Last posts on technology

The Three Technologies

2012-02-09T18:21:00+01:00

There will be only three technologies that will make our lives better than they would have been in nature, and all will take brain-computer interface, so that without it the whole of civilization will have been for nothing: technological telepathy, psychonautic neurofeedback, and telekinetic flight; the first for relationships, or connection with others, the second for art, or connection with ourselves, and the third for adventure, or connection nature, as these are all that matters in life.

The Age of Madness

2011-03-15T20:35:00+01:00

With our internal world becoming more complex due to computers, and our external world becoming less complex due to urbanization, we may expect the next generations to become increasingly imbalanced towards their internal world and away from their external world, which may already be leading to an epidemic of mental illnesses which is only just beginning (Schizophrenia.com, E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.: Severe Psychiatric Disorders May Be Increasing).

Over time, in particular due to virtual reality, our internal world may appear more real than our external world, which may cause one to come to see everything as internal, including the external world. It might become difficult to see the difference between what is real and what is virtual if one spends more time in virtuality than in reality, in which one’s ego will actually identify more with the virtual self than with the real self, a reversal which could cause the real world to come to appear as the actual virtual world. The user might not even be able to remember which life came first, as many people may well begin spending time in virtuality in some time or other from before their earliest memories. Moreover, there may come a time when even one’s memories could be altered in virtual reality. Perhaps virtual reality should require a license dispensed by psychiatrists, which would require regular screenings, and which could limit using hours, but even so it is likely that this license would not be hacked, and the using hours would be surpassed illegally.

If, at a point when full-immersion virtual reality is available, we will not have restored the balance between the internal and external part of our world, then we may expect an epidemic of psychosis sweeping across our whole world, an epidemic so severe that it may leave our entire society changed for the worse, with the development of a worldwide theocracy worse than any we’ve seen before, possibly from the as yet anti-theocratic New Age movement which is already growing due to the trends of technology, being a serious possibility. We cannot, nor should we, stop the development of our internal worlds, but if we cannot reverse the destruction of our external worlds, the consequences will be of extreme severity to our society in far future.

Technology is on its way to making almost anything possible, up to a point that it will become almost impossible to tell the line between what is possible and what isn’t, and so, what is real and what is imaginary. Hallucinations and delusions result when the latent inhibition normally filtering the imaginary fails, but this filter is based on a person’s sense of what is possible and what is not. If the person has no way of knowing what is possible and what isn’t, the filter may fail, yet full-immersion virtual reality could make anything possible. There might be a time when our minds have become so used to making everything possible that we are no longer able to live in a world where we can not do so, because we can no longer understand what is possible in reality and what isn’t.

Forecast of network camera technology

2010-12-02T07:34:10+01:00

IP cameras, also known as network cameras, these cameras can be transmitted to the image the other side of the network, and the remote viewer can just use a web browser to monitor the image. The functional network camera has a traditional analog cameras can not match advantage, and with the continuous development of wireless network monitoring, network cameras will increasingly receive attention. Us to predict the following in the next few years, network camera technology trends is what it?
Significantly improve low-light performance CMOS

As technology advances, CMOS photoreceptor sensitivity is rapidly improving. It is reported that the market research company dedicated to CMOS has developed close CCD sensitivity performance and 720p and 1080p dedicated CMOS devices. As designed specifically for security monitoring, production, so its sensitivity, particularly infrared-sensitive capacity than the same size CCD. Future high-definition network cameras will be more to choose CMOS.

1 / 3 "-one to replace 1 / 4"-one
Network camera in the picture clarity breakthrough has been made, but not pixels, the higher the better, over the pursuit of high-quality low light will cause poor results and the stream is too large, but reduces the value of the camera, therefore, manufacturers in low light and high-definition and applicability of other aspects of the network to find a balance.

One machine is a video surveillance camera in the synthesizer, to some extent represents the areas of technology. Currently, the domestic movement of one machine are used abroad, in most cases, 1 / 4 "photoreceptors. Accompanied by the domestic security companies with digital high-definition era of industry opportunity for change, have emerged in a number-one independent research and development enterprise. Based on the principles of both HD and low light, the next one machine will be increasingly used 1 / 3 "photoreceptors.

SDK integration contributed to a large security

Video surveillance is a systematic project, the front end of the network camera can not do without the support of the back-end platform, software, system software functions can be applied to scale, system expansion, system stability and operation of human nature and so will be the development of future network cameras important topic.

HD network camera through the SDK software development kit provided by the monitoring system can be secondary development, system integration and functional integration to achieve a large security. With the city's construction of domestic peace, and carrier-grade product quality requirements to introduce the concept of the system platform should be towards a network, anti-disaster, the prevention, recovery and other direction.

With the network camera technology continues to improve, is bound to replace traditional cameras.

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MYOB Retail Manager - CT Matters

2010-11-04T07:42:17+01:00

Liberate yourself from bothersome administrative tasks. Seek the services of experts and think CT Matters. Computer Technology Matters is a specialist in providing advanced management systems and MYOB training for Sydney businesses. Whether it’s an up-and-coming firm or an established company, CT Matters will give you important tools like MYOB Retail Manager or MYOB add on solutions to do those cumbersome tasks swiftly and efficiently.

