DJohnson's Blog

What is technology

2005-04-29T04:27:00.000-07:00

What is technology? Technology is defined by Merriam-Webster online dictionary as: the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area, a capability given by the practical application of knowledge, a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge, and the specialized aspects of a particular field of endeavor. Technology should not be limited to machines but should include tools people use, no matter how unsophisticated. Technology should also include specific processes for modifying the environment, even if they aren’t physical objects. I believe Merriam-Webster’s first definition of technology, the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area, is vague and defines engineering more so then technology. I believe the second definition, a capability given by the practical application of knowledge, better defines technology. This definition includes machines, unsophisticated tools, and processes for modifying the environment (i.e. drainage ditches, field flooding).
I wanted to present another idea, somewhat off subject. Were slaves viewed as more important or more valuable then white women and children during industrialization? The notes show that rapid industrialization meant miserable conditions for textile mill workers. For example in 1835 industries employed 46 % women and 15% children under the age of 13. Thus 39% of the remaining factories workers were white men, slave men, slave women, or other. White men and slave men were more adapted and most likely more proficient working on the plantations; which explains their lack of participation in the factories. Why weren’t black slave women sent to the factories to work? Either slave women were more important and profitable on the plantations or plantation owners and factory owners had another reason to not predominantly hire slave women. I might expand on this idea in my next web log entry.

Independent Society

2005-04-28T15:16:00.000-07:00

Is there more to life then “he who dies with the most toys wins”?

Technology has certainly created a society dependent on technological advances and technological devices. According to Marcus and Segal technology has tended to reinforce trends towards individualism. For example the mass production of products, such as automobiles, has made the products cheaper and more available. The effect is a socially independent society, by which each individual can acquire the product. This is not necessarily good for society. If everyone buys their own car the negative side effects, such as air pollution, will increase on an exponential level. Personal computers and internet access has made the world wide web explode in popularity. In today’s society a computer is standard in most households. The positive effects include the availability of information to anyone with a computer and the individual expression possible through the internet; negatively the internet is full of useless information. The easy access can also create a dependence on technology. For instance, most engineering students are dependent on their trusty TI-89 calculators; these students have a hard time solving the most elementary mathematical problem without their calculators. Ultimatley this independent interaction can create a society that loses personal physical interaction. The availability of email and instant messaging could eliminate verbal communication. It is sometime easier to send an email rather than picking up the phone and calling someone. Society needs to be aware of the social independence technology can create.

Paper Pre-writting

2005-03-31T19:51:00.000-08:00

We are required to write a six - eight page double spaced typed paper for history 323. It requires that we find an example of a technological development or controversy, and examine the role of experts with formal training in the field in comparison with that of other interested people.

Experts in a particular field will have a different view point on a subject when compared to society in general. These experts, completely informed and knowledgeable about a particular subject, will have a different perspective of the pros and cons related to the subject. This knowledge will alter their perspective and opinions of the technology.

Stem cell research is one possible topic. Research supporting both and argument against and for stem cell research is readily available. Another possible topic is the opposing views relating an animal-human hybrid. See National Geographic site for more information. I’ve found several related internet sites regarding professional and societies views on this topic. Personally I’ve never heard of research concerning this topic and find it very interesting. I believe I will center my paper on this topic because of my interest and the availiabily of information.

Do technological advances always lead to social controversy? This is another question I would like to examine in my paper. I also need to analyze the influence of both society in general and professionals on the further development of chimera. Hopefully I will be able to find further information on the development of chimera since its introduction or first successful attempt in 2003.

Negative impacts of technology

2005-03-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wanted to return to a life without 21st century technology? Have you ever thought about returning to nature, like Robert Frost or Ernest Hemingway? Technology benefits society in numerous ways but it also has negative impacts. For this post I want to focus on the negative impacts of technology on society.

One negative impact of technological advancement it the invasion or privacy possible in today’s society. Any person, with the knowledge to do so, can track another person’s activity on a computer. Phone conversations can be monitored, government satellites can be used to watch your every move, and records can be kept electronically during your lifetime. Some feel this is a direct impact on society’s privacy. Check out EPIC Online Guide to Privacy Resources for more information.

