Description:

The future form of building materials is very similar to the present building materials and the name will continue to be “building materials”. The use of these materials will be similar to present use as well except that the users will be more cautious with the selection of materials as the cost of producing raw materials increases and the threat of destruction rises in the future. Building designers will no longer be able to use materials such as steel because the cost of combining iron and carbon will be more expensive than using different materials such as titanium and other alloys. Threats to buildings will also be more dangerous using old materials such as steel as weapons now explode and exert forces that are greater than the yield strength of steel. When forces are exerted on steel, and the stresses that these forces create are higher than the yield strength of the material, the internal bonds that hold the steel together break and the steel cracks and breaks.

The future form of building materials is very similar to the present building materials and the name will continue to be “building materials”. The use of these materials will be similar to present use as well except that the users will be more cautious with the selection of materials as the cost of producing raw materials increases and the threat of destruction rises in the future. Building designers will no longer be able to use materials such as steel because the cost of combining iron and carbon will be more expensive than using different materials such as titanium and other alloys. Threats to buildings will also be more dangerous using old materials such as steel as weapons now explode and exert forces that are greater than the yield strength of steel. When forces are exerted on steel, and the stresses that these forces create are higher than the yield strength of the material, the internal bonds that hold the steel together break and the steel cracks and breaks.

Development:

The first major development occurs within the next ten years and is the perfection of development of Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs). These materials are inexpensive to produce now because of this advancement and will become more pervasive in future societies. SMAs are already being produced for medical uses but they are expensive and the process is not practical for common uses. SMAs are used for medical procedures such as internal examinations because of the properties that they have. When heated, SMAs become soft and ductile which allows them to be inserted easily into small places. When the material cools, it holds it form which allows scientists to study the shape of the hole that the material was inserted into. By heating the SMA back to its ductile transition temperature, any bacteria is killed and the SMA returns to its original shape. This procedure can be repeated throughout the lifespan of the material which cuts the cost of using disposable instruments. In the future, the perfection of the production process will make SMAs more useful to everyday users and may be used in kitchenware, construction work, and other manual labour jobs such as plumbing and wiring. The development will give the future users of the SMAs more time as the cleaning process is much faster, and will save them money as well by not having to buy as many instruments as before.

The second event is an attack on a building that is made of steel. The attack brings the problem of the low yield strength of steel to the front of debates around the world. As most buildings in the current global society are made of some form of steel, the threat of have a weapon that can cause catastrophic damage to any building is higher than any other previous threat. The technology already exists to create such a weapon and I feel that it is only a matter of time until one is created. This attack will start the calls for upgrades to the materials that we use for our everyday structures like offices and homes. With steel no longer an option, the development of other materials such as titanium will become more important than ever. As listed in appendix B of Callister’s “Materials Science and Engineering”, the yield strength of titanium, which is 760 MPa, is much larger than steel’s (290 MPa) it is very dense and expensive (pg. A11 – A13). The cost of steel (in U.S. dollars per kilogram) is approximately $0.75 / KG while titanium costs $110.00 / KG. It is the cost factor that has kept titanium out of everyday life in modern society, but in the future, its strength is going to be important and this will bring the cost down.

Rationale:

The perfection of SMA production is based on the current state of production of SMAs and the advancements that the developers have made in recent years. The applications of SMAs in the future are similar to the development of silicone as a marketable product. Silicone was developed in the late 1940s but was not introduced to the general public until its production was perfected and it was inexpensive to make. I believe that this will be the same for SMAs and that within the next fifteen years, SMAs will be a part of everyday life. The possibility of another devastating attack is based on the recent attack of New York’s World Trade Center. As mentioned in the Baltimore Sun article by Edward Gunts, “Steel can only withstand temperatures from 1,600 to 1,700 degrees before it softens” (para. 17). This softening of the steel was caused by the breaking of the bonds that held the steel together. By using a stronger material with a higher yield strength and ductile-to-brittle transition temperature, a building could be made much stronger. With the bombings in the Middle East still occurring and threats constantly being issued to governments around the world on a daily basis, I feel an attack is inevitable within the next fifteen years.

