Critical20

CSC300H Blog

[critical20]

Bitcoin, or the Headline of all my Techie RSS Feeds

Wow, more and more news about the controversial Bitcoin currency has been circulating at the speed of light in the past few weeks. I'd love to say that I was a part of the mining process way back when, but sadly I thought it would be one of those fads that would fade quickly (not saying it won't in the near future, however). The bitcoin itself is a complicated topic, and I certainly don't have the technical knowledge to explain everything here, but it is essentially a digital, decentralized currency (consult Wikipedia for a much more in-depth look).

Just last week, the total value of Bitcoins hit $1B, and the currency is fast becoming the subject of controversy. One such issue is the argument that Bitcoins are essentially unregulated, which could cause a variety of problems (money laundering, black market value, security threats). In fact, just a few weeks ago US regulators decided to enact laws that would classify Bitcoin transactions as Money Service Businesses, forcing a subset of Bitcoin users to adhere to the laws of those businesses. Certainly, once the government steps in to start regulating anything, you know that thing has become a big deal.

For anyone keeping up with current events, the economic situation of Cyprus last week was a pretty important issue, with an enormous 10B Euro bailout offered in exchange for many harsh criteria. A large number of people have argued that the Cypriot financial crisis caused the  ridiculous surge in Bitcoin value in the past month. Here are some illustrations:

Correlation-Causation fallacy aside, I find it hard to believe that the crisis directly affected the spark in Bitcoin prices. Ars has a more detailed article explaining why. One of the major reasons in the tripling of Bitcoin value in the past month is due to the appearance of Bitcoin gambling services, which can easily drive up the market value of the currency. An outage at a Bitcoin exchange due to DDOS today caused the currency to dip over $30 in value. While I agree that Bitcoin is an innovative (and possibly revolutionary) technology, I feel that the sheer volatility of the currency still leaves much to be desired, and this weakness may not be something that can be fundamentally corrected. That said, I also feel a tinge of envy towards those who invested in the currency in its infancy and are reaping unimaginable profits.

Sources:

Ars Technica [Bitcoin value triples in a month...]: (http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/04/bitcoin-value-triples-in-a-month-to-all-time-high-of-more-than-100/)

Ars Technica [Bitcoin-based casino rakes in more than $500,000...]: (http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/01/bitcoin-based-casino-rakes-in-over-500000-profit-in-six-months/)

Ars Technica [Experts pour cold water on claim...]: (http://arstechnica.com/business/2013/03/experts-pour-cold-water-on-claim-that-cyprus-crisis-caused-bitcoin-boom/)

Ars Technica [US Regulator: Bitcoin exchanges must comply...]: (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/03/us-regulator-bitcoin-exchanges-must-comply-with-money-laundering-laws/)

The Market Monetariast [The Cyprus 'deposit grab' sparks a rally in Bitcoins]: (http://marketmonetarist.com/2013/03/21/the-cyprus-deposit-grab-sparks-a-rally-in-bitcoins/)

CNET [Bitcoin hits record exchange values...]: (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57576928-93/bitcoin-hits-record-exchange-values-with-cyprus-banking-crisis/)

CNET [Surging Bitcoin plunges $30...]: (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57577853-93/surging-bitcoin-plunges-$30-after-exchange-outage-hack/)

IEEE Spectrum [US Treasury to Bitcoin...]: (http://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-talk/computing/networks/us-treasury-to-bitcoin-we-are-watching)

IEEE Spectrum [Bitcoin hits 1 billion]: (http://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/networks/bitcoin-hits-1billion)

[critical20]

Videogames as Religion: Chain World

Just a bit late for this week's article, but this was one of the most fascinating ideas I've come across recently.

One of the greatest things I enjoy about video games is the potential to be portrayed as an art-form, taking players on wildly creative and emotional adventures (flOw, Amnesia, and more recently- Journey). At the 2011 Game Design Challenge, the theme of the challenge was Bigger than Jesus: games as religion. Jason Rohrer released Chain World, a modification of the popular game Minecraft (an indie sandbox which allows the user to build their own world from scratch). The catch? There would only be one available copy in the world at one time, housed in a USB flash drive that would be physically distributed between players. Several other rules were also included for participating players:

Run Chain World via one of the included “run_ChainWorld” launchers.

