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This class opened a vast new world for me in the most “natural” way I’ve ever learned. With the extremely broad range of sources and methods used, the subject was “placed” in a real-world context like nothing I’ve ever learned before. It was impossible at any point to say, “What does this stuff have to do with…” Learning by comics and entertaining videos is “natural” even for someone of my age. Listening to the experts talk about their ideas and seeing concepts in the comic caused me usually to say, “That’s too cool” instead of “Ok, I’ve got to learn this stuff and this stuff” in some struggle with a textbook. All the fun didn’t obscure the concepts but made them clearer and easier to see.

I learned about the binary “underlay” of  computer technology. Two states and a few logical operations IS digital technology. This gave me a much deeper appreciation for terms like “simple” and “elegant” and the power of such reasoning when it is achieved. Logical accuracy is required, but the apparent complexity of digital systems is just the developing and compounding of these “simple” concepts.

Binary encodes information, broadly defined, and I suppose there is nothing more essential to human culture than information. The transfer of information provided by the internet and digital technology, then, changes human culture like nothing else ever could. The internet can enable a free flow of information, either “good” or “bad,” for the profit and benefit of a few, or for the betterment of many. Digital storage and surveillance as well can be used for benefit or to our great harm. Issues of security, justice, equality, and tolerance follow us into the digital age.

Finally, as technology  explodes, so do the human questions we must face. What happens when we leave the “real” for the “artificial,” whether in intelligence or “the world?” Can we blithely discard what we’ve always been without consequence? Is that consistent with the “laws of the universe,” the laws of God? Or will God become ever harder to see, as all the mysteries are solved? Both priest and programmer will have their work cut out for them, as Moore’s law proceeds into the future!

What important question doesn’t A.I. raise: consciousness, self-consciousness, alive machines, “In the image of God,” playing God, human limits, human potential, just for starters. As technology turns what was “mystery” into the  A.I. that will enter our daily lives, what will we do? Claim that there never were, and are not, any mysteries, for a final “dethroning”  of God? Will we be so consumed with how our wants are more effectively met that we’ll be too self-absorbed to care? Will we see the ultimate questions more clearly, with old errors and prejudices cleared away, and ourselves in a truer light? I know I’m not ready for this, and suspect the larger society isn’t either. I knew technology was moving quickly, but had no idea that it had caught up with God!

Robots and hints of the A.I. material to come have raised philosophical issues that I love to think about and discuss. I can’t practically justify philosophy courses now but wish I could. I was amazed to see that the same programming concepts are applicable to robots, video games, and printing prime numbers 1-1000. I see how digital logic underlies most machines. For those logically inclined, the thrills increase as programs enable a wider range of results in the “real world.” I noticed the “laugh out loud” fun we all had as our robots started moving and our eagerness to see what the other robots were doing. Endless fun and satisfaction seems assured in digital technology work, if one has the ability.

HTML is very straightforward to use but also very tedious. More than text has to be added to simply get text displayed, unlike word processing programs that at least give back your input. To use HTML much I would definitely want to “program” it to set the formatting just once to avoid tags as much as possible. Compared to programming, HTML seems very “low yield” for the effort.

I did not “get” the pseudo-computer. I didn’t take good notes in class because it looked so easy as Dr. Brown did it. I could not come up with a way to get the program to “loop” using the jump command. Translating from assembly to machine seemed pretty straightforward. I see that without high level languages today’s computers could not do as much. I want to spend more time learning how “simple” machine operations underlie complex computing. Just because I follow Dr. Brown in class doesn’t mean I can do it at home, and I must start assignments immediately to allow time to learn, especially with my full-time employment.

Dave’s Custom Computer

Parts:

case:  http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Cosmos-Tower-Silver/dp/B000ULLN1Y/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253497039&sr=1-28  This is a top-of-the-line case with noise insulation, a large intake fan, easy access features, nice looks, made of durable materials. It will support my chosen components and future changes. Ease, quietness, cooling, durability, and looks will always be desirable even if the components inside change.

cpu:  http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Quad-Core-Processor-1333MHz-LGA775/dp/B0012WDMNC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253498005&sr=8-5  Perhaps, just perhaps, it will be possible to stay ahead of the curve a little longer with this quad-core processor. I like that it can apparently multitask while maintaining good speed.

motherboard:  http://www.amazon.com/Intel-Core2-2DDR2-800-5-1-CH-Motherboard/dp/B000TXZBF2/ref=sr_1_7ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253499958&sr=8-7  This is a basic motherboard that supports my processor. I do not do gaming or much video  and think it’s maximum of 2 GB RAM should be sufficient. I currently use hubs for multiple peripherals and don’t see a need for more than a few USB connections. It has the standard LAN capability.

RAM:   http://www.amazon.com/Kingston-ValueRAM-…   This is a pair of 1 GB sticks that are well-reviewed on Amazon that will fit my motherboard.

power supply:  http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-CMPSU-750TX-750-Watt-Certified-compatible/dp/B000X2677A/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253495500&sr=1-4   This is a higher quality 750 watt power supply with a large fan. It will more than handle this system and any future changes.

video card:  http://www.amazon.com/Nvidia-GEFORCE9400GT-Tvout-Passive-Heatsink/dp/B001KU2RLY/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253495874&sr=1-12 This is a basic but well-reviewed video card that should be sufficient for my non-gaming and pretty limited video needs for this system. It does not have a fan but cooling will be adequately provided for in the case.

hard drive:  http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Caviar-Black-WD1001FALS/dp/B001C271MA/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253496483&sr=1-22   This is a higher quality, fast, 1 TB drive that would meet all my needs into the future.

optical drive:  http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Internal-Height-Supermulti-Lightscribe/dp/B002HFWBIA/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1253496799&sr=1-5   This pretty basic unit is good quality and handles any format. With a 1 TB hard drive I won’t need to burn much, and I have online storage as well or will use portable storage if needed.

Assembly:

Throughout the assembly I would avoid touching any pins or connectors and would not force any components together. I would begin by placing the processor onto the motherboard, securing it with the lever, and latching the cooler over it and connecting it to the board.  Next I would snap the RAM “sticks” into the dual channel slots. Then the connector plate would go onto the back of the case. The motherboard now goes into the case, making sure the connectors and openings on the case are lined up, and is screwed in. For the hard drive, remove the drive cage and install it from the back, screwing it in place, and reinsert the cage. Install the optical drive from the front with screws. Connect the front panel power switch and lights to the motherboard. Connect audio, USB, and SATA from the front panel to the motherboard. Screw the power supply into the case with the fan up for this case. Snap and screw in the video card in a PCI slot. Connect the main power cable and video power cables, and then the SATA and fan power cables. Then call Dr. David Brown for installing the needed software.

The binary number conversions were surprisingly simple, especially decimal to base 2. The other conversions differed only in that the “places” were larger. I learned that a computer can manipulate any information that can be converted into a number. This took some of the mystery out of how the machine seems to do such amazing things.

Binary is a scheme for representing reality just as our brains must use some scheme or schemes for that same task. I find it extremely interesting the similarities and differences between the schemes of brain and computer, and hope to learn much about this in the future. I heard recently how the application of Aristotle’s categories and classes of reality to artificial intelligence research was a total and very expensive failure.

Hello, I’m David Greene. I’m 48 years old, and was relieved to see other students approaching my age in my I.T. classes. I noticed too that there was one female out of about 40 males in my two classes. I’ve been an RN and in healthcare for over 20 years and am hoping to get a hospital I.T. job eventually. I enjoy using technology and am well aware that’s not the same as creating  technology, but I’m going to give it my best shot.

I wish success to fellow students of all ages!