Module 13

It's been a fun and exciting class and it's unfortunate that it must come to an end. I have learned quite a bit throughout this class. Especially when we finished the book and moved to different topics.

                I really enjoyed the class time when we talked about 3D printing. I had never heard about 3D printing before so it was very fascinating to me to learn about it and all of the possibilities of 3D printing. I had no idea just how popular it has become just recently. I just watched a short video on Youtube about Microsoft's new windows phone 8's. They did a tour through their prototyping room. I found that Microsoft makes very good use of their 3D printer. They use it daily to make new prototypes to be fitted with circuit boards for testing. The 3D printer they have uses a liquid medium that is cured with UV light.

                I also really enjoyed the assignment that we got to pick a movie about computers and write about it. I watch the whole matrix trilogy with a whole new perspective. I had always thought of the matrix as just a cool action packed film but never really thought anything more of it. The assignment really made me look deeper into the plot of the film.  

                The Friedman book had its moments but a lot of the book felt to repetitive. I really enjoyed the beginning when he explained globalization though. I learned a lot that I didn't know about. I never fully understood why outsourcing is getting so popular but after reading this book and diving a little deeper with internet research. It's much more clear to me the importance of outsourcing to a company and how vital it is to outsource in order to stay in the game.

                One thing I would suggest changes for this class would be the amount of class time. I really enjoyed the class time and feel that's where I learned the most. I think it should be more often than every other week. The class discussions were very interesting and fun.

                It's crazy just how "flat" the world is becoming! You can go just about anywhere just by getting on Google maps! You can learn anything you want just by searching the web. It's getting to the point that we don't even need to leave our homes to go get groceries because you can have someone deliver them to you! I'm very excited for the future of our world and my only advice to everyone is to embrace it because the future is now and it's only getting better. 

Module 12

                I've noticed an unsettling trend with the last few assignments we've had in this class. They have all somehow related to how technology will take over the human race. First we had the logic called Joe, then I did a paper about The Matrix, and now I read this article saying that it's actually possible!?! The article is called "Why the future doesn't need us" written by Bill Joy, it goes into detail about how it's all possible for technology to take over. Joy discusses GNR, the 21st-centuries technologies. GNR stands for genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics.

                I feel that genetic engineering is a very reasonable fear of Joy's. However, with the amount of lab testing and research needed to successfully engineer the genetics of anything just makes it less likely to go wrong in my own opinion. I personally feel that genetic engineering will do more good than bad. Being able to change a person's genes before they're even born to give them a better chance at life by removing any flaws they may have. Or genetically changing someone to make them immune to disease. Even the possibility to genetically engineer plants to produce bigger yields each harvest and animals that grow much larger than before to produce more food for our ever growing population. We have already seen major steps in genetic engineering, I don't think there will be many issues in the near future.

                Nanotechnology is another very reasonable fear of Joy's. I feel that nanotechnology posses a much bigger threat to our world than genetic engineering as it would undoubtedly be much easier to use as a weapon. Imagine the USMC develops suits for soldiers that use nanotechnology to enhance their abilities to kill more efficiently. Now someone decides to sell that technology to terrorist organizations just like they did have done with any other warfare technology. It could ultimately lead to some serious problems.

                Robotics have always been used in doomsday scenarios. In Terminator the Skynet computer decides logically that all humans are a threat and wipes them from the planet or the how the machines in the Matrix takeover the human race and harvest them for power. Robotics is definitely something that could be feared.

                The way I see it is that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. If these new technologies of the 21st-century do pose a threat then we will inevitably use the same technology to counteract that threat. This reminds me of a few video games I have played. For example, the Halo series; an advanced alien race poses a threat to the human race because of their superior technology. As a result, the human race uses the GNR technologies to produce genetically enhanced super soldiers that wear suits that include advanced A.I. and robotics technology to out gun the alien invasion. 

Module 11 yo

                So for this week's assignment we got to choose a movie that involves computers and write about how they incorporate computers and networks. The movie I picked was The Matrix. The Matrix is a movie about a war between the human race and computers. Watching the movie made me think about our previous assignment about the "logic" named Joe. Like I have said before, I think it's natural for us to have some sort of fear for computers and that is where the story of The Matrix came from. The plot is set near the year 2198, computer A.I. (artificial intelligence) becomes self-aware and there starts a war with the human race. After many years of war the humans decide that the computers, or as the movie calls them "machines", won't be able to survive without power so they block the sunlight in order to stop the machines from obtaining their power source. The machines counter this act by enslaving the human race and harvesting the bio-electricity and body heat to power themselves. According to the movie, a human can't just survive without the experience of life so the machines network the humans all together into a virtual world called "The Matrix". This made me laugh because in a way it has already started to happen. I recently build a gaming computer for a friend of mine so he could play The World of Warcraft. We always joke about how he's "plugged in" to the world and feeding the corporate machines his money while they provide him with a false reality. Back on topic, the movie is mostly about how a team of people aboard a ship search the matrix for "The One". They eventually find him, his name is Tom Anderson but he goes by the hacker alias Neo. According to the prophecy, Neo is the reborn form of the one who originally freed many humans from the matrix. He was granted the ability in the first version of the matrix to change things as he saw fit. Neo has the same ability so he is able the hack the matrix and beat the system.

