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Criterion B . Describe, step by step, how the IT system works. 1. Surgically implanted nerves are connected to electrodes placed on the chest area. 2.The nerves prompt electrical signals from the brain to the electrodes. 3. The electrical signals are then interpreted by a micro-processor, into natural movements. More information on how bionic arms work: http://thetartan.org/2008/9/22/scitech/howthingswork

Outline how this IT system works: Essentially, this system consists of hardware (electrodes) that replace the nerves going to and from the brain. Electrodes are connected to the chest muscles which control 6 motors that move the prosthetic joints. When the mind sends a message through the nerves to move a muscle in the arm, the signal causes a muscle in the chest to contract, which activates a certain electrode to tell a motor to move a part of the bionic arm. A more detailed account of how mind-controlled bionics works is here: http://science.howstuffworks.com/bionic-arm.htm This story is a prime example of how IT is being used to radically develop medical research and treatments.

The main social and ethical issue in this article is People and Machines. This new bionic arm which is controlled by the mind is an important development, in this technology, now allowing people who have had to have limbs amputated to have new arms/legs that they can control as they would their original arms/legs. However, due to the fact that it is very new and expensive technology to develop, although it points to the future, at the moment almost no one that would need a bioninc arm would be able to afford it. This means that although it is an essential step forward, at the moment it will not be something that can help the majority of people who most need it. As well as this, the bionic arm, although it is controlled by the mind, it will never be as fluid and will never work as intuitively as your arm.

The blurring of reality and the virtual world has come full circle. Just over twenty years ago I can remember watching the first stirrings of the Gulf War, arguably the first television war, and one where the images of missile strikes were commonplace.

The FBI's idea sounds like a good one, as it could lead to early warnings for law enforecement all around the world on any local or global threats, One good example of how a piece of software like this could have been used is the Norweigan massacre, as it was reported by the media that terrorist Anders Breivik had mentioned put forward extremist ideology and terrorist tendency while using the internet, going so far as to write a manifesto. On the other hand it would be vital for this application to fall under the Data Protection Act meaning data on individuals would have to be kept safe and up-to-date, it would only be kept for the necessary amount of time, and that all information would be deleted once a suspect was deemed innocent.

The news article shows some very important facts for instance, out of 5.3m teenagers in the UK more than half a million of them have suffered from cyber bullying. Furthermore, as social networks are now becoming more available on mobile devices this number is likely to increase in the coming years.

Nowadays lots of cyber bullying is going on, and it is increasing. Not only cyber bullying exists via text messages, yet also through anonymous calls and what is increasing a lot now, via social networks. People create facebook pages with names such as 'The ugliest person in Cascais' (this is probably an example of one of the 'less worse') and post images of people, with insulting descriptions on the photos. This is a big issue since people who are bullied may psychologically or even physically suffer from this. "half a million of them had been a victim of online bullying.". Technology is increasing, so surely, if no one tries to actually do something to change this, cyber bullying will also increase.

I'm a bit surprised at the number, it's lower than what I thought it would be. Perhaps I'm just a pessimist. Nevertheless, I agree with Ines. We're getting more and more cyber bullying, Stopping cyber bullying has proved difficult with the exponential growth of social networking. Cyber bullying is of course as we know, the use of the Internet or text messaging to bully others. But what can we do to change this escalation of cyber bullying? Not a whole lot really, in my opinion. Kids will, unsurprisingly, bully each other. The Facebook-generation is merely using the medium they are given.

By banning accounts, Twitter is giving into outside pressure to effectively censor its own website, and destroying one of the main goals that was set out at the time of the company's creation: freedom of speech. Once one account is banned it sets up a precedent for other governments, and businesses to politetly request Twitter to 'censor' what governments believe to be 'illegal' accounts.

The social and ethical issue mainly presented is surveillance. The twitter accounts are set up to warn the followers of traffic stops, roadblocks etc, this gives time for the followers to avoid the police. This is an even bigger problem to tackle because most smartphones have access to Twitter through a 3G connection, this means that users are able to get push notifications on the road as well as at home. I agree with 'Fiche Galinha' in the sense that the banning of the accounts does go against freedom of speech however, it is a sensible measure to take as the account users are making police officers jobs more difficult.

SO scary!!!!!! After reading this shocking article I'll probably start covering my security cameras while I'm at home! A main social and ethical issue is SURELY privacy. I think that many people aren't aware that security is coming to bits by the second, privacy isn't what it was some years ago. And, in my opinion, it's the technology's fault. Even though computers, internet, phones etc have become useful, society's becoming too much dependent to technology and this is an issue as technology will continue to increase even more, meaning that society's privacy will continue to decrease even more. Can't we even have privacy at home?

To some extent I agree with you Ines. But technology isn't all bad. Yes, we are losing privacy at a rapid pace. But these cameras provided us with security. Well, they would have if it wasn't for the breach in Trendnet's security they would have provided people with security. Our world has become much dependent on social networking etc. We do not have as much privacy as one would like, but this is not solely the technology fault in my opinion. It is as much human nature, the drive to have 15 minutes of fame. Just my two cents anyway : )

The IT system in focus is the Trendnet home security camera. Here is how real-time, live video broadcasting works. This information originally referred to IP based cameras, which essentially work the same way. Image: http://www.ipcctv.com/images/learnMore/Single-Camera.gif The camera is installed and ran "The camera turns video & audio into binary data The camera connects to your the and transmits this data onto the network This data can then be viewed on a PC; on the local network, or over the internet." The remote viewer inputs the Internet addresses which link to the video streams and is able to see footage. source: http://www.ipcctv.com/article.php?xArt=13

Well there is always the fake ipad 3 video to watch: http://www.itworld.com/mobile-wireless/254586/fake-ipad-3-video-likely-more-exciting-next-weeks-real-one

"have very little answer to onion routing, and when combined with th"

interesting...

virtual reality;: lessons from the past

good story

hmm nice!

very nice!

"has revolutionised navigation, bringing military grade satellite positioning to the comfort of your car. But how does it work? James May steers us through the science behind sat-nav."

Piracy letter campaign 'nets innocents'

(This article affects 2.5_digital_entertainment) Although the Playbook has various appealing features such as dual HD cameras on the front and on the rear of the tablet and flash compatibilty, it is still entering a highly competitive market. It has been over a year since the playbook's release and it is clear that Apple's iPad continues at the top of the market. Here is a good comparison between both tablets: http://www.techdigest.tv/2011/06/blackberry_play_8.html

I agree with Jorge. By lauching this Playbook, Blackberry is surely entering a highly competitive market where not only Apple has lauched a similar product (iPad) yet also Samsung is also in the market for similar products. However, this Playbook has something that Apple doesn't; software for flash. Also, this Playbook is smaller than the Apple's iPad. This can be an advantage such that it would be easier to carry around, yet also a disadvantage since the screen would be smaller so people can't see things so well as on the iPad.