With a wiki-hosted paperless classroom, teachers can do more than simply direct students and parents to homework or classroom assignments. The classroom website includes multiple web pages, each containing links to documents, PowerPoint presentations, web-based testing sites, interactive learning stations and virtually anything a teacher wants to provide for students and parents.

A paperless classroom becomes the epicenter of any K-12 teacher’s class. It is a marvelous source of communication, as the teacher blog and podcast give parents several options to stay tuned into what their children are doing and what the teacher has planned.

Student websites, contained in an online Content Management System,completely controlled and secured by the teacher, create a remarkable opportunity for students to share what they’ve learned via web-based instruction. They can place writing, pictures, graphics or virtual presentations on their private student websites, which the teacher can grade from any Internet-connected computer, as unlike the networked class, the paperless classroom, is completely web-based.

With a classroom website, teachers and students can throw away their papers and folders. Anything they ever wish to keep or return to at a later time is housed in a secure online file cabinet. This is a part of web-based instruction that all K-12 students love; they never lose the assignments they’ve worked so hard to complete.

Teachers and parents love the communication factor. The teacher blog, podcast and activities page keep parents informed of everything that is going on in the classroom, including links to the same presentations that their children see in the classroom.

Technology continues to evolve and the paperless classroom is evolving right along with it.

Create an amazing interactive classroom website, complete with individual private student websites, that will have students racing to complete assignments. You can also earn up to 9 semester hours online, building your classroom website. Learn more now at ThePaperlessClassroom.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Barnes

Yahoo is working on their own Web TV. A free to use, “widget” based system where web widgets would line the bottom of your television viewing screen giving some interaction to the user. Widgets do not encompass the full spectrum of Internet reach though and will allow users the “section” of Internet activity that each individual widget offers. Having a defined focus for engaging without the use of a type pad, Yahoo’s choice of widgets should be a click away for the information offered in them. Their will be no “browser” selection or web search capability planned for now, but Yahoo may indeed be the breakthrough company to the highway from the television to the Internet.

The incredible growth on the Internet taking the flip side view (from Internet PC to television access) is, however, quite massive. Sites have sprung into being on this concept alone and other sites have expanded their “text” and photo format to use this technology to feature and highlight a given topic of the site.

Flixster is a social network created for TV and movie lovers alike. Actually a place from your personal PC to watch, rate, and interact with friends while enjoying the shows and films you love. While sites that feature individual television shows have incorporated video for viewing these featured shows directly from the net. Sites like The History Channel, CBN, CNN, or Discovery and SciFi come to mind here for it’s programming efforts viewable online.

Are we choosing to leave the comforts of the living room, with the big screen and recliners for the desk style settings of an office? My guess would be no from the amount of chatter about having to “tough it out” on the PC to catch up on missed television shows or hearing “I wish I could watch the YouTube videos from my big screen”. Trading comfort for convenience is the issue at hand in this scenario.

So, whether the future of TV is on the Internet or the future of the Internet is attainable through your TV is yet to be seen. Watching the reels spin will be an interesting event. Action!

Stephanie is a co-host on 2 Blog Talk Radio shows! Check them out:
http://www.VideoGamesAndGaming.Info
http://www.BlogsAndSocialNetworks.Info
Stephanie is a business owner, wife, mother of two brilliant teenagers, friend, research and beach enthusiast, video gamer, and blogs and social networks buff who enjoys writing, playing video games, keeping up with blogs and social networks, reading, learning, and teaching.
Stephanie Haile aka Wavecritter Google Me

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Step 1 – Start a survey regarding this field of study

Basically, it is important to get a good education by enrolling at a accredited online colleges or universities. You need to have a certified course in order to accomplish your dreams. Therefore, start doing a short survey on schools that offer this particular course. This information can be obtained on the internet for free or you can purchase directories of universities and colleges in bookstores.

Step 2 – Get the overview of important scripting languages

There are several scripting languages that you need to learn in an online web development course. Therefore, each college and university has their own modules for candidates who have the basics of some markup languages including basic HTML language and other common scripting languages like JavaScript, Action Scripts and CSS.

