database. This database is a link of DNA records, health records, and family trees. Major stakeholders of this issue are citizens of Iceland who agree to let their information be put on these databases and analyzed. Criterion B) The database works in parts. First, there is already a database of family trees in place. This family tree generator works by inputting an individual's social security number. After this is in place, the name of many generations of ancestors of this individual is shown in a tree. Then, the creator of the database asks for the permission, of family members, to add the DNA code and the health record of each person. This allows for a social security number and a disease to be input at the same time. With this, the scientist can see those who have it, and those who don't. Then, with the use of the DNA codes, they can "hunt down" genes that cause certain diseases. The database is related to an issue of privacy. This is because those who allow their health records and DNA code, are letting the medical team and users of the database know all things about them. With just a social security number, a user that has access to the database may learn more things about you than you may want: such as your family, what diseases you may have, and many other things. Another issue is in reliability. There is the possibility that the medical teams that try to track genetic code differences between those with a disease and those without it, may come to realize that a difference they find is only a coincidence and not helpful. (not completed)
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    The IT system being used is the DNA database that are being kept on the Icelandic people. The DNA database holds a lot of information of the people in the database and even things that they do not know such as their DNA and what it means. The major stakeholder is the people that are sending their DNA information, blood samples, medical histories and family trees. The issue of privacy is then involved because of the personal information that others can go through by accessing the database. The database is run by first getting the blood sample of the patient who willingly gives permission to give their DNA information to the company, deCODE. The information is then entered into the database which organizes the information by each person's social security number. The relational database is used to organize the information. (Cont.) The impacts of the database is both negative and positive. The database can be
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. * The IT system described in this video is a medical database. The major stakeholder are the doctors who manage the data of patients in the relational databases. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). * A relational database, there are several tables containing various information. Each table contains data that all have attributes related to the subject of the table. All of the tables might be interconnected, as well. For example, a retail business using a relational database would likely have one table containing data regarding employees, another with data regarding customers, another table listing inventory and so on. A database user could run a report to find connections between data in different tables, such as the customer table and the inventory table. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. * One of the positive impacts of these medical databases are that the family tree is in a database and all health records can be found for each patient and because this is a relational database, all of the patient's information is linked to their families and other people who have similar diseases. This is beneficial because experts can see trends in the people who have a certain disease and once they figure out the "spelling" of the genetic code with the disease, they can work on coming up for cures for that particular disease. A negative impact of the medical databases can be privacy. The doctors have access to every patients information and they can know everything about a certain person or family if he/she wanted to. This would then raise an issue of integrity.
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. The IT system is the database and the issue is who has access of the Database which has medical records of individuals. The major stakeholders are the Doctors and Patients. Doctors are trying to find information on specific DNA that create sickness and diseases. Finding the relationship between the family members and there DNA, can possibly improve medicine and also allow doctors figure out what an individual can have(sickness) in future references, making inferences of what might happen. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). A data base function is that it is a computer stored software that contains tables of various information and organizes all the data into categories. One subject/category can be related to another with little difference. This is why the database makes it easier for information to be viewed and interpreted much faster. By entering data on the tables one can interlink topics in order to find specific information needed. The person who enters the data can use software like Openoffice to create a database to view DNA and the relationship with the other individuals. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. The primary issue of the negative impact on Databases, have on the skateholders for DNA purposes is Privacy. Privacy has a big part in the stakeholders because many of the patient give away there Social Security number which is something private to them. With the Social Security Number the doctors can have access to other information not related in there investigation of finding a cure. This can cause reliability with the doctors to decrease. The database would have information of all sort on there medical records which should not be something that would be public for eve