Start a single-player game and pick “Chain World”.

Play until you die exactly once. 3a. Erecting wooden signs with text is forbidden 3b. Suicide is permissible.

Immediately after dying and respawning, quit to the menu.

Allow the world to save.

Exit the game and wait for your launcher to automatically copy Chain World back to the USB stick.

Pass the USB stick to someone else who expresses interest.

Never discuss what you saw or did in Chain World with anyone.

Never play again.

Rohrer's vision was for participants to perceive the works of previous players as creations of gods- "We become like gods to those who come after us". Conceptually this seems like an innovative way for each player to have a unique experience, possibly dependent on the actions of their predecessors. Parallels between evolving religions and the shaping of the game cycle between players could definitely be made. However, reality often subverts reality- in this case, controversy arose when the first recipient of the game, Jia Ji decided to auction off the rights to play. Furthermore, while Ji admits to have sent the drive to the auction winner, potentially contradicting videos claim otherwise. The evolution of the rules of the game (and rules in reality), the backlash of the public to Ji's actions, and the pure concept of the game itself mimic many religious events throughout history. I would love to have a crack at Chain World and see what others have made of the game!

Sources:

Chain World: (http://chainworld.swio.ws/)

Wired [Chain World Video Game Was Supposed to be a Religion- Not a Holy War]: (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/07/mf_chainworld)

Rock, Paper, Shotgun [The Cult of Minecraft: Chain World]: (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/03/15/the-cult-of-minecraft-chain-world/)

[critical20]

The Computer Science Boom

It seems nowadays that many of the people I meet have either taken a Computer Science major, or at least several ComSci courses, or have expressed an interest in taking it in the near future. With the rapid growth of the high-tech industry, including social media and tech startups, a degree in Computer Science feels like a trend with plenty of momentum behind it. The Science Journal recently posted projections by the Bureau of Labor Statistics for new job opportunities between the present-day and 2020, and found a remarkable result: 62% of the growth of new STEM jobs (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) will be in the field of Computer Science. This is in comparison to roughly 13% growth in Engineering, 3% in Physical Science and a paltry 1% growth in Mathematical Science.

Enrolment data seems to support the popular trend of ComSci as well. The Computing Research Association reported a 29% increase in CS enrolments during 2011-12 in the US, the fifth straight year-on-year increase, and the third year in a row in which CS degrees were awarded in the double digits.

The average number of CS grads per year is growing on a trend that is frighteningly close to those of the dot-com bubble in the late 1990s- but is this just another bubble, spurred on by startup hype and "The Social Network" pop culture? Or is it due to the need for rapid computerization of a wide variety of industries? Certainly there has been plenty of exposure for companies such as Facebook, Zynga, or Twitter, who seemed to come out of nowhere to become kings of their domains. Personally I can't help but be a little cynical about the real cause for the rising popularity of Computer Science, but after the downturn in employment for people with CS degrees in the late 90s/early 00s, who can blame me?

(As a side note, it seems like CS is becoming an easier major to enrol in- MAT137 is not longer a required course? That class was traumatizing in my first year)

Sources:

Science Magazine [Want a Great Scientific Career? Choose Computer Science]: (http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2013_03_25/caredit.a1300053)

Computer World [Computer science enrollments soared last year, rising 30%]: (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9237459/Computer_science_enrollments_soared_last_year_rising_30_)

Computing Research Policy Blog [Undergrad Computer Science Enrollments Rise for Fourth Straight Year]: (http://cra.org/govaffairs/blog/2012/04/undergrad-computer-science-enrollments-rise-for-fourth-straight-year-cra-taulbee-report/)

Network World [Hottest major on campus? Computer science]: (http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/112111-majors-computer-science-253309.html)

[critical20]

Intelligence and Curly Fries?

