Group items tagged

With all that's been happening with the Super storm, Hurricane Sandy, social networking may seem far from our mind, but it turns out social network sites, like twitter has become a common source for breaking news about what's going on in different places. At times like these, people often join together and find courage and compassion in one another, while others simply seek to make the problem worse. That's what happened when someone had tweeted false news about the hurricane, like tweeting about the New York Stock Exchange building being flooded and under three feet of water. The rumor had spiralled and even been repeated on CNN and the Weather Channel before being found fake. Normally, false tweets are simply overlooked or scoffed at, but at times like this those kinds of tweets can create mass panic and worry. They are definitely immoral, but what has come into question is whether it should be considered illegal. Some think that this type of tweeting was done to increase fear and endanger, but should his behaviour be considered criminal? After all, he does have freedom of speech and the freedom to lie is included in that, except in "rare occasions". Personally, I think that, normally, silly, fake tweets can be overlooked and just scrolled past, but in times of emergency, tweets like this that can add more fear and panic to an already troubled situation should be considered a criminal action. In times of crisis, everybody should be uniting and helping each other, not creating more danger and trouble. Freedom to lie in the face of disaster like this, about that kind of information is not something that should be tolerated. No matter how big or small the aftermath and reaction to those tweets, they should not be overlooked and in no way should the law consider it okay.

For uploads of images and the like. Imgur is the leader in free image hosting, with a simple to use image hosting service with no extra perks. One of the things that I like about imgur are the small links, because they are very copy/pastable. Second in line, is flickr. Less like imgur, and more like a social networking site. It is geared more towards sharing. It contains massive amounts of storage for your photos, 1TB to be exact, just by signing up. So flickr seems to be more personalized than imgur, and that's not a problem. For a commoner like me, I'd just rather use imgur. Expect a photographer to use flickr. Next up is photobucket which is the same as flickr in many regards. Imageshack is an alternative to imgur if you want crop your image or add special effects after you finish uploading. Freeimagehosting.net is sort of a competitor... and the last two happen to be gimmicks, postimage.org and imgplace.com

First off, I do not agree with this article. This article talks about the ever changing English language of texting. As some of us do this, when you send a text message you might send a super long 'hey' like this: "heeeeeeeeyyyyyyy". What is wrong with that you may ask? Well in the article the author, Sam Biddle, says we are doing it constantly, ruining the English language. I quote "Have a little discipline." Sam Biddle thinks that we are purposely texting the way we are in a way to make ourselves look foolish, but I can assure you we are not. When texting "heeeeeyyy" gives our text messages more emotion, and allows us as humans to express our feelings more than by just sounding like a robot. What sounds more human like: "heeeeeey, wanna go to Wendys or something?" or this: "Hello, want to go to a resturant?". Exactly, the first one does. This way of texting helps show our emotion. For example if you are really excited to talk to someone you might add in the few extra Es to show that. Now, just because we talk this way doesnt mean our life with always be like that. On a resume you must be 'robotic' and formal, so you will use proper terminology.

THIS DOES NOT RELATE TO THIS COURSE, BUT SINCE WE ALL LIKE FOOD, YOU WILL LIKE THIS. Because when you make grill cheese sandwiches, it always give off that smell no one likes and there's pans to wash and you know we're all so lazy to do that. So here is the simple thing to do, FLIP YOUR TOASTER ON IT'S SIDE! just put the bread in and put the cheese on top of the bread, and THERE YOU GO. i couldn't find ANYTHING. So this caught my eye, and i was like "wow." 

"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

Smartwatches are like the gateway to the future. With Samsung's first version of "Gear", customers were able to wear an Android powered watch which is able to hook up to your phone and provide you various services like to take quick pictures, text or call a contact using the voice control software and even access your media through the features installed in it. This time however in the new release of "Gear 2", instead of using Android, Samsung has decided to power the smartwatch on Tizen servers, making a clear message of wanting to be more independent of Android and ultimately Google. As Samsung has previously always been linked with Android, switching to Tizen is like a big change. Even though customers with untrained eyes may never see the difference between Gear (Android) and Gear 2 (Tizen) - myself included, having Tizen as an alternative to Android might be good for the company because now they are more in control of their future actions. Whether or not the software is different, the Gear 2 seems like a very useful piece of technology for someone who is in a rush and needs to take or leave quick messages. It is also efficient and not easy to lose because you are wearing it. With just a flick of the wrist, Samsung's smartwatch allows one to do many activities in a small amount of time.

Many hardware development companies have been popping up all around the world even obscure places like Kazan Russia. This article is specific to Navigator Campus which will try to make itself into a larger company. Their focus currently is into consumer goods and products like robotics, 3D-printing, and wearable technologies. I think it's really good that many hardware producers are being formed because a lot more people will be given the chance to try out their ideas and develop new technologies. Also when you have more people working on the same things like 3D printers the technology will evolve that much faster. Finally, I like that smaller companies are trying to come into the market and try to grow and compete with the larger corporations.

