AI Redefined

Our discussion about technologies ever-increasing presence in our lives got me thinking about the subject of artificial intelligence. I suppose that our talks about the semantic web pretty much touched on the subject of AI without using the term specifically. Many different thoughts and opinions were shared during that discussion which ranged from fear to hope about the future of independent decision making technology. In order to put this subject in context, I harked back to the discussion of Moore's law which Moreville covered in chapter 3. While his law was not one hundred percent accurate, it still was surprisingly close (transistors double about every two years) especially considering it was postulated in 1965. Perhaps something that you might not be aware of is that the transistor threshold is predicted to reach a maximum sometime in the next five years. This is simply do to the fact that only a finite number of transistors can exist on a circuit board. This has lead scientists and software engineers to figure out ways to take ever-increasing computing power and put it into ever-decreasing devices. This perhaps raises another question in regards to advancing technology; how will this impede our efforts in the way of creating the artificial intelligence we once dreamed of for our future?

There are those that are no doubt relieved that some of our predictions have yet to come true. I am speaking of course about the Terminator future where our once beloved AI creations rebel and begin a course of action that is bent on destroying humankind. Of course others had a brighter future in mind where they envisioned a type of technological utopia where the AI was still in the form of bi-pedal robots but served to help us in all aspects of our lives. However, if you really think about it AI is all around us, just not in the form that we envisioned. Our Garmin determines the best route for us to travel, even making adjustments due to traffic jams or road closures. Our Netflix account recommends movies we would like based on our preferences and viewing history. Large storage facilities for many retail companies are organized and run by AI robots who determine the most efficient way to keep product flow running smoothly. The smart DJ from Zune can take one song and spit out twenty that relates to it. Our predictions about AI were not farfetched sci-fi fantasies, they are present reality. Our vision was simply skewed. What we learned was that the best AI is subtle while still being highly influential to our social structure.

Found a Phone, Got arrested.

After looking back at the story again about the lost phone in the cab from Shirky's chapter 1. I got so into the story and what was happening that I started to forget how this all started in the first place. The girl, I can't think of her name, was the initial person to make a mistake. Because of her irresponsibilty with her phone, led to a huge mess.
Yes, I totally agree that once Sasha found out the rightful owner of the phone that she should have given it back. I also have part of me feeling like, "why should she give it back?" If put in the same situation, I would have taken the initial reward that was presented and taken the $300 and given the phone back. As we saw at the end, the $300 got the girl a whole new phone along with her past information. Sasha should have taken the reward and then gotten herself her own phone with her new $300.
It is simply a reflection of what our society, is today. People are fearless behind the screen of a computer and have no problem saying awful things and hurtful comments. I am willing to bet if they were to have the exact same dialogue that was happening on their site, in real life that things would have gotten ugly.
All in all, I still cannot side with Sasha because it is obvious she was in the wrong. She could have destroyed it still and messed with the wedding information, but she did not so I applaud her for that.

Lost and Found

When reading the first chapter of Shirky’s Here Comes Everybody a few days ago, the idea that people could come together into groups so much easier on the internet really hit me. Some of the other texts and articles we have read this chapter have touched on the way the internet connects us all, but the story about the missing cell phone and how everyone got involved to return it really showed how the internet has changed us.

Of course this story is not typical. Usually there isn’t a happy ending, but people continue to try. It’s crazy what kinds of stories gain popularity, but I think it has a lot to do with how you present it. Shirky says:

“Had he [Evan] presented his mission in completely self-interested terms (‘Help my friend save $300!’) or in unattainably general ones (‘Let’s , fight theft everywhere!’) the tools he chose wouldn’t have mattered. What he did was work out a message framed in big enough terms to inspire interest , yet achievable enough to inspire confidence.”

The idea is similar, but with a few notable differences in another success story I found (http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Im-lost-Help-me-find-my-family/144491355562803 ). On July 18th, 2010 a couple found a child’s stuffed animal. They started up a facebook page entitled “Help me Find my Family” and soon they had a large following. Like the story at the beginning of Here Comes Everybody, they got help from all kinds of people all over the world (More than 11,00 people followed the page) and it was even broadcasted on a few television networks. It only took them a little more than two weeks to get the stuffed animal back to the child it belonged to.


I think one of the main reasons that people got so involved in the story of the stolen phone was that it happens so frequently and people could relate. Though not many people can relate to losing a stuffed animal (at least not many people actively using the internet), people can relate to the loss of an item that is important to them. The fact that it was helping a child probably also contributed to the support.

I think the real thing that made it so popular was that the cause was so unselfish. People seemed to legitimately want to get this stuffed animal back to the child even though it wasn’t worth much. Regardless of the reasons for doing it, this story and others like certainly show how people can come together to accomplish something in a way they never could before.

