Disability And the Modern World: How Will AI adapt to "Us"?

How will Artificial Intelligence  adapt to persons with various disabilities?

I just had a very interesting experience at my bank. The ATMs (Automated Teller Machines)  have just been upgraded with paper money recognition, meaning that you no longer have to deposit physical bills in envelopes. This actually poses a problem for myself, because of the actual real world speed I moved at. It's not exactly quick or even what I would call coordinated. This caused the poor back machine a minor fit as it accepted the deposit part way through me inserting the money. Suffice to say, I had to leave a message with my bank as this is the weekend. I'm sure everything will be straightened out. 

The average bank machine is a little higher than I am it also means I have to adjust my chair after inserting items and accessing the touchscreen. It can be done, but if I'm lower down but that puts my finger at an angle which causes errors with the touchscreen....  So basically this is modern technology not quite adapting correctly to any given user. This situation I understand because programmers have to make decisions, unless they want to write 4 billion lines of code, and sometimes one adaption for a segment of the population can get in the way of another put in place for a different situation or user.

All of this has me thinking about how will Artificial Intelligence (AI) adapt to persons with various disabilities. At the present time, AI may be consider to disabled itself, given the very early stages we are in, but that won't always be the case. 

See:
Max Roser (2023) - “AI timelines: What do experts in artificial intelligence expect for the future?” Published online at OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/ai-timelines

Just how will it interpret the various, variations it sees in the human population. Will AI "get it"and propose novel ways of achieving a goal? Will it see something its original designers did not and come up with its own solution?

Getting back to my ATM experience. Clearly you can't really setup longer defaults, because the speed I go at would drive some people crazy. This is where AI could be a benefit by changing how the machine worked for a given patron. Not based on a bank profile of the individual but by observing how they were doing in completing a task. Slowing down or speeding up as necessary or changing the on-screen sensitivity. This would be just the beginning.
 

Image generated by Ideogram AI.
I had to post this 😀. It resulted from simply
inputting he first paragraph of this article.
Quite amazing! **  (See end of article note.)

To be clear, this is not a commentary on the particular bank or the machinery they have chosen. This is more a observation of how AI might be able to improve how we use technology. In it’s current state, the new technology can get in the way of itself. I recently purchased a Google Pixel 6a smart phone,  and  one of the odd decisions that was made by the designers was to disable Bluetooth auto answer support for headphones. This feature is basic that I never thought it would be removed, but Google did in the Pixel phone... Anyway to make a long story short. I found an app which essentially replaces that functionality, (MotoAnswer on the Google Play store) but it is not a perfect solution because it is not integrated into the OS. Occasionally strange things can happen like if a phone call comes in while I am dictating to the computer the app may auto answer the call because it knows I'm using the headphones but route the audio to the earpiece in the phone. – So Google, please enable Bluetooth auto answer on your phones.

My previous phone which was "simpler" only because it had a stock version of android never had this problem. The computer and the phone would switch over between devices with no problem and everything would come through my headphones. This is yet another case where AI could be a benefit. I didn't contact Google and their response was rather surprising. They stated in a public forum that they have no intention of enabling auto answer on Bluetooth devices. When I press them the response was. (Paraphrasing) "We have never had Bluetooth auto answer on any pixel phone and we do not plan to incorporate it in later releases." They declined to state exactly why. (The full discussion thread with the Google community representatives can be found here.)

So maybe AI will be the answer to all of this; with ultimately a customizing device which adapts itself to the user. I  have a feeling though, outside of special use cases, the current models of AI being developed may not be considering the variations in people out there in the world today. This could turn into be quite an adventure. 

Perhaps the opposite will come true, maybe Artificial Intelligence will wake up the rest of the world to incorporate variation instead of standardization.

But that's kind of artificial intelligence is far down the road, because by then AI itself will probably be considered a legal entity or person. Society is going to have to evolve culturally to adapt to all these changes. Who knows, the next hundred years people may look back on this beginning period in the early 21st century in the same way we now look at the distant past and think: "If people only knew back then how things were going to change." Forecasting the future has always been an almost impossible task, because any culture currently perceives the future by its own heavily biased current perspectives. Think the steam punk of Jules Vern or even the science fiction stories of the 1930s and 50s. Jules Vern's vision was full of large powerful machines made out of brass and iron, usually driven by steam, and the 1950shad everyone in the 21st century still using vacuum tubes. Indeed at some point our society which is based primarily on electricity and devices driven by such energy will itself be replaced by something not as yet quite foreseeable.

Here's a great story. It's a science fiction story from 1951 "The City at World's End" by Edmond Hamilton. It illustrates in it's telling of the future, how everything is biased on current perspectives. This is in the public domain and this is the LibriVox audio book version. Simply click the title or picture to go to the book.

Story synopsis: "A surprise nuclear war may cause the End of the World, but not the way anyone could have imagined. A classic science fiction tale from Galaxy Magazine."

Genre: Science Fiction
Language: English
Format: Audobook
Read by: Mark Nelson
Source: LibriVox.org Free Public Domain Audiobooks.

