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This article would be very interesting for people who has weak wi-fi at their home because their house is too big. This article talks about this magical box that can transform your electrical outlets into internet connections. There are some parts in your house where wi-fi connection is weaker than other parts of your house. This magical box can bring wireless connection to any where if there is an electrical outlet around. I think this is very helpful because i experience same problem at my house and this magical box would fix my problem. I think this shows how much people are affected by the technology because now they created this magical box so they can have better wi-fi connections. People now need wireless connections everywhere around their house since they use technology everywhere everytime. 

"Mobile World Congress on Monday, Zuckerberg delineated some of his plans for moving forward with Internet.org, the initiative led by Facebook to bring Internet connectivity to poor countries around the world.  While Zuckerberg touted the altruistic vision of his company's goal to connect the next one billion people, it's important to note that the project isn't just for the sake of bringing basic services to those that don't have it, but rather bringing millions of additional eyeballs to Facebook and its advertisers.  See Also: Hey Facebook! Connecting The World To The Web Isn't Enough "[We are] making it so that we can increase the amount of up-sells to subscriptions when they're using these basic services," Zuckerberg said in his keynote. "They will come to a link that isn't included in the basic services package; a popup that says, ok if you want to consume this, you have to buy this data plan." Facebook is making a long-term promise to both data carriers and advertisers-Zuckerberg said the next one billion people to attain Internet access will not be as affluent as those already on Facebook, thus making it harder to monetize the company's services. Zuckerberg said the social network will subsidize Facebook, Messenger, and other services like weather or basic news and information, and then provide up-sells in applications to deliver the whole package-like a gateway drug. Those up-sells are where carriers and Facebook make money. "The reason why they're not on [the Internet] is they don't know why they would want to get access to it," Zuckerberg said. "[We will show] people why it's rational and good for them to spend the limited money that they have on the Internet." How WhatsApp Fits Into Internet.org Facebook recently spent $19 billion to acquire the mobile messaging application WhatsApp, an application Zuckerberg claims will be one of the few services to amass a billion users in the future. He claimed that, by it

Google, being the innovators and marketers that they are, are working on a new feature which will put Chrome ahead of the pack in the mobile browsing world. Google is using a new data compressing tool to make browsing faster and more reliable. The new technique involves forcing websites to be loaded to Google's proxies. Rather then having the user connect to the individual websites protocols, the user connects to Google's lighting fast server, allowing them to few the web page at a much faster rate. In addition, Google's servers will be made to compress the data of the website, allowing an even faster connection. The Opera browser has a similar feature to this called "Turbo" and it works in a similar way. However, Google may have the upper hand here, as Opera can't compete with Google's size, market, and staying power.

Google is looking to expand its high-speed internet service, Google Fiber, into the city of Austin in Texas. Google Fiber is an internet service that offers ultra-fast Gigabit internet speeds with no bandwidth caps that no other provider in Canada and the United States offer for a price under $120.  This is because there are major internet service providers who create a monopoly over the entire industry keeping all their prices the same so they maximize their profits and offer sub-par internet connection.  With Google Fiber, these companies will have to provide better internet or they won't be able to compete, so many people want Google Fiber to expand as fast as possible over North America so that the monopoly is broken and people are given better internet.   This plays into eLifestyle because Gigabit internet connections with unlimited bandwidth will allow most people who pay for internet to pay less, have a more reliable connection and have faster speeds. This also plays into economics because Google Fiber will allow small businesses to use the internet without fear of high costs.

I was pretty shocked by the move when it happened, which made me start to take a look at my own personal connection to mobile technology. If the idea of turning my phone off to spend time with a friend is crazy talk, then maybe the crazy thing is how connected I am. The whole idea of being that connected is, after all, to be able to easily reach and connect with people (like this friend). What better time to do that when the friend is physically in front of me, trying to have a real-world conversation.

