MBA 8125

Early morning thought

2009-07-22T09:47:00.005-04:00

So I woke up with two thoughts in my head and this was the second. I was thinking about interfaces: human interfaces. If the brain is the body's central computer is there a way to translate it's information in the purest form to another computer (not human) and have that information interpreted and used correctly. Long sentence I know. What I'm essentially asking is, is there a way to translate thoughts into accurate information that can be utilized by computers. Put another way, is there a way to create cognitive recognition in much the same way science has created speech recognition?

Is it even necessary for the interface to even recognize the nature of the thought itself or simply be able to recognize a pattern of thought and distinguish it from another pattern of thought as happens with fingerprint or voice recognition? If science can recognize a pattern of electro-impulse signal and play it back to us is that not useful if we recognize the signal transmitted from the machine? If science could go one step further and correctly interpret when a some part of the pattern is a question I think we'd have the greatest technological innovation of all time.

Here's why. If it was possible to monitor cognitive electronic impulses in the brain we could store them in a data base. If it was possible to isolate the part of the pattern that's a question from the part of the pattern that was the subject matter computers could be used to transmit the last occurrence of the pattern that did not contain a "question". In practice, computers could be used to replay recent memories in hopes of providing answers to immediate questions.

Where am I going with this? I'm thinking about Alzheimer's. If it was possible to instantly remind someone of what they have forgotten, perhaps this could help then lead a more normal life. Sure, this would not work with advanced stages where one was constantly forgetting things (as this technology would be an endless loop of questions and answers and probably not enjoyable to live through) but it may work for folks with less severe short-term memory loss. Where did I park the car? Did I leave the oven on?

I know this is just a thought, but one day it would be fabulous if I could communicate these thoughts without effort. Computer assisted telepathy. Of course there will be the issue of privacy (see earlier blog) is these cognitive recognitions can be shared without the owner's permission, but think about the possibilities...

If we can begin to recognize patterns of thought and correctly identify the actual subject and articles, we would have effectively created the ultimate interpreter. People could communicate with each other despite language differences. One step further and people would be able to communicate effectively with animals.

Just a thought...

Privacy

2009-07-22T09:21:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning with two prominent thoughts in my head; one of which I will share now, the other of which you will have to read about in my next blog.

Perhaps the biggest threat in the information age is the right to privacy: the ability to keep my information to myself and not have it misappropriated for someone else's financial gain. I'm not talking about identity theft, although this is a prevalent problem. I'm talking about cognitive theft, using text translations of my thoughts without my permission.

For instance, I did a search on eBay for biometric locks three weeks ago and was quite impresses with a particular finger print security system. I did not buy the item but chose to "watch" it. The next few times I logged into eBay they displayed prominent photos of similar lock product listings on their homepage. Is everyone that interested in biometric locks? No, this display was custom made so me. I also did a search on google and yahoo. I don't usually use yahoo but every once in a while I like to see if I get different results. Well, I have a yahoo mail account. Wouldn't you know that when I signed into my email, not only did I have messages from eBay about fantastic new lock listings I should check out, but the ads on my free yahoo account were also of biometric locks...

Sure, you might say this is just smart marketing, but how far does this information go? When information is bought, sold, and compiled into profiles, what all does someone know about me? Data bases can be rather extensive if keep over a period of years, so there's no telling what all I have inquired about or arbitrarily shared about myself over the years. And who is buying this information?

Certain information must be keep private by federal order as with HIPAA and other laws. But what if this information was not from an official source? What if this information was just a compilation of data collected by various marketing sources and could not be officially tied to any breach of confidence? Could insurance companies then buy this information and use it to deny people coverage based on their user profiles?

Where does the need for information end and the need for privacy begin? Can this even be regulated? If the internet is one big source of information that ties us all together in a thread of searches and quasi-private statements, can we really stop anyone for intelligently compiling this information against us?