IXDownload.Com helps computer users save millions in potential disk crash losses

2010-10-30T15:21:18+02:00

Data Recovery service provider and specialist Kroll Ontrack reported earlier this year that their data recovery service's recovery volume increased from 3.2 Petabytes to 14 petabytes from 2005 to 2009. This explosive nearly fivefold growth in data recovery by just one company reflects the growth in data recovery worldwide and underlines the problem of data crashes facing consumers and businesses worldwide. Given the expense and hassle of hard drive crashes and the amount of lost resources and productivity this increasing problem causes, the Internet's leading software review and analysis authority, ixDownload.com has released their Hard Drive Crash Prevention Resource and other Data Recovery information.“Most consumers are still on a local drive data storage model while many corporate users are moving toward a more cloud-centered data storage, retrieval, and recovery model,” notes Oliver Thompson, ixDownload's Media Communications executive. “This doesn't lessen the impact of the logistical nightmare and loss of income associated with hard drive crashes. Whether you have to pull out your drive and take it to a recovery center or a remote technician reviews your virtual storage infrastructure and records, the costs in time as well as the stress are considerable. Our resource page seeks to give users some semblance of control over an ultimately uncontrollable eventuality.” IxDownload's resource page steps users through several easily doable data crash prevention and data recovery preparation “best practices”. From constantly updating software to prevent data corruption to simple and easy steps to prepare for data recovery, users are given straightfoward options they can take to prevent data crashes. Users are encouraged to be proactive in implementing these steps since the cost of implementation are way lower than the costs of data recovery, new hardware, and the time and labor needed to reconstruct data or reinstall applications.“Whether you're a home user or a mid-sized office manager, our resource page will help you manage your data crash exposure risks,” said Thompson.About ixdownloadixdownload is a highly reliable source of software downloading guides, tips, and information on the web today. Ixdownload also provides quick access to different software downloads on their site. This software review website guide aims to provide assistance to software customers and users, so they can make smart choices, whether in the download of trial products or making actual software purchases. Those who are planning to download data recovery software may check out the buying guide and downloading tips on the site. Now, software buyers can easily check which systems are best suited for their hard drive failures or corrupt data, just by checking out reviews and information published on ixdownload. Contact detailsOliver ThompsonBellevue WashingtonMedia Communications Executive

StarBurn Software Announces Release of New Windows CD/DVD and Blu-Ray/HD-DVD Burning SDK

2010-10-30T15:20:19+02:00

Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands - StarBurn Software today announced the official release of StarBurn Burning SDK V12 for Microsoft Windows. The new toolkit features advanced architecture for managing optical mastering, ripping and burning operations in third-party software applications. The release includes several new features including native 64-bit core, Windows 7 and Windows Vista support and an enhanced StarBurnX ActiveX and .NET interfaces."The StarBurn SDK code base for optical recording is already licensed to many world-class software companies," said Artem Berman, StarBurn Software's CFO, VP of Sales and Strategic Development. "And because StarBurn Software offers developers SDK solutions for all the major developmet platforms including Java, C# and numerous Borland environments, we are attracting many software development companies that offer multi-platform software solutions. Our new Windows release is of particular interest to our Windows customers that are developing their software for the booming Windows 7 and Windows Vista 64-bit market."The new Windows version of StarBurn SDK is based on the same solid and reliable code base as StarBurn Software's award-winning StarBurn CD-DVD and Blu-Ray burning application. It is either static or dynamic linked library (ActiveX control for StarBurnX) that has been reduced to an extremely small footprint, less than 600 kilobytes. Along with the many features already in StarBurn SDK, the introduction of StarBurn SDK V12 for Windows enables developers to initialize and manage multiple recording devices and to simultaneously perform several tasks for grabbing, burning, copying, formatting and erasing optical media. Another new development in StarBurn Burning API is its UDF 2.50 and 2.60 burning and mastering of the BD video to any Blu-Ray disc. For help implementing these and any of StarBurn SDK many features, developers that license StarBurn SDK are eligible for StarBurn Software’s extensive support resources, both online and with email and telephone. Customers also receive free access to StarBurn Software’s exclusive developer website that features answers to frequently asked questions, sample code and practical instructions from StarBurn Software developers about using StarBurn SDK."StarBurn Software provides optical burning SDKs for numerous development platforms and they use basically the same toolkit architecture, regardless of the development environment," said Artem Berman. "Developers see StarBurn SDK as very coherent and easier to integrate into multiple software products. This latest release of StarBurn SDK for Windows is another jewel in the crown of StarBurn Software’s optical burning SDK support."AvailabilityStarBurn optical recording SDK for Windows is available for direct download at http://www.starburnsoftware.com/products/starburn-sdk/downloadAbout StarBurn SoftwareStarBurn Software, Ltd (http://www.starburnsoftware.com) is a global provider and technology leader in optical media storage software. StarBurn SDK is a software development kit provided with the abilities to add optical media recording and mastering capabilities to any Windows application.StarBurn Software and the StarBurn logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of StarBurn Software Inc. or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. Other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Risk and Benefits of Offshore Software Development