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues: The IT system in these videos were medical databases containing records of many patients. Specialists use these databases to help them identify where a certain disease came from and whether or not it could be treated. they do this by viewing the patients ancestors records and seeing who had the disease in that family tree. CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). Specialists (with the permission of the patient) insert a patients social security number into the medical database and let the database generate the patients entire family tree. Using this family tree, doctors were able to "hunt" down the origin of diseases, by looking at the genes of the ancestors. That way, by matching the DNA of the patient affected by a certain disease with the DNA of one of his/her ancestors DNA that suffered the same disease, and looking for similarities or patterns. CRITERION C) Evaluate the impacts on society -- both positive and negative or from differing stakeholder's P.O.V. There were several positive and negative impacts regarding this "hunting down" of diseases. By looking at family trees specialists and doctors would be able to determine what caused the disease and possibly come up with a cure or treatment for it. However, many patients are concerned with doctors going through their records and DNA due to there being a lack of privacy. If patients grant permission, specialists would be able to find out and know absolutely everything about their health history. Specialists argue that it would be of great benefit to detect diseases early so they could be treated by doing this. Chips are being created were thousands of babies genes could be looked at to look for any abnormalities. Some people argue that even if a disease were detected, there's two possibilities, one
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    Criterion A) The IT system at work here is the database run by the company deCODE. This company created a medical database in order to determine human diseases present amongst family. This leaves the stakeholders to be the Iceland citizens who use this system. The relationship between the Iceland citizens who use this system and the issue is that there is a security issue. The company, deCODE, paid a sum of one million dollars to the government for access to the medical history's and information of the Iceland citizens. This could be stolen by others or it could be hacked by an outsider. Criterion B) This system works through a series of steps to figure out what medical diseases are passed on throughout the family tree. In this case it would be a relational database. This database works by first obtaining permission from the Icelandic citizen to use their social security number and their medical history. This is put into the system and the medical records are accessed. Then the family records and past can be seen. This is multiple tables containing different pieces of information. Each table has something that is related to the previous table. Then make sure that the database is easily navigational. When the social security number is entered into the database the company must have it in the record. If the social security number is not properly encoded then the social security card could be stolen by and employee of an outside hacker. This is related to security if the hardware or software is not properly secured it can be obtained by a criminal. This can lead to identity theft and loss of financial security. Another issue would be privacy. The medical records and DNA code is allowed full use to the company. The social security number could be used in ways that the civilian did not agree to and is not known by the civilian. Criterion C) This system can cause many positive and negative impacts. One positive impact would be that this would help the patient know who e
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    Criterion A) The IT system at work here is the database run by the company deCODE. This company created a medical database in order to determine human diseases present amongst family. This leaves the stakeholders to be the Iceland citizens who use this system. The relationship between the Iceland citizens who use this system and the issue is that there is a security issue. The company, deCODE, paid a sum of one million dollars to the government for access to the medical history's and information of the Iceland citizens. This could be stolen by others or it could be hacked by an outsider. Criterion B) This system works through a series of steps to figure out what medical diseases are passed on throughout the family tree. In this case it would be a relational database. This database works by first obtaining permission from the Icelandic citizen to use their social security number and their medical history. This is put into the system and the medical records are accessed. Then the family records and past can be seen. This is multiple tables containing different pieces of information. Each table has something that is related to the previous table. Then make sure that the database is easily navigational. When the social security number is entered into the database the company must have it in the record. If the social security number is not properly encoded then the social security card could be stolen by and employee of an outside hacker. This is related to security if the hardware or software is not properly secured it can be obtained by a criminal. This can lead to identity theft and loss of financial security. Another issue would be privacy. The medical records and DNA code is allowed full use to the company. The social security number could be used in ways that the civilian did not agree to and is not known by the civilian. Criterion C) This system can cause many positive and negative impacts. One positive impact would be that this would help the patient know who e
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    CRITERION A) identify the IT system and describe the issues. Identify the relationship of the major stakeholders to the issues. The IT system involved is the DNA database system, identified as an organized collection of age old family trees, accompanied by state of the art DNA analysis and computer technology. Systematically, genetic information (DNA) is stored in related tables, distinguished by individuals' own security number codes. One centralized ethical and social consideration is privacy, mainly a major concern of the involved DNA suppliers (the public), that place their given personal information (genetic data, reference to family origins, medical history etc) in a national database system, from which the accessing of medical records and history of one's entire family can become manipulated or misused. In addition to the elevated risk of data misuse, once the involved participants (Icelandic citizens) give access to their personal information, there are no limitations placed on the utilization of the data within the national database, as it becomes accessible for the government, medical researchers and operating staff. Thus, the implications are straining to the individual donor, unable to determine when, how and to what extent the information given is shared amongst other groups. Furthermore, the privacy of the participants undesirably opens access to the medical information of related family members, as cross-referencing and data matching give the research staff operating the DNA database, access to retrieve a plethora of other members' data mainly for the purpose of effective data mining (the retrieval of hidden predictive patterns, as a diagnostic tool to decode the occurrence of genetic disorders/diseases). CRITERION B) Describe step-by-step how the system works and describe how the system is related to the issue(s). With the possession of participant's medical data, including blood type, isolated samples of DNA, medical health records e