Step 3 – Prepare things in advance before school starts

Personal time management is important to maintain a balance between work and study. In addition, an efficient time management able to boost productivity as you can spare more time on study preparation before your online course starts. Make sure you are able to learn the basics of computer programming with common scripting languages.

An early preparation enables you to develop a proper study habit as a way to overcome difficulties of learning advance lessons. For your information, you will learn to work on the server side framework which uses things like PHP, JSP, .NET, Python and Perl. It is about handling information on databases whether you are on web servers or on an external system.

Step 4 – Learn to think creatively

Being a web developer also need to emphasize on web designing in which focuses on outlook of a website. Please take note that well-designed website able to attract many visitors and increase the credibility of that website.

In the field of web development, it has an huge demand from various people who want to make appealing and interactive personal or company websites. Therefore, web development has a bright career prospects for potential web developers including lucrative income if they have proper education and vast experiences in web development. For more tips on how to become a web developer, visit http://WebDevelopmentOnlineCourse.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J.J._Yong

General Entry Level Characteristics

General learner entry level characteristics are ones that most learners have in common. These can be gender, age, or education. Learners may have different access points to the course but these are still considered general characteristics because all learners have them.

Specific Entry Level Characteristics

Specific entry level characteristics focus on skills the learner must have prior to taking part in your educational offering. What this means is that students must have prior knowledge, or experience, to optimally participate in what is going to be delivered in the Web-based learning experience. If for example, a web-based course was covering upper level accounting skills, the pre-requisite for the course could be training in developing and understanding spreadsheets.

These specific characteristics can be assessed using some sort of inventory such as a survey. Because you will delivering a Web-based learning experience, it might be best to use an online survey to perform this assessment. The by-product knowledge would be that you will be able to assess how well the potential students navigate and manage the inventory.

Assessing Learning Styles

There has been much research undertaken in regards to the affect of tailoring materials to the learner preferred learning style. A learning style is the participants preferred way of taking in information. For example, they could be visual learners, kinetic learners, or best learn through exploration. With Web-based learning, it’s not always possible to meet the needs of specific learning styles, but ways can be developed to accommodate most styles.

How to Assess Entry Level Characteristics

One of the best ways to determine the entry level characteristics of learners in Web-based learning is to perform an assessment inventory of the learners. This assessment inventory can be done via a computer survey or via paper or even with personal interviews. These inventories should include a battery of questions that take learners through all possible preferences of learning. These assessment inventories should be thorough but not too exhaustive. Learners should be able complete them in ten minutes or less.

It is important to realize and communicate that while learners do have learning style preferences, not all learning styles can be reasonably accommodated. Web-based learning does have its limitations, and it is best to spell these out upfront to avoid any misunderstandings.

Susan Bond is a part of IQ-ity.com – provider of a top-rated Learning Management System for schools seeking to teach courses online. IQity’s LMS includes an online study guide for the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). Ohio teachers can add a product review of OGT practice tools and help other teachers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Bond

o Development of vocabulary in context

o Extensive use of grammar in context

o Exposure to authentic language

o Exposure to idioms and expressions of the target language in context

o Continuing development of learner interest in a variety of topics

To avail themselves of these and other featured benefits derived from extensive reading however, learners must in fact read – and read a lot. But learners will rarely jump into a heavy schedule of reading unless they both understand its benefits and enjoy what they read. So, stimulating their interest first is paramount to success. Here’s what you can do.

Use Web Quests

One useful and fun way to stimulate or facilitate extensive reading is by using learner-centered web quests based on topics of interest to them. An online web quest is not unlike an electronic scavenger hunt. From a starting site or page learners go successively to additional pages to read and gather facts and information. There can be comprehension questions, charts, graphs, and / or exercises at each stage and a more comprehensive evaluation at the end of the web quest. Learner responses to exercises and evaluation activities are commonly sent to the teacher by e-mail. There are online sites that can be used to facilitate the process or a web quest can be set up using a word processing program like MS Word. Two useful teaching-oriented sites online for piloting web quests are:

o Blackboard.com at: http://www.blackboard.com/

o Quintessential Instructional Archives (QUIA) at: http://www.quia.com/

Online Readings
The online readings can be any of a broad spectrum of formats or topics:

o News and sports

o Technical

o Literature

o Articles and stories

o Business

o Occupational topics

o Humorous

o Special Interest

o Travel and culture

o Food

o Nature, geography or Animals

o Technology, Computers

Topic Selection

Topics should be selected and included based on the needs and interests of the learners. With careful selection and a three to five station web quest, learners have both the opportunity and desire to do more extensive reading in English or another foreign language.