2010-10-27T12:49:42+02:00

Offshore software development is a type of outsourcing where a country allots the software development jobs to overseas countries. The developed countries consider this as a best opportunity to get their jobs done at a lower cost. The increased number of skilled work force in the developing countries makes them confident to transfer their job to overseas countries.Offshore software development jobs includes Desktop Application Development, E-commerce Software Solutions, Systems Migration, Web Marketing, Software Maintenance, Software Support, Wireless Application, Technology Audits, Smartcard Solution, Third Party Integration, Enterprise Resource Planning, e-Learning Tools Software Development, and so on. Let us discuss what are the benefits and risk of offshore software development in India. Also let us see the impact on this offshore software development business in Indian shore.What are the Benefits (Advantages)?Low Cost of LaborWhen a developing country opts for outsourcing of software development jobs, what they mainly aim is nothing but cheap labor. As India has such a large population of skilled labor, these countries are at advantage and can easily be done their job at a very competitive price. Also the training cost of the labor will be very, very low when measure up to the cost that needs to spend on the trainees in a developed country. Cut Down On Infrastructure ExpenditureWhen a developed country opts for outsourcing the software developing jobs to India, they do not have to spend a lot on infrastructure and their operating costs going considerably down. This is an enormous advantage in term of cutting on the expenditure of a company on the whole.Faster Turnaround TimeAs companies are in a race to secure more jobs and earning a good name among offshore software development jobs companies, they try their maximum to complete their work fast. This naturally leads to have a quicker turnaround time for each task. This indirectly helps the developing countries to go ahead with their projects on timeWhat are the Risks (Disadvantages)?Low Project Management QualityOften this is the complaint heard from offshore about the outsourcing jobs to India that the project management quality is low though the skill to complete the work is relatively high. They say as far as the size of the project is small, they can manage it well; however, if at all it goes to a larger scale, it proved to be a little risky to hand over the job to Indian shore for offshore software development.Scarcity of Seasoned Professionals Though the technical resources of India are quite vast, the experienced professionals are a smaller amount. India faces this huge problem of brain drain as the skilled and more experienced professionals migrate to other developing countries quite often. This leads to a big loss to the Indian skilled job market. Instability of StaffAs the skilled professionals are on a high demand, they tend to jump from one job to another regularly. This leads to instability in the ongoing project and causes huge reduction in the quality of software development.

ixDownload Presents One Of Their Products Reviews Adobe Dreamweaver

2010-10-26T16:24:00+02:00

Take advantage of attractive deals and discounts just by checking out this review of Adobe Dreamweaver by ixDownload. Teachers and students can expect great discounts on Dreamweaver software downloads at the site.Bellevue, Washington, October 25 2010 – One of most trusted software review guides on the web, Ixdownload, has launched a review of Adobe Dreamweaver, a dynamic and feature-rich web development application system by Adobe. Through this Adobe Dreamweaver review, web developers, coders, application developers, and other potential users of the system can look into the various features of Dreamweaver and how they may be able to utilize the program for the creation, development, and maintenance of different sites and applications. Attractive deals and discountsThe review of Adobe Dreamweaver by Ixdownload summarizes the features of the software and includes a short review by editors as well. Since Adobe Dreamweaver is a type of software used in creating and maintaining websites and different applications, most of its primary users include web designers, web developers, visual designers, and coders, among others. The latest version of the Dreamweaver is CS5, created to shore up different technologies on the web, including CSS, JavaScript, and even scripting languages such as PHP and ColdFusion. The interface of the latest version is also meant to provide better efficiency to users, whether in coding or designing web pages.Now with the user-friendly tools of the Dreamweaver web development application system, teachers, students, and other professionals in the academe have begun to look into its many features as well. Students and teachers who choose to download Adobe Dreamweaver can get a huge discount, from its original price at $399 down to just $149. They may choose to download Dreamweaver alone or acquire this system as part of an entire package. Users may choose from different packages, such as Adobe Design Premium, Adobe Web Premium, and Adobe Master Collection. Those who are looking to get the Dreamweaver web application system in the latest version may opt to go for the CS5. About Adobe DreamweaverOriginally created by Macromedia, Adobe Dreamweaver is a web development application now developed by Adobe Systems. Through the Dreamweaver, it is possible for users to preview websites in web browsers, which have been locally installed. In the more recent versions of the system, users can modify and update images without having to use Photoshop as well as write Javascript more easily. Adobe Dreamweaver is a highly flexible system, made compatible for both Windows and Mac operating systems and for various web technologies including CSS and JavaScript. About IxdownloadIxdownload is a highly reliable source of software downloading guides, tips, and information on the web today. Ixdownload also provides quick access to different software downloads on their site. This software review website guide aims to provide assistance to software customers and users, so they can make smart choices, whether in the download of trial products or making actual software purchases. Those who are planning to download Dreamweaver by Adobe Systems may check out the buying guide and downloading tips on the site. Now, software buyers can easily check which systems are best suited for their designing and creative needs, just by checking out reviews and information published on ixdownload. Contact detailsOliver ThompsonBellevue Washington

Breaking News. Sensational New Plug-Play PC Digital Scrapbook software for Your Halloween Pictures! No Designing!