Would you be lost?

After reading the first section of Shirkey's book, it has made me think of how much we truly rely on our cell phones, and technology in general for that matter. Have you ever heard someone say, "What did we ever do before cell phones"? Well, this is a question that has a lot of truth to it.

Cell phones have changed the way we find others, communicate with others, and learn new things. It has changed America in many different ways. But we as a country probably depend on this little gadget too much. Now cell phones have Facebook and Twitter to where you can update your status for the world to see. We can text instead of talk, we can use the phone as a walkie-talkie, and we can look up information on the internet through our cell phones. Are these new technologies hurting us as a society?

I think that we do rely on our cell phones, as a whole, too much. I think I am a part of this group of people. I use my phone too much, to be honest. But I do need my cell phone for my work due to the fact that I am on call during the week. I believe that cell phones are a good thing but they do become something that we rely on to fill in time.

When we are bored, we usually want something to do. If there is nothing to do, the closest form of technology is usually what we go to for entertainment. That usually happens to be our cell phone. Do you all feel that we use our cell phones too much?

IPAD 2 is here! Who would've guessed it . . .

Is purchasing the newest technology a waste of money?

This is a pretty strong question when you think of how technology changes every other week it seems. If you are a technological guru and have to have every new piece of technology, this may be a question that you should consider.

Apple is an expanding company that has been producing a mass amount of technology that people all over the world craze over. Now, I am not going to sit here and say that I am not one of those people, but I do not have to purchase every new item that they have on the market. If I did, I would be broke! But I do love to learn the new technology.

I am posting this post because Apple CEO Steve Jobs has just announced the new IPad 2, coming to stores March 11, 2011. The first IPad was announced last April, less than a year ago I might add. And now the new IPad 2 is already coming to us in less than 2 weeks. This is awesome if you are rich and love new technology!

I am not rich. I do love new technology though. But when is it to the point of almost being ridiculous. Apple announces new technology so fast that by the time you just start getting used to the first one, the new generation comes out! It is almost frustrating.

There is also, if you didn't know, a new Macbook Pro coming out with a quad-core processor instead of a duo-core processor, and many other new additions. It is amazing to me how fast technology booms. It almost becomes a game of which piece of technology to buy. You, of course, want to buy the best technology and have it for a long time. But the way new technologies arise, there is no possible way to keep the new technology for a long time and it still be the newest.

I guess what I am trying to get across is the fact that technology, as amazing as it is, may be growing too fast. But is that even possible? Can technology grow so fast that it is bad for the world? We may find out the answers to these questions soon enough.

BSU No More

Ball State is switching networks.

By May Ball State's internet options will be bsusecure and bsuguest. This push for bsusecure seems pointless, I've had very few problems with bsu internet. The reasons for this change can be found on the BSU web page. A few of the top reasons are:

1. Safe and secure wireless experience due to automatic encryption
2. Less frequent interruptions to enter a username and password - After the initial setup, you will not have to reenter your username and password each time you want to access bsusecure.
3. Faster download speeds

But I'm already complaining. I did exactly what the instructions said to do, but the first time I went to use my computer after previously shutting down the internet, the connection went straight back to bsu. And now my computer is permanently on bsuguest. I did this because having to constantly type in my username and password, I couldn't take it anymore.

But I have to ask myself, what is with the change? Was Ball State's connection having problems? Were there too many users? Were our "wireless experiences" really that unsafe? All of these questions made me realize the internet isn't as sound as we think or want it to be. Whether we realize it or not, the internet, and technology in general, is flawed. It could be that the flaws are so small we don't care or could it be that we depend so much on this form of technology that we are incapable of seeing anything but the good?

Are We Too Connected Online?

After reading the first part of Chapter 1 in Here Comes Everybody, the website Evan made about Sasha loosely reminded me of the website Juicy Campus. The story showed us how easily it is to put any information on the internet and how fast it seems to travel to an abundance of people. In the story of the cell phone, the information out there worked out for the best, but what about the other cases?

If you're a college student, you remember Juicy Campus, which is now known as CollegeACB. It is a website where anyone can post absolutely any information about any person they want anonymously. Almost 100 % of the time the information posted on this website is not flattering information to say the least. The things people can post on this website can ruin peoples lives and their reputations. So is it a good thing that we can post basically anything on the internet about anyone? In my opinion, no. I think the internet makes us too connected. In the story about the missing cell phone, that is awesome Ivanna was able to get her phone back, but in all reality it is a little scary how much information they were able to find out about Sasha and then post online for the world to see.

In my opinion we are too connected online.