UWW310 Technology's Effect on Society

Mark, There are interesting areas to chose from, but I thought you would like the Tech innovations.

Really enjoyed it, thanks!

Hi Mark, Check out the film clips!

That's great!

An article about a new virtual technology to help seniors be more independent by using a robot to interface with them.

Brief descriptions and photos of what could be in store for us in the future!

The effects on finance, employment, and more!

Article about the increased concern about where IT products and services come from.

Really interesting study that examines an unusual side of technological effects on society. A dense read, but worth a scan through the data and findings.

A question that often comes up when talking about the effects technology has on society and the use of our brains. I'm not sure I agree with the psychologist that wrote this. The statement at the end mentioning technology allows our brains to free up space to devote to more important things may be questionable. I'm not sure if memory in our brains is like the hard drive on a computer. Would be interesting to read an opposing viewpoint to this.

Very well written article by one of my favourite authors Jonathan Safran Foer, explaining the effects of technology on society's behaviour. Technology robs us of attention we would give or receive from others. It provides us with the perfect distraction and as a result can hinder opportunities for compassion and meaningful human interaction.

Interesting article about the social aspect of teenagers on the internet. Not so much about the darker aspects but about the "garden variety" relationships and how they affect kids.

I am always on the lookout for stories featuring past predictions of the future impacts of technology on society and how closely they mirrored reality. So I was quite happy to find a couple of recent articles, one in BusinessWeek and the other in the discussing technology predictions made by the CIA in 1962 and by a group of futurologists in 1988.

Something happened on Earth Thursday that scientists believe the planet hasn't experienced in as many as three to five million years. Atop the Mauna Loa Observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii, sensors tracking all the substances swirling around in Earth's atmospheric soup are -- for the first time -- recording carbon dioxide at levels higher than at any time in human history.

While some members of Congress might have been excited to try on Google's Glass this week , others are concerned about their privacy implications. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and seven other members of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus have sent a letter to Google CEO and co-founder Larry Page requesting answers to a series of privacy questions and concerns raised by the camera-equipped glasses.

This is just one example of improving medical technology. The article states that over 50 million Americans experience migraine headaches, and this simple, non-invasive technology has significantly reduced symtoms for a large number of test subjects.

Space exploration has long fascinated me, and has led to massive changes in society. Much of our rapid technological development can be attributed to space programs. I think that our human need to expand and explore will take us to space in more permanent installations.

Threads like this one, from reddit.com, show us one possible future of news brioadcasting: instant, prone to some error, but rapidly self correcting, interactive and full of links and multimedia. It is a scary proposition to think that our news may devolve to this kind of reporting.

3D printing is looking like another disruptive technology that can significantly change our society. It will allow hobbyists and other people of fairly modest means to have access to a wide range of manufacturing capabilities. It will also probably make copyrights harder to enforce.