IBM's Watson jeopardizes humanity in game 2

So as I was watching TV I saw that Jeopardy only had two contestants. This caught me off guard since I am use to three people answering questions. Then as I watched I realized that the third contestant was a computer. This computer, named Watson, was answering questions and answering far more questions then the human contestants. Watson seemed unstoppable! This article I read talks about how this computer is putting humans to shame, yet I personally don't find this as a surprise. Obviously A computer is going to be more proficient and correct then a human. What surprised me was how fast this computer had the answers. I guess when a question is picked it is sent to the computer through text. and then the computer searches for the answer in his database. Also Watson has decision making skills when it comes to gambling his money. When Watson had a 32% chance of answering a question correctly he bet a lower amount of money. Overall I find this very interesting. We are now reaching that time where computers can "think". They are capable to be on game shows!! As long as these computers do not get a mind of their own and start killing people I have no problem with it.

-SOUTHPAW

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20032145-71.html?tag=topTechContentWrap;editorPicks

The Medium IS the Message

In this passage something stuck out to me more then anything. It was talked about how technology is an extension of ourselves. In this day and age we are no longer responsible for our own individualism but also the part of us in the technological world. Yet I find it funny how people treat this extension of themselves. One main analogy I can use is what my baseball coach told me. He told me that when a player is not doing well and is not succeeding he gets the blame. Kids tell the coach that what he taught does not work and causing him to fail. Then on the flip side when the kids succeed the coach gets no credit. Kids say THEY did it and THEY did great. No acknowledgment is given to the coach for helping. This all relates to the extension o ourselves. We tend to blame technology when they do not perform for use. We think the technology is ruining our image and ruining our technology extension. Then when technology performs greatly and does great we say we did it and it was all us. We need to realize that while we may be doing work ourselves we still need to respect our extension of ourselves.

-SOUTHPAW

CONSEQUENCES OF ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING

After reading this article it made me think about how online social networks are different from face to face relationships with people. The article tells how people on social network sites feel less anxious and posses greater self esteem . I can only think of one reason why. Its all about who we associate ourselves with. I personally feel in real life the face to face world it is difficult to find many people who posses the same interest or qualities as yourself. Lots of times people associate themselves with people who are completely different from them. This all changes when entering the online social networking world. Online it is easy to enter a blog group or find people with similar interest. If you enjoy old comic books i can bet somewhere online you can find an entire site where you can share ideas and thoughts. This explains the less anxious and greater self esteem. When you associate your self with people of similar nature it is easy to be your self with no worries. Its when you are surrounded by those who you do not feel comfortable being your self with that create problems. To be honest people do find people of similar qualities in the face to face world but not all the time. Online any one can find those people who they can feel comfortable with.

-SOUTHPAW

5 Ways to Improve Facebook Saftey

As we all know facebook is very popular. We share information about our lives and make information available on our page that we may not share on a daily basis in face to face communication. This is why we also would like to have some privacy as well on facebook. We have friend request we can accept or ignore, privacy settings and we can even block a certain person if we want. Although that's not all!! In the article 5 Ways to Improve Face Safety it talks about extra ways we can keep our safety on Facebook. The one main point i found the most effective is reporting abuse. Its tough to stop abuse and is seen A LOT! So instead of just looking at it or even laughing along with it just report it! Reporting doesn't take a lot of effort and is a great way as a whole to stop abuse.

-SOUTHPAW

http://www.allfacebook.com/5-ways-to-improve-safety-on-facebook-2011-02

The quality of online social relationships

This article seemed to be asking if being online is more productive in social relationships versus face to face. Personally I feel it all depends on the type of relationship. When it comes to having a relationship for example "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationship then the good old fashion face to face communication will always be best. The online relationship can help but only to an extent. In the work place it seems to depend on the type pf job you have. Some jobs require a good re pore with costumers or clients. Where other jobs all you need is to give out or receive information. When it comes to having to build a re pore then online will not substitute face to face communication. When it comes to giving or receiving information then online takes the place of face to face communication, even the articles shows proof of that. Online communication can help out and should never be counted out as an option. Even in the "boyfriend-girlfriend" relationship that requires face to face communication the online relationship could help, for example, if one person has to travel far away for a period of time. Then they can communicate online. The online communication will never substitute face to face but will be more of support.

