Final Research Paper

Abstract

Millions of people use computers every day. They interact with the computer using a mouse and keyboard. This interaction causes a slowdown and bottlenecks the speed of computers. People use computers to get things done faster, but the current interface is not sufficient. A new and faster interface needs to developed and made so that it is the standard interface. Much research is already being done into these areas. Some companies have already built computers with new interfaces. Once these interfaces are refined even more, an interface will be standardized that does not slow down the user.

1. Introduction

As a shopper walks down the computer isle, he is greeted by an employee advertising a new computer product. The employee tells the shopper of the computer that can be controlled by their brain. All that is required of the shopper is the purchase of a new computer and the purchase of surgery to implant the computer chip on the shopper’s brain that allows the shopper to control the computer. The shopper, who is one of the few people that still does not accept these new technologies, makes an angry gesture, and runs out of the store.

This is the future of the computer industry. Eventually, people will control computers with their thoughts. Today, it is a radical concept. But in the future, it will be as commonplace as the keyboard and mouse.

Today, almost all of some one’s life can be lived online through a computer. People can create avatars based upon them in massively multiplayer online video games, chat with friends on social networking sites, or watch videos or listen to music. Modern computers allow all of this to be loaded onto the screen within seconds.

But once all of this is loaded, the whole system is bottlenecked by the time it takes the user to interact with the information on the screen. The user must move the mouse with their hand or press the arrow keys with their fingers in order to get to the information they desire. This is very inefficient.

Even typing papers is inefficient. Most people type their papers on a computer and print them out to be graded. The user must physically type in every letter of every word. For someone with arthritis this can be very difficult, and for someone with a disability, this can be impossible. People should not be conforming to interfaces, “interfaces should be conforming to us” [4].

Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) allow these disabled people to use a computer. A BCI is essentially a computer chip put either directly on the brain or on the outside of the skull which collects the brain signals from a person’s brain. The chip sends the information back to the computer and the computer can execute the signals that the brain originally sent out.

Touch screens are also a new interface that can put the keyboard and mouse out of business. With touch screens, people can use their hands to manipulate the data on the screen and control the computer. Some of these screens have support for multiple users to control the objects on the screen at any given time.

The way people interact with a computer should be fast and simple. Touch screens and brain-computer interfaces will help to make this happen. The age of the keyboard and mouse is over. A new computer interface will become the standard computer interface and it will change the way people use computers forever.

2. Two Groups

The main problem in the whole mess is the keyboard and mouse. Today, it is hard to find a reason why they were made the standard interface. But just thinking about it makes one realize that it was the simplest way to interact with a computer. With a keyboard and mouse, people were able to navigate through the information on the screen and type in any command they wanted. The keyboard and mouse were also the cheapest and basically the only options decades ago.

Many people are noticing that the keyboard and mouse should not be the standard. These people are split up into two separate groups with the same goals. One group believes that touch interfaces should become the standard. The other group believes that a brain-computer interface is the future. There are drastic differences between these two groups.

3. Touch Screen Interfaces

Some people believe in the touch screen interface as the future of computer interfaces. There is evidence that this is already becoming reality. Apple’s iPhone is controlled only by the user’s hands. Tablet PC’s have been around for years and allow the user to navigate through everything on the screen using a special pen. These Tablet PC’s have not become very popular and they still require the user to type using a keyboard. These touch interface devices are still relatively new and expensive.

But there is much research being done to make touch interfaces the future standard interface. Microsoft’s Surface is evidence of this. Surface allows the user to navigate through their digital content with their fingers. Microsoft expects to make Surface available in 2008 and ship it with a 30 inch screen. Surface will at first only feature multimedia options, but Microsoft plans on making it the future of computers in general.

Fig. 1 A picture of Microsoft’s Surface computer.

