Cell Phone Location Privacy

In this day in age, with cell phones carrying so much personal information, there have to be privacy laws in place. Smart phones these days have access to information such as the user’s Face Book and twitter accounts. One of the most important pieces of information these phones contain is the user’s GPS coordinates. An article in the Washington Post went in depth about how law enforcement was cracking down and making sure self phone companies were keeping the location of cell phones private. With the information we have previously learned about GPS, it is clear that this is an important issue.

Can people find you by tracking your phone?

There are many issues related to digital technology and your privacy; excluding even Facebook and twitter. Your phone, many peoples favorite and most necessary device can be used to track your where a bouts as well as other information about you. When the government interviewed phone carriers many said they would not track a phone without the permission of the subscriber. They did however, say that they had no control over third parties tracking your devices. It was found that around 47 our of 101 applications used for Androids, iPhones, and other smart phones are being used to express locations using a GPS device in phones to outsiders. Sometimes people chose these settings and are unaware of what they are doing while others may actual enjoy their locations being revealed. But rather this setting be chosen or accidentally selected it is still putting phone users at risk of being stalked or followed by whomever may be able to link into their social networks.

For example there is a new GPS that will tell Facebook where you are every time you go anywhere; whether it be a different city, food/clothing store, or a different country. These GPS's on smart phones are making it easier for anyone to find you. This issue also coincides with the issue of GPS tracking on ones car; say that you yourself are not the subscriber of your phone, that means your parents, spouse, or whomever would be legally allowed to ask the phone companies to track you and your phone at any time. Like a car GPS this could cause for a question of ones safety if your subscriber is a jealous ex or abusive spouse. GPS tracking of any type seems to be a quizzical issue which is never quite black and white but muffled in grey.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704463804576291530878321682.html

Phishing Through Your Computer

Cybercriminals are always trying to steal your information and trying to take your credit card number, social security number, and anything else to take money or to steal your identity. That’s when they “phish” for your information. Phishing is when somebody sends you an e-mail claiming that they are somebody else. They try to entice you through pictures or music and even make it sound like an advertisement. Once you click on it, it asks for your personal information, such as credit card information or social security numbers. Phishers use the fake website to gather information about you. Phishing is a serious matter and in order to prevent it, you must download software to protect yourself. Most new computers have anti-phishing software already installed, but for the older computers, you need to download security software such as Symantec or McAfee, which is available for free through our school.

Gmail Violates Privacy Rights of Users and Non-Users Alike

With the current privacy issues raging on Facebook, it might be simple to overlook those applications which we usually take for granted as being privacy-friendly. However, as is the case here, we might wish to be more scrupulous in our dealings with web-giants such as Google. There have been numerous issues raised with Gmail's privacy, and how it infringes upon the privacy of users and non-users of Gmail alike via "content extraction." Whether we use Gmail, AOL, Yahoo, or any of the other numerous email providing services, we can be sold. 

Go Ahead and Secure that WiFi Connection.

How often do you find yourself using a wifi connection? Most people would say something along the lines of, "all day, everyday." A poll conducted by the Wi-Fi Alliance shows that out of 1,054 Americans of ages 18 and older, 32 percent have tried to access private wifi connections. What does this mean? This means that there is a good chance that your own personal wifi connection could be used by people you don't even know; people who could be doing whatever they want; people who could put you in a giant pile of trouble.

An article I found from USA Today explains a few instances where people have found themselves in hard places because they did not protect their wifi connection with a password. The article tells about a New York man whose house was raided by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. The man was innocent, but his neighbor was not. Upon further investigation they found that the neighbor, a student associated with the State University of New York at Buffalo, was the culprit of child pornography distribution (read the entire article here).

  This is just one of many cases associated with wifi use and illegal activity leading to the pursuit of an innocent person. I make sure that my personal connection at home is password protected and is not shared with anyone I do not know or wish to allow to use. The moral of the story: protect your connection. You don't know what people do on the internet.

YOU'VE GOT HACKERS!- YOUR YAHOO! MAIL ACCOUNTS MAY BE AT RISK OF BEING HACKED

It is pretty good chance that you have or had a Yahoo! Mail account. Yahoo! Mail was the second largest web-based email service with 310 million users as of October 2011, and the most popular webmail service in the United States. I personally have a Yahoo! account because it was easy to set up, free of charge, and popular among my friends. But now that I'm older those things aren't my priority. In the age of hackers I need to know how well will you protect my mail. So I took the liberty to look at the Privacy Policy Yahoo! has in place. I can't list it all because it is pretty extensive but I will mention how we have security questions and must make "complicated" passwords; so no "123me" passwords for Yahoo!I can also recall a time when I forgot my password and once I got it wrong a certain number of times the account was lock and once I got in it I was forced to make another one  Now with such high tech security you would think we would be hack-free right? WRONG!

