Technological Singularity? Agree or Disagree?

The theory of Technological Singularity that was created by Ray Kurzweil is a theory that I both agree and disagree with. The Technological Singularity typically postulate an "intelligence explosion", where super intelligence design successive generations of increasingly powerful minds, might occur very quickly and might not stop until the agent's cognitive abilities greatly surpass that of any human. The reason that I agree with this theory, because of the technological advancement that is moving ahead at such a rapid pace, I wouldn't be surprised if we do create such highly intelligence beings. On the other hand, we never know if our technology will ever become advanced enough to do such things because it might be too much for us. I acknowledge that this can happen but I also think that our human capabilities might not be able to come up with the technology unless another Tim Berners-Lee or Bill Gates appears able to do the impossible because that’s what humans have been doing every day, tackling the impossible.

Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message

Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher of communication theory. His work is viewed as one of the cornerstones of the study of media theory, as well as having practical applications in the advertising and television industries. McLuhan is known for coining the expressions the medium is the message and the global village, and for predicting the World Wide Web almost thirty years before it was invented. With the arrival of the internet there was renewed interest in his work and perspective. The time is ripe for a fresh appraisal of his thought--an enterprise to which Marshall McLuhan: The Medium is the Message makes an indispensable contribution. Aside from providing that service, this biography tells a story that is fascinating in its own right, especially as it illuminates the enormous gap between the “media guru” and the real man in all his complexities and contradictions. "The medium is the message" is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived. The phrase was introduced in his most widely known book, Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man, published in 1964. McLuhan proposes that a medium itself, not the content it carries, should be the focus of study. He said that a medium affects the society in which it plays a role not only by the content delivered over the medium, but also by the characteristics of the medium itself.

Information Age and a Global Village: April 3rd, 2013

The internet has grown at an incredible rate where anywhere and everywhere, there is technology that is being used. The information age is a period in human history where there is a shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on the information computerization. This age is right now and has been booming ever since the 20th century. The internet has been a big part of why the information age has gotten so big and important. Because of the internet, access to everything is now much more convenient and things like this spread out over time since people nowadays want things done fast and quick. In a commercialized society, the information industry is able to allow individuals to explore their personalized needs, therefore simplifies the procedure of making decisions for transactions and significantly lowers costs for both the producers and buyers. So in a way humans are a part of the promotion of the Information Age because we are the ones that spread the power of the internet and technology so that everyone wants in on the latest and most innovative way to get things done. Now everyone around the world is connected, something that wasn't even thought was possible 100 years ago.

April 2nd Assignment: Marketing online

One of the products that are marketed through the internet would be a house. There are many different good and bad things that come with marketing an idea online. One of the merits is that you are able to know the full specifications of the house more than if you looked at it in real life. The size of the house and the pictures that they display on the internet can make the house look more appealing and better. This can also be a bad thing because one person might not want to know about the full information about the house since it can get very overwhelming. One of the demerits to marketing a house online is that it doesn't give you all the details about the house like maybe there might be problems with the house that the previous owner doesn't tell. So the new house owner might have to get stuck with the bills of clearing up the problem. There also might not be enough web strategy of trying to market the house online, rendering it useless. The information that is said online might not always be true so you might get let down when you actually see the house. Some people just might want to meet in person more than online since when you are looking at it through the internet, it might make you feel a bit isolated and discourage you from buying the product.

Big Data

Big Data has been the new talk in technology these days. Big Data is a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional data processing applications. As technology continues to advance, people become more reliant on technology to keep things in storage and just to do things faster. Big Data is a very dangerous thing and yet, it can be both a bad and good thing depending on the level of control we have over the amount of data that is storing information every day. Big Data has been a useful tool for research and the government. It is very useful to store new information that you might find out about in science since we are always discovering new things about the world we live in. Sometimes the large amount of information we collect can get too hard to keep so we rely on the never ending storage, data. Big Data is a very convenient storage for everyone to use. In our society right now, being fast and efficient is the pace that most people work in. It makes life easier for people to have the storage there to store your information anytime you want. Our dependence on technology and Big Data has become such a big part of everyone’s lives that it would be strange without it. But Big Data isn't always a good thing. In Big Data there is more and more personal information that can get stored since there is so much storage, but there is always a chance that the information can leak for some reason. Big Data makes people more comfortable with sharing information online. Also with so much data storage and more data getting stored, there can be a chance that it gets uncontrollable at some point and it might end up being revealed to everyone.

