This is the site for the 2023 History of the Information Age course.
More to come here soon.
Week 11 Summary
I decided to experiment further with the Markov-chain with the Friends script. This is the code within the AI to produce a randomized scene script: with open(“/content/AllFriends.txt”) as f: text = f.read() text_model = markovify.Text(text) print( text_model.make_sentence() ) print(text_model.make_short_sentence(140)) larger_state_text_model = markovify.Text(text, state_size=2)print( larger_state_text_model.make_sentence() ) for i in range(12): print( […]
Week 10 Summary
AI and Ethics After reading Black Software, I think the best possible way for AI designers to account for potential ethical decisions is to allow the AI thousands of simulations. The AI itself is intelligent enough to learn and adapt with every scenario it encounters until it learns to seek […]
Week 9 Summary
For my self evaluation, I considered different aspects pertaining to my success in this class, such as attendance, quality of work, as well as digital praxis, citizenship, and fluency. I made sure to give my honest opinion about how I felt I scored within each category in the self evaluation, […]
Week 7 Summary
Before Spring Break, I simulated a Magic 8 Ball in Python. I used different Python functions in order to create this Magic 8 Ball simulation; for example, I used the answer function and set it equal to the potential answers my Magic 8 Ball could produce. I also imported the […]
Week 6 Summary
Initially after reading “The Soft Truth,” I didn’t really know what to think of it. Especially with the recurring motif of the blue gelatin sphere, I wasn’t exactly sure what this represented. I considered this as a way for the author to convey just how vast our digital footprint can […]
Week 5 Summary
I have a better understanding on different aspects of an algorithm itself, such as programming algorithms in Python to actual representations of algorithms in my everyday life. After reading both Rushkoff’s and Montfort’s work, I have had some time to reflect on the question, “why program?” I thought it was […]
Week 4 Summary
I dedicated this week to creating my own retro website on my subdomain. I am actually really proud and somewhat surprised at what I was able to accomplish in only a few days. I have coded in the past but never with HTML or CSS, and both of these languages […]
Week 3 Summary
After our three class meetings this week, I have had some time to collect my thoughts. Prior to class on Monday, I listened to “The Lost Cities of Geo” podcast. I enjoyed this podcast as a whole, but I thought the portion of the episode where they discuss the juxtaposition […]
Week 2 Summary
For the week of January 16th – January 22nd we had two classes, Wednesday the 19th and Friday the 21st. Prior to class on Wednesday, I read Cory Doctorow’s essay, “Science Fiction is a Luddite Literature” as well as skimmed through the excerpt from Snow Crash. During the class lecture we discussed […]