 I found an article on a user had his account hacked. I learned about another feature where you can set your locations and this man set California, New York, and Pennsylvania but apparently he was hacked with a Romania location. I agree with that when the location was Romania a notification, password confirmation, or another precaution should have been implied to insure that this was the normal user but it was too "easy."  With the enhancement of information technology it makes me think can we ever be sure we are completely safe? My guess is no. It seems as though every week these criminals have made another technique for stealing our information, hacking our accounts, and invading our privacy. The private information Yahoo! "withholds", should it even be attached to our account.  "Yahoo! does not rent, sell, or share personal information about you with other people or non-affiliated companies except to provide products or services you've requested, when we have your permission, or under the following circumstances:  


"We provide the information to trusted partners who work on behalf of or with Yahoo! under confidentiality agreements. These companies may use your personal information to help Yahoo! communicate with you about offers from Yahoo! and our marketing partners. However, these companies do not have any independent right to share this information"

So that explains why I keep getting promotions and offered for Texas users, I used a fake address. I learned way in advance not to use my real name, address, phone number, ect. If you want to be protected on the internet don't exists. But it shouldn't have to be that way. I signed for an email account to professionally interact with others not to be profiled. I believe that these days everything is relying heavily on profiling which can ultimately put us in danger of being hacked. It is a lot of loop holes in this email service business so to protect yourself hide yourself.

http://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/details.html  - Yahoo Privacy Policy

http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/yahoo-email-hacked - Hacked Account Article

Your Privacy is SIRIUS to Us

 

You know those lines and lines of words in a size-7 font at the bottom of most websites?  Ever tried to listen to the end of commercials on the TV or radio when the announcer speeds through a bunch of gibberish like “something-something-something is prohibited….must-be-18-years-or-older-to-apply”?  Those, are privacy policies and copyright: no one reads them or listens to them, but everyone cares about them the instant he or she is worried about their personal information. 

As an example, I researched and read through the Privacy Policy for SiriusXM Radio, and confirmed that the only times a listener’s information must be accessed by the radio are during contests/promotions/giveaways.  Regular listeners have nothing to worry about: the only time your personal information must be provided is when you call or text into the station.  And most likely, if you’re calling in to comment or try to win something, you’ll want them to send your concert tickets or vacation giveaway to the right address…!

Radio Frequency Identification and the Government

Radio-frequency identification [or also know as RFID] is a tracking device that uses a radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data between the object it is attached to and a device that scans and tracks the attached object. RFID has many uses in present day. One use is that people use RFID to track their pets, automobiles, and even their loved ones with disabilities, like Alzheimer’s disease. Another use is in the retail realm. Businesses use RFID to track their merchandise from assembly lines to warehouses to the actual store. However, RFID has been recently adopted by the US government and it has created issues.

On August 14, 2006 the US Department of State started to issue electronic passports that were implanted with RFID. There were two main problems of privacy from it. Firstly, the US government is able to scan and track anyone with an electronic passport anywhere, which questions a person's right of privacy. Secondly, the use of RFID for passports may not be totally safe. Potential identity theft can occur when someone uses a RFID reader to scan data from a RFID chip without electronic passport holder's knowledge and when someone reads the frequency emitted by the RFID chip and scan it. Even though the US government reassures the public it is nearly impossible to steal their identity, scanning radio frequencies for information is not the hard.

Find more information about it here: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/high-tech-gadgets/rfid.htm

AIM's New Privacy Concerns

The new AOL Instant Messenger system has recently been released to the public. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has serious problems with some of the new features involved in the application. According to the EFF, AIM will be storing chat logs between users for up to two months. EFF fears this might turn into a longer period of time. They believe "malicious users" might use this personal information stored within these chats to do harm, both socially and financially. They are advising everyone to stick with the older versions of AIM until this matter is handled correctly. This is ridiculous thing for AOL to try and attempt. They cannot store this data and if they do, the time period for deletion must be adjusted or else they might lose a number of users within the next few months.

Google's new Privacy Policy. This stuff matters.

Remember seeing this before?

Google is changing its private policy to accommodate its new design which allows it to gather any information a user access when using a Google product to improve user experience. In the current privacy policy, Google lists four possible scenarios for disclosing information, them being violations of the law or through “enforceable” government requests, enforcing the Terms of Service,  any security or technological issues, and to protect Google users from any potential harm. The new policy allows Google to now share private information with domain administrators and trusted businesses, as well as non-personal information with Google's partners and advertisers, all while still keeping the previous reasons of legal issues. Is this too much? Is Google's new policy giving them too much power over a user's private information? Only time (and inevitable court cases) will tell.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/google-privacy-policy_b_1249882.html

Google's Current Privacy Policy: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/

Google's New Privacy Policy: http://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/preview/

May not be perfect but definitely a start

Recently in Los Angeles and San Francisco, a new privacy policy was in place. It consists of six different companies such as Google, Yahoo, Amazon, and even the Microsoft Corp. These new policies are going to be restricting companies the amount of information they can obtain. In this case, smart phone apps are an unusual large part of this, and now in California apps must ask permission for information. About 22 of the 30 most purchased apps do not have privacy policies, but after this, things are going to change. Citizens believe that California’s general attorney should have went farther with these new laws because now these companies are on their own and have to create their own new programs. The major controversy is that these self- made policies do not always work so well and that a law should have been made that clearly states specifics and it would make this policy much more permanent.

