How funny was the short story A Logic Named Joe, written over sixty years ago??? At first I found the narrative a little difficult to lumber through (okay not just at first but for the entire ten pages). Perhaps due to the red-necky accent this Logics Company maintenance man was supposed to have? I kept thinking: come on Sir, speak properly! I guess I expected a very charming and maybe somewhat formal style of short story writing for 1946. Also, during the first few paragraphs I was a little confused thinking: wait wait wait, this vision-phone connection...isn't that the same thing as Face Time? Or Skype? What the...did they have that in the 40's?? Okay though, before you think me incompetent and a bit daft, just know that it was certainly by the end of the first page, MAYBE the beginning of the second page that I finally saw the irony: that ol' Logic named Joe is GOOGLE!
It was very interesting for me to read how someone sixty plus years ago would describe what we take for granted every day, the internet. They sure did describe it quite spot on though wouldn't you say? Okay so yes it was on a bit of a grander and more ambitious scale, helping every day people with magnificent and outlandish inventions that would go on to make them millions, but all I saw in good ol' trouble making Joe was OUR good friend Google! Joe would be way more awesome simply for the fact the he delivers the number one best answer, fact checked and everything, no need to scroll through needless advertisements cleverly camouflaged as credible websites. But the idea was the same, all the information you could ever need just at one stop: your marvelous little computer, err...logic!
I did stop to ponder the prediction of it all ruining civilization though. I think that was either just written that way for entertainment value, or the author of this short story had a very negative view on modern man and modern societies. But actually, as I wrote that last sentence I realized the author is most likely entirely correct. If we could have a computer give us very simple instructions for how to counterfeit money, lie to our spouse, rob a bank, of course more people than not would do it! Haha what was I thinking!? So I will just be grateful that we seem to have found a happy balance with Google. We can still get all sorts of information, from counterfeiting money to ancient cannibalistic tribes, but we can have it all without it ruining society and destroying our personal lives. And sorry Mr. Maintenance Man's wifey at home: we DO live in a world where our neighbors can all Google us and find out our real age, and our husband's high school exes and other former flames do indeed contact him (thanks Facebook), but I will take those cons in exchange for all the pros that such a vast amount of information sharing brings us via the internet.
Hopefully the internet will never evolve to a catastrophe like Joe was, because we would have the same problem. Our modern society now completely relies on it! I realized just how much we would miss our modern technologies this past month when I bought a new car that wasn't compatible with my iPhone 5 and I went about two weeks before pleading for help over Facebook and finding out (from MY high school ex, hahaha) that there is an adapter! Just imagine my pain: I spent two whole weeks with only 1 CD and the radio!!!!
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Module 9
Before beginning this IST 1100 course and reading The World Is Flat I honestly had NO IDEA that Dell computers and laptops were made to order. I had just assumed that just like every other PC you were able to just saunter into a Best Buy and pick one up. Knowing that Dell is in other words special order, I can already tell you that it is not the computer for me. I always need immediate satisfaction and I barely have the patience to wait for any of the items I purchase online. What makes Dell unique is it's supply chain management and it's built to order approach. Dell delivers individual PC's that are configured to the customer's specifications. I can see the appeal in that approach, and I suppose I could manage to wait if it meant I was getting a laptop with a custom design made specially for me!
In order to provide efficient service and production of goods, Dell uses multiple suppliers for most of the key components that go into their products. All you have to do as a consumer is pick up the phone or jump online and start your order. You choose exactly what you need and depending on the inventory levels of certain components you just might get discounted upgrades on extra memory for example. Just like the text says: "today memory might be on sale, tomorrow it might be CD-ROMS". Dell has remained a very efficient company because it only produces based on the demand, which is a valuable skill to have in a business based in technology, especially with how rapidly it changes.
Does Al-Qaeda have a supply chain? Indeed they do. After googling the question I saw in a few different places that Al-Qaeda is nothing but a "mutant supply chain", and the sad part is is that it is fueled in part by the purchase of illegal drugs like heroin here in America. Al-Qaeda raises money, recruits victims, and brainwashes them into thinking they are doing good by becoming a candidate for their suicide missions.
Because oil is not abundant for all countries the curse of it lies in the fact that it is a highly valuable resource that is fought over. If countries and powers are fighting over it now imagine how bad the fighting will be when the oil supply dwindles down to almost nothing.
In order to provide efficient service and production of goods, Dell uses multiple suppliers for most of the key components that go into their products. All you have to do as a consumer is pick up the phone or jump online and start your order. You choose exactly what you need and depending on the inventory levels of certain components you just might get discounted upgrades on extra memory for example. Just like the text says: "today memory might be on sale, tomorrow it might be CD-ROMS". Dell has remained a very efficient company because it only produces based on the demand, which is a valuable skill to have in a business based in technology, especially with how rapidly it changes.
