Computer Highlights Society Magazines

 

The IEEE Computer Society's lineup of 12 peer-reviewed technical magazines cover cutting-edge topics in computing, including scientific applications, Internet computing, machine intelligence, pervasive computing, security and privacy, digital graphics, and computer history. Select articles from recent issues of Computer Society magazines are highlighted below.

 

Software

 

Grady Booch's On Computing column, "In Defense of Boring," in Software's May/June 2013 issue, discusses how the purpose of good software is to make the complex appear simple. On one hand, developers seek to build software-intensive systems that are innovative, elegant, and supremely useful. On the other, computing technology as a thing unto itself isn't the place of enduring value. Therefore, as computing fills the spaces of our world, it becomes boring. And that's a very good and desirable thing.

 

Internet Computing

 

"Collective Sensemaking and Military Coalitions" is one of seven articles in IC's January/February 2013 special theme issue on knowledge systems for coalition operations. Authors Paul S. Smart of the University of Southampton and Katia P. Sycara of Carnegie Mellon University present automated sensemaking as a key capability for enabling both individuals and teams to process conflicting, ambiguous, and uncertain information. Computational modeling provides one means of improving our understanding in this area.

 

IT Professional

 

In "Micropreneurs: The Rise of the MicroISV," from the March/April 2013 issue of ITPro, authors Russell Thackston and David Umphress of Auburn University survey the community of micro independent software vendors (microISVs). The term, coined in 2004 by SourceGear founder Eric Sink, describes a community of companies with 10 or fewer employees that focus on long-tail, niche markets. Such companies are on the rise, fueled in part by the proliferation of ecosystems such as Apple's App Store and Google's Android Market. The article includes lessons learned for both microISVs and the IT industry.

 

Micro

 

Micro's March/April 2013 issue is a reprise of its annual selection of articles based on research from the Hot Chips symposium. Guest editors Christos Kozyrakis of Stanford University and Rumi Zahir from Intel present five articles reflecting two trends from Hot Chips 24 last August: the widespread adoption of specialization and heterogeneity as a means of energy-efficient scaling, and the variability challenges that arise as shrinking devices operate at low voltages to reduce power consumption.

 

Computer Graphics

 

In CG&A's May/June 2013 issue, Kapil Dev presents a tutorial, "Mobile Expressive Renderings: The State of the Art," which discusses nonphotorealistic rendering (NPR) techniques for mobile devices. NPR involves inherent abstraction, and mobile platforms offer relatively less computing power. So, a convergence of these areas can help deal with producing complex renderings on resource-constrained mobile platforms.

 

Computing

 

A new era of astronomy is near, according to Luis Lehner of Perimeter Institute and Steven L. Liebling of Long Island University, authors of the Computer Simulations department in CiSE's March/April 2013 issue. In "Simulations to Usher in the Era of Gravitational Wave Astronomy," they discuss interferometers on Earth and pulsar timing observations as sources for an entirely new view of the universe using gravitational waves. These waves will complement the very different images from electromagnetic waves and will illuminate systems from which we detect no electromagnetic emission.

 

MultiMedia

 

Current technology is making it easy to capture and store experiential data. In "Micro Stories and Mega Stories," authors Ramesh Jain of the University of California, Irvine, and Malcolm Slaney from Microsoft Research speculate on the effects these technologies have on the art of storytelling. They conclude that the capability to collect so many events is making stories more data driven, but the "glue" to pull moments together in a compelling story will remain in the hands of the world's Mark Twains and Steven Spielbergs.

 

Pervasive Computing

 

One of pervasive computing's goals is the automatic personalization of computer interface and infrastructure. In "Personal Touch-Identification Tokens," featured in the April-June 2013 issue of PvC, Tam Vu and Marco Gruteser of Rutgers University present a novel and convenient mechanism to convey a unique identifier using no more than a signet ring pressed against the capacitive touchscreen of a computer. Bringing to mind a "secret decoder ring," the personal token identifies who is interacting with the device, prompting it to tailor services to users and control access to sensitive information and online services.

