Author: Shirley Liu

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One thing that helped me out tremendously throughout the assignment was the use of background colors to figure out what I am controlling. After moving the boxes to the left of the links using flex, I spent the rest of my time testing different sizes for margins and padding.

In “The Medium Is the Message”, Marshall McLuhan highlights the importance of the medium over the content that is created using the medium. McLuhan gives many examples of mediums that are undervalued and often times overlooked when we are given exposure to the final product. Electric light used for brain surgery and night baseball is a medium that McLuhan says “shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.” He continues to claim that the medium does not gain recognition until branded by a big name company. Learning more about this topic has changed my perspective on how we view content and has allowed me to gain some insight on the use of mediums and their importance. I have never thought about content in this manner so it is interesting to learn about it through McLuhan’s thoughts.

Another line that interests me is General David Sarnoff’s statement on the innate values of technology, “We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them. The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad; it is the way they are used that determines their value.” Sarnoff made me question how we view technology in our lives today, often categorized with negativity and described as an “obsession.” However, when people discuss technology, oftentimes the first thought we have is what is closely related to us and used by the average person, their mobile phone and laptop. Sometimes people focus on the negatives and so the advances of technology are overlooked when evaluating technology in our lives.

Through “Long Live the Web”, Berners-Lee advocates for action from the public to protect the principles of the Web. People need to act in order to conserve the freedom provided by the Web. With governments “monitoring people’s online habits”, the public’s trust in security is lost and human rights are endangered. It is understandable that the government wants to act in the interests of the safety of the public, however, that does not mean they have the right to inflict on one’s freedom of privacy. Upon reading Berners-Lee’s thoughts, I thought of the situation regarding Trump’s desire to repeal Obama’s law on net neutrality. With this law repealed, internet companies would be able to charge the public money for access to certain sites. In addition to charges, pages would be blocked and slowed down. I agree with Berners-Lee’s ideas as I also believe that we do not appreciate the Web for what it is. For me, there is no day where I am not using the web, whether it is for research for a homework assignment or for watching a video on youtube on how to make a cheesecake. Action should be taken with incoming threats that endanger our rights.

In “The Strange Geopolitics of the International Cloud”, Ingrid Burrington explains the many factors that shape the geography of data-centers in the U.S. and internationally. It was very interesting to learn that when building infrastructure for the Cloud, many things are taken into consideration, ranging from not only access to land but also appealing climates whether we are discussing the environment, the financial, or political sector of it. One aspect brought up by Burrington that I found particularly interesting was the idea of data sovereignty. It was new for me to learn about how citizen’s personal data can affect the location of data centers. With most of the information discussing U.S. affairs, I wanted to learn more about what goes on outside of America, for example how broken Australian broadband infrastructure is.

E.M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops” starts off with an eerie, unrealistic, quite mysterious and very peculiar setting. In this futuristic world, there is no walking instead the chair performs the action of moving for her. Forster raises to the light the significance of technology in our everyday life, and how big of a role it plays, so large that many cannot live without it. For communication with friends and family as well as for learning more about new subjects, people use their phones and computers. We can gather the whereabouts of people who live across the world and learn about what is happening around us in a matter of seconds. In the story, Kuno wishes to see his mother in person without the use of the machine however his mother uses the machine so frequently. Her dependence on the machine is so high that she no longer gets up and interacts with her students during lectures. Only when she meets Kuno does she realize the effects the machine actually has on her. Only towards the end does she find out that the machine can no longer function and help her to survive. Through “The Machine Stops”, Forster creates a story that illuminates the idea of how our modern day dependency on technology can prove detrimental to our interaction with other human beings. People not looking down on their phones is often a rare sight in my hometown back in New York City. Everywhere you go, someone is occupied with their phone, in the train station, in the hallways of my school, and even during a family dinner.