Source:
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/23/business/la-fi-obama-online-privacy-20120223

Will iPhone Users Ever Get Full Privacy?

In an article on Northern Voices Online (NVO) the issues of privacy and iPhone applications is addressed. iPhone users share so much personal data on their phone and with many of the applications such as Facebook, Twitter, & Foursquare. Do you wonder where all of this information is stored and who  exactly can see it? I do. Apple has recently gotten into a few messy situations with Congress. After congressman Henry Waxman sent a letter to the CEO of Apple (Tim Cook), Apple released the following statement...

"Apps that collect or transmit a user’s contact data without their prior permission are in violation of our guidelines. We’re working to make this even better for our customers, and as we have done with location services, any app wishing to access contact data will require explicit user approval in a future software release."

With this statement, I believe that Apple has a lot of work to do in order to tighten up their privacy policies. The amount of personal information that is circulating in the hands of Apple is a dangerous situation. They need to buckle down and tighten up the loose ends with this issue before there is a real problem.

Source: http://nvonews.com/2012/02/17/iphone-privacy-problems-no-end-in-sight/

Blogger Loses Slander Case and Self Described Title of "Journalist"

In Oregon, Blogger Crystal Cox lost a defamation case and now owes Obsidian Finance Group $2.5 million. Cox made accusations in her blog about said financial group including untrue defamation that led her straight into a courtroom. Cox included information in her blog from an “unnamed source,” and stood behind, “Oregon's journalism shield law to protect that source's identity.” However beyond what was said and whose ego was bruised the main issue in this case was whether or not Cox was considered to be a journalist.

Cox represented herself in the case and moved to have her case dismissed stating her blog, like many others, were all based on opinions and commentary. Hernandez concluded that the single post in question was “…more factual in tone than her other posts, and therefore a reasonable person could conclude it was factual.”  Cox claimed this was more factual due to the “inside source” she had contacted, however under the Oregon shield laws she believed she didn’t have to reveal that source, the judge however had a different opinion.

There was no doubt Cox was an avid blogger, but in terms of being protected by journalism laws, the judge had a different take than Cox on who exactly was a journalist. Judge Hernandez of the U.S. District Court deemed Cox a “self-proclaimed” investigative blogger who “defines herself as media.” Due to this opinion Oregon’s “media shield laws” do not apply to her or protect her, thus the judge charged her with slander.

This case took place in 2011, however retroactively in 2005 another case similar to this one arguing who the shield laws should protect argued journalists should not have to be employed, however Hernandez stood firm in his decision on Cox. Hernandez also included that the civil defamation suit would not have passed even if she were protected by the shield laws due to the things stated in her blog.

Citings:
Carter, Curtis. "Crystal Cox, Oregon Blogger, Isn't a Journalist, Concludes U.S. Court--Imposes $2.5 Million Judgement on Her ." Seattle Weekly. N.p., 12/06/2011. Web. 19 Feb 2012. <http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/12/crystal_cox_oregon_blogger_isn.php>. 

 Doherty, Brian. "Blogger Loses Defamation Case, Judge Weighs in on Who is "Really" a Journalist ." Reason, Hit & Run. N.p., 12/07/2011. Web. 19 Feb 2012. http://reason.com/blog/2011/12/07/blogger-in-oregon-loses-defamation-case

Jay-Z & Kanye West Sued For Copyright Infringement: "The Joy" of Copyright

Kanye West and Jay-Z, who are now Grammy-Award Winners for "Best Rap Album," were sued on the counts of copyright infringement by Syl Johnson over the track "The Joy". Kanye West, not new to copyright infringement cases due to his "sampling" style of producing, first asked permission to sample Johnson's song for his own album (My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy), but wasn't given the respective "go ahead" from Syl Johnson for allowance. Kanye West leaves the un-allowed, finished record off his album. Several months later, Kanye West and Jay-Z make a Hip-Hop album together, Watch The Throne, featuring the deneid track and Syl Johnson sues both artists for copyright infringement for their use of his song "Different Strokes." Both artists (West and Jay-Z) respond by saying that "it doesn't matter if they used Johnson's song on their album, because it was recorded in 1972, and is not protected by copyright laws." Syl Johnson would reply to their statements with the following: "[Kanye] said he wanted to meet with me and apologize -- since I sued him -- but I didn't sue him to be smart...I sued him because that's the right thing to do man. I'm a musician." Alongside this, in the credits of "Watch The Throne" West and Jay-Z are also cited as the publishers of Johnson's "Different Strokes" (giving no credit ot Johnson's idea). Are Johnson's constitutional and First Amendment rights and ideas being infringed or does the sampling of a  simple "hmmm" give him a case he can win? The case is currently ongoing.

