Jeff Bezos: After the gold rush, there's innovation ahead...

For my last Ted talk I chose Jeff Bezos-After the gold rush,there's innovation ahead. I didn't realize until after the video that it was created in 2003 but posted to the talks in April of 2007. I found the video interesting regardless given his insight pertaining to the net. You have to remember in 2003 there were many skeptic's criticizing the internet at the time. Many of the skeptic's had already declared that the internet was destined to fail. Bezo used a few different analogies in his talk, I liked the way he presented the analogy of electricity and the net, showing that it was not the intention of producing electricity at the time to use it for such things as heating,powering tools or supplying enough electricity to generate cities across the U.S. the mere objective was to provide light in small areas. In saying that he related it to the net, stating that we were only in the beginning stages of how enormous the internet would become, obviously he was correct in his analogy looking back from 2003 until the present the net has transpired into this gigantic world of communication, business ventures, education etc.... I am glad that I chose this talk without realizing it, the insight of where the net was and where it is today is truly amazing. I wonder what all the skeptic's that were around in 2003 must be thinking now :)

Anand Agarawala: BumpTop desktop is a beautiful mess

I viewed this video and have to say that, I think the BumpTop desktop is definitely going to be a huge seller once it hits the marketplace. I can see where this actually would benefit businesses and their employees as well as people wanting to purchase it for personal use. BumpTop desktop will make searching for files, pictures, and other information so much easier.

"What You've Got" Eddie Reader ( Week 12 )

I watched Eddie Reader's "What You've Got" video based on the description that I read before choosing to watch . I had viewed 2 other talks, for whatever reason didn't find them inspiring enough to talk about. Eddie Reader's video although short, relayed a very important message. Each of us as an individual should use our strengths and weaknesses along with our talents and natural given gifts to move forward in our lives. The paths we decide to travel in our lives may not always be the easiest, however there are lessons to be learned from each. Strive to move forward in your life, relying upon your ability to use your strengths and talents, and even more so the belief you have in yourself as a reason to push forward regardless of the difficulty of the journey.

Week 12 Creating Our Own Web-Page

I have no experience what at all in creating web-pages. I do however look forward to learning how to create and publish my own web-page. I have many friends that create their own pages among various other personal creations on the computer, maybe after doing this assignment I wont be left out of the loop :)

Artificial Intelligence In Personal Computing

This site explains the many aspects of "AI" in the world of computers today, everything from online banking, telephone systems, online gaming, and numerous other applications. My knowledge of computers alone much less the idea of "Artificial Intelligence" is a bit overwhelming. I do my best to comprehend the information that I've researched or information that has been provided. I really am not comfortable at even taking a guess as to what "Artificial Intelligence" may mean for us in the future, more so the fact that nearly 100% of it will be pertain to computers in one way or the other.

Thomas Barnett : Pentagon's new map for War and Peace

After watching Thomas Barnetts presentation, I admit there are several "ideas" of what should of been enacted within our government, military, top ranking officials that are now in "control". I agree with Barnett regarding "peacekeepers" if these bodies had been in place awaiting their call at the beginning of the invasion into Iraq once the "kick ass " period was over, we as a country would have been able to at least start applying the necessary means of developing a stabilized, functional government in Iraq. I am not saying that this transition would have happened over night, but I feel that the entire war AFTER the take down of Saddam would have at the very least progressed forward in a more positive direction for the US and the people of Iraq.

Wade Davis: Cultures at the far edge of the world

Davis talks about foreign cultures using the term "ethnosphere" "the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination." Cultures across the world Davis explains we should not only be concerned with saving our world through "biosphere" but also by using "ethnosphere" preserving the cultures that are dominate through-out the world that are quickly vanishing. I am not sure that I totally agree with Davis, if you research the past you will discover that cultures have been cultivated and dissolving for centuries, yet we still continue to learn from them and apply what we do learn into our lives today including information that may be relevant to protecting our environment, preserving the earth as a whole.