2010-10-26T16:23:20+02:00

Stream Information Brokers(Houston,Tx,October 18, 2010, www.streaminfobrokers.com)Company announces release of Halloween Photos Digital Scrapbook Revolutionary New PC software Interactive multimedia product. One small size Computer File includes ready to use hosted from Your Computer the Best Spectacular Halloween Digital Photos Scrapbook with Best Music program and Your awesome holiday digital pictures as special Visual effects. No Your Own designing needed! Experts designers had done all scrapbook design job for You! Just upload 35-50 Your own photos to replace our generic digital picture and setup program just 1time in Simple,easy 1-2-3 steps by following installation manual! Now in 1click You could show everybody Your awesome scrapbook pictures million times. Your photos at this Awesome Halloween Party could be Best Long Lasting Memories about this Holiday Event. Get this sensational software Now! It is the Best, Fast, Simple, Easy and Cheapest way to Keep,Preserve photo memories is to use this Amazing Digital Photos Scrapbook-album,organize photos into automatic show display, automatic play Holiday Music program Presentation and start to run this show in 1minute. Would You like to waste hours,days,months of Your precious Free time to learn how to use and produce by Yourself low quality,amateur made Digital Scrapbooks to present them in print,CD-Rom,Web,Email? All Famous Brand Name Digital Scrapbook Software like Hallmark Scrapbook Studio -$28.99USD, HP Creative Scrapbook Assistant - $29.99USD,Polaroud My Memories Suite -$59.98USD; and those brand name Scrapbook software require heavy hard hours,days,months work to design scrapbook byYou! This product is perfect for kids and adults! Even school student could insert Photos under adult supervision. Do nothing! Just kick back,Relax,Celebrate and enjoy the memories or share with anybody! Magnificient Digital Music Scrapbook starts and run automatic, plays music,songs and displays Your photos from recent party! You could run this software millions times for lifetime or order custom made with your photos copies of software product and Simple,Easy,Fast and Cheap to Send as gift to Relatives,Friends(free shipping).Buy Gift in 5minutes.Get it delivered worldwide via email in next 2 hours after purchase guaranteed! For more info contact at HolidayFunDJ@gmail.com.Order,Pay ,Download Now Online 24/7 at http://1holidayfundj.freeservers.com.Get Rewarded,Score Big in Your Relations,Career,Success,Life with this One Of a Kind Sensational Magic Holiday Interactive Software Media Product.!Holiday Party Fun Store offers Unique Amazing Exclusive Interactive Media Quick Celebration Starter Gifts Products for Holidays, Birthdays, Parties for More Magic, Fun, Joy,Romance,Love, Parties,Games, Entertainment in Your life.Stream Information Brokers is Parent company for Holiday Party Fun Store and Exclusive supplier those Revolutionary New Interactive Software Media Products “Holiday Fun DJ(Hostess) Quick Party Celebration Starter” with Best Music,Visuals to help You Start Holiday Celebration earlier,Get Best Holiday Cheers,Raise Your Spirits,make you smile and Happy!

Yamgo: Entertaining The Mobile Generation.

2010-04-08T17:04:48+02:00

Every month thousands of people are tuning into watch TV and video on their mobile phone for the first time. If you are one of the millions of mobile phone users who has already switched on to the amazing development of free live mobile TV then you will be aware of the pioneering service offered by Yamgo. Until recently the experience of mobile TV for many users has ranged from pixelated small screen viewing to high-quality live TV on the iPhone. The overall experience has failed to compare with their Plasma TV at home. But for those who have registered with Yamgo, and use the latest smartphone and a 3G or Wi-Fi connection, the small screen is proving be personalised TV on the go.Yamgo is changing the way that people use mobile phones and leading the market in delivering high-quality live mobile TV and video. By recognising the importance of optimising the experience on both old phones with poor connection and high-end devices like the iPad, Yamgo delivers both catch up video clips and live TV that works on almost any phone. Yamgo’s live streaming service provides mobile phone users with instant access to an increasing number of live TV channels and a constantly updated catalogue of videos regardless of which network operator or phone they use. Yamgo is able to provide the service free of charge because just as on regular TV you may have to watch adverts. Unlike so many tasks in life, registering to use the Yamgo service is simple. You can either sign up online and they will send a text link direct to your mobile phone or you can navigate your mobile phone browser straight to www.yamgo.mobi Once registered you can watch free live UK TV channels offering breaking news, exciting sport, movies and your favourite TV shows as well as music videos from leading music TV channels. Yamgo also enables people to watch thousands of videos which are updated on a daily basis and share their experience by sending video links to friends. The Yamgo service uses the existing video player in the user’s mobile phone and does not require any additional software or application download.Yamgo’s service has universal appeal. Its audience includes Nokia, Samsung, Android, Blackberry, Sony Ericsson, iPhone and iPod Touch users. Unlike other providers, Yamgo operates optimised live streaming over a 3G or Wi-Fi connection allowing users of almost any phone or other mobile device to enjoy live TV entertainment.The driving force behind Yamgo is a respected team of mobile technology experts and TV enthusiasts. Yamgo’s CEO Ian Mullins commented, “Our mobile TV player first recognises the phone, make and model in order to deliver the right screen size for the device. Once your phone connects to our streaming servers we detect your bandwidth and if that changes during viewing our system automatically adapts the quality up or down without interrupting viewing. It’s still a mobile device, so it’s never going to be perfect unless you have strong a 3G or Wi-Fi signal, but Yamgo has the best solution in the industry.”Yamgo is great for watching TV on the go. It provides a high quality mobile TV experience for mobile users anytime, anywhere. Remember it’s free so give it a go!

The affects of TXTing on language

2009-10-06T17:21:15+02:00

The significant rise of technological aptitude in children is presenting interesting questions for education. Children expect things immediately. They interact with colors, sounds, videos, digital media, etc. How are their impressions of technology impacting their willingness to learn? A lot of people are discussing these issues. I haven't heard any discussion regarding changes in language and spelling due to texting. Children are familiar with spellings like pic, txt, thnx, u r, etc, how will this change their ability to learn language and spell or will it alter language completely?

Video web storage technology provider VideoCells raised $3.2 million

2009-02-01T15:36:00+01:00

Video web storage technology provider VideoCells has raised $3.2 million in a new financial round led by Israeli entrepreneur, Marc Belzberg. The cash infusion will be used to enhance the company marketing and sales efforts in the video surveillance market.

VideoCells developed a video management platform, called WebVR, which offers a low-cost IP-based, central service that allows the user to remotely record, view and manage content. The solution, that reduce the cost of monitoring services to SMBs, remote locations and homes, targets surveillance companies, telecom operators and ISPs.

VideoCells is a provider of video monitoring solutions that enable broadcasting of real-time and recorded video streams from IP, analog and web cameras to PCs, cellular phones, PDAs and TVs. Established in 2004, the company, managed by Stuart Steinberg, is located in Petach-Tikva, Israel.

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What is Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA)?