References:

Callister, Jr., W. (2007). Materials Science and Engineering, An Introduction. New York, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Gunts, Edward. (2001, September 13). Engineers blame collapses on fire. Los Angles Times. Retrieved April 8, 2009, from http://www.latimes.com/bal-te.architect13sep13,1,7365184.story

Materials have evolved from the commonly found rocks and branches to the highly processed metals that we use today after thousands of years and the final product is the result of many trials to make the best possible material. When man first started to build, the only available materials were ones that could be found within walking distance and easily transported back to the building site. In many cases, the building site was moved to where the materials were. Early man did not have the ability to process the materials so they needed to find a material that would allow them to use it without having anything done to it. This can be seen in early weapons like spears that were simply broken tree branches that had been sharpened on a rock. These materials were the main source of life for early man, without spears and rocks they would have had no ability to hunt any food and would have had to eat only naturally found plants or already dead prey. However, by not being able to shape and manipulate their materials, this society was not able to advance their style of life and survivability, and the technology is now considered primitive and obsolete. This time period is called the “Stone Age” and was around 8000 B.C. (Guisepi, 2000).

The Egyptians were one of the first societies to use processed materials to build shelter, weapons and means of transportation. They used carved limestone to build the pyramids which they had to float down the Nile River from the quarry by boat, and then used large wooden poles to roll the stones up ramps to the top of the structure, which in the most extreme case was over 145m (480ft) high (Winston, 2009). These great accomplishments were only made possible because of their ability to shape and manipulate the materials that they were using. They were able to build their boats out of wood and used cloth to make sails, which was another new technique that they developed. While these materials were not processed to the standards that we see today, these processes allowed the Egyptians to strive for the amount of time that they did, approximately 3500 years (Brandon, 2002). The ability to shape materials allowed the Egyptians to have better shelter and allowed them to build more effective weapons, which allowed them to defend and attack with better outcomes than earlier civilizations. This time period is called the “Bronze Age” and was around 2000 B.C. (BBC Home, 1998).

The “Iron Age” began in central Europe around 800 B.C. ([], 2008). The use of forged and hammered iron was essential in the beginning of modern technology. Most products made today have some form of forged steel (an iron/carbon alloy), however, they use a more developed method for shaping and heating. The people of the Iron Age were able to create strong weapons that could be used in more than one battle. In previous civilizations, weapons were weak and prone to breaking and were usually one-time use weapons (spears or arrows were thrown or shot and not retrieved). With advancements in metalwork, the use of swords and other hand-held weapons changed the way that battles were fought. The ability to never need to change or reload a weapon gave the users an advantage in battle. This advancement allowed these new civilizations to expand their territory quickly and effectively. While the current age is still using iron as a main building material, new materials are quickly coming to the forefront as the way of the future.

While history has shown that the building material the each society uses ultimately determines how the society will live and survive, our knowledge of the science behind the materials is helping us to live richer lives. In the future, “smart” materials will become more ubiquitous and iron will become obsolete.

Works Cited
BBC Home. (1998). Bronze Age Britain. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from Ancient History British Prehistory: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/british_prehistory/bronzeageman_01.shtml

Brandon, C. (2002). The Egyptians, The Pyramid Makers. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from Ancient Civilizations – Egyptians: http://techcenter.davidson.k12.nc.us/fall026/egyptians.htm

[]. (2008) Iron Age. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-IronAge.html

Guisepi, R. (2000). The Stone Age. World History Centre. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from The Stone Age: http://history-world.org/stone_age.htm

Winston, A. (2009). The Pyramid of Khufu at Giza in Egypt. Retrieved March 17, 2009, from Tour Egypt: http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/greatpyramid1.htm

In the library, students are working with books that the library has on site. They search for objects within these books and they search through the shelves to find the books. The large number of books in the library hinders the ability to find the correct information quickly but it does allow students a broad spectrum of knowledge. The system that the library uses to catalog their books does allow students to look for keywords or titles to find the proper location of the book, but that does not imply that the book will be there. However, the size of the library database can make it difficult to find useful information. By searching for a keyword in the library catalog, students get every title of every print and digital article and book that the library has access to, even if it is not in the library. This can be a problem because students will often look at the first title and find that it has nothing to do with their topic and decide to change their search parameters even if there is a better, more related article deeper in the list. Dana Boyd’s term “searchability” in an online space does not transfer into this public space well. Students in an online space can search for any topic quickly and easily through the use of search engines such as GOOGLE and YAHOO! But they cannot do this in the library. Boyd gives the example of standing at the front door and yelling “Find!” which is the internet equivalent of a search, but if students walked into the library and shouted anything, they would be glared at and asked to leave, quickly.