F*r*e*e Sample Available

For a sample web quest for you to try out for yourself or your learners, if you have questions or need help, e-mail the author using “web quest sample” in the subject heading. Good Luck. I look forward to hearing from you.

Prof. Larry M. Lynch is an English language teaching and learning expert author and university professor in Cali, Colombia. Now YOU too can live your dreams in paradise, find romance, high adventure and get paid while travelling for free.

For more information on entering or advancing in the fascinating field of teaching English as a Foreign or Second Language send for his no-cost PDF Ebook, “If You Want to Teach English Abroad, Here’s What You Need to Know”, immediate delivery details and no-obligation information are available online now at: http://bettereflteacher.blogspot.com/

Need professional, original content or articles for your blog, newsletter or website? Have a question, request, or want to receive more information or to be added to his articles and teaching materials mailing list? Then contact the author at this website for a prompt response.

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Kids today are much more computer savvy than we are, so I would not recommend a single resolution that involves tweaking Internet Explorer.

Below are suggestions that offer different levels of security.

#1) Change settings in Internet Explorer

In most cases whatever you click and save in Internet Explorer is a Google search away from your kids changing it back, but it might be your first line of defense. I am assuming you have a computer running Microsoft Windows with Internet Explorer 5.5 or greater.

1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Click “Tools”
3. Click “Internet Options…”
4. Click on “Content” tab
5. In the “Content Advisor” section click on “Enable…”

You are now in the Content Advisor. From here you can set your settings.

* “Ratings” tab – Set rating levels for: language, nudity, sex and violence.
* “Approved Sites” tab – Name sites that you will allow your children to always view or name web sites you never want your children to view, regardless of the site’s rating.
* “General” tab *Allow or disallow your child to see sites that are not rated. *Create a password – this is great for use with older children. You set a password, then if your child goes to a site they want to see, but it is a disallowed site, you can allow the site using the password. You will have the option to always allow the site or only allow it this one time. *View or modify the rating system

#2) Tweak your router’s default settings

OK, this might sound a little high-tech and geeky for you, but it is easier than it sounds, and after you do this you can brag to your friends. If you have high speed internet access at home, odds are you have a router (Netgear, Linksys, Belkin, etc…). Look for the CD and information you wrote down when it was installed. You will enter an IP address into Internet Explorer, enter a username and password, and then see an interface similar to below. Click on the “Block Sites” link and start entering web sites you want blocked from reaching your children. Please be advised that this method will block web sites from reaching everybody in your house. Depending upon the make and model of your router, you might be able to restrict access to a specific computer within your house.

#3) Install Software

There is commercial software available designed specifically to keep your children safe while surfing the web. Blocking web sites as referenced in #2 is great if you know the web site you wish to block, but often you do not know the web site address until it is too late. In addition, times have changed and web sites are not the only item parents need to be worried about. With the explosion of social web sites (MySpace, Facebook, etc…), there are other items you may wish to control, such as instant messaging. Below are links to software designed specifically to restrict access to objectionable web sites, and will provide detailed logs for you to review.

NetNanny – netnanny.com
CyberSitter – cybersitter.com
Cyberpatrol – cyberpatrol.com

Please feel free to contact me with questions.

Good luck!

Jason

p.s. The solutions above can also be applied to keep a spouse or significant other away from sports web sites and shopping online!

Jason P. Levy
http://www.jasonlevy.com
http://www.jplwebdesign.com
internet marketer / web developer

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Capitalizes on Teen Body Rhythms

Far from enabling laziness, Web-based learning programs actually can enable teens to study when they are most alert and to get the increased sleep adolescents need. According to the Nemours Foundation, a national non-profit focused on children’s health, part of adolescence is changing sleep patterns. A teenager’s body has a natural inclination to go to sleep later and stay asleep longer. Most teens need 8 to 9 hours of sleep a night, and not getting enough sleep can lead to short-term memory problems, decreased attentiveness, inconsistent performance, and slower response times. Web-based learning programs can allow teens to take their classes when they are rested and able to focus.

