Final thoughts on COM 435

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in | Posted on 8:51 PM

Alas, this is my last post. My last semester is nearing, and this is my final assignment of my undergraduate career.

This past week we did poster presentations. I presented on Monday, and my topic was about MIT's first robotic opera. Death and the Powers will premiere across the U.S. and Monaco during the 2010 - 2011 theater year. The plot line revolves around an inventor named Simon Powers who decides he wants to live forever. He "downloads" himself into a machine called The System so the essence of who he is can live on past his own human life. It is a topic that even came up during our own class; where is the line between human and machine?

My poster highlighted six main sections. One section covered the synopsis of the play, four sections discussed specific emerging technologies implemented in this opera, and the final section talked about the importance of this play for the performing arts community. I also attached two iPods on my poster that displayed the opera's trailer. Overall, I was really pleased with the outcome of my poster and presentation of it. Below is a description of one of the technologies I talked about during my project.



On Friday, I went to the other half of my class' poster presentation. I looked through their displays, asked questions, and then tweeted about them on my Twitter account. I enjoyed learning about my classmates' posters quite a bit. What I find most interesting is how each student is drawn to a certain type of emerging technology, and that is typically what they did for their poster.

Finally, COM 435 was definitely an experience. I have learned about technology through my jobs, husband, and friends, but I have never been a part of a class that's sole purpose was to encourage information sharing about emerging technologies. I already knew about several topics we discussed in class, but there was so much more that I had never even heard about before this semester. I hope I can use some elements in my future public relations career.

Farewell, Professor K and Prashant!

Critical Analysis Paper #2

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in , , , | Posted on 12:54 AM

This week I spent a lot of time writing COM435's Critical Analysis Paper #2. The topic was to discuss cyborg ethics. What is a cyborg? Well, I'm glad you asked.

A cyborg is "a human being whose body has been taken over in whole or in part by electromechanical devices," according to a Princeton dictionary.

Basically, the assignment was to pick a cyborg technology and describe it within a certain perspective while utilizing a specified course reading, TED video, and two sources of our choice. I was really moved by the TEDtalk from Aimee Mann and did some research on her; my goodness, she is an amazing woman. TED won't let you download the video but check out her video in the following link:


My paper dealt with bionic legs as a cultural disruption to the Olympic and Paralympic community. My paper primarily focused on one South African athlete, Oscar Pistorius, and how he has grabbed the world's attention as a double amputee running using Flex-Foot Cheetah legs. He has achieved several gold medals and world records from the Paralympic Games, but now he would like to compete in the Olympics.


I won't bore you with my whole paper because frankly, I think my only reader is the person who grades my papers. However, there was more I wanted to discuss that did not fit into the five page limit. So here we go.

Using Flex-Foot Cheetahs do not take away the chance of injury to cyborgs. Many who oppose bionic legs in the Olympics believe it is an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes, when in reality, it seems like cyborgs still face similar but different challenges. For example, Cheetahs are designed to have a human foot shape at the end of the prosthetic limb, but the shape is not identical. The Cheetah foot is more like it's on its tiptoes all of the time. Cyborg athletes, especially those who were not born with legs but become amputees later in life, have a difficult time learning how to balance and shift weight with the change in bodily proportion. What's more, there are still technical glitches in harnessing Cheetahs or any other similar bionic leg. Pistorius explains a story that happened to him in this situation:

Ossur’s R&D team [the company that makes Cheetahs] met them at the company’s workshop and unveiled the prototypes. Brauckmann attached the blades to the sockets, and Pistorius walked around on them, testing the design.

They were too soft, Brauckmann told Ari Clausen, an engineer at Ossur. Oscar would to break them.

Clausen didn’t believe it. His team had factored in every force Pistorius could possibly apply to the carbon fiber. So the next day, Pistorius put them on, jogged a bit, and cracked them. Clausen built a new set; that afternoon he took the South Africans to a track to try out the replacements — Brauckmann had doubts about the new pair as well, but Pistorius wanted to give them a try. He strapped in, stretched a bit, and started to jog.

When Pistorius falls while running, it’s less like a stumble and more like a skiing wipeout. A few months before the Reykjavik trip, at a training day in South Africa, one of his blades split with a sound like a snapping two-by-four. He hit the rubber track going about 25 miles an hour, and bounced and slid 10 yards before stopping. He didn’t break any bones, but the road burn took weeks to heal.

