Abstract Abstractions

In the technology world, abstraction is a very helpful tool. Hiding complicated details with a simple, decorated, easy to use cover makes life easier. We use simple buttons to accomplish many of our tasks which would have taken a whole lot without the technology and its abstraction. We look at some numbers and letters on a screen and gain many useful information from and we make huge decisions with the help of that information.
We believe in whatever the abstraction reports us and assume the details underneath are depicted well by it. But does technology always help us making decisions? What if something wrong happens in between the details and the abstraction? Results could be deadly, The Gimli case is a very good example of it.
"In the famous 1983 flight, an Air Canada Boeing 767 ran out of fuel and glided to an abandoned airbase in Gimli, Man. The plane ran out of fuel due to a mistake that was made when calculating the fuel load." : Source http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/04/26/gimli-glider.html?ref=rss.
The calculation was done with FQIS(Fuel Quantity Information System Processor) which is a computer that calculates the fuel load for the plane, and it was not working properly. The FQIS works better than a analog mechanical fuel indicator, but relying totally on its reading almost killed hundreds.

Network for disconnecting people

Why would you check somebody's status in your mobile rather than calling them and asking how they are doing? I would feel very happy if my friend call me and ask about me rather than being poked in Facebook.
We can browse Facebook in our mobile and myspace just announced that it can be now available in mobile phones also. The news can be found at http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2199455/myspace-launches-free-mobile.
For me it is very unlikely that I browse my friends profile in my small cell phone. I like to use facebook and myspace, they are a good timepass, but they look good when you can browse stuff in your wide monitor notebook. If I don't have a computer and I want to know how my friends are doing I would rather call them than looking at the small screen of my cell phone.
Web in mobile is good. When we are in the middle of nowhere and want to google something, it can serve as a good tool to find information. But browsing facebook or myspace in mobile is a little too much for me.

Religious Computers

Computers have been helping mankind for around half a century now. We are seeing computers being integral part of human life in many aspects and the use of computers is growing even more. People have misused computers. The misuse of computers ranges from personal misconducts to big destructions against mankind.
Though computers evolved greatly in the world wars and used for wars, these machines now are widely used for holy purpose of educating people with religious knowledge. LDS Church is one of those religious institution that uses computers to educate people all over the world with their beliefs. Information Technology are widely used to spread their words all around the globe.
Chosing mission places for missionaries, training them at MTC(Missionary Training Center), etc are all being done with the help of computer these days. People can consult with each other and solve their personal and religious problem etc with the help of Information technology. So we should also be glad to the religious aspect of our technology and use it more to be more religious.

Watching each other grow up: Technology and me

I was talking to one of my friends yesterday about the changes we saw in technology. When I first used a computer, my hands were limited just to the keyboard (DOS didn't use mouse) and my eyes were limited to a single-colored characters and whitespace (then blackspace, because the background of the monitor used to be black). I felt so exhilarated when I had a chance to use Windows 3.1 with a GUI and a mouse. Blocks and minesweeper were my favorite computer games until I discovered "Prince of Persia." Later, I was introduced to Windows 95, which was one of the most enchanting thing I had ever seen. I thought I could spend years just exploring it. Introduction to Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP and the Internet were gradual so they weren't as much as a subject of awe to me, although these are the inventions that changed the world.
We are taking everything for granted these days because we get these facilities very easily. We use Internet for everything, it serves us as an Encyclopedia, a blackboard, a bank, a shopping mall, a Post office and almost everything we want it to be. I feel lucky these changes are happening as I am growing up, people who died before the invention of computers and Internet missed something magical. I wonder how they managed to keep in touch with their friends, and I also wonder if they ever had a chance to poke their friends, which I am able to do with the help of "Facebook".

My Struggle

Dr K. says, "You never run out of thoughts. If you run out of thoughts then you are not thinking enough." This is not exactly what he stated, but this is what I was able to get out from his last lecture. I struggle a lot when I try to write something. Sometimes, I don't think enough, and sometimes I start writing something, and when I read it, I feel stupid about my writing and give up the idea. My native language is not English and I think that also keeps me away from writing.
I envy those people who can talk fluently keeping the subject interesting enough to engage their audience. Some people can talk and some can write, some can write as fluently as they can talk. I know writing is an skill, the more you practice and learn, the better you get. I hope to learn a lot from this class, I expect comments from Dr K. and my classmates also, that will help me get better.