Programmed to Respond

I want to see the World Wide Web help the world grow. I look forward to the possibilities that the WWW offers to me as a writer. I am excited about the way that the World Wide Web can make education reachable by all peoples. But mostly, I am excited about the way that the WWW, and social media in particular, offers the opportunity for people to unite their voices in a song for progress. Whether that progress is to the benefit of the Earth or the advancement in the evolution of its people, the possibilities for good are breathtaking.  By contrast, the possibilities that lie in its darkness are soul crushing. As with all "governed" domains, the sheep can be lost in the plight of the wolf. I don't want to be a sheep, but I accept that in all but a few competencies, I am. And so is the majority of the population when it comes to the intricacies of the web.  From the beginning, technologies have been made available to the government, academics and then the wealthy bef

When I was hugely pregnant, and my son was but two and a half years old, we were sitting together on the floor when he looked over at a rather thick book for new moms and matter-of-factly said “Pregnancy.” This was a particularly impressive feat, not because he was reading at two years old, but because I had not taught him that particular word. It was also the first three syllable word that he had ever read. Yes, my baby was reading at two and that was normal in our house, but reading three syllable words was not, at least not until that day. I had begun teaching my son to read when he was one year old, and did so using the Doman method, meaning lots and lots of homemade flashcards. By that time, Brillkids Little Reader software was out, but… I was too cheap to put out the cash. Well, I eventually caved and shelled out the one hundred bucks or so, and never looked back. I have no regrets. I am one of those people that believes that babies can read. Brillkids created a software

Evolution pervades all existence, from cosmology to biology to technology. It is curious that Moore's Law has such a definite and accurate timeline. Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, could hardly present so accurate a prediction himself, but that may be because he primarily operated within biology and may not have known how evolution was so applicable outside his realm of expertise. Biology, of course, is completely dependent upon individual change being passed on and adopted by species either through reproduction or by mimicry.  In contrast, Moore's Law and, by extension, convergence, rely upon several concentrated efforts toward a common, and mutually beneficial goal: greater tech to spread the world over. That is not to say that technology developments are not competitive, but rather that life and death are not at stake. Adapting someone else tech and then expanding it would not be quite as unforgivable as learning one man's method for farming, developing it

When something seems too good to be true, well, it probably is. I suppose that doesn't mean that one shouldn't, at least, try. A fancy name seems a good way to start trying, as was the case in the sudden rise of the World Wide Web: Prodigy (Oh! My promising child!), CompuServe (We serve you computer connectivity! See what we did there...), Genie (Technology, it's magic!), AOL (Okay, acronyms are pretty lazy...but America OnLine -- We get you online, I guess.), and Delphi (We are the center of the technological world!). What's most interesting in considering these huge service provider companies as dinosaurs - big, slow, extinct (mostly), cumbersome - is that the mere allusion seems to hint at the potential of waves of near extinction forthcoming. It will undoubtedly come to light in the future that new waves of convergence will prove previous providers’ technological structure obsolete, and make way for things like pesky little tiny mammals (small web businesses an

Shadrach White declares that "cloud computing is about democracy -- the democratization of technology." Before cloud computing was possible, every single person in tech had to understand not just how to write code, but had to have a solid understanding of hardcore computer processing. And then came the switch to the virtual computing environment, and suddenly everyone wanted in on the untapped computing power that was ever-present in the already established computer network. The hardware was there, it just required the right method of application and utilization. The next step in this democratization was to put this new resource into the hands of the consumer. The browser became the new operating system, and the world of tech based business opened up to the entrepreneur. Once again, the world wide web has opened up greater opportunities to the people without discrimination against race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation... or capital. Cloud computing significantl

Kaleil Isaza Kuzman first showed signs of brutal business when the new company was looking for a domain name to get started.  All his coworkers offered  GovWorks.com or NexTown.com. Kaleil revealed his preferred company name as untoCaesar.com referencing Matthew 22:21:    "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" For a man previously touting that he does not like the idea of being associated with the government, associating himself with an military emperor seems a curious choice. So what is about Caesar that Kaleil finds appealing? Could it be that he drawn to power, and believes that power brings spoils of war. Is he demanding that all that is below God is rightfully his, if he can only take it? In Startup.com, Kaleil seems to find business in parallel with war. He is ruthless, but approaches his public appearance as one of a campaign or propaganda. He is angry and rash behind closed doors, with words that c

Long before technology really had grasp on the world (because I feel myself to be oh-so-old), I recall spending an obscene amount of time ensuring that my MySpace was just so. HTML gave me and all the hormone-driven teenagers something to do with themselves when they should be writing up homework, but would much rather be stuck in the back of someone's car playing with the hem of their crush's shirt, their heart all aflutter- but alas! It's a school night. There was art to it that involved no small form of thievery. As anyone scrolled through MySpace looking for new exotic teenagers (not persons in general, because anyone over 25 felt creepy) and found themselves struck by that amazing new thing that Jessica (it was always Jessica who had so many advantages) had moving, dancing or otherwise tantalizing across their screen on her virtual home, anyone could rest easy if they only knew how to search through the code and pick out that unfamiliar thing. Copy and paste. It'

Methods of communication have evolved and expanded dramatically over time. Humanity has used the word of mouth (as in runners), delivery animals (as in pigeons), the Pony Express, the train system, the telegraph, smoke signals, Morse code, and many other methods besides to communicate with others over vast distances… or right down the street. Many of the communication vessels above are still used, although some in less practical ways, and simply for the sake of nostalgia. The primary means of communication now rest in e-mail, text messaging, the occasional though rare phone call, and somehow, for some reason, the postal service. Why is that? How is that? The postal service has always had some advantages over the new(er) and therefore exciting electronic mail. We cannot, at the moment, send a physical package via e-mail… yet. This is an advantage that I believe will be called into question once 3-D printers are normalized, something to occur very soon. There is also the added fee

Erik Hanberg hasn't had a full time job since 2008, he says that's because "I've been leaping from moving trains… piecing together a career.” His security comes from dipping his fingers into several different projects and using tech to keep the money rolling in.  And he’s not keeping his secrets to himself. He wants to spread the word, which he’s done as a guest speaker in the classroom (of Professor Andrew Fry, specifically), but has also put books out into the world to be gobbled up by those he can’t speak to personally. His success came, as it does for many great achievers, out of failure. Erik started at Tacoma’s Grand Cinema in 2004, where as the Managing Director accomplished the previously impossible task of putting the Grand in line to run itself using the innovation of technology. He was amazingly successful. So successful that he decided that he didn’t need to work for the Grand because he could do this on his own. “What if I owned this? I can own this a

With the creation of the World Wide Web, a new dimension that is slowly merging with our reality has come into existence. Once upon a time, a person's imaginary existence was a private matter that few others may or may not have access to, depending on whether the creator chose to somehow publish this world. Now, those worlds can not only be shared, but the act of creating those worlds can be a shared act. Truthfully, it is the shared act of our time, the art of our century. Whether I want to or not, I am forced to know and interact in this world, but I want to be more than a pawn. The attempt to pull oneself away from this world can leave one out of the happenings of the truly physical world as it is now the central method of communication and exchange of everything, from the arts to basic necessities. I need to be an active player in the land beyond the electronic realm, or at least be able to communicate about it, thereby bringing me a step closer to not being a pawn. I wa