Radar, used by the police, to determine another vehicle’s speed is another technological advance that has negative impacts. The ability to determine the speed of a passing vehicle has made it possible to enforce speed limit laws. While I’m not arguing the benefits vs. the disadvantages of this technology, I would simply like to make it know that this can be considered by some as a negative impact on society, especially those that have acquired a speeding ticket.

The advancement of technology creates a need to monitor this technology. This can often have negative impacts on society. Is the monitoring of technology ethically and morally right or does it violate the independence of Americans?

Another person's view concerning limiting internet access here

Chemical Warfare

2005-03-23T10:22:00.000-08:00

Amos A. Fries, an army engineer, was given the task, by General Pershing, to organize a chemical warfare service. Amos Fries stated that Gas was “at one and the same time the most powerful and the most humane method of warfare ever invented”. Is the use of chemicals in warfare humane?

Supporters of chemical warfare argued that effective chemical gases were no more immoral than the use and manufacturing of explosives, ammunition, and guns. Gas was considered humane because it could create casualties without being lethal. Gas required less capitol in warfare, opposed to sending masses of troops to attack the enemy. Gas was considered cheaper then training soldiers and producing ammo and guns. Gas warfare was also a deterrent; mentally and physically chemical warfare could be a greater threat then an army.

Many Americans did not support chemical warfare. These Americans felt that the use of chemical warfare was ethically wrong. Gas was an indiscriminate weapon, killing soldiers on both sides as well as civilians. The moral of Soldiers that did not support chemical warfare was often low or non existent during the use of chemical weapons. The use of chemical warfare was not seen as honorable.

Chemical warfare had supporters as well as harsh critics. Technological advances in warfare, leading to chemical warfare, were not necessarily beneficial to society. I personally believe chemicals should not be used in warfare. Chemicals can mentally and physically scar a soldier for life, the soldier can still be physically alive but unable to function in “normal” society because of mental trauma caused by chemical warfare. The problem we face today is terrorist groups, enemies of the US, often do not support ethical or honorable warfare. Thus the US is forced to prepare for the chance of chemical warfare. The development of technology to protect against chemical warfare leads to development in chemical warfare.

Urbanization and Skyscrapers

2005-03-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

In 1870 the U.S. population was 39,818,449 and 25% urban; by 1910 the population had grown to 91, 972,266 and 46% urban. On average that is a population increase of 1,303,846 people per year. Increase urbanization, population increases; create a demand for structures, civil engineering works.
Land became very valuable in these central business districts and taller buildings became more economical. (notes) The mass production of steel, inexpensively, made the construction of steel structures economical. More important than the mass production of steel was the steel skeleton design. The steel skeleton design of skyscrapers made it possible to build buildings taller then ever before. The Home insurance building in Chicago, 1885, was the first skyscraper to use this steel skeleton design. Technological developments in civil engineering, land prices, and economical mass steel production made it necessary and possible to create the most space on the smallest footprint, or land acreage.
In 1902 George Fuller built the first “skyscraper” in New York, the Flatiron building. A skyscraper is a structure that does not use its outside walls to support the weight of the building, non load bearing. The world’s tallest building, in 1913, was the seven hundred and ninety three foot Woolworth Building.
Skyscrapers because of their great height and almost endless appearance have become a symbol of America’s freedom. I believe this is the reason The World Trade Center was attacked on 09/11/01.

http://www.skyscraper.org/home.htm for more information on skyscrapers

http://library.thinkquest.org/26491/main.php3?browser=3&document=skyscrapers.txt even more information on skyscrapers

Technology and a spoiled society

2005-03-01T16:41:00.000-08:00

Today I watched a fellow student attempt to transfer data, an excel file, from one version of windows to another, 98 to xp. The computers age, six to seven years old, was making the transfer of data difficult. It seems windows XP can read windows 98 Excel files but not vice versa. This is just another example of a society spoiled by technology. The student had become used to the operations and controls of Microsoft office, included with windows xp, making the operation of Microsoft office, windows 98 package, difficult. After a couple of hours formatting a 3.5” floppy disk on both systems, copying, and deleting data the student was successful in transferring data from one system to the next.
See Ms. Mack’s post for another example of how society is dependent or spoiled by technology. Adapting to a loss of technology, often in emergencies, makes us aware of how dependent we are on technology for everyday life.

