Are you ready for a smart fridge?
This news article discusses a new 'smart' refrigerator that is Wi-Fi enabled and has an 8-inch touchscreen that provides access to various apps on the front. As the writer notes, it is a huge step up from the magnets, paper, and sticky notes that we're used to adorning the fronts of our refrigerators. The apps that come with the refrigerator include a recipe finder, a weather reporting service, news application, Pandora for music, Picasa for photos, and Google calendar that can keep in sync with smartphones, computers, or other devices that are compatible with Google Calendar. As innovative as it sounds, it's actually not that innovative in reality. There have been "smart" refrigerators that have been conceptualized and created in the past, but have never really caught on in popularity. However, in today's high-tech wireless world that is already used to dozens of apps on all our devices - from phones to televisions to cars - it would not be surprising if this refrigerator also caught on.
It seems like every device that is close to us or central (at all) to our living has been recently outfitted with Wi-Fi and plethoras of applications. It's an interesting trend that I don't see ending anytime soon. Smart phones have become a norm rather than a luxury. Has "smart" technology gone too far in its application to refrigerators? I don't think so. Refrigerators are central to many homes, being an integral part of any modern kitchen. I think that it's a good idea actually - it could shift greater focus to the kitchen as the center of a home. However, at this time, the "smart" refrigerator will probably not catch on because of its steep price tag - at $3,499, the price of the refrigerator will definitely keep the refrigerator out of many homes. In any case, it's a great idea in my opinion and something that I hope will be part of my future kitchen :)
Monday, May 2, 2011
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Amazon's Cloud Computing Troubles
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/23/technology/23cloud.html
Just this past Thursday, Amazon's cloud computing service experienced technical difficulties which resulted in many companies that depended on the service to experience outages in their own systems. However, there was a great disparity between what larger firms experienced and what smaller start-up firms experienced in response to the technical difficulties at Amazon. While larger, more able, firms were able to invest larger sums of money on backup and recovery services provided by Amazon, smaller firms who did not have as extensive backup plans were left feeling the full-blown effects of the outage. For example, firms like Netflix, who have invested a lot in Amazon's "insurance" systems to backup crucial data like "customer movie queues, search tools and the like," smaller companies who were unable or unwilling to fork out the larger investment in increased security faced effects like downed websites and inaccessible data.
The whole experience really exemplifies and calls into the question the speed at which current companies are rushing to back cloud computing. It is certainly a new field, but at the same time, is also growing at an enormous rate, with many big name firms (and huge numbers of small start-ups) utilizing cloud computing services like those offered by Amazon. Is cloud computing safe? Should we trust it? One data center specialist claimed that technical difficulties like the one experienced by Amazon are analogous to airplane crashes - while they are certainly catastrophic, the chances of them happening are rare, and air travel is still statistically much safer than automobile travel. Thus, though crashes like this may happen with big cloud computing firms like Amazon, the chances of significant damage are less than the chances of firms keeping track of their own individual data centers.
Just this past Thursday, Amazon's cloud computing service experienced technical difficulties which resulted in many companies that depended on the service to experience outages in their own systems. However, there was a great disparity between what larger firms experienced and what smaller start-up firms experienced in response to the technical difficulties at Amazon. While larger, more able, firms were able to invest larger sums of money on backup and recovery services provided by Amazon, smaller firms who did not have as extensive backup plans were left feeling the full-blown effects of the outage. For example, firms like Netflix, who have invested a lot in Amazon's "insurance" systems to backup crucial data like "customer movie queues, search tools and the like," smaller companies who were unable or unwilling to fork out the larger investment in increased security faced effects like downed websites and inaccessible data.
