Futurism

Technology is our future. During his speech, Ray Kurzweil paints and extremely technological and optimistic view of the future. He believes that according to his calculations of Moore's law and his law of accelerating return, we will continue to advance exponentially in the area of technology. He believes that by the year 2009, computer will become obsolete by installing monitors in our retina's and by 2029 well will have nanobots, mi nature robots in our blood streams that will communicate with our bodies ad create a true virtual reality. Contrary to this belief, Bill Joy the founder of Sun Microsystems is weary of rapid technological and think that in the wrong hands and on the wrong terms, technology can be dangerous.
I don't believe Kurzweil's theory is completely accurate however i side more with him than Bill Joy. I think Kurweil's prediction is a little ambitious and one can never account for how certain technologies are accepted by society. I do think in the next 30 years technology will become so integrated in our lives that it will hardly become noticeable, i think it can dramatically improve our standard of life. anything in our world that we create can be used against in some way and that should not prevent us from creating it in the first place. We should not be afraid of change and progression because it is our future.

The Turing Test

A computer that could pass the Turing test would first of all need the ability to communicate with humans and understand language and grammar. It would have to know how to respond appropriately to commonly asked questions someone. A super intelligent computer would be able to identify certain common slang terms or street language. It could answers the questions eloquently, without stiff or unnatural responses. In order for a computer to pass, the tester shouldn't be able to tell the difference between the computer and a human. Therefore the computers answers must be as natural as possible and mimic human intelligence as much as possible. It would be necessary for a computer to have some sort of sense of humor or understanding of humor, because most humans value humor and use it in their everyday conversations. If a computer simply mimics the tester, it is not truly intelligent, therefore a genuinely intelligent would have the appropriate intelligence and responses programmed inside them. The human mind is extremely complex therefore the amount of complexity in computer programming that must go into an extremely artificially intelligent computer would also have to be very complex, something that was an extremely simplified version of the thought processes of a human mind. Technically, a computer would not have to correctly answer every single question correctly because most humans could not correctly answer every single questions posed to them. Humans ability to make errors are what make them genuinely human therefore if a computer is mimicking human intelligence, it could be allowed to make mistakes too!

The electronic divide

The digital divide seems to tear the division of social classes even farther apart. Those who can afford computer and other technological perks have so much more access to an endless amount of information that those without access to technology could never try to keep up. The digital divide is becoming more and more evident through the advance of technology and the realization of how big of a role it plays of the life of a person living in the 21st century.

Education: The divide is apparent is apparent in many school throughout the U.S. Most privileged and privatized schools are lucky enough to have computer labs, full equipped with brand new computers. The very privileged and private school i work at has multiple computer labs all filled with brand new Mac computers. This is contrasted with lower income public schools that cant afford these resources. I think the lack of computers do affect a child's learning because computers offer more interactive learning; children will may be more interested in the material and therefore get more excited about learning and even learn more. Children that aren't exposed to the Internet and technology won't benefit from the abundance of knowledge on the web and wont be able to learn more topics that interest them.

Government: I think a very apparent example of the digital divide is when FEMA told victims of hurricane Katrina to access their website in order to receive their benefits. This show a lack of understanding and sympathizing of the part of the U.S. It goes to show that the digital divide has grown so large from the upper ranks of the government to the low-income southern homes of the south that government officials cant even relate to the diversity of its citizens. It is ignorant to assume that those homes would have Internet access in their, let alone Internet access after a major hurricane. Modern day government has become so dependent upon technology they are becoming unable to function without it.
Work: The odds of getting a job or exponentially increased with access to the Internet. The job oppertunities a person can have access to through websites like Monsterjobs.com and bayareajobs.com can change someones life and expose them to oppertunities they wouldn't normally receive or normally wouldn't be exposed to. The odds of getting any job are increased with the use of the internet because it is much easier and time efficent to apply online and can therefore apply to many more jobs. Even if you do try the old fashioned way of handing out your resume or going into places to fill out applications, many of those places will just tell you to apply online. The age of technology has raised the standards for job placement and has made the work world so much more competitive.
Entertainment: The media has probably blossomed and benefited the most through the age of technology. Without access to a computer or the internet, you miss out on all sorts downloadable media, the latest trends or bands, the newest movies coming out, latest gossip digitization of most major media outlets. The teenage culture has almost become completely dependent on technology and the internet and anyone who isn't exposed to this sort of media may feel out of touch with their peers.
Health:
The advance in medicine is mostly dependent upon the advance of technology. With newer technologies we are able to fight so many illnesses and invent extremely complex and expensive machines to analyze and remedy anyones body. Hospitals that don't have access to these machines or the funds to purchase them is directly reflected upon the health of the community.

Web 2.0

http://www.wishpot.com/
Combines: Amazon +ecommerce + shopping.com
This website lets you save and share your favorite items that you find in any online store. You can collect things you like and the Mashup stores the product name, image, price and website link. You can also add personal notes and tags about each item. you can use this list for yourself to save and buy later or you can also share the list with friends and family. I like this mashup because i love online shopping and its helpful to be collect all my favorite items and put them in one place online to compare and decipher what to buy. This site would also help me remember those rare bargains i occasionally find online.

http://tokyostage.haru.tv/
Combines:Last.fm+YouTube+lyricWiki
This mashup allows you to search for music videos from you tube and also access information from last F.M. and also get lyrics from Wikipedia all at the same time. The site has up-to-date music charts from all over the world and has some downloadable Mp3s. This site centralizes most of the crucial information about your favorite music artist or band.

http://Gruvr.com
Combines:Google Maps + Myspace.com
This handy mashup shows you most the live music shows currently going on in your selected area via the information provided on MySpace. You can also save your favorite bands and Gruvr will track their shows all across the country for you. Users can also rank artists and shows in the Gruvr rankings. This mashup is great for music lovers like myself that love live music; Gruvr users will never face another boring Saturday night.