2008-11-02T15:08:47+01:00

SOA is a design philosophy for loosely coupled services.

Web Services: SOA is not directly affiliated with web services although the two seem to be bound in many conversations. Web Services can be used to "Implement" SOA. It is important to separate design philosophy from implementation.

Write Use Case as Scenario's

2008-11-02T15:03:12+01:00

Don't write use case as though composing a traditional functional requirement document. Requirements are collected as a sperate artifact.

Do write use case in the form of usage scenario text. Requirements are stated in terms of what the system shall do, while usage scenarios (Use Case) describe actions that the users take and the system responses.

Eventually, our use case text will be used as behavioral specification for the scenario described, and the use case text will sit on the left margin of a sequence diagram. We want to be able to clearly see how the system (shown with objects and messages) implements the desired behavior, as described in the use case text.

Use Case and the UI

2008-11-02T14:58:42+01:00

Do not avoid the subject of user interface. One of the fundamentals of "use case driven" is that design of the system will conform to the viewpoints of the users. You need to be specific as to what actions the users will perform on your screens. The use of prototype screens, in whatever form, is ok. Remember that transfer of knowledge is the goal. A well formatted Use Case (Following the rules) is great but it is worthless if it does not "Spell Out" the user intent. Yes, I favor substance over form.

Don't write Use Case in a passive voice

2008-11-02T14:56:37+01:00

A use case is most effectively written from the user's perspective as a set of present-tense verb phrases in active voice. Technical staff have tendency to use passive voice, but use cases should state the actions that the user performs, and the system's responses to those actions. Use Case text is only effective when it is expressed in the active voice.

Fusion Man - I wish I could fly

2008-05-15T16:20:00+02:00

'Fusion Man', aka Yves Rossy, flies with a jet-powered single wing over the Alps in Bex, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2008.

An ancient dream comes true...

(AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

http://wtop.com/?nid=218&sid=634384&pid=0

Happy 1 April !

2008-04-01T14:57:42+02:00

Make sure to celebrate by using Google's Custom Time. (And check out their past innovations.)

Also, How Stuff Works: How the Air Force One Hybrid Works

FYEO

2008-03-10T11:35:00+01:00

Interesting article in the NYT yesterday -- Text Generation Gap: U R 2 Old (JK) -- about kids, teens, and adults using cell phones for phoning and texting, and how the technology is both alienating and bonding (something Ingmar Bergman might have explored if he were writing and directing now ...).

A father in the NYT article says that he and his wife banned cellphone use at the dinner table for their daughter because they "worried about the distraction. '[Kids] become unaware of your presence,' he said. [He] is well aware of how destabilizing cellphones, iPods and hand-held video game players can be to family relations. 'I see kids text under the table at the restaurant,' he said. 'They don't teach them etiquette anymore.' Some children, he said, watch videos in restaurants. 'They don't know that's the time to carry on a conversation,' he said."

At dinner last night, in a fairly nice restaurant, I noticed that the teenaged boy near us was looking into his lap during most of his family's (?) meal. He was pretty much immobile for the better part of an hour. I assumed he was either asleep or texting (I hoped it was one of those two) -- probably texting the other teenaged boy at the table, who also had a cell phone.

This doesn't seem much different to me than reading a book at the table, which I certainly tried to do when I was growing up. Of course, this wasn't allowed in my house, because, naturally, we were supposed to be learning that dinner is a "time to carry on a conversation," but there are many nights for most kids when anything is preferable to forced conversation with your parents. Dinner often seemed like wasted time to me when I was a teenager, and I wish I could say looking back that it wasn't, but it still feels the same even in retrospect. I had great conversations with both parents at lots of other times, but there was a dinner pall that seemed to settle on our table.

This will be news to no one, but besides jolly parent-child dinner conversation, letter-writing is another lost art these days: One college freshman explained that "'Texting is in between calling and sending an e-mail.'... Now he won't even consider writing a letter to his mother, Jan. 'It's too time consuming,' he said. 'You have to go to the post office. Instead, I can sit and watch television and send a text, which is the same thing.'"

When I read this, I thought of people of my acquaintance who would say that texting and letter-writing are definitely not the same thing. I guess it partly depends on what the letter would have said. Some letters I receive in the mail could be text messages without losing a bit of subtlety or charm. Maybe there is also something tactile and sensory about receiving a printed letter that receiving a text message or an email can never approximate.

But in reality, I would rather email someone (maybe while watching TV, making cookies, surfing online, or doing something else at roughly the same time), than call or write a mailed letter. (I don't text but that would be even more convenient, because I could do it while walking and other times when I'm nowhere near my laptop.)

Have teenagers ever wanted to write letters and notes, except perhaps to special penpals? Some of my nephews do send me real handwritten thank-you notes, but that's only when their mother sits them down, makes them write, addresses the envelopes, and mails the cards. (And they're aged 16-21.) Most of my nephews and neices and friends' kids email their thank-yous, which is fine with me. Then there are those who don't respond to gifts at all, but that hardly seems a technological issue.

(By the way, letter-writing doesn't have to include a trip to the post office, thanks to yet more technology. You can make your own stamps at Zazzle, have them mailed to you, and use them on letters that you leave in your mailbox or mailslot for the carrier, never having to leave your own yard/campus. Not as easy as a text message, though.)

Obsolete Skills, Like Adjusting Rabbit Ears, Balancing the Tone Arm on a Turntable, and ... Getting to Know Your Neighbo

2008-02-24T12:10:00+01:00

Obsolete Skills, which is a wiki (edited by anyone who wants to, whether they are experts on the topic or complete dolts), not only lists them but describes some obsolete, almost-obsolete, and perhaps debatably obsolete skills in lucid detail. Not all of them, though. And some (q.v. previous link) aren't all that obsolete, which is sometimes acknowledged. Many are computer-related, but not all.

