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When we're looking for new smart phones we often look at things like speed, convenience, size and other features. When we see all these new smart phone products in stores we don't really stop and think about who made it. All we see is this polished, new phone and that's all we ever try to see. However, this article forces you to look past those pristine products and see the hidden reality. This post shows the rankings of various phone brands based on their impact on human rights, animal rights, the environment and other ethics. Out of a possible score of 20, all the brands fell quite short with the highest score being 10.5. It brings up the various human rights violations of different companies and makes you wonder why such successful companies like Apple are still setting such a low standard for labor conditions. Living in our comfortable first world country, we don't see all the human rights violations and abuse that occurs in other countries. I was surprised to learn that in a Nokia factory, many people were hospitalized for lead poisoning after being told that lead wasn't harmful. The lives of these workers are put at risk every day, as they work to create our smart phones. This article makes you think a lot about our world's reliance on technology. In our country, we only see the positive side of technology. Around the world though, there's a whole other side to the story. People work in dangerous conditions and are abused often while they create our smart phones. It really makes you see these products in a whole other light. After reading this article, I see more when I look at a smart phone. I wonder what happened to the people that made this phone or how they're living now. Our world is changing because of the introduction of technology. It has made our life so much easier, but we have to remember that this can sometimes come at the cost of another human or animal's dignity and sometimes even their life.

Many of use know about pirating, and some even do it. So far we thought that it was an easy way to get things with little ways of getting caught; this however is going to change. A knew security system is in development and bound to be out within the next 2 months that will catch those who pirate, and if numerous warnings are ignored; they will be prosecuted. This program watches popular sites such as bittorent and tracks the ip address of those who download illegal content. Then it sends warnings and if those are ignored, you will be tracked and investigated. Overall I believe this software will help stop pirating, but it will be met with huge opposition because most people wont be willing to give up their access to free movies, music, software, etc. Also this raises a privacy issue, but as this security system only tracks your IP, its not much of a problem compared to other tracking systems out there. To conclude, I believe the future of this system is filled with huge debates and maybe even battles.

New "surveillance--proof" app, Silent Circle has been released providing an easy way for people to text and call people without anyone else ever knowing what has been said, including ISPs and governments. This app makes sure no one can eave drop on your personal business by using what's called encryption. Encryption is the process of changing data into a secret code, the secret code can then only be read by the device you are trying to communicate with. The encryption codes are randomly generated each time the app is used so it is almost impossible to crack the code. This app is can be used on iOS and is currently in development for other devices and platforms as well. Some feel that free communication should be a right, but governments must be feeling a little bit nervous about this app. I chose the tag "privacy and security" because this article is about how Silent Circle has given people an easy way to speak in a secure and private environment without any intervention from anyone else other than the communicators. In my opinion I feel that free communication is important, but people will abuse this through using this app to possibly deal drugs, plan terrorist attacks, or other illegal activities. Who knows, maybe even the government controls this network to monitor people who use it, but that is just a theory.

Facebook was preparing to buy Instagram for $1 BILLION!!!!!! Many people are happy with the fact that Facebook bought Instagram while others are pretty upset. Added some changes as well. Instagram has alot to thank to Kodak

This article explains how it is practical that Facebook bought out Instagram. Facebook is very popular when it comes to sharing photos and Instagram brings the latest and most innovative ways to take photos. So, it is only right that Facebook and Instagram team up. I agree that the partnership between Facebook and Instagram will be beneficial for the both of them. Separately Facebook and Instagram are quite popular but by partnering together it will definitely boost both their popularities. Also, I think it's good to see that Facebook is doing something more than just changing their layout every couple of months.

One on the most popular social networking sites, Facebook, obtains Instagram. Instagram is a trending photo/camera app that many iPhone users are currently using. This will affect facebook users who like uploading and sharing their photos in a great way, because it will give them more options. I think Facebook will manage Instagram very well because they are very experienced in working with apps and software. The creators of Instagram also believe that Facebook will change and work with them in an efficient way.

This article talks about google and its effect on our society. Google+ now has 170 million users abd is becoming a NO.3 Social network. However if you go by active monthly users in the U.S., Google+ would rank 6. This relates to our course because we too use google and many people starts to use a lot of social networking programs as part of their daily lives. All of my friends has signed up for st least 2 social networking and it;s becoming a big part of our lives. Google used to be popular for searching things but now it's taking over social networking as well and becoming most popular and well known network. 