                Now the movie does have some extremely far out concepts but overall it is probable. With advancements made every day in the computer world it's not hard to believe that computers would someday be able to think and act for themselves. As far as starting a war with humans, I'm not so sure about that one. There aren't many social issues brought up in the movie but I am watching the sequel while I am writing this. The sequel is called The Matrix Revolutions and there is a part in the movie that I found interesting. It explains how ghosts and vampires are stories made up from the system to explain the acts of rogue programs within the matrix. This was cool because it explains some cultural beliefs and sticks to the whole theme of the series of "How do you know you're not in a dream world?". Over all the movie was really interesting and I highly suggest you watch it if you have not already.

Module 10

                "Wow" is all I have to say after reading "A Logic Named Joe". I could not believe it was written way back in 1946. The first thing that came to mind was that this was to the people in 1946 what Terminator was to the people in the 1980's. I can only imagine what would go through the authors mind if we brought him to our time and introduced him to our logic named "Google". It's astonishing to me that so much of what these "logics" did in the short story, can be done here and now. It may not be as extreme as the story describes but it sure does make you think. If we're already this close to what the story describes, how much longer until we have computers that are capable of such processing power? We already to this day have super computers used to simulate epidemics and predict the outcomes of natural disasters. Just the other day I found a organization that offered extreme discounts for video cards. Their only requirement was that you run their software when your computer is not in use. What their software did was actually use your processing power in line with thousands of other computers to generate possible cures for cancer, and it only ran while you were away. That is pretty amazing, it reminds me of the "tanks" the story refers to. If we are at a point where we can outsource to Personal Computers to do the combine work of a super computers, imagine what's next! The concepts in this story must have seemed so far out and impossible at the time it was written but we can see it actually happening. Computers can literally do anything now and I think it's natural to feel afraid of it at times because we are becoming aware of just how amazing science and technology have become and just how fast it has arrived.

                The concept of Joe being self aware is interesting to me. How the logic was able to predict that it was smarter than the others so it pretended to be normal to get past inspection. That thought alone would ruin a lot of paranoid people! Could you imagine if your smart phone was secretly plotting your demise by pretending to be normal only to get your information and stab you in the back. Like I stated earlier, this story is much like Terminator. Instead of "Joe" you have "Skynet" they're both computers that became self aware and acted on it logically because that is all they know.

                I believe in the future of technology and I'm extremely excited to see just how it evolves. Who knows, maybe one day it will be the end of us. Mankind, brought down by its own creation. It surely would be an epic way to go! Thank you for reading, have a great night.

Module 9

                In chapter sixteen, Friedman explains how his dell laptop was built. He explains how dells supply chain works and I had no idea that it was as redundant as it was. The laptop he ordered had the possibility of getting parts from over 30 different suppliers and shipped from nearly anywhere in the world. This gives Dell the advantage of literally never being supply blocked. If one supplier is unable to deliver the product they need, there are multiple other suppliers ready to ship the parts needed to complete the laptop. I found it very interesting how Dell is also able to control their supply chain through the use of promotional offers. The example the book gives is so many people order a 40GB HDD (Hard Drive) that the supply chain cannot keep up. Dells response to this is to offer 60GB HDD's for $10.00 more for a limited time only. This changes how many 40GB HDD's are ordered and ensures that the supply chain will not hit a stopping point. Whenever I by a computer part or I am just simply looking at the deals online, it never occurred to me why certain deals exist. It makes more sense to me now, I can imagine the majority of the deals we find online are a result of something similar to Dells HDD example.

                Chapter sixteen also covers how the terrorist group Al-Qaeda uses global supply chains in order to recruit more people and spread their ideas and thoughts throughout the world. The flattening of the world has not only made it easier for businesses and manufactures thrive, it has also allowed other organizations thrive as well. Al-Qaeda uses the flat world to recruit new people and spread their word through the use of the world wide web. This unconcerned medium allows them complete control over the message they want to deliver without having to get any attention from local media and news casts.