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    The primary IT system in use is a DNA database, which includes information about patients, illnesses, and virtually one's make up as a human. DNA databases allow researchers to find patterns in a human genome, by looking at the DNA from various family members and determining the difference or similarities between the DNA of family members. This is done through database functions such as data mining, and data matching. Locations such as Iceland, have a database that traces back all of the people within the country to their Viking ancestors. These family trees have been paired with DNA analysis in order to trace diseases back to their start. Some more tests could be conducted in order to determine which of the living relatives of one family with arthritis, for example, have the disease. Then, the DNA can be compared in order to identify the exact gene that is at fault for the disease. This process is very easy to do because the database with all of the ancestral information is accessible with the presence of one of the family member's SSN. A simple data query can then bring together all of the person's information. Moreover, DNA, health records, and the family trees of Iceland were proposed to be linked. This could be very beneficial because new drugs could be made available to suit the specific disease of a patient. It could also be a way for diagnosed patients to take early preventative measures. This could increase the probability for a cure, and in general this would increase the life expectancy of certain areas. However, some doctors in Iceland opposed to this linkage, because the information is representative of each person's medical history, and potentially their future medical history. This information, according to the plans of the linkage of medical records and the family tree, would be available on a central database that would bring together private information about a person and connect it to all of their family members, past, present, and future. T
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    There is another issue along with this involving the ability of researchers to have full access to the information about anyone. Many people want to maintain their right to privacy, but others argue that this could lead to new knowledge about diseases, and the development of new medicines. For those who are afraid of risking their privacy, there are standards developed in order to protect them. Their information, such as SSNs are encoded for security reasons and the DNA part of the project is voluntary, and not imposed. However, ethicists are still afraid of this database. They claim that the future of DNA is a valuable thing because it can predict the probability of diseases, life expectancies, etc. But all copies can be made available to the FBI, schools, etc. at the time of birth. For the Biotech Industry, this is seen as a huge advantage because people an be tested for hundreds of diseases. The awareness of the disease is a great thing, because it could lead to early prevention. However, the system is faulty because it sometimes doesn't provide certainty of a disease and it limits a person's privacy. Other times, there is no cure for the disease, so the patient cannot do anything even if they know. In relation to this, there also will arise severe psychological impacts of a person knowing that they have the possibility for getting a life threatening disease. If this is a disease that will affect them later on in life, it would be detrimental for a person to live their life without the hope of a prosperous future. A solution to this problem could be giving patients the choice of knowing or not.
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    Criterion A - The IT system is the DNA database containing information about the genetic past, present, and future of the patients. The primary issues associated with this database are of privacy and anonymity. These issues arise when patients, who are one of the major stakeholders, feel that that the information in these databases shouldn't be accessible to others, or anyone for that matter. While some believe this is private information, others believe that the information should not be known by anyone because of the ethical issues associated with knowing what will come in the future. Criterion B - The medical database is a relational database meaning that it establishes relationships between different tables in the database. The smallest building blocks of a relational database are items. Items are individual pieces of information in tables. These items are organized into fields and records. Fields are columns in a table that that represent different categories of information. Records are rows that represent all the information for a specific patient. At the cross-section of a particular record and field lies the item associated with a specific piece of information related to the specified patient. These tables are related to each other through links which are established by unique primary keys assigned to each patient. This system is related to the issue of privacy because the information contained within it is considered by many to be privileged and access to it should be very limited or altogether eliminated. Criterion C - The impacts of such a database on society are varied. Some people are very against the entire idea of a genetic database because of its ethical concerns. When people have their blood analyzed for DNA, they are giving up their genetic make-up. The information that can be obtained from such tests is considered by many to be privileged, and by others to be completely unethical in every way. Often people are against very private medical
Jaymee C