A company called IO2 Technology has taken touch screens to a whole new level. Their product, called the M3 Heliodisplay, projects the display into the air and allows the user to navigate through the data using their fingers. The current version of the Heliodisplay allows for a computer, DVD player, TV, or other video source to be connected and it will display the image in the air. The image is displayed in a two dimension plane, but it looks three dimensional. The Heliodisplay can connect to any computer through a USB port. This makes the Heliodisplay a new interface that can be used today.

A company called Perceptive Pixel is also working on touch screen interfaces. This company was started by Jeff Han in 2006. They are currently the furthest ahead in the race to create software for their touch screens. As they make even better software, touch screens will become even more popular. Since they mostly do research, they will be one of the last companies to release a commercial product.

Touch screens are currently the favorite to win the race to become the next standard computer interface. They allow for work to be done faster than with the keyboard and mouse. Also the technology is very capable of being mass produced today. The only problem is that they don’t offer as mush power as brain computer interfaces.

4. Brain-Computer Interfaces

The other group developing a new interface believes that a brain computer interface (BCI) is the solution. BCIs read electrical signals sent through the brain and translate these signals into a form that computers can understand and then convert into some action. This technology is good for people who have spinal cord injuries, allowing them to control computers, televisions, or other devices.

Research first began on BCI’s in the early 1970’s. Through the years, BCI sensors were placed in rats, mice, monkeys, and humans. In the 1990’s, a sensor was implanted in a paralyzed man’s brain, and he was able to control a computer cursor.

Fig. 2 An illustration of how a brain-computer interface works.

As with most types of technology, there are a couple ways that BCI’s can be made. There are invasive techniques, in which the sensor is implanted directly on the brain, and noninvasive techniques, in which sensors are placed on caps covering the brain and skull. The decision between the two is not clear. Invasive techniques are more effective but require surgery and can cause infections. Noninvasive techniques can read a wider range of brain activity.

Many different types of BCI’s already have been made using invasive techniques. A company called Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems has made the Brain-Gate Neural Interface System. This device gives patients with spinal cord injuries the ability to control a computer. Researchers at Brown University on the other hand are trying to learn the way the brain turns our thoughts into our actions. They have been able to capture brain signals and convert them into a computer-readable format.

Some companies have taken the noninvasive approach. The New York State Public Health Department’s Wadsworth Center is using an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap on the outside of the skull to capture brain signals. In order for the system to be more effective, the subjects are taught to control their thought process. This machine allows people with speech problems to communicate. This is done by showing the patient letters and images and their brainwaves spike when they see something they want to say. This process is currently slow, only allowing for two to four words to be developed per minute. The researchers are trying to design a faster system by working on the signal-analysis methods of the machine.

Fig. 3 Example of what an EEG cap looks like.

Controlling a computer is not the only goal of brain-computer interfaces. Japan’s Honda Motor Corp. and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have used brain signals to control robot movements. Subjects are placed in a MRI scanner and move their hands and fingers. The MRI signals are sent to a computer, and the computer tells the robot hand the way it should move. Since this system requires a MRI machine, it is not very portable.

Other researchers are also focused on body movement. Researchers at Stanford University are trying to identify the signals the brain makes when it is planning to move the body. Knowing this could help improve mathematical estimates of how the body moves, which in turn would create faster systems. This creation would help to push these systems into a realm that has not currently been reached.

A different type of research is being done at Columbia University. Scientists at Columbia University’s Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing are creating the fastest image searching tool. The system uses the brain’s ability to notice elements in images much faster than humans. The user wears an EEG cap and is shown images very quickly. The system ranks the images based on the brain’s activity when each image was shown. This system would be vastly superior to computers, which cannot recognize objects in images.

Scientist at Finland’s Helsinki University of Technology Laboratory of Computational Engineering’s Cognitive Science and Technology Research Group are also using an EEG cap. They are capturing brain signals from a person thinking about hand movements and converting these signals into text typed from a keyboard. This is a major step in getting rid of the keyboard and mouse interface.

