Artificial Intelligence/ Disinter mediation in the Legal System

     We had a fun AI presentation this week in Tinst 207. Very interesting stuff coming up for conversation. My part was on Artificial intelligence in the legal system. What would it be like to replace the jury with robots? Or the judge, perhaps? There is definitely some exciting work being done in the AI world but, also things that we need to be careful with. Replacing human beings with artificial intelligence may have its benefits but, will it lead to more problems than we can even fathom?  

What makes a Community?

     Is a community a group of people with similar interests or a place where people share a particular space? In the virtual world I believe it is both. For instance Pinterest, is a great community of people sharing their creative interests, ideas and talents. A person can post their knitting projects or learn how to bake a wedding cake, it is a veritable cornucopia of knowledge and ideas. Social media, like twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, all share a particular space where people can connect with their friends, family, co-workers and complete strangers if they choose. A social community, a gathering place where we can virtually live.

    Community in the physical, or real world is often people with similar values, and beliefs sharing a geographical space, but with the internet, geography no longer defines our communities. We can connect to people from all over the world in minutes. People don't have to have similar values and beliefs to connect, they may be able to have a deeper understanding of each other if we share our humanness without our political and social beliefs. That would be a great community to live in to just be ourselves without judgement, biases, and discrimination. A virtual world of peace, respect and acceptance. Could it ever be possible?

Dot.com to Dot.bomb!

     The Dot.com era lasted for about 7 years, beginning in the early 90's. It was a crazy time with many companies wanting a piece of the pie and expecting to be successful. Govworks.com was one of those companies which looked like it might make it, then less than a year later it was dead. Some other companies that eventually died were Prodigy, which was owned by IBM and Sears, Compuserv, HR Block, Genie owned by GE, AOL and Delphi, at one time these companies were huge and without a successful product and web interest they found themselves on the wrong end of the dot.com thrust.

    I find it very fascinating that certain companies have it and certain don't. Similiar to the "it" celebrity factor, companies seem to either have what it takes or they don't. Microsoft obviously did and has managed to re-create itself when needed. Apple has "it", lots of social media companies have it, twitter, facebook, linkedin...! But, why don't others. It's a fickle world, consumer interest, creating exciting new products, easy access and affordability all play a part in this fast and evolving business model.

     I believe, like the housing market bubble that over inflated housing values, the dot.com surge over inflated company values and led to the eventual tech crash or Dot.bomb! You can not sustain a business if it's only economically feasible based on it's over valued stock. It seemed like many of these companies were doomed to crash from the beginning without a strong foundation,  product or service what did they have to offer consumers and investors!

Startup.com the Movie.

     I thought Startup.com was a great movie. It was an interesting insight into the world of start up technology companies and how quickly they can grow and how quickly they can die! Kaleel, Tom and Chavez were the epitomy of young, bright motivated entrepreneurs who had an idea and persevered to the bitter end. Except for Chavez who was bought out early on in the process, for a price that was undervalued at the time. He could have received a lot more for his stake in the company, which in it's prime was worth about 50 million. The interesting part was the company was only viable for less than a year, so it's value at around 6 months was surreal to say the least.

     They grew from about 8 employees to about 120 employees and then back down to just a handful. The idea behind the business Govworks.com to allow easy access to the public, items such as paying parking tickets, accessing records etc. was a good concept yet, they struggled to make it user friendly and interesting. They had some direct competition which was called EZ.gov and they were able to launch their website before Govworks and there was some speculation that they may have been behind the break in that occurred shortly before Gov works was due to launch its site. So, Kaleel and Tom had some tough decisions to make and eventually Tom was asked to leave as head of technology and the business took a quick fall to it's inevitable demise. In less than a year Govworks.com had been a tiny idea, built with venture capitalists and personal money, they made it to the White House to meet with President Bill Clinton, they were interviewed on t.v. and radio. They became millionaires on paper and their friendship was badly shaken, then their great idea collapsed, a perfect example of dot.com to dot. bomb!