                "The Curse of Oil" is the term Freidman uses to describe the problems and issues countries have with their government and economy. Because of the demand for oil, governments often let the power run to their head when they are the ones who are in charge of it. The curse of oil comes when the ones in charge of the oil focus solely on themselves, knowing that they can get anything they want through selling their oil at a high price. They don't rely on the people to produce products and export them to make their economy thrive. A direct result of the curse of oil is under developed communities, cities, countries, etc. They are neglected because they are not needed. The money from the oil is not used for the people as it should be.

Module 8

Computers have been absolutely vital to my education. I can't think of anything I've ever learned that wasn't somehow aided by the use of computers. I don't believe I've even taken a test on paper since the 9th grade. In my opinion, Google is the only resource anyone needs in order to learn anything. It's the ultimate source of up to date information. If you know how to type a sentence into a search engine, the world is yours.

                My first real fond memory of using computers in my education actually goes back to 7th grade. I had just started my entry level percussion class. I always wanted to learn how to play the drums ever since I can remember but my mom couldn't afford lessons or the instruments so I had to go without. The entry level class was not what I had expected, we were required to start with a bell kit... If you don't know what a bell kit is, it's much like a xylophone but smaller and more annoying and lame. I envied the level 2 class because they at least got to play drums, mostly snare, but real drums. I remember feeling cheated but realized my rental bell kit included a practice pad snare drum and a fresh pair of Vic Firth SD1 concert band drum sticks! The first thing I did when I got home what set up my practice pad and pull open YouTube. Every night I would spend 3 to 6 hours watching tutorials and online lessons. This obsession continued on for the next 4 years. I had saved up the money to buy a full drum set and learned to play it from YouTube videos as well. Now I don't like to brag, I just love to play and in my first year of high school I had become the youngest drummer ever to get into the jazz band. All thanks to YouTube.

                My next real obsession actually happened to be computers themselves. Everything I've learned about computers was learned, ironically, from a computer. This was around 11th grade when my mom's old POS Dell was just, well, old. My task was to find a computer on ksl to replace it. What I found was a custom built AMD Athlon 1800+ system. If you know your computer history (which at the time I didn't) you'll know that the Athlon 1800+ was the king of its time. I scored that system for $40.00 cash and when I turned it on for the first time the sound didn't work and it needed hours of windows updates. I had no clue how to fix it but I turned myself to Google. The next thing I know I'm researching computers until 3am. I got really into modding and customizing the system to optimize performance. One day though I pushed it a little too far. I had read about overclocking and thought I could do it. Overclocking is the process in which you slowly, in 5Mhz increments, turn the speed of your processor up. It involves changing voltages, and settings in the BIOS, it's not recommended you attempt unless you know what you're doing. I didn't follow any rules and didn't realize the amount of heat computer produce. In one step, I cranked that CPU from 1800Mhz straight to 3000Mhz. It lasted 10 minutes. I was very upset that I ruined my computer and desperately wanted a replacement. So I continued with my research all online, learning about different components and parts. I finally got the knowledge to purchase all the parts to build a custom computer of my very own. Since then I have gone through many systems, replacing parts every 6 months for better parts, and building systems for my friends and family. I've grown such a passion for computers that I decided to follow that career path and here I am today. The Personal Computer itself, motivated me to further my education.

Module 7

                Comparative advantage is the ability of a party or in this case a country, to produce products, items, and services at a lower cost than their competition. There are a lot of factors that contribute to this. For example, China is very big in manufacturing because they're able to produce a high yield because of their high population and cheap labor whereas if the same products were produced in the U.S. it would be much more costly. Because of this, China has a comparative advantage.

                A self-directed consumer is a consumer that uses all the tools available to them to get their exact price, experience, and service they want when making a purchase. I am an extremely self-directed consumer. I rarely ever purchase anything without some research on the product. My use of the internet has greatly enhanced my experience of purchasing things I want or need. For example, I am an avid computer enthusiast and I love building custom high end computer systems for both myself and paying customers. Because of this, I am quite fond of newegg.com. If you don't know what newegg.com is, it's a website that sells computer hardware, software, and other items. Newegg tailors to my self-directed nature extremely well. Rather than going to Wal-Mart and buying an HP or a Dell computer, I can customize my own computer with parts from brands I know and love all the way down to the color of wires and cable I desire. This not only fulfils my picky needs for my high end system but it allows me to custom build systems for clients of my own to fit their price, needs, and expectations.

                I personally think that the ideas of globalization and Americanization are both completely different. Globalization refers to the growth and unity of the whole world, merging new ideas, companies, and businesses to compete on a global market rather than a local or regional market. Americanization refers to the influence America has on other countries products, culture, beliefs, etc. One could argue that globalization is forcing other countries to live an American lifestyle but I don't see it that way. The way I see it, the new lifestyle is a product born from globalization itself because other countries are still retaining their cultures and beliefs.