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Wouldn't it be great to communicate with almost anyone in the world without having to learn a new language?  Microsoft has created a software that can analyze your speech, translate it, then play a new recording of your own voice speaking in a different language.  There are some downfalls however.  To reach a stage where the software is able to copy the user's speech and translate it, it would require the software to be trained with said person's voice for hours.  As well, the software may misinterpret the word, and could translate the wrong word, throwing the entire sentence off.  This software gets around one word in eight wrong. Regardless of the flaws, this software will benefit almost everyone worldwide.  People from all over the world will be able to communicate with each other no matter what language they speak.  This will help many companies worldwide as they do business with one another, due to the fact of how easy it will be to communicate with global companies. As well, it will be easier for people to look for jobs since they communicate with almost anyone, which means they can look for a job almost anywhere.   This software seems like it could potentially change the world as we know it today.  Once this software is perfected, it would be an amazing breakthrough in technology, seeing as how many companies would want to buy it.  Many people who don't work for big companies may also want to purchase this software to communicate with people on a global scale, and just to say that they can speak a different language.  To me this software would've been useful long ago, so I would not have to worry about taking international language classes.  Nonetheless, it will be exciting to see this software in the future.

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.

   Today's society uses  technology to communicate by email, and social networking. But now that we think about it, we don't use the old-fashion way of doing things, and some people don't know how we ever did communicate back then. This cartoon shows us  the way we communicated way back. It shows us in a comedic way in a cartoon picture how we ever caught up with old friends, check our location, track professional contacts, publish our thoughts for others to read and look at cat pictures before the internet. 

Some people have experienced an issue with Google Voice. They have claimed that when they send SMS messages through the service, their messages are sent from random numbers. Some have received other people's personal messages and this can threaten privacy. Although many have been warned that they should never send personal text messages for security reasons, many ignore it. This issue with Google Voice can cause confusion for the people sending and receiving the texts since the sender does not have the option to send their messages to someone they know and the receiver receives a mysterious texts from a number that they cannot identify. Others might also receive multiple texts from random numbers which may irritate the person rather than confuse. Since texting is a very popular form of communication. those who use Google Voice may have to use other methods to communicate if the problem if affecting them too much and will have to wait until the issue is solved. Though this affects only a fraction of those who use Google Voice, this is bothersome. 

There was a lot of hype around the jailbreak community when the evasi0n iOS 6.1 jailbreak was released on Monday. It saw 1.7 million downloads on the first day alone. This jailbreak works by exploiting "bugs" in Apple's iOS code to allow users to write data to the kernel. This article relates to the legal tag because over the past decade, jailbreaking has become a very controversial topic and some people consider jailbreaking unethical or illegal. This article also relates to the economics tag because jailbreakers are pirating App Store apps which digs into Apple's and app developers' profits. I was once a jailbreaker myself, but have recently learned that developers work hard to make their apps and they deserve the credit and money for them. Overall, this article shows that the jailbreak community is still going strong and there are still those people who like pirating apps and taking profit away from developers 

With the advancement in technology, the human race is slowly headed in the opposite direction. With internet access on almost every electronic device, it has become our main source of communication. This advancement in communication are making people less dependent on social interaction. With the ability to order food online we are allowed to order necessities without leaving the comfort of our homes. This is crucial because without the need to leave your home, many people would take advantage of this and not be active both socially and physically. This can lead to many medical problems as people wont have the need to get off their couch and workout. Some positive aspects of being able to order food and other necessities online is the fact that is efficient and easy to do. Another bonus is the fact that the order will be sent immediately and I find that there is less room for error when you are able to type what ever it is you want and not have a language barrier with the people on the other side of the order. 