Canada’s Carleton University is using a BCI system to replace fingerprint scans and eye scans. EEG signals generated by the brain are unique to each person. The system has not yet been built, but in concept users would have a thought as a password. The system would recognize their thought as the password and allow them to enter. This would allow users to change their password easily.

The company Neural Signals has released a BCI system aimed at speech-restoration. An electrical chip is surgically placed in the part of the brain that controls speech. The chip captures the electrical signals that are sent when the user wants to talk. The system then converts the signals into the words that the user wants to say.

Brain computer interfaces offer people the ability to utilize all of the power that a computer has. Computers would finally be able to be used just like the human brain because the two would be connected. BCI’s are still very early in their development, and as a result, will not see commercial development for decades. But the world will be greatly impacted when their time comes.

5. Conclusion

A change in computer interfaces is imminent. Touch screens are already available to the public at large. These early products have some flaws though. They are all marked by high prices. The manufacturers have not had a chance to develop alternative or better ways to make touch screen systems yet. There is also much software that needs to be developed in order for the touch screens to be used to their full advantage. Although touch screen interface technology “has begun to receive serious attention from the systems analysis, design, research, and development community, its potential for adaptive aiding has not been realized” [7].

BCI technology is improving every day, but it is still not ready for widespread use. Since it is so new, researches are still trying to adapt it to different patients. BCIs are also very expensive and very large. They are complex to use and require technicians to be present. Users must learn to control their thoughts, which can take months. Companies are not investing the time and money needed to make effective products. The accuracy of the systems is not high enough either.

All of this does not rule out new interfaces from becoming commercial products. Major companies have already given support to touch screens. In the next few years, they will become more prominent and cheaper to make, resulting in touch screen interfaced computers.

Brain-computer interfaces have a little different story. In the coming years, they will continue to be refined, and will help many disabled people control computers. It will eventually be developed for everyone. People will have chips implanted on their brains, and they will control computers with their thoughts. This is very far off, but it will eventually happen because it allows computers to be used at a speed unthought-of in today’s keyboard and mouse era. This is why new interfaces will be standardized and they will revolutionize the world.

References

[1] Microsoft Corporation, “About Microsoft Surface,” Microsoft Surface: About Surface, 2008. [Online]. Available: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/about.html [Accessed April 1, 2008].

[2] IO2 Technology, “Overview,” IO2 Technology: Heliodisplay/ Interactive Free Space Display, 2007. [Online]. Available: http://www.io2technology.com/technology/overview. [Accessed: April 1, 2008].

[3] E. Grabianowski, "How Brain-Computer Interfaces Work," HowStuffWorks.com, Nov. 02 2007. [Online]. Available: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/brain-computer-interface.htm. [April 1, 2008].

[4] Jeff Han, Unveiling the Genius of Multi-Touch Interface Design. [Videorecording]. TED Conferences, 2006.

[5] “Method of the Month: EEG,” Sept. 4, 2007. [Online]. Available: http://brainvat.wordpress.com/2007/09/04/method-of-the-month-eeg/. [April 10, 2008].

[6] Sixto Ortiz Jr, “Brain-Computer Interfaces: Where Human and Machine Meet”; http://csdl.computer.org/dl/mags/co/2007/01/r1017.htm.

[7] S.J. Andriole, Cognitive Systems Engineering for User-Computer Interface Design, Prototyping, and Evaluation, Hillsdale, N.J: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1995.

Research Proposal

Future Interface

Computers have been used for decades. In all that time, there has been one basic commonality: the interface. We have always used a keyboard and mouse to interact with computers. This was done because it was the easiest way to control the computer and tell it what we wanted it to do. With our advanced world today, it is hard to understand why we still use the same old techniques. There are many reasons for this including the issue of worldwide acceptance. But there is no reason why we cannot introduce a new computer interface system. The old techniques of using a keyboard and mouse to control a computer will soon end. A new interface system will be made commercially, and it will change the way we use computers forever.

I have pondered many questions since starting my research.

