What might you do with access to UWB radio transmissions if you had a receiver in a car?
UWB stands for ultra wide band. According to Abelson, UWB uses very low amounts of power. This is possible because because of the large bandwidth. This low power and large bandwidth can severely limit the range from transmitter to receiver but could transfer large amount of information. Two ideas from chapter eight of Blown to Bits stood out to me as uses for UWB, connecting media aspects of ones home without the use of cables and also connecting a music library to a car.
This second idea is more relevant to me being as I have a car but not my own home with many media outlets. I really like the idea of connecting my home computer's music library to my car. Almost every time I am driving I have my ipod plugged in. The UWB would eliminate this need. Whenever I update my music library I could just transfer over the music and listen to the music in my car without using any cords and taking less time that a manual transfer. Not only could this be done with music but also other media files like movies, f.or the back seats of course.
Another use could be the ability to send directions from your home computer to your car. With a screen in your car that could read the direction anytime you go somewhere new from home the directions can be quickly and easily transferred to the car. Not only directions but even other addresses, phone numbers, or other pertinent information about an upcoming trip.
It would also be helpful if the car could then transmit information to other receivers. Important information could be transferred to the car, the car then driven to another location, and the information then transferred to that new location. This would be like driving a giant memory stick.
The ability to transfer information back from the car would also be helpful to mechanics and car savvy people who wish to look at car diagnostics. The car could record statistics like, gas mileage, distance traveled, rpm, and other useful engine information to make cars perform better and diagnose problems.
The idea of having a UWB receiver in a car has many practical applications. Most of these application do however need other tools to make them useful, such as a storage device for saving the information once transferred. The large bandwidth allows for large amounts of information to be transferred but only over a short distance. The use of UWB is practical with a single home or business office and even to a vehicle however the short range keeps this technology from covering larger areas as wifi and other telecommunications do.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Ken Zeran vs. kenZZ03
What might you have done differently if you were in the position of artist Ken Zeran, mentioned in this chapter?
Ken Zeran was placed into a very unfortunate and frustrating position. After reading his story I even became a little frustrated with AOL and the fact that he seems almost powerless to defend himself. He was forced to spend quite a bit of valuable time tracking down and trying to stop the abusive phone calls an their source.
The courts did not rule in favor of Zeran. They basically said that AOL could not be held responsible for what the patrons of the site used the space for. In the end the company AOL and also the radio station were victorious and convinced the courts that they specifically cause not harm to come to Zeran. The only person that Zeran could sue would be the person who created the false advertisement. AOL would not cooperate with Zeran in order for him to continue his legal campaign against the true offender.
I feel like I would have handled the situation that Ken Zeran was in very similarly. He went to the authorities for help. The courts were not in his favor due to previously made laws. How ever ethically wrong this might have been the courts could do nothing. My understanding is that Zeran could not have changed his telephone number because of his business but to prevent the threatening calls I feel that that might be worth the cost.
The cost spent on dealing with the calls and the courts could have been spent spreading the news about his new business phone number. He also easily could have created a post on the same AOL page about the wrong doing of kenZZ03. He could have told his story on this page and convinced many people to turn on the original slanderous author. The laws are in place to protect freedom of speech which means Zeran's words would have been just as protected as kenZZ03.
I would have possibly screened my calls or created an automatic return message that explained the situation. In other words I would have used the technology to defend myself since the courts and AOL would not help bring justice to the situation, just as Ivanna did in the first chapter of Shirky's book. I would make announcements just as KRXO did and try to regain the reputation that was lost. I would work to gain emotional support from the very same people originally against me. Through these measures hopefully I would convince AOL to remove the postings and possibly the user for their company's ethical standpoint.
Ken Zeran was placed into a very unfortunate and frustrating position. After reading his story I even became a little frustrated with AOL and the fact that he seems almost powerless to defend himself. He was forced to spend quite a bit of valuable time tracking down and trying to stop the abusive phone calls an their source.
The courts did not rule in favor of Zeran. They basically said that AOL could not be held responsible for what the patrons of the site used the space for. In the end the company AOL and also the radio station were victorious and convinced the courts that they specifically cause not harm to come to Zeran. The only person that Zeran could sue would be the person who created the false advertisement. AOL would not cooperate with Zeran in order for him to continue his legal campaign against the true offender.
I feel like I would have handled the situation that Ken Zeran was in very similarly. He went to the authorities for help. The courts were not in his favor due to previously made laws. How ever ethically wrong this might have been the courts could do nothing. My understanding is that Zeran could not have changed his telephone number because of his business but to prevent the threatening calls I feel that that might be worth the cost.
The cost spent on dealing with the calls and the courts could have been spent spreading the news about his new business phone number. He also easily could have created a post on the same AOL page about the wrong doing of kenZZ03. He could have told his story on this page and convinced many people to turn on the original slanderous author. The laws are in place to protect freedom of speech which means Zeran's words would have been just as protected as kenZZ03.
I would have possibly screened my calls or created an automatic return message that explained the situation. In other words I would have used the technology to defend myself since the courts and AOL would not help bring justice to the situation, just as Ivanna did in the first chapter of Shirky's book. I would make announcements just as KRXO did and try to regain the reputation that was lost. I would work to gain emotional support from the very same people originally against me. Through these measures hopefully I would convince AOL to remove the postings and possibly the user for their company's ethical standpoint.
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