Texting is one of the most popular ways of communicating with other people. However, do we really benefit from it? One could argue that it is convenient, but others believe that the language people, especially the youth, use in texts affect their grammar. Some might even say that sometimes they include abbreviations and slang such as b/c, r, and u, in their English assignment without even noticing the problem, I know I have.  In 2011, an estimate of eight trillion text messages were sent, and those between the ages of 18 and 29 make up 95% of the texting population. Many are concerned about the future of the English language since so many people are fond of texting. There was even a National Texting Championship in 2012 that was won by 17-year-old Austin Wierschke who was able to text 149 words in 39 seconds. It seems that texting have become an important part of many lives. Some abbreviations have become so popular that even the Oxford English Dictionary has including them into their dictionaries making abbreviations such as LOL, OMG, FYI, TMI, and BFF, official to the English language. In my opinion, texting is not a crime. It is a convenient and effective way of communicating with other people. I believe that there is nothing wrong with using abbreviations in texts as long as it does not affect the way I write. 

Yota Devices is a smart phone phone company, based in Russia that is making waves in the cell phone community with their innovations in smart phone hardware. The yotaphone was released last year in asia and europe and quickly made a name for itself by offering not only staple specs we have come to expect, but also innovation for the screen. Its front screen operates as anyone would guess, so the real area the phone stands out in is shown when flipped over. The back screen is a low-power e-ink display that in the phones first incarnation was mainly used for display and lacked touchscreen capabilities. Now, however, in the yotaphones upcoming successor: the screen has made the jump to a full touch panel, allowing it be used to answer calls, receive and dismiss notifications and be used to play games that don't require the flashy capabilities of the front screen. This kind of innovation in cellphone technology is of paramount importance and the biggest step forward since the original iphone. The potential is amazing, allowing for new software to utilize the second screen, and making cellphones even more accessible and useful to the smartphone community.

Nintendo is shutting down servers that support online play for the Wii and DS on May 30th. No longer will you be able to enjoy popular titles on said systems like pokemon, or mariokart, to its fullest. Playing with others is a big part of the enjoyment of a game, and communities for these games will likely collapse when the wifi deteonation comes. So, with the apparent loss of a large gaming group, why IS nintendo shutting down their servers for these two systems? Nintendo is looking for people to upgrade to the superior counterparts: the 3DS and WiiU. Similar games that shaped the online Wii community are coming out later this year for the WiiU. Nintendo did not officially say that the reason for the server shutdown was just a marketing ploy. It is speculated however, running a server shouldn't be a big problem for a tech giant like Nintendo... IMO, even with titles successors, sometimes you just want to relax by playing an old game on a system you already own. Variety is key.

Bitcoin; the once elusive currency reserved for shady transactions on the deep web has become popular over the past 12 months, but a recent collapse has its integrity in question. Firstly, it is important to understand what bitcoin is. For the uneducated, Bitcoin is a digital only 'currency' that is used like regular money, to make transactions, with the added bonus of (possibly) being anonymous. Due to an exploit in Bitcoin and in the online wallet service, Mt. Gox, Many people are raising an eyebrow about the reliability and integrity of the currency. Goldman Sachs, a HUGE investment banking company, recently weighed in and called Bitcoin a "speculative financial asset", not a currency. Personally, I think the currency, which was created with the purpose of being an anonymous hard currency, has failed because it has gone to the mainstream. The money isn't heavily secured, as the recent online bank heists have shown, and has no real advantage for the public. Bitcoin worked fine, amazing even, as a P2P currency only used by the deep web community, but its gotten to big and needs regulation to stay constant. This, however, is against the very nature of BTC and will therefore not be supported by the community. All in all, BTC is an interesting idea that worked on the micro scale, but cannot hope to function on the macro.

Facebook is finally going back to its roots. They have now decided to enable students to have groups on facebook with their school. According to the article, when facebook was only for college students, it used to have this feature and it was very useful for students. They were able to see who was in their classes and communicate with their teacher. It is very hard to believe that this actually used to happen. Now facebook is used to mainly post pictures and chat with your friends. Many people have begun to lose interest in facbeook because they don't see it as something that is useful for them anymore. With this new feature, i'm sure facebook expects to bring back their old users and also make facebook more useful and purposeful for their users. I can't wait to see what it will look like!

Facebook launches groups for schools page, this page is for students and faculty members to share and exchange files, create events, and message each other.I believe that this new feature will make it easier for students to communicate. 