LibriVox recordings are Public Domain in the USA.
If you are not in the USA, please verify the copyright
status of these works in your own country before
downloading, otherwise you may
be violating copyright laws.

 Broadening the topic a bit, on a larger scale, will AI even consider the concept of disability? It may be that it just will ultimately see the entire human race as one singular group. "The Human Race" and not even perceive or care about the nuances societies define themselves by. Now there's a bit of an ego crushing thought. At this point I'm getting about as speculative as the science fiction story mentioned above.

When I was born, most disabilities were considered an understandable limitation by society. You were kind of branded and broader opportunities were simply out of the question. I wonder if the opposite might ultimately occur. With AI in the mix, will so many solutions be available that being disabled is not even considered when looking at one's potential. In much the same way with the advent, since the Covid 19 pandemic  , of the remote worker which is pretty much nullified the need to go into work physically for a lot of jobs. It's an interesting thought.

We shall see. Continue to have a great day.
Patrick Clark 

** NOTE: The picture "Image generated by Ideogram AI" displayed midway through this article is from the service Ideogram AI.  As a layperson, I have read their relevant "terms of service" and determined, to the best of my ability, that the image may be viewed by the public.  However before any reuse, please review fully their terms and if necessary contact the company for more information.

The use of said image does not imply any affiliation or endorsement.

Some background on the creation of the image from Ideogram AI. I literally just put the first paragraph from the article into the service and it resulted in this creation. I was frankly astonished. This was using the free version as well. As of this writing you are allowed 25 images a day. Talk about a real asset when it comes to visualizing. I only stumbled upon this service while reading a totally unrelated article.

Are we losing control of how information is organized?

With the sheer volume of information available out there, and the number of times it is updated every single day has it exceeded our traditional ways of organizing information?

Most of this article is probably going to be in the video below, because while I do want to get this out today my time is growing short.

Society is now dealing with more information coming at them per day than at any other time in history. I find myself really wondering if the old ways of organizing material are up to the task at hand. Just look at any smart phone to see not only the myriad of settings but the desperate attempt the developers face in trying to organize it. Never mind the nightmare of trying to keep documentation up to date.

I know there is something else universal we have all faced and that is when we connect to our business or office network only to find that the application we depend on to be efficient has been updated and everything is moved around, if not removed. That's when efficiency goes right out the door. Yet when you talk to the developers they are locked in a cycle of keeping the product fresh. And who can blame them? If you're not new or updating on the Internet, you are pretty much dead in the water.

There must be a better way to handle information we need a fundamental shift. This is going to be a very good exercise, mainly because we are all so steeped in the traditional ways of organizing information and thoughts. This ties in very nicely with my upcoming articles on knowledge and AI.

Not only organization but the very fact that a great deal of information that we deal with on a day-to-day basis is now only temporary or hyper specific. We will continue to use a smart phone as an example. Even within the same brand functions and their placement can vary a great deal. I recently bought a new phone and a feature I had always assumed was part of the very basics of android was not available. Namely, the ability to answer a phone call automatically on Bluetooth after only a set number of rings. You actually have to physically push a button on your headset to answer the call. I was able to find an app that provided the missing feature but I was stunned and this is a Google pixel six. I did contact the developer and they said they had no plans to implement the feature. When I inquired a little further they were very quiet as in not responding when I asked why it was not being included. My only guess is that Google wants to push their auto answer feature with Google assistant. The phone will answer a call on its own and do a speech to text conversion of what the caller says. This functionality was turned on by default by the way

The video in brief just some thoughts I have on the current situation and how we might better deal with things.

Take care Patrick

Happy New Year and What's Coming up in 2024.

Artwork purchase from Subhan,
owner of SuzzShopStore on Etsy.

 

Wow, here we are at the end of 2023 and boy has it been busy. This explains why I haven't been posting much lately just a sheer lack of time and/or occasionally energy. 

However, I have plans for the new year and one of them is an article on how the concept of knowledge is about to change because of the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Much has been said about it in general but one of the things humanity will be facing is the knowledge that one cannot possibly keep up with the sheer volume of information an AI can process. One uncorroborated statement I heard said that Google's new system can digest over 100,000 documents in one hour. That means that if the system were to come up with a solution to any given problem and let us suppose that it worked. They would simply be no way for mere mortals to fact check and perhaps truly understand the procedures involved.

That means that our relationship to knowledge itself is going to change, so stay tuned as I develop the article and do the necessary fact checking. My goal is to get it out late in January with an accompanying video of course.

For now however I just want to wish everyone a great new year. Taken account of your successes and challenges. They frequently come together. And let's see what's on the other side of January 2024.

All the best!
Patrick

What will the future bring, and just why do people hold on to things?

 

All one has to do is open up YouTube or go to any media site and you will find for sure articles talking about how people are addicted to technology. The statement "People check their cell phones every 12 minutes." is almost a modern mantra with some people. However, I do not see this continuing, society will find a balance and I think as long as one learns to benefit from the technology the world is on the right track.

