The Good of Technology

I've alluded to this in the past...but as much as I slag technology sometimes, I have to admit that from a very personal perspective, technology has aided me immensely over the past few years as I've researched medical and legal issues.

The biggest problem that I can see in this research area is that there is a total plethora of resources out there and even within one specific site that I've used frequently, there's easily 50 years of history to sift through.  What this means is that it's important to develop techniques between sites and within sites as you're looking for information.

Having said all this, my primary piece of advice is that it's fine to look towards the Internet for information and resources - but to question everything that you read and to realize that (as I mentioned in previous blog entries), a slick and professional website doesn't necessarily mean that the information is correct, valid an impartial.

Of course, this caveat applies to more conventional sources like newspapers and radio news articles.  There is always some form of bias - conscious or unconscious.

Due diligence is the key - yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Blog Traffic

Just had a hit from what I gather is probably a spider...out of curiosity, I went to the site and it apparently had tips for using embedded tags and optimization and such to increase traffic.  I think that I will bookmark this page and come back to it, it would be a very interesting exercise in how to increase traffic.  Maybe then I'd make more than the massive $0.29 that I've made so far.

Serious people, click on some ads - papa needs some revenue!!

The Stepping Stone Generation

This is something that a very good friend of mine and I were discussing over lunch a couple of weeks ago.  He and I and all others of our generation - and those a little younger and a little older (but not much either way!) are in a very unique position, one that I think is safe to say will never be experience again.

This will probably come across as a couple of older guys reminiscing about the past and it may be the case to an extent.

However, the thing is that we are one of the very few who have experienced significant portions of a our lives before the computer revolution and the latter parts fully immersed in technology.


Certainly any generation can probably make similar claims.  For example, those who were alive in the early 1900's can probably make the same statement about the automobile and the irreversible impact it had on the society then.  Just the same as later generations will be able to compare their youth in the early 21st century and contrast it with the inevitable leaps and bounds of technology.

All of that having been said, I think that there is no generation that can point to a "simpler" (although not necessarily better) life before the digital revolution.

When my daughter was younger, she loved to hear "stories" of the past.  The equivalent "when I was a child, I walked ten miles to school" was replaced by my recalling how there were no cellphones, that most houses had one phone and there was no privacy as it was attached to the wall.  Or I would convey my stories of our first TV and she would giggle when I said that we had to get off the sofa to change stations or adjust the volume.

As always (and as I often say in this blog) technology has it's good and it's bad.  My only advice to people is to try to treasure those moments that aren't necessarily totally driven by technology.

Virtual(ly) Reality

 vir·tu·al·ly

adv
\ˈvər-chə-wə-lē, -chə-lē; ˈvərch-wə-lē\

Definition of VIRTUALLY

1 : almost entirely : nearly

2: for all practical purposes <virtually unknown>

The term “virtual reality” seems to be becoming more common in our lexicon. When I look at these two words together, it becomes apparent to me that virtual reality is an oxymoron, as much as “open secret” or “larger half” is. Most of us are aware of how an oxymoron is two terms that contradict each other and logically can’t be used in conjunction with one another.

I contend that Virtual Reality is another oxymoron – you cannot say that something “almost entirely” exists. If something fully exists – it’s reality, if it almost entirely exists, then it cannot be.

So many times this term is tossed around as if the two terms were complementary, but they’re not. I think that this is a symptom of our society. There almost seems to be this underlying thought that the lives we live online are just about comparable to the world we live off-line.

I look at social networking and see how people are proud of the fact that they have 452 friends on Facebook. Most of these people aren’t “friends”; they are people that you know in varying degrees of detail. For anyone with 452 friends, I challenge you to take 10 names of friends at random and step away from the computer and write down what they’re doing in their lives. I’m betting with the bevy of status updates and tweets that most people don’t follow more than 10% of their “friend base”.

Using social networking CAN be an effective communications tool once the relationship has been nurtured and established. It can be a wonderful medium where a loved one or a classmate lives across the country but not to the exclusion of the personal touch.

For me though, there’s no substitute for being the same room with a person. Being in person allows me to hear her voice, to see her smile or a flit of anger in her eyes. It’s impossible to communicate the same way online and words can be misconstrued.

One of the tenets of science faction (my term for technologies that aren’t here yet, but are probably inevitable, or at least they are feasible) is the development of technologies that allow lovers to experience touch via specially designed suits that are programmed to apply pressure according to signals received from their mate. The thing is that I don’t think that this would even be a pale comparison of the real thing. In this instance, it’s really still just a machine that’s applying pressure even though it’s controlled by the person on the other end. I doubt if any technology would be developed that would allow someone to be truly caressed from afar.

Social networking does have its benefits - in a limited and a reasonable context. Where we fail as a society though is where people think that the technology replaces instead of enhances the physicality of being with a person. If and when that ever changes and if technology develops to the point where this type of interaction is the norm …well…that is the point where I’ll just get off of this technological merry-go-round.

The Future of Software & Apps

There was a very interesting article that I read - sorry, don't have the link.  The basic premise is that "industry experts" are all saying that apps and software installed on devices (especially tablets, iPods, etc...) are for all intents and purposes "dead" and that the real "future" of application delivery is via websites.

As a guy who has been around software development since it's virtual inception in the 80's (as a mainstream technology) I am - to say the least - skeptical.

There's a lot of this I understand in that methods of distribution, ease of updates, developing for a common web based environment...this all sounds great in concept - and it way be. The problem will be though is that if this is going to be the new method of software, then there's going to need to be a mechanism somehow for offline delivery of content.  Maybe they've figure it out and have a plan.  What I can say is that when I see individuals on the subway where there's no cell or WiFi service - I really don't think that people will be too fond at having the functionality of their favourite devices tied so closely to online accessibility.

