Cyborgs

We all know the Terminator or Robocop, but whats the real Cyborgs of our time?
The term Cyborg was created in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used the word in an article about the advantages of self-regulating, human-machine systems, however the term has now been applied to an organism that has different abilities due to the help of technology!
Another description of Cyborgs I have taken from the Oxford Dictionary which explains them as "A person with physical tolerances or capabilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by a machine or other external agency that modifies the bodies functioning an integrated man-machine system".

I found a website online which talk about Ray Kurzweii, a 61 year old scientist who is completely convinced that we will eventually have the technology and biology to know how to be Cyborgs within 20 years. This could mean becoming immortal, imagine noone having to die in 20 years? The scientist has pointed out that artificial pancreases and neural implants are already available to us. He commented in The Sun saying "I and many other scientists now believe that in around 20 years we will have the means to reprogramme our bodies' stone-age software so we can halt, then reverse, ageing. Then nanotechnology will let us live for ever".

So there at two types of Cyborgs, the real ones we use today, and the Fictional ones we regularly see in Sci-Fi movies.

"Cyborgs" that we see around today (and yes they are around, not just in movies) are known to enhance humans normal capabilities, these are items such as:

• Artificial Limbs
• Hearing Aids
• Glasses
• Pace Makers

Without some of these items humans would find it extremelly hard to get on with everyday life, but really do we want to be so reliant on these things, we should actually be in fear of them taking the human body overall. We will then be completely controlled by computers, and I'm pretty sure myself that I do not want another person, a complete stranger in charge of me.

The Fictional Cyborgs are usually seen as "human" looking subjects with atificial robot arms and legs, they usually at some point decide to randomly take their skin off aswell. They always have the ability to take over the world, and are constantly alot more stronger than us.

I turned deaf in one ear after having a virus when I was younger, does this mean when I put a hearing aid in, I then become a Cyborg, if so... Cool.

Neil Harbisson, born in 1982, is a young man who claims he is officaily a Cyborg, was diagnosed with Achromatopsia, which is a disease which means you can unfortunately only see in black and white. In 2002 Neil moved to the UK to study at Dartington College of Arts, where in his second year he started to attend a class called Cybernetics which was given by Adam Montandon. After introducing themselves and Adam finding out about Neil's condition, the pair started to work on what they called an "eyeborg project". It was a camera on Neils head which picked up colours and converted them into sound waves.

So will Cyborgs actually take over the world as we not, will there be a whole new species of humans in 20 years time. I think not for now, we should leave it too the movies.

Interfaces

Deffinition on an Interface= A concept which refers too interaction between to concepts, this may be machines, devices and computer programmes.

 I wanted to point out the fact that interfaces are everywhere, wether we like it or not, what with video cameras and of course now even our mobile phones can track everywhere we go. What with interfaces getting more and more advanced over the years, is this a good thing? Do we really want to have this skill of being constantly tracked? I think not.

We generally don't realise it, as humans we always think we have control over ourselves, however, it is completely true when I say that most modern day interaction and entertainment is made through screens. If you sit on a train, as soon as it comes out of the underground, it seems everyone instantly rushes to get out their phones, and you suddenly have a music tracks of ongoing ring tones.

Anyone in the world today is completely capable of creating a website by using HTML.

As a complete begginner at creating any kind of websites, unless you want to include my amazing MySpace page in that catergory, when my teacher decided to let me know we was going to be creating website pages from bassically complete scratch, I felt a tiny explosion in my brain. We began by using HTML, which is a description of what something is, I remembered when I would use myspace that I would type in simple things such as <b> meaning things would then become bold </b> and <u> making things underlined </u> so I knew the very much basics of HTML. However by the end of my class was was eventually able to create something that looked slightly like a website by using Komodo.

All over the world there are many different types of interfaces, but to sum it up here are the main groups:

• Off Screen
• Hand Held
• Detection
• Desk top/ Screen Based

All of which everyone can generally use.
It seems to me that in the end, there will be more computer based items than there is computers, is it healthy to be that connected with these items?

21st Century News

We have come along way from how news would originally have been transmitted. We can now capture any news story that has come out in an instant, through mobile phones, iPads, TV's and laptops and since these devices were created, news has become alot more in the publics interest. Go back a couple of years and news would have to be orally transmitted or peer-to-peer transmission, some people wouldn't find out news for months, it would also be impossible to read newspapers if you wasn't in London.
Luckily news now comes out frequently and regularly, theres almost nothing we don't know about.