I do think however that unforeseen changes are coming as the very fabric of how we communicate, and indeed what we communicate is influx. Earlier today I spoke with someone who was lamenting the advent of the smart phone and the Internet in general. To quote them: "I saw all those people lined up at the iPhone store when the first one was released and really thought it was a fad." Now obviously that statement goes quite a ways back in time because the first iPhone I believe was released to the public on June 29, 2007.(Wikipedia article)

That statement stayed with me and cost a bit of a reaction. At first I couldn't ascertain what it was and then it dawned on me that I had heard similar laments quite often in the past about almost every major change in society. There is always a group of people who insist on sticking with "the old ways of doing things". But what is often missed is the old ways were the "new ways"relative to something else. It is true that sometimes the new ways are not always well thought out but in most cases there are many benefits. I find it fascinating how people will at first when they're young charge forward, and then somehow get "stuck in their old ways" of doing things somewhere along the line of life.

It probably has to do with how they perceive the introduction of something. Do they see it as simply a static feature which they rely on without really considering what is going on or why it was introduced in the first place. If so I think these are the groups of people that get stuck. Whereas someone who looks at a "new way" of doing things and attempts to understand it in the fuller context (how it achieves its goal and how it benefits people or does not) often does not get stuck as rigidly because they understand that everything is fluid. I remember when the CD disc was brand-new on the market. It came, and it went because better ways of doing things came along. But I know people have invested great amounts in their physical collections of CD-based music. Often they would treat the items with the same reverence that vinyl collectors treat the record.

So this demonstrates the fact that it is much more important to understand things in their fuller perspectives and not to get hung up on one aspect. I have no doubt that in the relatively short amount of time what we consider smart phones and computers now will completely disappear to be supplanted by technologies that are far more integrated and work in a completely different way. Indeed I think even electricity will ultimately be superseded by another form of energy. Maybe not all of it but certain aspects of electronics most certainly will have to change. There are fundamental limits which as I understand that we are getting awfully close to hitting. What I find really intriguing is what will come next and what the world will be like. I may or may not be around for this outcome but I sure hope I am :-). Just some food for thought.

Have a great day everyone

Patrick

Technology Is, Not What Technology Was. Changes in the very definition of technology.

 One thing has become very clear to me this year and to be honest I don't know why it is taken this long for the lightbulb to go off or turn on as the case may be 😀.

That is that the very definition of the word "technology" has changed dramatically between the generations of peoples. Up until the mid-20th century it was represented almost exclusively by physical machinery which you could visually understand. It was a thing, a one function device usually. Whatever you bought from the store never received an update. It was perceived to be as perfect as it could be when it was brand-new. It might fall apart later but whatever the item was it was fully functional. The idea of a bug was something that you swatted in the air and nothing more.

As the decades moved forward things began to change, quite subtly and without anyone really saying anything about it. Technology went from being something physical, to something for the most part quite abstract and malleable. Anyone born in the 1990s just assumes this to be the everlasting original definition of the word. You buy a device and the first thing you have to do is updated it, because if it's not updated it will almost certainly have bugs in it. Doesn't matter whether it cost one dollar or $10,000, if it's new and hasn't been updated it's going to have a flaw in it. Along with the ongoing updates of everything, which if you haven't noticed seem to look at just the moment you need to accomplish something efficiently and quickly. That's when you get hit with the following digital curse words: "Please Wait. This update may take a little while." I was hit with one of these this morning as I was trying to prepare for the day. And this one took for ever!

Now both definitions and both parties who subscribe to their individual definition, don't understand the other side. The people born in the 1990s subscribe to the new definition for the most part whereas the other party born before that date subscribe to the old definition, and each is completely confused by the other. No matter which group you talk to even if they understand the others definition, you can see the mental effort necessary kind of shorts out there brain and that they would rather retreat back into the definition they understand.

Things can get really crazy when you're trying to figure out how to explain things over the phone where you have to instruct the person on the appropriate steps to take. It is almost like preparing for a battle:

• Step #1: Ascertain the other sides values and perceptions.
• Step #2: Double check with yourself that you thoroughly understand step #1
• Step #3 Casually engage the other side briefly to test in the real world environment. This usually exposes an abyss of understanding between the parties. There is much work to do.

I think that one of the issues this exposes is that at least in North America we are not taught to consider other ways of thinking, much less ways of actually perceiving and processing information. When we are faced with a situation where these differences are exposed we make the mistake of trying to translate the other person's perceptions into our own and that doesn't work or at the best, it works poorly. -- You can't turn arose into a dandelion no matter how much you try.

The only way I have found to proceed in these situations involves verily long conversations allowing both sides to be exposed to the other in ways that feel nonthreatening. After a few rendezvous's usually there is a bridge built just barely sufficient enough to be useful for a small set of tasks.

Imagine if we did this much earlier in a person's life or did it as a whole society. Think of the grief and misunderstandings that could be averted. Simply by allowing room for the unknowing. Realizing that for everything you know and perceive there is always more and it will always be different.

