Technology and Science

Science & Technology

Today, we hear countless of scientific inventions and breakthroughs that help better the lives of human beings. Technology has modernized the way people live their lives. Long distance communication has been conquered by Bell's telephone since 1877. Bacterial infections are no longer fatal thanks to Alexander Fleming's accidental discovery of penicillin in 1929.





These technologies have become the center of human existence.They are a part of who we are. A teenage girl texts her friends with her new Iphone about a new dress she bought . or my extremely loud neighbor likes to clean his carpet with that stupid giant vacuum at 2:00 am.




In everything we do, technology is always involved. That does not sound so bad doesn't it?


Well, in my perspective, it's not as wonderful as many people believe. Yeah, technology and science has revolutionalized our living standards in many ways. However, everything has a bad side to it.

Weapons has also evolved, most importantly the atomic bomb of 1945. Wars could be so different. No more endless trench war fare of WWI. No more land invasion like D-Day of WWII. Wars could be won in minutes. Cities lay in ruins with just a push of a button. Scary?

I've never left my house without my phone. So do you probably. What if I tell you that the government is recording every single conversation, every line you have ever typed? What if I say that your lives are under surveillance right now? What if  I say that the privacy you've always thought you have is just a fantasy?

Let's get back to issues that we can all relate to. Technology has made us lazy. Before the invention of the automobile, people used to walk or bike hundreds of miles. Since the 1920s, we have begun to produce and upgrade our cars to be as comfortable as possible (ex. automatic gear shift). We hardly carry out any motion in our cars. Where will this lead? Maybe an extremely comfy floating chair that can be controlled by thoughts. (this is a rip off from Wall-E). We won't need to move a muscle. If we have everything done for us, what will we be doing? Nothing.

Take a glance at our future. Not very pretty.


PS: This blog is dedicated to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and George Orwell's "1984"

Charity confession

I donated $2 dollars to the orphanage to show my support to alleviate income disparity.

Okay, honestly, that's a lie. Really. I believe I donated for all the wrong reasons. For guilt. It felt that I had just bought myself half a year free of guilt, the guilt from seeing how I got it better than many. Yes, I am a hypocrite.






Though it's no excuse, it is human nature to be somewhat hypocritical, either good or bad. I donated for freedom from guilt. Others can donate to make themselves look better. Companies can aid charities to advertise and promote their brands. Well, for whatever reason, at least we have a common method of obtaining what we covet. Least, we are donating or doing charity.

Letter to the Creators of Pirate Bay

September 18th 2014

Recipient address: Västervik prison, somewhere in Europe

Dear Gottfrid Svartholm and Peter Sunde,

   A huge fan. The Pirate Bay website is a godsend. I haven't pay for a single song my entire life. No more stacks of CDs in wrong cases.Thank you guys so much. 
   I think the trial they put you two through is unfair. It's just because some of the big entertainment businesses are making a big fuss. It's all a farce I know. Too bad they are losing a few millions of dollar. Well, who cares? The people support your cause.
   

  Sincerely,

some creepy guy you don't know

JUSTIN

P

Digital Piracy

DIGITAL PIRACY 

Digital piracy is bad, because it is taking and copying intellectual property without consent from the owner. People have begun to employ this method to obtain as much intellectual data as they can for free. That's what people said. Here are some data on this "terrible" phenomenon:

• A whopping $59 billion dollars’ worth of software was stolen worldwide in 2010 according to the Business Software Allianceⁱ. In the US alone, 20% of all software installations in 2010 were pirated copies that cost the software industry $9.5 billion dollars.
• A survey by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry claims illegal downloads account for 95% of all music downloaded worldwide in 2010

Well, despite all of these "accurate claims" with almost zero evidence to support, the fact that digital piracy harming the entertainment industries is a total farce, in my opinion. The researchers at the London School of Economics seems to agree with me. 

Why? Here's why:

 1. The revenues of box offices is doing pretty well: of course the sale of CDs and rentals have decline, about 10% from 2010 to 2012. However, the total revenue was still worth $93.7 billion in 2012. Pretty healthy isn't it? are you starting to doubt these claims of anti-piracy advocators

2. the music industry's revenue is not in trouble: "Revenues from digital sales, subscription services, streaming and live performances compensate for the decline in revenues from the sale of CDs or records." the revenue was almost $60 billion in revenue, a 34% increase since 1994. 

