Posts
Audio Books
I’ve always been one to prefer reading actual books over audio books, but here lately I haven’t had time to read any books. My girlfriend suggested I should get some audio books and put them on my iPod so I can get some “reading” done while working. I wasn’t sure how it would be at first and I felt like I would be betraying all the books I ever read. But, I eventually adjusted to them without any problem. It makes work go by really fast. Of course, I am disappointed with some of the styles in which the books are read, especially in a series that I’ve already the first couple. I’m a fan of the Eragon series (not the movie, it was like someone ate the book and regurgitated a script) and I read the first two. Then earlier this year I bought the third book and it sat on my shelf for months. I didn’t have the free time to dedicate to reading it. That’s when my girlfriend made the suggestion about the audio books. Without waiting for an answer from me she went out and bought the book on CD so I could listen to them at work. I wasn’t sure I wanted to at first. I felt like I was taking the easy way out, being lazy. Then I adjusted to it. I wasn’t satisfied with the way some of the voices were read and the style in which it was narrated. I had a specific idea of the way the voices of the characters sounded and acted and it clashed with the readings on the CDs. It wasn’t a horrible reading; it just wasn’t what I was expecting. I finished that audio book and I’ve moved on to other books now. I still prefer reading actual books. I only listen to the audio books while I’m at work. If I’m at home, I pick up the real thing and start reading.
Digital Evolution of Literature
I found a video on youtube that goes through the evolution of digital media. Just thought I would share.
Computer-Brain Symbioses
When we were discussing Hayles the other day and we came to the part about humans being thinking machines, I couldn’t help but think of the movie Johnny Mnemonic. For those who have not seen the movie, it is about a future where humans can have their brain capacity increased by adding computers to them. The plot is about people with brain upgrades becoming data couriers for companies and private individuals. I was thinking if that would one day become possible. There is an article (not sure how credible it is) I found online that discusses the possibilities of that. There are scientists at the University of Florida who are studying the achievable concept of a computer symbiotic to implant in the human brain. It would be an adaptive piece of machinery that interacts and grows with your brain. The scientist had an experiment with their “evolving brain machine” on rats. This is an excerpt from the article:
“The rats’ brains were fitted with tiny electrodes that captured thought signals. Three rats were taught how to move a robotic arm toward a target using just their thoughts. Each time they succeeded, the rats were rewarded. The computer, on the other hand, was programmed to earn as many points as possible by figuring out how to help the rat. The closer a rat moved the arm to the target, the more points the computer received, which helped the computer determine which brain signals lead to the most rewards. The computer then knew how to streamline the process to make it more efficient and ultimately easier for the rats.” Here is a link to the website of the article.
“The rats’ brains were fitted with tiny electrodes that captured thought signals. Three rats were taught how to move a robotic arm toward a target using just their thoughts. Each time they succeeded, the rats were rewarded. The computer, on the other hand, was programmed to earn as many points as possible by figuring out how to help the rat. The closer a rat moved the arm to the target, the more points the computer received, which helped the computer determine which brain signals lead to the most rewards. The computer then knew how to streamline the process to make it more efficient and ultimately easier for the rats.” Here is a link to the website of the article.
Turing Test
I found the Turing test an interesting concept. When we first read about the test and discussed it in class, I remember thinking that it sounded very familiar to me. I couldn’t figure out why. The other day I was going through my collections of movies trying to watch something to pass some time and I came across Blade Runner. It’s a futuristic movie starring Harrison Ford where he hunts and destroys androids pretending to be humans. In the movie they have a test procedure where a person asks another person a series of questions and analysis their answers to determine if they are human or android. I think it is cool that the writers for the movie incorporated the test and applied to a movie that millions of people have seen. It would make it easier to explain the Turing test to a person who has seen Blade Runner if the person has trouble understanding the text. Here is a video of the test from the movieor just click this link.
