Untethered tech

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57367685-76/untethered-tech-wireless-sensors-monitor-brain-waves/?tag=mncol;cnetRiver

Because of the endless possibilities with mind reading, we need a grasp of the challenges that may come with them. While Scientific American mentions a few major benefits like helping paralyzed people interact with the world, there are still important liabilities. One liability is that it could be used to take advantage of others in a very new way. With future improvements to this technology, terrorists could read pass codes or military plans from their hostages. It may even be possible to put thoughts into someones mind. I hope we each take steps to protect ourselves from such weapons while using this technology for good.

SOPA Halted

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57362783-17/sopa-halted-in-house/?tag=mncol;3n

I feel that intellectual property over the net has not been adequately protected by its owners or the government for a very long time. The government is finally making a move toward preventing this theft through S.O.P.A. After the public caught wind of S.O.P.A., the overwhelming majority of internet junkies and large web organizations disproved of it as overcompensating. It's interesting that many companies like Google went as far as protesting openly on their websites. I think it's good that government is tying to step up to protecting American property from foreign thieves and also listening closely to criticism. I agree that S.O.P.A. is to overreaching in its ability  to censor the internet, but something must be done to help protect valuable intellectual property.

One Thing to Know About Technological Change

I agree with Neil Postman's fourth point of inventions changing everything and not just some things, but I have a very different view on who is to blame. Instead of pretending to be the victim, people should praise inventors for taking hold of American opportunity. Certainly Ford and Bell had a pursuit of happiness, but to assume that they could avoid the unpredictable negative effects this would have on the world is absurd. If they didn't invent it, someone else would have, and therefore taken the profits for him or herself. To say that Capitalists should be disciplined is to say someone else should decide who benefits from their invention and who does not. This is discriminating the positive and negative effects without eliminating the problems. If inventions give others an edge over us, we only have ourselves to blame for not finding how we can take advantage of it.