Mark McKinzie's ITE 130 Blog

Artificial Intelligence and Personal Computing

2007-10-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

http://soe.stanford.edu/research/profile_infotech_salisbury.html

I read this article and found it rather interesting for a number of reasons. This site deals more with robotics that are controlled by your basic types of personal computers. More specifically he talks about using software to help generate movement and function and maybe someday even create AI for the robots. I think that any sort of development for AI will need a real world test to see what the capabilities it may have. Robots run by software will help further continue the advances that may one day become the artificial intelligence we are looking for. By using software to create these programs we can help expand the library of code required to eventually create Artificial Intelligence. Much in the same way we do code development for computers. By taking what someone else has already done and adding to it, we could one day create this AI. The main thing we need is cooperation and computers capable of handling the same information and equivalent storage space similar to that of a human brain.

TED Talk Thomas Barnett: The Pentagon's new map for war peace

2007-10-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

I agree with his statement that we are great at the warfare part and we as a nation do a terrible job on the rest. However I firmly believe that no matter what resources and what dedication we may have, we will never be able to turn Iraq or any other nation into a democratic and free country using our resources. If you look into history you see countless revolutions that do have success. Our own nation started as a result of our American resolution. Why do these revolutions work and Iraq fails? In Iraq we lack the support of the people. The people did not start the take over and do not carry the motivation like those before them. If anything we've lost the support of the people. It doesn't matter how many troops or how quickly you take over the country. Unless the people of that nation stand up on their own and fight on there own, with there own values, we will never see a successful revolution. Our government should have waited until after Iraq citizens rebelled on their own before flooding in. They have to want freedom so bad that they are willing to give their lives to get it, this is the only way a war in Iraq or any country for that matter, that the revolution would work. I don't agree with much of what Thomas Barnett says. He overcomplicates and comes up with this elaborate idea of how we can improve our war effort. Its easy to point out the flaws in our approach, but a lot harder to find something better that can be "reasonably" done.

Amy Smith TED talk: Simple designs that could save millions of childrens' lives

2007-10-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

I found it amazing how she with the help of students, were able to take waste products and turn them into usable fuel alternatives. The development was a very difficult trial and error procedure that took lots of research and refining in order to create an alternative to charcoal that is just as effective. Her hard work and clever use of waste products may help improve the quality of life for not only for the people, but also help protect the remaining environment. Her struggle with how to improve the quality of life are not something that just effects other countries, but the world as a whole. With every tree that is wasted, or for every opportunity that is passed by, we are only further destroying our world. She did a wonderful job showing how hard work and dedication can help improve the quality of life and protect the environment.

Al Gore: 15 ways to avert a climate crisis

2007-10-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

First off I'm glad that he didn't make the role as our president. Yes he's very intelligent but he's also a goof. I find him far more able to influence politics as a comedian rather than a politician. Not only is it more amusing, but it has a far greater impact with the general public. Maybe if he had taken this approach he would of had better election results.

As for his fifteen improvements, I feel that they are generally good guidelines that could help improve our environment. I visited his web site, climatecrisis.net and looked through several of his links and I believe he is doing a great thing by trying to promote environmental improvements.

One thing he may want to do in the future is simplify his 15 changes, they sound catchy but few of them are clear cut as to their intentions or on how to fulfill the rule. Overall he's doing a great job in promoting awareness.

TED Talk William Kamkwamba's Windmill

2007-10-07T20:41:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed this video for a number of reasons. First I was rather impressed how William managed to take a rather crude design drawn in a book and managed to harness electricity in his home. Thats quite a feat for a fifteen year old. Most adults in our country probably couldn't of created a windmill using only items scattered around the house.

The video did seem to portray him as uneducated and perhaps even a little confused. I can't emagine how he must of felt being on that stage. Its important to remember just how intellegent and creative he is.

TED Talk

2007-09-30T12:01:00.001-07:00

David Bolinsky- Fantastic voyage inside the cell

I found this talk very interesting for a number of reasons. The first being that he is an animator and he works in a field that interests me, The second is that he appears to be very knowledge able of the parts of the cell and can create this lifelike videos to represent or illustrate there functions in the body. Lastly I find that his videos do create a spark of curiosity that I think helps benefit the medical world.

By creating this illustrations he is able to give students far more than text reading, He makes it possible to show in a more hands on fashion, just what is going on and how pivotal these “Micro Machines” really are. It’s hard to imagine the micro organisms that make up our cell structures. Even more amazing is how they work together in such a precise fashion that even makes life possible.

Myspace and Other Social Networking

2007-09-29T14:16:00.000-07:00

In recent years Myspace and other social networks have become increasingly popular. I remember first using Myspace in 10th grade and I thought it was a wonderful way to keep up with friends and social events. Back then it was wonderful and since then I have grown annoyed with Myspace. At first it was great because it didn’t have too many annoying ads. Now its hard to see your information or get to your page because of all the crazy ads and annoying banners that slow down the site. Also it is more prone to spam accounts and people creating fake profiles just to get you to go to there site. I hated having to dump five friend requests daily just for that reason. In addition to all this people began lying about there ages and posting inappropriate photos and information about themselves.

The same thing appears to be happening to other sites as well. Facebook is turning into the new Myspace. At first it required a legitimate college email address and someone over the age of 18. Now it allows anyone to join. Ads and other useless information have begun to grow and eventually it will be just as bad as Myspace.

It’s not that I have anything against Social Networking, it’s just that I don’t like the direction it has gone.

