I chose to do my research poster on a new cervical cancer screening device. This device does the same thing as a pap smear but it is better. It is better because it is more comfortable, less painful, and the results are instant. The device sends an electrical surge through the cervical cells. It sends the data to a computer that reads how the electrical surge bounced off the cells. Cancerous cells respond differently to the electricity than normal cells.
I really enjoyed learning about my technology. It is in testing in Europe right now and I hope that it will make it to the US soon. I would definitely prefer this to a pap smear. Although I like the technology that I chose I did not particularly enjoy making the poster for it. However, I feel like people liked my poster. I enjoyed interacting with the audience and explaining my technology. Many people seemed to be excited about it. Five peopled tweeted about my poster so I felt like it was pretty popular.

www.gizmag.com/zilicos-cervical-cancer-screening-pap-smear/13505/

I didn't know that there were so many different forms of reality. The one that stuck out to me was immersive reality. Immersive reality is a computer generated world that allow users to become immersed in a simulated version of reality, fantasy, or abstraction. I have never personally taken part of this form of reality. To be honest I'm not really sure that I want to. I saw an episode of Lois and Clark that dealt with immersive technology ( www.kryptonsite.com season 3 number 10). In this episode there was a crazy guy that tried to trap Lois in his fantasy world. It was so real that it took her a long time to figure out she was trapped. I would not want something like that to happen to me.

In the past people have been uneasy about the evolution of technology. when the Internet was invented people were scared because they thought it would be the demise of the world. Obviously that did not happen. I think the world must surely be a better place with the internet in it. There is so much information that people can access due to it. Now people are scared about technology being mixed with the human race. For example, bionic arms, hands, legs, etc. People think that we will become more robotic than human in the future. I do not think that we will ever truly become robots. Change is good. Hopefully more people will start to agree with me.
*Beyonce's music video SINGLE LADIES
---she wears a robotic hand

The Digital Divide
I never really thought about a thing such as a digital divide. According to lecture the digital divide is "a gap between the haves and have nots in terms of access to and use of computers and information resources." So basically there are some people that are more likely to use and have access to computers and other resources. It makes sense that college students are the ones that have the most access to computers. Everything that we do revolves around the use of computers in information. We even have classes that are completely online. I also found it interesting that as the cost of computers decrease that African Amercians are buying them faster than White Americans. Not surprising to me is that older people are less likely to use these resources than younger people. Also not surprising is that more educated people have more access and use these resources more than less educated people.

Is it morally and ethically right to technologically alter people's minds? I have not yet decided if I think this is okay. I guess that I do agree with it in some circumstances. For instance, the paraplegic people who needed the brain technology to communicate (www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/31/60minutes/main4560940.shtml). We learned about people who are literally able to be telepathically linked to a computer. One man is able to think of a letter and it appears on the computer screen. People have also been able to move objects on the screen by thinking about it.

TV

I'm sitting here watching Dancing with the Stars and I'm realizing that the television takes up a lot of my time. Depending on what day it is I probably watch about five to six hours of TV a night. That is absolutely insane! I noticed today that I also tend to watch TV when I am bored. I didn't have any homework that had to be done so I've been free all day. And the only thing I have done is watch TV.
I think I learn a lot from watching TV. I don't usually watch the news because I think it is boring. My idea of learning what's going on is watching the thrity second commecial that shows you what they will be talking about on the news. Commercials are also influence me quite a bit. I find out what the new products are, the weather, and new shows that are starting. Basically, I'm a TV junkie and the TV communicates everything to me.

An Online School

I hate that the basis of our school work is online. In many classes we do most of our work online. In ASL I take all my tests online. In Math I take all of my quizzes online. In Sociology I submit my papers online. In Com I do most of my homework online. This online basis of school is not fair. Professors do not seem to care that computers and technology are not always 100%. We cannot count on them to always pull through for us. When taking tests, I have had my computer completely freeze up. This put me fifteen minutes behind in my test. I have had several experiences with not being able to submit a quiz online. When this happens I usually recieve a zero. I have had difficulty submitting papers online also. Another problem that I have with our school being online is that not everyone has the same access to computers. My apartment does not supply the greatest Internet. My Internet goes down all the time. If the the bus has already left my apartment, I have no way to get to the school. And even if I did get to the school there is no telling if I would be able to find an open computer. I feel like having school online is not fair to the students.

