A defining issue in this, our “grand digital age” is figuring out what to do with our data. Who gets it? Where SHOULD it go? Where does it go? How many gigabytes of cat videos are there and how can I get them all? What we lack is is the ability to handle it. The modern world has no universal privacy standard, no storage medium capable of handling this influx longterm, and a frankly pathetic safeguard in place to obtain porn.

What we have in abundance is data. Everything we do produces it (for better or worse). From having a house to buying a baby, our online transactions are monitored and monetized and sent… Wherever… facebook probably.

And so we come to the news story this time.

Dave Lee and the BBC recently reported on some data misuse that involved Facebook. Namely that apps that use App Events are (facebook provided online development tool) sending the data they collect back to Facebook to power their advertising algorithms. the issue we have to discuss is about the apps that use App Events and are sending data to Facebook that Facebook probably shouldn’t have.

For example, there is a period and ovulation tracker app that necessitated sensitive information like whether or not you were trying to get pregnant or you know, your period and ovulation cycle. the app collected that data and sent it back to Facebook. and for what its worth, Facebook has said it doesn’t want that info and that they get rid of any private data they receive… and you know… sure. but the point is we don’t actually know where our data is going when we enter it into a screen. read the whole article at the BBC website.
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47341533

As of this moment, my intention for this final project is to create a game, video OR analog that incorporates concepts from modern media platforms. For example, in this game, you yourself will be the protagonist fighting off commonly seen tropes from the modern internet trying to navigate the labyrinth of free time. For example, you will encounter a boss called Yourspace early in the game, it will a relatively tame fight. Another example is internet piracy. That battle will be against a pirate and will be a harder battle as its still more of a thing than myspace. Later bosses can include Fakebook, Bitter, and why-fi, things that are more ubiquitous in modern life. There are RPG generating programs that can create these kinds of games that I was thinking of checking out, hence the idea for this project.

The British broadcasting corporation is a household name in regard to news and education. I chose it to be the primary news source for this class because I hope it will provide a breath of fresh air regarding the news stories I consume.

And speaking of news stories that provide a breath of fresh air, I recently came across a news story on the BBC news page about a new method of teaching the blind coding and principals regarding coding. They use physical and audio cues to bring coding to blind students, allowing them to interact with coding in non-visual dimensions. One of its most beneficial utilities is to allow visually impaired and non-visually impaired students to work together in the classroom. The actual objects they interact with are about the size of remotes with two dials instead of buttons and are called “pods”. Each pod represents a single line of code which the learner strings together to form an executable program.

This tool, in the long run, mean more coders will be ready to kick some digital ass. Coding is the basic building blocks out of which our castle of modern technology is built. More builders, especially differently able ones, will undoubtedly take our metaphorical castle to new heights. A link to the new story on the BBC website can be found at https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-46959888