http://defpenradio.com/kanye-west-jay-z-get-sued-for-copyright-infringement/

http://www.vladtv.com/blog/77663/kanye-jay-z-fight-back-in-copyright-lawsuit/

http://www.vh1.com/news/articles/1669585/watch-the-throne-def-jam-accused-copyright-infringement.jhtml

France cracks down on pricacy, music industry benefits

The music industry received an increase in sales due to the French government cracking down on copyright infrigers.  While many French have opposed the new government agency Hadopi (which translated stands for: High Authority for the Dissemination of Works and the Protection of Rights on the Internet), French president Nicolas Sarkozy has strongly supported the agency and the legislation that empowers it.  The agency enforces Frances three-strikes system.  The first strike results in a warning email to suspected offeneders, the second is a formal snail mail warning, and finally if the former are ignored the offenders records are sent to French courts and law enforcement.  The courts are authorized to charge offenders up to 1,500 eruos ($2,000) and suspend internet access for a month (Pfanner NYT).  Since the laws enactment in 2009, digital music sales rose 12% in 2010 and 6% in 2011.  Opponents to Sarkozy have promised to repel or tweek the laws if they are elected into office.  The increased sales show how the French have responded to piracy and have realizedthat artsists should be compensated for their work.  Full Article 

Patient is Sued Over Negative Review of Doctor

Christopher Norberg, a patient of Chiropractor Dr. Steven Biegel, is being sued for a negative review of the doctor that he posted on Yelp.  His review accused Dr. Biegel of fraudulent billing charges and dishonesty.  The lawsuit has been questioned from both sides of the case.  On one hand, Norberg is maintaining his constitutional right to freedom of speech.  However, Biegel’s attorney says that because what Norberg wrote was an opinion and not a factual statement, he has tarnished Dr. Biegel’s reputation in the San Francisco area.  This could potentially be a ground-breaking case that defines what is acceptable to blog about on the internet.  

Lawyer Sues Ex-Girlfriends for slander

Laywer Matthew Couloute Jr, sues two of his ex girlfriends for slander.  Coluoute cliams that the two women, Amanda  Ryncarz and Stacey Blitsch, made malicious comments on an "anonymous forum called liarscheatersRus.com" (Ecker 1).  As a result, Couloute claims that he has had difficulty finding new clients and "marking his legal skills".  The article goes on to mention the few steps one can make if they feel that someone is defmaning their chartacher online.  This lawsuit, examplifes how the internet, due to its accessibility, can harm the perception of someone.  The author, after interviewing another lawyer Mitch Jackson, suggests that internet users need to practice the golden rule online as well as not posting online when you are emotionally compromised.  Full Article

The Case of Glik and his Cell Phone Recordings

The U.S. Court Of Appeals has made a unanimous decision in the case of Glik v. Cunniffe; The First Circuit ruled after a long and arduous process that Glik was protected under his first amendment rights when he recorded three officers arrest someone, when he saw hints of brutality. Glik was brought up on three criminal charges. After having his charges dropped, Glik still felt wronged, it was time for revenge. “Glik filed suit in federal court against the officers and the City of Boston under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act” (Hermes, 2011). Judge Young ruled that Glik was protected under the first amendment because he recorded the police in a public place, Boston Common. The judge also ruled that Glik’s 4^th amendment rights were violated for being arrested without probable cause.

What’s interesting about this case is that Glik was not part of a media outlet. He was an individual, a good Samaritan, trying to do what was right for society. What is the role of new technology? Now any Joe-Shmo can record anything that is public, legally under the first amendment, which makes it possible for anyone to now break a news story. It doesn’t take a news team in a van anymore, it can be you or me who breaks the next big story, it just depends who can unlock their phone faster. 

Spa Doctor Files Twitter Libel Lawsuit

Jerrold "Jerry" Darm, a medical spa doctor in Tigard, Oregon, filed a $1 million lawsuit against Tiffany Craig, a blogger from Portland in charge of the blog Criminallyvulgar. Darm attempted to sue her in July 2011, claiming defamation after one of her blog posts, which was also linked to her Twitter account, talked about how Darm attempted to treat a patient for free in exchange for sexual actions. Darm was in fact found to violate the Medical Practices Act in 2001 after a complaint that he inappropriately touched and kissed a patient after his clinic had officially closed for the day. He was punished but was not required to resign or relinquish his license, as Craig wrote on her blog post. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed, but it would have been the first Twitter libel suit in the nation to go to trial.


Sources:
http://www.oregonlive.com/tigard/index.ssf/2011/10/oregons_first_twitter_libel_la.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/tigard/index.ssf/2011/10/million-dollar_twitter_libel_s.html
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/10/tiffany_craig_v_jerrold_darm_l.php


Tiffany Craig's Blog Post:
http://www.criminallyvulgar.com/2011/06/dr-darm-and-missing-medical-license.html

Vogel v. Felice

In 2001, John Vogel and Paul Grannis sued Joseph Felice over slander and libel in digital media.
The lawsuit was filed in California in San Benito County California Superior Court; Court Of Appeal of the State of California Sixth Appellate District.  Joseph Felice blogged on a website that "allegedly contained defamatory statements about Vogel and Granis, including "a list entitled 'Top Ten Dumb Asses,'" in which Vogel and Grannis were "listed as the number 1 and number 2 dumb asses, respectively." 


