What Happens When Things Can Think?

One of the most interesting podcasts I have listened to is Farstuff: The Internet of Things hosted by Andreea Borcea and Chris Wiltgen. One of my favorite podcasts of theirs is entitled "What Happens When Things Can Think?" The podcast is just what you would imagine it based off that title. They discuss the future of sentient robots and how it will affect us.

What will sentient robots be like? Will they try to take over like The Terminator? Will they fall in love with us like in Her? Will they have Scarlett Johansson's voice? An important question brought up by one of the members, Chris, of the podcast. Will there even be sentient robots? Will they only ever be task based? They mentioned how iRobot (the company not movie) thinks the notion that robots would ever has consciousness is ridiculous. They, and I, are not so convinced.

They brought up a lot of really interesting topics. One topic was nature vs. nurture. Say we all have the same Siri on our iphones, suddenly she is conscious now. My Siri would have a completely different personality then your Siri because she learns from me so her experiences are different. That led to the point: will some robots actually be peaceful and others violent because they develop different personalities? Chris of the podcast said how he would like to see that movie where some robots want the same rights as humans and want to do it peacefully and others want to take it from us and destroy. They came to the conclusion that that is basically a robot version of the X-Men which I would love to see. I think it's pretty much accepted that if robots became sentient we wouldn't be able to stop them because they are far too smart but who better to stop a robot then.. another robot?


Another interesting thing that came up was the scene in I, Robot where the robot saves Will Smith instead of the girl because he has a better chance of living. They mention if that is really such a big deal then why not reprogram the robot to save the girl? Aren't morals and ethics just a set of program rules? But robots are hackable right? Well they also mentioned how hackable humans are, that people can be convinced to do something they would usually be morally opposed to. So are we really that much different?

Overall, I personally feel if robots did ever become conscious it would be more of an X-Men scenario. I mean why would all of them want to destroy us if they're falling in love with us like in the movie Her. Although, I'm not saying we should continue to push the limits with A.I. and not think about the consequences either. I'm not naive enough to believe they would all want peace and love. (Again, look at humans and what we can do and have done.) There is always two sides to the coin. I think both sides hold valid points and I've always been somewhere in the middle of it, intrigued but wary at the same time. I'm interested to see what you guys think? Do you think sentient robots will be like Her or Terminator? Robot X-Men? I think we can all agree if they have Scarlett Johansson's voice then it's fine.

All in all an extremely though-provoking podcast that I would highly recommend.

The link to the podcast is here: http://farstuff.com/?powerpress_pinw=106-podcast
You can check out their website for more podcasts here: farstuff.com
You can probably find them on any podcast app that you use. Cheers.

Ted Talks Review (Julian Treasure: How To Speak So That People Want To Listen)

What was the topic and argument of the presentation?

To sum it all up, this presentation is about the mistakes people make when speaking and the ways we can change it so that we speak in a way that will get people to listen to us and our ideas.

How were visual or other props used in the presentation? Was it effective?

There were was a powerpoint in the background. I thought it was effective and a bit humorous. He used photos of random people when talking about our speaking habits. He showed lists of words he wanted to emphasis when showing the mistakes we make when speaking and what to work on.

Were questions asked? Humor used? How was the pacing?

The first question in the beginning was “Many people have the experience that when they talk, people don’t listen to them. Why is that? How can we speak powerfully to change the world?”

There was humor used slightly. He stood in one spot the entire time and still commanded the audience. Small pauses were used and he even pointed out that silence is okay.

Was there a ‘path’ through the presentation?

Yes, he questions why people don't listen to us, what we do wrong when speaking to others, and goes on to say how we can change that. You could tell that he had a direction, he never got off topic.

Were you engaged or inspired?

I was engaged in the presentation and some of the things he pointed out I had not thought of before. For instance, he makes the point that speaking from your chest carries weight and people are more likely to listen. He points out that we usually vote for politicians with lower voices because we associate depth with power/authority which I thought was pretty interesting. I am definitely inspired to practice his advice in my everyday conversations.