But is there ever any hazards of having 24 hour news? How about the pressures on the journalists that are having to keep up with all the regular income. We may find that because they are wanting to write all the stories up so quickly, we could get some misleading impressions and wrong information. There is also of course the cost, 24 hour news is extremely expensive to keep up with.

However with all the different websites and channels, such as Youtube and Twitter, almost anyone can now become a blogger. Alot of people on Youtube have made Channels where they will take stories they have seen on the news and give their views on it. The video I have uploaded is a clear example of public journalism. A person of the public has seen the incident and took a video to broadcast from the scene. Bassically, if you have a mobile phone, with a video camera, congratulations! You are now a journalist.

Are we loosing are traditional ways, such as news papers to the internet? I think so, it is just so much easier to get to now, and the stories are alot more visual. Although we have no decision on what news is aired, interested in it or not it will be shown, as typical humans, we have more concern in our lives than others, but is the news making us decide what is important to us, and how we should judge it?

Overall without news we would have no idea about what is really going on in the world we live in today.

What is Technology doing to us? (Part 2)

The world of technology is constantly changing and expanding, but is it changing who we are today? And actually affecting the way we are originally "meant to be". Technology, as great as it is, and as much as it helps every day to day task, is affecting the way humans communicate and work.

Rememeber that wonderful place called the libary? My parents used to constantly take me there as a child, I would enjoy all the different genres and stories I was surrounded by, but now-days people don't even think to take a trip to the libary, why would you when all the information you need is now found on the oh so famous, Google! I Libarys dissapeared, would anyone even take notice?
How about sitting with the family watching a Video infront of the TV? Bet you haven't done that in a long time, but yet again, why would you need to when you can download any movie online. We no longer feel interest in finding out news and interesting facts, because we can find everything we need to know quickly and easily without even reading the rest of the facts.

It has also taken to my notice, that instead of meeting with old friends face-to-face for lunch, we find ourselves communicating over the internet on such websites such as "Facebook" and "Myspace". It's the same with arguing, people who are now called "Keyboard Warriors" do not confront with people in real-life, but instead send messages online, sometimes seen as "Cyber Bullying".

Only a few decades ago the internet didn't even excist, so why would we find it so hard to live without it now? A couple of friends from University have said that they find it hard to concerntrate on work because they constantly seem to end up going back on socail websites such as Facebook, Myspace and Twitter. They have become more interested in local gossip than their own education.

I have never been good at maths, but with cheap calculators selling everywhere, why should I be?

Words are spelt for us with spell check, food is blended for us with a blended, communication is made within seconds with a phone.
Technology is making us lazier and fatter, we are no wiser just because we find all our information on Google. Sometimes I think its a good idea just to put all technology down for a moment and take a look at the greater things in life, the real world.

Cyber Space, Good or Bad?

"CyberSpace" a made up term created by science fiction author William Gibson in the early 80's, an effective buzzword, that when first thought up, no one completely understood what it was all about. Like anything to do with Digital Technology, CyberSpace deffinately has it's positives and negatives. We can communicate freely with hundreds of friends from school/college within seconds via websites such as "Facebook" and "Twitter", but what about when it comes too cyber bullying within young children, and videos of explicitness that certain ages should not be seeing?

CyberSpace can take us into new worlds, made up fictional worlds where we can take on second lives, other personalities almost even making your own dreams come true by building this other world. However we find today that even with all these magical and wonderful programmes online, how do we know when we are communicating with strangers on the internet, that theres not a completely different person sitting behind the computer screen?

The main range of people that end up using Cyber Space are "young adults", a group of the public who are creating and exploring themselves, trying to connect with who they are, and generate their own personalities. Whilst adventuring Cyber Space, you can usually find yourself interacting with all kinds of different people, you may also find groups of stereotypes aswell which at the stage of becoming a young adult, everyone wants to be part of. An exceptance into a group is every young adults dream, they then know they fit in, away from bullying and judgmental eyes. But what about when we get too close to people over the internet. Noone likes to talk about it, Cyber Sex, a hobbie that is constantly going on, wether people know whos on the other side of the computer or not. This is where real danger can come in. Do you know who your friends or family are communicating with online?

Overall. yes we can enter new worlds, vent our opinions and ideas, but are we communicating over Cyber Space more than we do in the real world? Will we end up constantly behind our computer screens? My only advice to give about the Online world is not too put so much information up on websites such as, Facebook and MySpace, you never know who might be reading.