Google+ is said to be rated the third most popular social networking site. However, numbers of users are always changing. Google+ has recently changed their look of their website, which may or may not attract more users. Many people are reliant on social networking sites because they find it is a better way to keep in touch with those you do not see anymore. Google+ is still far behind facebook, with 850 millions users, while Google+ still sitting at a 170 million users. Technology is what everyone in this generation is doing, so the numbers will increase once more people start talking more about Google+ and less about Facebook. 

Google+ announced  that Google plus has 170 million users. With this number of users Google+ is #3 on the top social networks ahead of Google+ is twitter and facebook

Instagram has been sold to Facebook for a billion dollars. Instagram has been out-doing both Facebook and Google. There had been much money tossed around to buy Instagram, fortunately for Facebook, they bought them out. Instagram is an App that adds effects to any picture you have taken. It allows you to change the way the picture looks with a quick edit and doesn't take long at all. Also, you are able to upload this picture to the server and various amounts of people can view it, if you wish. In addition, you may also follow people too to see what they post. This is relevant to the things learned so far because the creators of this app have are now millionaires due to their extensive knowledge of building App programs and knowing how they work. The app is quick and easy, it is a free download and because of the many free downloads around the world, the developers are now rewarded.

This article talks about facebook for PS VIta update. The new version 1.01 has some new decent new functionality such as uploading images to your news feed, you can also tag images and enjoy any of the system languages of the device while you do so. This new update is useful because PS Vita camera is like useless when you can't upload your pics from your PS vita to facebook. I was disappointed with the facebook app for the vita because it sucks and it is pain to use but I think this will be the start to change the system of the facebook app in PS Vita. 

This article talks about the revamp of google navigation bar.  Google changed the navigation bar because it is a huge pain for users to use. These revamp will be helpful for users because of the set of links across the top,which will send them to their favorite Google apps easier and faster. This also can help us in our course because we can go to google apps that we are using in our activities easily and faster.

This article talks about how our technology has become more advanced over the last 30 years. Before computers, people used typewriters to type, but then PC's were made and it made life easier for everyone. Many people say that we are now in the post-PC era because we are developing things like the iPad or the Amazon Kindle Fire where you don't need a keyboard or huge desktop to surf the net or send out an email. But some say there is no "post- PC" era because PC's were just the beginning of a much bigger computing era. Either way, PC's were the first of something that would and already has drastically changed our lives.

This study is about how facebook can change you emotions. It says if you see positive posts you are more likely to be happy and make more positive posts. But if you see more negative words and see that your friends are sad, you will more likely to be in an upset mood. This article relates to this course because it is all about social networking and how your friends can make a social impact in your life just by posting a status on the internet. I support this article because I think its true. If I were to see my friends were happy, I would be in a better mood.

This is an article that explains and acknowledges that evolution of the iPod. From the original iPod models, to the iPod shuffle, and now to the iPod touch, this Apple invention took everyone by surprise and through they years, it has made a historic mark in the world of technology. This evolution is impactful to our world because everyone at some time or another has owned or used some form of an iPod and despite its high price tag, this is nothing that stopped consumers to contribute to more than 220 million iPods sold, comprising over 70% of the market for all portable audio players. It is astonishing to see how far this one creation has come with each generation improving in memory, megapixels, features, ports, size, weight, and much more. The iPod is certainly a revolutionary piece of technology and hardware and as much contributions and success this device has made to the lives of many, it can only be assumed that another one is on it's way. The improvements and advancements to the external and internal design will present itself in various ways, that is sure to catch the eyes of millions of people worldwide, making another mark to the impact of the iPod. 

The Evolution of the iPod. This article talks about the numerous iPods sold throughout the past several  years. More than 220 million Ipods have been sold as of 2009. These iPods are always improving and changing size that seems to best suit people in many ways. Technology always has a huge impact on people and the way they  use things. These iPods have a social impact throughout and will continue to do so. Some people want an iPod that is strictly for music, and there are iPods for that. Whereas others would like more of a variety within, that's where the iPod touch is necessary. It contains a browser, email, camera, and Apps to play games on. 