        It is being reported that the newest Xbox console will have online DRM (Digital Restrictions Management). DRM is technology that puts restrictions on media such as software, games, music, etc. that limits how the buyer is able to use and share the media that he or she bought. This means that the Xbox will always need to have an active internet connection to be able to use the games that you buy, even if the game itself does not require internet connection. The point of this is to prevent to prevent the resale of used games. However, this will mean that people can not share games with eachother, play if the internet goes out or they they do not have the internet at all. This will increase the sale of new games giving the companies more profits. However, this may backfire on Microsoft, as many gamers may not purchase the new console as a form of boycott, reducing Microsoft's profit until the DRM is removed. 

This is a very great report, keep up the great work Spider Man

Uncle Ben would be proud

Apple is heading towards making a smart IWatch. Federico Ciccarese has developed a wearable device called the "ISiri Smartwatch" which is connected to the iPhone via Bluetooth. The ISiri Smart watch is connected to a wristband or ear buds and users can get the same experience as if they were using an iphone. This can be used for anything!  including directions to scores for a hockey game or what time your movie starts. This could be a huge game changer in the electronic industries because yo no longer need apps or even a phone to access directions or scores. Downsides might be that although it is great concept you will need some sort of data plan for this to work.

All of us either own a phone or want one, but which one is the right pick for you? Well your in luck because this article talks just about that. It compares the three operating systems that are making it big right now: Android, IOS, and Windows. In this comparison There are many discussions but in the end it comes down to a few points. First off all, there is the android. This system is making a huge impression even though the others have been around for longer. Overall this seems to be a phone who know more about technology and are really into customizing, and controlling their phone. Then there's is the iphone. This phone is popular with a large quantity of people and is famous for its app store. This phone is for those that want a simple phone that is used often for entertainment. Last but not least there is the Windows phone. Windows has been a computing big-shot for a long time and is growing even bigger with its new Windows 8 platform. Whats neat is that both the PC and the smartphone from windows will be running the same OS, which will really make things easier for those interested in connecting the 2 and etc. This phone is for those who are using windows and want their systems to connect, and for those who want a simple interface or those who often use Microsoft Office. In the end, all these systems are amazing and it's really up to your personal needs and preferences.

This article is about how the next generation consoles will have the ability to interact with smartphones and tablets so that players can always stay connected to their games. Large publisher Electronic Arts has decided to share a few details about the next gen consoles. Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgenson quoted; "I do think once again without describing the new consoles, you've got to assume they're going to be highly integrated into peoples homes, and there will be a lot of capability for interaction."He also went on to explain that the new consoles will allow the players to interact with them not just through their controllers but also through tablets and smartphones. He quoted; "I think it's going to be an extension of moving from whats in the living room, to whats outside of the house. Even though it might not be playing on the console, it's connected to the console in some way.

As a social generation, we use various online 'social networks' to connect with others and share information (e.g. photos, text, videos.) But has anyone ever considered integrating one of these networks into a scholastic environment? This is exactly what Assistant professor of education at Michigan State University, Christina Greenhow has found in a recent study. While most say that social networks like Twitter are poisoning the minds of our youth, destroying their grammar and face-to-face skills, Greenhow finds that using Twitter in her class has allowed for more engaged students proven to attain higher grades. By integrating Twitter into some of the class' exercises, Greenhow was able to contextualize the material into something the students could relate to, "The students get more engaged because they feel it is connected to something real, that it's not just learning for the sake of learning." Twitter; something bored students would initially hide from teachers in class is now seeing some valid and practical applications in the classroom. This article relates to the tag "eLifestyle" because teachers are constantly trying to integrate web-based teaching into their classrooms in this constantly evolving technological age. This relates to ICS20 because we are one of the classes in the school on the forefront of technology, integrating web services such as Codeacademy, Diigo and even Twitter to enhance our learning experience. This article is not meant to give students excuses to wander off to Twitter during class, but to show teachers the validity in using a web-based social network to improve their teaching methods in the classroom.

