Computer Science News Roundup - May 30, 2012

Each week my computer science students do discussion board posts that respond to current events. Here are some stories that caught my eye this week.

Computer Science related news this week's theme is the future of technology:

• The Spaceship Has Landed - the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft has docked at the international space station. How does this change space travel? What are the chances you could ever go to space? would you want to? Do you think this will impact any other areas where research and development happen?
• Optimism - This article talks about the reasons to be optimistic about our future. The author lists several reasons to be optimistic. How does technology play a role? How does the constant stream of information that is created by technology contribute to pessimism? Do you agree with the author? Are you optimistic about your future? Why?
• What do you expect? - Shelly Turkle's book is called "Alone together: Why We Expect More From Technology And Less From Each Other". In this article she summarizes some of her ideas. Her Ted Talk on the topic can be found here. What role does technology play in how you communicate? How has computer science impacted how you communicate? How could computer science be used to fix some of the problems the author write about?
• Internet Defense League - This group wants to "defend the Internet from bad laws and monopolies". Do you think there is a need for this? What harm could come from groups like this? Benefits? Should there be a concern about vigilantes on the Internet? And finally - do you agree that the cat is the symbol of the Internet?