Typing Without Typing
The Dasher Project sounds really innovative and interesting to use. The ability to type out a document without actually typing is amazingly cool. I can see how it would be of use to any person that might have a disability or just a hard time functioning with a keyboard, but for anyone else that uses it for the sake of using cool technology seems a little lazy. I’m not sure if anyone would be that lazy to use a program that would slow their typing down to 29 wpm, but you never know. As we were watching the video in class today of the program being used, I could help but wonder about how often a person’s eyes would veer off to another letter floating by. I mean , as a person looks at the letter they want displayed, it appears to float by on the screen while the person goes on to look at the next letter, but I would probably end up glancing back at the letter floating by and misspell a bunch of words. On the website about the project there is a link about the Speech Dasher. It is a interface that uses voice recognition along with gesture movements that allow a person to have a more efficient and fun way to input text. I think that this is a really neat program to help out those individuals who might have difficulty with typing on a traditional keyboard. I wouldn’t want to use the program on a regular basis but I would like to give it a try to see how user friendly it is.
Last Minute Blogs
I’m new to blogging. I’m not into putting my thoughts and my life out there for other people to read. I don’t have a MySpace or a facebook. I have nothing against anyone that likes to social network, it’s not for me. Social networking is not that appealing to me, yet I’m in a multimedia class learning about blogging, social networking, and web text. Blogging is interesting and I can see how some people can get addicted to it, but I can’t dedicate all that time to writing arbitrary sentences that serve no purpose. Besides the TLM blog I posted a couple of months ago, I have never blogged. This is actually my second time to blog. I probably would have already made other posts before this one, but I’m a procrastinator. I have no problem admitting. I’ve always been that way and I have little hope of changing.
Print Journalism and the Web
Here is a video clip from The Daily show. This is Walter Isaacson speaking about Print Journalism and Internet news articles.
TLM
Growing up, I was the youngest of four. I often emulated what my second oldest brother did. Anything he found interesting, I found interesting. I’m not sure the exact date or age I was, but at some point I was introduced to the comics my brother collected. I know comics are not really technological, but I think they did contribute to my learning experiance. They were mainly of X-Men, Spiderman, and Batman. I remember reading them and being fascinated by the thought of super-heroes and special abilities. Like any small child, I wanted super-heroes to be real. I had devoted hours out of the day reading them and trying to draw the scenes on notebook paper. I soon started my own collection. I believe that collecting comics over the years has influenced a creative aspect towards my writing. The mixture of art and dialogue within the pages embedded a since of creativity that I use today in my own creative writing. The various points of view illustrated by the characters were demonstrated to me in comics. The displays of interior and exterior monologues were made known to me as well.
Comics also helped progress my reading abilities. If there was a word or a phrase in the dialogue that I did not comprehend, I always asked my brother to explain it to me. Of course, there were things that he did not understand as well or know how to pronounce. If that happened, I could always turn to my other brother or my sister. I do believe that comic books have taken part in my reading and writing style. I owe a lot to them.
Here is a link I came across that talks about how Comic Books Influence Culture
One instrument that I believed help further my skills at reading and writing was the Tiger Quiz Wiz console. It was an electronic gaming device that had hundreds of booklets to help teach children about various things. It was not too in-depth. Some of the booklets and cartridges were for video games and movies. It came out in the early nineties and was an updated version of the Coleco Quiz Wiz from the early eighties. I had received one for my birthday and I had played it for a long time that day. A lot of the questions it asked I had no idea about what the answer might be, but that was okay because I was learning. Any time a right answer was put in there was a voice that exclaimed “right” with a hint of enthusiasm. A nice melody chime accompanying the “right” sounded afterwards, reinforcing the good job I did. If I selected a wrong answer there was a firm “no” that came before a really annoying buzzer noise. It was one of my first multiple choice tests that I ever came across and enjoyed. My favorite set of booklets was my Star Wars Trilogy. Most booklets or sets came with 1,001 questions. It gave me plenty of time to learn patience and take my time with multiple choice tests. I hated getting that annoying buzzer sound.