Ethical and moral issues regarding artificial intelligence - AI - Links999. - 2 views

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    This article discusses the ethical and moral issues related to artificial intelligence in the area of people and machines. One of these issues has to do with the issue of those in poverty who are denied a job because of the advances in technology. So the stakeholders include common people (especially the poor), manufacturers of AI, the designers of them and the businesses that use them. AI can be used virtually anywhere from factories to game shows and that threatens the role of some human beings. Some robots take the place of doing simple jobs but those who can't afford an education, in a way need those jobs. Many of the poor don't have the right education to suddenly become technicians for the robots that replaced them so they're out of jobs. There is also the issue of how to create a robot that mimics a human being. This creates issues because all of us have different ethical and religious standings, creating a robot to mimic us would create more issues in the human world because it would be going against some and supporting others. But if someone was trying to create the perfect human then it would be God-like and that would be an issue in itself.
Madeline Brownstone

BBC - BBC World Service Programmes - Digital Planet, 04/11/2008 - 0 views

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    ACKLING GLOBAL CENSORSHIP Last week tech companies and human rights groups launched guidelines designed to tackle censorship. Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft have all been heavily criticised for their business strategy in countries such as China. All have signed up to the new Global Network Initiative which aims to promote privacy and freedom of speech on the internet.
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    ACKLING GLOBAL CENSORSHIP Last week tech companies and human rights groups launched guidelines designed to tackle censorship. Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft have all been heavily criticised for their business strategy in countries such as China. All have signed up to the new Global Network Initiative which aims to promote privacy and freedom of speech on the internet.
nicholas n

TOPIC: Net Neutrality-Issues of censorship or equality of access and the digital divide - 20 views

On Mohammad post I learned how the people in Iran used Twitter in the Election of the President to bring information out to the rest of the world and organize rallies within the country. This is an...

Kristin O

Poker Bots Invade Online Gambling - 6 views

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    This article starts out with a scenario about a professional online poker player figuring out that he was actually playing against a bot, which is designed to beat its opponents against all odds. There area of impact of this article can be arts entertatinment and leisure because the players do play for money and compete with one another online. This is from the point of view from the players however it can be also seen as business and employment because bots are being sold on line to do this specific task and to win earnings for whoever has paid for them. The Social and ethical issues here can be Security when looking at it from the point of view of the poker site owner, they are supposed to try and root out any bots to make online playing fair for everyone else. People and Machines can also be applied here because the bots are taking something that is meant for recreation by humans and extending their faculties but to the extent of not playing by the rules and playing an unfair game with some one else. The stakeholders of this issue are the online poker players, the people who own the poker playing website and the people who sell and use the poker bots. The IT system referred to in the article are the bots.
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    I found this article really interesting because I had not thought about it at all. This is an important case to pay attention to because of the fact that machines are taking over another aspect of the human life. Not only are machines capable of replacing jobs, such as the repetitive ones in factories, but they are also able to take away the fun in gambling. They are also bending the rules and creating an unfair environment for gamblers on the Internet.
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    This article piqued my interest because it made me think about my own article in a broader way. My article talked about the issue of artificial intelligence talking menial and low skill jobs from people. This article attracted me because it show AI used in another way to make money for people. It takes what is mentioned in my article and extends it to another dimension. People are using these bots to actually make money by competing against human competitors but this is occurring to players unsuspecting players, technically this is using advanced technology to steal.
Elisavet M

