A question just came to my mind now.
A Robot - when we say this, what does it imply?
Literarily, a robot is a machine that can automatically do tasks normally, controlled by humans and mostly used to perform repetitive tasks on an assembly line.
Source: http://www.nanohand.eu/index.php?page=114&include_link=glossary
Yeah! a robot is supposed to do all these. However isn't it going the other way round now? Isn't humanity gradually being faced with the fear of being controlled by 'living machines' they themselves have made?
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Friday 30 November 2007
Tuesday 27 November 2007
Our Identitiy And Subjectivity In Cyberspace.
In his article on 'Gender, Subjectivity and Identity in Cyberspace', Peter Spittle opined that in cyberspace, we have a clear sense of our corporeal bodies exchanged for 'atomised virtual bodies' in what is thought of as life behind the screen.
According to Spittle, 'citizens of the internet appear to be taking their cultural and social baggage with them on their journey to the other side of the mirror.'
He further says that in the realm of cyberspace, we become arbiter of the identities and positions paraded before us. Our existing cultural ties have a considerable impact on who we choose to identify with us, but we cannot ignore the co-presence of other identities, which call into question the construction of our own.
According to Texter,"the social construction of the body becomes clear in cyberspace, where every identity is represented, rather than 'real'. The consensus of cyberspace is a precarious one; identification is entirely contignet, based on a consensual agreement to take one's word for it." (Texter, 1996:3)
Spittle states that Texter suggests identity in cyberspace is often about 'pass off', offering up a fluid sense of self, projected onto an imaginary virtual body.
(Source: http://www.aber.ac.uk/~jmcwww/Misc/spittle01.html)
According to Spittle, 'citizens of the internet appear to be taking their cultural and social baggage with them on their journey to the other side of the mirror.'
He further says that in the realm of cyberspace, we become arbiter of the identities and positions paraded before us. Our existing cultural ties have a considerable impact on who we choose to identify with us, but we cannot ignore the co-presence of other identities, which call into question the construction of our own.
According to Texter,"the social construction of the body becomes clear in cyberspace, where every identity is represented, rather than 'real'. The consensus of cyberspace is a precarious one; identification is entirely contignet, based on a consensual agreement to take one's word for it." (Texter, 1996:3)
Spittle states that Texter suggests identity in cyberspace is often about 'pass off', offering up a fluid sense of self, projected onto an imaginary virtual body.
(Source: http://www.aber.ac.uk/~jmcwww/Misc/spittle01.html)
Usefulness of Robots to Humans
According to Rodney Brooks, (http://web.mit.edu/museum/exhibitions/robots.html) one key area where robots are making a difference to the quality of human life is in the haptic technology; which allows robots or robotic arms and legs to stimulate a sense of touch. Advances in 'virtual touch' have had a significant impact on the sophistication of artificial limbs, restoring sensory sensation and fine mobility skills to those who have lost hands and arms.
His article, 'Robots and Beyond' features walking, hopping and running computers that give scientists the information they need to develop better tools for people with mobility impairment.
In the same vein, the experiment conducted by Warwick's team in which electrical signals were fed into the implant so that he became a signal receiver is also aimed at the possibility of giving movement back to paraplegics.
This no doubt raises the possibilty of having ones body and mind controlled by external signal; a situation which research agencies are already seeking solution.
For instance, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is involved in a Brain-Machine Interface Program which seeks to develop new technologies for augmenting human performance by accessing the brain in real time and integrating the information into external devices. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020820071329.htm)
In addition, Robots will soon be a useful tool in assisting surgeons correct a common cause of abnormal heart beats as a British hospital is already pioneering a new kind of surgery which uses a robot to operate on a patient's heart.
See clip below.
His article, 'Robots and Beyond' features walking, hopping and running computers that give scientists the information they need to develop better tools for people with mobility impairment.
In the same vein, the experiment conducted by Warwick's team in which electrical signals were fed into the implant so that he became a signal receiver is also aimed at the possibility of giving movement back to paraplegics.