The whole experience really exemplifies and calls into the question the speed at which current companies are rushing to back cloud computing. It is certainly a new field, but at the same time, is also growing at an enormous rate, with many big name firms (and huge numbers of small start-ups) utilizing cloud computing services like those offered by Amazon. Is cloud computing safe? Should we trust it? One data center specialist claimed that technical difficulties like the one experienced by Amazon are analogous to airplane crashes - while they are certainly catastrophic, the chances of them happening are rare, and air travel is still statistically much safer than automobile travel. Thus, though crashes like this may happen with big cloud computing firms like Amazon, the chances of significant damage are less than the chances of firms keeping track of their own individual data centers.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Match.com and the Sex Offender Registry
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110418/ap_on_re_us/us_matchcom_sex_offenders;_ylt=AlrkTQ1ojsjWdZKVXHvRkn.s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTFoNTBlaWExBHBvcwMxMzAEc2VjA2FjY29yZGlvbl90ZWNobm9sb2d5BHNsawNtYXRjaGNvbXRvY2g-
A woman (who remains anonymous) is filing a lawsuit against dating website, match.com, for not protecting her against a sexual predator who assaulted her after meeting her through the site. As a result, match.com is combining with the sex offender registry system to restrict registered sex offenders from joining the dating site. I thought this was a very interesting way of combining different technologies and utilizing information that is available. Match.com and dating sites like it have revolutionized dating and how people meet. I'm not sure of the actual percentage, but I do know that a formidable percentage of couples nowadays meet online. In the same way that dating moved online, so did the method in which the public was notified of dangerous sex offenders in their communities. Through Megan's Law, the Wetterling Act, and the PROTECT amendment to the Wetterling Act, sex offenders were required to register in state registries that eventually went online. It seems strange that these two new innovations - online dating and online sex offender registries - are collaborating together to provide a safer dating service, but I think that it's a positive step to take that is innovative and certainly keeping up with the way our world is changing more and more into an online one.
In any case, I thought it was interesting and a good idea that other dating websites i'm sure will also pick up on.
A woman (who remains anonymous) is filing a lawsuit against dating website, match.com, for not protecting her against a sexual predator who assaulted her after meeting her through the site. As a result, match.com is combining with the sex offender registry system to restrict registered sex offenders from joining the dating site. I thought this was a very interesting way of combining different technologies and utilizing information that is available. Match.com and dating sites like it have revolutionized dating and how people meet. I'm not sure of the actual percentage, but I do know that a formidable percentage of couples nowadays meet online. In the same way that dating moved online, so did the method in which the public was notified of dangerous sex offenders in their communities. Through Megan's Law, the Wetterling Act, and the PROTECT amendment to the Wetterling Act, sex offenders were required to register in state registries that eventually went online. It seems strange that these two new innovations - online dating and online sex offender registries - are collaborating together to provide a safer dating service, but I think that it's a positive step to take that is innovative and certainly keeping up with the way our world is changing more and more into an online one.
In any case, I thought it was interesting and a good idea that other dating websites i'm sure will also pick up on.
Monday, April 11, 2011
iPads For Kindergarteners
One school district in Auburn, Maine has recently decided to provide all its kindergarteners with a brand new iPad 2 starting next year. The school district is a rather small one - with only six elementary schools to cater to. However, the decision will still cost the school system about $200,000 each year.
Now those are the technicalities of it, but what is the true practicality of giving 5-year olds $500 high-tech tablets? Perhaps its a bit of jealousy that 5-year olds will receive for free such a highly coveted piece of machinery, but I have some serious doubts about how useful the tablets will be for the kids and how long they would even last in the hands of a 5-year old. Also, after doing some more reading about the school district, I found that the school system is having some budgetary restraints. In that case, is $200,000 really best spent on iPads for kindergarteners? I agree that the technology could prove to be useful to the education of these kids, but I also see no problem with the current system of using note cards, colorful signs, black boards, and books to teach young kids, so to me, it seems like an unjustified investment. Sure a shiny new iPad for every 5-year old sounds great, but is it really necessary? I don't think so.
Now those are the technicalities of it, but what is the true practicality of giving 5-year olds $500 high-tech tablets? Perhaps its a bit of jealousy that 5-year olds will receive for free such a highly coveted piece of machinery, but I have some serious doubts about how useful the tablets will be for the kids and how long they would even last in the hands of a 5-year old. Also, after doing some more reading about the school district, I found that the school system is having some budgetary restraints. In that case, is $200,000 really best spent on iPads for kindergarteners? I agree that the technology could prove to be useful to the education of these kids, but I also see no problem with the current system of using note cards, colorful signs, black boards, and books to teach young kids, so to me, it seems like an unjustified investment. Sure a shiny new iPad for every 5-year old sounds great, but is it really necessary? I don't think so.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Google Books - What's going on with it now?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/business/media/24google.html?src=busln
Google books has been in the works for seven years now. And during these seven years, Google's huge endeavor to scan millions of books and create a free online library for the public, has undergone much opposition, mainly from publishers and authors of these works that have been planned to become public. In the most recent development, in a case between the U.S. Authors Guild and Google, Judge Denny Chin has ruled against Google, leaving Google with the decision on how to proceed from here. There has been discussion that Google may push for the passing of an Orphan Law which would allow published works whose copyrights are unclaimed to be published online for general public viewing. There has also been other talk of reforming the laws regarding the current copyright system to better reflect the growing digital age we are currently in. I think that this is a great idea - while the old system and its laws might have worked well for physical records, books, and other works, it is a system that simply cannot be applied to today's world of online downloads, torrents, file transfers, and the various other technologies that are coming out almost daily. I think that Congress really should look into a better way to manage copyrights and piracy issues, even if it means making new legislation or changing around entirely how things are currently done.
