Terms & Conditions = Don't Read, Scroll Down & Accept

So what are Terms & Conditions? Well, here's a Wikipedia definition for you: Terms of service (commonly abbreviated as ToS or TOS^[1] and also known as Terms of Use, Terms & Conditions) are rules which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. Terms of Service can also be referred to as Terms of Use or sometimes merely a Disclaimer, especially regarding the use of websites. (Click here if you feel enthusiastic and want to read more.)

We all know the importance of a legitimate contract, and that if we agree to it then we must abide by it. This is also the case with terms and conditions, although we don't really take it as seriously or as conciously as the traditional and more formal contract.

This then makes me wonder; my younger brother is 15 years old and has a Facebook account, his age means that he does not have the contractual capacity to fulfil a contract (Under 18), making a contract/agreement void? Right? Maybe not, after doing a bit of research; Facebooks Help page clearly inidcates that anyone can sign up to Facebook, from the of 13. If anyone found under the age of 13 creates a Facebook and their profiles get found out, they will be deleted.

So maybe the terms and conditions aren't as limited, in terms of age capacity as are formal contracts. I guess in terms of social media, terms and conditions are simply an agreement to abide by the rules. That doesn't mean that you should not read them (You must watch the video above if you haven't). Keep reading on and I will explain why.

Come on, we are all guilty of signing up to something and not even reading a word of the terms & conditions. I mean, whats the point? It's just a load of text that doesn't really matter and can potentially come back and haunt us in the future...

WHAT??? SERIOUSLY???? NO WAY??? Of course not, unless the information you've shared becomes credible in the future and the material you've shared on sites such as Facebook and Twitter become profitable, then yes. (PLEASE CLICK HERE, PRETTY PLEASE)

We will take Facebook owned photo sharing app Instagram as a prime example. Recently, there was huge controversy over the new terms & conditions that Instagram had published. These terms & conditions had implications of giving Instagram the right to all images uploaded to be commercially used without identification.

For those of you who only use Instagram to take pictures of food, you probably don't care. But some people upload valuable art, pictures with high sentimental value and images they just don't want anyone else to have or see!

Instagram however apologised and reassured the interested public that they were not to use their photos, despite losing a big percentage of their users.

The moral of the story is that; terms & conditions are basically similar to a contract, and if you are not aware of the important tiny details then you are responsible for agreeing to something which you do not actually agree to. (BUT YOU DID!)

So be careful and READ the terms & conditions!

We Are Being Stalked AND Protected?

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Over the years, as technology has advanced and privacy has become more and more exposed; we are in the age of surveillance. In this day and age, we are surrounded by cameras in almost every public place we go to. Yes, it is to reduce crime and to gather evidence of potential or already executed criminal acts but does it not make you weary knowing that you are being watched? Or do you just not think about it as much as I do and walk in public without a care in the world?

According to >>THIS <<  article in the Guardian that I came across, the increase in CCTV is a waste of money and is impotent in the act of penetrating crime. Fair enough, CCTV is still pretty effective but are we putting too much emphasis and money into surveillance? Maybe that money would come useful in other security measures? But then again, we are Britain. We are financially immature, spending money we DON'T have on things we DON'T need: 'Hello Afghanstian, do you like our weapons? We've been sent here to look mean with our big toys, be afraid. Grrrr!'.

If you have £200 in your bank account, with bills to pay and other costs to cover; it doesn't make sense spending £195 on a Michael Kors watch, does it? LOGIC.

Another question which comes to mind when thinking about the world riddled with CCTV - Is it ethical? Take a look at the video below.

I personally think that we have enough surveillance and should invest elsewhere. My favorite piece of advice is: 'Too much of anything is bad for you'. - In the battle of Man V Technology, man wins. Sorry, that was meant to be funny.

iPhone, iPad... iRobot?

