Category Archives: Student Blogs

Blog Post 2 – Aleks

In the matrix scene, the binary flowing numbers are the language that a computer speaks. These numbers are the commands that make a computer do whatever it is told to do. In chapter 1 of the “Computing Pages” by Francesc Hervada-sala, the simplicity section talks about how things (including computers) are getting more complicated instead of getting simplified. The matrix numbers raises this point, proving that these machines are indeed getting more complicated. Yet its also notable to point out that as they get more complicated, they are also able to do more things. The Hervada article also mentions that access to ideas should be generalized. Meaning that there should be a greater ability to access any information that you might need. In the matrix scene, you can see that the numbers are starting to form shapes in the background. Besides the obvious fact that a computer can compute, this shows that these machines will one day be able to generate any kind of information needed, from numerical to visual or any other. Hypothetically, this image also shows the connection people have with computers and information. The matrix image depicts people in the background, which are made of binary code. It has been thought that the entire world as we know it exists in a binary physical manifestation. Humans and computing have a tight knit relationship, as we use them nowadays like they are our most important tools. Perhaps even reality itself is a binary code playing back before our eyes as physical manifestation.

humans, computers, and technology

@clonelord #dctv

I remember as a kid that when we reached the year 2000, which w’as a big deal to the people born in the early 1970’s. I thought we would have hover cars or flying cars like the movie “Back to the Future”. I grew up with just using a DOS command line to run all my programs or on a VIC 20 (precursor to the PC) which had a tape drive (yeah like the old cassette tapes). Then we built our own PC which didn’t have windows it had DOS, which stands for Disk Operating System. No you didn’t need to boot with a disk every time you turned the PC on but it was mostly loaded or handled by 5 and a quarter inch floppy disk. The 3 and a half inch didn’t come out till later. We only had monochrome monitors back then some were green and other colors but color monitors didn’t come out till later as well. I then remember watching the movie The Matrix and got people thinking is the everyday life we live false like we are in some sort of program and that we could be awaken to the “real world” which was horrible. The computers have significantly changed how we do our daily lives this also happened with the wide spread of cell phones. Imagine as a kid never ever having a cell phone my parents never had one as well. I don’t remember any member of my family or extended family having a cellular device until way later then my first cellular device as cell phones were to expensive was a pager yes a pager. So I could keep in touch with all my friends and family. Wasn’t until my late 20’s to early 30’s that cell phones become more readily available to the regular consumer and if you had them before than you were rich as they were very expensive not like the plans we have now in days. So you can imagine how everything has vastly change since I was growing up and somethings have just not yet caught up to us as a whole. Growing up and watching Star Wars the movie and believing we would have interstellar space travel when you get older yeah all the hopes and dreams that you have when you are a kid.

Computer and Human Relationship

@JaredAbrahamWSU

Some of us have a difficult time with technology. We try to enter our latest Facebook status, but somewhere between the typing and pressing post it somehow disappears without a trace. We dread the newest software update not knowing what is going to be changed on us. There are also some people who are never flustered by the latest and greatest from the text community. Embracing whatever the tech world can throw at them.

In the movie “The Matrix” there are two kinds of characters. There is the master of computers, Morpheus, and the guy who still can’t figure out how his alarm clock works. The master has the ability to see rows upon rows of ones and zeros and make complete sense out of it, knowing that there is a specific order within the Matrix. Meanwhile, the guy who perhaps is technologically less proficient at first is confused by these jumbled numbers, lost in the pattern.

In “As We May Think” by Vannevar Bush, he talks about all of the benefits of technology, from improving his food to giving him an “increased knowledge of his biological process so that he has had a progressive freedom from disease and an increased span of life.” (Bush, pg 37) This was a main point in The Matrix, creating a fictional world where everything had order. However, Bush also states that as more technology is being created and more research is being done, we have a limit on what our brains can remember. (Bush, pg 37) We need order.

As new technology is being created many great discoveries will no doubt be made, diseases will be eradicated and food will be improved. However, with more technology saturation we could possibly be consumed in a world of technology waiting for the next update, and ignoring our human counterparts.

 

A Strange Relationship (Blog Post #2)

@joe5joe7

The computer is something that has been with us for years, at least the concept, however only recently has gotten become as general purpose and powerful as they are today. Originally they thought of them as solely for the purpose of computing and doing the very specific formula they are designed to solve. Charles Babbage’s difference engine for example, “Intended to revolutionize computation by mechanizing it.” Over time these became more and more complex, eventually reaching the point where the very concept of something like The Matrix could be thought of.

At it’s core idea, the Memex thought of by Vannevar Bush is designed as an augmentation of life. It’s designed to facilitate receiving information, as well as allowing you to easily share it with others. It’s designed so that any time you need information, all you have to do is reach out and the information is readily available to you. Along those same lines if you have any need to augment the information or change it, that also merely requires reaching out and making the change. The falling lines of code in the Matrix are simply the natural next step along this line of thinking.  Instead of the device augmenting your reality, making it easier to work with, the device is your reality. Unlike the contained nature of the Memex, the falling code of the Matrix is all encompassing, it permeates everything that you see. While Vannevar may be considering “As we may think”, the concept behind the falling lines of code is What we may think.

The Relationship between Human, Computer and Technology.

