Optics - less Camera

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-camera-technology-doesn-t-have-a-lens-at-all-and-it-s-amazing

I have never imagined a camera without lens. And this article at The University of Utah says each window in a home could be turned into a security camera in the future. That sounds quite exciting but also would have consequences of its own regarding privacy. Imaging having to use a room with glass windows in your friend’ house to change clothes, if you are not fine with public nudity. Or it could just be a small 2 x 2-inch glass attached somewhere on the wall or the ceiling. This is not necessarily a new technology as there have been similar inventions before of cameras with no lens as I have found out. In the experiment, the camera sensor is attached to the side of and pointed into a Plexiglas window while a LED light board is placed in front of the pane at a 90-degree angle from the front of the sensor. After the camera sensor receives the image, an algorithm created to decode images detect the image using digital information.  

STEM Worker Shortage Crisis in the U.S

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2018-08-23/americans-think-they-have-a-shortage-of-stem-workers

The article is about STEM worker shortage in the U.S. It is quite astonishing to learn of the figures. According to the research the article is citing, the manufacturing sector will need about 3.5 million workers by 2025 but only 1.5 million of those positions will be filled leaving a huge gap. The research was done by Emerson – a technology and engineering company in Missouri. Also, respondents to the research do not think that there are enough resources in the U.S for STEM students.  Despite the first computer programmer being a woman, women today account for less than 24 percent of the technology employees in the U.S according to a technology nonprofit founder quoted in the article. This likely is the case in the rest of the world. As the article suggests, the huge demand in the STEM field opens an opportunity for more women and minorities to be included in the future.

Tech Addiction

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/tech/tech-addiction-more-problem-people-realize-ncna810246

Most people tend to agree that technology has brought positive changes to our world but with its own side effects – tech addiction being one of those side effects. I used to be so addicted to Facebook that I had to set up two different passwords to open the app on my cell phone. The addiction deterred me from having real conversations with my friends and people close to me. It certainly crippled my communication and social skills. Fortunately for me, it did not lead to depression – a result numerous studies have found to come from our addiction to social media – but I did become lonely overtime.

The author describes the situation correctly when she says, “the problem lies not with our desire to connect, but with our form of connection.” Getting rid of technology from our lives certainly would not be a viable option and technology has brought numerous benefits to humanity in science, health and many sectors. Personally, I am still receiving most information about current affairs in domestic and international politics, new technologies and other topics of interest from my Facebook app. Only this time, I have learnt to control how I use the social media. If we as humans want to advance successfully, we must be in full control of the resources available at our hands and not the other way around.

Cyber Security

https://www.theverge.com/2018/8/22/17770876/alex-stamos-former-facebook-chief-security-officer-2018-election-security-too-late

                     In an age when everything has come to be digitized,government bureaucratic  processes  have increasingly been becoming targets of hackers whose intentions maybe unethical or otherwise. The problems surrounding online voting and misinformation campaigns in the 2016 general elections showed how inefficient the U.S governmental institutions were in dealing with cyber security. For a democracy to function properly, those responsible – mainly governments – must make sure that people’s desires and demands be heard and channeled correctly to those who represent them. According to this article, Alex Stamos – former security chief of Facebook – argues that the U.S government has failed again to protect the upcoming 2018 midterm elections just like they did with the 2016 general elections. I agree with Stamos that both federal and state governments should have cyber security organizations as commercial corporations would not be as effective as government institutions in dealing with national and state level issues. The U.S being the most powerful and influential country on the planet, what happens in the U.S could impact the rest of the world. As such, it should be more careful and diligent than any other country in solving its online voting issues arising today.