"China defends internet censorship" - 3 views

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    Chinese government refuses to fully admit the extent of internet censorship enforced within the country, expanding beyond the realm of securing internet browsing in order to prevent pornographic sites and other inappropriate or harmful content. Government officials state that political enforcement for internet censorship, does not suppress the human rights of individual expression on the internet. However, many organizations and groups do argue that Chinese efforts to regulate the data being seen is aimed upon preventing perspectives of the public to be heard through the web.
Kim T

RFID Implants Found to Cause Cancer Tumors - 0 views

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    It would seem like a great idea to be able to see patient's medical records on the spot, clearly and accurately. However, RFID's should not be the technology used to do so. Some patients have had RFIDs implanted into their skin for doctors to scan but in rats, no less humans, there have been cases where links between the use of RFIDS under the skin and cancer has been linked together. Many people would know about this, especially if they were to have the procedure done but this isnt the problem. Companies using the technology are practicing it on those who cannot protect themselves from its  harm. Patients who have Alzheimer disease are commonly practiced on. The question that poses from this is what and will the government do anything to stop these companies, why was it approved of and is it worth the medical advantages?
Lenny H

Offshoring Outsourcing's Next Wave: How High? - 1 views

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    This article has to do with both offshoring and outsourcing. I thought this was an interesting article to read after reading the article we read in class because it gave a variety of examples of offshoring and outsourcing. This article gave a variety of point of views on the debates around both offshoring and outsourcing. First the article introduces a few examples of outsourcing such as computer processing and back-office business tasks. The author introduces ethical impacts the outsourcing creates because it uses technology and humans that are cheaper rather than using humans that are experts at a field. They also state that the current BPO offshoring profits in Indian have the potential to grow, but we are not allowing it to. People in a variety of countries are being payed less because of the differences in currency because of outsourcing. The author mentions Mr. Bourgeois, and his claim that "Mr. Bourgeois says, makes about $50 an hour, while in India a developer is paid perhaps $10 an hour. If the wages of the American developer are growing at 3 percent a year, and the Indian 15 percent a year the cost advantage will last a long time, he noted." The author mentions that there are a variety of parts of the debate on offshoring and outsourcing. The stockholders for these situations are the business people making money, the people working in foreign countries for less money, and people working the same job for more money. This is a great article to read after the one we read in class because the author provides the reader with a variety of point of views, and how the debate on offshoring and outsourcing can change if we can add other point of views.
Madeline Brownstone

What is a Standard - 0 views

  • Nomenclature is challenging because "technical specification" has different meanings in different areas of the world.  For example, a technical specification in CEN is a lower grade, less permanent deliverable likely to be revised.  A standard, on the other hand, is intended to be stable and products shall conform to the requirements.
    • Madeline Brownstone
       
      Standard is more stable than a technical specification.
  • to limit how a specific technology will be used to carry or represent the data.
  • GS1’s Global Trade Identification Number (GTIN) is an example of a high-level application standard that is completely independent of a technical specification because it can be applied regardless of whether bar code, RFID or even human-readable characters are used to represent it.
    • Madeline Brownstone
       
      GTIN standard is independent--can be used with bar code, RFID or human-readable characters
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    Technology Standards vs Application Standard
Madeline Brownstone

VIDEO| Hospital's 'telemedicine' - 1 views

  • Staff at the Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead demonstrated their use of modern technology to the health minister Lord Darzi.
    • Madeline Brownstone
       
      Humans and Machines--it's the best method for bridging distances
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    Staff at the Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead demonstrated their use of modern technology to the health minister Lord Darzi.
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    Staff at the Queen Victoria hospital in East Grinstead demonstrated their use of modern technology to the health minister Lord Darzi.
Mark Gakin

UN village project provides model for ending poverty - The National Newspaper - 1 views

