week 3 questions.

DAI 227 Week 3 questions.

1) In Paulina Boorsooks Book "Cyberselfish" she contrasts the development of technologies that were group efforts and thus stand in stark contrast to the myth of the lone 'hero' entrepreneur. Name two such more group-based technologies. (Under the heading "Closer to the Machine")

a) Cern: Where the web was developed

b) Microsoft windows

2) In the section labeled "Human, Too Human" Boosook describes one type of techno libertarian - the "Extropians". What do extropians want or yearn for?

-A group who strives for the better of human beings through technology.

3) In her film BIT PLANE, Natalie Jeremijenko describes Doug Englebart as being a pioneer - of what? (View film via VIMEO link in separate post)

-Personal Computing “to extend and improve human condition”

4) In "Silicon Valley Mystery House" writer Langdon Winner compares the Silicon Valley to the Winchester Mystery House. In what way does he consider them similar?

- Langdon believes that the Silicon Valley is a reincarnation of the Winchester, due to its large number of multi billion dollar companies, and employee. It is as if Mrs. Winchester herself is trying to extend the structures into every part of the land like she did her house.

5) In Langdon Winner's essay "Silicon Valley Mystery House" he describes East Palo Alto as a very different kind of place from areas such as upscale Stanford and downtown Palo Alto. What type of area is East Palo Alto, "just across highway 101"?

- A Ghetto, A forgotten land ‘in which poverty and unemployment among its black residents seem beyond remedy.’

6) In her Processed World article "The Disappeared of Silicon Valley" Paulina Boorsook's "Deep Throat" (inside information source) describes some unpleasant realities of most Silicon Valley startups and how they end up. List two.

- Most Start-ups are not high-tech and are not ventured funded.

- One can lose, their savings, salaries and insanity. And techies and managers who get work done usually get screwed off by folding companies.

7) What is the Long Now foundation and why was it formed?

-  Basically a group that is out to build a 10,000 year old clock, because they believe that is the only time when humans will have a stable climate and living condition.

8) In the documentary DOCUMENTARY - SILICON VALLEY - A HUNDRED YEAR RENAISSANCE (1997) Steve Jobs describes the joy of successfully making "blue boxes" which let he and his friends make free phone calls. What aspect of this experience does he say was so important to the creation of Apple computer?

- Without the blue box, their group would have had no confidence behind Apple because it was such a long process and it was costly. ‘Also there was a case of ‘magic’ used to control the world with apple.’

9) List three aspects of the work of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) - (see the "Our Work" section of their website)

- Defends free speech

- Innovator protection

- Fights for intellectual properties

10) According to Richard Stallman's website, what is his status in relation to the social media site Facebook?

- Much distrust, he believes that Face book shows how lonely people really are, it threatens user privacy and potentially records everything a person then sells them to the CIA.