Current Event #1 11/4

Facebook Hasn't Even Begun To Exploit Everything It Knows About You

Facebook no longer just wants to record what we like and what we do online, they want to understand what this means and their new goal is to read between the lines.  Instead of only using the information that we explicitly like and comment, the "smart" software is going to be able to interpret this information into more in depth information.  The company plans to use artificial intelligence to interpret everyone's status updates, so for example, you don't need to "like" the electronic music page for Facebook to know that you enjoy that genre, it will obtain that information from what you post about and use your references to artists and concerts to make inferences.  They will use people's key words in messages and statuses, so that if a friend searched for someone that likes camping, they would be able to see everyone that may have mentioned tents or campsites in any past conversation.  This will be immensely helpful for advertisers to try and narrow their target market.

• Who:  Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg 
• What: New search system that goes beyond obvious information using artificial intelligence software to sort through mass amounts of data and status updates to "read between the lines"
• When: Now
• Where: Facebook Headquaters
• Why: To better understand Facebook users and give better target market information to advertisers

Bosker, Bianca. "Facebook Hasn't Even Begun To Exploit Everything It Knows About You." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 04 Nov. 2013. Web. 04 Nov. 2013.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/04/facebook-personal-data_n_4194040.html?utm_hp_ref=technology

Economic Terms Link

https://docs.google.com/a/ttsdstudents.org/presentation/d/1Zg0XMo063L6X59ppoLpHZ-BUHiIx8EZ58tC_Ln6JyOE/edit?usp=sharing

Opportunity Cost

1.  One major decision I had to make in my life was deciding to quit club swim team.  This decision was an example of opportunity cost because I gave the daily swim practices that made me a better swimmer and decreased my speed as a result of less practice.  I gained from this decision as well.  Quitting swim team gave me a lot of extra time to do things like homework and spending time with friends.  I also gained the opportunity to try a new sport, water polo.  From this difficult decision I was able to gain advantages, but I also suffered from the things I had to give up.

2.  A future opportunity cost would be buying a car.  On one hand, it will cost a lot of money and to purchase a car, along with all of the major expenses and repairs that come along with buying a car.  The car would depreciate in value, so you canThe gas money would add a lot to the total as well, not to mention being bad for the environment.  A gain from buying a car would be the freedom to go wherever you want, whenever you want, which is important for jobs.  It also would prevent you from having to spend money on public transportation and taxi services.

Ideal Form of Government Argument

The ideal government is one that works together as an elected group in a unified manner, rather than having a singular ruler.  I think this is important because every one has different perspectives on what is beneficial for a nation, and a group of people making decisions are more likely to make the right one because they are forced to hear a variety of opinions.  I think there is the least room for errors in a system where the population votes for a group of members to represent their opinions and make decisions for a nation.  When a single person attempts to make decisions for a diverse nation, many opinions are left unspoken and the ruler often ends up making decisions that only benefit him/her. As Plato said, a single ruler can be "tempted to make decisions based upon his or her own greed and self-interest rather than on the good of the people."  In this form, everyone theoretically gets to have their viewpoints expressed.

"Biographical Briefing on Plato" (In class hand out)