Genomics: Terry Furey

Terry Furey's lecture gave us more insight on genomics - genotyping and mapping of it, its uses and implications, how it affected healthcare, etc. - and also how this translates over to businesses. Companies such as 23andMe and Decode expand on the idea of personalized medicine and how our technology would affect this. This includes the idea of these companies being able to genotype someone to determine probability of health conditions and diseases in the future. This is effectively done now by tracing family history, which is cheaper and does not have as many factors taken into account as when dealing with technology. There are many limitations, including uncertainity of environmental affects and accuracy of machinery, when dealing with genomics and technology that make it more difficult, and thus more expensive, to determine these conditions. Therefore, the costs seem to outweigh the benefits of these companies' testing processes.

Furthermore, the fact that companies are "owners" of people's DNA seems to place a sense of hesitancy upon people in supporting this new business of genotyping and mapping, along with the fact that many people are not as willing to want to know so much detailied information about their health. The future that is predicted by genotyping could possibly change, but with the knowledge of the information given by these companies, peoples' lives will be completely altered, living in response to their assessment of health. Also, the fact that DNA would be so easy to test in the future and thus affect people's relationships with one another is a consequence of this technology. I think that, as Furey said, the fact that these companies are so heavily pushing this research in an area that is relatively new, it makes it hard to be a sustainable and effective business until further into the future when there is more secure knowledge and information available.

SL: Commercial Enterprise

Dorian Day Spa: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Bounty/124/199/21

This virtual space is a day spa with almost every amenity you could imagine having at a real one. The place is very high end, and each service offered is pretty expensive, which makes it geared toward richer people, mainly women, who look to pamper themselves with the best of the best. The atmosphere of the spa is soothing and exactly what people look for in real life for when they go to a spa that costs a lot of money. There are also special services offered that cost more or that are only available for a short time, in order to make people feel like they are receiving great deals or exclusive offers. There are areas where people can just lounge around without having to partake in any of the services. 

As the services offered are high end, the target costumer for this is rich people, mostly women, who enjoy going to the spa and using the services offered. Women especially often feel the need to pamper themselves in real life, so the virtual simulation of this in Second Life makes it appealing to users. Also, because it is one of the more serene calming spots for people to relax other than an actual island vacationing spot, it appeals to people to go there. The design of the spa is also made to appeal to people more than other islands available on Second Life.

Legal Implications: Smith & Jenkins' Lectures

In all honesty I knew that there were many laws and rules for what could and could not be published, posted online, copyrighted, etc., but I never really realized just how strict these laws are and how much they affect the ability of people and companies to create different things and put ideas out there that are their own, but may be very similar to others' work or unable to expand on something, etc. IP owners have an enormous ammount of say into what can be used/copied/developed, etc., that it holds back others from being able to, or even wanting to, work on something for fear that they will be sued, shut down, etc. This fear to be creative has stifled many projects that might have otherwise been successful. 

It seems as though it is almost impossible to come up with something entirely one's own, because of all the complex technicalities in these laws and the fact that what something thinks is completely innovative, might be infriging on one aspect of another's work. It's almost as if, in trying to protect people's rights, they end up really having none at all in the end. Also, as both Smith and Jenkins explained, many of these laws are not "up-to-date," in that they were created before the use of computers and other technology became so important and widely used. This has affected so much of what we see on the web and elsewhere. Since technology is so important now, especially with social networks and the fact that everything is shared worldwide, copyright law and other legal issues go against this key factor of computers, the internet, and other technologies. Therefore, although it may not completely be stifling creativity, it does seem to make people hesitant in trying to be innovative and start something new, just because there are many complications and long processes involved in trying to share their ideas and obtain others'. 

Don Fowler & TWIT

Don Fowler's presentation on IT consulting was really interesting, because I always thought I knew what it entailed, but there are many aspects that he presented that I never really considered. The fact that what an IT consultant does now used to be done by others such as accountants, shows just how important technology is to businesses now, such as Accenture. There is so much we do online now through the use of the digital world that IT consulting provides many opportunities and paths, and the ability to use information technology for all of these businesses to operate more efficiently is very effective. 

Also, one of the interesting aspects of the field that Mr. Fowler pointed out was that IT consultants are needed at all times, both economically good and bad, and cannot operate without computers, which are the basis for the job. IT consulting also offers many options within information technology, making it an option for various types of tech-savvy people. Mr. Fowler also touched on outsourcing and moving these jobs abroad, because of the cheaper labor, but also because technology has made it easy to communicate and operate from all over the world and with different clients. I think this is one of the especially important aspects of info technology, because not only were we at first connected with our computers to more sources, but now the ability to do this anywhere and in any capacity makes it even more powerful. 

I thought the issue of newspaper/print publishing in This Week in Tech was really interesting. It's obvious that as more and more data, books, and other information moves from print, to print and online, to just online, that newspapers and books will no longer be as widely used and primary sources. People receive their information online in a faster way, and also in most cases are able to get this information for free. Also, with the ability of users online to publish their own information, more and more becomes available online, offering more perspectives. This has therefore led to a decrease in the number of jobs available for those working in the print publishing industry, and also in the importance of their jobs. 