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    "The Millennium Villages use so-called telemedicine technology to improve health care. Health workers in the villages are given mobile phones and sent out to treat patients. After testing patients for various diseases, the workers send the results via text message to remote clinics and are told which treatment to provide. "It is a very wonderful system," Mr Sachs said. "It empowers providers in the community to get very powerful results.""
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    Economist argues that the West can afford $32bn for Africa, after a pilot scheme proves to be a success in reducing poverty and increasing HIV awareness. Poverty is decreasing in the village which is creating a drastic change. The people of the village are effected by this because they are part of the area affected. Just like the on in class, the area of interactions is health and the IT system is telemedicine, as well as computer devices. The major issues regarding this article are as follows: people and machines is one of the better ones because the machines are shaping the lives of different humans. Change is being established, which usually leads to both good and bad things.
Madeline Brownstone

Electronic health records raise doubt - The Boston Globe - 11 views

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    "Google Health and others in the fast-growing personal health record business say they are offering a revolutionary tool to help patients navigate a fragmented healthcare system, but some doctors fear that inaccurate information from billing data could lead to improper treatment."
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    This article provides a possible service that can be used in the east African country our case study is on. Google health is a free service that would give all patients the opportunity to store their health records digitially, making it easier for doctors to access it. Especially if telemedicine were to be used, having electronic health records would be a great benefit. However, the issue of reliability is especially troubling when it comes to using services like Google health in this context. There have been many reported errors with the diagnoses of patients using this service, and it is crucial that the records are checked by both patients and doctors to ensure that all information listed is correct. Literacy rates are much lower in rural African settings, creating a problem for patients who may be unaware of inaccurate information on their records. Especially for individuals in critical conditions, fatal mistakes can therefore be made.
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    Electronic Health Records are also used in the case study. Patients and doctors rely on these records for accurate data, but it is rather difficult, due to the lack of reliability with which Google Health updates patient's health data. In order for Dr. Ogola's plan to work (face the challenges, create a modern health system), he must implement such health records that will store patients' information on an accessible, secure and easy to use database. This would help patients, doctors and nurses share data without having to travel long distances. Data would be secure and also accessible to the three parties. However, this would require a reliable system (more than Google Health) so as to not provide inaccurate data to the patients. Patient involvement in the care of his/her own data would be required for an such an erroneous system, as would a reliable source of healthcare information on the patients. Unreliable sources can potentially damage the whole system.
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    The use of Electronic Health Records in this article can be applied to our case study. Firstly, it would make the transfer of patient data easier and faster, this would increase the quality of care that the hospitals and clinics offer to their patients. These Electronic Health Records can also keep data from different doctors in order, for example if a patient visits several Doctors all of their information will be in one place and ready to access when ever necessary. In the case study if doctors had a more accurate picture of the patients medical history they would be more prepared to make diagnoses, especially when they are working with strange cases. This would also help to increase the quality of treatment that the patient would receive. Digital Health Records are easy to update both the patient and the doctor can edit the Electronic Health Record, it also can keep track of test results, and medications that the patient is currently using. Electronic Health Records allow patients to be more active in their health care allowing them to see and have access to all of their medical information. Even though this IT system is ideal for our case study there are some things we should take into consideration. In our case study we would have to make sure that equality of access is equal for everyone, there may be some people living on the outskirts of villages that might not have access to Digital Health Records. We would also have to assume that everyone would know how to use the Digital Health Record. Meaning how to update it and how to look for errors. Lastly we would have to assume that the patient would make good use out of having an Electronic Health Record. They would have to constantly be updating and checking their records to see if there is any missing information or any errors within their data. Lastly, the coding system would have to be revised, it is confusing and very inaccurate, there should be a new coding system that makes understanding your own records
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    In this article, the use of electronic health records is discussed. However, some problems arising from their use are also introduced, including inaccurate patient information. In the world of the case study, this IT system, electronic health records. is quite relevant and can be useful. EHRs can be used in Africa to connect rural doctors to hospitals and other professional health care workers in better facilities. This way patients' records can be reviewed, diagnoses can be made and other help can be given. However, if this system is taken advantage of in Africa, its users must be certain that the information in the records is accurate and comes from a reliable source. This is because if the information in a record is inaccurate, incorrect diagnosis and/or medication can be given as was the situation in the article. These kinds of mistakes can be detrimental to some patients.
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    This article elaborates on the drawbacks of electronic health files. Although the IT System, Google Health, seems that it will make getting quality health care much easier and quicker, there is a major issue of possible inaccurate information. These inaccuracies or exaggerated diagnoses on Google Health may prevent patients from receiving the care they need, and Google Earth is prone to human error as real people are responsible for inputting insurance billing codes or mislabeling a lab test with a disease that is hoped to be ruled out. This has an impact on our African case study as this article illustrates one of the highly potential problems that arise from the use of telemedicine. Although medical centers in Africa would be able to eliminate the tedious process of paper work by instantly communicating records over the internet, these records can be inaccurate and therefore compromise an already sick patients health even further. However, for the case study, EMR's prove to be a very feasible solution for the lack of communication and distances between villages and health centers, but a solution must be made in order to counteract the potential misdiagnoses'. One solution could be that patients would check their EMR's for accuracy, but with the poor conditions of living in the African villages and poor or no internet service, this solution does not seem possible for the case study.
