Guest Speaker - Erik Hanberg

The author Erik Hanberg came into class to talk to us about being out on the internet and how to be safe but successful. Erik's know mostly for his book, The Lead Cloak: The Lattice Trilogy, Book 1. Erik published his own books and sold them exclusively on Amazon; which for an independent writer is extremely hard, but Erik (if I can remember correctly) was on Amazons top sellers for a brief time. Which again, is incredible for an independent writer!

Erik talked to us in class bout how easy it is to "swat" someone online. He explained it to be as easy as calling the police on your neighbor. These kinds of things keep me weary and away from the internet a bit because I'm not wanting to have my identity stolen, or my card information stolen, etc., but I also know that you can besafe on the internet by just simply watching what information you put out their on certain sites.

The Machine is Us/ing us.

The video "The Machine is Us/ing Us" is exactly what I think of when I think of the Internet. Things can be said, but rearranged, and switched, and deleted, and re-entered; all with complete ease and no effort. Technology will only get easier, faster and more user friendly as time goes on because with each generation that comes is another step closer to being amongst robots. Technology is the real life sci-fi that we always imagined and wished for, but if the human race doesn't keep updating themselves then they will fall behind and never stay up to date and will also never understand the new and improved phones/laptops/tablets etc. So in my opinion, its a never ending vicious but entertaining cycle that wont stop until the technology controls us. So I think that technology will be controlling our lives and since we started it, it can't be stopped. Welcome to the end, brought to you by the technology that we can't put down.

What Do I Want To Get Out of This Class

 After being in this class for a little while, I am looking forward to learning about just how much technology can effect the average person in what we call the "Rat Race"; in the pursuit of fame and fortune. At this point I am not pursing a technology major, but I do know that technology is very important, and growing immensely. I also know how dangerous it is to be online and I would love to learn how to protect myself from the online threats. These are the main things I want to get out of TINST 207.