 

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Today we have  revolutionary gadgets such as iPods, iPads and Iphones, a few examples. These devices have been highly successful in the market and consumers have made a huge demand for more, in terms of additional features as well as upgrades and more products. What this does is make the product developers and inventors to think outside of the box and create something original. For example, mobile phones used to be basic devices with just numbered buttons to make calls. Look at mobile devices now, they have everything. Can you imagine your mobile device being able to talk back to you and interact with you in several different ways? Well it's in the process, Siri from Apple is a prime example.

With every piece of technology you must understand that science is always involved, in one way or another.

Take a look at this video..

 

She's pretty hot right? I'm kidding, that's not the point. The point is that she's a robot, looks like a human and can even speak! No, I do not intend on asking her out, just because she looks like a lady it does not actually make her one.. Make IT one even.

After seeing this video you probably have a few thoughts running through your mind, right? Hopefully not any inappropriate ones! 

One of these thoughts should beg the question 'What effect can these humanoids have upon society and the world as a whole?' -  Well, They may take our jobs, may even start taking control of our domestic roles, may reduce fertility rates and eventually it will be deemed as ethical to marry a Humanoid. It is most certainly an ethical risk, a social risk and what if these robots become unresponsive or corrupt? Then it becomes a global risk and puts our entire human race at risk. 

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Do we need Humanoids? No we do not, Science needs to stop trying to be something it does not believe in, GOD. We have enough technology to just about keep us sane, any more and we'll all lose ourselves in a technological fantasy.

I personally believe that there is no positive outcome within the creation of Humanoids. It is not a joke; if a Humanoid race was starting to form I would kill myself, before they kill me. Computers are enough, that's as far as I'll go, a computer that I can look at and use as I do today. I do not want to be surrounded by a computer that can look at me and one that may be molested by some sick pervert. I do not need a Humanoid that can look after my children, sleep with my wife and do all my work for me, because these are compulsory aspects of life, why we live! If we take away our lives and give them to robots then we will have nothing left. Even the scientists will be inferior to their own creation, let's not go there.

Technology: Autobots Or Decepticons?

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For those of you who are not familiar with Autobots or Decepticons, they are Transformer machines. Autobots are the good machines who save the world and make our lives easier and Decepticons are evil machines who do the opposite. We all have an Autobot that we can rely on, but it is common to be burdened with a Decepticon, especially in this day and age (Even though they are becoming more powerful and successful overtime).

Before I begin I would like to link you to my previous blog post which will give you a further insight into this argument about good vs evil technology. Good technology (Autobot) let's me take you there instantly. Don't believe me? Well, click here! (Now that's a good Autobot!) ... You should be on the right page now, if not then my Autobot may have switched allegiances and become a Decepticon. If the page does successfully load, please give it a read before reading this post further on.

 

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Technology can be great, sometimes even flawless and second to none but it can also be your worst enemy! I remember when I was back in school during my GCSEs and I had literally an hour to submit my final ICT coursework draft. I had spent sleepless nights on my work, sacrificed my social life and even dumped my girlfriend at the time. I did make several copies and back ups on my work, they were on my memory stick and computer. My school was literally around the corner so I had enough time to save my work and get to school on time. Just as I was about to save my work, the screen went blue and my computer automatically restarted. It would not successfully boot, but that was fine because I had my work on my memory stick (Hurrah!). Enthusiastically I told my teacher I had the work finished and would show him. I plugged my USB into the port and there was a 'drive error'. I unplugged and then replugged to find out that my memory stick was corrupted and had nothing on it! The Decepticon had won this battle and made me fail my coursework!

I am certain that I am not the only victim of the weaknesses some technological devices possess. There are many cases where technology has ruined lives, for example: Cyber bullying, gambling machines, virus riddled computers and even Facebook! (The amount of times I have been dumped because of Facebook is laughable.)

Scarily enough, technology and humans are becoming more similar every day! We humans have flaws, just like technology. But it is our imperfections which make us beautiful!