The court rulled that Felice was not proven to act with “actual malice.”  Also the postings on Vogel's website were not provable facts, so they were necessarily defamatory. This ruling has set a precent that allows deragatory statements to be posted because they are statements of opion and not provable facts.  


http://www.citmedialaw.org/threats/vogel-v-felice

SOPA: a case against online content

Sopa, the stop internet piracy act, has created an uproar amongst internet users and members of congress. its attempt to remove sites that link to or contain pirated content was a controversial discussion that many believed would result in far too many sites violating the bill.  If there were to be any trace of copyrighted content on a site where proper credit was not given, under the sopa law, it would be in violation.  in this case, copyright infringement is the area of concern, as supporters of sopa argue that proper credit isn't given on many sites, and there are far too many sites that link to pirated media. Sopa's aim was to combat against these pirating sites, and allow for proper credit to be given to material found on other sites.

In a world of shared content, and a largely accepted and positive outcome by doing so, sopa's issue revolves around the ability to remove sites that are not intending to distribute pirated material.  If sopa were to have been passed, many innocent websites would have to reevaluate their content to ensure they stay within sopa's regulations.  To protest, sites such as google and wikipedia "blacked out" their websites, to symbolize the loss of information that would have been created by passing sopa.  The chaos that the passing of sopa could have created would have turned the internet upside down, and many popular sites would have had to rethink the way in which they deliver content created by others.

President of Ecuador attempts to jail and fine newspaper directors and journalist

The President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, has sentenced four men to jail for three years. He accused them of libel for an opinion article in the newspaper, El Universo, claiming the President had committed crimes against humanity. Emilio Palacio, the author of the article, was referring to an incident in which President Correa ordered the military to fire "at its discretion" on a hospital during a police uprising. The men have also been fined $40 million. The director, Carlos Perez has remained in Ecuador but his two brothers and deputy directors, Nicolas and Cesar, have fled to Miami. Palacio is also in the United States. They fear for their safety against Correa supporters. The case is currently being appealed and has gained a lot of media coverage.

Twitter Lawsuit

Last year, Courtney Love, had been brought to court for Twitter defamation by Dawn Simorangkir, a fashion designer. Simorangkir and Love got into an argument regarding a four-thousand dollar payment over clothing. Afterwards, Love wrote slanderous tweets about Simorangkir's business, in which Simorangkir claims, hurt her reputation and business. Love argued she was just expressing her opinion and there is no way to prove her tweet effected Simorangkir's business; however, Simorangkir countered by saying Love was a celebrity and holds influence over her twitter followers. Love ultimately settled this out of court and paid Simorangkir four-hundred and thirty-thousand dollars.

A Man Convicted for Tweeting a Joke

With the rise of Twitter and Facebook, many have fallen victim to letting their personal actions on the Internet be taken out of context. Now a days everything that you put onto a Social Network can be taken and mislead by others. Recent articles state that defamation cases have doubled with all the advances in digital media and the increasing rate of the use of Twitter and other popular social networks. It is clear that what you may post, isn't always private and only available to those you may have allowed to see it. One circumstance where this appeared was when Paul Chambers was convicted for something he tweeted. He has simply posted a tweet stating that if a certain airplane company didn't get it together, that he would blow up the airport. Chambers refuses to be convicted for something he saw as just an innocent tweet, so he has decided to take the case to a higher court.

This was a clear case of a legal situation involving the digital media and libel. He states that the tweet he posted was clearly a joke and never thought that it would be taken out of context. Despite what he has seen as a simple joke, authorities believe this is a serious threat. He has received a $1000 fine and charged. The case is still pending. It has been taken to a higher court at which they will determine whether this was just a joke on Twitter or an actually terrorist threat. After reading up on the legal case, it is clear that what you believe is private and taken lightly can lead you into hot water. Something seen as simple, can bring you up on charges you would never imagine.

Man in Great Britain Sued by Political Rival for Twitter Libel

Libel cases are happening all over the world.   In 2009, a man in Great Britain tweeted that his political rival had been removed from a polling station by police, and was later sued for the false/mistaken claim.  There was in fact a man taken away from a polling station that day, but it was not his rival.  In 2011, the court made its decision and the man had to pay his former rival £3,000 (about $4,753) and had to pay £50,000 ($79,215) in legal fees.   He also had to publish an apology on the same place where he made the claim about his formal rival: Twitter.

Information Overload is Causing “Multitaskers” to Fail

According to an article in The Seattle Times, Kord Campbell is the poster child of people being affected by information overload. Campbell’s life revolves around multitasking with his different technological devices. He uses an iPad, two computers, and an iPhone to simultaneously write code, surf the web, and check his email.

Because he has so much going on around him, he almost overlooked an email that contained a 1.3 million dollar offer for his Internet start up. He realized this 12 days after he received the email.  However, after apologizing, he was able to sell.

