Are Computers Transforming Humanity? Computerworld (05/18/09) Pratt, Mary K. "New language, new values; Digital narcissism; Brain changes; Keeping pace with evolving technologies"

Adult Attention Disorder: the 'splittering' of communication - ZDNet 14/5/2009

From ACM TechNews; Friday, May, 12, 2006: This Is Your Brain on a Microchip
CNet (05/11/06) Olsen, Stefanie The parallels between the current interest in cognitive computing and the preliminary emergence of mobile computing are not lost on Jeff Hawkins, co-founder of Palm Computing. Endowing a computer with the ability to process information like a human brain--the essence of cognitive computing--will either occur "'not in our lifetime' or 'any moment now,'" Hawkins wryly observed to a crowd at this week's cognitive computing conference. "We've been trying to do this for 50 to 60 years. Artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic, neural networks, the Fifth Generation project--they've all had big moments in the sun." The researchers at the conference agreed that in spite of the many disappointments and failed projects over the years, some cognitive computing initiatives are actually beginning to pay off. Hawkins himself launched a company called Numenta in March 2005 that is developing an open-source computer memory platform modeled after the human brain that will allow programmers to develop applications for artificial intelligence, computer vision, and machine learning. James Albus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology called for a national program to formulate a scientific theory of the mind, proclaiming that cognitive computing is approaching a watershed. The technology required to conduct conclusive experiments is rapidly emerging and intelligent systems are becoming commercially viable in areas such as the automotive and entertainment industries, Albus noted, adding that government and industry will invest billions of dollars in cognitive computing research over the next 10 years. Scientists are increasingly focusing their research on the neocortex, the area which accounts for around 80 percent of the brain and controls sophisticated thought. Several projects are underway to create complex simulations of different aspects of the neocortex.
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From ACM TechNews; Wednesday, April 20, 2006: IUS Aims to Apply Computer Skills to Real-World Problems Courier-Journal (04/18/06) Kaukas, Dick Indiana University Southeast will begin offering a degree program in informatics this fall, enabling students to apply their knowledge of computer science to other disciplines such as business, psychology, or health information. "I'm confident (that the program will be popular) because anything is usually more fun when you can solve some sort of problem with it," said Joe Hollingsworth, a 12-year veteran computer science professor who is coordinating the program. As an example of informatics at work, Hollingsworth developed a football program that can help a coach analyze games and improve the performance of his team by providing statistics such as the percentage of first downs on which the opposing team ran or passed. Informatics students with a concentration in criminal justice could help police identify areas of unusual criminal activity or work with overbooked courts to optimize the scheduling of complex cases. IUS Chancellor Sandra Patterson-Randles described the program as "an ideal course of study for the student who wants to combine a strong understanding of information technology with how that technology applies to the larger world." Indiana University began offering an informatics program at its Bloomington campus and at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis in 2000, before bringing it to the South Bend campus in 2002. Since then other schools have adopted similar programs.
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From ACM TechNews; Wednesday, March 22, 2006: 2020 Computing: A Two-Way Street to Science's Future Nature (03/22/06) Foster, Ian. While the conventional view holds that science has been the inert beneficiary of advances in computing technology, a subtler evaluation recognizes that the relationship is symbiotic, and that science's relentless pursuit of information elevates the status of computer science as a discipline to the position long occupied by mathematics, writes Ian Foster, director of the Computation Institute at the University of Chicago. Foster says science is beginning to demand more interactive analysis from larger sets of data, requiring ever more computing power to execute simulations of biological or climatological processes. Computer science has a guiding hand in how those simulations are created, supplying the hardware, software, algorithms, and theory necessary for implementation. By 2020, the scientist will have to have a firm grasp on programming, information management theory, and the tools used to build and test software. Major scientific endeavors will necessarily have computer scientists involved by 2020. This trend of collaboration is already visible today the development of the Web and the creation of relational databases to coalesce the terabytes of information gathered from digital astronomy projects. Also by 2020, Foster predicts, scientific institutions will place a premium value on researchers who develop computing technologies that propel scientific research. Just as mathematics benefited from the challenges posed by science in its early days, computer science will advance similarly as it evolves to keep the pace of modern scientific problems.
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From ACM TechNews; Wednesday, March 22, 2006: Computing Should Have Same Status as Science
IDG News Service (03/22/06) Kirk, Jeremy Microsoft plans to provide approximately $3 million in funding for an initiative to make computer science equivalent to the natural sciences in terms of studying complex phenomena. The contribution follows a study by its research branch in Cambridge, England, which predicts that computers will be relied on more for intelligently sorting and analyzing enormous amounts of scientific data. Specific areas identified in the 2020 Science report include prediction machines, algorithms that let computers make prediction using complex data and codification, and the creation of software programs based on biological processes. "The essence of our findings I think is the ability to tackle these challenges is about to be transformed by entirely new kinds of tools and approaches in computing and computer sciences," says Stephen Emmott, director of Microsoft's European scientific research programs and chairman of the 2020 Science Group. Alexander Szalay, a professor of astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, says the scientific process needs to be applied to data, considering more data than ever has been collected during the last 12 months. New tools and algorithms will be needed because raw computing power to handle data is on the verge of being surpassed by the amount of data. Andrew Parker, a professor of high-energy physics and director in the eScience Center at Cambridge University, adds that scientists also need computational science courses that will train them in data handling, analysis, inference, and statistics.
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From the ACM Technews 3.3.2006: Career Watch: Lucy Sanders Computerworld (02/27/06) P. 45; Hoffman, Thomas
"While the Labor Department projects that technology-related jobs will increase by more than 2 million by 2012, the proportion of women in IT has dropped 18.5 percent in the last eight years. Cisco has partnered with the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) to help reverse this trend. NCWIT CEO Lucy Sanders spoke in a recent interview about Cisco and NCWIT's attempts to boost opportunities and awareness for women in technology. Women hold about 29 percent of the U.S. technology jobs, though that number is declining, while the enrollment of both men and women in computer science programs in colleges and universities has fallen 18 percent, and just 15 percent of high school students are taking the computer science advanced placement test. Sanders says that NCWIT and Cisco are working actively to boost awareness by promoting the viability of technology as a career to parents and educators, attempting to dispel the widely held myths that a career in technology equates to a life of social isolation and meaninglessness. "I know firsthand that it's an exciting and creative and socially relevant career," said Sanders. CIOs at the world's best companies report directly to the CEO, according to the Hackett Group, noting that the elevation of technology to a top strategic priority is a key factor separating the average company from the world-class company. The Hackett Group reports that IT departments are managed centrally at 67 percent of world-class companies, where managers and staffers are also far more likely to have advanced degrees than their counterparts at typical companies. While the CIO serves on the primary management committee in just 56 percent of average companies, the CIO has a seat at the table in 100 percent of world-class companies " (emphasis added)