This time, as Pistorius started running he heard some creaking noises from his right leg — something felt wrong. Sure enough, the blade splintered. But this time Pistorius was able to pull up and slow down. He avoided the fall and hopped back to a chagrined Clausen, who tossed the prototypes into his huge tundra-and-magma- field-crawling Dodge Ram pickup and headed back to the workshop.

What bothered me the most while reading the people who oppose people like Oscar Pistorius from running in the Olympic Games is that they don't consider these challenges. Cyborgs are treated like second class citizens out of fear. I understand the difficulty in defining this gray area in athletic competition --- when does a limb go past the point of aiding one's mobility to giving someone super powers? However, the international sporting committee should welcome the Paralympics into the Olympics, in my opinion. I think it would make a beautiful statement about harmony and providing more attention to athletes with disabilities. Plus it would be rad for the world to understand what a cyborg is.

Those are my two cents. For now,

Dana


Gaming brothers

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in , , , | Posted on 8:42 PM

Recently in class, Professor K discussed how virtual gaming is actually a mode of communication. I never would have considered it until meeting my husband. Zach and I have a Wii, an Xbox, and a broken Xbox 360, but we are not constantly gaming. Usually we play video games as a social activity when others visit our apartment or if we are strapped for cash and don't want to spend money on a night out. Recently we sent the broken Xbox 360 to be fixed, and Microsoft sent us a refurbished one for free! Thanks Microsoft!


So my husband's Christmas gift to himself is buying a controller and some games for the new game console. Zach's brothers love video games, and one brother is particularly obsessed with Xbox 360. When we were home over Thanksgiving, one of his brothers said, "Once I have Modern Warfare 2, I will have everything I need in life." Haha, he is of course joking, but Zach is really looking forward to fixing up his Xbox 360 now to play with his brothers. He will use Xbox Live in order to use the Internet to play with them.

You see, Zach and I live about an hour away from our families. An hour is not a horrible distance, but it does make it so that all our interactions with them revolve around holidays. We don't have the convenience of just driving down the road, hanging out for a few hours, and then going home to bed --- especially not with our crazy work/band/school schedules. Here is part of his family.

That's where this great gaming is a communication tool comes into play. In a few short days, Zach will be able to play video games with his brothers who are an hour away. Xbox Live is a service that allows players to interact with each other via the Internet. Physical boundaries are unnecessary in gaming on Xbox now. Plus Xbox Live allows you to check your e-mail, Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter, and it allows you to steam Netflix movies after you pay the service fee! It is a pretty cool thing.

My husband gets the chance at casual, daily interactions with his brothers now. Of course he calls and e-mails, but all that allows is for them to talk about their feelings and stuff. Now they can shoot guns and kill zombies! It's brotherly bonding time!

Below is a trailer for one of their favorite video games. Caution, violent content.


For now,
Dana

Closed vs. Open online news

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in , , , , | Posted on 12:38 PM

This man might destroy all that is sacred to tech junkies and their wives: Open access to news.

Rupert Murdoch is a media mogul. He controls The Sun, The Times, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, Fox, and Hulu--- just to name a few. He recently publicly denounced Google for making his newspapers' headlines and stories a part of Google search engine results. He has been at odds with Google for quite some time, but it actually seems like he is making serious threats this time. In another article, he is quote as saying:

"What's the point of having someone come occasionally who likes a headline they see in Google? The fact is there isn't enough advertising in the world to go around to make all the Web sites profitable. We'd rather have fewer people coming to our Web sites but paying. (The public) shouldn't have had it free. I think we've been asleep."

So basically Murdoch is saying he is going to remove his news conglomerate from Google's search engines. Everyone who will want online access to these sites will have to pay a fee. Through my researching, I never actually heard if it would be a monthly subscription fee or a pay as you click method. Regardless, it has created a huge stir in the technology community. Google is fighting back by saying the public should have free access to news and information in general. Google is a very financially successful company and believes there is still a way news companies can make money even if they are not charging fees to readers.


The Biz Stone, co-founder of Twitter, agrees with Google's approach of free access. In another article, Stone says:


"They [Murdoch] should be looking at this as an opportunity to try something radically different and find out a way to make a ton of money from being radically open rather than some money from being ridiculously closed."


***


I can't imagine a life without Google searching for news articles. And I don't want to pay for that service! It is a messy gray area, and I think it is going to get pretty ugly between these two mega entities. It is definitely a battle of old school versus new school. I hope Google wins because Twitter's co-founder is correct: free access does not mean no revenue.


