Chapter 1 how will you save the world Technology in Action Chapter 1 how will you save the world This chapter provides an overview of the importance of learning about computers and technology.

Chapter Topics More than just a job Technology on the world stage Technology and our society Technology and your life Topics include: More than just a job Technology on the world stage Technology and our society Technology and your life

More Than Just a Job Technology is a means for career advancement Provides necessary skill set for survival in society A tool that allows individual to make impact beyond his or her own life Technology today is not just a means for career advancement or just a necessary skill set for survival in society. It has become something more—a tool that allows an individual to make an impact far beyond his or her own life. We want our work and our lives to mean something and benefit others.

Technology and the World Stage Technology empowers us with tools to impact the world Political and global issues Social networking fueled social unrest Human rights Witness Project stops human right abuses The environment Cell phones could report air and water quality Thanks to technology, each of us is empowered with tools and opportunities to impact the world. Your reach can go far beyond what you see around you. Political and global issues of recent times are showing that modern technology is galvanizing groups of people in new ways. Social networking is the gathering together of groups of people using online tools to connect and exchange ideas. Social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter fueled social unrest in the face of repression and censorship in many countries. Having an international population armed with cameras and a means to quickly distribute their video allows the invisible to become visible in many ways. The Witness Project, founded by Peter Gabriel, uses this strategy to stop human rights abuses throughout the world. Their slogan is “See it. Film it. Change it.” And video from the Witness Project has changed many lives; for example, it contributed to the arrest of warlords in the Democratic Republic of Congo for the recruitment of child soldiers. Efforts similar to those just described are working to document the environmental state of the world. Environmental successes can be collected together, along with evidence to document ecological crimes. What if each of the cell phones distributed around the world was equipped with integrated atmospheric sensors?  Then millions of points around the world would be constantly reporting in on air and water quality.

The Digital Divide Great gap between levels of Internet access in different regions of the world Prevents use of all minds on planet to solve problems Many projects address the problem of the digital divide There is still a great gap between the levels of Internet access and the availability of technical tools in different regions of the world. The term coined for that gap, for the difference in ease of access to technology, is the digital divide. The danger of a digital divide is that it prevents us from using all of the minds on the planet to solve the problems of the planet. But that challenge also is being answered by the application of technology. The Next Einstein Initiative (NEI) is a strategic plan to focus resources on the young talented mathematical minds of Africa . The MIT Media Lab has a research group dedicated to integrating high- and low-tech materials and processes into other cultures. Projects like Fab FM have created radio kits that can be produced and assembled at home. The Junkyard Jumbotron from the MIT Center for Future Civic Media is another example of a software solution that allows low-tech parts to imitate the utility of expensive high-tech tools. The Jumbotron lets you combine a range of displays into a single virtual screen. Any kind of screen can become part of the jumbo image as long as it runs a Web browser, so laptops, smartphones, and smart televisions all can be converted on the spot to become an instant Jumbotron screen

Technology and Our Society Technology is allowing us to redefine fundamental parts of our social makeup How we think How we connect with others How we purchase and consume products These areas of our society are shifting rapidly because of technology Technology is allowing us to redefine very fundamental parts of our social makeup. How we think, how we connect with each other, how we purchase and consume products—all of these areas of our society are shifting rapidly because of technology.