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Beautiful technology, take this mobility scooter for example. My grandfather (god rest his soul) had one of these mobility scooters and it made him a very happy man. He was in his mid 80s and unable to walk, and get from A-Z, he was the type of person who liked to do things by himself. He loved his grandchildren and loved treating them to food and gifts as much as possible. The mobility scooter allowed him to go and buy food for my little cousins when they were hungry, when him and my grandmother fell out over the television remote, it allowed him to go out and clear his head and the last time I saw him before his death was on his mobility scooter going to eat lunch. 

Technology has also given us the ability to capture moments through video and photos, and to see family from the other side of the world through Skype and webcams which allow us to vocally communicate as well. The downside of a really good digital camera for example is the rocketing prices, but the moments it captures are priceless right?

I won't baffle on too much, I think you get the idea. Here's a video for you to watch. 

The Internet: From AOL.com to Google Chrome

They said it would never last, that it simply did not have the ability to maintain such a vast number of users; that sooner or later, it would crash. Well, it would appear as though “they” were wrong. The Internet has changed the world as we know it, despite some people’s cynical outlook on the whole idea. It plays a significant role in the way we communicate with one another, the way we share information, and for some of us, the way we date! The internet has essentially evolved from being a network of networks to becoming a medium.

Let’s take a trip down internet memory lane, you know, back to the days when AOL.com ruled the world, and we had to “dial-a-connection” before we could even access the internet. Or even before that, to the 1960’s, when Marshall McLuhan first envisioned the concept of a ‘Global Village’. No one believed that McLuhan’s theory could one day become reality, but it has, thanks to the World Wide Web.

In the space of a decade, the internet has come a long way. Just take a look at how web pages have advanced in 10 years:

Sony web page in 2001: 

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Sony web page 2011:

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Bill Clinton, U.S President (1993-2001) famously said:
“When I took office, only high energy physicists had ever heard of what is called the World Wide Web... Now even my cat has its own page”
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It’s true, almost everyone, even fictional characters, seem to have a social networking page these days. Society has gone from spending an average of 46 minutes, per day, on the internet (2002), to spending an average of 4 hours, per day, on the internet (2012).

An insightful infographic - ‘The Internet a Decade Later’, shows how much the internet has changed over the last 10 years. Click [here] to check it out.

With these changes in mind, the question raised now is whether the internet is having a positive or negative effect on our daily lives.

Many seem to argue it is having the latter effect. It is argued that the internet now prevents people from interacting on a face to face basis. We are probably more inclined to send someone an email, or a Facebook message, rather than speak to them on the phone. Some do not consider this “real life” interaction. But we are still communicating with “real life” people at the other end of emails, are we not? Also, with social networking sites such as Facebook, you are probably now, more in contact with people, than you would be otherwise. You’re even less likely to lose contact with them. At the same time, for those who lack social skills, or can’t seem to meet people in more traditional ways, it’s a great way of meeting people.

Many argue that the internet is simply filled with “filth”, such as porn, and other temptations. I’m not going to argue that this isn’t true, but it is filled with other stuff too! One should consider the internet as the world’s largest library, which is essentially what it is. It’s filled with all the information and knowledge you could ever desire, and even better, you can access it at the click of a finger! There’s no need to spend hours in the library searching for what could be found in minutes on the web. As for the vast amount of porn available on the internet, well that’s just a reflection on our sex-obsessed culture. There’s really no reason to presume that the internet is wholly responsible for this. If someone really wants to access porn then they’ll find a way. I mean, just go to Ann Summers, they have a great collection of porn videos, not that I’ve personally seen it (well I have, for educational purposes), and yet we don’t seem to object to having an Ann Summer’s store on every high street!

I was meant to produce two blogs; from the beginning of the worldwide web to what we now access today, however I found it necessary to merge the two blogs together and give an in-depth analysis and make necessary comparisons.

The internet has undoubtedly revolutionized and adapted to the rapid demand and advances of society. Well, we can argue that the internet is one of the reasons society has become more demanding and advanced couldn't we? Regardless, the internet has become an essential in our daily lives and is like a secondary life to us. Thank god for internet blogging!

Computer = Gods?

