Total Pageviews

Friday, 26 August 2011

"Technology can byte my arse" Newspaper article

[The technological revolution has electronics manufacturers out doing each other almost on a daily basis. What is the best and fastest today will be ancient technology tomorrow. It is a global game of 'King of The Hill.' Who is the best? Who offers more for less? Who can get it done the fastest? Electronics manufacturers are at war with one another and we reap the benefits of it and, at the same time, we are also casualties of that war.

Companies are downsizing because technology now does a job that a person once did. Good bye to the age old concept of people serving every function within a company. Consumers demand more for less, and the only way for companies to answer that call is to stay competitive by saving money and to fatten up the bottom line. This usually means a company must reduce it’s manpower as an effort to achieve this goal.

Still, with all of what today’s technological advancements have to offer, there are some areas that need improving, such as the automated phone system. I really get annoyed with some of these systems. They bombard you with a vast array of options and menus to choose from. "If you would like to speak to a customer service representative, please press one now." Beep. "I’m sorry, but no humans work here. Please choose another option." Beep. "I’m sorry, but that option is not offered. Please try again." Beep, beep, beep... "You seem aggravated and this system isn’t designed to address that. Please call back later when you aren’t so hostile." Doesn’t anyone just answer the phone anymore?

I also get annoyed with the pre-screening that some of these automated phone systems do. They ask for your phone number and when you are able to speak to a real life person, the person asks for your phone number again. What was the point in the system asking me for my phone number if it didn’t do the live person any good? Should I be expecting this automated system to call me someday and say "Hi, Mike. How’s the wife and kids? If they are fine, please press one now"]


Article review on "Technology can byte my arse"  By Joseph Hassan

Technology has obviously played a huge effect on the human existence itself, and has strolled through many of the ethical morals in which humans protect gradually. Humans have mixed opinions and emotions showed to technological advancements and their rightful place in society. In the article above it explores the negative opinions and emotions towards technology and it advancing with no benefits, going through the ideas of technology taking human place in society e.g. jobs..

It seems that technology has taken over the human race, as exploited in the article consumers want there products much faster and more efficient so in order for a company to succeed in this challenge they must reduce man power and go with cheaper, more efficient technology. This has obviously created tension between the range of technological advancements and the effect they can have on society. 

There are a few positive effects however which accompanies the idea of technology. More consumers are happy and many humans really dont care where there food or products have been consumed from and who has helped produce them, but are more satisfied at the product range and the ability provided by the technology. Many people say that the human race cannot survive without technology throughout there daily lives, mobile phones the internet, computers and much more help as they say"put money in the pocket, and food on the table".

As explained in the article, people are very frustrated with technology and think that there is still huge room for improvement, e.g. phone systems and others. I myself think that there is still much more room for improvement but i am with the fact that we use technology everyday to survive and to get around. You couldn't talk to family overseas back in the days, you had to send mail, which took many months or never even got there, now we are a 20 sec call from overseas 5 sec away from sending an email which includes much more detail than a normal mail. Back in the days you couldn't migrate overseas without it taking you a couple of months to get their through stress tiredness exhaustiveness and frustration, however now we can use technology advancements and use an aeroplane which will take you there in hours making traveling much more convenient and comfortable

Technology is a very important thing in our live, we use it everyday regardless if we have a few ethical issues with technology it gets the job done and makes life simple and much more convenient. Its a part of life and it will continue to grow and spread through many more branches in society, who knows one day the world will be run by technology only.


Tuesday, 16 August 2011

Journal Entry #2 Reflection piece [One Funny Day]


Last week as I took my usual train to home I had the most delightful

meeting. I use the word delightful for two reason; one, because this experience
was really delighting (in the sense that you feel a giddy sort of pleasure) and
two, because this man cannot be described as anything else but delightful.
As usual the tram was full and so I was standing close to an old man sitting
opposite two teenage girls. His smile to me was what caught my attention and as
I tentatively smiled back (I am really shy) I moved closer to hear the
conversation between the girls (just shows the extent of my boredom). Anyway
the old man notices the girls’ fascination with their iphones and other
technological devices and says (jokingly of course):
"One day they will create a box that will allow you to talk to the
spirits...you can just dial and you will be able to speak to anyone who’s
died...watch it'll be the next thing out"
With that I started laughing it was just so clever. Ha-ha. However the girls
did not see the humour and tried to pacify him with the usual "oh right
sure". (Eye rolling). The minute these girls got off at their stop I took
their seat and began talking to the man. Turns out this man was not only
wickedly funny and but he can speak 13 languages (perfectly) and likes to talk
about the "good old days" and also has an odd fascination in knitting
and crochet He was really something and his
charisma captured anyone that sat next us.

He did say something which made me think. "These people these days all
have their heads down on this little box just pressing it...they don’t look up
just sit there on it for hours. They don’t want to talk to anyone and they don’t
even smile. Back in my days it was different."
Looking around I realised just how true this was. We really are a
technological society and rely on technology for everything. Instead of asking
someone for directions, we pull out smart phones and map it. We've completely
dislodged ourselves from the physical society and have turned the cyber world
into a reality. We don’t go to our local shopping strip anymore, we internet
shop. We don’t send letters, we email. We don’t talk anymore, we 'chat' now. We have even reached the stage of meeting people online.
Moral of the story: There’s more to life than technological boxes. Seriously,
the next time you see a person (yes a real life human) willing to converse with you go for it.

Joseph Hassan 11A

Jouranl Entry #1 [ I Robot ] Movie review

"I Robot" is a movie about the future which is based on the technological advance of robots and the world in the future. The movie shows many characterized views on how the World is going to be in 2035 which was the time format the movie was based on. Will Smith stars as the main character Detective Spooner, who was assigned an investigation on a murder case which involved robots which he isn't to trustful with. He has a sense of hatred towards the robots and thoroughly anticipates superiority  over the robots. As previously recognized in many of Asimov's ideas and concepts about the three laws of robotics, it was established in the movie and they were strictly set upon the robots, considering them faulty or broken if they did not practice the three laws of robotics. The movie in my opinion successfully adopts and reasonably considers what the world might look like and feel like in the future [2035].  It shows many ideas and concepts about future worlds, the idea of flying cars was introduced in the movie, this idea specializes the film and makes it more interesting for the viewers, considering that the car looked so realistic. The robots that were introduced throughout the film was very amazing, it clearly had human characteristics and features. They were also very strong and  smart almost like a super human. The main concept of the film was that one specific robot had a specific capability of performing the ability of dreaming. Sunny which was one specifically made robot originally designed and created by the professor, had an ability of dreaming and conducting decisions on its own with out the duty of accepting the three laws of robotics. Overall the theme of the future worlds was clearly and reasonably introduced thoroughly in the film, and many ideas and concepts about many aspects which people think may be established in future worlds.

Joseph Hassan 11 A
Word Count:  369words


The robots which were introduced in the movie, notice the human like features and characteristics, makes the movie much more interesting.







   The car which was introduced in the movie, the car has many special characteristics and can reach incredible speeds with auto driving.