Well, I think we are all about to start to redefine both the meaning and the look of being cool. Recently, Apple announced their long-waited phone iPhone. It is not just a phone; it is an iPod, a digital camera, an organiser, a web browser, a googleMap, an email client and more. Ohh, I almost forgot: of course, it is really “cool”.

When I look at it, it becomes so obvious to me that the future is going to be the Web. Goodbye to all PCs, digital cameras, mp3 players, mobile phones, PDAs etc. Whatever the names of the devices are going to be, they will all serve for one purpose: connecting us to Web. They will all connect us to our friends, favourite music, emails, photos, diaries, etc.

We will be all connected to the “Web”.

“For people in emerging countries to be members of a connected society will ultimately make the world a more stable and safer place.”

After we read the article, a question was asked to the class: why would a “connected society” make the world a “more stable and safer place?” The first question I had to ask myself was whether ICT really creates connected societies or not. I think it is beyond doubt that ICT connects us to people in distant and remote locations. However, I think at the same time it implicitly separates us from neighbouring people. As being social existences, we all need some sort of connection to and interaction with others. I think today, this need is mostly addressed by ICT. Therefore, we do not know about our neighbours and neighbourhood as we know about celebrities, political characters, actors, football players, friends on Facebook etc.

Don’t you think it is much easier to find a connected society in a remote little village in the countryside - most likely also that place would also be a more stable and safe place to live- than in a global world?

Dr. Robert Lue and Dr. Viel from the department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University created an educational video for their students. “The video vividly illustrates the mechanisms that allow a white blood cell to sense its surroundings and respond to an external stimulus. This animation explores the different cellular environments in which these communications take place.”

If you would like to learn more about this animation here is a video which explains everything happening in the animation.

I have recently tried ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite version 7.0.302. Last time the reason I uninstalled ZoneAlarm was because of their unsuccessful anti-virus engine. When I had learned ZoneAlarm had started using Kaspersky’s antivirus engine, I was quite curious about the result. I do believe that ZoneAlarm’s firewall was and is still one of the best firewall applications in the market today. On the other hand, Kaspersky made a promising entry to the market and surprised its all competitors. The Moscow-headquartered Company gradually has built their reputation and won many awards. Therefore, I thought that the combination of both would result in a big success. However, I was disappointed unfortunately. (more…)

In 1979 the political scientist Robert Axelrod decided to organise a tournament which a number of game theorists from different academic fields were asked to submit a game which plays The Prisoner’s Dilemma. Each game computed to each other for 200 rounds.

What would you have submitted? In other words, what kind of strategy you would have come up with. You are one of the prisoners and you have to make a choice of defecting or cooperating 200 times. After each decision you will be informed about the other prisoner’s choice. (more…)