The Externalized Mind

2007-10-30T11:40:00+01:00

I've outsourced my brain, too.

"Memory? I've externalized it. I am one of those baby boomers who are making this the 'It's on the Tip of My Tongue Decade.' But now I no longer need to have a memory, for I have Google, Yahoo and Wikipedia. Now if I need to know some fact about the world, I tap a few keys and reap the blessings of the external mind."

Ah-yup.

Are we becoming one with the 'universal' mind, or are we becoming utterly mindless?

Sidebar: Why are Mark Shield's conservative opponents on the NewsHour so unnervingly likable and appealing? Not only Brooks, but Paul Gigot before him.

No more SMS from Jesus

2007-10-13T15:50:00+02:00

Via Experientia

In this thought-provoking article entitled "No more SMS from Jesus: ubicomp, religion and techno-spiritual practices", Genevieve Bell, a researcher in anthropology and director of user experience at Intel, discusses the use of information technologies in religious practices:

Abstract. Over the last decade, new information and communication technologies have lived a secret life. For individuals and institutions around the world, this constellation of mobile phones, personal computers, the internet, software, games, and other computing objects have supported a complex set of religious and spiritual needs. In this paper, I offer a survey of emerging and emergent techno-spiritual practices, and the anxieties surrounding their uptake. I am interested in particular in the ways in which religious uses of technology represent not only a critique of dominant visions of technology’s futures, but also suggest a very different path(s) for ubiquitous computing's technology envisioning and development

The article was presented at the conference Ubicomp 2006. Full text is available here

Review of ”iWoz” by Steve Wozniak and Gina Smith

2007-03-08T20:14:23+01:00

iWoz is the sort of book I would have loved ten years ago, and indeed it's the sort of material that makes for a great radio interview. If written in 1995, it would have been one of my favorite books of all time. As it is, Stephan Wozniak's autobiography is a fine partial history of the era that saw the rise of the personal computer. It belongs in the same class as High Noon (about Sun Microsystems) and The Second Coming of Steve Jobs (about the Next-Apple transition). A step below true classics like Fire in the Valley, iWoz is quite good.

How He Founded Apple, Invented the Personal Computer, and Had Fun Doing it (, And Afterwards)

iWoz is broken into several large parts. The first section focuses mostly on Wozniak's electric-logic experience, from earlier science fair experiments to an arpanet terminal that would eventually morph into the Apple I. These include early pranks and feature elements of obsession, sacrifices, humility, and geography that I would find as the basis of creativity in my series on Coming Anarchy. Woz's systematic exploration of electronic circuitry would finally come together in the Apple II, a product he is quite proud of and truly one of the grandest achievements of the 1980s.A second, gloomer half documents Steve's inability to horizontally apply these skills to other aspects of his life. Two marriages fail and after the second he writes painfully of losing his house. Likewise, with grace and modesty Wozniak documents betrayals by Steve Jobs and poor treatment to the news media. Similarly, Wozniak documents the failures of his US Concerts to be either what he intended or profitable, and likewise his shortlived CL9 start-up firm.In an earlier review of Robert Weisberg's Creativity: Beyond the Myth of Genius, I criticized that author for his differentiating "horizontal" and "analogical" thinking. While Weisberg's book retains many problems, this distinction is not one of them. While analogical thinking is the root of all creativity, horizontal thinking is worthless -- expertise does not "translate" from one domain to another unless analogies help bridge those domains.So all in all, iWoz is a very enjoyable book. It's a fun guided tour of the early days of the Personal Computer, and has some valuable things to say along the way about the nature of creativity.

Area Man Consults Internet Whenever Possible

2007-02-09T20:20:00+01:00

Area Man Consults Internet Whenever Possible

"'I was on the phone getting directions to a restaurant we were going out to,' Pamela said, 'when Larry started yelling, "No, no, don't ask! I'll find it!" So he opens up mapquest.com, enters our address and the restaurant's, and within 10 minutes, he had complete door-to-door directions printed out.'

"'That's right,' Larry said. 'And she wanted to get a pen and write down the directions by hand.'"

Well, exactly.

Except that Larry is a little slow, and if you read further into the article, inefficient. AOL? Browsing Yahoo's categories? Really.

I have an abridged OED 4 paces from my chair, but when I want a definition, I type the word to be defined and the word 'etymology' into Google (or just go straight to the Online Etymology Dictionary).

I have almost 50 cookbooks, plus three index card containers of recipes, but I usually find recipes online now, especially when I have two or three ingredients I want to use and wonder what I can make with them.

I have dozens of books of quotes, but I usually look up snatches of half-remembered quotes, songs, and poetry online, because of the flexibility of searching.

I have plenty of Bibles and concordances, but I almost always look online (usually at Oremus) for chapter and verse.

Phone numbers and addresses? Online, always.

Directions, maps, locating a city or country visually? Online. When tornadoes struck Florida last week, and I wondered if my dad's town was affected, I didn't run for the atlas, in the next room, and I didn't call him. I did Google image searches for "central Florida" and "Florida map," clicked on the resulting maps (here and here), and found his town and its relationship to the counties affected by the tornadoes (he wasn't closer than 150 miles). When I called him the next night, he said he was surprised to hear from me since he thought I knew that his town was no where near the tornado path. Probably would have been easier and quicker to consult a print atlas if we kept ours in a convenient place (we don't), but it feels more fun to me to do research this way.

