Stuck on Tech » CS404 Archive

Robotics: Man’s Instinct to Procreate

Adam — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 19:00:15 +0000

During the past 100 years, society has made great strides in the area of robotics. This interest and fascination of artificial life further proves that Man’s instinct to procreate extends outside of the human form. In reality, Man has very little control in human procreation. Man has been given the instinct to populate the planet, but not the ability artificially replace the biological miracle that takes place in a mother’s womb. Science has not been able to create these building blocks of life from scratch. However, science has been able to create the electronic building blocks of artificial life. With each new robot and computer program, scientists learn how to better mimic human behavior on a social and biological scale. Eventually, science will succeed in creating an artificial life form that will look and act as we do. While it’s unlikely that this will lead to society’s extinction, it will be another crowning achievement as Man tries to remove Divinity from yet another aspect of our mortal world.

If You Can’t Beat Them, Join Them

Adam — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 19:00:19 +0000

Apple has been trailing in the computer industry for many years. In an effort to cut costs on proprietary technology, Apple now has the new iMac which is based on the Intel architecture. Recently, Apple announced that it would permit Windows XP to be installed on its iMacs. Apple made the right move by permitting Windows to be installed on their Intel-based iMac computers. Apple users now have the best of both worlds. They can run their favorite iMac programs and when needed, switch to Windows for other applications or games which will not run on iMac. There are many more games and applications for the PC rather than Mac. Next, iMac comes with its Tiger Operating System pre-installed. If a person buys an iMac and runs Windows as well, there’s no cost to Apple. The customer isn’t free to choose either Tiger or Windows. Best of all, Apple doesn’t need to support the Windows Operating System. This eliminates support costs as Microsoft would field those support issues.

Out with the Old, In with the New

Adam — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 19:00:37 +0000

The Internet has changed the way in which society interacts. It is unable to revert back to its former state of mind. Due to this change, its mind set in regards to the way copyrighted media (music, movies, documents, software, etc) is distributed, bought, sold and licensed needs to change as well. There are many different reasons why copyright infringement violations occur. First, the media may only be needed for a short time or for evaluation. Another reason would be to avoid the cost the high cost associated with different types of media. Lastly, the media may suit a purpose, or solve a problem, but is overpriced (or overvalued) in the public’s eye. In order to face these challenges, new business models have been created and introduced to the public. The first of these major changed was the introduction of Microsoft’s activation and genuine advantage program which reduced the piracy of its software. The second significant step was taken by Apple when iTunes was released. People were, and still are, able to purchase and download only the songs they were interested in. Combining these two concepts may provide a more ideal solution. Using a massive subscription based solution could be the answer. Each subscription is allotted a certain amount of points per month depending on the subscription level. Using media would be similar to checking out a book from the library. Each month that the media was in the customer’s possession, points would be deducted from the monthly allotment and the subscription service would credit the owner of the media’s copyright. Points would be based on customer satisfaction as well as the duration of time the media had been made available and its last major update. Once enough points were used toward that media, it would then no longer require points until a new update was release. Overall, this will drop the price of media to a point where it would not be worth the attempt to break the copyright. The technology may not be in place just yet, but the concept isn’t out of reach.

Trusting the Digital Arm

Adam — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 19:00:49 +0000

Everyday society becomes more dependent on technology. However, this dependency, and at times blind trust, is society’s greatest liability. When technology fails, it can damage and even destroy the data it is entrusted with. The recent incident with MacAfee highlights a prime example of the just sentinel transformed into the blind executioner. People trust their anti-virus to be the guardian of a valuable data and keep it safe from the tentacles of viruses. However, when a small update was pushed to thousands of computers, the protector began obliterating harmless files and programs. Those most greatly affected populous had not backed up their systems or data. However, even those who had backed up critical data still faced the necessity of reinstalling affected operating systems and programs. Those affected had further entrusted the software to automatically delete any file it deemed a threat to the system, rather than prompt the user for further instructions. As our reliance on technology increases, our methods of probing and certifying software and updates must become increasingly rigorous as well. We view software as something that must function correctly most of the time. If it doesn’t we can rely on backups of the bits and bytes technology touches in order to recover the precious lost data. Technology now touches human lives. Human lives cannot be backed up.

Genealogy and Computers: Too Much Input

Adam — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 19:00:32 +0000

Computers, coupled with the Internet, have made it easier for people to do their genealogy. In the past, genealogy was done by professionals. Now anyone can research their ancestors and input data into huge genealogical databases. As a drawback, these systems now contain massive amounts of erroneous data and duplicate entries. Of course, these issues aren’t created intentionally. They arise when people begin entering ancestral data based on memory, rather than records obtained through government/church or other authenticate documents. In other cases, some people that have entered data may not even search the genealogical systems to see if the information already exists. However, I believe that these issues can be reversed. The gathered data will need to be reviewed. People that have already entered data should be encouraged to go back and check their work. Also, I’d recommend that these same people cite sources where they acquired their information. This will help determine how reliable the source is which is being used. Obviously it won’t be easy and it will not fix all of the mistakes. However, it will greatly improve the quality of the information already obtained.

