Genomics: Terry Furey

Terry Furey's lecture gave us more insight on genomics - genotyping and mapping of it, its uses and implications, how it affected healthcare, etc. - and also how this translates over to businesses. Companies such as 23andMe and Decode expand on the idea of personalized medicine and how our technology would affect this. This includes the idea of these companies being able to genotype someone to determine probability of health conditions and diseases in the future. This is effectively done now by tracing family history, which is cheaper and does not have as many factors taken into account as when dealing with technology. There are many limitations, including uncertainity of environmental affects and accuracy of machinery, when dealing with genomics and technology that make it more difficult, and thus more expensive, to determine these conditions. Therefore, the costs seem to outweigh the benefits of these companies' testing processes.

Furthermore, the fact that companies are "owners" of people's DNA seems to place a sense of hesitancy upon people in supporting this new business of genotyping and mapping, along with the fact that many people are not as willing to want to know so much detailied information about their health. The future that is predicted by genotyping could possibly change, but with the knowledge of the information given by these companies, peoples' lives will be completely altered, living in response to their assessment of health. Also, the fact that DNA would be so easy to test in the future and thus affect people's relationships with one another is a consequence of this technology. I think that, as Furey said, the fact that these companies are so heavily pushing this research in an area that is relatively new, it makes it hard to be a sustainable and effective business until further into the future when there is more secure knowledge and information available.

SL: Commercial Enterprise

Dorian Day Spa: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bounty/124/199/21

This virtual space is a day spa with almost every amenity you could imagine having at a real one. The place is very high end, and each service offered is pretty expensive, which makes it geared toward richer people, mainly women, who look to pamper themselves with the best of the best. The atmosphere of the spa is soothing and exactly what people look for in real life for when they go to a spa that costs a lot of money. There are also special services offered that cost more or that are only available for a short time, in order to make people feel like they are receiving great deals or exclusive offers. There are areas where people can just lounge around without having to partake in any of the services. 

As the services offered are high end, the target costumer for this is rich people, mostly women, who enjoy going to the spa and using the services offered. Women especially often feel the need to pamper themselves in real life, so the virtual simulation of this in Second Life makes it appealing to users. Also, because it is one of the more serene calming spots for people to relax other than an actual island vacationing spot, it appeals to people to go there. The design of the spa is also made to appeal to people more than other islands available on Second Life.

Legal Implications: Smith & Jenkins' Lectures

In all honesty I knew that there were many laws and rules for what could and could not be published, posted online, copyrighted, etc., but I never really realized just how strict these laws are and how much they affect the ability of people and companies to create different things and put ideas out there that are their own, but may be very similar to others' work or unable to expand on something, etc. IP owners have an enormous ammount of say into what can be used/copied/developed, etc., that it holds back others from being able to, or even wanting to, work on something for fear that they will be sued, shut down, etc. This fear to be creative has stifled many projects that might have otherwise been successful. 

It seems as though it is almost impossible to come up with something entirely one's own, because of all the complex technicalities in these laws and the fact that what something thinks is completely innovative, might be infriging on one aspect of another's work. It's almost as if, in trying to protect people's rights, they end up really having none at all in the end. Also, as both Smith and Jenkins explained, many of these laws are not "up-to-date," in that they were created before the use of computers and other technology became so important and widely used. This has affected so much of what we see on the web and elsewhere. Since technology is so important now, especially with social networks and the fact that everything is shared worldwide, copyright law and other legal issues go against this key factor of computers, the internet, and other technologies. Therefore, although it may not completely be stifling creativity, it does seem to make people hesitant in trying to be innovative and start something new, just because there are many complications and long processes involved in trying to share their ideas and obtain others'.