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Video gaming is pretty big in our society.  It may seem like it's just fun and games to most people, but to others it could be serious.  Is it possible that video gaming could be bigger than sports?  Possibly.  The amount of spectators spectating individual gaming events are immense.  Not only do people spectate it live, but they could also spectate from the comfort of their own computer.  The Major League Gaming Spring Championship in June attracted 4.7 million online viewers.    This affects our everyday life because instead of training for a physically active competition, people could "train" and hone their skills to play video games.  People from all around the world could connect with each other and compete with each other through video games.    Whether I agree or disagree with regards to making video gaming a real sport or not is still in between the borderline.  You can practice your skills while playing a sport, but you can also hone your skills by playing video games.  Nonetheless, if video gaming does become an official sport, then we could say goodbye to society as we know it today.

Online courses are now being used by students in university. This allows them to study and complete work from their own home, but the question asked by most is if the online course investment is worth it, in terms of careers. Lou Adler, (a self proclaimed hiring expert) believes not so, because when you take an online course,classes require you presenting your skills to your employer. An online course is not the same as a sit down university course, because it does not provide you with the practical skills necessary. Someone taking an online course can still have an advantage over people who commute to university. e.g. submitting a project you did using your computer, easily, and using it in a job application. You can distinguish yourself from others, using computer generated projects, etc. Depending on what field you want to get into, online courses can be harmful or helpful.

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 US has a skilled developer shortage and it's one of its own making.While Silicon Valley wrings its hands over H1B visa caps onto skilled foreign workers, the bigger issues remains in the US because they are unable to educate its own citizens. While they try to educate a surplus of Science,Technology, Engineering and Math students for STEM roles we seems to fail to entice enough of them to get into technology. since 1980, STEM grads increased 60%.

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?

Angry Birds has become one of the most popular games for people of all ages to play while on the go, but if your someone who is a veteran player, and may be getting a bit tired of the same old basic mechanics, fear not, because there is a solution that requires a new skill for playing the game. This new creative and innovative answer to gamer's problems is a real slingshot that interfaces with the game over a USB connection. The slingshot is recognized by a PC as a mouse and the angle of the shot depends on how the player is holding the slingshot.  Also, the company has designed this USB compatible slingshot so the skills and tools are available to everyday people to go and build one themselves. All the components are widely available and relatively cheap to buy. In addition, mbed have released instructions and code for creating their prototype. I believe this is a interesting and intelligent way to attract more people to play Angry Birds and also an exciting creation to sustain the present gamers. This advancement enhances the overall experience of playing Angry Birds and this demonstrates how successful this game has become over the years and the attention it receives to maintain and increase it's high praise and recognition as a worldwide well-known computer game.

This article talks about top 10 tips and tools that will  improve our web development and designs skills to create amazing and beautiful sites. This tips gives us a lot of  ideas that will help us to make better sites. This also gives us many tools suggestions to use so we can easily make an organize codes to make our site well organize and beautiful. I found this article interesting because it can help me to our course and  to improve my skills to make better sites. 

In this fiercely competitive business environment you need proactive employees who can boost your organization's performance and productivity. And this criterion is even more critical when you are to hire a candidate for a managerial role

This article (written by Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai) is an interesting analysis of a general trend in the tech industry and demand for people with coding experience. The article states that now is the best time to dive in to coding because it has never been cheaper/easier to do so, with the introduction of Codeacademy - used in ICS20 - in early 2012. In less than 5 months, Codeacademy had stated that it reached over 1 million registered accounts, including New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Many web-based companies, even the titans that are Facebook and Google, are always looking for people with coding experience. Jobs in programming are also more lucrative than most jobs, even at entry level positions (15 of 21 San Fransisco Developer Bootcamp students were offered jobs in coding, with an average annual pay of $79 000.) The industry is severely lacking in female programmers as well, with only 1:10 ratio of women to men in the industry. This relates to Economics, eLifestyle and ultimately the ISC20 class because as the industry develops, there will be a higher demand for people with experience in coding; 2012 has been widely concerned as the best year for coding because many people who start coding now will most likely be secured for a positon right out of University, which can be very securing to young people who may not be sure of their future. Evidentally, the title says it all; if you are looking for a job, it would be wise to pick up coding because this a newly establihed market; most jobs in computers didn't exist twenty years ago so many people believe that coding will eventually become a societal necessary education, like math or grammar skills. This article shows how we are in a somewhat technological revolution, where we are creating new jobs where all the others are already full.

