Touchscreen PC's are the future?

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/03/kitchen-pcs-gai.html

I was wondering when some of these CPU's were going to be exposed to the public. This could possibly be the first wave of many new touchscreen CPU's to come in the very near future. More and more devices are slowly becoming touchscreen operated, so is this really the future for the CPU?

World Map Turned Into Animal Shapes

Twelve Animals is a creative project by Kentaro Naga that pieces together the continents and islands from a world map to form the twelve animal signs of the Japanese Zodiac. As a project for peace, the different continents and islands are pieced together to form the animal. The project is pretty cool. During the presentation, you can see the pieces move around to form the different animals which were pieced together really well.


LINK

Mac Or PC: Two Business Owners, Two Opinions

This blog is very interesting because it gives us insight on whether to use a Mac or PC. There are opinions in this blog which give both the positve and negative in buying either of these platforms. Both are business based opinions and I find both very interesting. For me personally I am a PC user. I agree with a lot of aspects the PC review gets but very little with the bad reviews on the PC. Hey if your a Mac person read this blog and tell me what you find better about a Mac then PC and we could have a nice little conversation about the positive and negatice written in this article.

http://www.bmighty.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215901218

Scams Aimed at Social Networks

Social networks have made scamming so much easier for people. Pictures and user names are used to represent people. Hackers are easily able to use your information to act as if they were you. There have been many scams caused by hacking. One of which was a story of a guy named Bryan who's profile was hacked. A buletin was posted telling his friends that he was trapped over seas without any money to come home because he was held at gunpoint. It was taken to the point where one of his close friends sent money to him. Scamming might not seem like a big deal in some cases, but it can cause huge problems if and when people take it seriously.


http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_02_08_archive.html

Signs of Dating Abuse

Some people might get flattered by either jealousy, possessiveness, or constant attention. A lot of the time, these are signs of dating abuse. Put together, these qualities can be the result of control more than love. Of 920 students that were questioned, more than one-third of them had been abused, emotionally and physically, by their romantic partners before they started college. This type of abuse has been known to influence people into doing horrible things such as committing suicide, binge drinking, and committing acts of violence. This is an issue that seems so small but can eventually cause very serious problems.

http://www.netfamilynews.org/2009_02_01_archive.html

Facebook collaborates with Adobe for a smoother Flash Experience

It has been reported that the creators of the social networking site Facebook, have hooked up with the creators at Adobe, to provide a coding, that when used within the Facebook interface, would provide users with a much smoother and simpler experience with its interactive applications. Currently there is $516 Million dollars being funded towards this project, with talk of even more funding and support. If all works out, applications as well as videos will stream very fluidly, making their use less choppy and static-esque.



http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/31/facebook-hooks-up-with-adobe-for-richer-social-applications-in-flash/

Google, at your service

Google has just released Google services for websites. These services can make your websites much better. Some of the programs that are included in these tools are: webmaster tools, AdSense, Custom search, and site search.








http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/google-at-your-service.html

Facebook Friends

I always wondered if it was slightly weird that I enjoyed Social Networking even though I only limited it to people that I actually knew in real life. Apparently I’m not the only one out there, Stan Schroeder feels the same way, even if he practices this for slightly different reasons. Stan recognizes that having hundreds of Friends on Facebook will overload your page with status updates and news feed information. But then again, as he points out, Facebook now has ways to create custom friend lists where you can designate what information you want to see.

I just found it interesting how our outlooks towards Facebook and Twitter are similar.  (o^_^o)

Blog Post: Can Anyone Be Your Facebook Friend?

The Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project has just issued a new report which includes a typology of internet users, and argues that the arrival of wireless connectivity had drawn many Americans more deeply into digital life. Their ten categories of users are:

• Digital Collaborators (8% of the population) are very much about continual information exchange with others, as they frequently mix it up with online collaborators to create and share content or express themselves.
• Ambivalent Networkers (7%) are extremely active in using social networking sites and accessing digital resources “on the go” yet aren’t always thrilled to be contacted by others. They sometimes yearn for a break from online use and pervasive connectivity.
• Media Movers (7%) are the accelerants of user-generated content as they use their ICT assets to send material (say, a photo or video they’ve taken) out onto the Web.
• Roving Nodes (9%) are active managers of their social lives using basic applications – texting and emailing – to connect with others, pass along information, and bolster personal productivity.
• Mobile Newbies (8%) are occasional Internet users, but many in this group are recent cell phone adopters and very enthusiastic about how mobile service makes them more available to others. They would be hard pressed to give up their cell phones.

The final five groups (61% of the general population) make up the stationary media majority:

• Desktop Veterans (13%) are tech-oriented, but in a “year 2004” kind of way. They consume online information and connect with others using traditional tools such as email on a home high-speed connection. They are not heavy users of cell phones for much beyond a voice call.
• Drifting Surfers (14%) have the tools for connectivity, but are relatively infrequent users of them. They say they could give up their Internet and cell phones. In spite of years of online experience, they seem to have checked out of the digital revolution.
• Information Encumbered (10%) have average amounts of connectivity, but suffer from information overload and have a tough time getting their gadgets to work without help from others.
• Tech Indifferent (10%) have limited online capability at home and, even though most have cell phones, they bristle at the intrusiveness cell phones can foster.
• Off the Network (14%) lack the tools for digital connectivity, as they have neither online access nor cell phones. (from the Press Release on the report, 2009 3 25)

You can find the full report here ------> and you can take a quiz to find out what kind of user you are ------>

Social Networking Sites

Connect with You Extended Family On Facebook

Social networking sites are popping up all over the internet so people can connect with old friends, family, etc. On Facebook, there is a special group you can make where you can connect with family members.



Special Social Networking Sites That Are Not Facbook or MySpace

This is an older blog post that was connected to the Facebook Family post that I mentioned above. I thought it was interesting because it lists other types of social networking sites that are out there such as "First Wives World" which is a social networking site for anyone who has been affected by divorce and "CafeMom" which is a site just for moms.



Facebook Photo Convicts School Aide of Drinking Charge
This last link is not from the blog I'm following, but I thought it was interesting. It's a news article about a school aide that was convicted for allowing minors to have alcohol because of a Facebook photo that showed her with three cheerleaders who were holding Smirnoff bottles. This should remind people of the invisible audience that can view what you post if privacy options are not used.

Economic Storm Prevents DirectTV Bulls from Getting a Firm Signal!

An interesting article regarding the future of DTV as it looks to compete with already existing technologies. A very interesting evaluation.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/economic+storm+prevents+directtv+bulls+from+getting+a+firm+signal/dailycontrarian.aspx?single=true&newsid=91824#91824

Raptr: Where Social Networks and Gaming Collide

The networking service raptr is offers an opportunity for gamers to take their online social networking skills to the next level. Sort of like a "facebook for gamers" Raptr aims to be the central hub for gamers all across the globe, allowing them to find other partners with similar gaming habits and interests, as well as viewing user feedback (i.e. ratings and comments on past and current games, as well as new releases).

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/24/raptr-spreads-its-wings-with-gaming-partnerships/

Rumored NEW iPhone coming out in June 2009

I attempted to find a blog entree that connected with what we have been discussing in class but I failed. Unfortunately the big buzz on the blog I am following is the new 3.0 and the new games and now, the NEW iPhone that is rumored to be released in mid-June. It seems like there is never going to be more than a six month period of things being the same, there will always be a new program, application, product, etc. Apple has shown how successful their products and definitely know how to market. LINK

Cloud Computing...The Next Big Thing?

http://weblog.infoworld.com/whurley/

Community organizers can find instant gratification in the cloud for almost every event coordination urge.

So, besides the big thing I hear on Web 2.0 is Cloud Computing. So what is cloud, I hear good and bad things but at the end of the day I think you need to ask your self what do you want to use it for? From my understanding is it another way of combining resources to get the job done. Combining resources means taking all your computers and servers to make things run efficiently. This can be done remotely, and then it has the ability to be a disaster recovery solution. But is it really? And how can the government use this if some of the work is done classified?