Ars Technica recently had an amusing article regarding the use of the popular Facebook app myPersonality, which surveys its users and aggregates their results to find interesting data and correlation between user profiles and psychological behaviour. By using econometrics and statistical regression, the app was able to correctly predict many results with respect to demographics and personality:

Roughly 88% correct on user sexual preferences (Gay or Straight), political choices (Democrat or Republican), and religious belief (Christianity or Islam)

93% correct on gender

95% correct on race (Caucasian or African-American)

75% correct on alcohol and cigarette use

Roughly 66% on drug use and relationship status

In an academic paper describing the relationship between an Internet user's behavioural traits and their online tendencies, authors Michal Kosinski and co. found that accessible online information such as Facebook Likes could accurately predict a user's personality and behavioural traits.

The study also found that high IQ was correlated to factors such as science, thunderstorms, watching the Colbert report, and, hilariously, curly fries. Similarly, people who liked Hello Kitty also tended to be Democrats with a higher degree of openness and less emotionally stable.

Of course, one of the basic tenets of statistics is that correlation does not imply causation. However, I'm still surprised at how high the program's accuracy is in detecting the various demographics of its users. In terms of privacy, more and more of our personal information tends to be accessible online (often due to our own ignorance). As articles about employers filtering or firing applicants based on social media activity continue to increase, should we expect a future in which all prospective job opportunities are screened through comprehensive online background checks? 

Sources:

Ars Technica [On Facebook, smart people like The Colbert Report and curly fries]: http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/03/on-facebook-smart-people-like-the-colbert-report-and-curly-fries/

Michal Kosinski, David Stillwell, and Thore Graepel [Private traits and attributes are predictable from digital records of human behavior]: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2013/03/06/1218772110

myPersonality Project: http://mypersonality.org/wiki/doku.php

NBC News [Job candidates get tripped up by Facebook]: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20202935/#.UUEiMRz3iTo

CNET [Facebook entry gets office worker fired]: http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-10172931-71.html

[critical20]

Google Glass - not "If", but "When"

Over this Reading Break, Google released another video on Glass, a head-mounted augmented reality product with similar functionality to today's smartphone. Currently, the product is expected to be available to the consumer market by the end of this year. Will Glass become another indispensable product for a society who are practically "permanently-connected" to each other? Joshua Topolsky of The Verge, who wrote a favourable first-impression's review on Glass, certainly believed so. What are the implications of such a future?

The rapid adoption of the smartphone and rise of social networks, which happened within a decade, arguably revolutionised the way many of us communicate with one another (whether positively or negatively is another issue). With Glass, it seems that the trend of shortening that  hypothetical "distance" continues, by providing a direct, hands-free interface with which we can interact with each other. Particularly, AR and VR technologies such as Glass and Oculus that alter or enhance our senses are becoming more prevalent. Coupled with the rate at which technology is improving (see: Moore's Law), I'm reminded of the science fiction story The Machine Stops, by E.M. Forster, in which humans live only in isolated cells and communication is done via instant messaging and video chat. While I'm not suggesting that Google's new product will bring about this sort of future, there's certainly an interesting philosophical issue that can be raised between human and computer interaction.

What about the legal standpoints of Google Glass? In Joshua's review, he mentioned privacy as a great hurdle in the adoption of the product. While camera crews obliged when asked to stop filming his trip to Starbucks, Joshua continued to privately record video with Glass during the exchange. With increasingly strict rules and regulations on public picture-taking and video-recording (especially with regards to police activity), what new measures must be taken to protect our privacy?

All else aside, I'm positively excited for the release of Google Glass into the consumer market and what new innovations to HCI and general computing it will bring. Like Joshua, I feel as if the adoption of this type of technology (although perhaps not Google Glass specifically) will become an inevitability for the majority of us who increasingly rely on a state of connectivity to the Internet and our social circles.