Help for problems with the cell phone, digital camera, computer, software? Online. Lots of appliance manuals and tips from other users are available. I learned how to program numbers into an old but rather complex phone we got at Goodwill by finding online help for it.

Conversion of kilometres into miles, grams into ounces, euros into dollars? Online. (Very quickly, thanks to Google's calculator feature.)

Shopping (except for grocery and drugstore)? 90% is online for us now. Car parts (we had a radiator and a gas tank shipped ... you might not be surprised to learn that not a lot of states will allow shipping of vehicle gas tanks!), car manuals, clothes (eBay as well as other online retailers), most of our books (Amazon, Alibris, Politics & Prose), stamps (Stamps.com and Zazzle), checks, dog toys, some food, flowers, CDs, DVDs, household goods (eBay again), travel arrangements, and so on.

Customer support, finally comes to CRM

2007-01-15T02:27:09+01:00

"Customers with complaints or problems are the greatest opportunity for any business: help out a customer who cares enough to call you (rather than abandon you without a word), and you’ve probably just created a customer for life, and an evangelist for your company."Marketing has long believed this, and gradually the concept is being absorbed by the technologists who create software systems. The most interesting part of CRM today lies in the area of Customer Service and Support, CS&S. This is where the acquisition cost of the customer is either preserved or thrown away."

See Dovetail Software Blogs

Simple Home Networking Advice

2006-12-15T02:35:00+01:00

No, Mom, when I'm home for Christmas I will not update all your anti-virus software and update all the Microsoft patches you've been ignoring all year. I'm a programmer, not a computer repairman. Please stop telling Nanny that's what I do. Instead, this year I'm going to teach you how to fish.Or rather, Simple Technology will.For an easy primer on all the viruses, keyloggers and spyware that is clogging up your computer, please read "Keep your hands inside the ride at all times."Now that you have wireless, I won't dare connect to your network till I know it's safe.And here's how do more with your network: "Beyond the 'blinking 12:00:' home network solutions"If you'll read these two articles I promise not to bring home eight bags of laundry this year.

Bellsouth

2006-12-04T18:03:49+01:00

Formed after the American Tellecom and Telegraph Company (AT&T) was forced to break up its regional companies, Bellsouth is based in Atlanta. Strangely enough, it is also the only one of those companies left that uses an actual bell symbol in its company logo. Bellsouth is a combination of Southern Bell and South Central Bell and provides services to 9 southern states in the eastern United StatesIn the 1990’s, when mergers were the name of the game, this company took a pass. Still serving the same states they did when they were first peeled out from under the attyahoo umbrella, they have gone from the largest of the bells to one of the smallest. In 2004, in fact, their revenue was only about $28 billion.In order to provide many of the services this company does to its customers, they operate a number of other smaller companies. For instance Bellsouthwebmail Telecommunications provides local phone, while Bellsouth.net is a provider of internet service. Long distance comes to the region via Bellsouth Long Distance and Bellsouth international provides international operations. Cell phone services are provided by Cingular Wireless, which also provides other wireless services to customers. Bellsouth also operates a number of other companies to bring all of their advertised services to the customers. It is important to note, though, that all of this is held under the corporate name of The BellSouth Corporation.Bellsouthhomepage does not own all of the companies alone. For instance, Cingular Wireless is jointly owned by this company and AT&T. In addition, the same two companies together co-own yellowpages.com, which used to be RealPages.com and SmartPages.com. These partnerships and individual company ownership allows this company to be the important company that it is today.Bellsouthemail was founded in 1984. They are a publicly traded company chaired by F. Duane Akcerman, who also operates as the company’s Chief Operating Officer (CEO). As of recent years, This company has begun to concentrate on the areas of wireless and broadband service. The joint, 40% venture with AT&T to put together Cingular provides a big part of the revenue of the company. The company’s strategy keys on the increase of broadband use among the general public. Their main competition comes from companies such as Spring, MCI, Qwest, and Vorizen wireless.All of the move toward wireless is a move to save the future of the bell south company. This company, like many phone companies, continues to lose home phone customers on a regular basis. With internet voice protocol and cell phone use up, home phone use is down and many of the old bell companies are feeling the heat. Bellsouth remains committed to the wireless and broadband industries so that in the coming communications wars they don’t get left out in the cold.

