Computers are considered to be exoskeletons of the human mind because they perform all the work and do all the thinking for us.
They act as physical extensions to the human brain that we can never again live without.
By Laure Bashour
Monday, March 31, 2008
Body exoskeleton
These wearable robots fit around the person's arm or leg like an exoskeleton and enable the person wearing them to perform extraordinary functions. Their flexible joints mimic every movement of the person's arm or leg, and providing flexibility. They are portable and run on battery power.By Laure Bashour
Second Life
Second Life is an Internet-based virtual world, developed by Linden Research, Inc, which became internationally popular in late 2006. Its users, called Residents, can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, have virtual sex, and create and trade items and services from one another.
While Second Life is often thought of as a game, but this is not really appropriate since it does not have scores, winners or losers, levels and other properties of regular games. However, there are many games within Second Life.
Residents are human in appearance, they can be either male or female, they can have a wide range of physical characteristics, and they can be either clothed or take a wide variety of humanoid and other forms.
Within Second Life, there are two ways of communication: local chatting, and global instant messaging (known as IM). IM is used for private conversations. There are many websites that can be used to help Residents find each other from outside Second Life.
Second Life has its own economy and its currency is Linden Dollars (L$). Residents create goods and services, and buy and sell them in the virtual world. Also, Residents can exchange real world currencies for L$.
There are two types of accounts: basic and premium. Basic accounts are free of charge, but their Residents cannot own land on Second Life. Residents of Premium accounts pay $9.95 per month, including a monthly fee for a small piece amount of land (worth $5 a month), which must be bought either from another player or from Linden Lab by auction.
By Laure Bashour
While Second Life is often thought of as a game, but this is not really appropriate since it does not have scores, winners or losers, levels and other properties of regular games. However, there are many games within Second Life.
Residents are human in appearance, they can be either male or female, they can have a wide range of physical characteristics, and they can be either clothed or take a wide variety of humanoid and other forms.
Within Second Life, there are two ways of communication: local chatting, and global instant messaging (known as IM). IM is used for private conversations. There are many websites that can be used to help Residents find each other from outside Second Life.
Second Life has its own economy and its currency is Linden Dollars (L$). Residents create goods and services, and buy and sell them in the virtual world. Also, Residents can exchange real world currencies for L$.
There are two types of accounts: basic and premium. Basic accounts are free of charge, but their Residents cannot own land on Second Life. Residents of Premium accounts pay $9.95 per month, including a monthly fee for a small piece amount of land (worth $5 a month), which must be bought either from another player or from Linden Lab by auction.
By Laure Bashour
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Second Life is one of several irtual worlds that have been inspired by the cyberpunk literary movement.It is referred as a game.It doesn't have pts,scores winners and losers.It allow users to interact with each other through motional avatars providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of metaverse.Residents can explore,meet other residents,socialize,and participate in individual and group activities.In general,it is a virtual world in which people can interact,play and do businees.
By Fady Naddour
By Fady Naddour
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Exoskeleton
If we examine the evolution of computers, we will see a clear meta-trend, going from one computer for many people (the mainframe) to one computer for a single person (the PC), and finally to many interconnected computers for everyone.
The three rules underlying this meta-trend are Moore’s law on the exponential growth of transistors at constant cost (processing speed and storage capacity double every 18 months); Metcalfe’s law on the square value of a network (the usefulness of a network equals the square of the number of users) and Gilder’s law on bandwidth growth (the total bandwidth of communication systems triples every twelve months). The combination of these three laws has resulted in what we know as cyberspace and digital economy, where value has shifted from atoms to bits. The cyberspace consists of networks of networks of networks. These networks connect a range of intelligent devices; they can increase our human potential, acting as an exoskeleton. From the standpoint of applications and services, it is more suitable to think in terms of exoskeleton rather than in terms of cyberspace, because the exoskeleton transmits an improved reality, and consequently it concerns our real lives. It is not just virtual reality as Cyberspace suggests.
Researchers have developed an exoskeleton that helps firefighters, hikers, soldiers and travellers with their backpacks. It lessens the load of their luggage. Furthermore, there is ongoing research that promises amputees with robotic limbs that will improve their strength and mobilty. These are examples of how computers can be used as exoskeletons not only for the human mind, but for the human body as well.
The exponential development in speed, communication bandwidth, material sciences, efficiency and sensor technology is leading to a New Era, the Era of amplified reality. Computing technologies will have a great economic, social and cultural influence on our society. It will be an era where we can have a new external body: the “computational exoskeleton”.
The three rules underlying this meta-trend are Moore’s law on the exponential growth of transistors at constant cost (processing speed and storage capacity double every 18 months); Metcalfe’s law on the square value of a network (the usefulness of a network equals the square of the number of users) and Gilder’s law on bandwidth growth (the total bandwidth of communication systems triples every twelve months). The combination of these three laws has resulted in what we know as cyberspace and digital economy, where value has shifted from atoms to bits. The cyberspace consists of networks of networks of networks. These networks connect a range of intelligent devices; they can increase our human potential, acting as an exoskeleton. From the standpoint of applications and services, it is more suitable to think in terms of exoskeleton rather than in terms of cyberspace, because the exoskeleton transmits an improved reality, and consequently it concerns our real lives. It is not just virtual reality as Cyberspace suggests.
Researchers have developed an exoskeleton that helps firefighters, hikers, soldiers and travellers with their backpacks. It lessens the load of their luggage. Furthermore, there is ongoing research that promises amputees with robotic limbs that will improve their strength and mobilty. These are examples of how computers can be used as exoskeletons not only for the human mind, but for the human body as well.
The exponential development in speed, communication bandwidth, material sciences, efficiency and sensor technology is leading to a New Era, the Era of amplified reality. Computing technologies will have a great economic, social and cultural influence on our society. It will be an era where we can have a new external body: the “computational exoskeleton”.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A.L.I.C.E.
We had a rather interesting conversation with the robot Alice, about a variety of issues.
She is quick and often answers our questions, although sometimes she manages to twist the answer in a smart way when she cannot answer.
When we started the conversation, we were expecting direct answers to difficult questions, rather like an encylopedia. Later we realised that she does not really know a lot. She is skillful in throwing the question back at us stated differently. Or she might tell us to wait while she searches for answers or asks her manager, who is always unavailale, she claims.
There are a few things that she answers immediately, although not quite to the point. For example, we asked her "Who is Karl Marx?" She said, "Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital and co-wrote the Communist Manifesto, though his compatriot Engels actually wrote most of the prefaces."
We also noticed that she gets mad easily, especially if we ask her the same question more than once. For example, we asked her about desertification twice, so the second time she said, "Are you testing me?" She also got mad when we asked her about Karl Marx's philosophy and she told us to try another program, but we insisted that she answered us but she did not.
She is quick and often answers our questions, although sometimes she manages to twist the answer in a smart way when she cannot answer.
When we started the conversation, we were expecting direct answers to difficult questions, rather like an encylopedia. Later we realised that she does not really know a lot. She is skillful in throwing the question back at us stated differently. Or she might tell us to wait while she searches for answers or asks her manager, who is always unavailale, she claims.
There are a few things that she answers immediately, although not quite to the point. For example, we asked her "Who is Karl Marx?" She said, "Karl Marx wrote Das Kapital and co-wrote the Communist Manifesto, though his compatriot Engels actually wrote most of the prefaces."
We also noticed that she gets mad easily, especially if we ask her the same question more than once. For example, we asked her about desertification twice, so the second time she said, "Are you testing me?" She also got mad when we asked her about Karl Marx's philosophy and she told us to try another program, but we insisted that she answered us but she did not.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)