- Why has no one made a commercial product that uses a new interface?

- Is there really one clear cut new interface that should be adopted?

- Will these new interfaces limit the poorer parts of the world from having computers more so than they already are?

- Will companies be able to keep costs low on computers with new interfaces?

- Will the public as a whole accept a new interface?

- Will a majority of people be able to actually use the new interface?

As a result of my research topic, the internet will be a huge place to find sources. There are great sites that are run by IEEE members that allow for articles about new technologies. There are also many videos on the internet that show off some of these new interfaces. Since the creation of new interfaces is itself relatively new, books based on the subject are going to be hard to find. Although most of my sources will probably come from the internet, I believe that these sources will not be biased. They will simply just be based on telling the reader the truth about new interfaces.

I was lucky because this semester is not that hard for me. So as a result, I have free time a couple of days a week. I should be able to work on my paper on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I cannot do it on these days, I could do it on Friday evenings after my classes. I am leaving the rest of the weekend open to other projects. If I have a weekend that is completely free, I will use the time to do more of my paper. I hope that on this schedule, I will be able to finish my paper early and have a lot of time to review it.

My research on new computer interfaces should be read because one of the interfaces I write about will probably become the standard computer interface. So from reading my research paper, one gets to see a glimpse of the future. My readers will also learn more about technology, which is always good now-a-days. Mainly I just want to educate people on the fact that the computer interfaces of today are too outdated. We should be using an interface that allows us to do our work faster.

Critique

Critique of EventWeb: Developing a Human-Centered Computing System

In the article, EventWeb: Developing a Human-Centered Computing System, Ramesh Jain tells of his belief that a human-centered computing system is the future of computers and the Internet. Much research is being done to make these computers systems that are more in tune with the abilities of humans. There is no question that these systems will someday be developed and available. Jain seems to think that these systems will be working in the near future, but the actual timeframe is much father off.

Jain writes that computing has already gone through two major evolutionary stages. The first two were revolutionary while the third will change how computing influences humans. Each stage builds on the previous stages’ advances.

The first stage was marked by the invention of electronic computers. These computers were millions of times faster at calculations than humans. Computers were extended to large businesses during this period.

The second stage involved personal computers and the Internet. Information and communication became more prominent than data. This period connected the world in such a way that had never been seen before.

The third stage will focus on the insights and experiences of humans. Humans use sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste to have experiences. Computers convert sight, sound, and touch to electronic form and then convert them into something humans can perceive. Since sight and sound are the dominant senses, they are mainly used. The whole third stage is about experiencing events and sharing these events with others. This is imminent when one looks at the top web sites and sees many social networking and user uploaded video sites.

Several areas already connect humans with computers. Virtual reality systems integrate the user into the story. These systems are becoming more realistic and more immersive. These systems are immersive in the first place because their environments respond to the user. The environments must be rendered fast or the user will get ahead of the action.

Most multimedia information systems deal only with archived video, audio, or images. Media running over live streams is becoming a big research topic. The media stream comes from sensors that can be placed almost anywhere. The system has to be capable to assimilate the data into a unified model. The system considers each sensor as contributing to the model.

The databases of yesterday and today have relied on indexing to store and retrieve data. An immersive telepresence system must deal with indexing in a different way. Current systems create a silo by indexing data and stashing it in a silo. If a layer was put onto each silo, an event or object could be modeled in the layer. This would help in assimilating the data because knowledge about the event could be stored on the layer.

Since there are many different sensors, there are many different perspectives on one event. The user could switch between the different sensor streams to get different perspectives. This current cannot be done; new media-streaming techniques must first be discovered.

The EventWeb would require some of these techniques to be developed. As opposed to the tradition Web, the EventWeb organizes data in terms of events and experiences. The EventWeb collects all the audio, video, and other data from an event and allows the user to experience it from their perspective.