I will need to find this article and read some more - I can't imagine that this hasn't been raised as an issue.

Happy World Toilet Day!

Yes - that's right - can you IMAGINE that it's World Toilet Day already?  I can't believe that another 365 days have flushed by!

Now, I'm getting a handle on how to tie this in to technology.  After all, technology <> toilets, right?  Wrong!

Kohler has introduced the latest high tech toilet with it's own tablet PC built in to control it's functionality.  Now having a remote control for the loo - THAT my friends, is a movement!  Said remote controls lighting, cleansing spray action, general sanitation? 

Sorry, but I will give the high-tech toilet the poo-poo.  I'm just scared that I will be so dependant on this technlogy that I will be unable to "go" on my own.  It's been a long time that I haven't been totally in control of my own...ummm....functions...for lack of a better word (to put it delicately) and I am bound and determined to not go with the flow on this one!

Blogging in 2011

Just noticed the other day at how few blog entries that I had in 2011 - especially in the last 2/3 of it.  It's been a crazy year for me with lots of real world stuff going on to distract me, but I'm hoping that I'll get back to normal.

Google Sketchy...

...this is how I'm feeling by Google's recent announcement that they're taking on the big boys of the music industry, specifically iTunes.

First of all, that's a heck of a mountain to climb!  I don't know that the market saturation is for Apple in the download purchase area, but I'd have to imagine that they're not only the leaders but they're dominant.   It will be a heck of a battle to gain market share I'd think.

Also, let's face it, Google is monolithic and they've had some great products and innovations, but they've also had their share of misses that sucked wind.   I think that the folks at Google will throw lots of jello at the wall and if half of them stick, then that's great, but I think it's safe to say that there's not a lot of panic in Cuperinto

Happy Birthday to You!!!

Wow, I never knew!  Today is a very momentous day in the field of technology.  The very first single-chip microprocessor was introduced on this day 40 years ago!  The chip - the 4004 was a 4 bit chip running a slug's pace of 740khz and it had programmable memory of...4 K.

I'm sure that a lot of you like "big whoop", but this is the "Adam" to just about anything with a processor, from your cellphone to your car, your microwave, everything.

To give some context on how far technology has gone in the past 40 years, the current processor would run at maybe 4.0ghz.  Comparing this to the 740khz of the 4004 is like comparing thousands to billions.  Quite a difference.

For me though, it's the memory.  To have 4,000 characters of memory available - I just can't fathom that compared to the capacity of a modern processor.

I very badly want to fast forward 40 MORE years and see how technology has increased exponentially!

"The sheer number of advances in the next 40 years will equal or surpass all of the innovative activity that has taken place over the last 10,000 years of human history," said Justin Rattner, Intel chief technology officer, in a written statement.  

I'm not sure if this statement excites me, or scares the beejesus out of me - probably a bit of both!

Technological Anesthesia

The topic for this article came to me in a flash as I was innocuously talking about movies with a colleague of mine. We were talking about Remembrance Day and she was telling me how she couldn’t watch “Saving Private Ryan” as it was just too much for her; it was just much too intense. My response to her was that she’s very correct, that it’s an extraordinarily powerful movie and it wasn’t easy to watch. Further, I went on to say that I had a feeling that what Saving Private Ryan portrayed was probably very close to reality. My thoughts were that I didn’t mind the fact that movie was so graphic because the intent was to show how horrible war was – that the reality wasn’t John Wayne shooting some guy with a ten gallon hat who dropped down in a very tidy and dainty death.

Now, this started me thinking…

As a teen, I was a big fan of Star Trek. This conversation reminded me of one of my absolute favourite episodes. In this particular episode, the gang from the U.S.S. Enterprise was called upon to try to resolve a war between two feuding planets that had been going on for centuries. As Captain Kirk began to understand the situation, he came to the realization that these two societies had come up with a creative and “civilized” manner of warfare.

Instead of resolving their disputes with conventional warfare, each side had a computer which randomly selected citizens from the other planet. These chosen few dutifully marched towards the chambers where they were zapped into non-existence. The uppity-ups of society applauded this approach saying how humane, cost-efficient it was, not to mention the total lack of collateral damage. Kirk’s inevitable end of episode soliloquy stated that THIS was the whole problem – that they weren’t experiencing the travesty and the destruction of war so they didn’t have the incentive to resolve the conflict.

I relate this episode to something that I call technological anesthesia. Simply put, excessive use of technology in our day to day lives can numb our senses and distort reality.

There was a recent study where doctors noticed a phenomena where young male adults who normally are…how shall I delicately say – enamored with the thought of the physical attributes of the opposite sex are actually being diagnosed with withering sex drives. Their findings are that in many of these cases, these are men who spend just a bit too much time viewing the plethora of pornography online, and as a result, they’re quite desensitized.

There’s another aspect of technological anesthesia which becomes increasingly prevalent, and this is what are referred to as “trolls”. A troll is a term for someone who logs into a message board and posts something inflammatory or offensive, just to cause a ruckus. Many times when on message boards, there are “flame wars” or insults lobbed back and forth between combatants. The problem is that when we interact online, we often forget that there are actually people on the other end – all that we see are the digital personas and such, who cares if they’re offended or hurt by our words? It goes without saying that if you took all of the citizens of one specific inflammatory message board and put them all in a room and forced them to talk and engage with each other, I think that it’s safe to assume that the bravado which is displayed online would not be nearly as common, lest someone get a poke in the nose otherwise.

In my mind, this in a nutshell is one of the biggest problems with online communication, interaction and social networking. We have lost that humanity and are only seeing the bits and bytes of letters flowing across the screen without giving due consideration that the other person is someone’s daughter, someone’s father or someone’s aunt.