If there was a more user friendly search method to use in the library, students would be more likely to use hard-copy documents instead of searching on-line to find information that may or may-not be correct. The indexing system that the library uses to catalog their books would have to be updated to be easier to use and the books would have to be put back in the correct location or students would become frustrated after seeing that the book was in the library, but being unable to find it. The librarian at the center desk is similar to this feature but they are still just people and do not have the entire library catalog memorized so they cannot be 100% accurate.

The only way for a good search system to work in the library would be to have a robotic librarian that listened to commands and made decisions based on logic that was pre-programmed into it. This would allow students to speak to a computer that would then retrieve the most relevant data from the database. This is not fully possible do to the size of the library and the arrangement of the books on the shelves; a robot would not be able to take a single book off a shelf while not either pulling all the books off or destroying the surrounding books. This would force a very expensive change to the library system and would also cost the librarians their jobs.

Stephen Lim
Davide Larosa
Garret Chow
Dan Balsewicz
Mark Agustin

By working in the wiki format to produce a collective research project, we were able to change any content that we wanted to, whenever we wanted to.  This allowed for work to be done at all times, not just when the group could come together.  The ability to do this made it easier to work on the project during free time and didn’t force us to plan a session around our schedules.  This is also a limitation.  By not having to be together, some participants could do less work and it would never be noticed.

How did it change the experience of using a wiki to be in the same room as the other people using the system?

By working together with other people with a wiki made the experience awkward because we were trying to use the technology to plan the approach to the project when it would have been much simpler to use the boards and just speak with each other.  While this was a interesting approach, the members that got together and planned with each other were more productive in the long run and turned into the mini-team leaders.  Also by being in the room, we were able to collaborate more freely outside of our normal group.  Being able to work with everyone in the room allowed us to spread out and meet new people while planning the creation of this wiki.

Dan’s Colossal Waste of Bandwidth

What Google can see

**SPOILER ALERT**

I’m a bit of a conspiracy nut but I would think that the government (maybe not ours) can do more than what Google can. Eagle Eye brought many of the issues that I believe may be possible into the foreground of media coverage and questioned the purpose of the increasingly accelerating growth of technology. “Aria”, the computer that was the antagonist of the film, was designed to read all the data from across the United States and sort the fake and real threats. She used cell phones (on or off), traffic cameras, vibration sensors, and other forms of spyware to monitor everything that was happening at any given time. It all goes wrong though when the President authorizes a missile strike with incorrect intel and ends up blowing up a funeral (the first scene of the film). Aria was designed to understand the U.S. Constitution and to follow it to the letter. When the President mad the choice to send the missile, he was no longer doing what was best for the people (in the eyes of Aria) and she was forced to take action because of her programming. The movie continues on with the two main characters (Jerry and Rachel played by Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan) trying to stop the assassination of the President and his cabinet so that the country can restart with a new government in accordance with the constitution.

This dystopian outlook on the pervasiveness of technology has lead me to be more aware of the technology around me. Using this computer that has a built in webcam could be used to watch while I write this. The metal desk that I sitting at will resonate my voice and the voices of my family which could be used to listen to our conversations. The microphones in anyone’s cell phones could be used to listen to me as I walk down the street. Does this worry anyone else?

But back to my point. If “The Google” can see where I live using a composite of satellite images, what can the government see that they aren’t sharing with the rest of us. Thermal images? Live feed? X-ray? And what about audio? We have the ability to connect with anyone around the world thanks to cell and land based phones. It isn’t hard to tap a phone line, my first year physics prof explained it during class (he was in the signal core during the war and did it) and anyone can steal a wireless signal. Again, what can the government do? Using service provider, they could listen to any and all conversations, and could use the microphones to listen even when the phone is not active or off.

That’s my paranoia rant for the week.  Sorry if I spoiled the movie for anyone.

