Summary: Is the surveillance society inevitable? In No Place to Hide, Peter Jennings examines high-tech monitoring methods that promise greater safety and security but threaten personal privacy. The program shows how Acxiom, ChoicePoint, and other companies use supercomputers to obtain data on more than 90 percent of American households-and how law enforcement and government intelligence agencies...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: What would modern life be like without technology? Where has technology made a difference? This program explores how the equipment we often take for granted has become an integral part of our daily lives. At work, at school, and in the home, technology has become one of our most valuable resources. Robots, computers, and many other types of high-tech hardware are introduced.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: No email, no Facebook, no blogging. No Google for researching term papers, even. From here on out it's pencils, spiral notebooks, typewriters, and good old-fashioned library books. What twenty-something in his or her right mind would partake of such insanity? Answer: three college students who have volunteered to spend 30 days without touching or using a computer. Documenting their "digital...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: As online gaming companies position themselves to tap an entertainment market that is projected to explode, researchers question the safety of deeply immersive virtual worlds. In this program, MIT psychologist and sociologist Sherry Turkle; David Greenfield, author of Virtual Addiction; Richard Garriott, creator of Ultima Online; Brad McQuaid, co-creator of EverQuest; representatives of Sony...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Tens of thousands of people "live" there, and tens of millions of U.S. dollars are exchanged there. Welcome to SecondLife.com! After introducing viewers to this compelling virtual world, You Only Live Twice grapples with overlapping in-world/real-world issues ranging from cybersex and the psychological repercussions of virtual sex crimes, to intellectual property rights fraud, to taxation on...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: By day, Jane is an unassuming single mother. At night she's a high-stakes poker player-thanks to the Internet. So far Jane has won thousands of dollars, as have many online gamblers, while others have lost huge sums. This program looks at the explosive cyber-gambling industry, examining some leading sites and profiling men and women whose lifestyles now revolve around card-playing by computer....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The teenage years have always been tough-but digital technology has raised the dangers of the social battlefield to a whole new level. This ABC News program reports on how cell phones, digital cameras, and personal websites encourage and amplify the frequent cruelty of teen behavior. With the help of an experiment conducted by Brigham Young University child development researchers, the program...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: With nano-enabled drugs that destroy diseased cells and enable tissue repair, doctors may one day extend life expectancy far beyond our current capabilities—at least in countries wealthy enough to afford the technology. But the medicine that so radically redefines our standards of health and mortality will also profoundly challenge our social support systems and cultural values. In this Fred...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
View online at AVOD
Summary: In this Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Harvard Law School's Arthur Miller, panelists such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer; Nadine Strossen, president of the ACLU; Jamie Gorelick, of the U.S. Department of Justice; Professor Stephen Carter, of Yale Law School; and others examine the fine balance between the power of the government and the rights of the individual in a fictional...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: Civil liberties advocates have warned against government surveillance for decades. Today, corporations use technology to monitor employees and customers. Is big business the new big brother? This program addresses the growing debate about our "surveillance society" and its erosion of privacy and anonymity-which could become casualties of the war for market supremacy as well as the war on...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: Technological innovations are penetrating ever more deeply into the substance of society-faster, in fact, than people can assimilate them. As ethical dilemmas and unforeseen consequences pile up, will techno-enthusiasts succeed in weaving a net that will ultimately trap us all? Following a concise summary of Technoscience, this disturbing program addresses diverse topics such as virtual...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Was the performance of IBM's Deep Blue against Gary Kasparov an example of supersonic calculation or the first step toward artificial intelligence? Does the acclaimed performance artist Stelarc, striving to become a cyborg-like hybrid, represent the possibility of a strange new race? This startling program tracks advances in robotics at Stanford University and Honda Motors, biotechnology as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: One of the ironies of the ubiquitous technologies now in use is that they were supposed to save time and improve the quality of life. What went wrong? This cautionary program examines the social and ethical consequences of the increasingly fast pace of life in the U.S. It contrasts the American 24/7 work ethic with the business traditions of other countries and, in the process, examines the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: When the Crisps confiscated their teenage son Brandon's Xbox, they never expected him to run away from home.or to die from injuries sustained while in hiding. Using Brandon's story as a case study, this program delves into the growing psychological problems of video game obsession and addiction. Interviews with Brandon's parents and best friend, a family therapist whose patient list includes...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: Americans have grown used to being watched at ATMs, in lobbies, and even while driving. Now they are being tracked by satellite if they rent a car or make a cellular phone call and timed if they use an electronic pass to pay a toll. In this program, ABC News anchor Ted Koppel and correspondent John Donvan survey the increasing intrusion-real or perceived-of technology into Americans' privacy....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: Most people learn traditional standards of behavior and respect for others by the time they are teenagers-but many don't realize that those rules are just as valid in cyberspace. This program helps students take the high road on the information superhighway and avoid the temptations of the fast lane, pointing the way toward an ethically sound Internet presence and lifestyle. Guidelines for the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
View online at AVOD
Summary: The Information Age has been hailed as a quantum leap forward for humanity-an opportunity to finally achieve Marshall McLuhan's "global village" in which "the medium is the message. But what kind of people are being created in cyberspace? While computer technology has changed virtually all aspects of life, critics argue that this technology is contributing to the growing social isolation of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
View online at AVOD
Summary: How have mixed cultural signals and online social interaction impacted the average teenager's behavior? Is reducing violence, drug abuse, and dangerous sex a lost cause? This ABC News program examines those questions, presenting three eye-opening stories of teen life. First, a small Michigan town recoils from a school-hall stabbing, highlighting an alarming rise in abusive teenage...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
View online at AVOD
Summary: The development of authentic self-esteem and a healthy sense of self has always been a vitally important part of growing up. But this process is a challenge that has gotten even trickier to negotiate due to the widespread integration of digital technology into everyday living. Drawing on the insights of a clinical psychologist/family therapist, an adolescent psychologist, and a number of...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
View online at AVOD
Summary: The future is digital, but is it beautiful? In this program, technology enthusiast Simon Armitage seeks to understand the world's love affair with all things tech and why consumers have bought into an upgrade culture where the "next big thing" may be more about desire and status than it is about functionality. Raising many thought-provoking questions, Armitage introduces viewers to a generation...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2010
View online at AVOD
Summary: "The balance of nature" is a widely-held belief that ecosystems function cooperatively rather than hierarchically, gradually adjusting for change - a concept that was co-opted by early computer scientists and hippies alike. This program examines that concept and how its mechanistic but egalitarian philosophy came to permeate the zeitgeist of the mid-20th century, only to be debunked later on as...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2011
View online at AVOD
Summary: Nanotechnology will likely transform the security and surveillance industries in the near future. Governments, corporations, and even individuals may have highly sophisticated sensors and tracking apparatus at their disposal—keeping tabs on everyone from customers to potential terrorists to aging parents. In this Fred Friendly Seminar moderated by Peabody award-winning correspondent John...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009