EventWeb allows for multiple perspectives of events. Each event is represented by time, location, participants, audio, or video. These events could be produced by anyone. Any type of sensor data could be used to capture the information related to the event. The EventWeb is basically the regular Web linked to physical locations with sensory characteristics. So the Web and EventWeb would work together.

People can post their events using an Event Markup Language. This would also provide a place to express and create relationships among events. People would also be able to identify events of interest to them. EventWeb would not use a keyword box to search though. New techniques need to be developed in order to search images and videos themselves instead of just text.

There is much support that shows events should be the way multimedia systems are organized. Events can be defined by other events, so this process can continue forever. Each event should define the information, experiences, and relationships with other events. Time, location, and identification are an event’s basic characteristics.

If a system was created, the interface should work toward the strength of humans. The data should be presented in a way that the human senses can easily and rapidly interpret. The system should also present the data that is relevant to the person’s state and context.

Through all of this, Jain got his point across that EventWeb will become a major part of the Internet. Most of the information he presents in the article is relevant to his point. Throughout the article, he defines his terms. Jain also uses his information in a fair way.

I do not agree with Jain’s view of the three stages of computing. The first two stages are fine, but the third stage seems to be off. His third stage consists of multimedia sites as pushing us toward the EventWeb. But I think that this is a part of the second stage. My third stage would be ultra-high speed internet and billions of people with computers because I believe that this will happen before the EventWeb. Then there would be a fourth stage that would be dominated by the EventWeb. It also seems as if Jain thinks that the EventWeb is in the near future. But I think that it will be many decades before it is ever possible. Jain believes that we need to end our dependency on text. I think that we have used text for thousands of years and there is no reason to stop now.

EventWeb: Developing a Human-Centered Computing System is a great article to learn about what the future of the Internet could be. He is successful in making the reader believe that the EventWeb will be reality. Although Jain describes everything in great detail needed to have the EventWeb, he makes it seem like it will come sooner than it actually will.

Works Cited

Ramesh Jain. “EventWeb: Developing a Human-Centered Computing System.” 16 Mar 2008 .

Summary

Summary of “Brain-Computer Interfaces: Where Human and Machine Meet”

Sixto Ortiz Jr.’s article “Brain-Computer Interfaces: Where Human and Machine Meet” is about the work that is being done to make brain-computer interfaces (BCI). BCIs read electrical signals sent through the brain and translate these signals into a form that computers can understand and then convert into some action. This technology is good for people who have spinal cord injuries, allowing them to control computers, televisions, or other devices. BCI is a wonderful technology but it still has a long way to go due to problems with user acceptance and signal accuracy.

Ortiz Jr. writes that research first began on BCI in the early 1970’s. Through the years, BCI sensors were placed in rats, mice, monkeys, and humans. In the 1990’s, a sensor was implanted in a paralyzed man’s brain, and he was able to control a computer cursor.

As with most types of technology, there are a couple ways that BCI’s can be made. There are invasive techniques, in which the sensor is implanted directly on the brain, and noninvasive techniques, in which sensors are placed on caps covering the brain and skull. The decision between the two is not clear. Invasive techniques are more effective but require surgery and can cause infections. Noninvasive techniques can read a wider range of brain activity.

Many different types of BCI’s already have been made using invasive techniques. A company called Cyberkinetics Neurotechnology Systems has made the Brain-Gate Neural Interface System. This device gives patients with spinal cord injuries the ability to control a computer. Researchers at Brown University on the other hand are trying to learn the way the brain turns our thoughts into our actions. They have been able to capture brain signals and convert them into a computer-readable format.

Some companies have taken the noninvasive approach. The New York State Public Health Department’s Wadsworth Center is using an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap on the outside of the skull to capture brain signals. In order for the system to be more effective, the subjects are taught to control their thought process. This machine allows people with speech problems to communicate. This is done by showing the patient letters and images and their brainwaves spike when they see something they want to say. This process is currently slow and the researchers are trying to design a faster system.