Learn what Cloud is...http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/04/07/15FE-cloud-computing-reality_1.html

O'Reilly's Take...http://radar.oreilly.com/2008/10/web-20-and-cloud-computing.html


Related Blogs:
Cloud Computing Journal - http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/
Cloud Computing - DELL COMMUNITY - http://en.community.dell.com/blogs/cloudcomputing/
Cloud Computing Tools Team - http://blogs.msdn.com/cloud/
cloud computing - http://cloudcomputing.blogspot.com/
Web-based Cloud Computing Management Platform by RightScale - http://www.rightscale.com/

Combine Your Social Site Updates

Skimmer is a new visual desktop application for keeping track of all your social sites.  It allows you to to connect to your Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Blogger accounts and access them all from one application.  It's an easy way to get a stream-like view of  your friend's status updates as well as a quick way to post your own.  Posting pictures is said to be easier, and with their numerous custimizable options you can make the application fit your preference style.   I've actually been looking for a desktop application to connect my facebook and twitter accounts and make it easier for me to review updates as well as post pictures.  I think I might actually give Skimmer a try.

Blog Post: Skimmer: Visual Desktop App for Tracking Your Favorite Social Sites

Skype

Skype means Business

The online Skype phone service has launches a program called "Skype for Sip".  Skype is wanting people to install Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), in order to provide the customer with quick inexpensive phone service.  This company aims at taking charge of the telecom world.  According to the Wall Street Journal, Skype allows people to "make calls to anyone else for about two cents".  If you read that carefully you will see it says for about two cents!  not two cents a minute, or two cents a second; thats two cents a call.  With prices like this it's not hard to see that "Skype Means Business".

Make Presentations Go Virtual With Webinars

With high gas prices and not many cheap flights available, reaching customers for your company sales may be a bit difficult these days. There is although an alternative where you can chat with your clients in such a way called webinar that doesnt require any expensive computer equipment. All you need is a computer and a telephone and in no time you will be able to affordably reach your clients in no time!

http://www.bmighty.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215901272

Netflix to integrate with Silverlight in order fix streaming video problems

CLICK ME!!!

As a subscriber to Netflix and Xbox Live, I have the ability to stream movies through my Xbox to my TV. Although I haven't come across any real streaming trouble, Netflix has announced that it will fully implement Silverlight in order to fix its current errors that users are encountering. While Netflix believes it is more-so the fault of 'CPU loads' and specific playback devices, they are still willing to employ this feature to keep their current customer base satisfied.

PC's Game? Not Over.

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/pc-gaming-is-th.html

PC Gaming still rules the roost when it comes to electronic entertainment. Although hordes of players exist on the Xbox, Wii, and PS3 consoles - a sheer per-dollar-assesment shows that the PC gaming industry still takes more in than the alternatives.

The cash king? World of Warcraft.

Addicts.

A shiny new beta for Google Chrome

Google has just released a new beta version of Google Chrome. Google Chrome is Google’s version of a browser to access the Internet. The new version includes an enhancement in the speed of the browser, an auto-fill feature to fill out forms, a full-page zoom capability, an auto-scroll capability and a new way to drag tabs in a side-by-side view.





http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/shiny-new-beta-for-google-chrome.html

Following up on the post about Maggiano's...

NPR's Morning Edition (2003 3 23) ran an item on:

"Kogi, which offers a unique combination of Mexican and Korean food, is a modern variation of the taco trucks that have long been popular on the streets of L.A."

whose location hungry diners track on Twitter, where they also check out specials of the day. Twitter proved so successful for the Korean BBQ taco truck that rivals even set up a deception Twitter account to send customers to the wrong location. Listen or read ------>

The Complexities of Copyright

The following article (2009 3 220 from the New York Times indicates the kinds of tensions emerging between sites which distibute content and companies who own the rights to elements included in that content. Here the battle rages between YouTube and Warner Music, but the implications stretch into music mashups, audio collages, amateur performance of copyrighted materials, and so on ------>