Sources:

Ars Technica ["Ok, Glass, record a video": Google provides another glimpse of Glass]: (http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/ok-glass-record-a-video-google-provides-another-glimpse-of-glass/)

The Verge [I used Google Glass: the future, but with monthly updates]: (http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/22/4013406/i-used-google-glass-its-the-future-with-monthly-updates)

CNET [Google Glass expected to arrive in 2013]: (http://news.cnet.com/8301-33692_3-57570828-305/google-glass-expected-to-arrive-in-2013/)

[critical20]

Open Source vs Proprietary Software

Luckily, last week's post about the rise of crowdsourcing allows me to easily transition to this week's topic of open source software. We discussed various pros and cons of the open source method against proprietary technology, as well as the increasing trend in the use of open source for mainstream businesses.

In a study conducted by Barracuda Networks, 80% of correspondents answered PRICE as the most important reason for the implementation of open source over proprietary, followed by source code access and community code review. On the other hand, 65% of interviewees replied that the availability of qualified vendors to provide related services as the most important advantage of proprietary software. Easier adoption into an organization and automated updates follow at 47% and 44% respectively. In another survey by BMC, it was found that the average time to fix a problem in proprietary software was around 7 days. In contrast, the turnaround for bug-fixing in open source projects was under 8 hours! In this light, it's no wonder that more and more large businesses are relying on open source solutions: for example, Ebay, Yahoo, the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times all use WordPress as their blog platform.

Personally, I think the benefits of proprietary software are overshadowed by those of open source software. Even if price were not a factor, the availability of community-reviewed code and fast bug-fixing are more vital than ease of implementation on the organization level in my opinion.In addition, the lack of professional vendor services for open source software should steadily be fixed as businesses shift their focus away from proprietary technologies. Combined with the fact of generally lower costs of open source software, this could lead to a fundamental paradigm shift in business principles as more companies let go of traditional proprietary software in exchange for open source solutions.

Below is a simple infographic about various costs and benefits of open source compared to proprietary software:

  Sources:

CNET: (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-9789275-16.html)

CIO: (http://advice.cio.com/esther_schindler/enterprise_developers_programming_speed_check_time_to_fix_bugs_not_so_much)

(http://www.wpbeginner.com/showcase/21-popular-brands-that-are-using-wordpress/)

Wall Street Journal: (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20000872396390443589304577633733725243996.html)

[critical20]

Crowdsourcing & the Future of Startups

Missed my last weekly post due to a multitude of reasons, so this week's feature will be a bit lengthier to make up for it :)

In my earlier post about piracy, I casually mentioned Kickstarter and Bandcamp as new ways in which today's society has innovated in the music industry. In fact, one trend I've noticed in the past few years in the technological space is the surge of independent startups, specifically with regards to the process of crowdfunding. While the concept of consumers financing projects is not new in itself, the sheer accessibility of crowdfunding platforms has led to an explosion of innovative ideas which have the potential to hit the ground running. Some of the most popular systems in this sphere include YCombinator (possibly the father of the crowdfunding/angel investing-technology startup), IndieGoGo, and Kickstarter (arguably the heavyweight in recent times).

Media publications have started to picked up on this method as well, and I recommend reading Wired's review of YCombinator's startup incubation process (link at bottom). In fact, Disqus, the platform in which you can comment on this very blog, was born out of YCombinator, along with many influential companies such as Reddit (an online news aggregator utilising crowdsourcing for their articles) and AirBnB (a platform allowing for a collection of people to essentially 'crowdsource' their chalets for foreign guests). Forbes in 2012 valued YCombinator (and its startup children) at a massive $7.8 BILLION - no wonder more and more young entrepreneurs are taking to startups to find their fortune!

One critical advantage in using crowdsourcing (specifically crowdfunding) platforms to display an idea is the simple fact that interest in your project can be based on the amount of money generated by user pledges- this is an amazing way to gauge immediate market demand at virtually no cost! The particular platform I'm referring to here is the crowdfunding giant Kickstarter.

While Kickstarter supports a wide range of possible projects, the most influential in my opinion seem to all come from the Technology sphere. Projects such as the Pebble (Smartwatch), Form 1 (3D printer), Oculus Rift (VR headset), OUYA (Android-based console) and DoubleFine Adventure (Video game) have gained some of the largest followings EVER, with total pledges of up to $10 million. It's hard to conceptualize how these products could be realized using older (angel) investor methods without spending large sums of money on market research. Kickstarter allows project leaders to learn almost instantly how great the demand is for their product, before any legitimate work needs to be done. 

