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Subtitles May Be Dangerous

         Many of us, especially within this day in age, probably utilize subtitles in at least some variance; whether it be to enhance our viewing experience or whether they are actually a necessity in order to comprehend certain viewing material.  Yet, what many of us do not expect, is to have our security breached because of utilizing these subtitles.  According to an article I discovered on the British Broadcasting Corporation website, a specific software company has "found loopholes" in the ways in certain media platforms handle subtitles.  Essentially, these loopholes, make it easier for individuals to hack and upload malware onto subtitle files that, when utilized, can destroy a user's devices and memory capabilities.  The more I thought about the subject, the more I began to realize how this phenomena could occur; the article substantiated my beliefs.  Basically, subtitles and their related files go unchecked and many (including m...
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Virtual Reality

              Virtual reality, as many of us are probably aware, is a sector within technology that has made significant advances within the past decade.  Certain "tech giants", specifically Japan and the United States have been in a constant war with one another in producing and perfecting this virtual reality technology in the most efficient and cost-effective ways.  Now, in what has come as sort of a surprise to many, a London  based "virtual reality" firm has ended up generating half a billion dollars in financial backing to perfect their own version of virtual reality technology; even receiving investments from the likes of Japan and other major tech players.  In a realm that has been consistently dominated by the countries previously mentioned(United States/China/Japan), this backing proves that the UK has made serious advances and can easily compete, if not out-compete with others within the technological sector.  Man...
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Thailand, Facebook Controversy

              By now I'm sure that most everyone is aware of the influence that social media sites, such as Facebook, can have upon the individuals living within a society; that influence can be deemed positive or negative depending on one's perspective.  From the perspective of Thailand, a country in which is ruled by a monarchy, the social media site known as Facebook has done nothing but portray their leaders and government in a detrimental light.  Because of this, leading authority members of Thailand have essentially "warned" Facebook to remove certain content in which they deem "critical of the monarchy".  If Facebook does not comply with these demands, these authority members have threatened legal action towards the company, most likely coming in the form of litigation.  While Facebook is no stranger to these types of issues, the circumstances surrounding Thailand's content removal are slightly more serious in nature. ...
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Kashmir Social Media Ban

                             Within the United States, "freedom", whether that be pertaining to speech or other forms of expression, is generally conceived as an integral ideal of the foundation of our society.  Subsequently, I believe we often take for granted many of these freedoms in which other individuals, particularly from other countries or regions, are less fortunate in attaining.  For example, this week I chose to examine an article in which focused upon the Indian state of Kashmir; this article went on to explain that "authorities" within the state placed a social media ban upon it's residents for approximately one-month's duration.  According to the author, the ban has been placed on over 20 social media services including Twitter and Facebook.  While to us this may seem as an encroachment upon basic freedoms, residents of Kashmir and other surrounding regions are actually used to...
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MasterCard Fingerprint Technology

                 While searching about topics in regards to "new media", I found an interesting article on the BBC News website; apparently MasterCard, the credit card company, has released a new type of credit card that is equipped with a fingerprint sensor.  The hope is that, with this new technology, it will be much more difficult for an individual to commit credit card fraud, as I believe only the primary user's fingerprint is able to access the option of using the card.  This change would undoubtedly add a sense of security for consumers yet, from a more logical standpoint, I question the actual convenience  of the new technology as a whole.  I'm simply thinking about this from a more realistic, real-world perspective; for example there are countless situations in which your mother, father or an additional family member may give you his/her card in order to complete a purchase in which they are physically unable(or ...
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