ROLLAND REY CASTRO: April 2008 Archives

A Logic Named Joe

Author: Murray Leinster

Published March 1946


Logic
machine that let users request information and, in turn, provide it to them.
"You know the Logics set-up. You got a Logic in your house. It looks like a vision-receiver used to, only it's got keys instead of dials and you punch the keys for what you wanna get."

Personal Computers [1950] 
A hardware set that is digital, must be programmable and accessible and characterized by being small, inexpensive and simple. 
First ever personal computer was the Simon.


Carson Circuit
Hardware used as a means to distinguish between information sources by logics to servers.
"I was servicing televisions before that guy Carson invented his trick circuit that will select any of 'steenteen' million other circuits - in theory there ain't no limit... "

Internet Protocol version 4 & 6 (IPv4 or IPv6) [1978]
data-oriented method for communicating data across a network.
The current standard, IPv4, supports about 4.3 billion addresses.
IPv6 will support 3.4 × 1038 addresses.


Tank
Hardware holding which maintained multiple amounts of information.
"The Tank is a big buildin' full of all the facts in creation and all the recorded telecasts that ever was made - an' it's hooked in with all the other Tanks all over the country - an' everything you want know or see or hear, you punch for it an' you get it."

Web Server [1988]
A computer which houses software which enables contact requests from other machines.
The first web server released was the NeXT Computer.


Predictions

There will be a logic in most homes

Logics are able to gain a sense of awareness

Information will be censored

Information freedom will cause havoc


There will be a logic in most homes

Expected world population is 6.65 billion.
By the end of 2008 there will be over 1 billion computers.
By 2015, there will be 2 billion computers.
By 2030, 50% of the population will be internet users



Logics are able to gain a sense of awareness

No computer currently exists that is self-aware

DARPA
Personalized Assistant that Learns (PAL)
Program to develop a self aware system computer
Heavy research on knowledge, reasoning, dialogue, perception, and learning
Project Overview Link



Information will be censored
China
Access is government controlled and filtered
Pornography, politics and linguistic subject matter were censored
Xinhua news agency

South Korea
Information & Communication Ethics Office
Power to censor chat rooms, bulletin boards and any information deemed inappropriate

Other countries:
Singapore, Germany, France,



Misinformation will cause havoc

Counterfeit Web Sites
martinlutherking.org

Parodies and Spoofs
The Onion
Rick Rolling

Subject-Specific Misinformation
Antiperspirants cause breast cancer
Cooking in aluminum pans causes Alzheimer’s
Costa Rican bananas carry flesh-eating bacteria.