Over the years, the internet has become faster and faster and as this has happened our patience has decreased. We have come to expect fast speeds and short loading times on the internet and anything slower is considered unacceptable. However, before reading this article I didn't realize how impatient we had really become when it comes to the internet. This article talks about the results of a study that showed that users were likely to give up on a video after only two seconds of loading! This had come as a surprise to me. To me, two seconds seems like only an instant, but I have to admit that I still am not willing to wait much longer than that for a video especially if the video is only 10 minutes or less. However, I find it interesting how two seconds of loading has become an issue, while we are still waiting through 30 seconds or more of advertisements before we are able to view our video. If we have already spent so much time watching an ad a couple more seconds shouldn't seem like a big deal. This article shows how our expectation of high speeds has affected us and our lifestyle. We have come to expect our video to load almost immediately and if it doesn't do this then it isn't worth the time. Our ability to wait is being altered. We're no longer used to having to wait for things that we want to watch, see or listen to on the internet. We've changed into thinking that if it doesn't load instantly, then it isn't worth watching. Of course, our patience should have limits. If it really is taking longer than the length of the video itself to load then perhaps it is time to abandon the video, but I feel that waiting only two seconds before moving on shows how impatient we have become with technology.

This article is about a new concept developed by Berkeley that allows users to emit their password through their thoughts. This concept uses a technology known as Neurosky, and the actual headsets that use this technology look like cat ears. This device is still in testing, but for those eager people who want their thoughts converted into Passthoughts, they can get their hands on the device for a very pricey $199. I don't believe that this invention will "take off" because it doesn't seem very practical in real world situations when typing in a password can be as quick as 2 seconds. However this is a very imaginative invention and will most likely inspire people to create products just like this one. I chose the eLifestyle tag for this post because it may become a fashion trend in some part of the world, (Asia maybe) and people will truly enjoy using this product. I think it is safe to say though that I will not be walking into school wearing cat ears in the future!    

This article is about how Twitter has introduced a music service to it's 200 million users. Twitter recently bought We Are Hunted,which is a service that recommends music based on social media, changed the service, and incorporated it into Twitter. This music service gives the user suggestions for songs to listen to. It does this by scanning the service's posts for music references. After signing up, a user is sent to a page with many charts of artists and songs. The #NowPlaying list/hashtag collects songs that have appeared in Twitter posts among the people that a user follows.Other lists/hashtags show what music is popular everywhere on Twitter. Artists' accounts highlight the music they follow, allowing their followers to see the type of music they listen to. This new services influences our lives in a positive way because now we as users are exposed to different types of music that we may not know existed. Also, we could share our music and show the world what songs that we like and which we don't. This service influences our lives in a negative way because some people may not like a certain type of music, and may find a certain type of musician offensive. For example an anti- feminist group found Rick Ross an offensive spokesperson for Reebok because of his songs. If a person in politics decided he/she liked Rick Ross's music and shared it on Twitter, this may spark an uproar with the media and this anti-feminist group

This is  just another way to hold our electronics when we are "occupied".  This toilet paper holding iPad  stand allows you to view things on your iPad while in the bathroom because the stand holds it. This makes you have your iPad with you at all times. A negative effect would be the stand breaking or falling and the iPad drops into the toilet but it's positive because it will do what it's supposed to do which is hold up your iPad when you are occupied. Although it doesn't make sense as to why you would want to bring something like a tablet to the bathroom, it is something to hold it up when you can't hold the tablet. This may seem efficient for some people but I think it would be more efficient for other use like putting it as a stand but without the toilet paper holder to hold the tablet, but there is no reason why you should bring a tablet of some sort into the bathroom. Some people would like this invention but personally, I find it unnecessary.  

Photoshop is a software that is used by  It is used by  millions of graphic artists, print designers, visual communicators, and regular people like you. It's likely that nearly every picture you've seen ,such as posters, book covers, magazine pictures, and brochures has either been created or edited by Photoshop. they use Photoshop, because of imperfections in your face to make it more cleaner and your body to make you more skinnier or editing your picture to make illusion. But in this report a Greek police did a photoshop to hide an evidence to brutality. this Greek police will soon be in under investigation for attempting to airbrush out evidence of police abuse in the mugshots for four young men.  These men were arrested for an attempted for armed robbery, but the photos that were taken in the scene clearly shows that they were bleeding and bruised and several days after these mug shots however, shows that their in a better shape. The police defense, he did not admit that he changed the photo. This police has been accused treating immigrants and other prisoners like an animal. 

