Fgraham1’s Blog

Isn’t it amazing how far we have come with computers. I remember learning MS DOS 30 years ago in school. Today I cannot imagine my life without my laptop. I can only imagine what changes will be made in the coming years.

Question 1. Where and what would you like to see with computers ten years from now?

In this day and age can you imagine not owning a cell phone or having internet access. Even though I was joking before I took this class that I was digitally illiterate because this class was so out of my comfort zone. I never imagined that I would have a blog page or even sign up for a Facebook account.
When we email or hold a video conference we are using some form of dialogue. Dialogue is a form of communication that we do every day.

Question 1: Has computers changed the way we interact with one another? Do you think this has a positive or negative effect on society?

We have borrowed the term “World Brain” from H. G. Wells (British science fiction writer, 1866-1946), who, in 1937, wrote an essay by that title. The Web is an incarnation of what he called the “Permanent World Encyclopedia,” thanks to the visionary work of people from Vannevar Bush (American engineer and science administrator, 1890-1974) to Tim Berners-Lee (British inventor of the World Wide Web, born 1955) who were building on an intellectual foundation laid by those such as Babbage (English mathematician and philosopher, 1791-1871), Lovelace (English program creator, 1815-52), and the African griot. Jorge Luis Borges’(Argentine writer, 1899-1986) 1941 story The Library of Babel describes a nearly infinite library, filled with books composed of every possible combination of words and letters. The protagonist spends his days wandering the library searching for the one true catalog to the library. Search engines themselves are part of the search for meaning.

The World Brain is culture, and what we collect feeds that brain. Collection is part of the human urge to create. Traditional collections, from works of art to Barbie dolls are of course collections of physical objects. The “World Brain” is a living organism of connected synapses, provided by creative interlocutors, which can grow in rhizomatic ways. As Kevin Kelly (American publisher and editor, born 1952) writes, we are training the Web. Michael Wesch (American anthropologist and digital enthnographer) notes: “the Web is us/ing us.”

Question 1: How has the internet affected our daily lives?

Question 2: What are the advantages and disadvantages of the computer?

The realm of the circuit is formed by digital networks, the electronic digital tools we use, and the people who are connected by it. The realm is composed of interlocking networks of human exchange. A network is defined as the linkage of nodes (components) into a system, or a web of connections. Networks of communication draw connections between people, whereas networks of pathways and roads link villages and cities. The earliest networks were the routes used to travel from shelter to food. As people met at the watering hole, the exchange of goods gave way to the exchange of information. Networks are not always creative, they can be destructive as well. Furthermore, networks connect and enhance one another.
Understanding the network of the human mind is one of our greatest quests. As the neural networks of the brain are stimulated by input neurons, they produce a set of outputs depending on the configuration of the network. The redundancy of the neural network allows the brain to function even after parts of it have become damaged. Recently, computer scientists have adapted the model of the neural network to design computers themselves. Modern computing systems model neural networks and are used to recognize fingerprints or to predict weather. Even though these computers cannot replicate the complexity of the human brain, they can vastly outperform the previous generation of computers. Networks, those of both communication and distribution, changed relatively little from their earliest incarnations until recent times. Early networks used human and/or animal power (with the notable exception of wind-powered ships) to transport goods or information (in the form of either written messages or those stored in memory). The electrification of networks of communication in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (from the telegraph to the telephone to the home Internet connection) continues the history of the realm of the circuit. Additionally, a shocking number of people lack access to networks that provide clean drinking water. Electrified networks produce rapid and sometimes radical social changes. The telephone call allows peoples to project themselves instantly across previously inconceivable distances, a phenomenon known today as telepresence. The cell phone has increased the user’s mobility and has become an accessory as common as the wristwatch, allowing us to connect to the electronic network while we continue to negotiate the familiar physical networks of our lives.

Social Structures

The circuit is home to people and hardware, and networks have value as they reinforce existing social networks, at the same time as they create new networks. Social networking Websites like Flickr, Facebook and MySpace allow participants to connect with friends they already have, while forging new possibilities.
Discontent with the dominance of a particular political, social, or economic system has often produced new inventions and new networks. Networks often serve to destabilize authority and the established order, usually through the dissemination of information critical of the dominant culture or the previous network.

Question 1. What is your thoughts on that half of the world’s population don’t have a telephone, and 35 percent don’t have access to a network of electrical power additionally a large number of people don’t have access to networks that provide clean drinking water?

Self portraits is a form of self expression. As the author shows us many people engaged in this activity in front of mirror years ago. In our new world of digital technology is it wrong to be updating numerous poses over the internet?

Cyber bullying concerns me a lot.  I have seen many documentaries about children committing suicide and the bullies not being held responsible for it.  Do you think that cyber bullies should be held accountable for their actions?

Do you agree with the military ban on MySpace and not Facebook?  Is the military trying to divide the classes even further or afraid that the soldiers will create a negative impression on the war?

Even though change can be good in most situations.  Do you think parents need to become more pro active in their teenagers lives and become more educated on the ever changing world of cyber space to keep them safe from predators?

Please Help! I have being trying to upload my blog picture and it doesn’t seem to be displaying it.  I don’t know what I am doing wrong.

PLEASE HELP

Thank you