Someone responded to my blog on RFID technology by pointing out that not only has animal tagging been going on for years, but also that people have been piercing themselves with metal all over there bodies for years, and that in both instances there has been no reported evidence of the negative impacts of inserting (sterile) foreign objects into living creatures. Here's my response!
You bring up an interesting point! I was thinking more on the lines of the radio-frequencies effects on living creatures more than the actual physical chips. But you are absolutely right that I should investigate it a little further and back up my fears with some stats!
I found that some studies have been done on the "Biological Effects From Radiofrequency Non-Ionizing Radiation" and some effects found were:
EEG brain waves in humans were altered from exposure to cell phone signals. Mice that were exposed to these signals also began to develop irreversible infertility. Other effects of radiofrequency waves on humans were decreased motor function, memory and attention of children and adults, an increase in childhood leukemia from AM-FM exposure, negative changes in the immune system, 18% interference in REM sleep, and a 26% drop in insulin (Wave-guide.org).
Now these effects were all found from different experiments, with varying levels of radiofrequency waves, however, the implications of having radiofrequency devices inside of us seem considerable. Especially when our brains are such delicate wave devices themselves!
I think it would be interesting to further investigate these studies in detail and the effects of radiofrequency levels over time. Here’s the link I found those stats on - if you want to check out the individual studies then take a gander and by all means let me know what you think!
http://www.wave-guide.org/library/studies.html
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Call Me Old Fashion!
RFID (radio frequency identification) is set to revolutionize the way we live our lives. According to the videos we just saw in class, its implementation should reduce errors and improve quality in supply chain management.
A “pro” of this new technology is that eventually there will be no need for checkout lines. By replacing barcodes on items with RFID chips that do not need to be manually scanned, and by incorporating the RFID in credit cards, people will be able to shop and pay for things self-sufficiently. I think this is not a “pro” but a “con” because for one thing it will eliminate many jobs (i.e. cashiers), which is not good for the economy, and second because it will remove the need for day to day social interaction when shopping. I used to be a cashier, and I found that I felt a rapport with many of my customers. Some of them were elderly people who I knew looked forward to coming to the store and talking with the cashiers about their day. I enjoyed talking with them too! As a psychology student I appreciate the importance of these kinds of interactions for mental and emotional health. Shopping is a not just a utilitarian activity but a social activity as well!
Now RFID also has implications not just for replacing bar codes, and improving credit cards, but also for carrying health, security and financial information – in people! The technology has been getting smaller and smaller and less and less expensive, so that eventually these massive information storing chips can be injected into human beings! They have already done this with cats and dogs. This is a very strange idea to me. I find this kind of technology implementation might be suitable for sexual and dangerous offenders and for serial killers, but I don’t see how we can justify messing with innocent, living creatures this way. I think the consequences of melding technology so closely with biology will result in dire consequences. People might get ill physically from this radio-frequency technology, or perhaps worse, they may become mentally ill from it. It is a proven fact that everything in and around our bodies has some sort of an effect on our health and development.
If mental and physical health risks aren’t enough of a “con”, then add to that privacy issues. Someone told me about 4 years ago that they would not get the flu shot because they thought that the government was going to inject us with something to track us and eventually control our minds. He was very adamant that it was true and that the technology had already been started, but I thought this person was just nuts. Now years later, I am hearing about how the government is getting ready to inject RFID chips into our shoulders! I thought this was something that could only be done in a sci-fi story. This is not cool. All people have the right to certain freedoms, including privacy. I think human beings can handle the responsibility of carrying health cards and bank cards and identification. There is no need to turn us into pseudo-robots, or machines, or “items”. We might as well tattoo barcodes on everyone and wrap us in bubble wrap.
I think the small “benefits” that RFID technology would bring to business must be weighed against the virtual destruction it will bring to mankind. Even if we could justify using RFID chips in everything including people, has anyone considered what would happen if something went wrong with the technology? Can you imagine what kind of havoc would be wrecked? Even barcodes can be read visually by people – the numbers match numbers in inventory charts, so if the computers go down, no problem. What about the RFID chips? All the information contained in them must be read with a special scanner. There is no way for lay people to know what information is in those chips.
I think businesses can do without this RFID technology. I think it’s creepy. It kind of reminds me of Nazi Germany. We as a people should be able to recognize this kind of stupidity before it is allowed to proliferate. Call me old fashion, but business is not just about cutting costs and making things more efficient. It’s also about being human and interacting in the real world.