Web Surfing

2007-09-08T18:55:00.000-07:00

I surf the net an average of 1-2 hours a day and about 15 or so a week. Sometimes I spend even more time on the weekends but I like to get out and do stuff more often. The most frequently used web site that I visit is Google.com. Mainly to research and find out information or a site that may contain the information. Then I'd have to say I use the Aol.com site in order to read up on current events and news stories, as well as check my mail. I use the Rappahannock Community College site rather often too, mainly to do my assignments and check my school email.

After the main sites I find myself traveling to sites like Youtube.com or other similar sites for humor. I typically spend a lot of time on car Web sites looking for new products or events. Beyond that there isn't really that many sites that I frequently visit. I usually find and explore new sites everyday.

TED talk by Theo Jansen

2007-09-06T13:59:00.000-07:00

For this weeks TED I chose a rather interesting and strange segment by Theo Jansen, labeled The art of creating creatures. The Jansen is a Dutch artists who is responsible for creating lifelike kinetic sculptures who seem to posses the ability to move and survive on their own. Using the wind to harness the energy needed to perform a feat, his sculptures are able to move freely about the beach. In order to prevent from possibly wandering into the ocean he has devised a simple but effective bottle and tube design which sucks in air continuously. If it encounters any resistance such as sucking in water the entire sculpture turns around and walks in the opposite way. This is a rather elaborate form of sculpture that he hopes will one day be full self sufficient.

He considers his art sculptures or rather "Strandbeests" to be a new form of life that will one day perform and survive on there own. I find these sculptures interesting and an outstanding piece of art, however I don't feel that I would consider them a new form of life by any measure. I view them as a primitive yet effective form of mechanical engineering. Think of them as a form of scaled down robots who have the ability to perform only the simpler tasks in order to survive. For me to be considered alive is to have a living organism within that performs some important function. This sort of "android" if you will does not currently exist but someday it might. Despite my disagreement on what to call it, I find his Creations to be most interesting and an exceptional form of art.

Internet and Education

2007-09-05T18:18:00.000-07:00

The Internet really didn't develop until the later years of my education. Many schools didn't even encourage or use the Internet for most subjects. There were classes that were based on the Internet that were quite similar to this one, however we still don't see the broad benefits that the Internet has to offer. For the most part my Internet use was limited to finding resource materials and publications for an assignment that was still to be conducted on paper. We still don't fully utilize the Internet as a true learning experience.

Five years from now I imagine that there will be an expansion on the use and need for the Internet but I still believe it will be several years after that before it becomes a full on resource. In order for this to happen on a much more broad educational level a few things need to be in place. First the Internet needs to be safer. The lack of true protection is limiting the use of Internet. Better filters and firewall's need to be in place to keep students from falling prey to inappropriate sites, especially the younger generations. Second there needs to be a much larger curriculum that is based on the Internet. Assignments need to be handed in electronically, research needs to be more Internet based, and classes need to be conducted via the web in a way that is similar to this course. Lastly there needs to be more interest in the field. Schools need to be encouraged with incentives to help develop these programs and funding needs to be provided for the upkeep and training of new equipment and software. Many teachers aren't fully educated on how to use these programs and often become frustrated or discouraged from using the Internet in their classrooms.

In order to connect the nations of the world we need a few things. First we need a more universal language or perhaps a translator to help with communication. We need a worldwide enforcer of the Internet to act as a "watchdog" for unsafe or misuse of the Internet. Another huge and important need is to increase the availability of technology throughout the world. Several nations don't thrive on the Internet like we do. The most important necessity still remains the lack of interest. It will cost a lot of money and time in order to fulfil this dream and many countries show little or no interest in doing so.

The best solution is time. Hands down we can't rush these changes nor expect the world as a whole to accept them so quickly. Every day the Internet is expanding and education is relying more and more on it. We need to continue to fuel and encourage the use of the Internet for academic purposes. Gradually all these things will happen and I don't believe that there is whole lot more we can do besides what is currently being done. Just look at how far we've come in just two decades!

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

2007-09-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

In most cases schools do appear to diminish creativity. In general his statement about the common school hierarchy, having Mathematics and Language on top, followed by the Social Sciences, and finally art and music at the bottom, contains a large deal of truth.

Take for example my high school. We were required to take a certain number of each subject in order to graduate. At the top of the list was Mathematics and the language subjects with a minimum requirement of four years for each subject.
Science and Social studies required at least three. We were required to take three years of foreign language. However the arts were far less. I believe only two were required for art and none were required for Music. The remainder was left to electives. This is also the case for most colleges as you may of already noticed.

It is for that very reason that creativity is squandered by the educational system. By requiring less exposure to such subjects its all to easy to see why creativity is falling at an unprecedented rate.

By simply requiring more subjects dealing with arts and music, and by encouraging students to explore these subjects more thoroughly, we can help improve upon this problem. Another solution is to allow students more decisions about what classes they can take and allow them to focus more on subjects that appeal to them.

Mark's Biography

2007-08-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

Hi my name is Mark McKinzie and I'm 21 years old. I've lived in Gloucester for the past two years. Before that I lived in Northern Virginia for ten years and Fort Worth, Texas for seven years prior to that. I'm currently seeking a two year transfer degree from RCC and once completed I hope to further my education is the field of graphic design. I currently work as a teller for BB&T company and work very hard balancing both my job and my education. I enjoy art, guitar and other musical instruments, Car modifications and general mechanic work, and several sports. I try to keep myself as busy as possible and I enjoy the challenges that they bring. I've recently started riding motorcycles and I purchased a Kawasaki Ninja not to long ago. I'm looking forward to every opportunity that this class may bring and I am eager to learn something new.