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With Christmas slowly approaching, many of us will be shopping for presents online. For scammers, this means there will be more unsuspecting victims to scam. McAfee knows the risk of being scammed is present and has set up a list of 12 scams seen during the holiday season. These include fake charities, malicious mobile apps, too-good-to-be-true offers, and fake gift cards. As online shopping gets more popular, the threat from scammers increases as well so we have to know how to protect ourselves and keep our information secure. While shopping online is more convenient and cheaper in some cases, it isn't as secure as shopping in person at a store. Despite the lesser security in shopping online, people still would prefer it because of its convenience. I think it is good that McAfee released this list of scams to look out for because it will make sure more consumers during the Christmas season and everyday will have knowledge of what to look out for when shopping online. Though I doubt many people will see the list, McAfee has possibly saved many people from having to deal with being scammed, besides even if you can't help everyone you should help anyway.

this is my first bookmark

this is my first bookmark

my first bookmark

The main idea of this article is the possible effects on the environment that laptops have over desktops. This article discusses the possible of conserving natural resources, using energy efficiently, and how laptops contribute to landfill toxins. Connection: The main problem that laptops have is the resources that laptops are made of. For example, laptops are usually made of metals such as mercury, lead, chromium and other various metals that if not recycled could contaminate the land and resources around the landfill. For example if such metals end up in the landfill, they could contaminate ground water, land water, and the soil around the landfill. This wouldn't allow us to drink the water as well as growing crops or using the soil around the landfill. This highlights how important it is for us to create laptops that use less harmful metals and the importance of recycling laptops.  In my opinion, considering some of the harmful effects that laptops have they also have many positive ones. For example, now that people can use things such as power point presentations, sending emails, we don't need to use as much paper as we used to which saves paper and preserves trees. Due to computers, communication has also become much easier. People can now order things off the internet rather than drive far away to a specialty shop, their item is delivered by a delivery person who has many things to deliver. This is far more efficient than each person driving to a shop to buy something.  In conclusion, computers do have some negative effects on the environment but they also do have some positive effects and made our life much easier. Roman.

This article is about how Best Buy will close 50 box stores and open 100 mobile shops. I found this really interesting how our society has changed so much. Now our most used devices are being replaced with newer, better, faster and smaller devices. It is interesting to see how times change. Best Buy will now change its merchandise to better suit the market. I cant imagine Best Buy without TV's.  

Amazon already has an online grocery shopping business with competitive prices and same or next day shipping. This business venture is called amazon fresh. Amazon Fresh has also announced a new gadget that aids their website. "Dash" allows you to automatically scan barcodes to order food, or speaking into a mic for a certain need of food. "Dash" is completely changing the world of online grocery business'. The problem is though, that this service will cost up to 300$ a year for the same-day+next day shipping. In my opinion I would personally purchase this if I lived in an area that was Amazon Fresh supported. Toronto is still not on the list yet for delivery.

This article shows how people will react to new tablets.  People seem to be very interested in tablets, despite cost.  Many large companies in the U.S. and Canada, such as Best Buy and Future Shop, reported low stocks of the new Microsoft Surface Pro.  Microsoft will continue to develop new tablets/computers like their new Surface Pro, as consumers show an interest for these new technologies such as tablets.  The only units left in consistent stock are the 64GB, as people favor the 128Gb units over their lesser counter-parts.  I think that Microsoft will earn a lot of profit because of this new software that they are producing, as consumers are willing to but expensive tablets that come with new features.  Other companies as well as microsoft will capatilize on this willingness, and we will surely see new software similiar to this in the future. 

We all know that voice recognition software exists having been created by companies like Apple, some of us thought that advanced technology would end at a computer recognizing words and responding to questions. However that is not the case. A company called Kimera Systems is developing a system that figuratively reads your mind. This isn't a software that literally reads what you are thinking and performs an action based on your thought since that would require an implant into your body. Rather, Kimera's system consisting of the Salience Engine and DigitalMe (or DMe) Smart Agents. The Salience Engine collects information from its users and uses this to understand human action better while the Smart Agents perform actions based on the user's preferences and the user's previous actions. For example, if a user sent out party invitations to friends and then went out to buy groceries, Kimera's system would automatically download a shopping app for the user because the system understands the user is going to the grocery store to buy select food items. This system, should it be implemented into future phones and devices could very well change society for the better and for worse. This system could make people's lives better by allowing decisions to be made by the system for the user so they can worry about other things while knowing Kimera's system will take care of tasks for them. This could negatively impact society though because since the system automatically makes decisions for the user, if they begin to rely on this system and lose their sense of judgement rendering them unable to decide without this system. Though automated technology is the dream of many, is an automated life really what we want? From this new technology Kimera is creating, other more advanced automated technologies could arise and eventually we could end up losing our humanity since everything we need to do is done for us by a computer. We would end up like the humans in the movie Wall-E who were

Many things are replaced by electronics and machinery for our convenience. However, in 2012, why is the majority of people still using the traditional form of payment-cash. In the past few years, there were a few developers, who were interested in this topic, began to explore and brainstorm a variety of creative ideas of payment for the convenience everyday consumers. These determined developers may not have created new methods, but they have provided us with options that we may consider depending on our positions: people buying or selling products, or exchanging funds. For each category, mobile apps and online websites were recommended. Since we have easy access to our cell phones, it is not difficult to complete our payment tax with ease. As a result, it is not necessary to carry around cash or credit cards too often when going out to.    For example, Google Wallet is relatively efficient since it supports most or all major credit cards and can be used to pay for restaurant or shop purchases. Microsoft Wallet (similar to Google Wallet) is also another option for those who do have Android phones since Google Wallet is available to only a few Android phones.     