Paragraph on What my Webpage is!

Angela Moy

            The webpage that I will make is going to be on Korean Music groups and singers. The front page will have an introductory page about Korean Music and the list of idol groups that you can click on to see what members there are and some information about them. There would also be information about the groups and some of their achievements. There might be some usage of graphs that will be used for some of the names and their information. There would also be pictures that will show who the idol is. There will probably be well over 10 groups Korean groups with information on it. The group that will be most focused on will be Girls Generation since they are my favorite groups. On the front page I want to make a side bar where you can click on the groups you want to look on the information about.

Chapter 1 Blown to Bits Summary

In the world today, everything is made up of bits. Bits are the pictures we see on the internet, the information we find, and the radio waves we use to talk on the phone with each other. With technological advancement happening so quickly in such a short amount of time, everything getting sent around the world faster than one person can think. Technology has become a part of people’s everyday lives for most people, and for stores who need to store information and keep record of everything that happens. Bits are made up of everything you can think of relating to technology. There is something called the Koans of Bits, which is 4 principles that describe what bits are. The first Koan talks about the fact that everything is made of bits. All the information you see on the computer, calling from your phone, or playing video games. The second Koan talks about bits being perfect. Whenever you send something from one place to another on the internet, the file will send the same exact copy. It is very rare that there would be a mistake during the transfer of the file and the chances are very slim. The third Koan is that there are plenty of bits available everywhere now. Hard drives and memory storage are growing in incredible rates every year, having the capacity to store more and more bits in computers. The use of the internet has grown in incredible rates where sources and information is getting easier and easier to access. The fourth Koan is that processing is power. The power of processing has grown at incredible rates. The speed of processors has surpassed the Moore’s Law and has continue to increase in speed resulting in consumer goods going out faster than before. Another Koan about bits is that bits never go away. Bits can be stored and copied thousands of time on the internet. As storing information gets easier, the need to store more information is starting to show more on the internet. Bits can transfer and move faster than anyone could ever imagine. Information goes around faster than relaying it in the same city the information came from. Technology has both its perks and faults. It all depends on how you choose to use the technology and how you use it.In the world today, everything is made up of bits. Bits are the pictures we see on the internet, the information we find, and the radio waves we use to talk on the phone with each other. With technological advancement happening so quickly in such a short amount of time, everything getting sent around the world faster than one person can think. Technology has become a part of people’s everyday lives for most people, and for stores who need to store information and keep record of everything that happens. Bits are made up of everything you can think of relating to technology. There is something called the Koans of Bits, which is 4 principles that describe what bits are. The first Koan talks about the fact that everything is made of bits. All the information you see on the computer, calling from your phone, or playing video games. The second Koan talks about bits being perfect. Whenever you send something from one place to another on the internet, the file will send the same exact copy. It is very rare that there would be a mistake during the transfer of the file and the chances are very slim. The third Koan is that there are plenty of bits available everywhere now. Hard drives and memory storage are growing in incredible rates every year, having the capacity to store more and more bits in computers. The use of the internet has grown in incredible rates where sources and information is getting easier and easier to access. The fourth Koan is that processing is power. The power of processing has grown at incredible rates. The speed of processors has surpassed the Moore’s Law and has continue to increase in speed resulting in consumer goods going out faster than before. Another Koan about bits is that bits never go away. Bits can be stored and copied thousands of time on the internet. As storing information gets easier, the need to store more information is starting to show more on the internet. Bits can transfer and move faster than anyone could ever imagine. Information goes around faster than relaying it in the same city the information came from. Technology has both its perks and faults. It all depends on how you choose to use the technology and how you use it.