Extra credit: Watch Dogs - technology is the alternative of controlling cities?

I am not good at playing video or PC games, but I would like to introduce Watch Dogs. It is an action games publish this year and showing it is possible for technology to control the city, and improve it to be a safe place, but is it work for reality?

This game take place in Chicago. The ctOS (Central Operating System) is a super computer that  collecting every citizens information through the webcam from their house, indoor, or outdoor, and their phone in order to estimate if the citizen would have crime or not. However, does the citizen totally safe living there? Do the citizen has their privacy? In this game, the player mainly hacking the ctOS system through the phone or other electronic system in order to receive and control the information or destroy the equipment for the mission.

I like this game's idea. It mentions technology can change our community, but it has the loopholes. Focus on this example, the Central Operating System can prevent or decrease the crime rate as the system knows everything about the criminal and can track their location. However, the hackers may hack in the system and steal the citizen's money and their secret to threat them for crime. Also, maybe the underworld can steal the 'secret' from the system in order to control the politicians. Therefore, I think even technology came provide convenience, it should have the limitation to prevent the danger of our community.

What makes a Community

I am studying in Sustainable Urban Development major, and it always talks about what makes our community. Basically, it marked by three dimension: social equity, environmental, and economic development. For social development, it depends on the social institution and the social equity. In environmental development, it aims to protect the nature and natural resource. For economic development, it try to create the environmentally friendly economy system. 

I think network is one of the significant elements making the community. What I mention here is the World Wide Web network. The local website such as the meeting about the City of Tacoma or the discussion in the exit 133.com can provide us the view of the region such have what is happening everyday and the long-term development in the future. They also let us give our voice to the public and share our opinion for the matter. In this process, we know our neighbors and communicate with them and crate the relationship with them. This is the social network. As everyone connects and tights with each other, it creates our community.

Dot.Com to Dot.Boom

Dot.com to Dot.bomb is the technology revolution from the late nineteenth century until the recent year. In this process, the world wide grow and promote very fast in the global, but it produces the fluctuation that affect the companies and ecosystem. In the beginning of the web, the World Wide Web and Mosaic get the public attention, and more and more company recognize opening the website have great potential for their business. More and more webs bomb started in 1995-1997. After that, people been crazy to open the web and started their 'dot com' business in order to earn the benefit in the stock market. However, the public investment overestimated the company. Therefore, when the bubble bursted, the stock prices fell and companies bankrupted. 

In this Era, I think the free market is the factor creating the oppunities, bomb, and burst in the United States. The market liberal develop the Internet, and push the World Wide Web going to be global, so that public invest the money and create more opportunities, but it also creates the economic burst and problems. In this case, I think the free market is great for pomoting the World Wide Web, but it is perfect if the institution can have limit regulatory, so that the market can prevent this burst. So what now? I think we pass the repercussion and the web investment is stable now, at least the company cannot join in the stock market with ease base on the rules.

Startup.com

Start-up.com is a 2001 film that reflects the Internet revolution and how the dot.com boom affected the American economy. In this story, Kaleil Isaza Tuzman, Tom Herman, and the other founder develop a dot com company called GovWork.com. In the process of creating the seen system, it faces the obstacles such as the third founder get out, technical issues, and suspicion and broken relationship between Kaleil and Tom. On the other hand, it also shows the dot com era could influence the companies rise or lose their investment in a shot term. 

This is a great films showing the Internet revolution in the United States. This story is kind of theatrical, but it is true satire the reality. The thing that most surprise me is the dot com company can collect the  investment before it has the web and technology. In the film, Kaleil and Tom have their presentation about their idea in different companies and try to get their attention in order to earn their investment. I think this is not making sense for me as the cause and effect reversed!! However, they did it, and I think this is a crazy period for investment in the market.

What would you not buy online?

I enjoy shopping online because Tacoma do not have many brands products that I want, so online shopping is the options for 'window shopping' in the Internet and can buy anything what I want. I do not have vehicle and rely on public transportations. Therefore, if I go to buy groceries, it is difficult to buy the heaven stuff as I am not strong at all, and I just have four hand even my roommate go with me. In this case, I would like to buy the big or heavy stuffs such as towel paper, and Laundry detergent in the online store, so they can ship to my home. Even most of the American have vehicle, this way can support for people just like me and disabled in order to meet their demand. 

I don't buy expensive stuff online. As the price is high, if it is not real or lost in the shipping process, I will have nothing back, or I may need a long time to receive the goods. That's too bad.  On the other hand, I will not buy the goods that from seller that have bad raking. They usually have bad review such has the product is not meeting with the description, late delivery, and have bad quality of the product. Therefore, I always look through the buyer's reviews first before I put in to the shopping cart. Although it mayn't be 100% sate, it give me the confidence buying things online. 

My website

Yeah!! Finally create my website!! This is the first website that create by the notepad. I don't know that It is possible to create it without the web software! Even it is a simple web, I thing it is interesting to add the stuff and so more and more things in the pages.


Certainly, most people can create their own website easily because the web or the software already has some themes, so people just need to select it and build or change by their creation!!However, It is amazing that if people just use the notepad to add thousand of tags to make the rich pages (I know that kind of stupid because maybe no one will do that right now~~).


On the other hand, after I built the web, I know the tag is really significant because it orders and allows the changes for text, color, and the format. This is an interest exercise to know more about the element in the web.

Exist 133.com - Derek Young

Last Wednesday, Derek Young come to our class and given a speech about the early day of web. He is a marketing professional and have rich resume for his career. For example, he has worked with citiies, Nokia and car company before, and the technology gives him a great support for his business. He mention that it is hard to have mutiple jobs at once because he just know few people do that, but it may change in the future.

I feel appreciate about his website exit 133.com. This  website not just providing 'somethings'about out city, but also building the social network. Our city is not large at all, but the stuffs is not really central in a spot, the transportation is not comprehensive, so that it is difficult to having a place and large amount people get together. The exit 133 create a great place for the citizen. It provides meeting every week, so that the citizen can meet in the same place and having conversation. 

Going back to the website, it is amazing to talk about anything about Tacoma. Its news, knowledges, and art is attractive for citizen to reply of the post, and it can creating the social network not just in the visual world, it also connect with the reality. This is a successful case using technology creating our quality of lives.