Al Gore: 15 ways to avert a climate crisis

Al Gore truly doesn't impress me anymore than any other " well-known" political figure or other individual that has stressed the fact that Global Warming is real. We have known this fact for quite a number of years. It's depressing to me that it has taken this long for someone to actually have the impact upon us as Mr. Gore apparently has. I am not knocking Mr. Gore by any means, what he is doing concerning Global Warming is significant, he is adamant and definitely is changing the way this country views the true effects of Global Warming and what it means to our survival. I wish that he had started this Global Warming campaign years and years ago when Global Warming was introduced yet seemingly went unheeded.

William Kamkwamba: How I built my family a Windmill

In the beginning of this video to be honest I wasn't sure that I would get much from the presentation. I quickly realized I was wrong. The determination, motivation and will to succeed that William exudes is something I consider one of the most important constants in life. He and his family obviously live in circumstances that we are not accustomed to meaning the lack of electricity, and other luxuries that I am sure were not mentioned in the video. William devised a plan, using whatever spares parts and means necessary to build this windmill. In turn he knew what it would mean to his family to have electricity, after putting his plan into action that is exactly what transpired. I applaud William for his efforts, there are not many that could live in his type of conditions and see anything more than the things they live without, even though William recognizes the village in which he lives desperately lacks in many modern day comforts he now has a goal in mind of building a much larger windmill, in hopes that it will provide electricity for the entire village. I have a strong sense of admiration for this man and his ability to see the positives in what most of us would deem an impossible environment to live in .

My Space/ Social Networking

My Space undoubtedly has opened up a new realm of communication over the net. I personally feel that having a site that permits such an open venue of self-expression is one of the reasons why My Space exploded as it did. I not only have used My Space as a means of self-expression, but also as a means of maintaining family connections. I know there are many other sites now in variation to My Space were using one now :) however it was My Space that helped me in beginning the "Me Revolution" making it possible for us to share as little or as much as we would like, I have made great friends using My Space, and learned quite a bit as well.

The Webs Secret Stories

Jonathan Harris's lecture "The Web Secret Stories" is undoubtedly thought provoking. He's concepts and ideas are genius, using the internet as a avenue to engulf "Human Expression". I don't feel think some of his statements were exactly fair especially those pertaining to the " We feel fine" project as a whole. In order for the "Whole World" to be included in that statement the languages his project is being translated into definitely needs to be greater than 10 of the most used languages in the world. In order for him to make this claim there needs to be exactly what he said more than once during his lecture " how the world is feeling " that really cant be validated otherwise.
The concept and the project that Harris has created thus far is totally amazing. The concept of taking all emotions, how people are thinking at that given moment, including other aspects such as religion, education, sex, weather etc... providing we as a people the access to explore and share in others thoughts throughout much of the world. I feel that Harris has truly just begin to explore the tip of the iceberg, his intelligence, his motivation, and the many new ideas he wants to add to his project will surely impact the way we view other people in the world, in many ways we maybe have never thought about until now.

Why People Believe Strange Things ( TED Talk )

Surfing through the TED talks I stumbled upon this title that quickly caught my eye. "Why people believe strange things." I had no clue what to expect, the title alone intrigued me. This talk was hosted by Michael Shermer the creator ( driving force ) behind the SKEPTIC magazine. He believes that the power of suggestion is the major playing factor in getting people to believe things that sometimes seem a bit outrageous, over the top, or just truly are unbelievable. If states that we as a people should be smarter now than ever before due to the I.Q. test increasing an average of 3pts. every 10 yrs. however ; Its not changed the fact that people are still swayed by the power of suggestion, an example he used in his talk were the Led Zeppelin lyrics to the song Stairway to Heaven, a great song by the way. He played a section of the lyrics as we would normally hear them, after doing so he then played the lyrics backwards, the difference in what was heard was astounding, as well as laughable of course thats my own opinion, but in playing those lyrics backwards, upon his suggestion the entire section appeared Satanic in verse, the key to this factor though was Shermer himself explaining what the backwards lyrics were stating. It was incredibly easy to hear the words after her detailed what they were, until that point I truly heard nothing that sounded like an evil Satanic verse. He used several examples, each one similar with other things as well, written words, one school actually purchasing dowsing rods to search for illegal drugs ( doing so because the power of suggestion created a belief that these would actually work ). I throughly enjoyed listening to Shermer's talk, I suggest if you have time to check it out for yourself, I always enjoy a good laugh, aside from that the video was definitely an eye opener. One of the most interesting quotes from this video states " Within the absence of sound science , incompetent information combined with the power of suggestion, enables humans to convince ourselves to believe the unbelievable.