Aside from survival, I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the reasons societies and cultures became towns and states originally. To avoid seeing the other side. Well the good news is I don't think that's an option anymore with the world getting ever more interconnected.

I wonder how strange it will look in 100 years when the then modern society looks back at the 20th and 21st centuries. For them they will have one big advantage (I hope) in that if our records survive and we don't change to some bizarre format. The new society will have pristine and detailed records.

Oh I would love to be around then. And I would be as curious as I am today. Which brings up another point but I think I'll make it another article… If you could live 300 years, how would you change in that time? (Presuming of course you were in good health)

Take care Patrick

Why your computer slows down and Tips for avoiding bogus software

 Tips to improve PC performance

 One of the more frequent calls and requests I get at home as well as when volunteering is a person's computer being slow and/or pop-ups appearing on their desktop. Usually after a little investigation we find that "Optimization" software has been installed, sometimes repeatedly and from different companies.While no one can fault anyone for trying to keep their device running well it is important to understand that overall these optimization products which promise you greater speed, safety, and cleaning, on the whole don't work or can in some cases damage parts of the software the computer requires to operate properly. This is particularly true if the optimization product is free.

So here is a brief list of a few do's and don'ts as well as other tips to hopefully demystify why a computer might slow down in the first place. These are focused on Windows but the general concept can be applied to any computer or other electronic device. (For the purposes of this article "programs" and "apps" are the same, just different terminology for software.)

Reasons Your Computer Is Running Slow

1. The reason a computer slows down is usually due to one of three things. They can occur together or separately:

• Too many programs are running. Frequently when you download and install something, as a convenience, it sets itself up to start automatically when you turn the computer on. As more things are added to the computer chances are the list of programs starting up automatically grows. How you stop this from happening is different for each program. One thing to watch out for is when you first install the program if you have an option to choose a "custom install" that is the better way to go. If you choose the quicker option then there is no way to tell what really gets installed or how. If after you choose a custom install if the procedure looks too confusing I would personally recommend that you do not install the software.In my experience this is the most common problem

• .If the computer is about five years or older be aware that current apps often make the assumption that they will be installed on new hardware. As a result they use up too much memory or just expect the computer to do too many things at once. By "things at once" this may be something in the background which you don't see. Regardless be patient with older computers and realize they cannot do the latest and greatest things quickly, and sometimes not at all.

• Computers and their components do wear out. The hard drive may be reaching its end of life. One of the first things are hard drive will do regardless of its kind, mechanical or solid-state, is slow down. So if your computer is getting very slow make sure to backup all your material.

 

Free Software

2. Absolutely avoid all Free programs. Unless you are very clear about what the program is and does. Any program that calls itself a "Cleaner" or "Optimizer" should be treated as suspect. Cleaning a computer is a complex process which usually involves taking out software. Same goes for optimizing. There is no such thing as a quick fix. The problem with free programs is, they have to make money somehow and so they will be installing ads and other potentially unwanted programs. If you really must have a certain free piece of software then do diligent research. While there are many good free programs out there there are literally thousands of pieces of crap.

Be also aware that many free bogus programs masquerade as legitimate ones. This is especially true of virus checkers. The best way to spot something that is bogus is to look at the webpage address. All legitimate companies will have very clear names and usually a ".com" or ".org" suffix. Again as in other propaganda the fakes will probably be at the top of the list in search engines. Nefarious companies know how to manipulate the listings. Look down the list of results and check for several reviews. If you are unsure go to an actual physical store to buy or inquire about a product.

3. Sometimes despite all your best efforts after several years especially if the computer is used every day the machine will slow down because of all the changes made. Important note: only consider doing the following if you have made a backup of your documents and other important items.

In this case you may wish to have the operating system reinstalled. All modern computers and devices have this option and it will take the computer back to its original state when you first plugged it in after getting at home from the store. Be aware it will erase  everything, which is why you need to back your documents up before hand. Before doing this to make sure that it is not a physical issue like a hard drive going bad or other component in the computer wearing out. This should only be done by a technician or skilled person.

4. On most search engines the first few results in regards to apps or software downloads are advertisements. Go much farther down the list. Once you find the product page for the item you are considering getting to another search with your favourite search engine to find reviews of the product from several sources. Please be sceptical, because once something is downloaded and installed on your machine it can be more complicated to remove it if the product turns out to be a scam or useless.

5. The best way to keep the computer running properly is to use a minimum of software. If you are installing something new consider removing something old don't just let it hang around. If you are into free games then if you can I would suggest getting a separate computer just for that. Free games are notorious for including other unwanted programs. So if you got to go to the candy store make sure you're doing it on another machine. My own personal advice is avoid installing all games on any machine you use for work.

Finally if you absolutely need or want to download a free program or app, do so  only at the company website for the product. Do not go to third party download site. There is no guarantee that these sites have quality control and they may in some cases bundle additional software in with the product you are actually intending to get.