God bless America for the most technologically advanced trigger happy group of soldiers in the world. America is constantly trying to better their view of the battlefield so today BAE systems unveiled a GPS unit that can track, and see what the soldiers see's at all times. This is to be transmitted from an extra light garment like antenna to a command center where generals can have a better view of the battlefield. Bless America and its continuing fight against the fascist, the communist, the terrorist and the intellectual community. USA USA USA USA USA -Certified American Badass

The intellectual community?

Sarcasm, republican primaries have left me with some resentment. I feel if they get in charge we can say goodbye to american scientific innovation for the next little while.

For a service that had such an artificially high demand, the tech industry has not really capitalized on Video Chat. When Apple unveiled their video chat service 'FaceTime' in June of 2010, many thought that this would become the primary standardized service used by all. In practice, FaceTime is a clunky system that is evidently less productive and convenient than just vocal or text communication. So why hasn't video conferencing taken off as the industry had hoped? The answer is most likely because there is no standardized system and the market is too saturated; Polycom Inc. hopes to adress this issue by introducing a Universal Video Chat in early 2013. The product (called RealPresence CloudAxis) monetizes all of your contacts from Skype, Facebook, Google Talk and other apps into one place - all hosted on a web browser. This is a very ambitious task and if it delivers on what Polycom says (with the "same security and reliability as enterprise systems"), then there may be some validity to the video conference service. This relates to Privacy and Security because when monetizing a group of services, there is a chance for data leak and possible identity theft; Polycom promises to adress all security issues in order to make a safe and immersive experience for its users. This relates to eLifestyle because companies and their consumers have been trying for the past years to create a universal video chat service that actually worked in order to establish a multi-faceted social network: it might be too early to tell if Polycom has something that will fulfill the needs of consumers. This relates to ICS20 because as a class, we are no stranger to multiple accounts that often times serve the same purpose. As consumers, we hope for a streamlined service that can connect all of our multiple accounts into one place, preferably on a browser. It will be hard for Polycom, both legally and economically, to convince all of these pre-existing video chat developers to allow Polycom to

This article talks about our famous #firstworld problems jokes on Twitter and other Social Networking sites. They may seem funny to you, but DDB New York sees them as creating an online atmosphere of neither sensitivity nor awareness to deal with real social and worldwide problems. So DDB decided to team up with the non-profit organization called WATERisLIFE. Together they traveled to Haiti to film locals reading aloud a series of these "problems" to show how ridiculous they are in comparison to real problems that people face in third-world countries like Haiti. In addition to the video they tweeted some of the original authors of the #firstworld problems saying things like "I'm sorry you were awoken by your cleaning lady. I hope today is better" as well as a call to action to donate money to WATERisLIFE which helps create water solutions and rebuilding communities.  This article relates to eLifestyle and how those posts may be funny to us they can also be insensitive to real problems world-wide even though we don't always intend to be hurtful. This also relates because it shows how the internet can be such a positive or negative thing worldwide. In this case out of an insensitive tweet people were inspired to create awareness for bigger issues and a way to help through a video and a few tweets online.  I think this shows a positive side of the internet where people can take something and turn it into a way of helping people world-wide and getting word out faster and to more people all with the power of the internet.

In the state of North Carolina, acts have been passed in order to protect students from cyber bullying. This state has also recently passed The School Violence Protection Law of 2012 to protect teachers from being bullied by their own students. Some teachers claim that they are wrongly accused by students who post rude insults and lie about them on the internet, but feels as if nothing can be done to stop the hate. This new law prohibits students from creating fake online accounts of any school employee, posting confidential information about them, and sending them junk or inappropriate websites to their electronic mails. As a result, any student who is caught will face serious consequences such as getting fined up to $1,000, being transferred to another school and sent to jail if he or she is found guilty. The consequences are quite serious since cyber bullying is a growing problem within and outside the school community and that it is considered to be a criminal offence. 

YES!!!! GET AT ME STUDENTS!! GET AT ME!!