Now with everything I've said so far, you might think: How come everything doesn't come in crowdfunded form? To name a few issues, SCALE is a critical point that is still being addressed, and the process of backing a project is also inherently risky, especially with respect to the legal obligations of the project proposer. One such example is the fairly recent demise of Haunts, a fully-funded (actually over-funded according to their projected budget) video game that simply ran out of resources to continue. Kickstarter was (and still is) not legally obligated to refund any pledged money, nor were the project creators (who luckily did promise to provide refunds). 

Personally, I do see a lot of potential for crowdfunding in the technology industry and the startup game in particular. New, innovative ideas and products are being churned out faster than ever, and savvy consumers are becoming less reluctant to risk backing those products despite the issues. It runs parallel to other concepts such as the Humble Bundle, a collection of multiplatform indie games priced at a pay-what-you-want level. Whether or not this platform will continue to gain momentum, however, will definitely be contingent on reducing the legal risks of such opportunities.

Sources:

Wired [Y Combinator is Bootcamp for Starups]: (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/05/ff_ycombinator/all/1)

Wired [How Kickstarter Became a Lab for Daring Prototypes and Ingenious Products]: (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/03/ff_kickstarter/all/)

Forbes [Top Startup Incubators And Accelerators: Y Combinator Tops With $7.8 Billion In Value]: (http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2012/04/30/top-tech-incubators-as-ranked-by-forbes-y-combinator-tops-with-7-billion-in-value/)

TIME [The Kickstarter Economy]: (http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2125023,00.html?iid=pw-tl)

TIME [When Promising, Fully Funded Kickstarter Projects Go Wrong]: (http://techland.time.com/2012/10/22/when-promising-fully-funded-kickstarter-projects-go-wrong/)

Kickstarter [Haunts: The Manse Macabre]: (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2066438441/haunts-the-manse-macabre/posts/331425)

[critical20]

Piracy, or the State of the Music Industry

This week our lecture was centred around Intellectual Property and its various methods of enforcement (copyright, licensing, etc). I'm going to try to focus solely on the music industry, but IP covers so many fields that it'll be hard not to reference the film, software and game industries as well. There's so much that can be covered that I'm only going to be able to skim various topics.

As a hobbyist producer and DJ, the evolution of the music industry is something that I've found fascinating for a long time. The ongoing lawsuits from the huge RIAA and MPAA against illegal downloaders, the raids against filesharing giants Megaupload and Piratebay, and the emergence of new methods to promote and distribute music show a radical change in the way music is sold and shared in our modern society.

Business Insider does a great analysis on revenues and sales in the music industry with some surprising takeaways:

Music revenue is down ~40% since its peak in 1999

Consumers spent nearly 3 times less on music than 11 years ago

Consumers buy only about 1 album per person per year (2009)

Since 2003, digital singles rose to roughly 3.5 sales per capita (2009)

While albums sales have greatly declined in the recent decade (along with the increase in digital single sales), how much of this can be attributed to music piracy? It's certainly true that the emergence of Napster and P2P technology paved the way for music to be spread online, legally or otherwise. The age-old question of piracy is as relevant here as it is in the film and media industries: would people who pirate, say, an album, purchase the same album if it were not available by illegal methods? That is to say, legal ramifications aside, does every act of piracy equal a lost sale? Or are the antiquated strategies and technological stubbornness of the entertainment industries to blame for the decline in music revenue? (Case in point: Death of Blockbuster vs Netflix)

As mentioned earlier, the rise of the digital era also gave way to great innovations in music sales and promotion. These include:

Emphasis on touring and concerts as the major source of revenue over album/single sales

Birth of "Pay-What-You Want"- for example, Radiohead's In Rainbows album. This is also very relevant for software in general- I'll probably cover concepts such as the Humble Bundle in subsequent articles.