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    This article is about a man getting his health information in an electronic health records massed up. There's an issue with the EMRs in the sense that they are sometimes unreliable. In regard to the Case study, as they want to place EMRs into their hospitals and clinics they ma have this issue with reliability. But it has shown signs of improvement from paper records. But the hospitals and clinics in the East African cities will need to hire more staff to make sure these records are up to date and accurate. As for the health of the patients, EMRs has its benefits and drawbacks. If the information is accurate then a life could be saved and that person could be properly cared for in a more timely fashion, but if the information isn't accurate they could be given unneeded surgery or given the wrong drugs. The EMRs could help the efficiency of the hospitals and clinics because they could work faster and get to more patients without wasting countless time looking through paper records.
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    This article arises a social and ethical issue of integrity of electronic health records. In this article, Dave deBronkart faced this issue when he transferred his medical records to Google Health. His information was inaccurately transferred because of the incorrect coding that insurance companies use. The database then used this incorrect coding and stated that Dave had other health problems, which he never had. The lack of codes makes the database more likely to make an inaccurate diagnosis. It also suffers from reliability because if the information, doctors can't rely on it to make correct diagnosis. Electronic databases are very useful and can be used in Oobunta if its integrity is improved. It will allow patients in villages that can't afford travel to share their symptoms and past medical history with doctors in the hospital. This will cut costs for both doctors and patients because they won't have to pay for transportation. It will also benefit the patients because it will let them be diagnosed accurately especially if they don't have enough resources or medical care in their village.
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    This article covers a recent problem that has risen from the use of Electronic Medical Records. Google's new Google Health, a service that gathers e-health records for patients all in one place has become unreliable. Google Health gathers medical information from billing records, which is an inaccurate source of information. The medical records on the site also do not distinguish between recent illnesses and past illnesses, and does not indicate the level of severity for the health issues. The diagnostic medical coding is to blame for inaccuracies in information gleaned from insurance data, mostly because it is clunky and includes tests for diseases that doctors hope to rule out, not for diseases that the patients necessarily have. The problems that the unwieldy code and medical records in Google Health bring up are enormous. Information is inaccurate and out of date, and this is potentially deadly when patients are being treated. The issue of reliability is that data in the records is out of date, and entered incorrectly, which could be the difference between life and death for patients with dangerous diseases.
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    This article was about electronic medical records. They allow patients to share their health information with doctors over the Internet, using Goggle Health. However, this application is not completely accurate. It takes information from insurance bills. These insurance bills may not be precise in describing the treatment of a patient because of their lack of codes. This raises the issue of reliability of the electronic health records. Inaccurate records could stop a doctor from performing a life saving procedure on a patient. The article relates to the case study because it talks about the drawbacks of having electronic medical records. In order for issues with reliability and integrity to be avoided in Oobunta, patients should regularly check their records to ensure their accuracy. Doctors and patients should also communicate more to eliminate problems within the health records.
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    In this article, a new electronic health system arose. In order for one to use this newly aged system, their personal health records must be transferred. According to the article, "accuracy gets lost in translation" (Wangsness). Due to the fact that certain information is getting lost in translation, many issues have been brought up, such as reliability. Health records are vital for every individual because they contain information that cannot be found anywhere else. A loss in data, such as certain dates, can lead to many problems for the patients during treatment. As a solution, people are asked to do one thing. They are told to check out their record and see if everything is accurate. There is a positive side for this new system and it relates directly to our case study. These Google health records are easily transferable. If one needs to send out their information to a hospital for a diagnosis, they can do so in no time. In the case study, people in Africa are having trouble getting to a hospital because of the expenses and lack of transportation. By using these Google electronic health records, the people would be able to e-mail their record to a hospital for a direct prognoses. This would save them so much money and time because they would be able to complete this task in the comfort of their own home, or anyplace with internet access. These electronic health records can solve many problems in Africa.
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    This case study tackles the issues of Integrity and Reliability. The article talks about inaccurate health records and it effect on patients who want to follow updates on their health status. The stakeholders in this articles are patients because they are the ones who need accurate information, doctors because patients come to them when they read inaccurate information about their health and the people who control the information in the databases because they are the ones responsible for whether or not the information is accurate. Integrity is an appropriate Social and Ethical Issue because the information in the databases have a been changed accidentally, in turn affecting accuracy. Reliability is even better because is directly about accuracy of data, if it is entered incorrectly. If data is entered wrong patients lose trust in them. This is especially relevant to databases which is the major IT system discussed in this article. In relation to the case study it is important to find a solution for the patients of Africa, that is as efficient as possible. In a place like the one described in the study it is important to save time by being as accurate as possible and making sure that patents and doctors can understand the information on databases, ensuring more successful treatments for the patients.
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    In the East African city, the medical facilities all contain databases that their patient's health records are recorded on, however the platform for each database varies between each clinic and the main hospital. This in turn makes it more difficult to exchange health records between each clinic and the main hospital.This article brings up a solution to the health records exchange problem that are within this East African Region. Google Health is a database that is in the cloud and makes it possible to exchange health records through the internet. This form of exchanging data for a patient helps to keep a patient's data up to date. Now though this could be a great solution it comes with many drawbacks from the system and the lacking materials from the East African region makes it difficulty to better utilize it.
Madeline Brownstone

