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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. 

LG made the first 55-inch OLED TV which , and it will cost $8,000. The timing jibes with what we heard at CES, but it's the first solid word we've heard as to what the future of beautiful television is going to cost us. Eight thousand. That's a lot of money-more money than most people have to spend on a TV, by a longshot. But it could've been a lot worse! Samsung's current top of the line 55-inch LCD TV runs around half that-and it's using old, old technology. OLED will be out of reach for almost everyone, but, like everything else, it'll slide cheaper, and cheaper in a (relative) hurry. Especially when LG, Samsung, and the rest realize nobody can afford this. It realtes to the course because its technology.

This post is about an app created by eleven year old Victoria Walker and David Grau that helps prevent texting while driving. With it people can form "packs" and will be able to prevent their friends form texting while driving. This is done through setting off a loud baring noise that dosn't stop until the offender stops texting. I believe that this is an amazing app as it will help prevent accidents. Also it makes people more interactive and aware of the dangers of texting and driving. This app will cause more interaction because it doesn't make preventing texting while driving a chore, instead it makes it fun. Furthermore i find it amazing that this app was created by eleven year olds. This really goes to show that you can do anything, and you don't have to wait until you get older. It shows that opportunity awaits everywhere. In conclusion I would like to say that those kids are brilliant and they've created an amazing app.

Great post. Apps that serve the most basic purpose are always the best.

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.

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. 

This article is about the iPhone app "Black SMS."This app will enable you to send private messages to your recipient without having to worry about someone else being able to see it.  When you download the Black SMS app, you attach a password to your message and then type whatever you'd like into the app. Once the message is complete, hit Send and the app will automatically open your SMS app. Paste the message and the recipient (and everyone else) will only see a black text bubble. secret and encrypted black text bubble, that is. The person on the receiving end then copies the black bubble and unlocks the message by pasting it into Black SMS with the password. The only downside of this app is you can't encrypt pictures with it.

Ford vehicles got a major upgrade! The vehicle will read you text messages while you drive and you are able to reply back. This was done so that drivers will reduce texting while driving. It will make things THAT much safer. Hopefully people will take advantage of this upgrade and car accidents will be reduced to a certain amount.

This article mentions the fact that Twitter now plans to update its mobile applications to introduce filters for photos allowing people to share altered images without having to use another source such as Instagram. Since most phones come with high-resolution cameras and many of the Twitter users use their phones this will be an easy way for people to edit and upload their photos. Especially with people or famous celebrities that use Instagram then share them on Twitter where more people follow them it will be easier and faster to just use Twitter for it all. This new idea has been hastened when Facebook bought Instagram. Twitter was thinking of buying a different photo service or application but when weighing out the cost they decided to just build their own filters. Twitter is also exploring the ability to upload and edit videos without using a third-party application like YouTube. This article has a lot to do with economics and the battle between two companies trying to get people to use their site and apps and not the other. In this case Twitter is really trying to become the most popular and important social networking site where people will be able to do anything on and it will be instant. They are changing what they once were to try to morph into Facebook because of the increasing popularity of Instagram and the fact that Facebook bought it.  I think personally that Twitter is making a good decision about the filter but i don't think twitter should add their own video player because it would change twitter and its purpose of being instant statements and pictures. YouTube is good at what they do and twitter should stay out of it. However with the whole idea of adding filters to Twitter you get the benefits of Instagram with the benefits of Twitter which might just keep them on top of Instagram.

Following Facebook's purchase of Instagram for almost $1 Billion in April 2012, it seems appropriate that Twitter would integrate something similar into their users' experience. 'Inside sources' say that Twitter is working on a photo-filter system that will be integrated directly in the site and mobile apps that hopes to bypass third-party services (such as Instagram.) While Instagram is a social network that focuses on social images with limited text, Twitter is renowned for its 140 character text-based updates with occasional images. An advantage of Twitter's supposed photo filtering system would be that there would most likely be a website equivalent to the mobile app, a problem that has plagued Instagram users who want a PC experience. As of now, there have been no official confirmations by Twitter, but the idea of a Twitter-exclusive photo sharing system seems interesting; although the market is currently saturated by Instagram, which can export images to other social networks, including Twitter. Legally, Facebook and Instagram may be able to take action against Twitter, depending on how similar their filtering system will be. This relates to eLifestyle and ICS20 because as social network users, we are always searching for ways to monetize our networks to one cohesive experience; another photo-sharing application seems arbitrary when there is already a capable system (Instagram.)