How We Think What we think about How we think of each other Web 2.0 allows international collaboration Civic-minded projects appear online Autonomy, mastery, and purpose How we think of each other Marketing has relied on exploiting stereotypes Rise of social media has changed this People form into groups based on interests In the late 20th century, the most common trend was thinking about what to buy next. Or perhaps what to watch next, what to listen to next, what to read next—information and products were being served at an amazing rate and a pattern of consumption became habit. As more and more Web applications began to appear that allowed each individual to become the “creator” of the Web, a new kind of Internet came into being. It was nicknamed Web 2.0, and now everyone could collaborate internationally at the click of a mouse. Civic-minded projects appear online. Modern theories of motivation show that what pushes people to apply their free time to projects, for no money, is the excitement of autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Autonomy is the freedom to work without constant direction and control. Mastery is the feeling of confidence and excitement from seeing your own skills progress. So many people complete a full week of work and then play a musical instrument for hours at home, not to make money, but to feel their mastery of the instrument grow. Purpose is simply the understanding that you are working for something larger than yourself. Together, these three play into how we are fundamentally wired and produce incredibly motivated behavior. As we learn more about the “technology” of motivation, electronic technology offers motivated people the means to connect and to work easily with video and media. Their creative surplus becomes a powerful resource to change the world. We are trained by our society to adopt certain ideas about gender. Marketing often relies on identifying and exploiting specific stereotypes to sell products. Online it is difficult to ascertain someone’s true age—marketers only have access to your path through a particular Website to try to determine your income or gender. But it is very easy to determine what interests you as you move around the Web. People form into groups based not on their age or income, but on their common interests.

How We Connect Connecting through music Connecting in new ways Virtual Choir Connecting in new ways A Childhood Walk Google Street View DYTHR project (Let’s information be created, filtered & distributed) In most societies, people connect intimately in gatherings, local celebrations, and festivals through shared experiences. Technology has added breadth to that aspect of our lives as well. Eric Whitacre’s Virtual Choir, is one example. As a wanna-be rock star, Whitacre was introduced to classical choir music in college. He began the idea of a virtual choir by posting a video of himself to YouTube. The idea was that listeners would follow his lead and, as they heard the piano track, each would record their part of the piece. The submitted videos were then edited together. His next project, Virtual Choir 2.0 performing “Sleep,” was released in April 2011 and was even larger in scale. It included 2052 videos from 58 different countries. Ze Frank is an artist working to explore the ways we connect now that our virtual lives are so expanded. He offers an alternative view of the sight of people walking along a street caught staring at their mobile devices. Frank has organized numerous projects that illustrate the new ways we can connect virtually. He initiated one project named “A Childhood Walk” that invites people to go into Google Street View and record a walk that they used to take over and over as a child. People often have strong memories reappear, and Frank gathered together those memories along with photos from Google Street View to create a gallery (www.zefrank.com/the_walk). Another example of shifts in how we connect is demonstrated by the DYTHR project from MIT graduate students Grace Woo and Szymon Jakubczak. As people using DYTHR walk around with their mobile devices, they can broadcast a short message. Other phones, while scanning for wireless networks, pick up and display the messages. If a message seems important you can tap it and rebroadcast it. The more popular messages, as determined by the crowd, then begin to trickle up to the top of the list. So the crowd itself is writing the headlines, broadcasting them, and filtering them by popular demand. The Virtual Choir 2.0 performance of “Sleep” included over 2000 singers from 58 countries.

How We Consume Technology is changing all aspects of how we purchase and consume goods Marketing strategies count on many people having cell phones QR (quick response) codes link to online information (Through QR apps on phones) Idea of ownership is evolving and allowing us to change our relationship to objects Technology is changing all aspects of how we purchase and consume goods—from strategies for convincing you to purchase a certain product to the mechanics of how you buy and own things. New strategies in marketing and communications are counting on the fact that so many people have a cell phone with a camera and Internet access. A technology named QR (quick response) codes lets any piece of print in the real world host a live link to online information and video content. From your smartphone, simply run your QR app and hold the phone near the QR image anywhere you see it—on a product, in an advertisement, on a sign or a storefront—and your phone takes you directly to a display of information. It might be a Website, a video, a schedule, or a social network. QR tags are being used widely in retail, because studies show 82 percent of shoppers go to the Internet on their phone before a purchase anyway. Access vs. Ownership - Even the idea of ownership is evolving under technological pressures. The shift of information to a digital form is allowing us to change our relationship to objects. Items like bicycles and cars can become “subscriptions” instead of large one-time purchases.