Campbell, like many others, is a heavy multitasker. Although he may think that he is being more productive, a study done at the University of California at Irvine disproves this notion.

The results showed that multitaskers have more trouble focusing on work and shutting out irrelevant information when receiving emails then do people who are not receiving the messages. They also experience more stress.

Dr. Gary Small, a psychiatrist at the University of California at Los Angeles, said that the stress hormones that are released are known to retard short-term memory.

So, Mr. Campbell is actually damaging both his brain and his ability to make money while he multitasks on his many gadgets.

Sources: Graphic

Article 

society's duty to separate what's important online

the internet's ability to saturate an individual's mind with unmeasurable amounts of information is incredibly apparent in today's world.  information itself is remarkably easy to access and obtain, a double-edged sword that can result in the inability to retain and remember new ideas.  as the amount of web content increases daily, society is given the responsibility of separating worthwhile information from the worthless.  there's plenty of the worthless out there; and it can strike an innocent individual at any time.  the line differentiating reliable material from misleading is often blurred by the difficulty to find credentials on information provided, leading the average person to assume information is correct and backed up.

wikipedia's claim to fame, that anyone can contribute to
each page's content, is a double-edged sword that leads many to
look down on it for being unreliable and unscholarly.

the most common example of this is wikipedia.  before making an argument against the site, i must make a disclaimer: i personally enjoy wikipedia, and find that the information provided can have citations and seems to be reliable.  copious amounts of information on any subject, person, or thing can be found on "the free encyclopedia," and often times it is tempting to use wikipedia for research because it is easy to find.  when searching for information on just about anything, wikipedia is usually the first or second website to appear in the search results.  it is a quick, effective way to find large amounts of information on anything one may desire to learn about.  but can this information be trusted? two arguments can be made - one for and one against the site.  one can argue that information is reliable on wikipedia because anyone can edit the page for any subject, allowing for individuals to add and build upon what is already given; one that has knowledge of the subject can contribute and improve the page's material in a simple and effective manner.  any mistake can be edited, and each page can be continuously fine-tuned.  one that opposes this belief can argue that lack of citations and the very ability for anyone to contribute is wikipedia's downfall in becoming a reliable source of information - any accurate material can be edited and altered to lead people on in believing what is correct.  how often this occurs, no one knows, but the very possibility is why wikipedia is looked down upon in the educational system - it is not scholarly and cannot be trusted.
this idea can be applied to all facets of the internet - information is incredibly abundant, and it is difficult to decide if it can be trusted.  through visual aids and flashy webpages, people are bombarded with information when viewing any webpage (maybe besides the google homepage).  if there can be a line drawn between what is important and what can be disregarded, society may have the ability to retain important and reliable information easier.  if there is a predetermined standard as to what is worth viewing and spending time on, the internet can become a much more productive medium for information.

Audi Builds Cars for Multitasking

The technologies in cars today go far behind the type of engine it has. Cars today are filled with technologies that do not have anything to do with how the car runs: navigation, satellite radio, television and heated seats. With all of these amenities in cars, on top of technologies such as cell phones that people cannot put down, driving has become a task that is never done on its own. Now, I would consider driving synonymous with multitasking. Whether it is sipping a cup of coffee, plugging directions into the GPA or listening to a voicemail, there are many tasks happening at once. To adjust to this trend, carmaker Audi is making changes to enhance its safety as it adds more technology. This article explains that Audi is introducing Google map satellite images for its navigation and has a Wi-Fi hotspot to find locations such as nearby restaurants. At the same time, Audi is putting in cameras and warning systems to prevent crashes.

Does Multitasking Exist?

Technology allows us to be able to surf the web, email, text, blog, share pictures, comment, and create profiles all at once. But does multitasking really even exist? When thinking about it, are we really able to email while we are commenting on someone’s profile? Or even text while we are driving? Even though some people do text while they are driving, they are not actually mentally doing both things at the same time. As soon as our eyes leave the windshield to look at the screens of our phones, our minds have mentally check out of driving and are fully focused on the text message. Reaction rate and thought processes from the road are completely gone as soon as we focus on the message. Multitasking does not exist. Eyal Ohhir, a researcher at Stanford University that underwent a project on multitasking, said, “We task-switch. We just switch very quickly between tasks, and it feels like we ‘re multitasking.” Farther in the study it went into detail about how people who are good at “multitasking,” or task switching, can only perform a sub-par job on the things they are juggling because they can not focus 100% of their attention on their tasks. Ultimately, depending on the person some people are better at handling more tasks at once than others. This article stressed that dividing, managing, and preserving attention is different for everybody; but that the world is full of distractions. The hard part is figuring out the best way to handle tasks for yourself that give you the best results.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/11/if-multitasking-is-impossible-why-are-some-people-so-good-at-it/248648/

http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2010/12/you_cant_multi-task_so_stop_tr.html

