Module 13

                                                                                  What I've learned

I took this class not knowing what to expect from it. I don’t blog and don’t like writing very much so that part was a little awkward for me but after reading the book and sharing with others the way I saw every module and getting to read their point of view was actually great.

I like computers and everything that has to do with them but to be honest I did not know a lot about globalization, workflow software or how a dell was made and I had no idea how important it is to stay at par with technology.

I really enjoyed reading "A Logic named Joe"  it was very entertaining and at the same time help open our eyes about the power we give to computers. It made think of all the things people share on social media on a daily basis and how we all we do can be tracked by the way we use the computers,This has made think twice before posting on Facebook  Reading about GNR was a little scary, to think of the things we could be facing on a near future, I might not face it myself but maybe my daughter will. Makes me think what kind of world we will have then and how people could be close to useless if we don’t do something about it. It was good to know that there is a lot of people out there with the same thoughts.

Friedman's concept that the world is flat is true. We can see it everyday and everywhere we go. The way we communicate with others not only has helped business all over the world but also all of us as individuals. It is true that we are giving too much power to computers ,relying on them for almost everything but I believe that the more we fear the more power they will have over us. We have to accept that the world is all about technology now and just stay at par with it. 

Module 12

                                                                Module 12

  This week we review the article "Why the future doesn't need us" publish on Wired Magazine on April 2000. The article was written by Bill Joy and explains the term GNR and his fears on it.

GNR stands for genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics. Joy was convinced that growing advances in genetic engineering and nanotechnology would bring risks to humanity.

Joy biggest concern regarding genetics is that "promises to revolutionize agriculture by increasing crop yields while reducing the use of pesticides; to create tens of thousands of novel species of bacteria, plants, viruses, and animals; to replace reproduction, or supplement it, with cloning; to create cures for many diseases, increasing our life span and our quality of life; and much, much more.” The problem is pointed out, however, that the military and offensive applications are almost easier and more easily manipulated than some of the peaceful applications for genetic research. Mr. Joy’s greatest concern regarding genetic technologies is “that it gives the power - whether militarily, accidentally, or in a deliberate terrorist act - to create a White Plague.” Joy explains that this technology must be monitored, but that monitoring would be most successful in an honors type system. Unlike atomic energy and where testing was evident, breakthroughs in genetics can be hidden and remain private until a malevolent source chose to act out some malicious plan.

He is also concern about nanotechnology and robotics, with nanotechnologies he fears that with the benefits of it we could face a big risk. People might be looking to save lives with all this technology but if we look at the whole picture like him it is another step closer to see the humans being half robots like some movies have shown us before. With robotics he points that soon machines will perform duties that would not require human intervention at all, and that soon after that robots will be making decisions on their own. This will make the system harder to turn off and by the time that people want control back the system will be so complex that humans beings will be incapable of doing so. When this happens machines will have total control over humans and we will be totally dependent on them. Joy also states that this new and advanced machines would be controlled by a few. The rich and powerful will have control over them and over the masses.

This article was written in 2000 and we are very close to the year he states this robots will be made.  It is scary to think about the human race being controlled by machines but we are a step closer every day. Some people might say that robots will never overpower humans because of their lack of emotion or pain but the way I see it that might be the advantage that they will have over us.

Module 11

                                                                                           Module 11

For this week the class had to review a film related to computers and write about it. I decided to watch again Live Free of Die Hard. I actually like all the die hard movies but this one is one of my favorites.The assignment is just to explain how the computers were used in the movie.

In this movie the F.B.I. is investigating a computer outage at their cyber-security division. They start tracing  the hackers responsible for this and they find out that most of them have been killed. The F.B.I decide to take the rest of the hackers into custody. This is when they ask detective John McLane to collect Matt Farrell because he was the closest officer available to Matt's location.

 McLane picks up Matt in time for him not be killed by assassins hired by the terrorist Matt was unknowingly working for named Gabriel. Matt explains McLane he was hired along with other hackers to find a code for a large amount of money but they didn't knew who was their boss.