Ideal for Technology-Savvy Teens

Today’s teenagers are at home in a technology rich environment. From cell phones to video games to digital music players to computers, technology is part of their lives. Listening to music on an MP3 player while reading class notes on the computer and sending a text message to a classmate may be perfectly natural for many teens and does not necessarily detract from their learning. Web-based learning programs both capitalize on teenagers’ comfort with technology and help advance skills they will need in tomorrow’s knowledge-based workplace. They promote time management, self discipline, and self-directed problem solving skills.

Interaction Takes Place in Web-based learning Programs

A common concern is that students enrolled in Web-based learning programs are isolated from their peers and don’t receive adequate guidance from their teachers. Today’s technology allows for ample communication between student and teacher, as well as among students. Email, dedicated chat rooms, discussion forums and other digital means provide mechanisms for communication in Web-based learning programs. A Web-based learning class may, for example, follow a syllabus, involve class interaction by way of a discussion forum, and provide for assignments to be emailed between teacher and student.

IQity, a company that has developed a learning management system specifically for grades 9-12, also offers Liveboard, technology through which students interact with the teacher and with other students in real-time through video-conferencing.

Susan Bond is a part of IQ-ity.com – provider of a top-rated Learning Management System for schools seeking to teach courses online. IQity’s LMS includes an online study guide for the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT). Ohio teachers can add a product review of OGT practice tools and help other teachers.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Bond

Now, astronomers have actually detected a “universal web”. Vast filaments of hot gas tracing the web have been “seen”. Astronomers using NASA’s X-ray satellite observatory, Chandra, “viewed” the filaments stretching for millions of light years through space, with one passing through our own galaxy. They calculate that the filaments contain five times more mass than all the stars in the universe!

Invisible Filaments in Space

Astronomers say that the filamentary structures are so hot that it would generally be invisible to optical, infrared, and radio telescopes. These invisible filaments are detected only because higher density ordinary matter tends to accumulate and condense in them – generating radiation which can be measured by scientists to confirm their existence in intergalactic space.

Being invisible, they are by definition components of “dark matter and energy”. Dark matter and energy are invisible matter and energy that make up more than 99% of our universe – according to scientists. Studies show that both ordinary and invisible dark matter work in concert to build filaments in space, with dense junctions where galaxies cluster. The resulting structure looks something like a spider web, dappled with water droplets.

The filaments betray the presence of invisible dark matter because gas at millions of degrees centigrade found within these filaments has a natural tendency to spread. To find it confined into filaments means that a very strong gravitational field must be pulling it into place and only dark matter can do this – according to the scientists.

Invisible Filaments in the Subtle Body

In 1904 metaphysicist Annie Besant reported that “During human antenatal life a single thread weaves a network, a shimmering web of inconceivable fineness and delicate beauty, with minute meshes. Within the meshes of this web the coarser particles of the bodies are built together. During physical life, prana [which is a plasma of charged super particles according to plasma metaphysics] courses along the branches and meshes.” This web interpenetrating the human fetus certainly has features which resemble the cosmic spider web – with currents of charged prana (or qi particles) coursing through its ‘threads’ and denser material accumulating (i.e. “coarser particles”) on it.

It is a well accepted fact in metaphysics that there are filaments within our subtle magma bodies, which have been referred to as “meridians”, “nadis” and “channels” – in the Chinese, Indian and Tibetan literature, respectively. In Taoist and Qigong literature, they are also referred to as “circuits” and “orbits”. For example, Qigong practitioners may speak of microcosmic and macrocosmic orbits. The microcosmic orbit is really the main meridian through which particles are accelerated in the relevant practices to bring energy to the rest of the subtle body.

According to plasma metaphysics, these meridians are magnetic lines of force within the subtle magnetic plasma (or magma) bodies. The currents flowing through them are “Birkeland currents”, i.e. currents in which charged particles flow through magnetic field lines. The large scale structure of the universe, with a web of filaments punctuated with rotating galaxies, undoubtedly bears a strong resemblance to the web of acupuncture meridians or nadis punctuated with rotating chakras (or vortexes) and acupoints that is found in the etheric component of the physical body.