   

HTML Page

I have to be honest I have not yet sat down and attempted to put together and HTML page. Partly, out of fear and partly because I just got the instructions on Weds. Though, I will definitely do the assignment and plan on spending some time learning how. From what I have read from other students, it is either really easy, or quite challenging, depending on who you listen too! I am excited to try and will post the results when I have accomplished the task!

What not to buy online!

      I haven't given it much thought as to what I wouldn't buy online. Though, I really can't imagine purchasing a big ticket item such as a car, diamond, or bed? I can see browsing through different sites to see what is available, any specials that would beat the in store product, but then going to the store or lot and actually seeing it first hand and testing it out. We purchased a bed not all that long ago from Sleep Country. It was very expensive and well worth it, though I would have never purchased it without lying on it and making sure it fit our needs. We did do research online ahead of time, so we knew basically what we were getting.

     A car is another huge investment and I would have to look it over and test drive it before I'd ever consider buying it. Looking at all the dealerships, Carmax, Kelly Blue book etc. to check out prices and compare is usually how I operate. I really like that I can look at all these items, products online first and then go in store to look them over further. I love looking at diamonds, but, certainly again would not purchase one online. I wouldn't trust that it was authentic and real. Anything where you are spending a large sum of money and investing in something that will hopefully last for many years would need a thorough look and up close and personal viewing before I would consider buying it.

Our 2nd Guest, Derek.

      Our second guest speaker, Derek had a wonderful background with a vast amount of experience in the IT sector. He's worked for many corporations, including, Alaska airlines, REI, Nokia, among others and has been an advisor for the Urban Studies program at UWT.  What caught my interest was the way he does business now by contracting out his services and and acquiring numerous other experts in different fields to all come together on one project or contract. Certainly, not a traditional way of running a company with everyone under one roof, but, utilizing individual contractors, consultants to all participate in one project. Not exactly an easy model if you don't have many contacts and connections that you can call upon when a new contract or project comes along. Also, people that you can trust and know they will get their end of the job done well and on time.

     My question would be how do young people with little to no experience break into a business model like this? I think it would be hard for them to find an opportunity, and they may not even understand what an independent contractor, consultant is? As our professor mentioned, a woman named, Esther Dyson, who predicted that a lot of career paths would not be traditional jobs , not necessarily long term commitments to one company, but would have a plethora of  jobs throughout their lives. This certainly seems to be on the rise, with very few companies having long term, loyalty to their employees. Most everyone seems to expendable and replaceable. That may explain partially why the unemployment rate for college graduates is quite high.

     The other interesting topic Derek spoke about was the way internet privacy in the U.S. is so lax and in Europe they are very strict about what information can be shared and seen. He referred to the U.S. as the "wild west," and it is disturbing to me at how readily our personal information, shopping habits, browsing habits are seen and used. What's really annoying is the constant bombardment on Facebook and other sites, when ads pop up and you wonder how did they know I like, Bulova watches or traveling in Greece? That is frightening to me and frankly I'd prefer the much stricter processes that Europe utilizes and hope the U.S. will move in that direction, soon! It was a very interesting and informative session with our guest, Derek, and I always learn new things to get me thinking!

Virtual Scavenger Hunt

This was a practice in patience and determination. We set off on our scavenger hunt and found a majority of the items requested with quiet persistence. I was responsible for finding all the sites on the first page and my one challenge was the Disney Resort airfare and hotel package. For some reason it kept giving me only the one way airfare and when I'd go back and start over the cost would increase for the hotel rooms, quite frustrating. The other items were pretty easy, though we did not have a twitter account and our group wasn't as social media savvy as some of the other groups.

I did manage to find a blog from prior Scavenger hunts that posted an answer to the Chickadee question, though I have no idea if the answer was correct. Guess I'll find out soon enough! It was a fun exercise, yet it would have been better if we had more real examples of what was expected. Thankfully, one of the members of my group knew how to do screen savers, I wasn't as clear on the process. Hopefully, that all came through to our professor, otherwise I guess the exercise will be chalked up to a work in progress.

Erik our guest speaker.