Ortiz Jr. continues by writing that other types of technologies are also being used. Japan’s Honda Motor Corp. and ATR Computational Neuroscience Laboratories have used brain signals to control robot movements. Subjects are placed in a MRI scanner and move their hands and fingers. The MRI signals are sent to a computer, and the computer tells the robot hand the way it should move. Since this system requires a MRI machine, it is not very portable. This adds to the problems that BCI systems already face.

Researchers at Stanford University are trying to identify the signals the brain makes when it is planning to move the body. Knowing this could help improve mathematical estimates of how the body moves, which in turn would create faster systems. This creation would help to push these systems into a realm that has not currently been reached.

A different type of research is being done at Columbia University. Scientists at Columbia University’s Laboratory for Intelligent Imaging and Neural Computing are creating the fastest image searching tool. The system uses the brain’s ability to notice elements in images much faster than humans. The user wears an EEG cap and is shown images very quickly. The system ranks the images based on the brain’s activity when each image was shown. This system would be vastly superior to computers, which cannot recognize objects in images.

Canada’s Carleton University is using a BCI system to replace fingerprint scans and eye scans. EEG signals generated by the brain are unique to each person. The system has not yet been built, but in concept users would have a thought as a password. The system would recognize their thought as the password and allow them to enter. This would allow users to change their password easily.

Although BCI technology is improving every day, it is still not ready for widespread use. Since it is so new, researches are still trying to adapt it to different patients. BCIs are also very expensive and very large. They are complex to use and require technicians to be present. Users must learn to control their thoughts, which can take months. Companies are not investing the time and money needed to make effective products. The accuracy of the systems is not high enough either.

BCI is a great new technology. It can help disabled people control computers or other devices. As time moves on, these systems should become more accurate and faster. Even farther in the future, they could help control complex robots or allow paralyzed patients to move their limbs again. It seems that the only way to fix the problems of today is to wait until tomorrow.

Works Cited

Sixto Ortiz Jr. “Brain-Computer Interfaces: Where Human and Machine Meet.” 25 Feb 2008 .

Presentation Tools

For my presentation I want to show some of the pictures and videos of new interfaces. Just looking through some of the tools, Jing, Screen-o-cast, Myplick, and Simonshows all seen like they do want I want. The easiest thing to do would probably be to take a video screen shot of my computer and just go through and play all the videos and show all the pictures. That way I could talk throughout about the information and be able to pause the video if needed.

Research Proposal

Future Interface

Computers have been used for decades. In all that time, there has been one basic commonality: the interface. We have always used a keyboard and mouse to interact with computers. This was done because it was the easiest way to control the computer and tell it what we wanted it to do. With our advanced world today, it is hard to understand why we still use the same old techniques. There are many reasons for this including the issue of worldwide acceptance. But there is no reason why we cannot introduce a new computer interface system. The old techniques of using a keyboard and mouse to control a computer will soon end. A new interface system will be made commercially, and it will change the way we use computers forever.

I have pondered many questions since starting my research.

- Why has no one made a commercial product that uses a new interface?

- Is there really one clear cut new interface that should be adopted?

- Will these new interfaces limit the poorer parts of the world from having computers more so than they already are?

- Will companies be able to keep costs low on computers with new interfaces?

- Will the public as a whole accept a new interface?

- Will a majority of people be able to actually use the new interface?

As a result of my research topic, the internet will be a huge place to find sources. There are great sites that are run by IEEE members that allow for articles about new technologies. There are also many videos on the internet that show off some of these new interfaces. Since the creation of new interfaces is itself relatively new, books based on the subject are going to be hard to find. Although most of my sources will probably come from the internet, I believe that these sources will not be biased. They will simply just be based on telling the reader the truth about new interfaces.