File Sharing

file sharing is something extremely commonplace to the average teenager. Most of adolescents today have had whatever song, movie or game accessible by the click of a mouse. Its hard for anyone to imagine that something so easy and wildly accepted could be illegal. However, there has been a very clear effort made by the government in the past 5 years that these programs ARE illegal and those who use them will be prosecuted. However, i don't believe things are as clear cut as the government make them out to be.
Music cannot be bought and sold. A CD, a guitar, a DVD, tape, or record can be bought and sold but something as beautiful and spiritual as music should be spread to all the ears willing to hear it, and musicians should promote and spread their songs and talents as far as ears can hear. however, big companies and record labels have made music just another commodity to be bought and sold. They control so much of the music media and jack up prices on cds. If CD's were only $10, alot more people would buy them. Therefore i do believe that most types of file sharing should be legal. I believe that someone downloading a song, "stealing it", is far more beneficial than someone picking up that musicians Cd in a store and then putting it right back down and buying something else. Musicians should expose themselves as much as possible.
I think the following are acceptable and shouldn't be illegal:
- Downloading a song you don't own from a major label artist.
- Downloading a song you don't own from a struggling independent artist.
- Downloading another copy of a song you already own.
- Downloading a song to "try it out" - if you like it enough, you'll buy the CD.
- Copying a CD from a friend.
I think that all these actions are beneficial to an artists notoriety and success because artists only receive an extremely small portion of the sales of their cd's.
i obviously don't think that stealing a cd from a store is okay, so i think that a happy medium between file sharing and common recording label/cd store model.
Artists could maybe make some of their most popular or older songs available for free download on their websites. Artists can use file downloading to their advantage and harness it to benefit their popularity. musicians and labels should accept the changing times and not fight change, because they definitely wont win.

Digital Media

The advances in the world of digital media has made it accessible to almost anyone. With a small amount of time and effort, anyone can learn to become a photo editor or music mixer through modern digital creation programs. These programs open doors for average people who might not normally be exposed to this type of media. 10 years ago the field of graphic design was completely different; the use of computers completely turned the field upside down. Normally difficult tasks like adding type to an image, all had to be done by hand -but computers changed this. As a graphic design major,I think it is wonderful that these programs are so accessible for consumers because it encourages a world of creation and exploration. It certainly makes my job easier. if computers hadn't made the world of graphic design so accessible for me, i might have a different major.  I also believe that since these programs assist in an artists ability to distribute their work more easily and effectively, it has crated a new generation of art, a digital art world. Artists can not only expose themselves online, in wonderfully designed websites but also be exposed and learn from other artists on the internet too. 

However, since these programs can be so easy, a lot of people who probably should be making videos or images, end up creating distasteful or just plain ugly songs or art. Without these programs it would take a lot of dedication and time to create something like a image or song. The easy accessibility of these programs can often remove a lot of the artistic integrity of something. It can often cheapen something because it is so easy to make. However, i do believe these programs have definately raised the standards for artistic design in the art world because you can do so many great things with them. 

ultimately, the advances in digital media has brought mostly positive advances in the world of art and music. It has raised the bar for everyone and has made it possible for just about anyone to be and artist or musician. 

E-Waste

The issue of E-Waste in the united states and in the entire world, is an important issue that should immediately addressed. With the rapid rate of improvement in the technological world, the more outdated computer become obsolete. The difference in technology between a computer created today in 2008 compared to one made a mere 3 to 5 years ago is vast. This rapid advance in technology has created the demand for an environmentally safe place to discard all these old computers. However, not only are computers difficult to take apart, they contain extremely harmful chemicals such as lead and mercury,are expensive to recycle and no longer useful.  

Since computers are so difficult to safely dismantle, much of the companies responsible for recycling or disposing of these computers take what little parts that are of value or reusable and then outsource this difficult and expensive labor to other international companies. These companies are in places like Nigeria, China and India where the environmental laws are much less strict and labor is cheap. At these other recycling centers the small amount valuable components that are left on the computer are stripped off with hazardous chemical and many of the unusable remains are burned. These left over parts contain cancer causing chemicals and the effects are intensified when the components are burned, the lead and mercury has seeped into the ground water in the towns where many of these camps are located. 

What makes this issue so difficult to address is that fact that many times the consumer has no control over where their computer goes after they hand it off to their local electronic recycling center. The computers parts are repeatedly outsourced, the problem is outsourced. It is inevitable that e-waste will have detrimental effects on our environment and the people in it as well. In order to be a responsible consumer we should always try to recycle our computers through safe recycling companies, like those that have signed BAN's stewardship pledge. It is also important plays an active roll in regulating how the computers being used in America are being discarded of. Legislation should be passed nationally to regulate e-waste and its negative effects. I believe that the computer companies should be semi responsible for where the computers they create end up. Their is currently legislation like this in Texas but i think it should become a national because computer companies are ethically responsible for where the products they create end up. As consumers, especially consumers in America, we all need to be conscious of where all our waste goes and the affect it has on our environment. We only have one world to live in and all our waste as to go somewhere. Therefore, we need to reduce our use, reuse what we can and recycle the rest.