Self Importance

2009-07-14T13:18:00.004-04:00

If anything were to classify the age that we're living in right now it would be the concept of self importance. Technology has given almost everyone a voice. Anyone who feels the world needs to hear their thoughts is free to post them and invite a response. Some may be empowered with followers. Others simply empowered by the ability to rant... here are my words... here are my thoughts... they are mine and they are important... you should care because I care.

I'm not saying that there is now value in having a public forum. Some thoughts really do need to be shared. Some words have the ability to inspire, motivate, and create change... Others, have the ability to insight fear, create misinformation or instigate hate. I believe in free speech. I'm not in favor of government censorship, like China was trying to mandate. If anything I think we are living in a time where it is painfulling important to self edit. You can put anything on the internet, but do you want to? Not every thought is a good thought... not every string of words brilliant or original... not everyone wants to see you in your underwear or less.

Yes, the internet makes it hard to hide who we are as people... what motivates us... why we care or choose not to care at all... what is at the heart of true importance in our lives.

Oh, and yes... this was a rant.

2nd Blog

2009-07-14T12:59:00.002-04:00

Again, you have to be logged into sharepoint to view this.

6/12/09 1st Blog

2009-07-14T12:56:00.002-04:00

I donwloaded a demo of a program that lets you save powerpoints to png. I copies my blog and converted it, but as you can see, it says demo.

You can also view this blog with the provided link

You have to logged into sharepoint to actually see this

Technology sucks sometimes

2009-07-14T12:36:00.000-04:00

Al I'm trying to do is copy my old blogs over from sharepoint and paste them in blogger. For some reason I can't paste them. It simply doesn't work. Why would blogger want to disable the paste function? It doesn't make sense because you can still upload photos and post links, but not paste. I want to paste me own words into a new forum for my own words.

Soooooo frustrating!

South Park Avatar

2009-07-08T14:32:00.000-04:00

So I was trying to update my Blooger account... spruce it up with a photo or two... I thought it might be fun to create an avatar for my profile picture. I did a search and of course zwinky came up. I know not to use zwinky because I tried to use it two years ago and it put all kinds on spyware on my computer... Bad Avatar Creator!

Anyway, I came across the South Park avatar. It's somewhat limited in options, but it's fun. Here's the kicker though. When you're done, you can save it as a jpg, icon, print it, or email it to a friend. So, I saved it as an icon, but it was way too small for a profile picture. Then I saved it as a jpg, but the background didn't save. Seems like they might have a couple kinks to work out.

Anyway, I posted my avatar. I chose a "Canadian" body.

Do you have an internet problem?

2009-07-08T11:27:00.000-04:00

So, I surf the internet a lot. But how much is too much. I thought I'd apply the "alcohol addiction quiz" questions to the internet and see if anything rings true. Feel free to answer for yourself.

Q: Do you lose time from work due to the internet?

Q: Is the internet making your homelife unhappy?

Q: Do you surf because you are shy with other people?

Q: Do you surf alone?

Q: Is the internet affecting your reputation?

Q: Do you surf to build up your self-confidence?

Q: Have you ever felt remorse after surfing?

Q: Do you turn to inferior companions and environments when surfing?

Q: Does the internet make you careless of your family's welfare?

Q: Has your ambition decreased since surfing?

Q: Do you crave a the internet at a definite time daily?

Q: Do you want a surf the next morning?

Q: Have you had financial difficulties as a result of the internet?

Q: Does the internet cause you to have difficulty sleeping?

Q: Has your efficiency decreased since surfing?

Q: Is surfing jeopardizing your job or business?

Q: Do you surf to escape from worries or trouble?

According to developers of this screening quiz, if you answered 3 of these questions with a Yes it is a definite sign that your internet patterns are harmful and possibly considered internet dependent or surfaholic. You may want to seek an evaluation by a healthcare professional.

So, do you have an internet problem?

Easy Street

2009-07-04T09:35:00.000-04:00

I sit here at 9:30am on a Saturday, writing this blog, wondering, does technology really make our lives easier? Is it bridging the gap between people and making us all one nation, one large, living network?