“I envisioned hundreds of little DC [direct current] generators like dark stars sending their electricity along the meridians, an interior galaxy that the Chinese had somehow found and explored by trial and error over two thousand years ago. It was obvious that the acupuncture charts had an objective basis in reality. Our readings indicated that these meridians were conducting current.” – Robert Becker, The Body Electric

The meridian system, chartered by Chinese acupuncture, can be considered the arterial system of what metaphysicists would describe as the “lower physical-etheric body” (which is not separable from the physical-biomolecular body). These meridian pathways are ordinarily invisible to the biological eyes – just like the invisible cosmic filaments. Just like cosmic filaments, these invisible meridians can be detected when they generate radiation.

French researcher Pierre de Vernejoul injected a radioactive substance into the acupoints of patients and measured the radiation using a special camera. He found that the substance migrated along classical Chinese acupuncture meridian pathways. Other injections made by Vernejoul into random points of the body and into veins and lymphatic channels were unable to demonstrate similar results, suggesting that the meridian system is a unique and separate network of pathways in the body. Further experiments showed that terminating a meridian that related to the liver resulted in a rapid degeneration of liver tissue. Without energy supply from the lower physical-etheric body via the meridians; tissues, organs and cells of the physical-biomolecular body do not appear to function properly.

The Universal and Human Physical-Etheric Bodies

The invisible cosmic web of filaments together with the dark matter that shapes them is in fact embedded in the lowest energy physical-etheric body of our universe. When we look out from Earth what we are seeing is the physical-dense universe, shaped by the lower physical-etheric body of the universe. Astronomers say that the invisible filaments in space are detected only because higher density matter tends to accumulate and condense in these filaments. Similarly, the invisible meridians in the subtle body can only be detected because of radiation from other substances that are channeled through them.

Plasma naturally forms filaments in response to electric and magnetic fields within the subtle body (which according to plasma metaphysics is composed of dark matter). Charged particles are guided within these filaments by the magnetic fields and accelerated by the electric fields – generating currents – as observed by Robert Becker.

Just as the lower physical-etheric body of the universe generates a web of filamentary currents (or filaments) that plays an important part in the large scale structure of the universe, the lower physical-etheric body of the human body generates a web of filamentary currents (or meridians) that is instrumental in developing the physical-biomolecular body of a human being. Of course, the Chinese already knew this – they have been exploring these filaments for more than three thousand years!

Jay Alfred is the author of three books on a new field called “plasma metaphysics”. The books include Our Invisible Bodies, Brains and Realities and Between the Moon and Earth. Plasma metaphysics is the application of plasma and dark matter physics to the study of our high energy subtle bodies and their corresponding environments. These bodies include the “bioplasma” bodies and “astral” bodies found in the metaphysical literature. Plasma metaphysics provides an internally consistent framework for the study of these bodies against the backdrop of modern physics. The books are available at Amazon online bookstores.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jay_Alfred

It is essential to design a website. However, only the design is baseless if it does not have a specific purpose to serve. Designs must have style, a creative expression, clarity and it must be organized. Web designing must cater to the public and have an appeal. The website has to be informative, attractive and offer sufficient insight. The website could be simple, but all the relevant information should be contained and formulated.

Web designing schools offer good courses for the candidates to excel in the technology. A university in Texas teaches Tech-skills, educating the candidates in information technology. Personal instructors also provide the relevant theory and there are laboratories for practical application.

Some institutes specialize in web designing for advanced-level certificate programs. This enables the candidates to procure jobs in the most reputed firms. The faculties and instructors in the web designing schools are experienced.

Apart from the regular schools, there are many online schools that offer certified web design courses. This is a convenient choice, since all the information is available by clicking onto the relevant site, filling an application form and getting admission online. Web designing schools help to shape the careers of many.

Design Schools [http://www.e-DesignSchools.com] provides detailed information on Design Schools, Fashion Design Schools, Interior Design Schools, Graphic Design Schools and more. Design Schools is affiliated with Top Photography Schools [http://www.i-PhotographySchool.com].