The technology that I have selected for the TechPost assignment are Building Materials. The first of three posts will look into current materials such as steel and examine earlier, but still common materials such as wood and brick. It will discuss the benefits of these materials along with some problems associated with them. While this is not a technology in the typical sense of the word, it does meet Marshall Mcluhan’s four criteria: Enhance, Obsolesce, Retrieve, and Reverse. Building materials: enhance the human ability to build, obsolesce earlier materials, retrieve the memory of the earlier materials and the problems that were experienced because of the lesser materials, and reverse on themselves when they fail and cause damage to structures or lives. They are used to build everything including buildings and vehicles that enhance the daily life of people. Building materials are so important in society that throughout history, the periods of time have been named for the prominent material used during that time e.g. Bronze / Iron / Stone Age.

Hollister Freelance News Article

Building materials have played an important role in San Benito county, California recently. After a series of small magnitude 3.0 earthquakes, most of the old buildings are still standing and in good condition. David Huboi, an architect and planning commissioner in the county was shocked that most of the buildings are in such good condition. He says the reason that they are in good condition is because “they were made out of old-world materials, better materials than you can find today,” such as wood and stone (McConville, 2009).

This is a positive outlook on building materials as they have done the job that they were designed to do and nothing was damaged. By absorbing most of the energy caused by the shaking ground, the overall structure was left unharmed. The ability of old-world materials could be reversed by a larger earthquake, which would simply break the bonds between the small units of the material. These materials have been replaced by steel. While steel has some advantages, such as ductility and strength, it is not able to absorb shaking as well. Most large buildings are now built using steel and sometimes it is not natural forces that cause the damage to the materials.

L.A. Times News Article

While we all know what happened on September 11, 2001 most don’t know the reason why the buildings fell. There is the obvious fact that planes crashed into the buildings, but “New York’s World Trade Center was designed to withstand airplanes crashing into the buildings. They could not survive the devastating fires that followed” (Gunts, 2001). The article in the L.A. Times covers the reasons that the WTC buildings fell down. The fires that were started when the planes hit heated the steel members, which weakened them to a point that they could not support their own mass. At this point, the buildings collapsed. The fires were too hot due to the jet fuel that leaked from the planes.

This is a negative effect that building materials have had on society. The buildings, which were seen as indestructible, had been reduced to scrap metal within a few hours and many lives were lost. This tragic loss could have been avoided by using more expensive materials which are stronger and have a higher temperature threshold. A later post will look into advanced materials which have these qualities.

References:

Gunts, E. (2001, September 13). Engineers blame collapses on fires. Los Angeles Times.

McConville, C. (2009, February 8). Recent earthquakes serve as reminder to get prepared. Hollister Freelance.

a. Computer – for social interaction through e-mail and gaming

b. Television – for information gathering and gaming through News and game consoles

c. Radio – for information gathering and relaxation through listening to music and news programs

2. What was the most common communication medium that you used in 24 hours? Why do you think this medium was the most commonly used one?

a. The Computer – it was the most commonly used because it is the most useful when trying to do multiple things (games, music, work, video)

3. What was the most common purpose for the communication media you used?

a. Computer – checking e-mail

b. Radio – relaxing while listening to music

c. Television – gaming

4. What do you think you learned most about the role of communication media in your everyday life by keeping this journal? Please explain your answer.

a. That communication media is everywhere in my life. The only time that I was not using some kind of communication media was when I was in class or asleep.

5. What was the most surprising thing that you learned from keeping this journal? Why is this surprising? Please explain.

a. The pervasiveness of communication media in my life. This is surprising because I didn’t think that I used as much technology to communicate that I actually do. Throughout the day, I was only not using some kind of communication media for about 9 hours, about 8 of those I was sleeping or in class and 1 while I was eating.

6. What are some of the positive implications about having communication media in your life? Name 2 or 3 possible implications, and explain them.

a. Positive

i. Constantly within reach of friends and family, e-mail and phones

ii. Being up-to-date with current events, news

iii. Ability to relax during the day, music and videos

7. What are some of the negative implications about having communication media in your life? Name 2 or 3 possible implications, and explain them.

a. Negative

i. Constantly within reach of friends and family, can’t avoid or ignore people

ii. Inability to trust all sources of information due to overload of information

iii. Procrastination, all the distractions of personal communication media

8. How do you think your life would be if you did not have access to communication media. Please talk about both the positive and the negative things that might happen.

a. I feel that our lives would be very boring in that all the media that we take for granted (T.V., radio, computers, news paper) would not be there. The News would not exist and any information would slow down because all information would have to be heard through word of mouth. There would be a positive effect to the loss of media. The distractions of personal media tools such as cell phones and portable gaming platforms would also not exist.