Technology and Your Life Understanding technology can lead to greater productivity Boost your productivity by becoming computer literate Being computer literate means: Understanding capabilities and limitations of computers Knowing how to use computers efficiently Technology is creating huge changes in the world scene as well as how we behave socially. The more you understand technology, the greater your productivity can be and the better prepared you’ll be for any career. Technology now allows you to be very active in critical social and global issues. In order to take advantage of such power you need to move beyond being just a casual computer user and achieve computer literacy. Being computer literate means being familiar enough with computers that you understand their capabilities and limitations, and you know how to use them efficiently.

Be a Savvy Computer User Avoid hackers and viruses Protect your privacy Understand the real risks Use the Internet and the Web wisely Avoid online annoyance Be able to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your computer Avoiding hackers and viruses. Being aware of how hackers and viruses operate and knowing the damage they can do to your computer can help you avoid falling prey to them. Protecting your privacy. You’ve probably heard of identity theft—but do you know how to protect yourself from identity theft when you’re online? Understanding the real risks. Part of being computer literate means being able to separate the real privacy and security risks from things you don’t have to worry about. Using the Internet and the Web wisely. Anyone who has ever searched the Web can attest that finding information and finding good information are two different things. People who are computer literate make the Internet a powerful tool and know how to find the information they want effectively. Avoiding online annoyances. If you have an e-mail account, are you sure you know all the tricks you need to use email appropriately? Do you know what software programs you should install on your computer to avoid online annoyances? Being able to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your computer. Learning how to care for and maintain your computer and knowing how to diagnose and fix certain problems can save you a lot of time and hassle.

Prepare for Your Career Computer careers are on the rise Computers are used in wide range of careers including: Retail The arts Law enforcement The military Agriculture Computer careers are on the rise. Regardless of which profession you pursue, if computers are not already in use in that career, they most likely will be soon. Information technology (IT) is a field of study focused on managing and processing information and the automatic retrieval of information. Information technology includes computers, telecommunications, and software deployment. IT careers are on the rise, and the several of the fastest-growing occupations are computer related. So, let’s begin with a look at how computer systems are used in a wide range of careers. Whether you plan on a career in one of these fields or will just be a user of their products and services, your life will be affected by the use of computers in areas including retail, the arts, law enforcement, the military, agriculture, and more.

Retail: Working in a Data Mine Businesses use data mining to search huge amounts of data hoping to find a pattern Data mining opens the door to more detail Allows retailer to respond to consumer buying patterns Businesses accumulate a lot of data, but how do they manage to make sense of all of it? They use a technique known as data mining, the process of searching huge amounts of data with the hope of finding a pattern. For example, large retailers often study the data gathered from register terminals to determine which products are selling on a given day and in a specific location. In addition to inventory control systems helping managers figure out how much merchandise they need to order to replace stock that is sold, data mining opens the door to more detail. Managers can use mined data to determine that if a certain product is to sell well, they must lower its price—especially if they cut the price at one store and see sales increase, for example. Data mining thus allows retailers to respond to consumer buying patterns.

Arts: Ink, Paints, and a Laptop? Artists display and sell work using Web galleries Dance and music programs use computers to create new performances Many artists work exclusively with computers Artists display and sell their creations by using custom Web galleries.. Dance and music programs like the ones at the Atlanta Ballet and the Juilliard School of Music use computers to create new performances for audiences. A live dancer can be wired with sensors that are connected to a computer that captures the dancer’s movements. Based on the data it collects, the computer generates a virtual dancer on a screen. The computer operator can easily manipulate this virtual dance. Of course, not all artwork is created using traditional materials such as paint and canvas. Many artists today work exclusively with computers. Mastery of software programs such as Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Corel Painter is essential to creating digital art.