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ross_Bainbridge

By looking at the trends of today we can begin to develop a image of what the Web of the future will look like. I believe the Web will improve and grow in a way that will dwarf its present existence and will improve and enrich everyone’s lives way beyond what we can imagine today. The Net will become as integrated into everyone’s everyday lives as much as, and even more so, than the television or phone (in developed nations first, then everywhere). Television, communications and the Internet will merge.

The Web will become increasingly realistic, interactive, and three dimensional. Two dimensional displays will evolve into three dimensional displays. And the Web will probably incorporate more than just the two senses of seeing and hearing. It will first be incorporated into all other electronics found in household appliances, copy machines, automobiles, and anything else with a microchip. Then it will be integrated directly into our brains.

I also envisage this new Web creating an unimaginably sophisticated data sphere that surrounds and envelops the world like a warm electronic blanket, connecting everyone and everything. And it may some day become an autonomous and sentient entity in its own right that we may even come to depend on for life itself.

When a person switches on his wireless Web chip and connects with the Net, he’ll be looking at and interacting with the Web of the future. He’ll manipulate objects, click on links, download information, and communicate with anyone by simply thinking it. In fact, when he navigates to a grocery store to buy food, for instance, he’ll be able to “pick them up”, “feel them” and even “smell” the food he wants to buy just by thinking the appropriate thoughts.

In the future, Web-based software agents will constantly build dynamic lists and instructions to help people in personal and professional activities. These software agents are subroutines, or small programs, which may be part of a responsive ‘Internet Operating System’ that serves humanity, or possibly even destroy it. Programs may become responsible for doing some of the basic thinking that we get stuck routinely doing today. Additionally, it may be responsible for storing a percentage of our memories as well.

The Web has already become something we rely on for memory, and that reliance will only grow. We’d rather look something up on Google two or three times instead of trying to remember it initially. And eventually, we’ll come to rely on the Web for memories and immediate information so that it will seem like we are missing a part of our own brain when not “jacked in” to the Net, to borrow a phrase from science fiction writer William Gibson. The Net will be such a part of our existence that we may even feel profound separation and isolation when not connected.

The Evolution of the Web Display

Of course we’re not going to jump from flat screen LCD monitors of today to displays that exist only “in our minds”. Three dimensional displays may be the bridge. There is a device in existence today called a Heliodisplay(TM) that produces holograms which exist in three dimensions and are created with photographic projection using advanced laser technology. It’s possible that all displays will employ this technology in the future. The gaming industry ceaselessly works at making their artificial gaming experiences more realistic and is a powerful driving force in computer display technology.

The Web of our future will first be truly device independent where each piece of equipment is a different window that peers into the same global Web. From handheld devices not unlike the Star Trek Communicators, to cell phones, televisions, automobile dashboards, embedded refrigerator displays and MP3 players, all will be portals into the same World Wide Web.

And of course everything will be connected. Instead of applications running on individual personal computers and devices, applications will operate on the Net and be accessible to anyone, creating a loose Internet Operating System.

Ultimately, the Web of our future will most likely abandon standard two dimensional and even three dimensional displays and instead be projected right onto our corneas, skipping the middle man, so to speak.

FutureWeb is Closer Than We Think

Already demonstrated in the lab is the ability to cause a computer to react to thought alone. Duke University neuroscientist Miguel Nicolelis works in the field of BMI (brain-machine interface). In an experiment involving a monkey, a computer and a monitor, Nicolelis and his team successfully caused the monkey to communicate with and control a robotic arm through its brain’s neural signals alone.

The monkey’s brain activity and signals were first monitored with numerous electrodes inside its scalp while it manipulated a joystick. The scientists taught the monkey to move the joystick with its arms to accomplish movement on the monitor. Nicolelis’ team then took the joystick away, but continued everything else the same way. Since the monkey’s brain was hooked up to the computer, each time it had the thought of moving its arms, the desired affect actually happened anyway on the monitor, triggered by the monkey’s thoughts alone. In fact, the monkey was even able to control an artificial arm over the Web 600 miles away in the same manner.

