Futurism

The relationship between technology and humanity is something we deal with every day. If we look at this relationship 100 or even 50 years ago, things have changed dramatically. It is virtually impossible to go through a day in our society without using technology of some kind. Unlike the car or steam engine, there is no one thing that is supposed to change our world, it is taking over almost all aspects from the way we communicate, the way we spend free time and they way we learn.
Though I feel that there are amazing things about technology, like its use in medicine, I am generally unoptomistic about where we are heading with technology. At first it is great to look a things from Kurzweils perspective, but I think it is unrealistic to expect humans (imperfect) to make no mistakes and create a kind of utopia through technology. Rather, I think Joy is more accurate in his assessment of where technology is taking us.
I feel like the more integrated technology and machines become into our lives, the less human and natural our society will be. Already we are losing touch with actual human interaction so much through the internet, image where we will be in 20 years. People will be able to meet, fall in love and get married online without having ever met! Technology is important, but I think it is unnecessary to try to integrate it into every aspect of living. Sure, it can make things easier, but I think it is making people lazy and unimaginative.
Not to be hypocritical, I am thankful for the moving sidewalk at the airport and the internet, but it has to stop somewhere. I think it is possible for society to become far too reliant on technology, which could be dangerous.

The Turing Test

Computers are often thought of as the way of the future, but when it comes right

down to it, how does a computer compare to the original computer, the human brain? This

is of course a difficult thing to measure because the brain and the computer have

different components and variables. However, a smart man named Alan Turing came up with

a little something called the "Turing Test." This test is used to determine if a computer

is truly intelligent.

Some of the qualifications a smart computer would have are a large memory, the

ability to identify different situations, the ability to problem solve, possess self

awareness and emotion. The Turing test is based on a computers external awareness and

measure different aspects such as motor coordination, language, emotion and complex

reasoning. The test is measurable in terms of pass/fail and easy to understand and

administer.

Problems that arise have to deal with the fact that computers, though they are

of course designed by humans, do not inherently possess the qualities of humans and

instead must be specifically programmed. The Turing test is not able to measure all

aspects of intelligence and results also depend on the sophistication of the person

asking the questions.

All in all, the computer will never be exactly comparable to the human brain,

but the Turing test is definitely a step in the right direction.

the Digital Divide

Though it is obvious that there is a huge gap between how people use technology between America and a third world country, it is less recognized that the digital divide is present even in our own city, as well as in different parts of this country. I remember when I was in high school the class clown in my class tried to make the excuse of why he didn't do his homework, "I don't have a computer." He was kidding, and everyone who heard him say it laughed because it was a ridiculous to think that someone wouldn't have a computer in Los Angeles in this day and age. However, I learned from this week's lecture that millions of people in this modern country don't have a computer in their house, even more people do not have home access to the internet. This fact makes the digital divide an extremely important issue to discuss in today's societ, especially in relation to education, government, health, entertainment and work.

In education, interaction is very important for the development (especially in young children) of a well rounded foundation. It is important for teachers, if they are going to use technology in the classroom, to still make it an interactive learning enviornment, not isolated and reliant on a monitor. It could be too easy for a teacher to rely soley on technology like we do in other aspects of life and forget to incorporate the fundamental social part of learning. 

In terms of government, it is common knowledge that things can be quite inefficient to say the least. It is great that technology can make things such as going to the dmv easier, but there is also a downside. People who do not have computers, such as low income families or Katrina victims cannot benefit from the quick online information and forms and they are the ones who need it the most. This also goes for healthcare, Medicare patients, who are usually old and don't know how to use a computer that well, are the ones who need convenience the most but aren't able to take full advantage of it.  

It is a well known fact that people these days are becoming familiar and comfortable with technology at a younger age. Older people, in turn, are less likely to be apt at learning new skills, especially on the computer. This gives a large advantage to younger people and puts out older people who are not used to having technology always be a part of their everyday life and are now seeing it as almost a requirement in the workplace. 