Agricultural Machinery

2005-02-13T11:01:00.000-08:00

“Contemporaries advocated a new kind of farming – a machine-based agriculture, which mimicked machine-based manufacturing-to regularize farming… These implements enabled agriculturists to secure and harvest greater yields from their lands” p. 97 The development and implantation of machinery in agriculture improved the process of farming and its production.

Horse drawn agricultural machines developed in the mid-19th century. John Deere first produced a wrought iron plow with a steel cutting edge for sticky prairie soil in 1837. He Produced around 1000 in 1846 and 10,000 in 1857. Another contributor was Cyrus McCormick. He developed a reaper that could cut 15 acres of wheat in a day, compared to the traditional method of a man with a scythe and cradle cutting only 3 acres. Cyrus did not use industrialized machinery in his reaper factory until 1880; once industrialized machinery was introduced production increased fivefold in 22 years.

Machine farming developed on a large scale with the settling of western Great Plains, 1870-1890. 1870 marked the first attempts at large-scale, technology-intensive farming; by 1900 five thousand steam tractors were being produced each year. With the mass production of gasoline powered tractors beginning in 1903.

The development of machine based agriculture improved process and production of farming.

Machinery and Technology

2005-02-13T10:59:00.000-08:00

How different would society, as we know it, be without the advances in technology made possible by machines? For example the developments in agriculture, weaponry, and sewing were all brought about by technological developments in machinery.

Machine making become industrialized around 1810; large factories started selling machines to smaller factories opposed to the factory mechanic building the factories’ machines. By 1830 this process of industrialized machine making had boomed. “Machine shops developed new technology and spread new ideas from one industry to another.”

Eli Whitney proposed to make identical gun parts by using machines; opposed to the traditional way of skilled craftsman hand shaping each part. The army instantly embraced this idea and asked the government armories to develop such guns; John Hall made the first guns with interchangeable parts in 1826 at Harpers Ferry Armory. Springfield armory, under the leadership of Roswell Lee, developed guns with interchangeable parts in 1840, was unsuccessful from 1842-1849, and then successful again in 1849.

This technological advancement in gun making had a significant impact on history. How would the outcome and progression of the civil war been different without interchangeable gun parts and gun technology?

Technology of railroads

2005-02-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

The technology of railroads was a significant technological break through in the United States. This technology was being used in England almost sixty years before the first railroad was functioning in the United States. Rail and locomotives were a significant technology that affected the progress of technology to come.
Rails were being used as early as 1770 in England by miners. In England By 1825 three hundred to 400 miles of iron rail was being used by the public. The steam engine locomotive was originally created by Richard Trevithick in 1803-04 for the 10 mile Pedydarren colliery railway. This locomotive was not successful and leads inventor Robert Stephenson to create the “Rocket” (1829). The Rocket was an instant success and established the four foot eight and half inches gauge used on rails in England. The Rocket leads to a railway boom in 1831 through 1837.
Horse drawn tramways were used in Boston as early as 1804. A need for a more economical locomotive transportation was apparent in the United States. In 1830 the Baltimore and Ohio successfully ran a locomotive called Tom Thumb. Increased distances and higher mountains in the United States caused inventors to design for a lower cost per mile. This lead to several differences between English and US rails: wooden ties and loose gravel were used in the US to cut cost, T-rail required less iron, and a six foot gauge rail.
Railroads caused the need for additional technology. For example rail stations created the need for a device to communicate with each other, thus the telegraph was invented. Without rails and locomotives today’s society could still be lost in the 1800s.

Technology defined

2005-01-25T22:10:00.000-08:00