Security and Privacy

Economics and behavioral economics offer different but complementary approaches to understanding privacy and security. In "Complementary Perspectives on Privacy and Security: Economics," Alessandro Acquisti of Carnegie Mellon University explains their methodological differences and similarities, and why they matter. The article is the inaugural contribution for a new department, In Our Orbit, and appears in S&P's March/April 2013 issue.

 

Annals

 

In "The Best of Both Worlds? A History of Time-Shared Microcomputers, 1977-1983," from the January-March 2013 issue of Annals, author Arne Martin Fevolden of the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research, and Education recounts the evolution of this microcomputer subset through articles and advertisements that appeared in the popular technology magazine Byte. Fevolden maintains that this relatively short-lived technology represents much more than a technological curiosity as he focuses on complexities in the computer industry that contributed to its failure in the marketplace.

When old electronics meet their end, much ends up becoming toxic waste in China

Old computers and other used-up appliances are creating polluted environments in Asia, the final resting place for much of the world's electronic goods, reports the China Daily newspaper.

Known as "e-waste," more than 75 percent of televisions, computers and other home electronics discarded by the developed world end up bound for Asia. Up to 90 percent of the old electronics goes to China, according to the Beijing-based Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China's Ministry of Science and Technology.

However, only 10 percent of the electronics that go to China are recycled for reuse. The rest gets burned, destroyed or otherwise reduced to poisonous end-products.

Inside computers and other electronics are gold, copper and other reusable precious metals. This makes the 90 percent of discarded electronics not recycled a viable enterprise for people looking to extract those precious metals. However, many of these "electronics harvesters" use simple and environmentally unfriendly processes to get the metals out, such as putting the machines through acid baths.

The result is that lead, mercury and other chemicals are released into the atmosphere – through toxic gasses – and put into lakes and rivers through wastewater systems. The harvesters are burning the plastic cases, melting lead-based monitor glass and simply tossing out the undesirable by-products of precious metal extraction.

In some cities that are hotspots for the metal extraction business, pollution levels are much higher than American or European standards.

In the Guiyu area, an agricultural sector in south China that many e-processers have set up shop, the groundwater became so contaminated that drinking water had to be brought in from an area 18 miles away, according to a 2001 report from the Seattle-based toxic trade watchdog Basel Action Network.

Sediment samples from the area showed that the groundwater had so much lead in it that it would have been considered 212 times more toxified than acceptable standards if it came from Europe's Rhine River.

"Tin was found at levels 152 times the EPA threshold. Chromium in one sample was at levels 1,338 times the EPA threshold level," the report added.

A major source of this e-waste are unsuspecting good Samaritans in America thinking they are helping the
environment: Much of the old electronics donated by people and businesses for recycling in the U.S. instead gets exported into the world market.

"Informed recycling industry sources estimate that between 50 to 80 percent of the e-waste collected for recycling in the western U.S. are not recycled domestically," according to the BAN report.
From there, the supply market takes over, and often metal extraction companies win.

The supply market of old electronics sways in favor of these shops because they often offer higher prices for the goods than recycling outfits can.

The supply is good, too: the volume of e-waste from the United States is "estimated at 5 to 7 million tons," the report said.

In China alone – excluding the e-waste that is brought into the country – "about 150 million television sets, washing machines, refrigerators, air-conditioners and computers are discarded every year in China," the China Daily reported, using statistics from the China Home Electronics Association.

For the American market, the BAN report from 2001 posited that e-waste numbers would rise by 2006 thanks to the proliferation of High-Definition Television – flat-screen TVs – obsolescing old television technology, and the fact that most computers bought today are replacements for an old one that must be thrown out.

The world market for e-waste is one that is mostly unregulated, but a limited number of other countries are involved. Outside of China, other countries in the metal extraction business include India and Pakistan. The Middle Eastern country of Dubai is another major collector of discarded electronics, but it acts as a middleman: most of what it receives is re-exported out to China and other countries.

Laptop computers cook your testicles

  Is something burning, or are you just computing again? New research published in the medial journal Fertility and Sterility (Nov 2010) reveals that laptop computers can roast a man's testicles to the point where sperm production (and quality) starts to drop.

To conduct the study, researchers placed temperature sensors on the scrotums of 29 men (a procedure that no doubt required some finesse and hopefully did not involve TSA agents), then asked those men to use laptop computers on their laps. It didn't take long before scrotum temperatures rose to levels known to damage sperm production -- just 10 to 15 minutes of computing time.