At the end of the day, please remember that it takes money to run a website or create a program. Companies need to generate revenue somehow and that includes ads and free programs. During the installation of any software there is always a section where they ask you to agree to a license or other document. It is worthwhile to read these. You will be surprised what a lot of them say in regards to extra software or advertising.

Stay save everyone, enjoy the Internet.
More tomorrow :-). Patrick

"This is what I learned, and This is what I know. I am staying put."

 I was working with someone today who was still using Windows XP even though they had a much newer Windows 10 machine available. Of course the old computer had no end of problems and they were still using it to surf the Internet... More accurately tried to surf the Internet. Yet they were absolutely clear, that they were not going to move away from the older machine. They said "This is what I learned, and this is what I know. I am staying put." Now I've been around computers and technology long enough to know that when someone is that fixated on something it is a waste of time to try to resist. Yet it is a struggle to get these old machines even remotely to a safe state. In the coming days we are going to backup the contents of the old machine to the new one. Because we are talking about the original hard drive and I find that a frightening thought.

[Side note: the more I've been thinking about this, the more I think it needs a short video to really explain things and to give those a chance of never seeing Windows XP more reference. So here it is. Posted on February 26, 2023.]

This all brings up an interesting point though and it is something I believe we all do it some point. That is that there is something in our lives, some aspect or some issue that we just lock on to and refuse often aggressively to buge. What is going on here when this happens. Why is this thing or item so important? From my perspective nothing last forever so why carry with you a great deal of baggage, it just doesn't make sense to me. Yet it is obvious that we get something out of holding on. But now that I think about it I think the item or event may be more symbolic of something else although I admit I don't know what it would be. Maybe it is not so much the "something else", may be what is important is the why we are holding on. The event or item therefore becomes a symbolic indicator of something going on in their emotional or mind system.

My goodness human spirit is a complex beast and when it decides to go into stubborn mode it probably has a very good reason from its point of view. That is if it's aware of its own point of view. I frequently find that what we think is the motivating event or reason ultimately turns out to be rather far removed from the real bedrock issue. For the person I worked with the computer is symbolic actually I think it's the phrase "Windows XP because they used it a great deal in their conversation.

So what do you think? What are some of the things and the wise people hold onto things? I can hardly wait for the weekend where I can explore these issues more. As a side note and encouraged me to set up a virtual machine (that's emulating an entire computer in software) and install Windows XP on it. What a trip down memory lane that was. As a matter of fact that will be the graphic for this post.

Take care and I will talk with you more tomorrow or more accurately write more tomorrow.
Patrick

Why do people tend to desire the "old days"?

I have the oddest urge to find an old school electric typewriter and just write. (I'm not masochistic enough to desire a true manual typewriter😀)

This urge just popped out of nowhere, I'm actually getting ready for work/volunteering. We will see where this blog entry of mine goes… In the next day. You will be seeing the complete entry as I'm currently writing this as a draft. But this is how I often come up with ideas. I write down a quick note. Using whatever means it's necessary.

… It's the next day and this is the first time I've had a moment to return to this article…

One of the reasons I think the reasons we look back to the old days is that it is something understandable, we knew how it fits into the fabric of our lives back then and we knew what it meant. This is an understandable reaction to the modern day when everything is kind of scattered about. I don't know about you, but I deal with a lot of interruptions and minor detours throughout my day. Sometimes I feel like the information centre for my building especially when it comes to fixing things. But even the average person has kind of the scattered lifestyle it seems unless there one of the very lucky this profession or discipline allows them to cloister themselves away… The luxury of that thought has me momentarily jealous.

Anyway in modern society we have become accustomed to taking on too much and as a result too much is expected of us overall. How many of you have at the experience of someone being furious that you didn't answer their email right away. So the simplest solution is to either pare down the number of for lack of a better word "connections" you are currently hooked up to or if that is not an option segmenting them into certain days whenever possible. A friend of mine has a very good rule: "They do not do any work on Saturday at all. They won't even talk about it." This simple and direct change makes them ingenious in my book. Because it sets not only a boundary but it sets up an anticipation that on Saturday this person is just not available and that in turn sets an example.

So what do you think is that something you could apply in your life? Even to a small degree? You might start something if you do, and that something might turn out to be awfully good for everyone. Again it's making things simpler, just like we thought the old days were. Which I kind of doubt if we were actually back there in time.

Take care Patrick

The Internet 20 years from now... Just where will we put all that stuff?

IBM Model 7030 Stretch Early Super Computer
Wikimedia Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)

Much has been debated about where the Internet is going and what it'll be like in the future. There is a larger question: Where does all the necessary storage come from? Society will also have to figure out how to power it all.-I'm afraid your laptop charger just will not do.

Then there's the question of where it's all going to be backed up, or will society ultimately come to the conclusion that there will only be selective archiving and like the human brain Internet will forget a certain percentage. While I love my life, I do not wish to remember everything in exquisite detail. Mind you that would make going through school a snap, provided I understood what I remembered.😀

They always say that society is changing so fast nowadays, but what everyone forgets is that it's always relative to whatever part of history a person is part of. 100 years ago there was only a fraction of the change in a given amount of time compared to today, but it was still faster for them then what their grandparents knew.