A “pro” of this new technology is that eventually there will be no need for checkout lines. By replacing barcodes on items with RFID chips that do not need to be manually scanned, and by incorporating the RFID in credit cards, people will be able to shop and pay for things self-sufficiently. I think this is not a “pro” but a “con” because for one thing it will eliminate many jobs (i.e. cashiers), which is not good for the economy, and second because it will remove the need for day to day social interaction when shopping. I used to be a cashier, and I found that I felt a rapport with many of my customers. Some of them were elderly people who I knew looked forward to coming to the store and talking with the cashiers about their day. I enjoyed talking with them too! As a psychology student I appreciate the importance of these kinds of interactions for mental and emotional health. Shopping is a not just a utilitarian activity but a social activity as well!
Now RFID also has implications not just for replacing bar codes, and improving credit cards, but also for carrying health, security and financial information – in people! The technology has been getting smaller and smaller and less and less expensive, so that eventually these massive information storing chips can be injected into human beings! They have already done this with cats and dogs. This is a very strange idea to me. I find this kind of technology implementation might be suitable for sexual and dangerous offenders and for serial killers, but I don’t see how we can justify messing with innocent, living creatures this way. I think the consequences of melding technology so closely with biology will result in dire consequences. People might get ill physically from this radio-frequency technology, or perhaps worse, they may become mentally ill from it. It is a proven fact that everything in and around our bodies has some sort of an effect on our health and development.
If mental and physical health risks aren’t enough of a “con”, then add to that privacy issues. Someone told me about 4 years ago that they would not get the flu shot because they thought that the government was going to inject us with something to track us and eventually control our minds. He was very adamant that it was true and that the technology had already been started, but I thought this person was just nuts. Now years later, I am hearing about how the government is getting ready to inject RFID chips into our shoulders! I thought this was something that could only be done in a sci-fi story. This is not cool. All people have the right to certain freedoms, including privacy. I think human beings can handle the responsibility of carrying health cards and bank cards and identification. There is no need to turn us into pseudo-robots, or machines, or “items”. We might as well tattoo barcodes on everyone and wrap us in bubble wrap.
I think the small “benefits” that RFID technology would bring to business must be weighed against the virtual destruction it will bring to mankind. Even if we could justify using RFID chips in everything including people, has anyone considered what would happen if something went wrong with the technology? Can you imagine what kind of havoc would be wrecked? Even barcodes can be read visually by people – the numbers match numbers in inventory charts, so if the computers go down, no problem. What about the RFID chips? All the information contained in them must be read with a special scanner. There is no way for lay people to know what information is in those chips.
I think businesses can do without this RFID technology. I think it’s creepy. It kind of reminds me of Nazi Germany. We as a people should be able to recognize this kind of stupidity before it is allowed to proliferate. Call me old fashion, but business is not just about cutting costs and making things more efficient. It’s also about being human and interacting in the real world.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Playboy's answer to hard times!
If you’re feeling the crunch of the recession, know that you aren’t the only one!
Our beloved Playboy Magazine has experienced a 31 percent drop in advertising over the last year and a 25 % drop in newsstand sales. So how do they plan to rev up the public? Marge Simpson, wife of Homer and mother of Bart, Lisa and Maggie from the popular cartoon “The Simpsons", is gracing the cover and pages of the November 2009 issue. As a die-hard Simpson’s fan, I find this very interesting, because I know this will appeal to a large audience. Marge has already appeared on the cover of Maxim Magazine in September 2004, and like Maxim, Playboy is trying to appeal to a twenty-something audience, on top of their older readers.
Not only that, but this November’s cover of Playboy is inspired by the October 1971 cover featuring Darine Stern, the first black woman to pose on Playboy’s cover. So it’s two tributes in one!
Retrieved on October 13, 2009 from:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/12/marge.simpson.playboy/
Our beloved Playboy Magazine has experienced a 31 percent drop in advertising over the last year and a 25 % drop in newsstand sales. So how do they plan to rev up the public? Marge Simpson, wife of Homer and mother of Bart, Lisa and Maggie from the popular cartoon “The Simpsons", is gracing the cover and pages of the November 2009 issue. As a die-hard Simpson’s fan, I find this very interesting, because I know this will appeal to a large audience. Marge has already appeared on the cover of Maxim Magazine in September 2004, and like Maxim, Playboy is trying to appeal to a twenty-something audience, on top of their older readers.