-SOUTHPAW

Man-Computer Symbiosis

To Be honest I did not fully understand what exactly the article was trying to tell me, the reader. I re-read the meaning of symbiosis and read the analogy and it made sense to me, or at least i think! The computer needs to be compatible with humans although doing that requires a wide variety of requirements. These requirements almost seem to be unreachable. When it comes to computers they can answer many questions and do many things any ordinary person could not do on their own. The only thing is that computers need to be previously aware of the answer. Like a calculator, the computer already has all the answers it just needs to be asked the question. The problem that comes with that is there are new things that arise. Humans have a capability of creating a new way of doing things that computers do not. If something drastic has occurred a computer will need to be upgraded in order to keep up with the world. In this day and age I do believe the computer is trying to be more compatible for humans. In a sense computers are attempting to learn. All i need to do is type in the first few letters of my favorite Musical artist and my computer knows who I want to listen to. Computers are still a step behind us humans but are catching up.

-SOUTHPAW

90% of Americans own a computerized gadget

 I read the article 90% of Americans own a computerized gadget from CNN.COM. The title speaks for its self but it is extremely crazy how many people now a days posses es something electronic. Eighty five percent of Americans own a cell phone! Technology is everywhere and taking over. I know people who would litterly feel physically effected if they forget their cell phone before they go out. An attachment with our technology is growing and growing. So when new devices are brought out to the public most people feel that they need to own it.No one want to be left behind and when an obsession with devices is present people will always want to upgrade. I personally feel all companies know this exact thing. I also think companies have devices that are so advanced it would blow peoples minds. The thing is they gradually make these advances available to people. They give the public enough to satisfy their obsession but leave just enough so they will want more. People rely on technology and the numbers prove it.

You can find the link here: http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/mobile/02/03/texting.photos.gahran/index.html
- SOUTHPAW

The Written Word: From Printing to the internet

I enjoyed the focus of "the past" in the beginning of the article. "the past" is history and for a long time was passed on through word of mouth. Ways of life and past events were all memorized and exchanged from person to person by good old fashion speech. But as time went on evolution took over and the exchange of information was now becoming more and more efficient. Paper was the first great step in this evolution and gradually worked its way up  to things like email. During the reading of this article I had two main things that stuck in my mind. I was wondering which ways of this exchange of info will stick around or diminish. In addition, I was wondering what new ideas will come around.

Over the time things like the type writer have come and gone. It seems that over time there will always be a new advanced way of communicating that will cause a previous option to never be chosen again. Yet with that being said I do find it very amazing and interesting that the first option for information exchange is still around to this day. Even with instant messaging and txt messaging paper still is very important and used often. Paper in the end will always be the most reliable and convenient option no matter how technologically advanced we become.

New ideas always arise somewhere and in some form. Eve when we believe there is nothing else possible that could be made, a new device comes out to the public. Our progression of exchanging information is always evolving everyday. I am excited to see what will happen next. It may seem like there can be nothing else to invent but starting from the early caveman this information exchange evolution has not stopped and will never stop.

-SOUTHPAW

Be Who You Want to Be

The article Be Who You Want To be was very interesting to me. It is amazing how a simple website is such a big source of communication. Keeping in touch with relatives and friends from high school is now easier then ever. A single click and you can find out what a person has been up to for that week. Status updates literally take you into the minds of people. You see what people are doing and what they are thinking. That is of course of you display this information on facebook. Keeping everything about your life a secret will be extremely hard to do on facebook but can be done to an extent. I personally never make status updates. I never had an interest for displying what I am thinking at any given moment. I rarely comment on peoples walls either and if I do receive a message for some reason I don't often reply. I enjoy the social network i provides but me as an individual I am very "to myself". Oddly enough facebook does cater to those people as well. I can talk to people to messages which only the people I wish to see can see or I can talk on fb chat which is an instant messaging system.

 A certain topic that Be Who You Want To be  Went over that caught my eye was profile pictures. In communications the nonverbal communication is huge. Gestures can portray things faster then if said. Pictures on Facebook are the new nonverbal communication. A picture can show your interests and your dislikes. No words need to be said or discussions held ,all that needs to be done is taking a look at a picture. Like they say " a picture is worth a thousand words".