Multitaskers Are Bad At It

The Best Multitaskers Are the Ones Who Dont Do It

Resaerchers studied 262 college undergrads. They were placed into two groups: low multitasking, and high multitasking. Results show that the students of the low multitasking group were actually better at multitasking than the other group. The students took a series of tests that challenged their multitasking skills. High multitaskers love trying to process information that does not matter which takes them longer to accomplish tasks. They also think too much about the tasks they are doing which slows them down. Are people bad at multitasking as a result of multitasking too much, or are they multitasking too much because they are bad at it?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/24/study-people-who-multitas_n_267774.html

Social Skills Hindered Due to Digital Multi-tasking

A study by Stanford University has found strong evidence that tween girls who frequently multi-task through digital devices lack important social skills that should be developing by that age. The lack of real face-to-face interaction with people is making it hard for today's youth to pick up on various social cues and tendencies that would seem like second nature to most. The study goes into detail about how even video chatting services like FaceTime and Skype don't hold up to real life, engaging interactions due to the fact that it is far too easy to multi-task, switching between other activities and therefore only involved in the conversation at a minimal level. Without regular exposure to other people's emotions, tones, and body language that give signs to many social cues, it is far too easy for young girls to never develop a clear grasp on what older generations may assume to be natural social skills.

Digital Natives: Friends, or Foes?

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june11/digitalbrain_01-05.html

Studies show that technology has both improved and also impaired some aspects of the human brain and experience. In teens who were born in technological age (called digital natives according to the article), multitasking has proven to be a positive and negative thing. In teens that multitask with facebook, multiple homework assignments, and other technologically charged items, their results from the multitasking seem to be less than desirable. Although this is a negative outcome, studies have shown that teens who spend exorbent amount of time with video games have better reflexes and are able to process information more quickly than others.

Multitasking with the iOS 4

Multitasking has become a common activity in our technology driven lives. Apple has come out with a brand new addition of multitasking through the iPhone. This software has clearly been kept up to apples standards since it has the ability to run many applications concurrently in the background. The new iOS 4 software tries to keep the apps running as much as it can hold in memory. The cool thing is that the iOS 4 can see which apps are used frequently and recently and which ones take more memory than others. The multitasking bar makes it easier to open previous apps and to delete certain apps. And it is all smoothly done with the double click of the home button.

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Study finds Texting While Walking is Disruptive

We all know that texting while driving is downright dangerous, but what about using your cell phone while walking? Researchers at Stony Brook University conducted a study to find out. They showed participants a target on the floor eight meters away and told them to walk to the target after it and the floor had been obstructed from their view.

One week later the participants were split up into three groups; one control, one which was to walk and talk on the phone and one which was walk and text. The results were clear. The texters walked 33% slower and deviated 61% more off course than the control while the talkers slowed down 16% and deviated 13% off course.

Remember this study next time you think about responding to that text while you're cruising down 95. If most people can't even control their own two legs, why take a chance with that 3 ton car you're driving? 

Would you like to know more?

Athletes Multitask Better than Others

According to this study by researchers at the University of Illinois, athletes are better at multi-tasking. Researchers created a simulation where people had to cross a busy street while also texting on a cell phone or changing their iPod. They tested athletes vs non-athletes and found that the athletes made it safely across the street 72% of the time as opposed to 55% by non-athletes. Researchers believe this is because athletes are constantly forced to make split second decisions on the court and field. They also believe that multitasking in sports can transfer to everyday multitasking, giving these athletes an advantage. Lastly, they believe talking on the phone and crossing the street was much harder than while texting or changing the iPod. This study is important as it shows athletes may be better multitaskers, but it can also cause dangerous situations. 

The Difficulties of Multitasking Through The Media

The influence of various new technologies has lead to many more people engaging in “media multitasking.”  This type of multitasking is prevalent among the youth and involves people giving attention to such technologies as cell phone texting, Twitter, and Facebook.

It has been found through a study that those who do such media multitasking have trouble focusing their attention on important information and are easily distracted by irrelevant information.  To find out more about the study click here http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/august24/multitask-research-study-082409.html  This study is important as it provides evidence that the influence of these new media technologies that are vying for consumers attentions can create a negative impact on the viewer.

Women are Better at Being Worse

A 2010 study at Hertfordshire University in England has found that women are better at multitasking than men. The study included 50 men and 50 women who were instructed to complete math problems, finding restaurants on a map, and sketching a strategy to search an imaginary field for a lost key.

 

Men were greatly outperformed by women. The study noted that men are supposed to have better spatial awareness than women so they should have done better in the map test and the key test, but even in that category they were beat. However, another article defends that multitasking doesn't work. It brings up several studies which show how "multitasking leads to as much as a 40% drop in productivity, increased stress, and a 10% drop in IQ." It also reveals that driving while distracted is worse than driving drunk. So maybe guys should not be worried that they are not as good at multitasking.

What Happens When You Multitask With Technology

According to the article, the amount of information consumed in recent times is three times the amount that people did in the 1960’s.