Does Al-Qaeda have a supply chain? Indeed they do. After googling the question I saw in a few different places that Al-Qaeda is nothing but a "mutant supply chain", and the sad part is is that it is fueled in part by the purchase of illegal drugs like heroin here in America. Al-Qaeda raises money, recruits victims, and brainwashes them into thinking they are doing good by becoming a candidate for their suicide missions.
Because oil is not abundant for all countries the curse of it lies in the fact that it is a highly valuable resource that is fought over. If countries and powers are fighting over it now imagine how bad the fighting will be when the oil supply dwindles down to almost nothing.
Saturday, March 7, 2015
Module 8
I remember when I got my first email account, tannith@rocketmail.com (remember rocketmail!?). I was twelve years old and we had recently moved to Utah from South Africa. My dad was working in the IT department at BYU, and he set it up for me and I'm sure gave me a short tutorial on how to navigate through rocketmail, although I don't remember exactly if he did or not. The best part about having an email account was that I could communicate now very easily with my ONE friend in South Africa who had email, Nicki Pillay. Back then (we are talking twenty years ago people), the emails were very few and far between, with neither one of us being too enthralled with this new way of communicating. In fact I am fairly positive that I still sent her snail mail communications too. Although my very computer savvy father was responsible for my first exposure to computers, I fortunately had a computer course in my 7th grade year, at Dixon Middle School in Provo, and this was the beginning of my very limited education on computers.
I say limited because I have always felt that I was just ahead of the digital explosion. For example: I know many people right around my age that are NOT that computer savvy (much like myself), but it is almost impossible to encounter someone just a few years younger who does not know at least all the basics. I used to always be so impressed with my friends that were just three or four years younger than me when it came to their digital skills, and I would ask them how and when they learned such amazing proficiency! The answer was always: I had a class in middle school and high school, didn't you? No sir I did not! I feel robbed because I certainly never had the privilege of learning all these necessary digital techniques in my younger years, when it was FREE! Buuuuuuut let's focus on what I DID learn I suppose...back to my 7th grade computer class...
I should be grateful for that class, it's the only reason I can type the 40+ wpm that I am always fortunately able to putter across the finish line with, no matter how long I have been away from a keyboard. The only thing I actually remember learning is typing, we had these hefty wooden boxes that slid over our keyboards to prevent cheating, and we were taught the basics of where to place our fingers as a home base, and the computer screen had an animation of our hands showing us which digit to use for the next entry by lighting it up. (Oh it's all coming back to me now, memories!)
After middle school I somehow made it all through high school without any computer classes, well...wait a minute. I think I did have one, but high school is when I learned I could just take off in my car and play hooky instead of going to class, so that would explain why I don't remember any other digital courses. Oh how I regret so much of my academic youth! So, fast forward a decade, almost two, and I have fortunately gleaned enough skill to get by in this digital age. True it takes asking for help quite often, and that reminds me: I need to register for a computer class next semester!
I say limited because I have always felt that I was just ahead of the digital explosion. For example: I know many people right around my age that are NOT that computer savvy (much like myself), but it is almost impossible to encounter someone just a few years younger who does not know at least all the basics. I used to always be so impressed with my friends that were just three or four years younger than me when it came to their digital skills, and I would ask them how and when they learned such amazing proficiency! The answer was always: I had a class in middle school and high school, didn't you? No sir I did not! I feel robbed because I certainly never had the privilege of learning all these necessary digital techniques in my younger years, when it was FREE! Buuuuuuut let's focus on what I DID learn I suppose...back to my 7th grade computer class...
I should be grateful for that class, it's the only reason I can type the 40+ wpm that I am always fortunately able to putter across the finish line with, no matter how long I have been away from a keyboard. The only thing I actually remember learning is typing, we had these hefty wooden boxes that slid over our keyboards to prevent cheating, and we were taught the basics of where to place our fingers as a home base, and the computer screen had an animation of our hands showing us which digit to use for the next entry by lighting it up. (Oh it's all coming back to me now, memories!)
After middle school I somehow made it all through high school without any computer classes, well...wait a minute. I think I did have one, but high school is when I learned I could just take off in my car and play hooky instead of going to class, so that would explain why I don't remember any other digital courses. Oh how I regret so much of my academic youth! So, fast forward a decade, almost two, and I have fortunately gleaned enough skill to get by in this digital age. True it takes asking for help quite often, and that reminds me: I need to register for a computer class next semester!
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