Bots And You

Hi folks,

For anyone new to this site who is expecting training advice I recommend that you follow this link, as today I want to talk about Internet bots. More precisely, I want to encourage you to listen to someone else talking about bots. The more I blog the more I learn about the strange world of the Internet, and incidentally about myself. In my mind there are creatures (bots), like little black beetles, crawling around the Web, along wires and over radio waves, looking at everything I am doing on my computer, at the bank, on MapQuest, WorkoutLog, and they even know where I am doing it when I use my iPad. It would appear that my impression is right on the money. Here is an interesting discussion of the role of Internet bots in our society, provided as two YouTube video clips. If you use the Internet at all you might find these clips interesting.

As a biologist I learned that you have to build a mental picture of a system, such as the heart, before you can start to ask intelligent questions about function and dysfunction in such a system. This, it seems, is true of blogging on the Internet. It is turning out to be quite hard work. Eventually you are forced to depend on the experts, as you cannot be an expert in everything. Right now I am taking an online course in Internet Commerce, called ‘The Challenge,’ and it is really interesting, free and entertaining. The homework is, however, quite hard work.

You will see this blogsite slowly evolve (or transmogrify) as I learn about the tastes and preferences of bots.  Should I like or fear bots? Can I find some friendly bots to interview? How can I get to know them in a real way? Of one thing I am sure, they are watching us.

-k Your Medical Mind

PS I couldn’t resist adding this video conversation between two ‘chatbots.’