What started out as a minor distraction is now an issue that parents are beginning to take notice of. Popular electronics are becoming more than just a form of entertainment, it is also believed to negatively affect a child's mental development. Since kids these days are relatively less active due to technology, this problem also affects the kids social skills, education, and physical health. Social networking sites such as Facebook are also a problem because parents worry that their kids may be too young to have an account on Facebook, Twitter, etc. and therefore, post inappropriate pictures or see posts that others post that is not suitable for kids.  Jim Steyer, the Common Sense Media founder, help parents better understand the new media by providing a review of video games, movies etc. This way, parents can gain insight  on the newest and popular video games, movies etc. The Common Sense Media website also provides suggestions on how to deal with children and teenagers when it comes to being too addicted to mobile technology. There is another popular method that is simple: ban you kid from using Facebook.

This article talks about how girls aren't pursuing computer science careers as much as boys and why this is happening. Girls are very skilled in computer science much like boys, but misunderstanding prevents them from pursuing a career in computer science. Girls and Boys equally like computer science in elementary school and both do very good in it. When girls do bad in computer science, it is because people tell them boys are better at it. Since 1985 to now, the amount of women pursuing a computer science major in college or university has dropped drastically. We can change this by showing female role models, introducing them to computers early, encouraging them, and getting rid of the stereotypes about women.

Many people, especially children my age are addicted to simple games that are frustratingly amusing which makes them even more determined to play it over and over and over again. For example, Flappy Bird. I see so many people investing x amount of precious time into it, just to get a pixelated bird through the most tubes as possible. This usually results in a) anger and humiliation for not getting pass at least 1 tube b) zero attention payed during important class lectures c) less study time and failing courses. However to at least stop more people from failure, neurologists are trying to develop another addictive game for people to play which secretly builds up your brain via subliminal messaging. By knowing the foundation of the addictive power of a game and manipulating it, researchers aim to keep people interested while subconsciously giving them a stronger and healthier brain. This is something that can be really amazing because the mass majority who wastes time on silly games like Flappy Bird might actually be receivers of benefit - gaining knowledge and useful skills without even realizing it.

Reaching your work goals may look like a daunting task at first. With careful planning and implementation of right strategies, you can step up the career ladder quicker than you thought of. Here are few tips on how to get promoted at work quickly:



Continue learning

Learning is a lifelong process. To grow in your career, it is imperative that you keep accumulating knowledge across industries' trends, challenges and insights. Staying updated about your domain knowledge enables you to tackle challenges at work more efficiently and higher your chances of getting noticed by employers.

Lead when required

To take charge in a work environment doesn't always require you to be in a top position. You can assume a leadership role when circumstances demands at workplace. Exhibit your leadership skills while solving a critical problem at work by effectively communicating, motivating and working in coordination with other team members. Also start taking responsibilities a level in advance to show that you are ready for the next role.

Give your best

When you give your best in your work, you stay visible for your passion and performance. If you want to add more value to your work, then go t

It's a bird! No, it's a plane! No, it's the world's first "Spherical Flying Machine," brought to you by Japan, the place where all the cool stuff seems to come from. Remember in Star Wars: A New Hope, when Luke Skywalker was practicing Jedi Lightsaber skills on a small, flying sphere that could hover and move quickly in every direction? Well, Japan's Ministry of Defense seems to have brought Jedi training balls to the world. Mostly driven by remote controls, the sphere utilizes a combination of propellers and wings to hover, fly in all directions at up yo 60 kph and can even move along the ground and walls. They created this ball to solve a problem they were having with aircrafts (they can apparently stand up vertically after flying horizontally, but take-offs and landings were "difficult," as one could have imagined). It is not known whether they will market the flying ball or not, but this is certainly a huge leap forward in the field of robotics, as well as flying. 

A cover letter gives you a chance to make a case for yourself, and cover everything you cannot express in your resume. It affords you an opportunity to come across as real people and explain your suitability for the desired position, to potential employers. Companies often look for thoughtfully written cover letters, as a method of screening applicants who lack the necessary skills or interest for the said position. Cover letter can thus form into a marketing vehicle for any prospective job seeker.