Video Game Design: A Long Way from Pac-Man Video game sales are larger than movie industry’s box office Large-scale games are created by teams Rapid growth is projected over next decade Revenues from video game sales in the United States are now larger than the movie industry’s box office. Large-scale games are impossible to create on your own—you must be part of a team. The good news is that because computer games are best developed for a local market by people native to that market, game development will most likely stay in the United States instead of being offshored (sent to other countries), as many other types of programming jobs have been.

Education: Teaching and Learning Computers are part of most schools Teachers must have working knowledge of computers to integrate technology into classrooms Internet has advantages as research tool Effective use of Internet allows teachers to expose students to places students otherwise could not access Simulations and instructional software are incredible learning tools Computers are part of most schools, even preschools. Teachers must, therefore, have a working knowledge of computers to integrate computer technology into the classroom effectively. The Internet has obvious advantages in the classroom as a research tool for students, and effective use of the Internet allows teachers to expose students to places students otherwise could not access. There are simulations and instructional software programs on the Web that are incredible learning tools.

Visiting Museums Virtual tours Audio guides Podcasts Multimedia tours Listen to music Interviews with artists Connect to others Many museums have virtual tours on their Websites that allow students to examine objects in the museum collections. Today, technology is often used to enhance visitors’ experiences at museums. New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), for example, offers a full range of options for tech-savvy visitors: old-fashioned museum audio guides, podcasts you can listen to with your smartphone, and multimedia tours that you can download through MoMA WiFi (www.moma.org) to your own MP3 device such as a Zune or an iTouch. These multimedia guides let you listen to music that the artist listened to when he or she was creating a particular work or look at other works that reflect similar techniques or themes to those of the one you’re viewing. While looking at works by more modern artists, you can watch interviews with the artist explaining his or her motivation for the work. You can even connect quickly to other members of your group and direct them to specific works you want them to see.

Law Enforcement: Put Down That Mouse – You’re Under Arrest Computers are used to solve increasing number of crimes Search databases on the Internet Computer forensics analyzes computer systems to gather potential legal evidence Training law enforcement officers Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Computers are being used in police cars and crime labs to solve an increasing number of crimes. One technique used by modern detectives to solve crimes uses computers to search the vast number of databases on the Internet. As detective work goes more high tech, so, too, does crime. To fight modern crime, a law enforcement specialty called computer forensics is growing. Computer forensics analyzes computer systems with specific techniques to gather potential legal evidence.. Computers are also used in training law enforcement officers to be more effective. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) use computer-based training to teach officers to recognize lies and evasive behavior.

Facial Reconstruction Systems Can turn skull into digital image of face The FastSCAN wand lets forensics teams quickly grab three-dimensional images of skulls Tissue-rendering programs then add layers of muscles, fat, and skin to create faces that can be used to identify victims Facial reconstruction systems like the one shown in this figure, can turn a skull into a finished digital image of a face, allowing investigators to proceed far more quickly with identification. The FastSCAN wand lets forensics teams quickly grab three-dimensional images of skulls. Tissue-rendering programs then add layers of muscles, fat, and skin to create faces that can be used to identify victims.

Medicine: The Chip Within Biology and technology are fusing Implantable chips repair nerve damage Person ID chip (VeriMed) verifies identity Help keep Alzheimer’s patients safe Provide tamperproof security measures We are at a stage when biology and technology are fusing. Researchers are experimenting with implantable chips that repair nerve damage and restore movement or sensation to parts of the body. One type of chip is already being implanted in humans as a means of verifying a person’s identity. Produced by Positive ID and called VeriMed, this “personal ID chip” is about the size of a grain of rice and is implanted under the skin. When exposed to radio waves from a scanning device, the chip emits a signal that transmits its unique serial number to the scanner. The scanner then connects to a database that contains the name, address, and medical conditions of the person in whom the chip has been implanted. The creators of VeriMed envision it helping keep Alzheimer’s patients safe and being used with other devices (such as electronic ID cards) to provide tamperproof security measures.