I mean, don't they save news reels and databases at libraries? I don't have to pay to access those, but when they are posted online, that's when it is a problem. Murdoch is just being a selfish old man that refuses to accept the way information technology is evolving. He is a financial tycoon; I am pretty sure he could still figure out a way to make millions by letting his newspapers, television stations, and news websites give Google free reign on searching.


If not...it is going to be much more costly and difficult to find research articles for those upcoming term papers. Thumbs down. Good luck, Google.

Computers for the elderly

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in | Posted on 10:40 PM

Here's something I was reading about last week that I found interesting. A company in England has created a super simple computer marketed to older adults. Instead of having confusing sign in boxes and drop down menus, the computer shows one screen with a few buttons on the main screen. These buttons allow users to easily access e-mail, chat, the Internet, word processor, and a "My Documents" of sorts.

I think about the learning curve of technology. My husband and I are the first generation to grow up using computers in the classroom. What a difference that makes with our ability to quickly understand new technology. Yet, it makes me wonder what will happen to us when we become old. This new generation have been using computers since they were out of the womb. Example of a baby computer:



Technology keeps advancing faster and faster; will we be left behind? I never want to think about become old and "behind in the times." But, is it possible?

I think the only way my generation will become dated in our technology information is if we become apathetic. Even if the computer software we know seems fine, we should make ourselves learn the future versions of it. We need to stay current on emerging products. We need to be the ones learning from younger people's ideas about implementing new technology into business structures. If we stay open minded and informed like most of us are now, hopefully we will never need watered down technology when we are old. Now, I am not saying anything negative about the simple laptop; I think it is a great idea because most old people right now did not have the same opportunities as we do now. What I am saying is we need to take advantage of the technology education we have already received and not stay stagnant after college.

RSS feeds

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in | Posted on 6:35 PM

There is one way that I think I am more technologically advanced than my husband: RSS feeds. I've always heard about RSS feeds but really understood them this semester in COM 435. Here's a quick and good definition of Really Simple Syndication feeds.

I am in love with Google Reader. I have subscribed to several RSS feeds and get them updated through Google Reader. I check them every day. My RSS feeds are BBC News Africa, BBC News Front Page World Edition, New York Times Africa, Paste Magazine, and TEDTalks. Instead of clicking each of these websites individually and sifting through what stories I want to read under each beat category, RSS feeds put all headlines and stories on one easy to read page. I don't have to read every story, but I like being able to scroll through it all. Here's a screenshot:

Zach is the complete opposite of me. He hates RSS feeds. He also has a set of websites he likes to read every day, but he enjoys seeing the design of the sight. That must be his computer graphics background. He doesn't mind the extra time with not using RSS feeds. Since he builds websites, he sees the value in accessing every website so he can see what works and doesn't work in these sites.

So I guess it's just a matter of perspective and of importance. I find time and information the most important; Zach appreciates design and accessibility of websites.


XBOX Media Center, our Saving Grace

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Posted by dmcnulty | Posted in , | Posted on 11:34 PM

Zach’s friend turned his old XBOX into a media center; naturally, Zach had to figure out this technology for himself. I am IN LOVE with our XBOX media center! Seriously. Let me tell you what it does.

I turn on the XBOX and the television in our living room. The XBOX is hooked up to an old computer hard drive that is stored in our coat closet. This computer hard drive is the hub of the media center and stores all of our files. After I select the right input to display the XBOX media center on my TV screen, the fun begins. Stored on our XBOX, we have 19 television series and 51 movies. A lot of these movies and television shows are ones we bought, but we also copy our friends’ purchased movies and television shows sometimes (Hey, don’t judge. We’re poor college students). We also store both of our iTunes collections through the XBOX media center. So, we can watch television shows and movies or listen to music through our great television and sound system. Plus Zach just figured out a way to use this technology in our bedroom’s technology. I honestly have no idea how he pulled that off because we don’t have a XBOX in there. He said he figured out with some iPhone remote controller app. Who knows.

Anyways, it’s really convenient to access all of our media through this system. We don’t have to worry about DVD’s scratching as well. Living with a tech junkie definitely has its perks. It’s neat to see how tech junkies can turn their love into productive, helpful products/services for others. I've been learning a lot about it in COM 435, and it's even better to reap the benefits of it at home.

For now,

Dana


P.S. Enjoy our new favorite movie trailer.

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