The "Green Brain Project" aims to create an insectobot (a robotic insect) with the brain of a honey bee. It's not as crazy or difficult as it sounds though, the researchers working on this project are not directly copying a bees brain but trying to recreate it. More specifically they are recreating bees two most important senses- sight and smell. They will then upload this fake brain into a small insect like robot so it can act somewhat like a real honey bee. This is important, as it would be a huge step forward in robotics and also because scientists say they could use robotic bees to artificially pollinate. This could help  with the reduced number of honeybees. Bees are very important to the whole environment so this project could possibly be revolutionary. I chose the tag "environment" because scientist are trying to recreate a natural animal that not only comes from Earth but greatly impacts it. Plants need bees pollination to grow, and animals need plants to eat so with a lack of bees, the whole food web would take a major hit. This project aims to try to fix this. To me, it seems like it would be extremely expensive and difficult to create as many bees as the earth would need. Maybe in the distant future though, this may be realized.

This article talks about a new tablet line from Microsoft called "Surface". It is supposed to go with the new Windows 8 operating system which is supposed to be a more touch and mobile friendly system. At an event in LA Steve Ballmer showed 2 versions of Surface.  One is running Windows 8 Pro the other Windows RT. Each tablet comes with a stand and magnetically attachable covers to allow the tablet to be like a laptop. The type cover has a keyboard and trackpad, while the touch cover is a thinner keyboard cover that comes in many colours and has an accelerometer to let the system know when it's folded to deactivate the keyboard. Both have a 10.6-inch display. The RT version is 9.3mm thick and weights 673g while the Windows 8 Pro is 13.55mm thick and weighs 903g. Only the RT comes with productivity software like Office Home and Student pre-loaded. This release ties in with portable computing because it is an all new portable tablet that is from Microsoft. It also ties in with their new operating system that goes hand in hand with this tablet. It is something with a new innovative style and can be used in various ways as a laptop or tablet. It also ties in with economics and the whole Apple vs. Microsoft competition. Microsoft has created an "even better" version of the iPad. Now instead of going for the iPad people that like PC's and working with them can make the choice to use the Surface tablet which once again puts Microsoft and Apple in competition with one another for sales. All in all this is a great new tablet and I think it is great for all those Windows users that can get their hands on a new tablet from Microsoft.  It will be interesting to see if this new technology will blow up compared to the iPad and now the iPad Mini.

This is the same device that actually managed to sell LESS than the 3DS when it launched. When you launch hardware you have to have good software or else it will bomb.

I agree they did not have good software for japan but I think they just need a monster hunter game and it will sell in japan just like the regular psp but the hardware for the vita is actually great i like the touch pad on the back and it is a great value it is the most powerful portable console out there. When it launches in North America i think it will do good because of all the great games like uncharted, wipeout and the like.

But the system also has many flaws, like an irreplaceable (and short-lasting) battery, expensive proprietary storage, it's too big, and it's also too expensive, which Nintendo learned the hard way after the 3DS price drop thing. Sony is going to have to at least drop the price to be able to compete. Although I do agree that it will eventually have good software, it doesn't yet, and that can really hurt the system.

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 article is about how Microsoft is planning to make a low-cost or free version of windows 8.1 for windows 7 users to upgrade to. The main goal of this from Microsoft, is to boost the number of people using windows 8.1 I think that this is a really smart idea because it will let someone test out windows 8.1 for a small cost or even no cost at all, without having to spend over $100 on the full version of windows 8. I myself like Windows 8 and use it on a daily basis, but I know many people who find it hard adapting to the new operating system. That's why with the free version, if the person likes it, they can buy it, if not, they can just re-install Windows 7. This is one of the few experiment like projects Microsoft are doing. They also plan to release low-cost, or free versions of their Windows Phone operating system, and also plan to merge their tablet OS, Microsoft RT, and Windows Phone together into one version.

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.

Computers are starting to recognize our faces. what does this mean? Let's find out. New and upcoming facial recognition technology like google glass will heavily integrate the face. it will be able to link someone's face out in the public, to an image of them on the web. In the future we would need to reformat exisiting legislation on privacy. Right now, by law, this potential action is not prohibited. This topic is already being discussed by people in positions of power who see the negative consequences to come. While people focus on the negatives, the positives don't get any real limelight! most of these include much quicker operating procedures for business, who can recognize potential customers. Security also becomes more efficient, which is a good thing when talking about the protection of people and business. It also seriously inflicts on an individuals right to privacy, though... for security in protecting people I believe this should be a mandatory, though. This might be something people will have to endure, whether they like it or not. But, it is better to embrace the future rather than reject it, so here's to computer tracking devices! One thing to point out is the younger generation will not be influenced by this at all. If we don't start to connect with newer technologies early, we'll end up like our grandparents!

Going for an interview is like going for a first date. You want to look and behave your best at your first date/interview, to grab your potential date/employer's attention. Like in a date so in an interview, you get only one chance to create an impeccable first impression, to prove why you are the perfect match for the job.