Biomedical Chip Implants Provide sight to the blind Microchip would attach to outside of eye Take over processing from damaged photoreceptors Transmit electrical images to the brain One potential application of biomedical chip implants is to provide sight to the blind. Researchers at MIT and the Boston Retinal Implant Project are experimenting with a microchip that would attach to the outside of the eye. The chip would take over processing from damaged photoreceptors and transmit electrical images to the brain. Biomedical chips such as these exemplify the types of medical devices you may “see” in the future

Science: Simulating Reality Simulations are used in: Weather forecasting Archeology Simulations also can model the structure of solar magnetic flares, which can interfere with broadcasts on Earth. By studying the data produced by these simulations, forecasters hope to improve their predictions about weather phenomena. Scientists are using three-dimensional scanners and imaging software to capture a detailed record of the current condition of the ruins. The virtual re-creation of the ruins is so lifelike that archaeologists can study the ruins on screen instead of at the actual site. Using the scans as well as satellite imagery, aerial photography, and other data, scientists will eventually be able to re-create missing portions of the ruins in a virtual model.

Psychology: You Should Smile…Now Affective computing relates to emotion or trying to influence emotions Emotional-social prosthesis (ESP) device helps people who have autism Psychologists and computer scientists are working to evolve systems with more human appearance Affective computing is computing that relates to emotion or deliberately tries to influence emotion. The emotional-social prosthesis (ESP) device was developed by a group at the MIT Media Lab. The ESP system is targeted at helping people who have autism. Autistic individuals can have extremely high intelligence, but do not easily sense nonverbal cues such as facial expressions and tone of voice. ESP is a wearable system that isolates the movements and facial expressions of people, interprets what their mood and intention probably are, and communicates this information back to the user. While engineers work to create computers that can understand us emotionally, psychologists and computer scientists are also working to evolve systems toward a more human appearance.

Chapter 1 Summary Questions 1. How can becoming proficient with technology help you understand and participate in important issues in the world at large? How can becoming proficient with technology help you understand and participate in important issues in the world at large? Whether it is political issues, environmental issues, or questions addressing the global digital divide, it is important that you become proficient with technology to be able to participate in the discussion. Technology can be the means by which you find your voice in the world and impact others in meaningful ways, as we see happening in many examples from around the world.

Chapter 1 Summary Questions 2. How can knowledge of technology help you impact the direction of our society? 2. How can knowledge of technology help you impact the direction of our society? Technology is changing how we think, how we connect with each other, and how we purchase and consume products and services. You can become a creator of new pieces of music, connect with people from around the world, and collaborate to create or consume by using current technology.

Chapter 1 Summary Questions 3. What does it mean to be “computer literate”? 3. What does it mean to be “computer literate”? Computer literacy goes beyond knowing how to use a mouse and send e-mail. If you are computer literate, you understand the capabilities and limitations of computers and know how to use them wisely. Being computer literate also enables you to make informed purchasing decisions, use computers in your career, and understand the many ethical, legal, and societal implications of technology today. Anyone can become computer literate.

Chapter 1 Summary Questions 4. How does being computer literate make you a savvy computer user and consumer? 4. How does being computer literate make you a savvy computer user and consumer? By understanding how a computer is constructed and how its various parts function, you’ll be able to get the most out of your computer. Among other things, you’ll be able to avoid hackers, viruses, and Internet headaches; protect your privacy; and separate the real risks of privacy and security from those you don’t have to worry about. You’ll also be better able to maintain, upgrade, and troubleshoot your computer; make good purchasing decisions; and incorporate the latest technologies into your existing equipment.

Chapter 1 Summary Questions 5. How can becoming computer literate help you in a career? 5. How can becoming computer literate help you in a career? As computers become more a part of our daily lives, it is difficult to imagine any career that does not use computers in some fashion. Understanding how to use computers effectively will help you be a more productive and valuable employee, no matter which profession you choose.