I was lucky because this semester is not that hard for me. So as a result, I have free time a couple of days a week. I should be able to work on my paper on Tuesdays and Thursdays. If I cannot do it on these days, I could do it on Friday evenings after my classes. I am leaving the rest of the weekend open to other projects. If I have a weekend that is completely free, I will use the time to do more of my paper. I hope that on this schedule, I will be able to finish my paper early and have a lot of time to review it.

My research on new computer interfaces should be read because one of the interfaces I write about will probably become the standard computer interface. So from reading my research paper, one gets to see a glimpse of the future. My readers will also learn more about technology, which is always good now-a-days. Mainly I just want to educate people on the fact that the computer interfaces of today are too outdated. We should be using an interface that allows us to do our work faster.

Research

This week I wrote most of my introduction, and I started on my body paragraphs. Next week I will try to refine my introduction to make it better and continue to write my body paragraphs.

Thesis

Technology will be involved in every part of our lives in the future, making our live much simpler, easier, and better.

Extra Credit

Top 10
1. Page 14- People feel fine stealing his bagels but not his money.
2. Page 19- A president actually said, "Government is not the solution, government is the problem."
3. Page 27- At least half of college students have admitted to serious cheating.
4. Page 28- About the same percentage of college students cheated in the 1960's as in the 1990's.
5. Page 35- A rich girl paid her roommate thousands of dollars to do her homework.
6. Page 52- It is crazy that so much work is being put into stopping plagiarism on the web.
7. Page 37- A student was flunked on a state test for having a cell phone open in the bathroom during a testing break.
8. Page 40- 90% of high schoolers cheat on something.
9. Page 42- The author thinks that good teaching stops cheating.
10. Page 30- A student covered her test papers just so that other students would not cheat on her.

A good article that everyone should read is Everybody Does It by David Callahan.

Research Topic

Just how involved will computers be in our lives in the future?

You're 16 Article

The article You’re 16, You’re Beautiful and You’re a Voter by Anya Kamenetz focuses on her beliefs that teenagers should have more rights. She includes many different laws that should be made and many effective ways to carry out those laws. Kamenetz’s main point is that the voting age should be lowered to 16.

The 2008 primaries are starting to bring this younger generation to the polls. The lines that divide who can be killed for their country and who can vote are becoming inadequate. These age requirements should be paired with educational necessities.

Driving laws in many states allow 16-year-olds to get a learner’s permit, letting them drive with restrictions. In about a year, they get their full driver’s license. If 16-year-olds can do this, they should be allowed to get an early voting permit by passing a test that shows them fit enough to vote. This would help to reinforce voting as a privilege.

Since many teens already drink and have sex, laws should be made to allow them to do this openly. 16-year-olds would get a drinking permit after passing a course about alcoholism. This permit would allow very moderate drinking at public gatherings for two years. Credit cards for 16-year-olds also could work with restrictions. They would be required to pass a financial literacy test and have a parental co-signer. This would install more confidence with money when teens leave home.

Young people should start to think about their futures in their late teens. But it is hard for them to do this when they have limited rights. Kamenetz believes that we have to start treating teens more like adults in order to ensure that they are qualified to solve the problems of life.

A majority of the students believe that computers change the way we think. The most overwhelming reason given for this is that with computers, the world is at our fingertips. We are no longer limited to the knowledge of ourselves or of our friends. We can log onto the internet and find all the knowledge of a lifetime. If we do not know something, we can find it online easily. This easiness also comes to us very fast. This fast arrival time causes us to think differently. We think that we can finish a project or homework very close to the due date because we are used to everything going fast. We no longer have to try to visualize weird objects in our heads. We can to computer programs to create a 3D image of whatever we desire. We also use online calculators or spell check to get the right answers fast.

Computers have allowed us to improve our research and reading skills, to write with ease, and to stay better informed with the news. These are things we learn from and filter through our minds to either confirm our original thoughts, or enlighten us on something new. Now the task is not finding information, it's weeding out all of the irrelevant and invalid information. When we actually find the information that we are looking for, we absorb more than what is just on their screen. We are involved in so many things on the computer at once that we are able to think in a whole new way.