Staying cool means staying fertile

Testicles are supposed to stay cool. And I don't mean "wow, that's cool" but rather that they are supposed to remain a degree or two below body temperature in order to maximize sperm production. When the testes get too hot -- even with as little as a one degree Centigrade rise in temperature -- sperm production starts to fall. Using a laptop computer on your lap can cause temperatures to rise by 2.5 C in one hour, according to this research.

And the men in the study didn't even notice the rise in temperature, by the way. Probably because they were too busy updating their Facebook pages with comments like, "Check it out, I'm actually getting paid to roast my nuts for the advancement of science!"

In the world of temperature-sensitive sperm production, 2.5 C is equivalent to a scrotum barbeque cook-off. And all it takes is a little laptop computing to send temperatures soaring.

Cooling pads didn't help

Surprisingly, even using a laptop cooling pad didn't help, researchers reported. Scrotum temperatures still rose just the same.

Reuters reported that Belkin International, Inc., makers of laptop computer cooling pads, "...did not wish to comment on the new findings." (http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A457320101105)

No surprise there. This is dangerous territory for marketers. After all, there's really no way to spin this story in a positive direction. Even if Belkin unleashed ads such as, "Feeling the heat? We keep your scrotum cool," they would be hit with complaints about lewd marketing tactics.

It turns out the biggest determining factor of whether a laptop computer heats up your testicles is your leg position while computing. I'm not making this up: Researchers found the best position was to spread your legs wide while computing in order to dissipate heat and cool your man-crotch.

Just what we need in the airports, huh? First you get felt up by the TSA with their high-security crotch sweeps (http://www.naturalnews.com/030100_naked_body_scanners_airport.html), and then you have to walk past a bunch of health-conscious compu-geeks sitting spread-eagle in the passenger waiting area because they're hoping to remain fertile in case they ever actually meet a girl in the real world and not just in adult chat rooms.

We need to all get together and blame somebody for this mess, of course. It's the American way. And I say we should all blame Intel because obviously it's the CPU that's generating most of the heat in a typical laptop. The harder you push the CPU, the more heat your computer dumps out. In our litigious society, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before somebody tries to sue Intel for their infertility problems.

Stay cool, dude

The bottom line in all this, guys, is that when it comes to your testes, hot is bad, cool is good. Keep things "breezy" down there, in other words, and you just might have children one day.

And for all the women reading this who have men you're trying to conceive with, you might explain to them that in addition to fried foods and pharmaceuticals damaging sperm quality, now they have to worry about where they're holding their laptop computers, too. If you catch your man with a computer on his lap, shove some ice packs down the front of his shorts until he gets the message. I guarantee you this will get his attention.

Because men who can't keep their junk cool are actually practicing a form of laptop birth control. Although the drop in sperm quality from laptop heat isn't considered permanent, it's technically a form of short-term sperm suppression. Sort of like soaking your sack in a hot tub for twenty minutes (hopefully with the rest of your body along with it).

All this makes me wonder, by the way, if laptop manufacturers might start engineering their computers to offer better scrotum protection for their male customers. "Now with Windows 7, Norton Anti-Virus, and Scrotum Protector Plus!"

Or maybe there will be a new, downloadable edition of Windows that uses fewer CPU cycles and will be branded "Windows 7 Ultimate Scrotum Pro for Men" and bundled with a new macho face shaver sporting not four, not five, but NINE rotating blades powered by a 200-amp car battery.

Quick, somebody register CrotchCooler.com and invent heat-conducting copper underwear that can dissipate crotch heat out the sides of your pants. Or roll out a new line of water-cooled "Bro shorts" featuring hot male models sporting ripped six-packs. "I'm cool," the ad says. "And so is my scrotum."

Sony Xperia Z Ultra vs. Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Just a few years ago, 4.3-inch smartphones were considered to be big. My, how things change. Somewhere along the way, having the biggest screen became a selling point, and thus began the great screen size arms race. Now we're to the point where we can have a gigantic phablet like the Galaxy Note 2 completely dwarfed by the upcoming Xperia Z Ultra. Are they bigger and better, or just out of control? Let's take a look, as we compare the two gigantophones from Sony and Samsung.