Whatever way the Internet continues to evolve I'm okay with it as long as I still have the opportunity to understand the knowledge which will be accessible to me. Because it is the understanding that I personally find so enjoyable. I don't want just a collection of things in my head, I want to know how they relate to each other and other items in my memory. In other words I don't want to be a glorified search engine. But rather a knowledge foundation.

In other words, plug the me in and turn me on, but leave the manual handy. And I mean the detailed one; not be abridged user's guide. I want to understand it all, for me that's one of the big joys in life.

Take care Patrick

Which came first?: Disability or the inventor?

If you start looking around the Internet using the above two words as search terms, it becomes very clear that many inventors and other creative minds that have impacted the modern world, were and are disabled. I won't bother putting together a list here because there are literally hundreds of websites which of already done a much better job than I could do in my limited time for writing this entry.

It does make one think though. Are disabilities actually benefits in disguise? Without them with the world be a less creative place? The answers depend massively on the kind of disability we're talking about, as well as, a person's situation.

Still though overall, it is an intriguing question. Is creativity ultimately dependent on, the challenges in one's life. Without challenge, one could surmise there would be no reason to change (presuming of course one was completely happy with your situation).-Man, does that sound dull!

I don't know about the rest the world, but right now I'm feeling awfully damn good about being disabled. Life and reality are full of surprises. As always leave your comments.

Patrick
 

Do you have enough time in the day?

 I was reminiscing recently with a friend about perceptions of present-day technology we now have, in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even the 90s that was supposed to make more free time available, because as the thinking went it would make us more efficient.

That is not exactly how things have turned out, and this point I'm sure you will agree, technology has eaten up our free time. Mainly due to the fact that we can now do more (or so we tell ourselves) and so pack more activities or duties into each hour. I personally have things I would love to do, but don't because I am already doing too much. A little of this, a little of that, and of course the inevitable interruption which always at least 10 minutes takes away from whatever I'm trying to do in the first place. The difference between the modern world and that of let's say the 1970s is that back then you could focus on one task were subject. It was much easier to become "unavailable" and people knew this therefore life was structured in bigger blocks of uninterrupted time to do whatever important study or activity needed to be done. Very often then the result was the job or activity was done better.

I wonder then if today we do more but understand less. I recently began taking a computer science introductory course on brilliant.org and while I understand everything it seems to me that a lot of the deeper aspects are just not there in the material, simply because the way the information is presented it's in short bite-size chunks. They know that no student has several hours free now days.

This I think has far-reaching implications because it will ultimately lead to a society which lacks the depth and patience gained by a long term undertaking. Yes you still here of many people who undertake activities that consume a good portion of their life, but I'm afraid the average person is convinced they can learn it all quickly. Have you ever noticed when you become really proficient at something usually there has been a fundamental shift in the way you do other things? It is my personal belief this is because the act of true learning changes not only immediate situation but has much broader effects.

This is one of the things I think we are losing when we take abridged "bite-size" lessons or courses, because it is only with proficiency that we gain the extra margin of knowledge which allows us to truly build on what we now know.

Leave a comment down below if you find yourself having a thought about this.

"Hey Google Park the wheelchair."

 

New Year's and Christmas have passed, and so I found myself thinking: "You know, I really should get my self something novel but yet useful." (The word useful can be applied very loosely here in this context.)

I am a geek, and am always fascinated by creativity combined with technology. So I set my sights on finding something out of the ordinary in the truly gizmo range. I had no idea my quest would be so difficult...

When it comes to wireless technology it seems that everything relates to one of the following, it is either, smart lighting,-including thermostats and switches etc., smart cameras, smart speakers, smart assistance. While the list of devices goes on and on there doesn't appear to be any real innovation. Every year it appears to be a rehash of the same narrow products. With all the companies out there involved you would think there would be at the very least a plethora of good, for example smart coffeemakers that could grind your beans, so that when one staggers out of the bedroom you have an excellent cup of coffee waiting. The point is there there are a wide variety of potential products it uses that could benefit from automation but we seem to be stuck on a fairly narrow range.

So I have a question for you: Have you heard of any unusual devices that are part of the burgeoning smart technology? Something that really adds functionality or convenience to one's life.

Personally since I use an electric wheelchair, I would love to have a self parking chair. Thereby relieving the staff from having to drive it into its parking spot every night. (For new staff driving a expensive highly sensitive motorized wheelchair can be a little terrifying for both them and myself. 😄)
 

To put it another way, which might make the question clearer:
In regards to the "Internet of Things". Do you find the range of products diversifying into new uses and abilities or is it more of a rehash of a limited range of categories?

 
Leave your comments if you have any thoughts on this.

Internet School

Vladsinger the copyright holder of this work, release this work
into the Public domain. This applies worldwide

Because of a recent break-in in our building, I am putting together a course for my fellow tenant's on how to use the services available online rather than getting documentation and cheques through the physical mail. Part of this course will cover "Internet safety"

My rough thoughts are being put in the following article so that you the readership can make comments and therefore influence the results. The Internet is incredibly dynamic and so should be the ways of accomplishing various tasks.