Because of social media and texting 24/7, our minds have become accustomed to emoticons and what they represent. For example, our brains now register the colon - dash - close - bracket as a real smiling face. This phenomenon has been studied by scientists and this break through is not only interesting but also dawns upon the fact of how people right now are beginning to be taken over by technology. If just seeing a few markings of type makes one remember a face, then what more weird things will we be able to connect with text to in the future? It's not just smiley faced emoticons people register as well - there are thousands of emoticons that people now understand are pictures that are smaller versions of a bigger idea such as, OTL representing a person kneeling in failure and even, (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻, to represent the action of flipping a table.

FreedomPop has come out with a new phone that will protect your phone calls and data from hackers. The phone is nicknamed the "Snowden phone" but is actually a Samsung Galaxy S2 that FreedomPop remodeled. The phone is selling now for $189 and comes with unlimited voice and texting. They also throw in 50MB of monthly data access for the first three months and then charges the users $10 a month. FreedomPop's Chief Operating Officer Steven Sesar says: "In light of recent violations in consumer's privacy across social networks and mobile devices, privacy is becoming increasingly important to many Americans and we all have a right to communicate anonymously. Large carriers don't have the flexibility, desire, or creativity to invest in privacy." I think this is a great idea because today, so many people don't know if their information is safe. This will help people feel more secure and safe with their information and not have to worry about who could have their phone calls or text messages.

This article is about a new phone being released by a company called FreedomPop. FreedomPop is an internet service provider that provides mobile service in the US. The phone is known as the Privacy Phone. It is the only phone currently on the market that allows for encrypted communications. It supposedly has 128 bit encryption for voice calls and text messages. Data from the internet is sent through a virtual private network, which is very secure and encrypted. Also the privacy phone allows you to change your phone number whenever you like.I think this is a great idea because many people can be hacked easily these days and finally there is a private way for people make calls, texts and access the internet. With that being said, who knows how long it will be before someone successfully hacks and bypasses the security on this phone.

although many people weren't pleased with the new release from apple because it was only an upgrade to the previous iPhone 4, apple still managed to break records. An estimated one million pre-orders were made in the span of 24 hours. the iPhone 4S which is a major upgrade to the iPhone 4 has better processor improvements, a new 8 mega pixel camera, and new speech to text and text to speech.

Instead of not only going against the law, but also running the risk of serious injury, Ford vehicles will now read you any texts you receive while you're driving. this is part of Ford's voice-activated technology, called Sync, and is installed in all 2012 vehicles except for the Ranger. BMW has also input a similar feature into their cars. This is a good idea for just about everyone who drives, especially people who are on their phones a lot, and once other vehicle manufacturers begin to put these in their cars as well everyone can stay safer on the road while still getting the job done.

Cellphones play a huge factor in our everyday life.  Everybody uses cellphones nowadays.  However, the real question is, when should a child receive a cellphone?  Rather, when should a parent give their a child a cellphone?  Everybody is different, so they have their own opinion as to when they are ready to receive a cellphone/give a cellphone.  A recent report shows that nearly half of the teens surveyed say they can't live longer than a week without their phones, and 36% said they check their phones at least every 10 minutes.  Of course, these habits don't develop within a day of course.  An American research market company polled parents on what they thought the most appropriate age for a child to receive their first cellphone.  Twenty-two percent of parents polled said they thought 10 was the right age, while 43% of the parents fell within the 10 to 12 age range.  I find this ridiculous, because not even I have my own cell phone, nor will I be receiving one in the near future.   In today's society, a phone is like a miniature computer that you can take anywhere with you.  Phones were originally used for making phone calls and giving parents feel a sense of security knowing they can contact their kids whenever and wherever.  However phones can also be a whole set of challenges to a parent.  It is an Internet-enabled device with few parental controls, which could be one challenge.  It might also give a child access to inappropriate apps, the less-than-wholesome intentions of other people, from bullying to worse.   As a child's age increases, there comes many other challenges such as sexting or texting while driving. Personally, I feel the only time one can be ready for a phone, is when they prove that they are mature enough to handle such responsibility.  But that's just my side of the story.