BBC NEWS | Technology | Helping the deaf to 'see sound' - 0 views

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    "Deaf children have been testing software that enables them to see a visual representation of sound waves. Called Lumisonic the software translates sound waves into circles that radiate on a display. It creates a real time representation of sound and is designed to elicit responses quickly in the human brain. "
Richie P

Robots Designed To Save Lives of Construction Workers - 2 views

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    In this article the possibilities of robots are very helpful. Robots can help extend human faculties by allowing them to do dangerous jobs, that involve surveying buildings from great heights. Although this is helpful and limits the danger for construction workers, if this technology becomes more popular on construction sites it could limit the amount of jobs on the construction site, so the workers would be replaced by these robots. "The need for autonomous tools in the construction field is great" so it is reasonable to expect that this technology will be used more frequently, what will happen to the workers who are currently doing this job?
Olivia M

Brainy Robots Start Stepping Into Daily Life - 4 views

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    Many companies are building robots to do simple human tasks. These tasks include lifeguarding, taking out the trash, building a bookcase and much more.
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    Quicker and quicker progress into the field of artificial intelligence without corresponding advancements in politics and standards
helen g

March of the Robo Chef - Mechanized Cooks Invade the Kitchen - NYTimes.com - 2 views

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    This article touches upon the issue of people and machines. They are more efficient and can get the job done faster. However, because of the horrible economy, many restaurants are not able to afford these robots. But if restaurants invest in a robot, there is a possibility that the human employees will be replaced with these systems.
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