My first thought is, and will use Google as an example, when a person first sits down in front of a monitor displaying Google, what thoughts and relationships are they forming? Are they approaching it like I would, being very technically savvy and pondering which search terms to use, or are they looking at it from the perspective of a table of contents in a printed book? The answers to these questions greatly changes how the information should be presented to the various people in the course. I have a mandate in that the course cannot be excessively long or detailed but rather (hopefully) a bulleted concise list of things that can be remembered and comprehended quickly. Just how the heck am I going to put the Internet in a bottle?! And of course it must be interesting in order to be remembered.

The scenario is this:

• Adult audience
• Most are casual Internet users.
• Familiar with Facebook to some degree.

I'm going out on a limb, (this is my own personal opinion which may be terribly wrong) but I would say there is a tendency among most people to implicitly believe whatever they read in the search results.- EEEK!

So stay tuned… I will be updating this hopefully every day. Tuesdays and Thursdays are rather difficult as I have other things to do. But feel free to share any Internet learning experience in the comments.

To get the discussion going...

Questions to ask people:

• What do you use the Internet for?
• What do you find most frustrating about the Internet?
• What would you like to learn (be specific)?

"Thinking" Is Not "What One Thinks"

The Thinker in The Gates of Hell
by Auguste Rodin..  Used under CC 2.0.License.
Photo by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra.

Over and over again, I find myself wondering if the human species really is capable of independent thought, or is it just that we create the illusion for ourselves, when in reality we are rearranging pre-existing information and calling it something new?

This is definitely not the case for researchers on the cutting edge of technology, one needs only look at the astounding achievements in the various fields over the last few years. What was once science-fiction, is not only fact but often we have gone beyond it. (I always find myself giggling when I look back at the original Star Trek series on TV with the character "Uhura", played by Nichelle Nichols, with the large communicator earpiece.)

But for the most part in our day-to-day lives do we really think independent thoughts? Are we really considering what we are hearing and seeing before we make a judgement? I think the answer is "No". We hear snippets of information all throughout the day and connect them together to create a temporary narrative which usually fits our preconceptions and is comfortable in some way, then we move on to the next item or distraction. But there is no real consideration. Even writing this short little article, there have been several interruptions of various sorts and side ventures occurring within a mere three paragraphs.

Nichelle Nichols as "Nyota Uhura".
This work, identified by PublicDomainFiles.com,
is free of known copyright restrictions.

The photo of Uhura with her earpiece turned into a quest when finding a photo which was copyright cleared, at least for editorial purposes. While I'm confident that this article meets all the appropriate requirements, to be absolutely certain probably would've taken hours of research plus some legal advice. So I did what most people do now days I skimmed the surface of knowledge, but at least I thought about the issue. My mental processes were engaged. Which is probably closer to independent thought that a lot of people get in their busy daily routines.

I think what concerns me most is that over time the human species may actually lose some of our cognitive thinking processes. It would be the old story: "If you don't use it, you lose it." And the voices taught me one thing it is that such things can happen quickly. The brain will reorganize rapidly to suit whatever environment it is in. Many years ago, I was in a body cast for six weeks. When it was taken off, my brain had forgotten how to move my legs. It was a remarkable experience, because of course you don't command your legs to move, they just do when you want them to. There is no internal language in this desire to move, at least not on a conscious level. Not only could my brain remember how to move my legs, I couldn't even tell you what I forgot. I just knew my legs weren't responding to my desires. Then an orderly moved my legs a few times, and in the space of a few minutes I reconnected and was back to normal.-But I still couldn't tell you what I relearned. Clearly learning and thinking happen on a much deeper level than we are normally conscious of. It was a remarkable experience. And I definitely understood how easy it would be to lose these abilities and that I really didn't understand what thinking was-and, still don't.

This is one of those times where I wish I had a time machine and could go back a few hundred years or maybe even less to observe how people actually engaged in the thinking process. With less automation, and thereby more "hands-on effort" by the brain I have a feeling it would be discovered that peoples cognitive thinking level was higher. How many people reading this text today have actually solved an arithmetic question in their heads in the last week or two. Less than 50 years ago everyone had to do some basic math in their head every day, whether that was counting money or just assessing something else.

Are we beginning to lose the very ability to truly think something new because we are so busy getting distracted?  There is literally no time to sit down and ponder ideas or concepts. I have been going to a small little cappuccino place for about the last year and in all that time I have not seen anyone with a book or piece of paper or even a device focused on a single goal. What I do see is people with a tablet, laptop, or even several phones switching between screens and presumably tasks. Your mind needs time to form thoughts to truly embed them in one's conscious reality. Google and Alexa have replaced this for the most part.