This no doubt raises the possibilty of having ones body and mind controlled by external signal; a situation which research agencies are already seeking solution.
For instance, the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is involved in a Brain-Machine Interface Program which seeks to develop new technologies for augmenting human performance by accessing the brain in real time and integrating the information into external devices. (Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/08/020820071329.htm)
In addition, Robots will soon be a useful tool in assisting surgeons correct a common cause of abnormal heart beats as a British hospital is already pioneering a new kind of surgery which uses a robot to operate on a patient's heart.
See clip below.
What Is Meant By Demassification of Mass Media?
The demassification of media simply refers to the restructuring of media industry into smaller independent operating entities.
This of course cuts across the major mass media: Print (newspapers, books, magazines), film (commercial film), and Broadcasr Media (radio and television.)
According to my source: http://pinoykomixbiz.blogspot.com/2005/09/media-demassification-and-filipino.html, with the arrival of new technologies and increased market segmentation, the power and influence of these "second wave media" (as they are called), progressively diminished worldwide during the latter part of the 20th century.
The radio's influence has for example diminished through the years with the advert of MTV- a music video cable channel launched in the 1980s, to MP3 in the 1990s, and more recently by the Apple l-Pod in the early 21st century.
Similary, (still from the source), Television's mass audience has also been splintered by the arrival of cable and satellite television and its myriad channels serving different splintered audiences, electonic video recording, and electronic games in the 1980s, to the internet, dvds, and computer online games.
In same vein, the print media, especially newspaper and magazines have suffered a progressive decline in circulation over the years in most countries worldwide especially today with the advent of the internet.
No doubt, newspapers are facing a crisis of both leadership and credibility. Subsequently, as their audience migrates in droves, so do their advertisers. Not many bother to read dailies this day, opting to get their news from the internet or other sources. In addition, young people, especially, are tuning out altogether, preferring the more visual and entertaining distractions offered by TV and the interactivity that is inherent in the internet. They see newspapers as old, tiring- boring , redictable and as preachy as their parents are. (Source: http://www.pcij.org/imag/Media/newspapers.html)
This of course cuts across the major mass media: Print (newspapers, books, magazines), film (commercial film), and Broadcasr Media (radio and television.)
According to my source: http://pinoykomixbiz.blogspot.com/2005/09/media-demassification-and-filipino.html, with the arrival of new technologies and increased market segmentation, the power and influence of these "second wave media" (as they are called), progressively diminished worldwide during the latter part of the 20th century.
The radio's influence has for example diminished through the years with the advert of MTV- a music video cable channel launched in the 1980s, to MP3 in the 1990s, and more recently by the Apple l-Pod in the early 21st century.
Similary, (still from the source), Television's mass audience has also been splintered by the arrival of cable and satellite television and its myriad channels serving different splintered audiences, electonic video recording, and electronic games in the 1980s, to the internet, dvds, and computer online games.
In same vein, the print media, especially newspaper and magazines have suffered a progressive decline in circulation over the years in most countries worldwide especially today with the advent of the internet.
No doubt, newspapers are facing a crisis of both leadership and credibility. Subsequently, as their audience migrates in droves, so do their advertisers. Not many bother to read dailies this day, opting to get their news from the internet or other sources. In addition, young people, especially, are tuning out altogether, preferring the more visual and entertaining distractions offered by TV and the interactivity that is inherent in the internet. They see newspapers as old, tiring- boring , redictable and as preachy as their parents are. (Source: http://www.pcij.org/imag/Media/newspapers.html)
How Does YouTube Affect TV (News) Quality?
"Fifteen years ago, the world marveled at the effect of CNN (TV). The expectation was that the unblinking eyes of TV cameras, beyond the reach of censors, would bring greater accountability and transparency to government and the international system. These expectations were, in some sense, fulfilled. But YouTube seems to be more intense. Although TV stations such as the BBC, CNN and other international news operations employ thousands of professional journalists, they can never be compared to the millions of people watching over 100million video clips a day that have been posted on YouTube, the popular video-sharing website."
Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3676
Source: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=3676
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