Taxing the Internet

Adam — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 19:00:12 +0000

How many ways can the government tax the Internet? We pay taxes when we pay our Internet Service Provider bill. We pay taxes when we pay our phone bill. With all these taxes we already pay, I feel that we’ve already been taxed sufficiently for our Internet access. Adding more taxation to the Internet will stifle its growth. The Internet allows us to accomplish so much more in such little time. One of the major benefits has been the ability to shop for (as well as sell) goods online. It’s easy. It can be done from home and best of all, in most cases taxes don’t need to be paid. It’s taken a while to increase consumer confidence in using the Internet for financial purposes. Taxing those transactions will cause less people to shop online. Not only will e-Retailers be affected, online auctions will be affected as well. People selling items on eBay would need to calculate and charge tax on items sold. Then there would be the added frustration in reporting that information each tax season. In both cases, everyone loses. We need to find more ways to stimulate usage of the internet, not stifle it. The Internet has functioned very well and there’s no need to fix what isn’t broke.

Computer Science: A Color that Clashes

Adam — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 19:00:37 +0000

There is no doubt in my mind that women make great computer scientists. My “American” Mother-in-Law and Cousin current living in Georgia are both accomplished programmers and role models. I have no doubt that women face challenges and road blocks when trying to pursue this career. However, interest in the computer arts greatly diminishes in High School. This is very unfortunate as High School is the institution where fragile minds begin to nature future dreams, aspirations and goals. During High School, young women have a great desire to be accepted socially. They don’t wish to be left behind or be singled out. As I concluded my high school education, I clearly remember the stereotypes placed on members of the computer club. These stereotypes spurred from misconceptions greatly generated by the entertainment industry. In movies, computer hobbyists were, and in some cases still are, portrayed as smart, socially withdrawn, poorly dressed and physically weak individuals with poor hygiene and a laugh that would make pigs come running. Of course, the computer club at my school didn’t do much to deter this misconception in some areas. While some of these areas may greatly discourage women from entering the computer field, men have less anxiety when it comes to displaying unique qualities. In order to overcome this mountain of misinformation, there need to be more female role models spotlighted during High School. This will help women feel that they can succeed in any arena of study without being ostracized socially.

The Human Link

Adam — Tue, 14 Feb 2006 19:00:32 +0000

Technological advances have given the United States of America an advantage over terrorist threats. However, no matter how many advances technology makes, the gathering and use of it rests on human intelligence. Human intelligence is our strongest and weakest link. Humans are better skilled in the art of piecing together information and making sense of it. There are systems out there with sophisticated algorithms. But these systems are unable to make certain leaps of thought to connect particular pieces of data together. Unfortunately, human intelligence can have its draw backs. People must decide which parts of the gathered information are important and should be pushed up the management hierarchy. There are many tragedies linked to information not arriving at the ears of those in authority. In the case of the Titanic, a nearby vessel received their distress call, but thought it was a joke since the Titanic was supposedly unsinkable. Another example would be Pearl Harbor. The evidence was there, but it was never pieced together and passed up to those who could prevent the devastation laid upon Pearl Harbor. Over all, no information gathering process is perfect. But in this case, it’s better than nothing.

Google-ship

Adam — Thu, 02 Feb 2006 19:00:59 +0000

The words “censorship” and “Google” have been bound together as of late. This is because Google has decided to comply with the Chinese government’s request to filter Internet search results. Personally, I don’t think China will gain much by this policy. However, it raises the question, “Is Google obligated to adhere to the standards set by other countries?” Yes, it is. Here in the United States, censorship feels utterly wrong. To many, it is a threat to freedom. However, we should remember that travelers to foreign countries are obliged to follow the customs and laws of the land. In a sense, Google is a guest in China. Google is primarily driven by two objectives. First, it wants to collect statistics on the search habits of “surfers.” Secondly, it is attempting to make money on advertisements based on the collected statistics. That being said, we can safely presume that Google has not entered China in order to start a revolution toward a democratic government. Neither does it have a goal to plaster “Free Tibet” on each search page returned. Software companies that adapt to these situations will win in the long run. If and when China changes its censorship policies, Google will already have a foot in the door to offer more content to the Chinese people.

Bridging the Gap

Adam — Mon, 30 Jan 2006 19:00:27 +0000

Technology has made communication faster and more interactive. I am unable to fully express how much it has positively affected my family. I am from Pennsylvania, which is more than a stone’s throw from Utah. My wife, Alessandra, is from Brazil which is even farther away. If we lived in a time period fifteen years ago, we would correspond with our families by postal mail and occasional phone calls. However, today we reap great benefits from advances in technology. Through the improvements of the phone, we can talk with our distant families inexpensively. E-mail permits us to send letters to our families which arrive in minutes, rather than weeks. E-mail is also used to share pictures with each other. Our nieces and nephews, in Brazil, have learned how to chat with us using MSN Messenger. (We are hoping their parents will catch up soon.) Most importantly, we’ve greatly appreciated the small miracles that the Web Camera brings. Using the Internet, we are able to hold video conversations. While it hasn’t replaced visits to Pennsylvania and Brazil, technology has made it less disheartening to be so far from the ones we love.