With entertainment, it is great that people can now access the internet from their computers and look at pretty much anything online. However, when it comes to children, this can be dangerous because the internet is an unregulated world that a child or teen these days can better navigate than their parents. With endless channels on many televisions, it could be hard for parents to keep tabs on what their kids are being exposed to. 20 years ago, this would not have been an issue, but with the digital divide present and growing between generations, this is a well known problem.

The growth of technology, in my opinion, is a good thing. However, this growth is drastically changing the world we live in, and it is important to keep issues such as the ones I have talked about above in mind so that we can keep a balance preserved between old and new, have and have not. 

Mashups

1)Being from Los Angeles and living currently in San Francisco, I always have a lot of people coming to visit me. The problem is, I live in a dorm so they can't stay with me and they always want hotel suggestions. I usually suggest a hotel downtown because I know there are a lot, but there must be some closer to school. Through programmableweb.com, I found a mashup of google maps and 4Hotels.us which maps all the hotels in an area and allows you to click on them. I will definately use this next time I have visitors so they can stay closer to usf rather than downtown!
here is the link- http://hotel-map.4hotels.us/

2)http://www.thursdayclub.com/city/
This mashup of twitter and google maps allows me to click on my city (SF in this case, but they have every city in the world) and find all the restaurants, bars and clubs in that city. Not only that, it gives links to reviews and ratings of all the venues. This is useful to me being new to the city, but I would also use this when I travel to unfamiliar cities to know where to go for food and fun.

3) http://www.ilovemusicvideo.net, this one is amazing! It is a mashup of lastFM and youTube and it allows you to type in an artist you want and watch all music videos of them that are available. It is really easy to use, I used it to watch morrisey videos that are rare just now, otherwise I would not know where to find them! Unlike some mashup sites that I have looked at, it is very clean cut, easy to use and organized with a definitive purpose.

sharing or piracy?

Whether you call it file "sharing" or music "piracy", downloading music for free off the internet is wrong eigther way. Just like any other industry, countless people work behind the scenes to get each and every song and album up and running. The process is costly and their hard work deserves to be redeemed through album sales, but this is unfortunately happening less and less. In fact, it is estimated by te RIAA that the music industry takes a 12.5 Billion dollar hit each year because of file sharing. 

In my opinion, downloading a song you don't own from a struggling artist and downloading a song from a major label artist are the same issue. Eigther way a lot of hard work went into that song and even though the artist may already have a lot of money, the other people who worked on the song aren't rich and famous. Some bands that are already very famous such as Radiohead choose to put their music on the internet for free downloads. This is different because the artist in this case and everyone behind the record had to agree for the record "In Rainbows" to be put online for free, it was their choice. 

Downloading a copy of a song you already own is in my opinion okay as long the copy you already have was bought legally and you are only downloading one other copy for whatever reason. This kind of goes along the same lines as copying a cd for a friend. I do this sometimes to make my friends mixes, this is a form of expression such as mixed tapes or collages. Also, if someone has taken the time (and money) to go buy blank cd's, which arent cheap, they are likely to be choosy about who they burn a cd for. This, in my opinion, is the real definition of music "sharing", taking the time, money and effort to make your friend a cd of music you think they would enjoy, like the mixtape of yesteryear, it is not stealing from anyone if the said music has already been purchased. 

Downloading a song to try it out seems harmless enough, but it can be a slippery slope. Once you have the song and know how to download for free, it seems unlikely you will really purchase the cd. I believe that downloading an album online for free is just as much stealing as shoplifting that album from a store. When I was younger I pretty much ruined two consecutive family computers by using Kazaa and exposing the innocent Dell's to viruses. Though I loved getting free music, I stopped when I got my own computer last year. Now I only use iTunes, and as of today I have purchased 1,566 songs from iTunes, the rest of the songs in my Library are from purcased cd's. On iTunes it is an option to listen to the music in other people's libraries in my network and to let them listen to mine, a feature I utilize. However, the different between this and putting all my music on Kazaa for anyone to download is that on iTunes people can only listen to my music, they cannot copy or download it. There have been many times I have listened to someone else's music and then downloaded it for myself off iTunes.