There are two important applications for this technology that are driving its research: medicine and war, two constants in all of human history. Doctors will someday be able to attach a prosthetic arm to a patient, wire it up to her brain, and succeed in enabling her to control the prosthetic fingers by simply thinking it.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) manages the research for the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2003, DARPA invested $23 million in BMI programs, including the one at Duke University cited above. Their goal is to allow soldiers to control weapons of all kinds by thought only. These super soldiers will be able to stealthily navigate through a battlefield willing robotic gliders above to drop their payloads of smart bombs on the enemy over the next hill, without endangering their own lives.

Ethical questions aside, brain-machine interfacing will someday mature and become integrated into our lives. Since the Web is already such a part of our world, the marriage of the two is inevitable.

This technology can be utilized in the other direction as well. Just like a thought can produce computer behavior, the computer will someday be able to send back sensory data other than just sight and sound. If a computer is hooked directly up to the brain, then smell, taste and touch can be affected as well. The Web will literally come to life.

The Semantic Web, Web 2.0 and the Collaboration of Humanity

Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the Web, wrote an illuminating book called Weaving the Web that I recommend all Web professionals read. Among the many profound ideas expressed are two concepts relevant here. One is the Semantic Web, which is explained as “The Web of data with meaning in the sense that a computer program can learn enough about what the data means to process it.” Metadata is the term used for data about data. Most Web pages today have embedded in the html code metadata that gives information about the Web page. Eventually, this information will become much more robust, allowing more intelligent searches to become a reality.

The Semantic Web may have the potential to help make the Internet an entity in its own right. Parallel processing, the connecting of computers to make super computers, has been in existence for some time now. In fact, that’s how the human brain operates, by conducting many operations at the same time.

The other fascinating idea Berners-Lee expressed in this landmark book is that his original idea for the Web involved much more of a two-way exchange of information. His original vision for the Web was one of collaboration. He wanted people to be able to post information to the Web as easily as it was to view information. Unfortunately, the latter has been embraced more readily by the general population.

But now we see the emergence of “Web 2.0″, a fairly new term that describes an innovative type of website that is built on the participation of its users. Blogs, wikis Podcasts and social networks all fall under the Web 2.0 umbrella. Today we are finally achieving what Berners-Lee had in mind all along. With websites such as MySpace, YouTube, Flickr, Squidoo, and Digg, non-technical users can now post information and contribute to the Web as easily as they can access it. The Web of the future will embrace this concept even more, causing its speed of growth to eclipse today’s rate.

It’s not difficult to see that the Web could be a vast parallel processing farm, that given enough artificial intelligence programming, the infusion of Semantic Web systems, and the constant additions from billions of intelligent beings (namely humans), it could have the potential of becoming something of a unified intelligence, a data sphere that surrounds the planet and is more powerful that the sum of its parts.

This concept of technology’s exponential growth turning onto something we cannot even imagine with the possibility of the Web becoming sentient is not new. Vernor Vinge, a retired Professor of Mathematics at San Diego State University, a computer scientist and a science fiction author, wrote about the Singularity in a 1993 essay.

A super-intelligence emerging out of the Web was also written about by Kevin Kelly in Wired Magazine in August 2005 and also published on KurzweilAI.com.

“. . . we are on the edge of change comparable to the rise of human life on Earth. The precise cause of this change is the imminent creation by technology of entities with greater than human intelligence.

This planet-sized computer is comparable in complexity to a human brain. Both the brain and the Web have hundreds of billions of neurons (or Web pages). Each biological neuron sprouts synaptic links to thousands of other neurons, while each Web page branches into dozens of hyperlinks. That adds up to a trillion “synapses” between the static pages on the Web. The human brain has about 100 times that number—but brains are not doubling in size every few years. The Machine [the Web of the future] is.”

An online search will yield many examples of bizarre concepts that existed only in science fiction later becoming reality. The Web is something that Earth has never seen before. It not only has the potential to connect everyone, but it can also extend every brain and grow exponentially. It may take a lot longer than anyone thinks, but eventually the Web of our future will be immensely different and much more powerful than anyone can possibly imagine today.

Jason OConnor is CEO of Oak Web Works, LLC (http://www.oakwebworks.com), an e-strategy firm.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_OConnor