Endless loop: A brief history of chiptunes

Before I read about "chiptunes" on Grand Text Auto, I had never encountered the term. Fear not, two intrepid authors, Kevin Driscoll and Joshua Diaz, have analyzed them in great detail in Endless loop: A brief history of chiptunes. Here's the abstract to the article, which may provide an aural trip down memory lane for game players among you:

"Chiptune refers to a collection of related music production and performance practices sharing a history with video game soundtracks. The evolution of early chiptune music tells an alternate narrative about the hardware, software, and social practices of personal computing in the 1980s and 1990s. By digging into the interviews, text files, and dispersed ephemera that have made their way to the Web, we identify some of the common folk-historical threads among the commercial, noncommercial, and ambiguously commercial producers of chiptunes with an eye toward the present-day confusion surrounding the term chiptune. Using the language of affordances and constraints, we hope to avoid a technocratic view of the inventive and creative but nevertheless highly technical process of creating music on computer game hardware."

Have fun ------>

Portrait of an Artist as an Avatar

New York Times Writer Sara Corbett investigates how a not-very-successful artist used the exploits of his avatar in Second Life to build his brand. She notes of the artist/avatar:

"Filthy Fluno was born into Second Life on May 20, 2006, created — or in game parlance, “rezzed” — by his human counterpart, a Boston-area artist named Jeffrey Lipsky, who says he designed Filthy as an “urban prophet/vampire figure” who is “impossibly short, impossibly thick and with impossibly big hair.”Lipsky is 37, a mild-mannered art-school grad with a traditional painterly mien. He can’t quite explain why he, a short, white Jewish man, chose a short, snaggletoothed black avatar, except to say that part of the fun of recreating yourself digitally is that every option — switching race, sex or even species — is gloriously open."

That article is quite long, but well worth the reading time: Portrait of an Artist as an Avatar ------>

Fruit Powered Clock

Everyone has heard of using a potato to generate electricity, right? So now, Urban Outfitters is selling a fruit powered clock for $18 that will work by plugging it into any type of fruit. Honestly, I think it's easier to just wear a watch, look at the time off of your cell phone, or a even just a regular clock. It is pretty geeky but it's resourceful. The fruit (of course) goes bad as it gets older, so it would need to be replaced often. But this is kind of a neat gadget to have and to show off. It’s kind of cool that you can do things like this with fruit.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/03/19/fruit-powered-clock/#comments

iPhone OS 3.0 Software

A new software for iPhone is launching and this blog links you to the presentation of this new software. It is this ever advancing of product and changes in software that allow Apple to be such a successful company. They create a product that is desirable and keep it desirable by making it "new". It is absolutely amazing to watch the presentation, just the beginning minutes paints a picture on what a huge influence their product has on the world's population. LINK

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/google-fail-how.html

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/03/google-fail-how.html

Great article on the cloud computing phenonmenon - which is double funny because I wrote my essay on this. Seems that Google left a loophole open and exposed a bunch of documents on their cloud server for everyone to see.

Guess cloud computing still comes back to that idea - do you trust your own stuff, or trust theirs?

k-95: A new waterproof flash drive

So I don't know how many people have actually gotten their flash drives wet. But here is a submarine-shaped one that is waterproof. It's kind of neat, but I'm not sure how popular it will be.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/03/17/k-95-waterproof-submarine-flash-drive-goes-for-a-swim/

6 Mobile Operating Systems For Your Business

As small and midsize businesses increasingly go mobile, they grow more reliant on smartphones. And not all smartphones are built equally. The brains behind the device -- the OS -- determines what the phones are capable of and which business functions you can run. Here are six of the most popular mobile operating systems.

http://www.bmighty.com/mobile/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=215800839

Read Web Articles in a Beautiful & Distraction Free Environment

Ever try to read a web article, but got distracted by the various links or flashing ad banners on the sides of the page? There is a tool called Readability that you can install on your browser toolbar that will convert web articles into easy to read pages by eliminating the various distractions leaving only the content you are trying to read. You choose the font style, font size, and margin size from a preset list, then install it onto your toolbar. When you are on a page that you want to read, you can click the Readability button on your toolbar, and it will format the page to what you specified. It definitely helps out alot!

http://www.labnol.org/internet/read-web-articles-distraction-free/7812/

Are investors taking a bite out of Apple?