This lifehacker article explains how to save money in terms of finding and purchasing the best deals on mobile apps. If you are someone who is either tired or annoyed by paying full price on an app that never really lived up to your expectations or your someone who just wants to find a good deal, then your in luck, because the best sales or price drops to find for apps is not that hard, it just requires a little patience. If you are a iPhone or Android user, the best way to track price drops easily and efficiently is to create a list so you can easily check on the price of an app to see if it's gone on sale or not. A particular nifty tool on the iPhone is when you add a interested app to your account of a created wish list, the App Shopper app will either send you an email or a push notification when an app you're keeping your eyes on drops in price. Another method in saving money while wanting to purchase apps for your mobile device is to hold out for common sale times. Both the iTunes App Store and Google Play love having sales around the holidays. Also, apps tend to go on sale after they hit the top of the charts to celebrate their success or after an anniversary of some kind. A third strategy is to look at the sale history or possibly a one-year anniversary to see if a possible sale is sure to come around soon enough. Overall, holding out for a good sale and knowing when those sales happen is a good way to keep your app purchasing budget in check. It's important to not waste your money on pointless apps or on ones that end up dropping in price the next day. Wait the extra day or two and save an extra couple dollars because in the long run, this will pay off both economically as well as feeling satisfied with how you shopped to make your mobile device experience that much better.

Here are some steps into getting some of the best deals on Mobile apps. Most apps are $1.29 to 99 cents and sometimes you think they're too overpriced and you just want a good deal! They're are two things about buying apps, you're always looking for the best deal on apps and hate paying full price, or you buy the app, and then find out the next day that the app goes on sale. Here are some easy ways to find out about cheap apps. 1. Set up price drop alerts and create a list of apps YOU want. This is great so you can track the prices of apps you want. 2. Set up notifs of price drops, for iPhone, there is an app called App Shopper where you can search for any app, and add it to your wish list, and when the price of that app drops in sale, you'd get a e-mail telling you the price dropped. You can do the same thing with Android, and those apps are called AppBrain and AppsFire. 3. Hold out for common sale times. Apps tend to go on sale during holidays like Christmas or Easter. Also, they go on sale after they hit the top of the charts to celebrate their success or after an anniversary of some kind. Many think apps aren't that big of a deal about prices, but when you buy a lot, the bill adds up. These steps great tips on how to get a great deal on apps! SO THIS BOOKMARK BETTER BEAT JASON'S BOOKMARK....but it looks like it didn't :'(

Union is a new type of "Photoshop" app for your phone. This clever app allows you to load multiple images and blend them together in creative ways. This app allows for double exposure on photos for a cool effect, or simply making certain layers of photos transparent. The blending of pictures and using certain effects allows users to get very professional and artistic looking photos. This app also includes tutorial videos on how to use the app for particular artistic ideas. Photos created can then be transferred to your camera roll or other large social media outlets such as twitter and instagram. I personally believe this app is great because I have used many "photo shop" apps and they have all been lacking a certain something while Union seems to provide everything I need to edit multiple photos.

Hulu, which has been shopping itself around this year, is no longer for sale. Hulu's owners-Disney, News Corp, Comcast, and Providence Equity Partners-put the online TV site up for bid and got some serious offers from Google, Dish Networks, and Amazon. Even Yahoo supposedly took a look. But in the end, Hulu's owners didn't get the bids they wanted.

The new locking handbag is one sure-fire way to protect yourself from thieves and pickpockets. Plus, it looks a little daunting. It requires a security combination to open, and once opened, the handle can be looped around shopping carts, public benches, and anywhere else a theft may take place. Made from Tonka-tough copolymer plastic, it is harder than leather and other fabrics to open, it also happens to be dirt and waterproof, making it practical and useful, for, say, the beach. Not the most beautiful thing, but very useful and helpful for people everywhere, especially the incredibly paranoid.

This article talks about zombie apocalypse in an empty mall in Readings, U.K. The mall got an idea from the movie called Walking Dead. This mall has brought internet game into real life where people can fight against zombies for 4 hours for $189. this relates to our course because this shows the internet impact on culture that they are making internet game into real life game. Before, they didn't even care about games and they just played at home on their computer but now internet game became part of our culture. This relates to one of our lessons in our courses that talks about internet impact on culture. 

The new iPhone IOS'6 update includes Do Not Disturb and VIP attributes that allow consumers to enable features that suit their personal needs. With the Do Not Disturb aspect you are able to customise your phone so that incoming calls are received while your device is locked; giving you the option of able to avoid the call or accept it, with just a "simple text." And a bunch of other features that are supposedly supposed to make your life easier. People who constantly use apple products would be more comfortable when upgrading their systems because they actually use these attributes. Although to the average teen, it seems pointless and contradictory. With the Do Not Disturb feature, if someone can access your password then, they could change your settings. Therefore you wouldn't receive any calls! Apple entices people to keep upgrading their systems because they are a cooperate business.