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For those of you who read my blog post title and assumed that I worship computers, no I do not and nor do I believe that computers are gods.

I am a born Muslim and I am every involved with my religion but even I must admit that technology is starting to play its part in what I believe in. I don't even need to pick up a Qu'ran and recite it, I can download an app and read it off my phone or even find an online web script. Traditionally, the Muslims of 100 years ago would have to pick up on prayer times based on what they see in terms of sunrise and sundown, this is no longer the case. Muslims such as myself today can google prayer times and find everything we need on the web.

Technology that we use on a day to day basis have made us contradict ourselves and the manuscripts we religiously follow...ed.

You and I both don't need any of our god given organs anymore, science can provide us with an artificial one. Though I wouldn't recommend ever getting anything planted into your head because there is a possibility of the device in your dome getting hacked or even malfunctioning (Then you'd really have a screw loose, no pun intended.)

Hey, no need for sex anymore, you can have a child effortlessly. Science has also got that covered and have revolutionised technology to produce a child with just your DNA. So if you feel like you're low on stamina, not functioning properly and not being able to perform in order to give your wife the child she oh so desperately craves for, let science do it!

Another example of Science creating life is the duplication of cells in order to create clones. This is extremely dangerous and unethical but that's okay because Science is metaphorically an egotistical man who will destroy the world and clone sheep.

I will give Science credit though, it has put forward many strong ideas backed by sufficient theories and evidence that spark interesting debates and put it neck to neck against religion. But is science taking it too far?

As I've said before, I am a religious man. I am not only religious but I am also a believer in nature. Technology may be advancing and Science may be putting out really cool stuff but scientists are really messing with the balance of life.

Science is a gambling addict and it's experiments are gambles. Science and it's technology may be getting a profitable return on its stake, but if it keeps gambling then eventually it'll go bust.

The Media Switch Up

Just like Darwin's theory of evolution, media evolves just like biology overtime. I will explain how historical mediamorphis has come about and I will be your Darwin of media.

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In pre-digital revolution days there was no technology in order to add simplicity to your every day life. The difference is immensely huge and we today have a less physical and more effortless living than those before us. 

Interactivity through computer technology, mobile phones and the cyber world in general has become strong and popular choices of communication and socialisation.

How? Well for example, there's no need to drown yourself in aftershave, build up courage or confidence or practice flirtatious techniques in front of the mirror; you can find love via an online dating site without having to make much of an effort at all! Now this is just one example of interactivity by saying that I must stress the fact that it is one example of MANY.

 

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Over time, we have became familiar with technology and adapted to its impact and change upon society. Technology has changed the way we socialise, it has developed our physical efforts in the gym but generally decreased physicality and it has taken over our jobs!

Is technology good for society? In some cases, yes it is. It's smart, efficient and quick, In other cases, no it is not. Look at general society today; we are fat, slow and extremely lazy, thanks technology! The decrease in physical efforts and labor has certainly boosted low concentration, procrastination and all around laziness. 

"Hey, what's the point of going shopping? Yes, it's around the corner but we can order everything online!" Sigh...

 Take a look at this YouTube video..

  

Make you giggle a little? I thought it was relevant to the topic of discussion and I wanted to keep you alert! Moving on...

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According to this image and these pie charts, old media hasn't yet become impotent. Although old media possesses the lion share of the market value, look at the huge dominance of Google. 

So why is Google so dominant? One answer would be because of people like myself. I am currently blogging on a website which is Google based so I am contributing to the cause. Another more general answer would be that Google brings up the news from a variety of different sources with just a click of the mouse; easy, efficient and fast!

If you look at the 'Old Media' pie chart, you can see that Comcast and Disney are the major players. These are prime examples of convergence because they have extended into a different direction in order to evolve, adapt and stay relevant.

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All in all, old media has evolved and adapted in order to compete with the ever growing new media. Society has accepted change and the majority have embraced it. With the radical growth of technology and digitialisation; will old media survive or become extinct?... Whilst you have a little think about that, I'm going to play some football... On the Playstation of course!