Independent distribution companies such as Bandcamp and Kickstarter (which I should also cover in the future)

Streaming technologies used by firms such as Spotify and Pandora

Streaming, in particular, was lauded as a revolution in music distribution. However, recent studies have shown that artists participating in these methods may not be much better off than those who do not adopt it. If so, what new innovations can we expect in the near future, and is draconian enforcement against piracy the answer?

Here's a neat infographic detailing earning musician earnings based on format (pay particular attention to artist revenues from streaming companies Rhapsody, Last.fm, Spotify):

Sources:

Variety [Concert, recorded music sales crashed in 2010]: (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118029386/)

Business Insider [The REAL Death Of The Music Industry]: (http://www.businessinsider.com/these-charts-explain-the-real-death-of-the-music-industry-2011-2)

Time Entertainment [Radiohead Says: Pay What You Want]: (http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1666973,00.html)

The Economist [What's working in music]: (http://www.economist.com/node/17199460)

[critical20]

Week 1

Hi! If you've come across this blog, chances are you're part of the CSC300 Computers and Society course for the 2013 winter semester. Rather than focus on a single subject, I will most likely be jumping between various topics with a unifying theme on technology and its effect on society (and vice versa). It's been a long time since I've blogged and my first time with tumblr so layouts and organization of this blog may change from time to time. Feel free to comment on any of my posts, even if it's just for the participation ;)

Unfortunately, the main topic of today's discussion is the very recent passing of a great mind in the world of technology: Aaron Swartz. Some of his most-recognized works include:

the co-authoring of RSS 1.0 specifications

the founding of Demand Progress (http://demandprogress.org), which was instrumental in challenging SOPA/PIPA internet censorship laws

the development of Reddit, a popular news aggregator

The short version of the story is that Aaron was charged and indicted for illegally downloading a multitude of academic articles from JSTOR with the intent to distribute them for free. He returned the files to JSTOR and promised not to spread the documents. In return, JSTOR agreed to drop charges against Aaron. However, the Federal government refused to let go of the case- Aaron eventually received a penalty of up to 35 years in prison and $1M in fines with reference to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Reddit provides an "Explain Like I'm Five" article if you're not very interested in the  technical details: (http://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16jq95/eli5_who_was_aaron_swartz_and_what_is_the/)

*Reddit is not a published source, but the article provides a popular (if biased) view among many in the tech world.

Many issues that have been brought forth from Aaron's case including the severity of the punishment in relation to the charges, the relentless Federal prosecution despite JSTOR's own decision to cease legal action, the dissemination of academic articles as "free education", and the role of depression and (lack of) psychiatric support in his suicide. I won't advocate any extreme courses of thought as a result of this case, but I do feel that there is plenty of grey area that needs to be cleared in the near future with regards to the harshness of Aaron's penalty compared to his actions. Although I may not necessarily believe it, a rather popular sentiment in Aaron's case is that he was simply made an example of, a miscarriage of justice.

An appropriate analogy in my opinion would be checking out hundreds of books from a library, and making those books free for public use. Of course, copyright is a major issue, but would it be worth 35 years in prison and a fee of a million dollars? This is also relevant to the concept of digital copyright law (especially in terms of movies, music, etc), which I'm sure will be discussed in class in the near future.

All else aside, Aaron Swartz was an incredibly talented force in the world of technology and digital openness, and will be sorely missed.

He was only 26.

.

Sources and Additional Readings:

Feds Charge Activist with 13 Felonies for Rogue Downloading of Academic Articles. David Kravets, Wired, 2012. (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/09/aaron-swartz-felony)

The Tech's Coverage of Aaron Swartz. Joanna Kao, 2013. (http://techblogs.mit.edu/news/2013/01/the-techs-coverage-of-aaron-swartz/)

Open-Access Advocate Is Arrested for Huge Download. John Schwartz, The New York Times, 2011. (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/20/us/20compute.html)

Legal Information Institute. Cornell University Law School. (http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1030)

Aaron Swartz & A Culture of Denial: Depression & Suicide in Tech. John M. Grohol, PsychCentral, 2013. (http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2013/01/15/aaron-swartz-a-culture-of-denial-depression-suicide-in-tech/)

[critical20]

let there be light

test post :)