Online sources make it much easier to look for whatever the user is interested in, given the chance to bypass whatever they feel is unimportant, which is often much harder in print sources. Many people on the other hand do not want to look at a screen all day and like to see the new things they might have otherwised missed online, through print books and papers, as well as just be able to physically have these things (although still others do not like to take up space with all of these books and papers). People also feel that we are wasting paper by keeping so much in print, which is a valid point if we are trying to "go green." Many may only want to read one article and then throw away the rest of the paper, which is where the internet can minimize this significantly. Also, with the fact that information is become so portable, with the ability to get it on our phones and laptops wherever we go, people can have what they want right away, and not have to wait for a copy of an article or book to get to them. Therefore I think that with the way things are going, even if there are benefits to having things in print, soon enough everything will be online for us and paper versions will completely fade away.

Virtual Reality & DIVE

After hearing the lecture in class and going to the DIVE I realized how many different kinds of (important) real world applications virtual worlds have. The way in which immersive virtual environments work and make the user solely interactive is something that simpler virtual, 2-D worlds have not acheieved. At the DIVE, being able to BE the avatar and interact with things/people as if it is real life and we were actually the avatars is something that is not possible in 2-D virtual worlds where we just instruct our avatars to do these things. This different representation allows us to understand the information in a new way that is more comprehensive because it is right there for us to see, be, etc., as well as understand different ways/processes in which these things work. Everything feels very real and natural although it is just a simulation. 

These virtual environments therefore could be very useful and important to many real life applications, especially in the sciences and with medicine and education. Being able to physically go through molecules, experience things in history, explore viruses and body parts, etc. is something that you cannot do by just look at a 3-D image on a screen, and could help us to find out much more through exploring different views. This is also especially helpful for students who are learning these things and can have a range of motion that will help them interact more thoroughly. 

I think that one of the downfalls of these virtual environments is that they have to be in confined spaces, so it is not as smooth as if we were in the real world where we can avert walls and immobile objects to get around, which was the case in the DIVE. Also, creating these spaces and the money it takes up may not be practical. However, while there are these "kinks" to work out I think that in the future these environments will definitely become more widespread and incorporate more 3-D aspects to improve the ways in which they are used and the ways in which virtual worlds that already exist operate.

Visualization Information: Professors Schwartz-Bloom & Halpin

I don't think it is alway necessary to have more than one way to look at data, but it does help to have different representations. Many people may not be able to understand one way something is shown, so by having a different way to look at it, they can better understand the data being presented. Also, by seeing data in different perspectives, people are able to pick up on things they may not have noticed in the other representations, which can help them understand it better and notice different things to help them remember it. 

I think this is more true for information that is more complex and abstract, than something that is straightforward and well-known, which probably would not need more than one representation. If it is already simple, trying to show it in different forms might just make it more confusing for the viewer because they may think they are supposed to get something more out of it than is really there. And if there is a lot of information detail in something, it can cover up what the representation is really trying to show and get across. 

Multiple representations of data are seen very often in science, which Professor Schwartz-Bloom talked about. Viewing proteins, neurons, bond/bond angles like Professor Schwartz-Bloom showed, it helps to have different representations, both 2-D and 3-D, as some people may not be as receptive to certain visualizations. However, other data such as simple information being charted or graphed out does not necessarily need more than one representation.

One of the things I was taught in high school that really stuck out for me was in biology (a subject I really don't like so all the more props to it!), when we were learning about cell divison. My teacher put up a picture of a cycle of a frog/tadpole and then used the mnemonic device"I Promote Making Another Tadpole Creature" to stand for Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telophase and Cytokinesis. The picture and mnemonic together helped me remember the stages and what was involved in each one.

Visualization: Severe Storm & Jane Richardson

Both the Severe Storm visualization and molecular visualizations that Jane Richardson showed were good representations of how modeling techniques have changed over time and improved to present information more accurately in different ways. However, especially in the early 1980s version, the Severe Storm model did not make the information as comprehensible and immediately explicit, and the molecular visualizations better portray data. Visualizations now are able to be modified immediately through the same system, to make them more and more accurate, like Richardson showed when fixing the incorrect positioning in a molecule.

Simple things like this had to be very much changed in the first version of the Severe Storm visualization, such as the scale, compass, and the rainbow spectrum, which affected reflectivity and the way we perceived the information shown and the depth of the grid/visual. The high/low contrast also demonstrated the difference in portraying primary/secondary information. This was done much better in the second version of the Severe Storm than the first. Similarly, with 2-D versions of molecule models, it was difficult to gain an idea of the complexity and depth through these systems as is possible in the 3-D versions, but in print it also made it easier to view in 2-D, making this version not totally void.

While the Severe Storm video was aimed at showing the progression of a storm and replicate it, the molecule models actually took data and analyzed and modified the molecules as necessary with changes in science. This allows the visualization to be changed as needed, unlike the storm video which was just the same things repeated without the ability to change. Computers are now much faster and able to do things that we didn't use to be able to, and with more precision. Jane Richardson explained systems such as third party software that enhance the information through more accessible and clear looks at the information such as the molecule models, which is what allows the modification to be done in real time. As Jane Richardson shows, to use metaphors to analyze and understand data through visualizations is very effective, and is a different approach than that of the Severe Storm visualization, in which nothing is really learned, but instead just shown repetitively.