Semester end review

Now comes the time for review. As the semester comes to an end, it is now time to look back and reflect on the material I learned and read, mainly from Friedman’s book, The World is Flat. First off, I really enjoyed this class from Professor Jensen. I have never written a blog, nor have I ever shared my personal views in this type of format. I was not sure if I would enjoy blogging and for the whole world to see what I wrote. I knew hardly anyone else would read these entries, but it still was something I always thought about. Now that this class is over, I have looked back and read my old blog posts, and actually enjoyed reading what I wrote. It was also nice to review what I learned throughout this semester. I have already forgot many things from my other classes with no way to ever review the material. These assignments will be on the web forever, and I will always have access.

I enjoyed reading Friedman’s book, for the most part, as he did tend to ramble and jump around quite a bit. I felt at times he just liked to hear himself speak. However the points he touched on were things I had never really thought about. I enjoyed how he spoke about each flattener of the world and how each of these played out and the impact they have had on us today. It has really made me think about how much we let technology control our lives, how dependent we are on it, and how we take it all for granted. He talks about the subtle changes that can occur, such as his Jet Blue story and checking in online and how easy technology can pass us if we don’t stay current. I really wish there was a new updated version, at least something only 2-3 years old. This book was written 8 years ago, and in technology time, is forever ago. Things have already advanced beyond what he predicted. I could only imagine his face if he knew I was able to check and review his citing’s on the web, read and search for specific entries without having to re-read his book using the find function on my Mac.

If I could offer a suggestion for this class, it would be to read specific chapters from his book, and to then read more short stories, such as The Logic Named Joe, The Future Doesn’t Need Us. When I was reading this story, I had no idea how old it was. I loved the predictions the author had of the future and some were right on where others were a little off. I really enjoyed switching it up and watching a sci-fi movie and writing a review. I laughed when I first saw the assignment, but it really made me watch the movie and analyze it rather than just watch it with a bowl of popcorn.

Overall this course was interesting and was easily one of my favorite courses to take. Having to read and write a blog post each week was definitely welcomed. Many of my other courses had me reading everyday, with multiple quizzes each week, along with an exam thrown in for fun! Thank you, Professor Jensen! 

I'll be BACK!

I had a nice long break for Thanksgiving, and I read an article titled, “Why the future doesn’t need us” which was published in Wired magazine and written by Billy Joy. Wired magazine is known to be an edgy tech magazine, which I am familiar with.

Billy Joy talks about (GNR) or genetics, nanotechnology and robotics and the destructiveness this can have on mankind. Joy compares GNR to (WMD) weapons of mass destruction, in terms of the power they can both produce. The biggest differences are that governments tightly hold the power to produce WMD’s, and one must not only need rare elements, but wealth and a great knowledge in specific scientific fields to create them. Where with this new technology, GNR, only requires someone with the knowledge, which can easily be attained on the Internet, and someone enough determination to want to destroy the world.

Joy has three main fears with technology and robotics and how this could possibly affect human life, as we know it. He fears that humans will gradually become robots, that robots will then slowly exterminate mankind, and that these new powerful robots will be controlled only by the rich and powerful, and can be used at their will to either take out competition or destroy the earth.

I truly believe technology will someday surpass our expectations, and I agree with some of the other contributors to this article that this change will happen gradually. It will happen so gradually that mankind will not be able to just stop using technology and robots, as we will rely so heavily on them that doing so would kill us. I have seen so many sci-fi movies as a child that references many of these scenarios playing out. A few that come to mind are, I, Robot, which is talked about in the article, and of course, the Terminator series. In the Terminator series, they build advance robots that then start to think on their own, and rationalize that humans are worthless, and try to exterminate them. I have always thought if this could ever happen to us and now that I am older, I can see how the advancements in technology could begin to come full circle and these scenarios playing out.

We already depend too heavily on technology today, and we are already at a point where we cannot just turn off technology without disrupting the entire world. It may not kill us, but some of us would feel dead. We don’t ever think of the implications new technology can have on us, we just want the best and newest ‘thing’ that will make our life even easier.

The point of this article is that Billy Joy fears the future and the changes that will come with it. He does compare this to a Pandora’s box scenario and I believe he has some valid points, and that we must be cautious moving forward. I don’t think robots will overtake us buy 2030, but the advancements we will see will truly be out of this world, and we must make sure we always remain in control.

Movie time

This week I watched Minority Report starring Tom Cruise. This movie focuses on catching criminals, well more specifically, murderers, prior to them committing the actual crime. This has rendered a peaceful world where no murders have taken place in a long time. This movie is not to far off into the future, only half a century ahead of now. The way technology has changed just in the last few years; I can only imagine what it will be like in 50 years. This movie is centered around computers that help assist where a pre-crime may be committed, and of course the pre-cogs, which are mutated humans who can see into the future. The pre-cogs are able to see most all murders a few days before they will happen which allows the law enforcement find and stop the criminal before a murder is committed. Some murders are a crime of passion and it can be difficult for them to see into the future for these, sometimes the law enforcement team is only given an hour to try and stop these from happening. Once the pre-cogs see the vision of the murder take place, the team must rely on their huge floating touchscreen computer system to assist in finding where these crimes which actually take place. These super computers only seem to be used by this super law enforcement team, as the other civilians in the movie seem to live an ordinary life much like in today’s time. When you see clips from their lives and their homes, you do not see any super computers or any great technology for that matter. Without these super computers that allow them to search for anyone using advanced satellite technology, the pre-cogs visions would be almost useless.

