Algorithms..The Brain of the Internet

What are they and how do they relate to the internet?

An Algorithm is essentially a piece of code. We use Algorithms in simple procedures without realising, for example everytime we seearch using WiFi, enter secure passwords or play games.
However..Algorithms apply to Culture, Retail and Personalisation too.

• They determine prices of books, the making of a fly hit $23million on Amazon
• Over 60% of films viewed on Netflix are chosen based on a recommendation Algorithm
• And now, algorithms are going one step further to estimate script potential for new movies and TV shows.
  
  

  

  http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/how-recommendation-algorithms-know-what-you-ll-like-1078924
  
  

“This moves us very quickly to a world in which the internet is showing us what it thinks we want to see, but not necessarily what we need to see,” Eli Pariser. Eli Pariser's Ted Talk http://www.ted.com/talks/view/lang/eng//id/1091 explains how he thinks that all the large companies dominating the internet are going to be able to identify us individually which becomes a threat to our personal information and freedom. Since the 9/11 the NSA (National Security Agency) has stored and surveilled our email and mobile phone conversations.

The fact that new technology is dominating the internet and human interferance is no longer needed in many aspects is a scary thought, especially when the internet is narrowing information as well as our minds. Although it is convenient to use our smart phones for almost anything and having suggestions for items we have previously looked at on the internet, it poses the question of how far will it go? Will algorithms take over and reduce the need for human jobs?

http://bigthink.com/endless-innovation/your-life-is-an-algorithm-your-brain-is-an-operating-system

'Your Life is an Algorithm, Your Brain is an Operating Sytem' - DOMINIC BASULTO

Since the era of new technology, simple tasks are now being done by algorithims in utility apps on smartphones/apps/laptops. New tools now go beyond and instantaniously carry out instructions such as uploading photos to Facebook or downloading information to Dropbox which would usually take a few minutes to do manually.

The web is now moving away from just storing content but performing operations which Vinod Kholsa referred to as 'one of the last great unhyped areas of the Internet'. by using these apps we are creating a second brain which is made up of many different sites that create relationships between all the online content we create.

 'We do not have to remember unnecessary details: dates, sums, formulas, clauses, street names, detailed definitions. It is enough for us to have an abstract, the essence that is needed to process the information and relate it to others. Should we need the details, we can look them up within seconds'. Basulto, D (2012)

http://ternhillhive.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/a-smart-phone-application-to-provide.html

'The man behind the Google Brain: Andrew Ng' Hernandez, D

Angrew Ng, a computer science professor came across the theory that human intellegence stems from a single algorithm. ‘For the first time in my life, it made me feel like it might be possible to make some progress on a small part of the AI dream within our lifetime.’ Ng, A