Good vs. Evil

                Some may think that the empowering statuses of corporations are only used for “evil,” but Pepsi has begun something that has also influenced many other corporations to follow. While Pepsi is still keeping its edge on business, they have also begun to show care for the poverty stricken small communities and farmers. While farmers in Mexico used to have to endure a difficult journey north from the Jalisco Mountains into the United States to look for money to cover debts, Pepsi has now eliminated that dangerous trek. Pepsi now directly buys the crops from these poor farmers to increase the nutritional value of its products such as snack foods. In the past, farmers would sell the crops to middlemen who then turned and sold it to Pepsi (Par 4). Pepsi has eliminated these middlemen, thus making it much more convenient to the farmers.

                Not only does this operation greatly help the farmers in Mexico, but it is also a great asset to Pepsi. According to Stephanie Strom of the New York Times, the operation saves Pepsi transportation costs because the farms are very close to two of its factories (Par 7). The advantages that it gives to the farmers are much less transportation and more income because Pepsi pays for the crops up front. Even the communities around the area are benefited by the gracious acts of Pepsi. Strom says it has a great impact on illegal immigration and even possibly marijuana production (Par 8).

                Because of the intelligent operation of Pepsi to help improve poor communities in Mexico while also maintaining a strong business status, other corporations should see that it has a great impact to everyone. It shows that corporations are not all just bullies that push the public and communities around, but that some use their power and wealth to improve the conditions of some citizens. Pepsi has clearly shown to use their “powers” for good and not evil.

Photograph: Pepsi originally uploaded by Lel4nd

Works Cited



Strom, Stephanie. "For Pepsi, A Business Decision With Social Benefit." New York Times. New York Times, 21 Feb. 2011. Web. 24 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/business/global/22pepsi.html>

Fransisco, Leland. O Pepsi. 2010. Photograph. Flikr.

Technology Terror

                The computer? What is that? It’ll never catch on!!! Comments that may have been made by society seemingly ages ago now seem foolish. In a recent challenge on the hit television show “Jeopardy!”,  I.B.M. showed off their new artificial intelligence technology that took over ten years to perfect. John Markoff of the New York Times reports that this computer called “Watson” is strictly an “question answering machine.” Markoff also goes on to compare this computer to one similar to it used in the television show Star Trek (Par 5).

                While on the game show, “Watson” competed against two former Jeopardy contestants that were very successful. One of these was Ken Jennings who won seventy four games of Jeopardy in a row, and the other was Brad Rutter who was a successful ace at the show. The computer was in a tie with Rutter after the first of three days. After the second day, the computer had taken a very large lead. The lead ended up being insurmountable for either of the human players leaving the I.B.M. owned computer to take the victory. I.B.M. strongly used this opportunity as publicity and won a $1 million award for winning. Although Watson did win in a large margin of victory, it is still not 100% accurate. There were some instances in which the machine wrongly answered some question. Even though there are still some minor errors, it is still very impressive to see a machine created by humans be so knowledgeable and responsive.

                I.B.M. has proved to the public that they have developed an extremely intelligent machine that can easily respond to humans. This could be a very scary realization for many people throughout the world. People may begin to realize that if technology does continue to advance further, then they could be out of jobs. The world is always looking for more work during this age, but these machines may begin to take these jobs away from people and leave many unemployed. While the efficiency percentage may be much higher for the work, these machines could quite possibly destroy the economy. I believe that the machines should have certain uses, but that corporations should not have the right to replace humans with these intellectual machines. Leaving millions of people unemployed throughout the world would be extremely tragic to society and the economy.

Go to http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/06/16/magazine/watson-trivia-game.html?ref=science to play a fun interactive game with I.B.M.’s “Watson” machine, but remember, this does not take buzzing in into consideration.

Picture: Technology originally uploaded by techadmiin05

Works Cited



Markoff, John. "Computer Wins on 'Jeopardy!': Trivial, It's Not." New York Times. New York Times, 16 Feb. 2011. Web. 17 Feb. 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/17/science/17jeopardy-watson.html?scp=3&sq=I.B.M.%20John%20Markoff&st=cse.

