Tuesday, January 18, 2011

DO ARTIFACTS HAVE POLITICS?---Google Earth

Google Earth
 

Onto a personal opinion artifacts can have politics or even not depending upon the “eyes” through which we watch them and the artifact we watch. In Future, chances of monopoly over internet may lead to authoritarianism.  We started by stating the presence of technology as being political. Taken into account the essence of technology’s impact on society; Such as the automobile, cell phone, internet, i-phones, i-pod’s, are described as democratizing. The idea of control over internet and technology holds to that of a big responsibility and wouldn't work in a democratic society, is an example of technology dictating politics. Artifacts play an important role in the “way of life”.Some times we change according to the artifact. As a matter of fact an artifact can affect the “being of life”. Some artifacts have politics and some do not. Remembering the example of Robert Moses redesigning New York parkways, he made sure that the bridges giving access to his beloved beaches and recreational parks would be so low that buses could not pass under them. And enforcing his edict “For Whites only”

To concrete my statement I would take the example of “Google Earth”
Going to an informal definition of Google earth is to see the world and not leave your seat. I am sure everyone knows about Google Earth already. Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain and 3D buildings. You can see everything from galaxies in outer space to the canyons of the ocean. You can explore rich geographical content, save your toured places, and share them with others. Technology can really make our world smaller and our horizon much bigger. Imagine the rush you would feel if you could actually go around the world literally and take photos and videos of everywhere you went.Using Google Earth we can see every place in the world and even peep out towards to the sky to an extent which cannot be viewed from a telescope. And this power is in your hands. Google Earth allows users to search for addresses for some countries, enter coordinates, or simply use the mouse to browse to a location.3-D view of places is also available. In addition to obvious uses, Google Earth is useful for many day-to-day and other purposes.
Google Earth can be used to view areas subjected to widespread disasters if Google supplies up-to-date images. For example after the January 12 2010 Haiti earthquake images of Haiti were made available on January 17.With Google's push for the inclusion of Google Earth in the Classroom, teachers are adopting Google Earth in the classroom for lesson planning, such as teaching students geographical themes (location, culture, characteristics, human interaction, and movement) to creating mashups with other web applications such as Wikipedia.
If we don’t see the 2nd side of the coin, means we are blind. The same Google earth are used by terrorists for attacking a place. It is revealed that terrorists who attacked in Mumbai, India’s financial and commercial capital were highly trained for such attacks and used technologies such as satellite phones, and global positioning systems (GPS), means Terrorists used Google Earth to plan attacks in Mumbai. Indian security agencies have complained that Google Earth exposed Indian defense and other sensitive installations. Other nations, including China, have made similar complaints regarding military locations. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam warned in a 2005 lecture that the easy availability online of detailed maps of countries from services such as Google Earth could be misused by terrorists. Security agencies have called for the wealth of data available on Google Earth to be limited for several years amid fears the freely available application may prove invaluable for militants planning terrorist attacks.

                  


Going to another example: Terrorists attacking British bases in Basra are using aerial footage displayed by the Google Earth internet tool to pinpoint their attacks, say Army intelligence sources.
Part of Arunachal Pradesh was shown as a part of china which lead to an acute tension between the two countries.
Recently part of Kashmir was shown as an integral part of Pakistan lead to a misunderstanding between the borders of the two countries.


BOTTOM LINE: Basically “Google earth” is developed to be democratic but it resulted in empowering terrorists.The basic use is to be used by the common people.but it can also be reached to terrorist.this was not the ideology by which it emerged.

links to know more 


B.Vamshi
EE09B104

3 comments:

Jam Jacobs said...

Can't tell how many politics our leaders will play on the context of terrorists' attacks using Google Earth.Though we have to believe in them that they will ultimately do a little benefit to us.

G.Abhilash Roy,
CS09B012.

Jam Jacobs said...

Nicely said that We change due to the artifacts we use, having a hold on our "being of life".Nearly most of us spend our time on browsing net, including me, for hours.
We forget to sleep sometimes......They are having a great impact on us.

G.Abhilash Roy,
CS09B012.

Jam Jacobs said...

It is good that we have wonderful leaders like A.P.J.Abdul Kalam , to always guide us, when we are misleading our lives like our grandpas, in politics and contemporary world.
Google Earth has really created a big impact on the world's search and research in science and technology.

G.Abhilash Roy,
CS09B012.

Post a Comment

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More

 
Powered by Blogger | Printable Coupons