3.exclusive ownership is over exaggerated: Musicians are voluntarily sharing their musics and data to fans through websites such as SoundCloud.

The only that could be potentially annoying is the possibility of contracting malwares and viruses on these piracy websites. Would it be better if the creators of these websites can spend time preventing this instead of hiding from the law? 

Since people want to obtain something for free rather than paying for it, it is futile and impractical to contain this enormous amount of "illegal activities". Why not accept and even embrace human nature?  

Income Disparity

Income Disparity

A big problem huh? Well to society today, it's a pretty big deal. Why don't we just equalize everyone's income "communistically"?


Heret's a brief history of Income Disparity:

In the 1970s:

• Prosperity brought an increase of incomes, doubling those in 1940s.
• The income gap however, remained the same.

Since the 1970s: economic growth has brought about a sharp increase of the gap:

• Incomes for lower and middle classes slowed sharply, while the rich keeps getting richer

  

Contrary to many beliefs, the US, the most developed country in the world, has one of the highest rate of income disparity. Look for yourself:

So, how do we fix this? In an ideal situation where we assume apathy actually exists, here are some solutions:

1. Tax wealth: we can just tax the rich more since they occupy almost 85% of the world's wealth.
2. Strengthen unions: taking from the basis of the Declaration of Independent, check and balances are key factors. Union can protect the middle and lower class of unfair abuses originated from the upper class
3. Strengthen the social safety net, including health care or free education for at least 4 years of college (little more socialist)

This video will probably sum up all of the long and boring things i just type. Have fun!

Now, back to the problem. Why is it such a difficult problem?
Well, human beings have a natural tendency toward selfishness. The riches have everything they need. Why do they care about the poor? Don't get angry with the top 1% yet. Economic equality is the dream right? Let's take a look the communist party. They are falling apart. Karl Marx placed his bet on the goodness of people's heart, on how the rich would give up their money and wealth to the poor. Despite their famous slogan: "all men are equal", the true face of humans actually says "some men are more equal than others". Ironic isn't it?

Well, I hope that more research and support should be dedicated to this particular subject. Only then will we be able to alleviate or even solve this dilema.

Political Compass

What is this? It's a compass. A political compass. Take your time. I did not get it the first time either. 

Okay. So why does something like this exist? To distinguish Stalin from Gandhi. What?

Weird huh? Allow me to explain...

This tells you whether you want absolute control over the economic like Pol Pot and Stalin or absolute market freedom like General Pinochet. Of course, there will be people who are not truly align themselves with the extreme left or right. You can be half way to the left or right or right in the middle of the 2 extreme.

Back to the example above, Gandhi and Statin are considered leftist. How do we tell them apart you ask? The social aspect. The authoritarian put the state before the individual.  The Libertarian, well take a guess? they like the individual idea more. 

I, myself, has always revered the idea of individualism, that everyone is capable of greatness. It is conformity that has submerged creativity. I would sometimes even consider myself to be an anarchist. Nevertheless, I still believe in a mild form of authority must still exist so that our society won't turn into a sequel of the Purge (it's not pretty) 

The political compass test is legit. no joke. Just look, that's my political stand right there in the pretty picture. 

So then, where are you on that compass?

PEACE MAKER

Peace Maker

"It's a game so it's must be fun" that was my initial thought. Well, it was very interesting. The game's objective is for you to put yourself in the position of important figures in the Middle East and handle their situation base on your skills.


To me, the game is extremely difficult to finish. I have no clue how to play to be honest. Maybe politics and I don't really get along.

However, it did expand my attention to the struggling situation in the Middle East.

The Israeli–Palestinian Conflict:

Bitter fighting has delayed hope for a peace agreement. These are the key issues: "mutual recognition of borders, security, water right, the control of Jerusalem, Palestine Freedom Movement, and Palestine right to reclaim their refugees "

The US is the arbitrator in this situation. Therefore, if a solution is to be proposed, it should be carried out appropriately by no other than the US.

How do we fix something that has not been fixed for the last 70 

years? 

1. Try to promote more democracies and fewer dictatorships in the Middle East

2. Push for steps to achieve a peace a peace settlement between Palestine and Israel 

3. Prioritize the US-Israel relationship