Not only that, but this November’s cover of Playboy is inspired by the October 1971 cover featuring Darine Stern, the first black woman to pose on Playboy’s cover. So it’s two tributes in one!
Retrieved on October 13, 2009 from:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/10/12/marge.simpson.playboy/
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Are you an Innovator?
Do you like e-commerce? Do you feel like you or your company is an innovation in your industry? Why not enter Econsultancy's Innovation Awards 2009? This is a way to receive recognition for your own company or to nominate another company anywhere in the world. There are 22 categories, including Innovation in Mobile Marketing, Innovation in B2B Digital Marketing, Innovation in E-commerce, Innovation in Web Analytics and Optimization and Innovation in Online Customer Service. Entries will be judged by an international panel of companies known for their innovation, such as Honda, Google, Unilever and more! Entry deadline is October 23, and winners will be announced December 2009. Good luck! For more information check out: http://econsultancy.com/awards
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Class discussion question
1. Drivers to adopt the sell-side of e-commerce in developing countries are improving efficiency and reducing costs of transactions.
2. The barriers are:
· Problems with infrastructure: such as hardware and software, telecommunications, product delivery and transportation.
· Problems finding skilled staff.
· Transactional trust: this is influenced by the culture of a society and their willingness to adopt a new system, especially when the consumers cannot see the seller face to face.
· Government policies and support: how willing the government is to support a new system and to invest time and money into its development.
3. These barriers can be overcome by:
· Provide access to technology by manufacturing and developing the infrastructure, with more cost-efficient products.
· Provide training to and assistance to staff.
· Developing a sense of trust online through friendly websites and informal conversation with customers.
· Encouraging governments to reform their economic system to encourage business contracts and banking. The government working to support the online industry can also help encourage transactional trust among consumers.
4. Yes, E-commerce is good for the economy of developing countries. It will encourage more business creativity and capitalistic ventures.
Efendioglu, A. et al. E-COMMERCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: ISSUES AND
INFLUENCES, retrieved September 29, 2009 from:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~ibec/papers/25.pdf
2. The barriers are:
· Problems with infrastructure: such as hardware and software, telecommunications, product delivery and transportation.
· Problems finding skilled staff.
· Transactional trust: this is influenced by the culture of a society and their willingness to adopt a new system, especially when the consumers cannot see the seller face to face.
· Government policies and support: how willing the government is to support a new system and to invest time and money into its development.
3. These barriers can be overcome by:
· Provide access to technology by manufacturing and developing the infrastructure, with more cost-efficient products.
· Provide training to and assistance to staff.
· Developing a sense of trust online through friendly websites and informal conversation with customers.
· Encouraging governments to reform their economic system to encourage business contracts and banking. The government working to support the online industry can also help encourage transactional trust among consumers.
4. Yes, E-commerce is good for the economy of developing countries. It will encourage more business creativity and capitalistic ventures.
Efendioglu, A. et al. E-COMMERCE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: ISSUES AND
INFLUENCES, retrieved September 29, 2009 from:
http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~ibec/papers/25.pdf
Jagermeister
Okay, so there are a couple girls outside the library promoting Jagermeister night at TLC. They are wearing cheetah noses and whiskers and one of them was very enthusiastic about the event. She said tickets were running out, in fact there that there were only a few left, and you can't get in without tix. I told her I didn't have the cash and she directed me to the ATM. "Buy some for your friends!" she says. Because of her great business skills, I have committed to drag myself and two friends to TLC tonight. I will be doing shots of Jager and I have class at 10 am in the morning. Well hope to see you there.
This does not apply to e-commerce but it does apply to business. I should have known better, because when she opened the box to put my money in there, I saw there was plenty of tickets left. Well all I can do now is go and get my money's worth! Way to advertise in front of the library Jagermeister... If you aren't thinking of drinking while you are doing your schoolwork, well... you should be.
This does not apply to e-commerce but it does apply to business. I should have known better, because when she opened the box to put my money in there, I saw there was plenty of tickets left. Well all I can do now is go and get my money's worth! Way to advertise in front of the library Jagermeister... If you aren't thinking of drinking while you are doing your schoolwork, well... you should be.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
