Motoral Password Pills

Josef Reuther

811

The article "A Password Pill?" found in Upfront Magazine's issue from January 13, 2014 talks about a new pill created by Motorola. This edible password vitamin, which is actually a tiny chip reacts to the acids in a persons body, which activate the chip. The chip sends signals to your computer and phone that let you in without one having to provide a password. I believe these pills can prove to be beneficial, however also could be harmful if gotten into the wrong hands.

One piece of evidence that corroborates my claim about these password pills is that having these pills is most likely very efficient and practical. According to the article "the average person logs in a password about 39 times a day, and it takes about 3.2 seconds each time." The password pill can save the average person so much time if they are able to avoid having to login a password so often. Other biometric authentication those that then your body into a password are already on the market for instance Apple's new IPhone the 5s uses ones fingerprint to log in. Other apps such as FaceCrypt use ones face to sign in. Personally I believe that password pills are very efficient forms of technology, and that when they do officially hit the market that they will be used by consumers.

Although these password pills do seem to be very efficient if they are gotten into the wrong hands it could turn such a pill into a threat. These pills have the potential to revolutionize cyber bullying if someone by accident takes the pill of another person for instance they then have the ability to log into that other persons phone, computer, all social networks, and more this ultimately gives them the power to ruin the other persons life. Personally I think that for this reason these password pills can also have negative effects on society especially amongst teenagers and younger people.

As can be seen these very practical and efficient pills, which undoubtedly would make our lives easier will most likely also lead to certain negative effect. Personally I believe these pills would be better if they would work specifically for only one person.

Iran Nuclear Agreement

Josef Reuther   

The article "What's The Deal With Iran" by upfront author Patricia Smith talks about the nuclear agreement made between the U.S. and Iran. The deal forces Iran to pause it's nuclear program for 6 months in order to allow international inspections of the nuclear facilities that are suspected of being used to build atomic weapons. In return the U.S. has agreed to ease the sanctions that have crushed Iran's economy. Although this deal is a success for the United States, Iranian commitment is questionable.

One piece of evidence that supports this claim is that although the government officials of Iran "claim the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes" critics believe that Iran "can't be trusted to follow through on their promises," as the article stated. Iran has threatened Israel on numerous occasions and Israel considers Iran an "existential threat" even more considers the deal a "historic mistake," as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. In 1979 during the Iranian revolution radical Shiite Muslims, Iranian students overthrew the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Since then there have always been tensions between the United States and Iran. Due to these past events the United States Government is hesitant to trust the Iranian government to follow through on it's promises.

Another piece of evidence that corroborates this claim about the trustworthiness of the Iranian Government when it comes to the agreement is that the "hard line Islamic clerics" who run Iran still detest the U.S. There are two very different forms of Iranians, one which "loves everything American and the freedom that America represents," which consists mainly of young Iranians. However the radical leaders of Iran are against the ideas of the U.S. in fact on the contrary they despise everything American. For Iran to suddenly allow the international inspection of it’s nuclear facilities almost seems too good to be true and seems unlikely.

As can be seen although Iran has agreed to allow for international inspection the commitment to this promise on the Iranian side seems questionable. Many events in the past between the United States and Iran reflect Iran as a country rather poorly. Personally I believe that if Iran is to be trusted, international inspection should only occur under great safety precautions.

Iwo Jima

Josef Reuther

811

The book Flags of Our Fathers takes place during World War II at the battle of Iwo Jima, a small island in the west Pacific Ocean. The book is written from the perspectives of the American soldiers attacking the Japanese defenders on the island. The American soldiers are depicted as very heroic and praised for their great deeds and sacrifices by individuals, however the perspective and views of the Japanese defenders is not shown and are depicted as the cowardly antagonists of the American soldiers that hide in a mountain and in caves.

            One example of is that the American soldiers are portrayed as the vengeful, brave, courageous and heroic liberators of Japan, but it is rather unclear exactly what the fighting cause is for the Japanese soldiers. There is clear background history on the causes for the American invasion of Japan, which is the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The book is also is written according to American events and follows the movements and advances of the U.S. troops rather than the actions of the Japanese soldiers. What is what like to be a Japanese soldier who were sometimes as young as 14 is not described and how month prior to the battle they had hallowed out Mount Surbachi turning it into a vast complex of catacombs is not mentioned in much detail.

           

            Another example of this is that I think it would be interesting to see and understand how the Japanese soldiers were brought to the island and how they must have been threatened if they were a mere 14 years of age at times to bring them to the island. The Japanese knew that they were greatly outnumbered against the great American forces and each Japanese soldier was instructed to kill at least 10 American soldiers before he too died in the battle. I think it would be interesting to hear and read accounts from people who knew inevitably that they would die in the few weeks to come. All this would contribute to the overall intensity and desperate fight that the Japanese would be fighting and would make them seem less like the cowards that they are portrayed as.

            The voice and perspective of the Japanese who fought on the island is absent in the books description of the battle of Iwo Jima even though it would contribute so greatly to the understanding of the Japanese initiative. I also believe that if an account from a Japanese soldier was included to here the voice of a Japanese combatant and his view it would change how little modern people tend to think of the Japanese who fought at Iwo Jima the last stand of the Japanese troops.