Savory Ape » futurism http://savoryape.com Progressive Internet Solutions Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:44:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 CompInfoFuture Homework 4: Delphi Redux and Project http://savoryape.com/2009/09/delphi-redux-and-project/ http://savoryape.com/2009/09/delphi-redux-and-project/#comments Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:19:20 +0000 chrishota http://savoryape.com/?p=80
  • If your Delphi question was done in class on Wednesday 9/9 (i.e. “today”), then find the median and the range of the middle 50% of the responses. Using a graphics editor of your choice (even paint works for this), make a graph that is analogous or similar to the one in the lecture notes, showing the total range, middle 50% range, and median.
    • My topic was not discussed because I was sick with pneumonia. However, I did write down the responses for James Canada’s question: “When will there be a move from PCs and laptops to all-in-one devices that have telephone, internet, etc. When will the downfall of the PC happen? When will marketshare of all-in-ones outpace PCs?”
    • The middle 50% responses were: 5, 5.5, 7, 8, 12 (I have discarded the “infinity” answer). The median is 7 (mean is 7.5). The range is 5 to 12.
  • Recall that a project is part of the course, and this project will grow step by step throughout the semester. In other words, you will keep adding to it as we go along, so that in the end it will be a piece of work you can be proud of! Make up a tentative plan for your term project, which will be a paper, software system, combination, skit or musical performance or painting (if you are a fine arts major), or whatever it is. You may analyze the same topic as you used for your Delphi exercise, or change topics but include the Delphi results as an appendix or supplemental report. Also, answer the question, “What would be a good thing to do next on this project?”
    • For my project, I would like to examine by comparing, contrasting, and extrapolating on the depiction of human-computer interaction in entertainment (movies, books, short stories) and technical literature. The final form of the project will be a multimedia presentation (similar to the one we viewed at the beginning of class) and perhaps an interactive part describing my findings.
    • ]]>     http://savoryape.com/2009/09/delphi-redux-and-project/feed/ 0     CompInfoFuture Homework 1: Resources http://savoryape.com/2009/08/compinfofuturehw1/ http://savoryape.com/2009/08/compinfofuturehw1/#comments Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:15:15 +0000 chrishota http://savoryape.com/?p=57 For fall semester 2009, I’m enrolled in a bunch of higher-level Information Science courses at UALR. One of these is Dr. Berleant‘s “Computing, Information, and the Future” class, a special-topics class being taught the first time this semester.

    For the first homework assignment, we were tasked with setting up a blog (or integrating course content into our existing blog), and then to “find a modern and timely place on the Web that deals with the future of the same or a similar topic” as a three of the links in the syllabus. Find my three links inside…

    1. Augmented Reality. I’m sure the concept has been around for a long time, but in the past few months, a recent in-vogue meme has been the coming of a slew of augmented reality applications for mobile devices that will let you see an overlay of information on top of the physical world. For example, wearing my AR goggles while walking around town would show me the twitter username floating above a person’s head.  The most recent chatter has been regarding the iPhone 3GS; its more powerful processor, roomier RAM, and especially the built-in GPS and compass make it possible.  For example, the Metro Paris iPhone app overlays nearby businesses and can direct the user to the nearest subway entrance.
    2. Spime. In August 2004, Bruce Sterling suggested a type of technological device that, through pervasive RFID and GPS tracking, can track its own history of use and interact with the world. He also gave an amazing talk at SXSW Interactive (the keynote address, actually), where he expounded upon those ideas (listen). There are not a lot of sites out there talking about this end-to-end lifecycle management, which is why I chose to write one of the required opinion papers (read my paper) on the subject for Dr. Wigand’s eCommerce class last year.
    3. Transhumanism. Starting with the concept that every species is a species undergoing evolution, transhumanists seek to use our knowledge of the world to drive our evolution to unprecedented speeds.  One of the best media I’ve found regarding transhumanist thinking is H+ Magazine, a quarterly magazine available online. Current topics include designer babies, the Singularity, a retrospective on Biosphere 2, and artificial intelligence in video game bots.

    These topics and their associated links make for fascinating reading, and I suggest you take a look!

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