9. If you had to choose one communication media to take on a desert island, which one would you choose and why?

a. The Computer

i. Offers all things that phones, televisions, radios and newspapers have in one object.

ii. Can connect with people though e-mail.

iii. Can watch live or pre-recorded shows and listen to the radio using the internet.

iv. Can keep up-to-date using the internet to read or watch current news.

Communication Media Journal

Name:    Stephen Lim                    Section:D-102
Date    Time/Duration    Media    Purpose
Feb. 2, 2009    12:00 am (1 hr)    Radio    Listening to radio
Feb. 2, 2009    6:35 am (1 hr)    Radio    Alarm / Listening to radio
Feb. 2, 2009    6:45 am (1 min)    Cell Phone    Alarm / Check Time
Feb. 2, 2009    7:50 (15 min)    Computer    Check e-mail
Feb. 2, 2009    8:00 (10 min)    Television    Watch Morning News
Feb. 2, 2009    8:15 (30 min)    Computer    Play games
Feb. 2, 2009    8:40 (20 min)    Radio    Listening to radio in car
Feb. 2, 2009    9:10 (15 min)    Computer    Check e-mail
Feb. 2, 2009    11:00 (1 hr)    Computer    School work
Feb. 2, 2009    12:00 (20 min)    Radio    Listening to radio in car
Feb. 2, 2009    12:30 (2 hr)    Television    Play games
Feb. 2, 2009    2:30 (1 hr)    Television    Watch movie
Feb. 2, 2009    3:45 (20 min)    Computer    Check e-mail
Feb. 2, 2009    4:30 (1.5 hr)    Television    Play games
Feb. 2, 2009    8:30 (2 hr)    Television    Watch hockey game
Feb. 2, 2009    10:30 (15 min)    Computer    Communication Media Journal
Feb. 2, 2009    10:45 (20 min)    Computer    Check e-mail / Play games
Feb. 2, 2009    11:15 (45 min)     Radio    Listening to radio

]]> http://sal14.wordpress.com/2009/02/05/week-4-in-class/feed/ 1 sal14 http://sal14.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/49/ http://sal14.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/49/#comments Thu, 29 Jan 2009 19:04:37 +0000 sal14 http://sal14.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/49/ ]]> File Sharing started as USENET, a server developed grad students at Duke University in 1979 to share information between Universities (Usenet – Wikipedia, n.d.) . Current file sharing servers are no longer centralized. Now, people can access friends network and take files from the shared portion of that network using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks. The music industry has been the most vocal about the impact of P2P file sharing. Illegal download of music has lead to a decline in record sales and revenue for artists and producers. But other types of media are also affected by P2P networks. “Assuming people not only have limited money (i.e. they are constrained by income) but also limited time, other entertainment goods can be assumed to be in direct substitution with music purchasing with respect to both CD and MP3 purchasing.” (Andersen & Frenz, p. 11) Goods such as live concerts and performances have seen a downturn in recent history due to access to files through P2P networks. However in Sweden, new laws may bring an end to P2P file sharing by allowing police to practically spy on file sharers who are currently protected by the laws (Enigma, 2009).

References
Andersen, Birgitte & Frenz, Marion. The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the purchase of Music: A Study for Industry Canada.

Enigma (Jan. 2009). Sweden Considers Police Action Against File-Sharers. Retrieved Jan. 29, 2009, from

http://torrentfreak.com/sweden-considers-police-action-against-file-sharers-090120/

(Jan. 2009). Usenet. Retrieved Jan. 29, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Sharing

First – The authors are not clearly stated on the Wikipedia page. The information found here was general background information on P2P file sharing networks. This may not be a credible source but when the information was confirmed on other sources it was considered legitimate.
Second – Yes, the authors are clearly stated on the cover page of the article. They are both members of the Department of Management at Birkbeck, University of London. The information found here confirms other information that we found. There are multiple references and charts shown to support their argument.
Third – The author is clearly stated but it appears to be a screen name. The news article from TorrentFreak confirmed information found on other news pages including CNET.