     Erik, was our guest speaker on Oct. 8, 2014. He was very interesting and informative about the web and the virtues of self publishing. I found a lot of what he said, to be true and somewhat scary about the internet. For instance, "if it's not on the internet it does not exist or it didn't happen," I find this challenging for those people interested in maintaining a low profile and not wanting undue attention. Or the scarier version of having "swatters",  calling you out and really dismantling your life and career as well. To think that there are people out there that take it upon themselves, perhaps because of a perceived slight, or that they just flat out don't like you and what you represent, that they could ruin your life by calling the police and turning a lie into unwanted attention.

     This is where I find the web unwelcome. If someone wants to try and control and maintain their web identity or image, yet, they don't have outright control of what others post about them, whether true or not. Your privacy, your home life can be spread all over the place! I do not welcome that possibility! Maybe, because I'm not from the internet generation, I'm not a fan of unwanted attention and the potential for having my privacy and image ruined in a matter of seconds. I recognize these are the worst case scenarios and the thousands who use the web to great success is admirable.

     The fact that Erik, was able to publish several books and continues to do so. As well as, create several online businesses is very exciting. I've known many writers that have achieved some success due to the opportunities the web provides. I guess with anything there is give and take, good and bad. I hope to get over my fear and concerns and be one of those people that takes advantage of the online tools and world wide web. Hopefully, our class, Virtual World, will continue to enlighten and alleviate my concerns?

The Web is Using Us

     I thought Michael Wesch's video was very interesting. Is the web using us or are we using the web; the machine is us, was a clever and somewhat confusing creation. It moves quickly so it was hard to follow all that he was trying to convey, which is true of the virtual world wide web as well. Trying to keep up with technology and all the latest advancements is a challenge, and for someone who isn't a follower it can be even more so. The web has evolved so much over the years and it can be overwhelming. I especially related to the words that popped up towards the end of the video, which were, "commerce, privacy, family, love, aesthetics, copyright, authorship etc."

     All of these words have certain meanings that definitely affect our lives, well they are our lives. They portray many of the aspects that are us and the web. We seek privacy in our personal lives and in our virtual life. Family, love are all important to most of us. Commerce effects all of us on numerous levels, socially, economically and culturally. For aesthetics, we regard something that is aesthetically pleasing as good, therefore if what the web promotes is aesthetically interesting we might be more inclined to look, buy or spend time there. Certainly, being aware of copyright issues and who is the author, creator of a piece is important. I would think managing the millions of articles, papers, images etc., would be incredibly impossible. I'm not really sure how that works on the web?

     Over all. the video did make me think about the complexities and challenges that face us on the world wide web. It is a great question," Is the web using us or are we using the Web?"

   

What do I want out of this class?

     Wow, this is a whole new world to me! Fun, exciting and a bit intimidating! I'm looking forward to learning a lot more about the world wide web and the virtual world we live in. Initially, I took this class because it was the only 3 credit class available. However, after looking over the syllabus and spending a few days in class, I really believe this class will benefit me. The professor, Andrew Fry has  a great sense of humor, knowledge and background in the technology industry and has lots of energy to share with his students.

     Historically, I was not clear on how or when the internet came to be. The technological aspect, such as HTML, FTP, TCP/IP, is a foreign language to me, but, one I think I can tackle. It is a vast world of information and I'm hopeful by the end of this course I will certainly have more clarity and understanding of the Virtual World. I'm interested in learning more about e-commerce and how that all came about. It has grown so exponentially through out the years, which is also interesting, will it at some point phase out or slow down?

The security of the internet and our privacy is also interesting to me. Are there really people observing us, certainly our actions are being observed? I am concerned that more securities will be breached, more hackers will be successful and our private information will be leaked causing more problems than I care to imagine. Can the internet really be kept safe? With social media, it presents so many opportunities and potential conflicts. Internet bullying, psychological and emotional concerns, do you have enough face book friends, being constantly aware of what others are doing, saying and sharing. It is a whole world unto itself, the virtual world, very exciting and complex. I hope to be more competent and aware of the internet and all it's potential after this class ends.