The increase in technology and its capabilities allows people to do more than one thing at a time. People can check their e-mail, texts, surf the net and phone calls with one device and have it all running simultaneously. A Stanford research showed that this kind of multitasking might not be effective and causes fractured thinking. Technology has transformed our day to day events but we should not let the multitasking take over.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/07/technology/07brain.html

Studying With Music Effects Your Memory

I know that like most college and high school students, listening to music while studying is a good way to stay sane.  But, in actuality listening to music, whether or not you enjoy the music, while you are studying is actually proven to be harmful to your memory.  It will hurt your memory of what you studied rather than helping it.  A study from the 90’s showed that listening to Mozart prior to working was helpful for focusing.  The most recent study, in 2010, has proved that listening while studying is harmful but has not disproved that listening to music before working is helpful.  So before you study next time, listen to some Mozart, then do some studying.

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/27/music-may-harm-your-studying-study-says/

Assignment #3: Multi-tasking Affects the Way the Brain Learns

The hippocampus aids in processing, storing and retrieving information while the striatum hinders the ability to effectively learn new skills

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 A study conducted by UCLA psychologists found that multi-tasking not only affects the retrieval of information, but it more importantly, affects how people learn.  Psychologists tracked brain activity during two tests.  The test without multi-tasking produced much more "flexible" answers from the participants than after the second test which was with multi-tasking.  This difference in flexibility means that learning with multi-tasking makes applying learned-knowledge much more difficult.  The difference between the systems of learning was reveal by the brain-imaging scans.  Without distraction, students actively used the hippocampus which helps to process, store and recall information.  With distraction, students used the striatum which inhibits the ability to learn new skills.  This study shows how checking mail during class or texting while doing homework can drastically prevent long-term learning.

Information about the study can be found here.

Multitasking made easier with new and improved cell phones

Not more than a few years ago, people were content with their simple phones that could call and text friends and family.  As technology continues to change at such a rapid rate, our society and culture has begun to use new high-powered cell phone devices as more than just a communication tool.  We now use these phones as a way of entertainment (games, web, etc), to gather information, take and store photos, listen to music, as well as the traditional act of communicating.  These new phone abilities have made for the concept of multitasking to shoot through the roof.  Our society and culture, along with many other societies and cultures around the world have begun to feel the wave of the multitasking phenomenon!

Link:
http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_mobile-phones-now-becoming-multi-tasking-devices_1604916

Graphic:
http://blog.richardlevinassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Multitasking-Image.jpg

Multitasking = Information Overload

Multitasking = Information Overload
This man is actually accomplishing nothing!

Multitasking - what was once believed to be an efficient way of completing a list of tasks in just one sitting, has now actually been proven to be quite ineffective. According to Stanford University communications professor Clifford Nass, pushing our brains to simultaneously process even just two different tasks at once is complicated and extremely difficult. With the brain rapidly switching from one activity to the other, filtering out irrelevant information and focusing on only task-related information becomes a mental sweat that, unbeknownst to the multitasker, actually makes their cognitive control weaker. By bombarding our brains with information relating to different activities, overload becomes apparent and efficiency becomes inefficiency. Nass' studies on multitasking and information overload are discussed in further detail in the Live Science Article: http://www.livescience.com/11065-digital-overload-computer-frying-brain.html

Babies Making Babies...Making Babies....

I know you all have heard the saying “babies making babies”. Well according the United States Population clock, the saying is not too far off. According to the statistics that accompany this clock, there is one birth in America every eight seconds. I currently work at the United States Census Bureau in Suitland Maryland, which contains a live population counter. When I am at work the numbers change on this counter every few seconds, so I can vouch for this statistic. There are several population clocks, for separate nations and the world, on the internet for web surfers to visit. Here is the link to the one discussed in this article. http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html

TAX RETURNS MADE EASY!

So it's tax return season right? I thought it would be cool to give you all a little known fact about online tax returns. The ability to complete and file tax returns online, also called e-filing, began in 1986 as a pilot program and since then ha grown significantly in popularity. Before online tax returns, you had to either visit a post office for forms or print them from the IRS website to complete by hand. That sounds scary huh? It's been so long since we had to solely rely on our manual abilities to complete a task. Online information sharing has become so common and relied on that we may become confused when we don't have the option to use a device to help us with any daily, monthly, or yearly task. More than 95 million tax preparing individuals use online services to prepare their tax forms in 2009. That is a lot of people. This information supports the fact that we are in the information age. Personally, I just filed my taxes online this weekend. It is pretty straight forward to complete. You have different stages and labels to guide you along. Tax tables and charts to provide a visual aid in your journey to tax relief; or even stress. I would say: have a basic computer knowledge though . These days it is very rare not to have basic understandings of technology since it has expanded heavily. More specifically; Internet usage. It is also the idea of quick convenience. Returns can received and processed as quick as two weeks. That is way faster than the process of using mail services and tax offices. We all want quick money, right? I know I do. So online tax return information sharing is a blessing in a package of pros and cons of Internet usage. For more information about online tax returns visit http://www.irs.gov/efile. GO GET THAT MONEY!!!!