THE SCHOOL BOARD IS WRONG

I believe that the school board is completely wrong in their decision to cut computer classes starting next year. Of course, the school board decided to cut computer classes starting next year because not enough student signed up for the courses next year. In this paper, I will be explaining why this is completely wrong. This essay will be broken up into three parts. The first part will look at computers and computing, in terms of what they are. The second part will look at how computers work. The final part will look at how computers impact our lives.
I think it’s important to look at what a computer is. A computer is a machine that carries out a series of operations. It is a tool that helps humans figure things out quicker because it can solve problems very quickly.
Computers work using a variety of different components. The processor is probably the most important part of the computer. It processes the information the user wants to find or completes the action the user wants to do. The hard drive on the computer stores information that the user has created. While those things are hardware, the computer also has installed software that helps the user do things without forcing the user to learn codes. The internet, on the other hand, is a way that computers connect. Using a series of tubes and wires around the world, computers can connect and users can share and collect information. A bunch of people in a mainframe in the center of the Earth connect one computer to another using the tubes and wires, bringing information all over the place.
Computers impact our lives in three ways—social, economic, and cultural. Computers, in conjunction with social media, allow people to connect to each other and meet new people. Computers also allow people to grow their businesses. They allow products to be seen all over the world instead just their immediate location. Computers help speed up globalization and allow cultures to spread all over the world.
In conclusion, the school board should reverse its decision.

Blog #9 Turing Test

I think that the questions on the other blogs were a mix of good and bad. Some people's questions really showed that they understood the Turing Test, while others I think didn't get it at all.

Blog #8 The Turin Test

1.       What is?

2.       What is the product of 4 and 4?

If the computer could answer both questions correctly, it would pass the first Turing test and fail the second Turing test.

It’s more difficult to create questions to pass the test because you have to think of something that only a human could answer.

Blog #6

I've been listening to several presentations about web 2.0 tools and I'd like to compare and contrast some of them.

1) Social Bookmarking
   a) Stumble Upon--lets users discover new content and share sites. Pros: find new websites. Cons: sometimes results are undesirable.
   b) Digg--keeps track of web news. Pros: interesting design. Cons: may be too formal for everyday user, doesn't rank.
2) List Making
   a) Listamatic--makes lists. Pros: many options, user-friendly. Cons: bad idea from the start.
   b) Google Places--rates and share places. Pros: integration of other google apps. Cons: none.
3) Word Cloud
   a) TagCrowd--shows the user and others how much the user uses certain words. Pros: you can put pictures behind the word cloud. Cons: can't make a link or RSS feed in there.
   b) ToCloud--makes a cloud out of words. Pros: has links, aesthetically pleasing. Cons: message can be confusing.

Web 2.0 Applications--Remember The Milk

http://www.rememberthemilk.com/home/dan.albright/#section.tasks

Remember the Milk is a list making site. It categorizes your tasks by subject, such as personal, study, work, etc. You can actually see what things you have to do when. You can sort your to do list by when they are do or look at them in a calendar. When you complete a task, you press the complete button. If you want to postpone it, just press the postpone button. When creating a task, you can also add a location or tag.

This tool can be really helpful for someone who has a lot of things to do. However, these things must be very simple because a list of technical details isn't helpful. If you're not very busy, then this product probably isn't for you.