An interesting blog post from the folks at Schaeffer's "Apple Investors Are Hungry, but Can the Stock Deliver?"

The most interesting part of the of the article discusses netbooks (like Amazons Kindle) and how the opportunity for Apple to expand into the area of Netbook readers "the opportunity is huge" for Apple. The blog post also states that the market for smartphones grew 68.2% last year, which is pretty amazing so the article beggs the question "imagine how consumers and business users would take to an oversized iPhone with netbook functionality." I guess we will have to see!

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/apple+investors+are+hungry+but+can+the+stock+deliver/dailycontrarian.aspx?single=true&newsid=91789#91789

Social Netowrking for Pets

It’s not unheard of for people to make social profiles for their pets, but rather than putting them up on Facebook pet owners should look for pet-targeted sites.  Cute as Hell, one newly launched social network for pets may be the next big thing for our little furry friends.  The site also combines many features that have been utilized on other similar pet-related sites like Cute Overload or Hot or Not for Pets.  

Blog Post: Cute as Hell: Pet Social Networking Goes Viral

You Tube bringing back the upload status bar?

An upload status bar, something so simple, letting the users know just how much progress the server has made for submitting whatever material; apparently this feature had been removed from You Tube's video uploading service (probably to not let the users know just how slow the service actually was). It has been reported that as of late it has been restored, and now users can upload with the utmost confidence that something is actually taking place.

http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/03/13/is-youtube-finally-getting-an-upload-status-bar/

Celebrating Mars, Then and Now

On March 14, 2009, it was the 174th birthday of the famous Italian astronomer and cartographer, Giovanni Schiaparelli. Giovanni had created a map of mars with what was thought to be bodies of water and signs of potential areas where Martians might have once roamed. Google Earth now has a feature that you can view the planet of Mars now and back to the map that Giovanni created. Under an extensive review, it was found that the bodies of water and the areas where Martians might have been turned out to be just an optical illusion.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/celebrating-mars-then-and-now.html

3D fingure Printing

3D Fingure Printing

It takes 5-10 minutes to take ink fingure prints, and even when conducted by a professional they still smug; making it almost impossible to match prints correctly when conducting an investigation. The University of Kentuky, in connection with DHS, believes they have the answer in how to improve the methods of fingure printing. They have developed a system that allso 3D light technology to take 10 fingure prints of your hand in 10 seconds. The light prjects a a structured gride created by many dots that wrap around ones fingures. From the 256 different shades of grey this device is able to capture a 3D image of your fingure print. The University, DHS, and the government firmly believe that this device is our future to fingure printing, and to increase accuracy amongst fingure print matching.

Google Tip Jar

In response to today's shakey economy, Google has created a device called "Tip Jar," that is designed to help people discover the best and most effective ways to save money. What is so neat about this is the fact that Google Tip Jar gathers money saving tips from several different places, compiles them into one place and invites the public to rank them in order of usefulness and even add their own tips to the list.

The blog post states "So go ahead: Take a Tip. Share a Tip. We'll all be a little bit richer for it."

Link to Blog Post:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/tipping-points.html

Link to Google Tip Jar:
http://moderator.appspot.com/#16/e=3cfc

A Tweet Worth $100

What is a tweet worth to you?  To Maggiano’s, it could be worth a $100 gift card.  The Italian restaurant ran a simple social media promotion entering anyone who tweeted “Follow @Maggianos by 5pm CST to be entered to win $100 in Maggiano’s gift certificate”.  Thanks to their promotion the restaurant has already become a Twitter trending topic.  It doesn’t take much to tweet a simple message, and with the chance to win free food, who wouldn’t participate?