My Google Idea

2006-11-28T22:53:53+01:00

Google is neither bad nor good it is only a vehicle and for the most part it does what it is supposed to do very well. To the average Joe it is a darned good search engine. To webmasters, online business enterprises and the like it is a morphing complex and ever changing behemoth whose every move must be carefully tracked studied and considered before making any decision to do with online commerce or any major form of web communications.SEO (search engine optimization) has become the single most important body of knowledge in the cyber world, maybe even the whole world! This is the science of website promotion. The most basic elements are search engine rankings, keywords and advertising. Yahoo, MSN, and other search engines require pretty much the same things as Google in order to be successful but Google is the undisputed champ at the moment.Google cannot be faulted for running its business like a business but as with so many other giants of industry the human element starts to disappear in almost equal and direct proportion to its own grandiosity.More then ever warnings are trumpeted about the fatal errors involved in not following the Google guidelines for optimization. The wrong keywords, the wrong number of links, the wrong kind of tags and other elements of website promotion can spell sudden death to any site.googlevideos googleuk googleimage goggleearth googlepl googleom googlecaAs a writer I have run up against a few of Google’s potential shoot me downs. To my chagrin it is a software program that decides my fate and not a real person.I publish articles all over the internet and by checking sites and data bases that host my articles I can ascertain that about two or three hundred thousand people have read my work and it is increasing daily. I gleefully submitted articles to any decent article base I could find. I always kept in mind that it was the message I was writing that was important to get out to as many people as possible. After all it is those people that are most important of all, I reasoned.Now if my articles show up in too many places I can get the search engine axe. I can’t deny that getting the articles out was always my primary goal. I have no product to sell and I’m not hoping for fame but I still have to watch my step. I can readily understand that there are thousands of outfits that are driven by greed or malice and would ride on the backs of the search engines to any place they could. But I doubt that a robot or software program knows the difference between me and them.I have often pondered what I would do about all this if I were the CEO of Google. The answer always seemed obvious. I wouldn’t change the entire direction of Google but I would add something to insure that it could not lose its human element. I would create a department not as a mere appendage but as full blown arm of the company.My department would be constantly searching for websites that show remarkable qualities. Sites with exceptionality would be chosen and become part of a feature known as “Google’s Choice.” Great web design would be on the list but not limited to that. Real humans would search for not so great designs but with obvious fledgling intuitiveness and our department would offer and provide help to those sites to bring them up to the highest levels.The department would seek out sites with important content. Sites that contribute to the entire web experience, to their particular area of concern or perhaps to the nation or the entire world at large.No one would need to apply but rather we would apply ourselves to searching out and approaching these sites. We would develop them, contribute to them and promote them. Their success would be our reward and no more as long as their success was beneficial in some way to the entire web community.Some mistakes would be made and it would require a willingness to experiment a bit but the rewards would be so great. The bad rap the internet gets now with all the porn and trash might at least be offset by such a truly humanitarian endeavor.One of the most wildly successful books of the decade has been Rick Warren’s, The Purpose Driven Life. It has been said that this book is not the most important book of the decade but behind it was promotional machinery that could have been equally as successful with a book about raising hogs. Just for the shear heck of it our new department would try to simulate this kind of success. Maybe we could take Martha’s little home and family pics site and turn it into the most marvelous internet gallery online. Why climb that mountain, to borrow a phrase, “because it is there.”The present internet legacy is a draw between a good international business platform and a river of scams, schemes and scum. The bottom line is that it would help an internet giant to make the internet itself a giant contributor to the world at large. If I were the CEO of Google the new “Google’s Choice” would be the first order of business for me.

Computers For Sale

2006-10-25T03:09:49+02:00

Have you bought a computer yet? No, I'm not talking about that old Tandy set that's stashed away in the attic. I'm talking about a brand new computer. Something with Internet access and wireless connection capabilities. Okay, I'm probably going a tad too far with that spiel, but you do want to make sure your PC or Mac is up to par. This is the only way you can enjoy the latest technology.

Register Domain Name co.uk

2006-07-29T00:01:14+02:00

There are some requirements associated with registering a domain name with the co.uk extension. For one the location of the company register of the domain name must be located in the UK.If you can meet this requirement then you are just a step away from registering. Find your favorite domain register company like Godaddy or Network Solutions. Most domain companies will allow you to register co.uk domain names.Co.uk domain names are fairly inexpensive. Their price is comparable to the cost of a .com or .net domain name. You really gain an advantage if you are a business looking to work mostly in the UK with a co.uk domain name. Those customers you are hoping to gain will automatically associate you with regional advantage.Along with your domain name you will want to be sure to have a good hosting company. Hosting companies are the computers that domain names connect to for your web site. Without a hosting company your web site is useless.

SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY and ECONOMIC THEORY

2006-07-18T20:23:43+02:00

In this chapter, i can understood the relationship between science, technology and economic theory. In our class discussion we discussed the relationship between technology and economy. However, in this chapter economic theories which is related with science and technology is discussed more detailed. I think technological developments help us to increase the quality of products and new job opportunities. In this chapter I also understood that science and technological developments create a powerful relationship with other countries. In my opinion this situation also derives from econmical status of a country. As we can see easily, as a result of technological and scientific innovations help to make good relationships with other countries by effecting the economical development. In my opinion, technological and scientific innovations create and industrial revolution in countries also. As we discussed in our class session discussions, industrial revolutions has a great and positive effect on economical growth.

Science, Technology and Economy

2006-07-12T07:42:58+02:00

As we discussed in our class discussion, scientific and technological developments increase the economical power of a country. Also economy create new opportunities for scientific researches and technological developments. For example, if a country's scientists try to find pills to prevent the growth of cancer cells, they need a geat power of economy and technology. However, after they achieve their goal, the money that they earn from this scientific research will doubled their eceonomic power. In my before writings, I always advocated that science and technology are complementary factors in a society. After I read this chapter, I think that economy also a member of this complemention. This is a cycle and in my mind, economy, science and technology are the members yet. In my further readings, this cycle may take more members .

introduction to science,technology and society

2006-07-03T19:45:00+02:00

As I consider the science and tyechnology introduction chapter and V. Bush article, I can easily agree with the importance of science as defined in our chapter. Science determine the place of individual in the universe. people can understand what is happening in their environment with the help of science. As I mentioned before post I still advocate that science research can be developed with technology and thus both of them depends on the economy of the countries. In addition to these ideas, I also think that the studies in science and technology mainly depen on the politics of government. In my opinion most of the countries invest to the science and tehcnology to improve their power in the world. At that point there is another important point persist again that I mentioned above. As individual find their places in the universe with the help of science, science and technology also determines the place of governments and societies in the world too. Finally, in this chapter I want to talk about the themes and structure of science, technology and society. As I consider the techmology, l think it has both positive and negative effects on society and humanity. Evolution in technology makes people more idle. However, it has some opportunity for people who want to make research and try to make contribition to social and scientific development.