This article discuses the fact that google TV is now getting a voice search. I think this is a very good thing because it would save a great deal of time for everyone while they are scrolling through google. You now do not need to spend countless minutes scrolling through pages and pages of information and finding what you need. The voice search will allows you to find the exact information you need at a certain point of time. Google's also adding Primetime, an unobtrusive improvement to the on-screen guide. In my opinion this would be a good addition to google. I and lots of other students use google for help with homework, assignments, and just general research. Now students will be able to find the exact information they need, and in a very short period of time.

This article describes weather or not Windows 8 tablet like the Surface really replace any ordinary laptop. The surface would be able to make a decent laptop replacement because it is thin and lightweight, comes with a keyboard, it can run the traditional windows desk top, and its decently cheap. However, Windows RT does have a very small selection of apps, it doesn't even have a facebook app. Without having a good selection of apps, you may miss out on a bunch of other fun stuff. Windows RT is the toned down version of Windows 8. This is very good for low powered, cheap tablets. But it won't replace Windows 8. So at the moment, the tablet will not be good replacement but that could change. Early 2013 the Surface Pro will be coming out and it runs Windows 8. So you will have access to all the apps, and take advantage of more powerful hardware. In my opinion, if you don't need as much features as a laptop offers, and you are looking for a cheaper device, go with the tablet. But if you need access to all the apps, and more powerful software, the surface at the moment is not a very reliable replacement.

This article states that a new study has shown that more and more kids/teenagers are distracted by technologies which affect their learning.  87% of the teachers in this study have said that "technology is creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans."  Other teachers also claim that "technologies do more to distract students than to help them academically."  Teachers, though, remained somewhat optimistic about digital impact, with 77% saying Internet search tools have had a "mostly positive" impact on their students' work. I think that technologies help out a lot in kids learning however it could still distract them. A lot of kids use the internet with homework and study help which could in some cases is a very beneficial thing. They would learn and find out more about the subject they are studying. Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet Project, says that maybe it is not the problem with tech, but the lack of digital literacy training in students that creates the problem. I agree with this also. 

Bogomil Shopov, a Bulgarian blogger and digital rights activist, bought 1.1 million Facebook names, user IDs and e-mails for the ridiculously low price of 5 dollars. Luckly for us, he was not trying to spam people, or use this info in a negative way. Instead he wanted to see how bad the facebook security really is. And it turns out to be really bad. According to the seller of the information, a Gigbucks user with the handle "mertem," the data was collected from Facebook applications."The information in this list has been collected through our Facebook apps and consists only of active Facebook users, mostly from the US, Canada, UK and Europe," reads the Gigbucks post. This can affect us a lot because there are a lot of teenager (our age) facebook users. If instead of person who was trying to prove a point was a spammer, the information that we have on facebook can be in danger.  Facebook is currently looking into the breach of user data but they haven't yet come to a resolution.

This article discusses that soon, video cameras will be able to predict your next move.  By using technology similar to that used in Microsoft's Kinect and Google's self-driving cars, the cameras are getting better and better at spotting and identifying certain objects. The step the researchers are on now is creating a "cognitive engine" so that a computer can decide whether or not those objects are misbehaving and whether or not they are about to. This will defiantly make a thief's/shoplifter's job much harder. This new software can be implemented for not only military purposes, but also civilian situations. For example airports.( if someone is leaving a suspicious package somewhere.) This kind of technology will make our everyday lives much safer because it will prevent things such as theft, terrorism, etc.  This software is not complete yet but it's coming together very swiftly. Prepare everyone, Skynet is coming.

This article disuses how some people (mostly teens) have been getting "addicted" to facebook. In this article a girl named Newton (not her real name) says that "I can go a whole day without Facebook," she said. "But I've never made it through an entire weekend." Although there are no statistics on "Facebook addiction" -- it isn't an actual medical diagnosis therapists say they're seeing more and more people like Newton who've crossed the line from social networking to social dysfunction. "Last Friday, I had three clients in my office with Facebook problems," said Paula Pile, a marriage and family therapist in Greensboro, North Carolina. "It's turned into a compulsion -- a compulsion to dissociate from your real world and go live in the Facebook world." Facebook can lower social interaction among teens, as well as lower their study time, and family time. I think people shouldn't take facebook this seriously. I personally do not consider facebook as such an important thing in your life. Facebook is supposed to be used to check emails, stay in touch with your friends etc. Not to waste countless hours on games and other apps on facebook, just going through people's pictures and profiles. Instead there is so many other things to do with your life.

This article discusses the speculation that facebook may be already working on its own phone. They are hoping to release a facebook smart phone already by next year. The article states that Facebook has already hired more than half a dozen former Apple engineers who worked on the iPhone to help them create this phone. A Facebook-built smartphone would allow users to more seamlessly send messages, post updates and share photos or article links. Although it makes apps for iPhones and iPads, Facebook is still not integrated into Apple's mobile operating system. They are working on this because, more and more people are now using smartphones, tablets, etc. over computers and laptops. This would allow easy access to facebook anywhere they go without paying for data on your phone. In my opinion, this would be a good thing for frequent facebook users that maybe need it for jobs, just to stay connected, or simply they need to make a status about everything that they do. It would make it much easier to use facebook if they were to make such a phone. I am not a very frequent facebook user. I can wait to get home in order to use so if this phone would come out, I personally do not see a need for me to purchase it.

This article describes the effects of mobile/portable computing on our everyday lives. The article writes that mobile computing is a great advantage for both ordinary people and business men.  In the business area, portable computing is the easiest to approved business everywhere in the world. This means that you do not need to physically be at a business meeting to approve of a transaction. This saves a great deal of money, time and is much more efficient and fast. Portable computing has also made just our regular daily lives a lot easier. From just being able to call anyone outside of your house, to booking a hotel, flight, even finding the nearest gas station, it's all in the palm of your hand. Whatever the case may be, portable computing has made all of this possible.  In my opinion, being connected 24/7 increases productivity up to a point, but it also can cause stress and can also disrupts life. 

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.