When they get to D.C. there is chaos everywhere because Gabriel has taken over the transportation and stock market, he also broadcast a message threatening the United States and a broadcast showing a fake explosion of the capitol building.  Matt recognizes this as the start of an and attack designed to target the nation and explains that to McLane. They later find out that Gabriel was a top expert hacker for the U.S Defense Department  and was fired when he tried to show the head of the department about the vulnerability of America if there was a cyber-warfare.

While the movie keeps going we discover that Gabriel plan was to take over a National Security Agency building facility where all personal data and financial records of the United States were going to be saved in case of a cyber-security emergency, this security system was created after 9/11. We also find out that Gabriel was the one who created the program,that is why he knew all the information was going to be there and why he created all this chaos, to create the illusion of an emergency and activate the download. During the movie we can see how just with a few clicks Gabriel and his crew take over not only computers by changing the traffic lights or turning down all lights of the city but also how they could hurt people and control their lives by erasing their savings accounts,401k and trying to kill anyone that interferes with his plan.

I think in this movie the use of computers is very realistic, I don’t think every hacker is going to send an F-5 to kill you but I believe that someone with knowledge can hack into the transportation system or any other system and create a disaster. Now a days there is a lot that can be made from your computer if you have the tools, you don’t even need to be as smart as the bad guy in this movie, you can learn how to hack or override something from YouTube. I think there is a lot of movies out there that shows us how much power we have given to computers in our lives and how things can go wrong from it.

Module 10

This week our assignment was to read a short story called "A Logic Named Joe" while reading this story I could not believe it was written in 1946.The author of it describes how computers could solve our problems just by asking them. In this story Joe is some type of super computer that gets smarter with experience, Joe can connect to other logics and give people answers to any type of question. We can notice in the story how the author can see that not everyone was going to use this "power" as something good, maybe the kids were asking the computers to watch some cannibals shows or how to find a buried treasure, there were no filters to what kids were able to do or look in the computers, and adults were asking how to create weapons, how to get rid of someone or to how steal money from banks.

When Jenkins wrote this story computers were big machines used for bigger tasks. He predicted that we were going to be able to have this at home and use them for simple questions and for a lot more than they were used before.In the story everyone had a logic and they would use it to watch tv, make phone calls or chat and also to get information. Now, almost everyone has a computer at home and we are able to watch tv shows, get all the information we need about something and get a hold of anyone with another computer trough a video call, social networks or chat.

Now, a computer might not be able to do what Joe did in the story but we are very close to that point. They are programmed to save patterns of the way we use them and the things we like. I was a little creep out the first time I notice that right after I visited a popular clothing store website and got out of it, the next page I opened had a add with the same item I was looking at from the same store telling that they were recommending me the particular item. After that I started to research about it and its unbelievable all the information we don’t realize we share or we teach the computer every time we use them. It is a little bit scary. Computers evolve and are getting more powerful, the worst is that we rely on them for almost everything. I cant think of what would happened to the world if all technology was taken out of it.

At the end of the story Joe gets caught or maybe I should say that the human brain beat the machine. So maybe as long as we are smarter than computers they will not overpower humans.

Module 9

                                                                                          Module 9

Right now I'm reading the final chapters of this book and still learning about how the world has flatten and how companies or countries are using this in their advantage. In past modules we learned about supply chains and after learning about them we can realize that almost everything is made by supply chains.  The process of building a Dell laptop starts with the order of the computer, the order goes to Dell's systems, they get your personal information and everything related to the order, that includes your credit card information to charge you for the item. Once you order the computer doesn't mean that the item is sitting in a shelf waiting for you, instead the item is in little parts all over the world. They have six factories around the world and your computer will be assemble in one of those, but they order the parts from their SLC warehouse. Once the computer gets assembled it is sent down to arrive at the place where the software will be installed, after that the computer goes to the boxing department and gets ready to get sent out to the buyer. This is what we call supply chains.