As we end up seeing, one of the team members watches a vision of himself committing a murder. Knowing he would never actually do this, and knowing that the pre-cogs visions would show this, he goes on a mission to show that these visions could potentially be false, and the whole system is flawed. He goes on the run, taking one of the pre-cogs with him, while trying to figure out what happened. He has to use even more advanced technology to stay a step ahead of his own team, who has the tools needed to find him. One way the law enforcement team finds criminals is through iris scan bots. These tiny computers fly around and scan the iris of everyone in a general area. If the iris scan matches, they alert the team and they are able to apprehend the criminal. He goes to a shady doctor who does an eyeball transplant, black market style, so that he can complete his mission. Although he is eventually arrested, and the pre-cog returned, he is able to be freed when a vision comes through and shows him being the victim of a new crime, which cannot happen since he is detained.

This movie moves kind of fast, and this was the third time I have seen it. Without the advanced technology of the computers all the way to the bots, this law enforcement division would never exist. I like watching movies that try to predict the future, and this one has many advances that would be good and could help out the human race.

Hi! My name is Joe!

Although we are now done reading the book for this class, and my eyes have been opened by the vast amount of technology we take for granted today. I just read a short tory titled, “A Logic Named Joe,” written by Murray Leinster. Wow! This story was published in 1946? Are you sure it that is not a typo, and possibly mean 1996?

This author behind this had an amazing imagination of what computers could possibly do today and he nailed it! Although he called his computer ‘Joe’ and the Internet was named ‘Logics’, he tapped into the future almost as if he asked the Logics, “what will the future be like”? In this story, people could ‘punch keys’ to find an answer to any question about any topic at anytime. He essentially invented Google and the personal computer before either could have even dreamt of being invented. Speaking of Google, I had to Google what a computer looked like in 1946, and found out they were over six tall and twenty feet wide! I can also tell you how much a baby rhinoceros weighs. It is a quite a bit, you should Google it! 

Joe was an amazing device that could really connect the world. However once we humans got a taste of the information we could posses, we became addicted and wanted to know more and more. The problem with instantly knowing any question you ask is it is too easy. The author discusses how before you had to make use of a typewriter, radio, telephone, teletypewriter, newspaper, reference library, encyclopedias, office files, directories, plus messenger service and consulting lawyers, chemists, doctors, dieticians, filing clerks, secretaries – all just to find the correct answer to what we now consider a simple question.

Joe was an amazing machine that got a bad rep for doing his job too good. It was actually the humans that manipulated and corrupted him, which ultimately lead to his retirement. We started asking simple questions such as how to sober up after you went to the bar to how to get rich quick by robbing a bank. It started getting more in depth when we wanted to know how many partners the neighbor had, all the way on how to find out if your spouse was faithful or not. Once we realized that we could dig up any past exploitation of our friends, co-workers and neighbors, we soon realized anyone could do the same to us. As the old proverb says, people who live in stone houses should not throw stones. 

One thing that struck me was that you never heard anyone asking how to make the world more peaceful and an overall better place. Joe could have stopped world hunger and every war in existence, but no one ever thought to ask him how to do so. It would have been so simple. It was always a question for personal gain, what is in it for me? I think we need to take a step back and really look at the big picture and use all of this amazing technology for the good, and maybe stop worrying how many pictures my iPhone can take!

So that's how they do that..

This week I finished my book, Thomas L Friedman, The World is Flat 3:0 A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century (Further Updated and Expanded, 2007). This book was pretty powerful and brought so many thoughts and ideas to me that I never had thought of before. I will discuss how a Dell laptop is made, if Al-Qaeda has a supply chain, and the curse of oil.

I read about how Dell has an amazing supply chain set up, and that it takes multiple companies to actually produce all the parts needed. They have innovated the custom home computer. Dell waits until a customer places an order for a computer, it then goes into an ordering management system. Your payment is then verified, and the information is then sent to one of Dells many factories to produce the specific part. During your order you put together your dream machine, you are then charged for each individual piece you order. This may be more memory, a larger screen, or a bigger hard drive, the point is, every computer is custom designed to fit what you want out of your personal computer. Many companies use this model as it keeps costs down from producing too many units, which can easily become obsolete within a few years, and will not be sold.

Al-Qaeda definitely has a supply chain. It may not be the biggest, but technology has changed the way terrorists do “business” in the flat world. Communication is key. I have heard that more than once in my life, and Friedman really shows you how real this statement is. Before technology, we did not fear as many terrorist groups as we do today. Now, they are able to communicate more efficiently with each other and make a presence in our everyday social media. They are even recruiting via the Internet, and they are able to gather more people to support their cause. Freidman quotes, “you cannot understand the rise of al-Qaeda technically without reference to the flattening of the world”. With the use of this flat and ever-changing world, terrorists have been able to strike more fear and inflict more damage than ever before. I wonder how differently 9/11 would have turned out, or if it would have even happened at all without technology. Technology is amazing, and yet it can be the one thing we created than can destroy us just as quick.

I never really took into consideration the curse of oil and how powerful it really is. Its value can be stronger than gold, and can control a whole under developed country. Friedman discusses that a country that is run by oil has no need to develop. When all the money that is made is from oil, it can cause tensions and a gap between the people and the government controlled product. As long as oil is being pumped from the fields, they make money and stay in control. This type of power cannot last forever. Once the oil dries up, the money quickly disappears, and the control is lost. This is the only way a country can move forward.