Comics also helped progress my reading abilities. If there was a word or a phrase in the dialogue that I did not comprehend, I always asked my brother to explain it to me. Of course, there were things that he did not understand as well or know how to pronounce. If that happened, I could always turn to my other brother or my sister. I do believe that comic books have taken part in my reading and writing style. I owe a lot to them.Here is a link I came across that talks about how Comic Books Influence Culture
One instrument that I believed help further my skills at reading and writing was the Tiger Quiz Wiz console. It was an electronic gaming device that had hundreds of booklets to help teach children about various things. It was not too in-depth. Some of the booklets and cartridges were for video games and movies. It came out in the early nineties and was an updated version of the Coleco Quiz Wiz from the early eighties. I had received one for my birthday and I had played it for a long time that day. A lot of the questions it asked I had no idea about what the answer might be, but that was okay because I was learning. Any time a right answer was put in there was a voice that exclaimed “right” with a hint of enthusiasm. A nice melody chime accompanying the “right” sounded afterwards, reinforcing the good job I did. If I selected a wrong answer there was a firm “no” that came before a really annoying buzzer noise. It was one of my first multiple choice tests that I ever came across and enjoyed. My favorite set of booklets was my Star Wars Trilogy. Most booklets or sets came with 1,001 questions. It gave me plenty of time to learn patience and take my time with multiple choice tests. I hated getting that annoying buzzer sound. During the early years of Junior High I was introduced to the game Risk. For anyone who has
never played Risk, it is one of those games that kept a person up till five in the morning. It was a game of world domination. My brother and I, along with our friends, would devote entire weekend nights playing. The game required a bit of strategy to play. While playing, I had to assess situations and make difficult decisions that would play significant parts in the future. No move was made without calculating every possible outcome. After that, it was a matter of hoping my opponents would make errors in their judgments. Even though I spent endless hours playing Risk, I had developed analytical skills that I use today. *FYI the key to winning is taking control of Australia.
never played Risk, it is one of those games that kept a person up till five in the morning. It was a game of world domination. My brother and I, along with our friends, would devote entire weekend nights playing. The game required a bit of strategy to play. While playing, I had to assess situations and make difficult decisions that would play significant parts in the future. No move was made without calculating every possible outcome. After that, it was a matter of hoping my opponents would make errors in their judgments. Even though I spent endless hours playing Risk, I had developed analytical skills that I use today. *FYI the key to winning is taking control of Australia. Another contribution to my writing and reading development was the introduction of the typewriter. 
My father had purchased a typewriter when he was going through college. He, like any other person, had to write papers during his college education. After college, my father rarely used his typewriter and eventually put it away in his closet. Some years later while helping him clean out his closet I came across his typewriter. He said I could have it and I started typing away. I really didn’t write anything worth noting. I just typed anything that came into mind. The thing that sticks out the most in my mind is how the keys would get stuck together if I started typing to fast or hit two at once. I also had a lot of trouble with the ink ribbon.
Making sure it was on straight and that it was not drooping. Later, my family decided to join the 20th century and buy a computer. I’m not sure what kind it was, but it had Windows 95 on it, along with Microsoft Word. I had already had some practice with typing thanks to the typewriter, and then I continued to progress with my writing on the PC. Without these experiences I believe that my skills as a writer and a reader would not be as adequate as they are today.
My father had purchased a typewriter when he was going through college. He, like any other person, had to write papers during his college education. After college, my father rarely used his typewriter and eventually put it away in his closet. Some years later while helping him clean out his closet I came across his typewriter. He said I could have it and I started typing away. I really didn’t write anything worth noting. I just typed anything that came into mind. The thing that sticks out the most in my mind is how the keys would get stuck together if I started typing to fast or hit two at once. I also had a lot of trouble with the ink ribbon.
Making sure it was on straight and that it was not drooping. Later, my family decided to join the 20th century and buy a computer. I’m not sure what kind it was, but it had Windows 95 on it, along with Microsoft Word. I had already had some practice with typing thanks to the typewriter, and then I continued to progress with my writing on the PC. Without these experiences I believe that my skills as a writer and a reader would not be as adequate as they are today.
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