This article is about an emergency communication system which can be used during disasters with users spreading information and looking for on-the-ground updates. Twitter hopes to start this in Japan. This tool lets users search Twitter for a postal code and see accounts of people tweeting about any disasters in that area. Eventually Twitter says it could be expanded to other countries. Twitter although, isn't the first network to set up disaster services-earlier this year, facebook introduced a ''Disaster Message Board'' that lets users mark themselves safe during an emergency. I think that this is a good idea because most people around the world are now on twitter, so if there are any disasters occurring in that country, everyone can find out about it before it comes to their area.

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, by Somnini Sengupta on the New York Times, is an in-depth look on free speech on the internet, and drawing the line between free expression and hate speech. An anti-Islamic video recently posted on YouTube has brought up the debate over where internet companies decide to draw that line. After the killing of a US ambassador and three other Americans, Google has restricted access to the video in Egypt and Lybia. Google continued to restrict the video in five other countries where it violated local laws. The question about free speech proves to be a problem where it can lead to hate speech. There are continual debates over whether hate speech includes speech that can lead to violence, or demeans a group by race or religion. Politically unstable countries, such as Pakistan, have blocked YouTube altogether. Many internet companies such as Facebook and Twitter, receive the same problems on content as well. Social networks of communication and freedom of expression can also become outlets and channels of hateful and demeaning speech. However, it is also difficult to screen such large amounts of user uploaded content at a time. Although these social networking sites may not condone the views expressed by their users, they can do little to prevent the upload and viewing by hundreds of millions of daily active users. As represented by the anti-Islamic video, these views can affect events, actions, and the lives of people the world over. This can relate to us as students because we can see how widespread the internet is, and how much larger it will become. Everything we post online is recorded and forever preserved; once it's out there, it's out there. Whether what we post reach the desired recipient or a nation, words, coupled with the internet, have immense power, and should be treated with respect. This reflects on smaller scale issues such as cyber bullying, where what we post may intentionally or unintentionally harm our peers. Yes, I believe that free spee

Some people today, act in one way in the real world but once they go on the internet and social networks, it's like they're a whole different person. This article explains how we communicate in different ways through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. When you're feeling down or not in the mood it doesn't hurt to just vent to someone on the internet rather than freaking out and acting crazy. If you can socially act online in a positive way, it gives a reciprocal, so maybe you can receive some back that's positive. The internet should be a reason for use to jump out of reality because it gives a certain impact on ourselves. this article relates to Portable Computing because through out phones we can also access social networks which goes back to jumping out of reality and acting like were some bad person but as this article says, that's not a good excuse.

Many of us remember the PSN outage of April 2011. Sony blamed 'Anonymous,' a collective hacktivist group formed in 2003 on 4chan, after they found the Anonymous calling card 'We Are Legion' in their system. Anonymous is composed of individuals with the ideals of: 1. Freedom of Information 2. Freedom of Speech 3. Unregulated Internet Anonymous will only attack databases and websites only if provoked, and will not do so for monetary gain. The group has recently engaged in multiple attacks on international government databases. The article, by Casey Chan, is about the Anonymous digital attack on Israel, in retaliation after the Israeli government threatened to shut down Internet access and other telecommunications to the Palestinian people in the Gaza and "Occupied Territories. " The group attacked the Israel Foreign Affairs database and Bank of Jerusalem database, as well as DDos attacks on over 600 sites and theft of over 2000 email addresses and passwords. This attack has generated some controversy. Since the beginning of November, Israel has also received over 150 missile attacks from the Palestinians as well. Anonymous aids the Palestinians by sharing a 'Care Package,' instructions on what to do in the event Israel does sever the Internet connection. Anonymous has become quite influential on the Internet. This illustrates how important the Internet has become. The internet is not only a commodity, but a right to have. It has replaced forms of communication, entertainment, transactions, and more. A group of 'anonymous' users has been formed for the sole purpose of protecting it, with the will and capabilities to punish any party that wishes to disrupt it. As with every conflict, there are sides. Anonymous, in protection of Internet freedoms; and the Israeli government, that has been fighting a war for as long as anyone can remember. Who's side are you on?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDeOMq4RPxY&feature=relmfu http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_(group) *More information on Anonymous