Techadmin05. Technology Has Exceeded Our Humanity. 2008. Photograph.

Regaining Trust

                Much of America’s public may have over criticized Toyota for their faulty accelerators discovered unexpectedly by drivers in 2010. People mostly may have thought that the problems lied in Toyota and that they took no care in assuring the public’s safety. After ten months of testing, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration declared that the sudden acceleration problems found in Toyota models were not electronic problems as many may have thought, rather mechanical problems (Par 2). These problems ranged from sticking accelerator pedals to floor mat interference. Because of these problems, the Transportation Department forced Toyota to recall over 11 million Toyota and Lexus models across the world and also forced them to pay for three fines that total to $48.8 million (Par 4).

                According to Michael T. Kirsch, a principle engineer at NASA’s Engineering and Safety Center, for the Toyota models’ sudden acceleration problem to be electrical, two separate sensors would have to fail simultaneously and this never brought up the proper “error” message on the vehicle’s onboard computer if this were to happen (Par 7). This easily proves that the problems with the sudden acceleration were strictly mechanical and had nothing to do with Toyota being lazy with their electronics in the car.

                Because of the recent findings that Toyota did not produce vehicles with electronic problems, drivers should be reassured that the models are now very safe. Also, since Toyota has undergone several months of scrutiny, the public should realize that they are now more likely to take serious care when producing each vehicle. According to Nick Bunkley, a reporter in Detroit, Toyota has even taken such measures as installing a brake override system which will cause the vehicle to brake even if the accelerator is pressed simultaneously. Toyota’s sales were down 0.4 percent in 2010 due to these incidents. This also damaged their reputation of producing safe and trustworthy vehicles. The public should be aware that this company has made arrangements to ensure the safety of all drivers and to make sure that they never have mechanical problems again.

Photograph: Toyota originally uploaded by danielctw

Works Cited



NASA, and Michael T. Kirsch. "Toyota's Acceleration Problem." New York Times. New York Times, 8 Feb. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/opinion/09wed2.html

Daniel. Toyota. 2008. Photograph. Flikr.

Locks of Love or Locks for Money?

            To donate or not to donate? That is the question. Or is the question to whom? While pondering upon who to donate my curly brown hair to when I finally introduce it to scissors, I stumbled across a disturbing fact about the organization Locks of Love. When one donates their hair to the Locks of Love organization, the foundation actually turns around and at times will sell their wigs to their applicants with either certain forms of cancer or alopecia. Although they do not always sell their wigs, I was saddened to discover that Locks of Love did sell to some patients. On the Locks of Love website under the “Faqs” page, there is a statement that says, “We provide hairpieces and repairs free of charge or on a sliding scale based on the financial need of those responsible for the children. (Par 29)” I feel as if the children and the parents of these children have been through enough that no matter what, they should not have to provide any funds for the wigs no matter what the financial status. Locks of Love should transform their organization into a truly non-profit organization.

            Because I was so blown away from this discovery, I began to do research online to see where I could donate my hair that would truly donate it to someone in need rather than making a greedy profit. I came across a company called Pantene that actually gives wigs made from the hair of donators to women with cancer. On Pantene’s website, there is a statement that says, “As Pantene Beautiful Lengths wigs are created, they are distributed for free through select American Cancer Society wig banks across the country. (Par 3)” I adore the fact that this organization gives away the wigs to the applicants with cancer. They have truly persuaded me to donate my hair to them when it gets cut rather than to a place such as Locks of Love that would turn around and make money off of a donation.

Photograph: Hair originally uploaded by leosagnotti

Works Cited

"Locks of Love." Locks of Love Helps Disadvantaged Children Suffering from Medical Hair Loss. Locks of Love, 2007. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. http://www.locksoflove.org/faq.html.

"How Free Pantene Wigs Will Help Women." Pantene. Proctor & Gamble, 2011. Web. 26 Feb. 2011. http://www.pantene.com/en-us/beautiful-lengths-cause/Pages/how-hair-wigs-help-women.aspx.

Sagnotti, Leo. Hair - Roberta. 2007. Photograph. Flikr.