Expert Systems

1. What is an expert system?
An expert system is a type of artificial intelligence computer software that attempts to make human like judgements and mimic human behavior and decision making. It is has concentrated knowledge of a certain field much like a human or group of humans would.

2. What are some applications of expert systems?
Authorizer's Assistant by American Express- Helps credit authorizers make better credit decisions on who to approve for credit cards
Exsys Corvid-allows non-programmers to rapidly build on-line applications that capture the logic and process your experts use to solve problems, and deliver it to end users via their Browser.

3. What are the strengths or benefits of using an expert system?
One advantage of an expert system is that it can hold vast amounts of information and will always remember them, where a human could forget. Another advantage of an expert system is that it has the same answer for a question every time it is asked, where a human may very an answer on accident. Expert systems keep information clear and organized.

4. What are the weaknesses or limitations of using an expert system?
Expert systems lack common sense that humans possess. Expert systems cannot adapt unless changed to do so. Expert systems lack the creativity in responses that humans possess.

BP Amoco and Knowledge Sharing

BP Amoco has created what the call ''Connect" Connect can be likened to "The Yellow Pages" online for experts with a company. Connect allows for individuals to create a profile, detailing their experience or expertise within a certain Field at BP Amoco. The user can then place his profile on Connect, allowing for other individuals within BP Amoco to look on connect if they need to contact a certain expert in regards to whatever situation may arise. BP's Connect is established for the professionals already in the company to cross ties with others within the company for the exchange of knowledge, information and ideas.

Blog Assignment # 4 Nucor Steel

The most interesting thing I found out about Nucor Steel was that they don't lay off personnel during times of recession or when the economy is slow. Instead they shorten the work week. This way the average worker keeps their job and the company saves money. The best part is, the average floor worker may only lose about 5% of his or her yearly salary but people at the upper echelon of the company such as CEO's, CIO's, Presidents, and Vice Presidents may loose as much as 80% of their salary, so they dont sit around getting rich while their plant workers are losing everything they have. So they have an interst in getting the company back to where it should be as soon as possible because they are losing money too.

My Trip to D.C. Part 3

We got up at 4am on Tuesday morning to find that the roads were clear of ice and snow. We got to the Shady Grove Metro Station around 6:30 and hoped on the train for a 30 minute ride in to town. By the third stop on our way in the train was full. Every time we stopped more and more people tried to pack in. When we got to the Bethesda stop a elderly gentleman was having medical problems and was trying to get off but everyone kept trying to get on. It was not long before people started pushing people off the train so this man could get through. That would be the only time that day I saw any kind of physical violence. That amazed me because there were 2 million people in that town and there was not one arrest. Anyway we got off the Metro at Metro Center and started walking toward The Mall. We stopped at a coffee shop and got some breakfast on the way. By 7:30 we were at the Mall and we picked out a spot just to one side of the Washington Monument. We started taking pictures of all the memorials, people The White House, and just about everything we could think of. We even got an up close picture of The White House roof that showed the counter snipers walking around. By about 9am the Mall was at full capacity. The motorcade was cool to see as Obama came from The White House to The Capital Building. I was also cool to see all the dignitaries introduced. Finally Obama was inaugurated and gave his Address, which I thought he did a very good job at. The man can speak with the best of them. We left The Mall area by 1pm and were back to the car in Shady Grove by 1:45. We took the belt way around D.C. to skip all the traffic and didn't stop again until we were back in Lexington VA. We got back to Murfreesboro a little after midnight. It was a great trip, it felt like a whirlwind but I'm glad we had the opportunity to go and witness history. PICTURES TO FOLLOW IN FUTURE BLOGS

Blog Assignment # 2 Knowledge v Wisdom

Knowledge is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.

Wisdom is knowledge, understanding, experience, discretion, and intuitive understanding, along with a capacity to apply these qualities well towards finding solutions to problems. It is the judicious and purposeful application of knowledge that is valued in society.

Source: www. wikipedia.com

My Trip to D.C. Part 2

Monday, My Birthday! We got up Monday morning and went to McDonald's for breakfast. Let me just say the McDonald's in Hanover PA. is pretty awesome. They even have a customer service guy walking around to see if you need anything. Well I almost got the cops called on me for taking a .50 cent newspaper but that's besides the point. After breakfast we headed to Gettysburg National Military Park, as we made our way there it started to snow. We slid all over the road on the way there including a skid through a red light. haha. We finally made it unharmed and visited the park, only there was too much snow on the ground to drive through the park so we were confined to the visitors center, which is the nicest of any battlefield I have visited. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get the whole park experience, it was worse for my roommate because he had never been. We had also planed to visit Shanksville PA. where flight 93 went down on Sept. 11th, but because of the snow and ice we couldn't make the hour drive. We just decided to go back to the hotel and rest for what was going to be a long Tuesday in D.C.

My Trip To D.C. Part 1

This was the 4th time i had been to Washington D.C. But this time was special. I got to witness history. My best friend since the world was young and a friend that lives above us came too. The trip started out at about 5am. We were about 40 miles south of Bristol TN. when we hit traffic. We were at a dead stand still for nearly three hours because a truck had hit some ice and flipped over in the road. Well our first stop was in Lexington VA. We visited VMI, Washington and Lee University, the tomb of Gen. Robert E. Lee and the tomb of Gen. Stonewall Jackson. After that we continued our trek through Virginia and stopped at Mananas National Battlefield. This is where Gen. Thomas Jackson got his infamous nickname "Stonewall" After that we stopped in Vienna VA. While there we visited Fox Stone Park. This is where the biggest security breach in American Government history took place. An F.B.I agent by the name of Robert Hanson used this park as a drop zone when selling information to the Russian govt. We took pictures under the bridge where he hid the information. From there we headed into D.C. We met up with my roommates cousin. He was brought in town by the US Secret Service for bomb detection services during the inauguration. We did a night tour of the Washington Mall. The monuments we're lit up, it was amazing. We left that night and headed to out hotel just over the Pennsylvania boarder.