When I found the photo of the "Thinker In the Gates of Hell" at the top of this post I tried to imagine what it would be like for one individual to go through all the stages of creating a tremendous sculpture. Even if he had a team of assistants it is truly a mind-boggling and awe-inspiring undertaking. Could anyone do this now in the 21st century without relying on the augmentation technology gives us?

"Thinking" is not so much "what one thinks" it is the process of" how one thinks", and I think the important point there is that it is a process we need all to exercise. Maybe that is why I enjoy complexity in mystery and problem solving. I like the messy stuff. I don't like to use Google for everything despite what I had to do to write this short little article regarding the copyright issues for Star Trek related photo.

😉 Now I have an urge to go out and find a debating team😀
Until Next Week, Take Care Patrick Clark

Are We Daydreaming Our LivesAway?

 "Think about all the time in one's daily life we as a modern society are absorbed in the attention we give twirl electronic devices." 

Putting aside for the moment what happens after one dies, and let's assume for this little question that you only live once, each moment in one's life is unique, and never to be repeated. On the surface this is something everyone knows and acknowledges. Now think about all the time in one's daily life we as a modern society are absorbed in the attention we give twirl electronic devices. I bit the average for most people is several hours a day. Next time you take public transit have a look around and you will see many people, almost mindlessly quietly interacting with their phones and other devices. There is also a good majority of people with earbuds completely tuning out the world, and to some extent reality.

This is a completely new situation for the human animal, at least that's how I see it. We may be closer to the original themes of the Mattrix movie then anyone would care to admit. Riding home today on transit I was struck by how quiet it was and no one was really making eye contact. Faces buried in the various devices… You could tell most people were just trying to make it home and ignore the current boring reality by distracting themselves. But what made the event boring? Everyone reading this knows the answer, it was boring because no one was interacting. I wonder how conscious people on my train were of this fact. It's over an hour ride from Vancouver to Surrey British Columbia each way twice a day. When you work it out that it's over 730 hours a year if one were to do this every day that would add up to an entire month. Which is just gone… A month of adventure, a month of discovering, a month of being loved and loving. All missed because we are distracted. The human lifespan is not all that long, and even when they manage to extended to 150 years with the coming technologies in the scheme of things that still short.

Your entire life, is a one time event, which just happens to take 80 or so years to unfold. And even if there is a glorious afterlife for humanity it will be different than this reality. There will be things you miss, because it just won't be the same.

Before the masses were so distracted people worked together, played and occasionally had arguments together. Indeed, they did also two things together, and the human being at heart have evolved to do just that, in concert with one another or with the group. Not alone. Even introverted people when you examine their lives closely have a few cherished connections throughout their lifespan. They may indeed understand the topic better than most of us because the quiet introverted people I know cherish their realities and are usually not caught up in distraction. For some of them the world is too real, and so they pull away for a while. For the rest of us we need to find a balance between these two extremes. Cherish being aware of every moment whenever you can. It never does repeat.

The above few paragraphs just occurred to me as I was travelling home tonight and I wanted to get them down "on the modern equivalent of paper". Comments are welcome of course.

Patrick Clark

One foot inside the Matrix

In the movie The Matrix the story and plot revolve around the idea that people live in the dream world created by machines. This solution has a purpose, to keep individuals and entire populations distracted and self-involved. This stops humanity from rebelling and facing the all the truth that humanity only exists as if energy source to power the machines. Indeed, when one of the secondary characters is freed from the dream they ultimately make a deal with the machines to once again enter the dream world, despite knowing the truth about why humans are kept alive. The movie was a smash hit.

In the last few years I have begun to wonder just how close we are in reality to the matrix concept and what rights, freedoms, and responsibilities societies as a whole might be unwittingly giving up in exchange for evermore intoxicating technology, which on the surface seems to make one's life easier, but in so doing also forms and alters our  behaviour. In doing so our perceptions of what is acceptable, and normal are altered . Are we as a society becoming more apathetic and easier to manage? The question may not be as outlandish as it first seems. I recently saw a documentary on Dr. Martin Luther King which vividly recounted the early civil rights struggle and specifically the year-long boycott, by the Afro-American community, of riding public buses. This was a nonviolent response to the accepted norm of having segregated public transit. What was amazing was, not only were thousands of people in revolt, but the community kept up the pressure for a continuous year before the issue was resolved. This was not the end of people struggle for basic human rights, just one of many chapters, in a struggle which continues to this day in a variety of ways across many communities. But have societies in large lost the ability to have such long term focus and foresight? The rapid feedback we all expect from everyone and everything in the modern world seems to on the surface have shortened our attention span and sense of what a long struggle is. If the civil rights movement started today with it gather and sustain such momentum, or would people get distracted after a few weeks? Allowing the issue to become lost. Which stagnates change and the growth of people.

I have seen quite a few things in the last years, which would make my personal answer "Yes.", And hence the title of this blog entry "One foot inside the Matrix". Before we can extract our foot. We must first clearly understand the subtle ways in which people are subtly (and sometimes not) encouraged to join this this Matrix Of Behavior.

That is what this ongoing blog entry will be about. Comments are always welcome.