Al-Qaeda has a supply chain of their own too. They use this for death and destruction. The book mentions that it’s a suicide chain. The flat world has made it easier for terrorists to transmit their terror and to move the tools to conduct their operations. With the help of the internet they can also get information on the places they want to attack or their enemies without having to travel to that place, they can also recruit and train their people. This shows us that the flattening of the world can be use  for any matter and by any group.

Countries in the middle east that are rich in oil get stuck on getting money just from drilling, they don’t develop or try to to find another ways of making money. This is what her refers to The Curse of Oil. These countries generally don’t have higher education, court systems or general rights for the citizens.

If there comes a time when the oil runs out the citizens of these countries will have no way of advancing or supporting themselves.

At the end of the book we can realize that all the advances in our technology are not always use for good, but it makes our world a more productive place and helps individuals around the world to expand.

Module 8

                                                                                         Module 8

I'm from Dominican Republic, a little island in the Caribbean, like you could imagine in a 3rd world country having a computer at home back then, I'm talking about 15 or more years ago, was a luxury that not everyone could afford. I was first introduced to computers when I was in middle school. The students only had one or two hours a week of computers class and we were not allowed to use the internet, just learn about the computer and how to use it.  I remember that computer class was the favorite class of most kids, mostly because we were all curious about computers or maybe because of the fact that after the lesson was over we could use paint until the hour was over.

When I got to High School computer class was more important, I was in an all girls school and the principal wanted to make sure that we got of school with some knowledge of technology so I remember having computer class 3 times a week for 2 hours. During this lessons we were thought how to type, use different computers programs and finally I was able to use the internet at school, but only for research. I can say that in School I learned all the basics skills of computers that I use so much today.  The skills that I learned back then not only helped me with my education today but also helped to get a job not only on Dominican Republic but also in the United States.

 After my first year in High School I remember using the internet a lot for my assignments, to have a little bit more information that what I had in books and to avoid going to the library. Today almost if not all aspects of school involves computers. Is not only used to research, we now use it to actually turn in our assignments and communicate with professors and other students. The internet has made possible for students to attend college completely online, making it easier for a person to set their own time to study and not having to go the campus.

I am one of those students who cant attend campus everyday, so computers are actually the most important factor on my education. I can take my classes online and they are a huge help on my research papers. I can find information from many sources and communicate with teachers and even with tutors to help me out if needed. I can say that I'm happy computers have taken such a great role in our education, I don’t think I will be going to School today if I didn't have the chance to be an all online student.

Module 7

                                                                    Module 7

For a long time some countries have been better then others  in different aspects of goods and trading. This is because of the location and resources that each country has, this means that if a country lacks of some products or good can still have success on another area. This is what its called Competitive Advantage. Every country has different levels of education and economic practices, the countries with most success or advantage are those who keep at par with technology and are better at innovation.

Competitive Advantage works internationally when countries produce goods separate and then are brought together to a market for the consumer.

Because of the internet we have what its called a self-directed consumers. Before the internet consumers had to buy in local companies and settle for their prices, there was not a way to compare the prices of the competition if this one was outside of your city or country. Now the internet has made possible for consumers to find the  best price and customization for them. They can search for stores nearby or stores In another country that might have a better price.  The consumer has a lot of power and feel in charge of their shopping experience, they can also let other consumers know if the experience was good or not. This is a big advantage for both, the consumers and the merchants. I am one of those consumers that, If I see something at any store I would look up for the item on the internet and try to get the most out of my dollar before buying it.

American culture has become a huge part of the global culture. Every day more and more countries are adopting American ways. In my home country, for example, I've notice that people not only include in our native language American words but also have adopted a lot of the way of Americans. I only noticed this after having moved to the United States, before that I never wonder why we did it.  Americanization is happening to everyone but we will always have countries that will want to keep their cultures the way it was.