 

Blog Post: Maggiano’s Gives Away Food to Gain Twitter Followers

Wikipedia and Twitter: The Investigation

A rather amusing, but also illuminating, story about an George Mason University graduate student who noticed a strangely altered Wikipedia page and set out to investigate (from the Chronicle of Higher Education) ------>

HashCache

A new development in the storage of data from the web enables universities and colleges in Africa and other infrastructure-poor nations to access necessary data quickly and efficiently (from Technology Review) -------->

Also, check out the ten emerging technologies for 2009 suggested by the same journal. If you look to the bottom right of the screen, you'll see links to the lists from previous years, and reading them is rather like reading a history of technology change over the last decade.

Enjoy Spring break.....

Concerto for cell phones

A short article about the potential of the cell 'phone for musical performance. We might want to think about cell phones as platforms for creativity later in the semester, for example --------->

Is Dell computers finished?

Interesting article about how Dell is currently in HUGE financial trouble. Many financial experts believe that the only ways that Dell could prosper would be through an acquisition of NetApp (NTAP) or Accenture (ACN). The Dell company is clearly struggling, but it is far from being at "death's door." However this is an interesting post about the health of the computer industry and what firms now have to do to stay alive in the financial turmoil of this year.

http://www.schaeffersresearch.com/commentary/content/dell+may+not+be+dead+but+it+is+far+from+healthy/dailycontrarian.aspx?newsid=91478#91478

3 Million Blogs Have Installed Google Friend Connect

Today Google has announced that their Friend Connect widget has been installed on “nearly three million blogs, with someone following a new blog every second.” That would mean that there are nearly 86,400 users following a blog every day. Today Google has also announced the integration of Google Friend Connect with Blogger. I’ve posted a video below of what that integration looks like.

BLOG SOURCE

Turn Your iPhone Into an Electric Guitar With iShred

I thought this was a neat article, although I don't own an iPhone, but I am a musician. This new iShred application actually can help familiarize a person with musical chord structures of popular songs. You can learn songs & create your own songs. Although it does not provide a full representation of the whole guitar neck, it does show you what frets are to be played though. I see this app as a fun tool, but also as a learning tool for someone who may be interested in learning how to play the guitar.

http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/turn-your-iphon.html

Amazon launches Kindle application for the iPhone

Don't feel like spending $300.00 plus on a device that is only meant for reading? Apple has just released a free program, yeah that's right, FREE, which will allow you to read kindle compatible books which you have purchased from an Amazon.com catalog. With this feature you can read entire books, archive your favorites for easier access, and even more interesting, read the first couple chapters of other books completely free of charge. iPhones....completely revolutionizing our society.

Using Google Reader-> TechCrunch-> http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/03/03/amazon-launches-kindle-app-for-the-iphone/

If you're a fellow computer junkie who likes to be online and accessible, then you might appreciate this article.  Many people have different Instant Message (IM) programs that they prefer to use.   When everyone is using a different program, it makes it harder for people to keep in touch with everyone.  Thankfully, there are IM programs out there that will allow you to access and talk to people from multiple IMs. 

• Disby --> Windows 
  
• Adium -->MAC
  
• Meebo -->Web
  
• Trutap -->Mobile
  
• Nimbuzz -->iPhone
  

Keep in mind that these programs aren’t just for IMing.  You can also check your mail AND Social Networking sites.  Some will allow you to do Facebook chat, or get Facebook/MySpace updates and new tweets from Twitter.

 

Blog post:  5 Great Instant Messenger Aggregators Across Multiple Platforms

The Siege at Pirates Bay

The pirate bay.
One of the worlds largest online torrent search engines.
How many times have you downloaded music? Movies?

You pirate you.

Now the legal battle is on - Does pirate bay encourage people (Like you) to download copyrighted material?

Is it the very nature of the internet to share content, and thereby make our copyright laws seem like some outdated Hays code?