Internet Surfing

I usually spend 15-20 hrs. a week surfing the net, normally I surf when I am completing assignments or helping my daughter with one of her assignments for school. I use the net more often as an outlet where I spend most of these hours in the evenings playing cards with friends. I have been playing on this site for over a year.

The site is WGC ( World Gaming Center ) , its not that I don't feel the net is an incredible tool in researching any topic, I would rather spend my time do something that I enjoy on the net. I do use several search engines but not on a regular basis.

My Hyper-Links

These are just a few of the links I use when I need quick information or maybe just want to sit back, relax and enjoy conversing with friends .

• Google
• World Gaming Center (WGC)

Here are the sites I use to keep myself updated with the latest NASCAR info.

• Nascar.com
• ESPN
• Denny Hamlin
  

Internet and Education

In thinking about how the internet has impacted my education, I must say in the beginning it was quite overwhelming. I 'm sure this feeling wouldn't apply to the "younger" generation ....many of the aspects of using my computer in general were self taught. Considering the fact that when I was in high school there were computers being used that date back to the very beginning of the "Computer World" lol 1987 really wasn't that long ago, ok who am I kidding it was forever ago :) ....I have discovered after enrolling in college that the relationship between education and computers is not only a choice but it's an absolute must. Computers have opened up the entire realm of higher learning, not only is one able to inquire, communicate, relate, research, we are able to maintain standards of learning and apply them to our goal of learning new information, processing it, and above all making a passing grade.

TED-Talk blog post

After watching the lecture, I cannot say that I totally agree with the whole idea that schools kill creativity. Sir Ken made mention of the the fact more than once that it were not only the teachers, but the parents who play a part in "killing" the creative sparks that may ignite a child's imagination. I am not saying that all parents or teachers or guilty of this. I think there are circumstances in each case that are unique. I do feel that there should be more creative classes available along with the mainstream of learning which involve the "basics" .....even in the future having knowledge even if not total competence in what the world may be like will be necessary. I do feel by offering creative classes among the general courses offers each student an avenue that may not otherwise be available to them.

About Me

Hey yall ....Tracie here, I am currently a full-time student attending Rappahannock Community College. I spent the last several years of my life caring for my family, decided it was time to do something for mom. I enrolled in RCC after my youngest daughter began kindergarten. I have to say its amusing at times looking around in my classes realizing I am one of the very few 30-ish students around lol :)

In my spare time, which I decidedly never have enough of my family ( including myself ) spends a lot of time outdoors, sports oriented types of things. I also love reading and writing, old habits certainly do die hard, I've been keeping a journal since the age of 9. Writing allows me freedom of self expression which also helps me relieve the STRESS of being a full-time parent, student, nurse, chef, maid, etc.....lol. I am a total Nextel-Cup addicted.....Goooo Denny #11, besides NASCAR , I have to have my football ( wont mention my team ) :P and basketball ....Mav's will take it this year or else !!!! :)

I am earning my arts& science degree which I intend to apply towards my goal of becoming a physical therapist assistant. I have only realized within the last few semesters that its never to late to have dreams, goals, and set out to achieve them.