@Quy_Luu

The relationship between human and computer has been long time ago and it just keeps growing up as the human’s world is developing. According to Vannevar Bush, technology is always new and very powerful (Vannevar 46); that’s why people have to rely on technology to the approach modern efficient world. With the current computer’s system, its functions are very complicated with significant noticeable features. However, the current computer system is not more than the information technology as the first product came into the world. In 1945, Vannevar Bush created the very first piece of technology; it’s called the Memex. “ A Memex is a device in which an individual stores all his books, records and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility” (Vannevar 53). There are four main components that operated the Memex system; they were microfilms with drawers, the screens, the keyboard and the stylus. Firstly, microfilms were used to record documents, communications and images; additionally, drawers were the storage for the microfilms as the library of microfilms were accessed through these drawers. Secondly, the screens displayed the projected items, the codes, the trails and allowed the direct entry of notes. Thirdly, the keyboard was used to enter codes, project the heads of trails and to duplicate established trails. Finally, the stylus was used for adding notes to project items (Vannevar 53).  Nowadays, there are so many computers’ systems and devices are created base on the Memex’s system of Vannevar Bush; plus, it increased the technological human demands to higher levels.

Humans, Computers, and Information

@v_kono

Humans have become more reliant on technology than ever before. Vannevar Bush was correct when he said that a time would come when humans couldn’t live without technology. It is true. We have become so reliant that I couldn’t even imagine living in a world without the technology that we have. As we progress in the development of new technology, we become more dependent on all the technology that we create. Technology is becoming simpler to use. Anyone can become technologically dumb. Theodor Nelson said that the world of the computer must become simpler, and more clarified to “bring literature, science, art and civilization to new heights of understanding.” Information is right around the corner. It is very simple to gain access to information with such simplicity. Just launch your browser, and information is at your fingertips. Nelson also said that the computer should be used to assist humans in their everyday lives (Literary Machines). Truly, computer assist us with most obstacles that come our way. However, we rely on a computer, just as much as the computer relies on us. A computer does not have a mind of its own. It’s a working relationship between the human and the computer. The Matrix demonstrates this relationship in showing that we give life to these machines. In return, we receive a virtual world built from ground up with code. The raining code, as seen in the the clip, shows the information that arises from the virtual world. At the pace technology is going, we are bound to become dumber as computers become smarter. If we rely on technology so much now, what will become of us 20 years from now? Will we be able to make decision for ourselves? Or will computers determine how we will live our lives? These are just some of the questions that humans should consider before giving computers too much power.

The Matrix: Relationship between humans and computers

@RachaelS_dtc

The image from The Matrix and the “Dream Scene” shows the connection between humans and technology, especially computers. Computers use a binary code to organize functions and communicate. In the examples from The Matrix, communication from computers is no longer in binary code, but letters are also used. This form of programming, called hypertext, is not sequential but creates more simplicity for the user and the hyperworld (Literary Machines). Simplicity is important ever since computers became personal devices because everyone is not a professional programmer. Todays computers are similar to Vannevar Bush’s idea of the memex. The memex is “a device which an individual stores his books, records, and communication, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility” (“As We May Think”). Computers are devices that have become personalized and allow the user to give and receive information. Humans have come to rely on computers for information, but computers still receive information from humans. This idea is also revealed through The Matrix because humans and computers are still dependent on each other. Computers were made to improve our lives but there is still a lot to learn about them. As humans learn more about computers and improve technologies, computers become a device that can be used by everyone. The relationship between humans and computers have become very important because of the availability and improved simplicity in programming. The Matrix is a possibility in the future as programming becomes more simple for users because it shows the bond between humans and computers.

blog#2

@samai14

Computers haven’t been around for as long as humans have, but throughout the years humans and computers have had a relationship. As time passes by the relationship between humans and computers will only increase, which is what Vannevar Bush is trying to say in “As we may think”. (45) “But there are signs of a change as new and powerful instrumentalities come into use. Photocells capable of seeing things in a physical sense, advanced photography which can record what is seen or even what is not…” (vannevar, 46). Humans, computers and information computers hold are very big. As we can see in the matrix image it is made by a computer and looks 3D.  In the “dream scene matrix” you can see the “raining code” you can also see some of this green code in the 3D image. Humans still have a lot to discover about computer and information as Bush says “Like dry photography, microphotography still has a long way to go.” (47) Ted Nelson and Vannevar Bush have similar ideas/theories and as time passes by those theories are becoming facts and reality. Matrix also supports their theories because they are all codes and soon everything will be codes. Whatever does the future hold for us?

 

Blog post #2

@chrisdtc101

With the abundance of technology at our disposal today, we are becoming increasingly interconnected with the technology we have created. Laptops, tablets, smartphones, and iPods are common pieces of technology that we all know about, and we likely own some of it as well. With the growth of the Internet and the rapid overall growth in the tech industry, there may in fact come a day when we cannot function or live without our technology. This is an idea from Vannevar Bush in his article “As We May Think”.

An example of this idea in popular culture is the image from the movie “The Matrix”, along with a video clip, of the “raining code” that makes up our virtual reality. In the movie, machines use humans for their energy, essentially harvesting them, and create a virtual world for the humans made entirely out of code. This code makes up the environment, other people, buildings, and everything else in this fake world. This raining code is seen in what is called the “dream scene” in the movie, where we see the code falling down the screen and represents all information from the virtual world including visual and audio information.

This picture and video clip support Ted Nelson’s theory that all existing information will someday become computerized code as shown in the Matrix. The raining code shows that technology is a continuous stream that is constantly changing, and slowly consuming us. Both Bush and Nelson reflect this idea as well: That a day may come when a world that is similar to that of the Matrix becomes a reality and our technology becomes more powerful than us.

Blog Post Week #2

@YakustaLeader4

This weeks readings, the image and clip from the Matrix confused me. I did not really understand what Vannevar Bush was explaining between how we have a connection to computers and information. Also, the “raining code” from the Matrix did not make sense to me either. Could someone please explain it more to me. I know this is a very short post but I just did not understand it.

#DTCV, #MatrixConfused