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

The above article (by Cyrus Favriar) details various interesting facts about the concentration of cellphone subscriptions on the planet - over 6 billion. At first the idea of 85% of the global population having access to a mobile phone seems outrageous, but 6 billion subscriptions does not necessarily mean 6 billion individual mobile phone owners. Many people living in third world countries will have multiple phones in order to take advantage of cheap calls within the carrier to and from a specific other party. Another interesting fact detailed in the article is that over 1/3 of the world's cellphone subscriptions is attributed to China and India, with over 2 billion subscriptions combined. A study from Gartner predicts that 1 billion smartphones will ship worldwide in 2014, and data from Canalys showed that more smartphones were sold in 2011 than personal computers. Between July 2011 and June 2012, Americans used 1.1 billion GB (> 10 000 TB) of mobile data, and over the last year Americans collectively spent 2.321 trillion minutes on the phone and have sent 2.273 trillion text messages. So, why should we be interested in all of these arbitrary facts? We understand that as smartphone prices become exponentially less expensive and other parts of the world gain access to data services, mobile broadband continues to grow at a rapid pace. There is a global trend from fixed-broadband to mobile-broadband subscriptions, simply because it is more cost-effective. As global bandwidth increases we can supposedly pump an infinite amount of data to billions of customers around the world. This relates to eLifestyle because it shows that although we talk about poverty and oppression around the world, one thing unites us: technology. This relates to Economics because of the decreasing cost of smartphones and the accessibility of cheap subscriptions becoming more prominent. This relates to the ICS20 class because as most of us own mobile phones and have mobile plans with various car

This post is about Online Universities and why they don't compare to the real thing. Products like Saba LMS, Moodle, and iTunes U have made e-learning mainstream, and most universities offer and allow some or most of their coursework to be completed online. First off, the concern with many online universities and colleges is post-graduation employment statistics. Most have very low graduation rates. A government recruited states that "it's not ideal. It doesn't set a baseline expectation, for me or for the people he or she will meet in the field. If I just need to check off a 'degree' box on a requirements form, online will do, but if two candidates are similar, I'm going with the one from Stanford or UVA." Moreover, the differences come down to two things: brand and social interaction. Traditional schools can clearly understand reputations, strengths and weaknesses. Without historical data and a history of success or failure, the online schools' GPAs, class standing and other performance metrics are just numbers and statistics. The author of this article also states that "Giant online schools that accept pretty much everyone may be democratizing education, but they're not helping employers or anyone else separate out the best and the brightest." This can hurt the prestige, and ultimately the graduates of the school. This issue relates to the "eLifestyle" tag because in the end it will definitely affect not only the students, but the regular citizens of a country. The graduates of universities, online of traditional,  will be the leaders of the future, and I believe that traditional universities and colleges are better because professors can get to know and understand students at a different level. It is hard to judge or mark a student based only on online text. For instance, you will never be able to distinguish a student that truly tries and works hard but cannot understand the information properly to a student that understands it but is lazy and slacks off.

This post is about a $0.99 app on the Apple App Store. With this app (ImmediateSend) you can send messages or iMessages without closing the application you were using when you received the message. As many iOS users know, when you receive a message, you need to navigate to your Messages App and type the message. With this new app, a pop up appears, and you can answer all of your important messages a lot faster. This relates to Portable Computing because in this day and age it is very important to get things done as fast as you can. This app is very handy and can be very useful if you are using another app and do not feel like hitting the home button. I feel that it is worth paying $0.99. 

this is my first bookmark

this is my first bookmark

my first bookmark

Vodafone warns that IPhone 4S owners should not upgrade to the latest version of the IOS. the reasoning as to why IPhone 4S users shouldn't upgrade to the latest IOS is because some user  that did update there IPhones 4S to the new IOS begin to experience problems connecting to the internet, receiving  text messages and phone calls, but there is no fear if you have upgraded as because they are already trying to find a solution to the problem.