After watching the documentary on Wal-Mart in class Wednesday, what really changed in terms of labor or consumption due to the introduction of automation and/or information technology is the implementation of the universal product code (UPC), a specific type of barcode. The idea of a barcode was developed in 1932 by Wallace Flint, who proposed an automotive checkout system using punch-cards in his college master’s thesis. The idea fell flat because of the recession and lack of technological capabilities, but was picked up again in 1948 when Bernard Silver and Joseph Woodland developed a system based off of two previous technologies- Morse code and movie soundtracks. Extending the dots and dashes to create varied widths, coupled with reading the information through a tube that was designed for movies made in the 1920s. The tube translated the light reflected from the bar pattern into electronic waveforms, which led to the original message of the barcode. In the 1960’s railroads experimented with this process for tracking railcars, but eventually abandoned it. In the early 1970’s the development of laser light allowed the information present in the bars to be read quickly and from multiple angles. Kroger grocery chain became the “test rat” for bar code use. It worked well, sprouting several other systems across the country which caused a major problem- no uniformity in the system, bar codes weren’t recognized by certain scanners. This problem was solved on April 3rd, 1973 by George J. Laurer, who developed the UPC- a bar recognized by all scanners.
The information embedded in the UPC of certain products had translated into keeping in front of the curve for Wal-Mart. As explained by former Wal-Mart store manager Jon Lehman, the barcode is able to, "track sales on specific items specific weeks, specific days, specific hours of the day, when [they] sell merchandise the most." This has changed the entire method of communicating with the manufacturers, requesting products at a certain price based on what people are buying- a complete change from the days of old when the manufacturers held the power over the retailers.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/walmart/secrets/barcode.html
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
The Mouse- Timeline
The Computer Mouse Timeline
1952- The Royal Canadian Navy invented the trackball using a Canadian five-pin bowling ball as the user interface for their DATAR (Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving), a computerized battlefield information system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DATAR_trackball.jpg
1963- Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute invented the first computer mouse. He never received any royalties for it, as the patent ran out before it was shipped along with personal computers. Came with one button.
1972- While working for XEROX PARC, a research division of Xerox, Bill English invented the “ball mouse.” It replaced the external wheels of Engelbarts’ first models with a ball that can rotate in any direction; came as a part of the package of the original Xerox Alto computer.
1975- Both Ball and Wheel mices were manufactured heavily for Jack Hawley of Xerox, complete with three buttons. http://library.stanford.edu/mac/primary/images/hawley1.html
1977-Swiss professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and engineer Andre Guignard created a modern design with a single rubber mouseball and three buttons- became a common design until the 1990s when the scroll-wheel mouse was created.
1980-First optical mice hit the market, which used photodiodes to detect movement instead of the surface used by mechanical mice.
January 24th, 1984- Large scale success of the mouse came with the release of the Apple Macintosh computer.
1986- Apple created the Apple Desktop Bus which allowed mice from other devices onto the bus with no configuration whatsoever.
1997- The Scroll Wheel really took off when Microsoft Office and internet explorer started supporting the wheel-scroll feature.
2004- Logitech introduced the laser optical mice, which is used widely today: has over 20 times more surface tracking power than the previous optical mice. Showed that mice can only become more and more advanced into the future.
1952- The Royal Canadian Navy invented the trackball using a Canadian five-pin bowling ball as the user interface for their DATAR (Digital Automated Tracking and Resolving), a computerized battlefield information system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:DATAR_trackball.jpg
1963- Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute invented the first computer mouse. He never received any royalties for it, as the patent ran out before it was shipped along with personal computers. Came with one button.
1972- While working for XEROX PARC, a research division of Xerox, Bill English invented the “ball mouse.” It replaced the external wheels of Engelbarts’ first models with a ball that can rotate in any direction; came as a part of the package of the original Xerox Alto computer.
1975- Both Ball and Wheel mices were manufactured heavily for Jack Hawley of Xerox, complete with three buttons. http://library.stanford.edu/mac/primary/images/hawley1.html
1977-Swiss professor Jean-Daniel Nicoud and engineer Andre Guignard created a modern design with a single rubber mouseball and three buttons- became a common design until the 1990s when the scroll-wheel mouse was created.
1980-First optical mice hit the market, which used photodiodes to detect movement instead of the surface used by mechanical mice.
January 24th, 1984- Large scale success of the mouse came with the release of the Apple Macintosh computer.
1986- Apple created the Apple Desktop Bus which allowed mice from other devices onto the bus with no configuration whatsoever.
1997- The Scroll Wheel really took off when Microsoft Office and internet explorer started supporting the wheel-scroll feature.
2004- Logitech introduced the laser optical mice, which is used widely today: has over 20 times more surface tracking power than the previous optical mice. Showed that mice can only become more and more advanced into the future.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Internet- the digital world
Identify and describe one technoscience that is crucial to the support of a "Global City" as Saskia Sassen defines it. In a following paragraph (not in list form, but as an argument) discuss various catalysts and corrosions of that technoscience to the function of a Global City.