Humans are inevitably affected by the opinions around them and more often than not, we conform to the majority. Our thoughts are inevitably changed. We are influenced by those around us. We are bombarded with hundreds of advertisements, opinions posted on blogs, and information through online articles or encyclopedias. Exposure to certain websites can also change the way we think about a subject.

With new websites that are created every day, we get to stay informed and learn new things that personally interest us. We can hear the latest music, watch movies, or get the weather updates without turning on the television. Computers give us access to this information with speeds faster than ever conceived. We wouldn’t be half as informed on the world if we didn’t have a computer and the internet.

Not everyone thought that computers change the way we think. These people have good points as to why this is true. We think and behave in several different ways. Computers cannot change that no matter how sophisticated they become. They will change the way we interact with each other and conduct our business affairs. But no matter how involved computers become in our day to day life, in the end, we control what the computer does. Some things that we see on the internet may or may not change the way we think about a certain issue. Sometimes we believe what we see, yet sometimes we fully disagree and continue to feel the same as before. In order for the computer to change us, we must have some good knowledge of how it works. Without this knowledge, the computer is just a box full of electronic parts.

Research is a huge part of our college careers. Some people use the internet for research instead of the library. This is a result of growing up at the time of computers. This can be a drawback for some because they don’t have the ability to find all the information that might be beneficial their research. In these cases, computers did not help people to think differently at all.

In the article How Computers Change the Way We Think, Sherry Turkle describes her belief that computers have changed the way we think. Turkle first shows how our views of privacy have changed. People who grew up before the time of computers were very cautious about privacy. But the youth of today seems to be less concerned with privacy. We give out our information very easily to websites and social networks. We do not understand our privacy enough to care if we give out our names to unknown people.

Turkle also talks about how things such as avatars can change how we perceive ourselves. We create an avatar online so we can act out different scenarios in a controlled environment. These environments usually do not exist in the real world. This can cause us to not develop a social life outside of the internet. This affects how we think about ourselves.

Turkle also talks about how PowerPoint’s have changed methods of teaching and how they can give a teacher more authority. They can be a powerful tool in obtaining knowledge for older students but can be bad for younger students. Turkle also explains that word processors are a powerful tool. Word processors can improve organization and revision to make good writers better. However, they can make bad writers worse because they allow us to write without thinking before hand, so our work can become an absolute mess.

Lessons of 1992

The article Lessons of 1992 by Paul Krugman focuses on the possibility that the 2008 presidential election could be a repeat of the 1992 election. There are many similarities between Bill Clinton's campaign and Barack Obama's including a message of hope. But Clinton's presidency did not begin as planned. He was attacked by conservatives determined to discredit a Democratic president. People accused Clinton of arranging murder and befriending a drug smuggler. The major problem was that didn't have an actual plan for health care reform until after he was elected.
As a result of this, many people are not going to vote for Hillary Clinton because they want to be free of this unpleasantness. This is the wrong way to go about it. Any Democrat who wins can expect this scrutiny.
Obama seems to be making the same mistakes that Clinton made. He is not making a plan for health care. The Democratic candidates should be focus on who's best prepared to implement their plan or the election will be just like 1992.

Reply

This is a reply to question #3 on page 218 in the book. The question asks to identify which web sites I visit when I log into a computer. My homepage is set to ign.com. It is an entertainment and video game site. From there, I search through the pages of digg.com. Digg is a site that lists links to news in politics and off the wall videos. I go to xbox.com and xbox360achievements.org to change information about my Xbox Live account. I check my WKU and Gmail emails. I watch funny videos on funnyordie.com. I search for new movie torrents on superfundo.org, thepiratebay.org, and youtorrent.com. I check movie news on moviehole.net. I check computer news on tomshardware.com, extremetech.com, and pcworld.com. Once I have gone through all of these, I usually search around the web for anything that seems interesting. This is the basis of my internet life.