Let's get this out of the way: the Xperia Z Ultra is a ridiculously large phone. Don't believe me? Look at the Note 2 next to the iPhone 5, then look at it again here next to the Ultra. Sony's device is basically a small tablet that happens to have cellular connectivity.

What's that, want percentages? Okay then: the Ultra is 19 percent taller than the Note 2. It's 14 percent wider.

Depth is the one area where the Ultra isn't gigantic. Quite the opposite, actually. The Xperia Z Ultra is incredibly thin, measuring only 6.5 mm thick. That's 31 percent thinner than the Note 2, and 14 percent thinner than the svelte iPhone 5.

All of that surface area in the Xperia Z Ultra is naturally going to register on the scale. It's 18 percent heavier than the Note 2.

Like its progenitors, the Xperias Z and ZL, the Ultra has a backside made of glass. The Galaxy Note 2 is made of Samsung's favorite material, plastic.

Here's another example of the Ultra's utter insanity. If you've ever used a Galaxy Note 2, you know that its screen is pretty huge. Well, it's only 74 percent as big as the Ultra's screen. Again, Sony's "phone" is basically a tablet that makes calls.

If you can live with a display that big in your pocket (if it even fits there), then the Xperia will reward you with sharper resolution. The Note 2 only gives you 44 percent as many pixels as the Ultra does.

Samsung's original Galaxy Note (re)popularized stylus use in mobile devices. But the Ultra takes that a step further, letting you use a pencil or pen to scratch notes on your screen. According to Sony, you can use any pencil, along with pens and styluses that have a tip diameter of over 1 mm. Can't say we've seen that before.

The Note's S Pen is included, but no styluses, pens, or pencils are included with the Xperia Z Ultra.

The Xperia Z Ultra should win this one hands-down. As one of the first handsets to run the Snapdragon 800, it will have a much newer and faster processor.

In the Note's defense, it's been on the market for close to a year now. The fairer comparison will be with the (as yet unannounced) Galaxy Note 3.

We're all even in the RAM department, with 2 GB a pop.

The Xperia Z Ultra will only be sold in one 16 GB model (Sony estimates that you'll have about 11 GB of usable storage). You can expand it (up to 64 GB) with a microSD card, but since Android no longer lets you install apps on SD cards, this could be too cramped for some people.

No surprise here with both devices supporting speedy LTE networks, as long as your carrier lives up to its end of the bargain.

Battery capacity is pretty close, but there are too many other factors involved to jump to conclusions about the Ultra's battery life. The Note 2, a much more known quantity, will generally give you terrific uptimes.

Pixel counts don't begin to tell you the full story of picture quality, but here they are nonetheless.

We haven't taken any pictures with the Xperia Z Ultra yet, but it should be an interesting experience. We're imagining something akin to snapping photos with a skateboard.

We're guessing this is going to be more of a nice bonus than a selling feature for most. But IP55/IP58 water- and dust-proofing in the Xperia Z Ultra could spare you some grief in an unfortunate accident.

The Galaxy Note 2 is supposed to get an Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update at some point. But until that elusive day comes, you could easily say the Ultra has the slight advantage here.

Wrap-up

It's quite possible that neither of these "phones" is for you. We wouldn't blame you for passing on these Andre the Giant phones and opting for a big-but-not-enormous phone like the Galaxy S4 or HTC One, or perhaps a much smaller handset like the iPhone 5.
But if you are shopping for a plus-sized smartphone, these two – along with the LG Optimus G Pro – are some of your best options. And there's also that 800 lb gorilla in the room known as the Galaxy Note 3. Rumors are pointing to a Q3 announcement and a late Q3 or early Q4 release. If you can wait, it might be worth waiting to see what Samsung offers on that front.

For more on the Note 2, you can check out our full review.

Breitling Emergency II watch doubles as a satellite emergency beacon

Emergency beacons are great insurance for aviators and sailors, but they aren't worth much if a disaster leaves you in one place and the beacon in another. Just to be safe, you might as well strap the beacon to your wrist, which is what the Breitling Emergency II does. The Swiss-made wrist chronograph watch provides those who travel in remote, risky places with a dual-channel emergency satellite transmitter that activates with a twist and a yank.