Games

Last week in lab we learned about games. I already knew that there were tons and tons of games that we can play online. I did not know that there were so many different kinds of games that we can play. You can play strategy games, board games, fantasy games, and many more that I have never even heard of. I had no idea that RPG stood for Role Playing Game, and FPS stood for First Person Shooter. Another amazing thing about online games is that several of them are free. Having free games encourages us to play. Who wants to work when we can be playing free games instead? These free games can be accessed at a numerous amount of sites. Two sites that I have used before are msn.com and freearcade.com. I have currently become addicted to is Bubble Town on msn.com. I seriously play it all the time. It took me awhile, but I finally reached level 9 :)
http://zone.msn.com/en/bubbletown/default.htm?intgid=hp_populargames_1

Relationships

I think that people were embarrassed to admit to looking up information about others online. I think that we have all done it before. We want to know as much as we can about people before we seriously get invovled with them. Why wouldn't we want to do this? It is much safer to know someone before we are alone with them. It gives us the upper hand. I don't think there is anything wrong with wanting to know who we are associating with. I would certainly want to know if I was about to get involved with a psycho or not. Lookin up this information online is very beneficial to me.
Facebook has encouraged the online population to learn about the people around us. It has also encouraged us to learn about people that we don't know at all. As long as people havn't blocked their acount, you can look at whoever you want to on Facebook. I have been as guilty as the next person of Facebook stalking. It is so hard to now look at people's profiles because we are nosey by nature. Now Facebook allows you to look at multiple profiles on one page. Facebook is just promoting us to stalk people!

Phones

I was absolutely amazed to learn that one in two people has a phone. This is just crazy to me! I guess looking at the United States it is really not surprising, but this statistic is worldwide. This means that people in poorer countries now have access to phones and this type of communication. The more that we technologically improve, the better we can make it for people.

I did not have my own phone until I was eighteen. When I was sixteen, my parents gave me a phone to use for emergencies. They were afraid that I would have trouble since I had just gotten my license. I also think that they just wanted to have a way to be in constant contact with me :( lol. I was not surprised to learn that most teens get their first phones when they start driving. I am pretty sure that is why most of my friends got theirs.

My contract is up in a few months and I am going to get a new phone. My carrier is Verizon and I think that I want to get the enV Touch.

Online Identity

I did not realize how big a problem online identity was until we learned about it in class. I guess I never really thought about it before. I have grown up being online and it just feels normal to me. I have never really worried about people pretending to be someone that they are not. But it is true that people can become anyone that they want to be online. People can have multiple usernames and lie about who they are. Women can pose as men and men can pose as women. In the back of my mind I knew that this kind of thing could happen, but it was just not on my priority list. It is very easy for people to assume false online identities. There is no accountability when you are online. A perfect example is the story that we read about Kaycee Nicole. The woman who created this fictional character did it very easily. She embodied the character and pulled people into her lying path. This kind of stuff is scary and we all need to be more conscience of it.

Cochlear Implants

I am currently taking ASL as my foreign language requirement. I am also taking ASL 280 The Deaf Community. These two classes have allowed me to learn quite a lot about cochlear implants. A cochlear implant is a device that is surgically implanted into deaf people. The purpose of the implant is to help deaf people to communicate better with the hearing world. Supporters of the cochlear implant believe that it helps people to communicate more effectively. Those in oppostition to the implant believe that it takes away from the deaf person's identiy. They feel like using an implant is admitting that there is something wrong with the deaf person. Most deaf people feel that they are just as normal as the next person.
Now that I have given the basics of the cochlear implant I want to let you know how I feel about it. In theory I think that they are an excellent medical breakthrough. The cochlear implant is technology at its best. The whole purpose of it is to help people who can't hear. I can honestly say that I believe that I can understand why some deaf people would not want to be implanted. I have heard the defenses of deaf people in opposition to it. Overall, I think that cochlear implants are a wonderful piece of technology.