This article notifies readers that Google has boosted the speed and their browser's hardware acceleration with the launch of Google Chrome, version 18. Google paid more than $210,000 to outside researchers to identify and prevent a number of bugs, flaws, and hacking challenges from this past year so these same problems wouldn't be involved in this new update. This interests me because I am a Google Chrome user both at home and school and when I hear that another version is offered that speeds up Web applications, various software's such as Adobe Flash Player, games, internet, etc, I am more than pleased to get on my computer to update my browser to overall experience a better and more efficient use while on my computer that Google has to offer. But in my opinion, the most intriguing part of this article is how even with Google constantly updating and improving their web browser, Google Chrome, in the month of February, Google's browser is only third with 18.9% of users, next to Firefox with 20.9% of users, and in first, Microsoft Internet Explorer with more than half of users at 52.8%. People are least invested in Google's web browser and this largely adds to the reason to why they are constantly changing their Google Chrome design to attract but also to maintain their users. My thoughts are how I think it be interesting to see what Google has next up their sleeve because they have the money, technology, and resources to develop a browser that has enough features and limited problems to double and almost triple their amount of web users in hopefully the near future. 

This article is about how to change the computer background in to an Android mode of background. These are the requirment and instruction that you will need for this transformation. 1.Ice Cream Sandwich wallpaper 2.APPOWS2010 3.RocketDock 4.Ice Cream Sandwich Icon Pack 5.Rainmeter (Minimal Bar v2.0 (by Vit-Ok on deviantArt) (LEXIS) (Simplesentencethree) (GoogleBar) 6.Roboto TTF font family pack 7.Windows 7 Start Orb Changer (Aftersounds start button Win 7)

This article informs the world of a computer program created by researchers from North Carolina State University, that allows a computer to have the tools to help, guide, and take control of a unpleasant driving experience. A computer with this program installed can understand what a camera is looking at and makes decisions based on what it sees. The program is highly intelligent because it can sort visual data and make decisions related to finding the lanes on a road, detecting how those lanes change as a car is moving, and controlling the car to stay in the correct lane. I find this program extremely fascinating and more importantly is also useful for lazy or bad drivers because if it just so happens you fall asleep at the wheel, this program acts as a lifesaver to prevent you and others from severe harm while you can trust you will be safe and secure with your computer taking over. This computer is essentially driving your car and is designed to notice a pedestrian or a stop sign and is assigned the appropriate action to complete. This could be the start in advances in technology where more computer programs can allow assistance and advisement when someone is struggling or in need of help. Something like this can definitively be cool and if it works effectively at all times, I believe this will be a huge invention that we all look back on one day. 

This article is about how you can now plug a zapper onto an i-pod,i-phone or i-pad and it can become a remote for your TV. I think this is a good thing for people to buy because then you can easily control your tv with your apple device. As well, there is a less chance of it breaking. Furthermore its not very expensive and I believe it is good for apple users. 

It's actually surprising  how you can download such an app on your iphone, ipad, or ipod. You can actually have your control over your home entertainment. Long time ago, you had to get up and actually click a switch to change the channels, but now it's like better than a remote, and easier.  It's good that this app is free, that way many people would be interested in getting this app, and actually using it. 

What is Microsoft thinking!? You can't release a major version of an OS that is used by about 90% of the market and just remove something everyone has been using for the past decade. I tried the Windows 8 Developer Preview and Metro is OK, but it's not something you seriously want to use with a mouse, which is a problem for business that don't spend money on touch screens, mainly because their employees don't need them. But now they go ahead and remove the start button completely, making it a hot corner instead, which can be really hard to use at times. When I'm at my computer, I want to be productive, and the standard start menu is the way to do that. I like pretty interfaces, but I also like things that just work, and that's what the start menu is to me. Long story short, if you have an OS as big as Windows, don't make big UI changes like this, because it can really turn out bad and confusing.

THis brief articae generally describes Apple's new initiatives to become more eco friendly. I think that Apple has such a huge impact world wide because they are the leading corporation for anything electronic. I think it is great that they are using their status in a positive way: to endorse eco friendly power sources. I believe that the changes that Apple has done will certainly raise awareness of a "greener" planet. I hope that many other corporations will follow in Apple's footsteps to help create a better and cleaner world for all.

This article is about how an iphone app that can change the iphone into an interactive toy for children. This app allows children to transform the iphone into different vehicles. It also expands the imagination of children because it requires children to use different building materials for the surrounding of the iphone to make it seem realistic.This app is also very cheap for only $1.99 and make children more creatice