On the one, hand I can just as easily and cheaply communicate with strangers around the globe as family across the country. And I can do this almost instantly. There are chat rooms, instant messages, blogs, cell phones communications... I can send pages, emails, individual text messages or broadcast my thoughts via twitter... Remember when there was such a thing as long-distance rates? You worried about how long you were on the phone? Remember answering machines? "I'm not home right now. Leave me a message after the beep and I'll get back to you LATER."

Now I carry a phone in my pocket. Folks can reach me anywhere, at anytime, and expect me to answer. If I don't answer they expect a prompt response as to why I couldn't answer. There's no down time, no quiet moment with me and the universe, unless I devise one. There's no separation work days and off days. The work day is everyday. The work week is... pick any sequence of days and call it so.

We are expected to perform everyday, because there is no physical barrier prohibiting the ability to transfer information. We are all connected. The internet makes it easier for us all to do more work, in more places, than we would have been able to do without it. And, because we can do more, we are expected to do more. Technology has turned us all into cyborgs, a human-like entity, constantly processing information. There is no "I" anymore. There is only "we". We are all part of the machine and we can't turn it off. You can try to run away, but we will notice the second you try to disconnect. There is no escape. We will hunt you down and we will find you... wherever you are.

The internet has failed me

2009-06-29T16:58:00.000-04:00

My pressure washer is a few years old and I'm having some issues getting it to turn over. So, I was looking for instructions for an ic2 honda engine on a vr2522 pressure washer and could not find them. I first tried google to no avail. I found folks selling the same pw I own but no instructions for it. Strange right? So I went to the manucaturer's website and they are using a different engine with that model pw now. I went to honda's website and they don't list the engine. They don't even have a search function so I could look up the model. What kind of website doesn't let you search it for content? I'm thuroughly annoyed with honda now.

This has never happened to me before. I've always been able to find absolutely everything I need online. I buy almost everything online: all of my electronics, books, music, you name it. I know I look up online something everyday and always find an answer. It may take hours but I always find what I'm looking for. Maybe ic2 isn't the actual engine number. It must be a user error right?

I think I may try the new MS search engine "bing". I noticed it somehow installed itself on my toolbar without me knowing. I'm sure I must have downloaded something and inadverntently accepted the toolbar download too. Funny thing was I had my toolbar locked at the time and it didn't seem to make a difference. Companies are so tricky when it comes to installing unrequested software. You really have to pay attention or things you didn't even want will find you online.

2009-06-24T14:35:00.000-04:00

So, I was listening to Pacifica Radio, the 1st public radio station in the U.S., and I heard something kind of interesting. I was half listening while driving but the news reporter attributed an opinion to a blog citing. Blogs are actually making the news. Guess one needs to be very careful these about loose words.

I give up!

2009-06-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

It doesn't appear that one can RSS a Sharepoint Blog. It will allow you to do it of course; it just doesn't work. You'll get the first blog but then it wont update. What's the use of a RSS that doesn't update? You tell me.

I had to give up. I'm sure with slightly more time, energy, or less assigments due in MBA 8125 I could have figured it out. But, things being as they are, I'm only on my second assignment for the week. I still have four more assignments to complete before Tuesday... So, here I am on Blogger. Don't worry though, I fully intend to copy my other blogs over from sharepoint. You won't miss a moment of my exciting technology filled life.

Something new on the technology front for me, I registered my GSU email account as a google account. Had no idea you could do that. Surprise, surprise, what will google think of next... first satellite pictures of my house on the internet, now using my own email address with google services. It really was a break through. Coming from someone with, let me count them, 8 email address, I really didn't want to have to sign up for another just to use google for school. I'm sure I could have used either of my two Google emails I already have, but I really didn't want to share those user names... a little less than professional.

Anyway, I've been doing homework for the last 8.5 hours now and I'm ready to call it a day. Gonna wrap this up. If you don't have time to read this I won't take it personal. I'm sure you're working on your assignments too. Enjoy the weekend!