One technoscience that is crucial to the support of a "Global City" is the internet, the digital super-highway that coexists with our actual living space. Cyber space and our everyday life in the cities are becoming more and more intertwined, whether it be logging numbers on Wall Street, finding a place to eat by use of an iPhone, or just browsing the internet for potential dates on Match.com. As Sassen states cities have always been at major, often worldwide, processes. The internet has increased the complexity, intensity and global span of these networks- everyone is connected together in a city like never before, everyone is being watched on the cyber network (by use of cameras throughout the city, for instance.) Another catalyst of the technoscience in the function of a global city is that we are losing touch with ourselves, instead dealing primarily with a global market instead of the people that we see around us in our particular city. Outsourcing, dealing with other economies to get around labor laws, Nike running sweatshops in 3rd world countries are all negativites that arise from a global city, where people across the world are making my shoes from scratch, instead of workers in this country. This interconnectivity that the internet has brought us could eventually bring our world to the similarity of a machine- everyone working together to get a job done. The internet has the possibility of erasing all notions of 3rd world countries, an incredible catalyst for bringing together cities into a truly global city: one city. In conclusion, the internet has catalysts and corrosions on both sides, it all depends on if you view the glass as half-full or half-empty. The internet has created jobs for people all over the world, but it has also taken jobs away from Americans. The internet has bypassed geographic obstacles to creating a "global city", only in time will Earth become more intertwined with every human on this planet into a true "global city."
One technoscience that is crucial to the support of a "Global City" is the internet, the digital super-highway that coexists with our actual living space. Cyber space and our everyday life in the cities are becoming more and more intertwined, whether it be logging numbers on Wall Street, finding a place to eat by use of an iPhone, or just browsing the internet for potential dates on Match.com. As Sassen states cities have always been at major, often worldwide, processes. The internet has increased the complexity, intensity and global span of these networks- everyone is connected together in a city like never before, everyone is being watched on the cyber network (by use of cameras throughout the city, for instance.) Another catalyst of the technoscience in the function of a global city is that we are losing touch with ourselves, instead dealing primarily with a global market instead of the people that we see around us in our particular city. Outsourcing, dealing with other economies to get around labor laws, Nike running sweatshops in 3rd world countries are all negativites that arise from a global city, where people across the world are making my shoes from scratch, instead of workers in this country. This interconnectivity that the internet has brought us could eventually bring our world to the similarity of a machine- everyone working together to get a job done. The internet has the possibility of erasing all notions of 3rd world countries, an incredible catalyst for bringing together cities into a truly global city: one city. In conclusion, the internet has catalysts and corrosions on both sides, it all depends on if you view the glass as half-full or half-empty. The internet has created jobs for people all over the world, but it has also taken jobs away from Americans. The internet has bypassed geographic obstacles to creating a "global city", only in time will Earth become more intertwined with every human on this planet into a true "global city."
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Military Advancement- A safe ray-gun?
A technology that immediately comes to mind in support of military is the Active Denial System (ADS), referred to as a ray gun on a recent feature on 60 Minutes on CBS. The ADS is a non-lethal millimeter-wave transmitter designed to subdue unruly crowds. The technology works by targeting high-frequency microwave radiation at 95 GHz toward the subjects. The waves from the ADS targets the water molecules in the epidermis (outside layer of the skin) to around 130, 135 degrees Celsius causing a sensation of pain until those targeted get out of range of the device. As long as it’s being used properly, it causes no harm to your body- an amazing technological improvement of crowd control from the horrific images of riots in our nation’s history where guns were used, as well as enormous water-hoses. The goal of military campaigns is to defeat the enemy while limiting collateral damage, and as seen in an e-mail profiled in the 60 minutes feature. (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/29/60minutes/main3891865.shtml) “Twenty civilians were killed in April 2003 when soldiers from the 82nd Airborne fired on threatening crowds in Fallujah. That prompted an e-mail to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from a senior military scientist who knew what the ray gun could do. "I am convinced that the tragedy at Fallujah would not have occurred if an Active Denial System had been there," the e-mail read.” If threatening crowds can be subdued without using lethal force, then we as a society have a reached an amazing breakthrough of technology in how militaristic campaigns are operated for centuries to come.
There are several catalysts for this technology, but I’ll just try to document the major ones. If large crowds can be subdued without using lethal force, then that is a huge benefit for crowd control for centuries to come. This technology can be used to clear ways for military operations to flow through a location without using force, limiting un-necessary casualties. Before the ADS system, the longest range in the world for non-lethal crowd control were sponge grenades, which had a maximum distance of 50 yards. The ADS has range to just over 550 yards, and has no chance for a lethal strike- sponge grenades have been known to be lethal and caused some permanent damage when used improperly- distances closer than 10 meters. The last great catalyst to this technology and how it’s going to play such a role in years to come is that it has such great accuracy; it can be controlled to fire at several different sizes of crowds and be monitored to extend how far the blasts go. This directs the unruly crowd where the users of the ADS want to go, and the success rate is 100% of getting people to move out of the striking zone- this technology is a huge breakthrough.
Unfortunately, no different from all technologies, there are corrosions. When used improperly it can deter greatly with what the ADS was designed for- non-lethal crowd control. Extended use of the ADS on someone’s body could eventually lead to lasting burns and eventual death, so if this technology got in the wrong hands it can be used extremely effectively as a device of torture. If it were to get into the wrong hands, it can also be used to neutralize defenses to terrorist attack, thus leaving room open for terrorists, enemy combatants, criminals, etc. to take out the American armies. Slight adjustments can be made to the severity and range of the attack of the ADS, into which it can become a death ray of sorts- it all depends on how the technology is used. Ultimately, despite the enormous success rate of getting crowds to go where they want to go, therein lies a huge problem- further angering the mob because they can’t advance to where they want to go. This could lead to terrorist attacks, more ammunition for people to be infuriated with the current system. All technologies have catalysts and corrosions, it all depends on how the technology is used- if used properly, this military technology will be a part of history for years to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)