Net Neutrality

Net Neutrality is a big topic of debate right now. From my readings, it seems that this is due to a split on support and rejection of it. Right now there is Net Neutrality, meaning all information flowing through the Internet is to be treated equally. But as the Internet has become grander there is debate on whether or not to place more regulations and costs on it. Some groups favor Net Neutrality, like Common Cause and Free press. Their stance, along with all the others who support Net Neutrality is that, if regulated, sites will be able to limit content to paid customers. There will be less freedom of expression on the Internet, which would be a huge loss. And there will simply be less use of the Internet period; due to forced payments and a cost to have a speedy connection, people won't want to use it as much. Then there's some people like Scott Cleland, founder and president of Precursor LLC and chairman of NetCometition.org, along with J.S. Macleod, principal vice president and CTO of Bechtel Engineering and Technology, who feel the opposite. Their opinion, along with the rest of the people against Net Neutrality, believe regulation will help stop countless illegal activities on the net. For instance, financial fraud, identity theft, credit card theft, and more, which they believe to be possible through the lack of control of the Internet. Although there are some laws about child pornography, they feel that is not enough. This group sees regulation and charge for the Internet as a way for the business to bring in a greater profit, one which they feel is deserved. In my opinion, there should not be any more regulation put on the Internet. Part of its beauty is that it is free in cost and spirit. To me, there are no legitimate reasons for why it should be regulated, there have not been enough issues to spark a true need for change. And it is simply amazing that it is free to all and open to constant change.

Cloud Computing

Cloud computing is the new "it thing" on the internet. I have done a lot of reading up on it, yet still feel I do not fully understand the concept. For it is a strange one, and I am not the best with computers, especially computer lingo. From all my reading up on and analysis of cloud computing I have come to the conclusion that it is where you connect your computer to a giant powerful server or "cloud" such as amazon, google, or facebook, which does all the computing. That allows you to have high end computing power from any speed machine where the speed of calculations is merely based on the connection speed to the cloud. So for example, if you connect your laptop to a "cloud", no matter how low end and slow your laptop, the only thing that matters is your internet speed because it is connecting to a super computer where all the software is loaded off-site. Cloud computing is great for ordinary users in that you can access these sites from any computer and get onto your name/account, as if you were at home/on your own computer. So it makes the internet more accessible and travel friendly. The downside for the ordinary users is that these sites have the ability to blow up huge and become monopolies. In my opinion, the upside is greater than the down. As for start up companies, the upside is that if you make your site under the cloud people will be able to access it from anywhere, allowing them to use it more and you get more traffic. But then again, to get this benefit you have to be under the cloud and compete with the other sites under the cloud, which is a very difficult feat when just starting up. The social dangers of cloud computing or of everyones documents being on the same super computer and being able to simply access them from everywhere, is that people all over the world are becoming more and more technologically advanced; so soon enough people will easily be able to hack onto others' accounts and get their documents. This could cause a huge issue. There are very important and secretive materials on the world wide web, this accesability may bring about major problems.

Computing Robots and the Web

Welcome! I am Shannon Corcoran. I am a freshman at the University of San Francisco. I am making this blog for my Computing Robots and the Web course. Enjoy!