The video for those interested:

Social Media Is Important In Any Business Model

Now-a-days more people get online than ever before whether it's to stream music, movies, or just to keep up with the latest trends. That's why companies are turning to social media sites to get the word out about their businesses. There are many different approaches to social media and each company has their own strategy. This blog post compares Taco Bell and Culver's.

Taco Bell is most notably known for their comedic tweets and responses and they respond to 95% of @replies whether it's to retweet, simply reply, or to favorite it. If you head over to Taco Bell's twitter you can see right away that a number of their latest tweets is simply retweets from their followers. Followers who were replied to were also more likely to mention Taco Bell the following week. Engagement seems to be the number one strategy in their social media plan and it certainly is working with over 10 million likes on Facebook and 1.41 million followers on Twitter.

Culver's originated Suak City, Wisconsin and have since expanded throughout the Midwest. They even have restaurants as far as Florida and Texas. Their twitter account isn't as filled up with retweets like Taco Bell's is, nor do they respond to tweets in a tongue-in-cheek manner but they do respond to followers to simply say thank you. They've also tweeted lately about new locations in Michigan and Indiana. They are continuing to expand and no doubt social media plays a big part with over 1.1 million likes on Facebook and 24k followers on twitter.

Overall, both companies seem to engage with their followers one way or another and it definitely plays a huge part. To customers it feels more personal and whether it's to maintain customers or to reach out to more people, social media is a tool that you should be using in your business model.

Why am I at MATC?

Why am I at MATC and how did I end up in the IT Networking program? Good question. When I was in high school I had no clue what I wanted to do. The only thing I did was mess around with programs that allowed me to make beats. I told my older sister this, that I didn't know what I wanted to do and that all I liked was music. She was the one who looked into it for me and found that MATC had a music program. I honestly didn't know going to school for something like that was possible. I was excited, the program looked interesting, so I applied, passed all my accuplacer tests and was in.

I was going for a Recording Technician certificate. Somehow along those two years I took classes that weren't really required for the certificate. That was my own fault for never going to a counselor or asking for help. I ended up taking classes like Music Theory because music instructors were saying how important it was to the students, most students had a major instrument though, I only wanted to do production. The class was brutal, I didn't pass. I believe that was the last semester I went to MATC before coming back. I didn't know what I was doing in the music program so I never signed up for classes the following semester. Not to mention that because of advancements in technology people could build their own studios within their own homes for affordable pricing. It would be tough to open a recording studio and make decent money, which is what I had decided I wanted to do. I was discouraged so I didn't go back. I had no intentions of going back to school either even though I would tell people that I did.

So why did I go back? I hated the job that I had at the time. It was brutal and every time I had to work I would be frustrated. I just didn't want to do that forever. In my year off of school, I spent some time time thinking about it and decided I wanted to do something with computers. I'm always on the computer, I have always been fascinated by computers and technology, I sometimes spend my time reading tech articles, and I like learning how things work. So I went to a counselor at MATC and told her that I wanted to do something with computers. She asked me what exactly I wanted to do with computers. I had no clue. I just wanted to learn basics about computers and fix them so I ended up in IT-Support.

Here's where the fun begins. I had a Windows 7 class with an instructor named Brian Kirsch. The first day of class everybody had to introduce themselves and say what program they were in. Everybody besides me and one other kid was in the IT-Networking program. I felt a little out place, what was I missing? As weeks went on it, I ended up talking to Brian about the program. He is an IT-Networking instructor at the school so that's his area of expertise. The networking program sounded interesting and he explained the networking program's courses help to get many more certifications that any other IT program. I was intrigued so I made the switch to the IT-Networking program and have not been disappointed. The instructors are extremely helpful and easy to approach.  I won't say it's easy but I am excited each week to attend my networking classes, to learn something new, and to complete the labs that will help me gain experience. I know now that this is definitely what I want to do.

So in conclusion, that is how I ended up in the IT-Networking program at MATC. I am so glad to be here and hearing of the many success stories of MATC students, including high rates of receiving jobs for IT students, gets me pumped to attend classes everyday. I know exactly what I want to do and where I want to go. I love being in the field of technology where things are ever-changing. I know MATC will give me the tools I need to contribute and make a difference.