The Lights Are On, But Nobody’s Home

Social websites that are ‘location-aware’, such as FourSquare and Google Buzz, are more popular now than ever. They are interesting, ‘revolutionary’ little bits of software and technology; bringing people together, and educating them about local areas they otherwise would probably never visit. An aspect of these programs that are rarely touched on, however, is how potentially unsafe they can be.

PleaseRobMe.com, a website and research project launched by a small Dutch group named ‘Forthehack’, shows just how risky these applications are (potentially), educating the public about how every time someone posts their location on the internet, that person is publically announcing that they are not home (and can possibly get robbed, or worse). To illustrate their point, the website posts updates from various users from FourSquare on their homepage, letting the public know when that person left home and when they last checked into the service. The site also presents map locations of the user through Twitter alerts.

The goal of the site isn’t to be a scare-tactic and keep people away from these sites, but instead attempts to be a kind of security operation. In today’s age where it seems like everyone is connected to the Internet and uploading his or her everyday, we begin to see how vulnerable we can be (and how dangerous it can get).

It gets to the point to where a user can use simple deduction, to learn where a user is at any certain time.

I know sites like these are incredibly popular, (almost everybody uses them, including myself), but what do you think of their privacy options (if any)? Do you think they’re easily accessible right now, or too hidden away? Should there be ways to educate people about the issues with privacy and these applications to prevent something (like being robbed) from happening?

Location-Aware Social Nets : Lights On, Nobody Home

Group Stuff 8

AM Group 11

• Received answers from Luna!
• Looking at their answers, very interesting views on QR codes.
• A lot of data to look through, and to simplify.
• Got a reply from Autoshow staff, group is now compiling questions to ask.
• Email interview only, sadly.

Still have no time for readings, will have to wait until reading week. A lot of work this semester! :(

Group Stuff 7

AM Group 11

• Coming up with questions to ask...
• Asking each other, comparing questions, looking at things...
• Getting things together to send to the CEO
• Also sent email to Autoshow people, to see if they are willing to interview.

Still unable to find time to look into readings and type out / post my explorations with my thesis.... stay tuned...

Group Stuff 6

AM Group 11

• Alan obtained interview with the CEO of Luna Development.
• Looking into questions to ask him about QR Codes and effectiveness.
• Starting to get ideas together.
• Tracking down more Autoshow posters with QR codes.
• Maybe find one somewhere and observe it?
• Are people using QR Codes?
• Looking at articles, research that already exists.

Busy...

Going to be a very busy week.

I will post my reflections on the #2 Readings later this week.

Thesis Idea? :: Interactivity Between the User and the Medium - Past, Present and Future ::

The subject I am considering for my thesis concerns the past, present, and future of the relationship between the end user and various (constantly evolving) media. For centuries, we have used various methods of media to communicate and evoke a kind of response of one another. These methods of communicating started with more of a one-sided method of communication, with governments providing propaganda posters and informational material to the public without leaving room for any feedback or interaction whatsoever. Examples of this would be the posters and etchings nobles would display in France during the French Revolution, as examined in Jacob A. Belzen's book "Changing the Scientific Study of Religion".

Such methods of media have drastically changed once the focus is moved from the past and into the present, especially with the advent of the internet and the effects of globalization. In the present, the relationship between the user and the medium is much more intense than it once was. Products and advertising still reach out to the consumer and communicate what they would like through flashy imagery or statements that would appeal to specific target markets, however, now because of the internet the user has the ability to speak their minds and communicate back to the product or service. Users and consumers are now able to interact with the people behind the product (something they otherwise would not be able to do) or even publish their own ideals to the masses through sites like YouTube and Twitter, as stated in Kacprzyk's book "Web Personalization in Intelligent Environments".

Other advancements in technology, such as in movies and digital entertainment, have been opened up to user interactivity. In games like 'Mass Effect', for example, every character and situation reacts and expresses themselves to the user based on the user's own personal choices and beliefs. The games and movies themselves even change to fit that to the playing style and thought processes of the user interacting with the object. Such interactivity was almost completely unheard of several years ago, when technology and the media were not quite up to par.

I would like to look further into these developments over time, from the past to the present, and ultimately look into what all of this may lead into the future. I am very interested in the topic of user interactivity and technology, and I can't wait to see what there is to find.

Here is my potential bibliography for this study:

Belzen, Jacob A. (Editor). Changing the Scientific Study of Religion: Beyond Freud? : Theoretical, Empirical and Clinical Studies from Psychoanalytic Perspectives. Dordrecht, NLD: Springer, Netherlands, 2009.

Brennan, Teresa. Exhausting Modernity: Grounds for a New Economy. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2000.

Cavell, Richard. McLuhan in Space: A Cultural Geography. Toronto, ON, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2003.

Elliott, Anthony. Social Theory Since Freud: Traversing Social Imaginaries. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 2004

Kacprzyk, Janusz, Castellano, Giovanna; Jain, Lakhmi C. Web Personalization in Intelligent Environments. 2009.

Lebeau, Vicky. Lost Angels: Psychoanalysis and Cinema. Florence, KY, USA: Routledge, 1994.

Loewenberg, Peter. Fantasy and Reality in History. Cary, NC, USA: Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 1995.

McEwan, Tom (Editor); Gulliksen, Jan (Editor); Benyon, David (Editor). People and Computers XIX: The Bigger Picture: Proceedings of HCI 2005. London, GBR: Springer London, 2006.

Petcock, Agnes. Freud, Psychoanalysis & Symbolism. Port Chester, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1999

Taylor, Eugene. Mystery of Personality: A History of Psychodynamic Theories. New York, NY, USA: Springer New York, 2009.