Google books has been in the works for seven years now. And during these seven years, Google's huge endeavor to scan millions of books and create a free online library for the public, has undergone much opposition, mainly from publishers and authors of these works that have been planned to become public. In the most recent development, in a case between the U.S. Authors Guild and Google, Judge Denny Chin has ruled against Google, leaving Google with the decision on how to proceed from here. There has been discussion that Google may push for the passing of an Orphan Law which would allow published works whose copyrights are unclaimed to be published online for general public viewing. There has also been other talk of reforming the laws regarding the current copyright system to better reflect the growing digital age we are currently in. I think that this is a great idea - while the old system and its laws might have worked well for physical records, books, and other works, it is a system that simply cannot be applied to today's world of online downloads, torrents, file transfers, and the various other technologies that are coming out almost daily. I think that Congress really should look into a better way to manage copyrights and piracy issues, even if it means making new legislation or changing around entirely how things are currently done.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Social Networking Tools Come to the Rescue Following Japan Earthquake
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/twitter/8379101/Japan-earthquake-how-Twitter-and-Facebook-helped.html
Following the disastrous 8.9 scale earthquake just off the coast of Japan, widespread destruction took over Japan as huge waves hit the Japanese coast and shook the island nation. Because mobile networks were unable to deal with the the influx in cell phone use and land lines failed as a direct result of the earthquake, many resorted to broadband networks and online tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Skype communicate with loved ones and the public about what was going on. These serviced proved to be invaluable to those who could not reach the people they needed to contact through typical means like the telephone. In fact, these networking tools even became the primary means of communication people used in Japan following the earthquake. In one common example, a girl at an international school was able to use Facebook chat to contact her cousin in Great Britain during the earthquake, but could not phone her parents who lived a short distance from her school. Technology today really is making the world a smaller place.
Even governmental agencies used Twitter to post emergency information concerning telephone numbers to call and safety shelters to go to for aid.
In ways that were probably never even imagine during the creation of these networking tools, they are helping society in its most neediest times.
Following the disastrous 8.9 scale earthquake just off the coast of Japan, widespread destruction took over Japan as huge waves hit the Japanese coast and shook the island nation. Because mobile networks were unable to deal with the the influx in cell phone use and land lines failed as a direct result of the earthquake, many resorted to broadband networks and online tools like Facebook, Twitter, and Skype communicate with loved ones and the public about what was going on. These serviced proved to be invaluable to those who could not reach the people they needed to contact through typical means like the telephone. In fact, these networking tools even became the primary means of communication people used in Japan following the earthquake. In one common example, a girl at an international school was able to use Facebook chat to contact her cousin in Great Britain during the earthquake, but could not phone her parents who lived a short distance from her school. Technology today really is making the world a smaller place.
Even governmental agencies used Twitter to post emergency information concerning telephone numbers to call and safety shelters to go to for aid.
In ways that were probably never even imagine during the creation of these networking tools, they are helping society in its most neediest times.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
IRS Impersonators During Tax Time
http://www.standard.net/topics/scams/2011/03/06/beware-those-who-impersonate-irs-tax-time
The article discusses the problem of how people have been recently impersonating the Internal Revenue Service in emails and phone calls to individuals requesting personal and sensitive information. The fact that this is occurring just goes to show how easy to access people's information really is. Personal emails, phone numbers, and addresses must be easy to find online which would lead scammers to take advantage of them to contact unsuspecting individuals. The internet is obviously very useful, but there is also a huge cost to our privacy in using it. There are so many ways to be tricked or scammed, and this is just one more way.
Most of these impersonators are from other countries and are taking advantage of the U.S. government system. Something really needs to be done about this, but it is hard to find a simple solution to this widespread problem of internet privacy.
The article discusses the problem of how people have been recently impersonating the Internal Revenue Service in emails and phone calls to individuals requesting personal and sensitive information. The fact that this is occurring just goes to show how easy to access people's information really is. Personal emails, phone numbers, and addresses must be easy to find online which would lead scammers to take advantage of them to contact unsuspecting individuals. The internet is obviously very useful, but there is also a huge cost to our privacy in using it. There are so many ways to be tricked or scammed, and this is just one more way.
Most of these impersonators are from other countries and are taking advantage of the U.S. government system. Something really needs to be done about this, but it is hard to find a simple solution to this widespread problem of internet privacy.
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