After using Kazaa for years and switching over to iTunes I would never go back. I feel bad for exploiting the hard work of artists, producers and everyone involved in the past but I do understand the temptation of websites like Kazaa. My roommate has Limewire and I sometimes get jealous of all the music she downloads, but I am not jealous about how slow I know it is making her computer! Music is art and while I think it is great when artists like Radiohead allow people to enjoy their art for free, we the public should respect the other artists and people in the music industry for not illegally downloading music.

Digital Media

The progression from analog to digital has really changed the way people, including myself, interact with media. It seems that as technology improves and becomes more fast paced, so does the media along with it. 

It is amazing to me that I can if I miss an episode of Lost, I can simply watch it on my computer whenever I want at equal quality to my T.V. When I watch old television shows such as the Fresh Prince of Bell Air, the quality of the picture takes me right back to the 90's because it looks so old compared to shows now. Though it is nice and nastalgic to watch old television shows and movies, I love watching shows in High Definition because it is so clear and feel that there is no downside to this improvement. I also enjoy experimenting with Garage Band and Photoshop on my computer, which would have been unheard of ten years ago. I feel that the more art people create, the better, I like listening to music such as Myspace Music which is recorded mostly by people on their own computers. People are more able to spread and explore their talent when it is right at their fingertips. 

The downside to me is that as media keeps improving, old machines and therefore old forms of media are being somewhat forgotten. It makes me sad that Polaroid is discontinuing instant film, because I love my Polaroid instand camera and think it is a different kind of picture than digital, so much more permanent. Also, when I want to watch old home movies, I have to hook the tape player back to the T.V. because it no longer is useful enough to stay there all the time and has been long replaced by the dvd player. The same thing goes with old mixed tapes from my childhood, I literally don't have a tape player in my house and therefore cannot listen to them at all!

I think the progression of technology and media is overall a positive thing, as long as the old forms of media are not forgotten and can still be appreciated!

electronic waste

The issue of electronic waste is a huge problem, but one that is not widely recognized by most people. Once our devices become outdated, they are ignored in favor of the newer technology, and consumers usually don't really think about old electronics once they are no longer using them. However, such devices contain materials that can be reused such as precious metals and transistors. Recycling centers in America have strict laws and use what they can from the materials, and once the electronics are stripped, they are sent to countries with relaxed laws and low wages such as China and India. The workers there then extract what they can from the machines, but it is VERY dangerous. Lead and mercury can seep into the water, toxic fumes and chemicals can be released and some of the substances can cause birth defects and cancer. But it gets worse. Everything that cannot be extracted and reused is sent to a landfill or just sits in piles around worksites. 

Though this is all very upsetting and everyone who is educated about it would agree that it is an imminent problem, there are little or no laws in the majority of countries concerning this issue and there is a huge international market for scrap equiptment. In poor regions of the countries where the machines are sent, people will work for practically nothing, and while it is a good thing that goods can now be shipped anywhere in the world and there is a flow of information, electronic waste is a downside of globalization. 

Just before I sat down to write this post, I changed the cartridge for my printer and sent the old cartridge back to HP in the pre-paid envelope in the box. Though this is a small thing, it made me happy to see that the company HP is making it easy for consumers to do the right thing by providing a convenient alternative to throwing the old cartridge in the trash. A good way to cut down on my impact seems to be to buy electronics that can be upgraded, it just makes sense both financially and enviornmentally. It is hard to break the habit of throwing away something once it is of no use to me, but with things like cell phones and computers, I always try to give them to someone I know so I don't feel wasteful. I have given all my old cell phones to friends and my old computer is now my moms computer. Though I'm not out crusading daily against electronic waste, I am making an effort to reduce my negative impact on the enviornment, and knowing more about the problem makes me even more motivated to do the right thing, even if its not as easy as finding the nearest trash can.

It seems like new devices are comming out almost everyday, so this problem is not going to go away and if everyone just became more conscientious about their habits with electronics, it would really benefit the enviornment and the health of people in developing countries.