What do you think?

http://timesonline.typepad.com/technology/2009/02/pirate-bay-tria.html

Google Toolbar 6 beta for Internet Explorer: back to basics

Thought this post was pretty cool becuase I am all for the internet being as simple as possible! It talks about the google search tool bar focusing more on the core areas of search and navigation instead of being so compicated!! YAY :)

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/google-toolbar-6-beta-for-internet.html

5 Top Operating Systems For Your Business

Are you looking to start up a new company? How about looking to improve your business with operating systems that can really help your company succeed? Well check out this article that I am posting for our class blog because these are 5 top notch systems that are a must when making business. These operating systems are top of the line and are very interesting to get to know and how they can help your companies needs.

http://www.bmighty.com/hardware_software/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=214502229

FLEXIBLE TOUCH SCREEN E-PAPER

This week there was an amazing article on the first flexible touch screen. The item was invented by a team at Arizona State University. This team was the same team that works to develop Amazon's kindle and Sony Readers. You should watch the YouTube video demenstrating how the device works, and how it is flexible. I personally think this is just another step forward for corporate America. Soon we will have touch pad notebooks, and E-text books. Students book bags will be very light with thier once virtual reader and writers to store GB of information for class.

AIM on iPhone

As if text messaging (SMS) and phone calls weren't enough - there is an iPhone application (free) for AIM (AOL Instant Messaging). I thought this was good to post because as we have frequently discussed in class - the Internet and other advancements in technology have not only separated us from face-to-face interaction, but it has provided us with different mediums of doing so. Although I think there are enough features on an iPhone to stay in touch with people, I know myself I wouldn't be able to commit to another way of discourse with friends and family. Is it necessary to always be in touch and in every format? I think not, but this could be the case of Web 2.0 fundamentals and more specifically peer production - and maybe that's not such a bad thing?
LINK

Did Social marketing Bring Back Atlantis

The phrase "you'll find what you're looking for when you stop looking for it" seems to be more accurate then expected. The lost city of Atlantis may not have been found by deep sea divers or scientists spending years looking for it, but by google. A good point that's raised is also the fact that because of social marketing, the news has traveled a lot quicker then it would have years ago. It also goes to show that, apparently there's nothing google can't do, including finding lost cities - next thing you know you'll see Noah's Ark pop up when looking on google earth!

Blog Posting: Did Social Marketing Bring Back Atlantis

Look Thin & Slim in your Photographs Instantly

Ever hear the phrase "the camera adds 10 pounds?"

Well there is a new site where you can take off about 10 pounds or more in your photos. From what I've read you can upload your photo and tell how many pounds you want take off and it will digitally fix it for you. There's no need to learn Photoshop to look slimmer in photos you want to upload to Facebook or Myspace. I haven't tried it out myself yet but I thought it was pretty interesting.


http://www.labnol.org/internet/pictures/look-thin-slim-in-photographs/7655/


Also I'm following a new blog since the old one hasn't posted anything interesting lately.

We always talk about the iPhone....

So in class we are always talking about the iPhone and other small electronics. The other day, Dell had a sale going on for this compact notebook. It has an 8.9" screen and a 4GB hard drive. They were selling them for $199. This is nice for checking email and doing stuff like that, but it's not one for everyday use.

http://technabob.com/blog/2009/02/27/dell-inspiron-mini-9-price-drop/

Translate Between 41 Different Languages!

Google has created a translator tool that converts the contents of one webpage to another language. Google has just added even more languages, giving a grand total of 41 languages. This allows 98 percent of all Internet users to be able to read nearly every website with Google's translator!

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/translate-between-41-languages-with.html

Readings for Wednesday

You'll find the short readings for this Wednesday on our class web site. Make sure you read both pages, the first on some of the ideas of Trebor Scholz and the second on the ideas of Adam Arvidsson. You will find a link at the bottom on the second page to a relatively short statement of Michel Bauwen's ideas, called The Dornbin Manifesto. Enjoy....

Key Concepts:

immaterial labor
the ethical economy
prosumption
crisis of value
to monetize
brands (Arvidsson's definition)