Week 12 writting assignment

I think that the Turing test is a good test of intelligence, it is interesting however that no programme has ever passed it. To determine weather or not a computer is intelligent one has to prove it has the ability to think intelligently like a human. This test defiantly proves that by comparing the computer to the human to see if one can tell the two apart. This might be the best and easiest way for us to judge if it is an "intelligent" machine. However we are really the only one's who can determine if something is intelligent, and to make it fair we have this test.

Some drawbacks are that the evaluators are human and can be byest. For example evaluators knowledge and background can effect there answers. A better way to determine weather a computer is intelligent would be to build a programme that is unbiased to determine it. Although a programme can have it's drawbacks to, and that would be a hard programme to write.

Web 2.0 lab

Some interesting mashups:

1.) http://www4.wiwiss.fu-berlin.de/flickrwrappr/
For each picture the wrappr generates other angles of the same photo. It basically lets you get severial diffrent views of the one photo. This is really interesting because it takes a two dimensional figure and makes it almost 3D.
2.) http://mapito.eu/
This site has a spirl of a bunch of random photos from all over the world. I think that this is a really cool site for anyone who has been to europe and seen a lot of these sites. It is really interesting to see them all from diffrent angles. Plus when you click on the photo you get taken to a page that talks all about the destination the photo was taken in.
3.) http://slut-o-meter.com/
This is kinda of a weird one and I'm not sure if it works properly or if I am just not doing it right, but it's a cool concept. You type a name into it and it shows how offten that name has been googled.

Week 10 writting assignement

There are many many organizations that I have given way to much info out to in the past. A lot of times you don't even think about it until they have your info. For example I can think of countless times I have written my e-mail down on things, or filled it out on a form for some company, say to get a free magazine or enter a raffle. But that is also just minor info that one could probably find in a phone book.
The Internet has taken shopping to an entirely new level these days, one where we don't even have to leave the comforts of home to buy something we need. Because of this so much of our important private info is spread all over the web. It is kind of scary to think how many web sites I have typed all my credit card info onto, and also how many of these web sites store this info for later use.
I definitely think the type of organization effects how comfortable I am at giving out my information. If it is a big , well respected organization, lets say like itunes, I have no problem typing pretty much anything they tell me to type onto there application. I am very trusting of big well known corporations, which I feel is true about a lot of people. I don't think I have given my social security number out that much, but I guess there is the bank, my credit card company, the school, and probably a few close friends might know or have had access to it. I would never give out my social security number, credit card number, or anything else that is important information to some small company I had never heard of. The smaller and less established of a company the less I trust them. I don't think I would ever type my social security number into anything online unless I was applying for a job or school. I try and limit the amount of info I give to marketers, for example any kind of gimmick that I let myself be drawn into I try to always give fake information.

Week 9

I think that there it is a very ethical struggle weather or not it is ok to steal music from the Internet. One would debate if it IS stealing if it is file sharing. However since I found out that the artists aren't actually the ones profiting from the record sales at all, that it is all the record company, I feel even less moral conflicted about downloading songs for free from the Internet. I feel like the record company is entitle to there fair share of the musicians profit but at the same time I don't think they are going bankrupt anytime soon. Even if people are not going out and buying CD's they are still downloading the music from itunes, which the record company is still profiting from.
It is defiantly a grey area with file sharing, and weather it is ok to burn a friends CD so you don't have to go out and buy it. I don't really know if I believe it's wrong or not though. I certainly do it, but that doesn't make it right. I guess I feel that if the artist is willing to take the risk and put there stuff out there then they are going to have to be prepared for the consequences. Plus if it were my music I would just want as many people as possible listening to it and appreciating it. Record sales are very important, but I think popularity matters even more. These two things used to be linked together, but not necessarily any more. Getting your art out there is the biggest struggle, and if it gets out there and recognized then the fight is won. Plus the record company already paid you up front, so your set!

Week 7

This week we learned through a set of intersting articles what an RFID is. RFID stands for radio frequency identification, it is a tinny microchip that listens for radio waves. When it hears them it responds and sends back a signal. These chips can be used to track people through the objects they surround themselves with. For example they are thinking of putting these chips in peoples clothing and food bags.
Two potential benefits of RFID's are: 1. RIFD's can reduce theft a great deal, one retailer estimated it would save them $50 billion dollars a year in theft. 2. Another advantage to RIFD's is the convenience. One day shoppers might just be able to go pick the item off the shelf and not have to wait in line to purchase it. The RIFD would just send a single to there account and doc the money from there secure RIFD account.
Two privacy concerns are:1. It can be used to abuse peoples rights and freedoms. This new technology allows us to see where any person is at any given time, that can be dangerously abused if not handled by responsible people. For example if someone wants to find out if there spouse is cheating on them they can petition to get there RIFD records. Or say a burglar is casing a alley to see if there is any expensive electronic wear near by, they can just check the RIFD signals in the area.

Week 4 assignment

Electronic waist is such a problem because no one wants to deal with it. Even after a electronic item has been "recycled" there are still parts left that no one knows what to do with. This is a huge problem because we end up sending our wast and problems to other poorer countries to deal with. It isn't a fair or just solution but it is easy. It is hard for a company to willingly loose money by recycling of there electronics a different way.
My own habits could change a lot involving how I dispose of my old electronics. For one I can maybe pay a little more and have my electronics safely recylced, and I can donate them to goodwill, or other foundations. Many electronics can be reused by other people and they don't need to be destroyed.
I think that the most effective thing we can do is to help raise awareness. The more people know about how there electronics are disposed off the more chance change will happen.

Writting assignment 3- internet archive

The Internet archives were created to offer permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to outdated websites that would have been replaced on the Internet if not for this archive. The archive captures all sorts of information ranging from older texts to actual web pages. This site also has a data base of old audio files, moving images, and software.

The archive has many important uses. The Internet, like any other written record of human history, should be preserved for future generations to study and further understand out technological evolution and human behavior. Three main uses of the archive are: to track the Internets evolution and see how it has changed over the years; To better understand the economy and see how effective different things like advertising have been throughout the years on different web sites; and to exercises "our right to remember". Exercising out right to remember is really the most important use of the archive. With so much of our businesses and political world going digital these days it is important to record it all. It is a new part of our history just as important as a history book or library of congress.