Love this post. I've been thinking about this stuff for a while, as in - how do I work twitter into class activity? Any ideas?

this article is about a company announced its AudiOffice product at the 2012 Mobile World Congress this week. It's a dock equipped with speakers for Apple's iPhone, iPod and iPad. It plays music, makes calls and allows users to video chat with others.Since apps such as Skype and FaceTime are often used for business communication to help with web connectivity and control costs, AudiOffice allows users to use these programs without having to go through your computer.Don't have an iOS device? You can still connect a mobile phone to the system via its internal Bluetooth radio.

This article talks about how in recent years, politicians have been reaching out to young voters through social media. In recent years, social media has become a major part of many young peoples lives, and the fact that politicians have caught on and have started to campaign online is a smart move in my opinion. With politicians on popular social media sites, young voters will be exposed to politics a lot more. Not only will this idea motivate a lot of young people to vote, this will also make them feel more connected to their politicians on a personal level. This article also says that in 2011 Barack Obama used Facebook to his advantage as one example of how much social media can effect modern day elections. this just goes to show how much one can do with the help of social media.

This sensor lets you make music with tables, chairs, and pretty much everything. This device connects to your phone and senses vibration of the object attached to it and sends a electric signal to the phone according to the vibration. You can change the vibration to tunes and create music with the beat you created using this device. It comes with a app that changes your beat into music. You can connect you device with your phone and the object you want to make beats on, tap the object in a beat and the app will record your beat and you can change it into music. It is in kick starter right now.

Researchers have released an attack tool that tests their websites to when they connect through secure connections, not so secure now huh? They call it "The Hacker Choice"

thoughts/opinions?

The title pretty much sums it up. You can now connect your youtube and google plus accounts. I think this will increase the popularity and number of accounts of both youtube, and google plus.

With each new generation of smartphones, dropped calls and battery life issues are still an issue, the reason is partly because antenna technology has not changed very much. Scottish scientists have changed this. They spent 7 years to create a cellphone antenna quite smaller than a coin. The Sofant Technologies team claims that this new antenna is more efficient, finding signals faster and using up less battery life. The smaller something is in technology the less it has to travel therefore speeding the device up. The antenna also takes advantage of the full potential of LTE and 4G connectivity. Sofant plans on licensing its designs to smartphone manufacturers all over the world.  I chose the tag of portable computing because this article is about antennas, a vital part of a cellphone. This new antenna will affect people who use cellphones, which is a large amount of people in North America. In my opinion I think this new antenna is long overdue. The fact that antenna technology hasn't changed much over the years is pretty surprising. This new antenna is a step in the right direction for smartphones. 

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 touches on a very important topic about whether technology is helping the economy and job markets more or if it is in fact hurting it. The answer is they do both. The New York Times among others write that tech companies have created relatively few jobs compared to industries such as GM. However TechCrunch argues that technology has created a lot more indirect jobs due to technology. There are in fact new jobs created such as social media marketers online. Most of these jobs are part-time because they are online and connect employers and workers with no hassle. Their conclusion is that there are millions of jobs created with a high demand but an unprepared workforce. The jobs that are needed now are more technology based than ever before and our economy is moving so fast in that direction that some skills that were needed in the past are no longer needed now. Therefore people are losing jobs not because there are not enough jobs produced but because our job market is drastically changing.  Some companies are allowing people to step into job positions with just a bit of online training or courses. Startups like General assembly are creating programs that are accessible to everyone and helps address the needs of the labor market. The final verdict is we need better training tools to quickly acquire high demanded skills and help workers adapt to the change that technology brings to the labour market. This article relates to economics and eLifestyle mostly because it has to do with how our economy is growing from the jobs created by technology but also how our workers have to respond to this change. This article deals with the changes that the labour market is going through now and how the increase in technology is now changing our lives. Some of our old jobs are being replaced by new jobs that not enough people are qualified for, so certain careers are feeling a job decline making it seem like technology is replacing workers. But in fact these new tools a

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.