The Emergency II is an improved version of the earlier Breitling Emergency, which only transmits on a single analog frequency. It’s intended for survival situations that can happen without a second's warning, such as plane crashes, ship sinkings, mountaineering accidents and the sort of potentially fatal mishaps that can occur in deserts, jungles and ice caps around the world.

The aesthetics of the Emergency II are not exactly what one would call slim and elegant. In fact, it easily wins the perennial “My watch is bigger than yours” contest, which sailors and scuba divers are forever playing, by weighing in at 140 grams (4.9 oz) – and that’s without the strap.

This weight comes from not only the massive titanium case, but also because that case holds a PLB Category 2 beacon micro-transmitter. This in itself required a lot of R&D to squeeze the electronics into even a watch the size of a doorstop. It also has to work for 24 hours, so that means a bespoke battery that can not only punch out enough power for a satellite to pick up, but that can also be recharged regularly, so that power will actually be there in an emergency.

Part of the battery’s problem is that the Emergency II works on two different frequencies. These mean different power demands ranging from 30 to 3000 mW, hence the need for a rechargeable lithium-ion battery separate from the watch movement’s silver oxide battery. The watch even comes with its own charger/tester case to make sure it's working probably. “Maybe” isn’t a word you want to associate with whether or not an emergency beacon is working.

The Emergency II puts out signals alternately on two frequencies. The first is a digital signal on 406 MHz that goes out for 0.44 seconds every 50 seconds, and the second is an analog signal on 121.5 MHz lasting 0.75 seconds every 2.25 seconds. This dual frequency isn’t just to be thorough. It’s a strategy that not only helps to ensure that the emergency signal reaches the search and rescue teams, but also helps them to zero in on the target.

It’s all part of the international Cospas-Sarsat system, which has saved 26,000 lives since 1985. It’s based on a network of satellites in low-altitude earth orbit (LEOSAR) and in geostationary orbit (GEOSAR) along with ground stations and coordinating centers around the world. The satellites work on 406 MHz, which, theoretically, should be all that’s needed to find those in distress, since the Cospas-Sarsat system doesn’t listen to other frequencies. However, many search and rescue systems use the older 121.5 MHz and it’s still very useful for making those last-minute location fixes before visual contact is made. For this reason, dual-frequency transmitters are preferred.

The other half of the equation is the integrated antenna system. Designed to be used by someone who may be hanging upside down from a rock wall with broken bones, it’s made in two sections so that the transmitter can select between part or all of the antenna when switching between frequencies. Turning on the beacon is a simple matter of unscrewing the right-hand antenna cover. This also unscrews the left-hand cover. From there, pulling the antennae free and extending them activates the beacon, and the signal starts going out.

By the way, there’s also a watch in here. It’s a Breitling thermocompensated SuperQuartz Caliber 76 that’s officially chronometer-certified by the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC). It also has a 12/24-hour analog and LCD digital display, battery end-of-life indicator, 1/100th second chronograph, timer, second time zone and multilingual calendar. The titanium case with a cambered sapphire crystal is water-resistant to 5 bar (167 ft, 50 m) and sports a compass scale. Dials are available in Volcano black, Cobra yellow, and Intrepid orange.

The Emergency II sells for about US$17,000 or, if you want a titanium bracelet instead of a rubber strap, about US$18,600.

Source: Breitling via Watches by SJX 

Sony debuts waterproof Walkman MP3 player built into earbuds

Sony has plenty to show at this year's CES, from cameras to cell phones and more, but one item that stands out is the Walkman Sports MP3 Player. The new waterproof music player combines a pair of earbuds with an MP3 player in a single unit, with no external device required to play tunes.

At a glance, the new MP3 player looks like a pair of large earbuds, but the two boxes on the sides actually house the entire player itself. The device has been designed with fitness in mind, making it much more comfortable to work out, jog, or swim while wearing it. With its waterproof construction, swimmers can take the MP3 player in the pool, and other users won't have to worry about it being damaged from heavy sweat. The two earbuds are also held together with a tension band that wraps around the back of the wearer's head.

Controls on the bottom of each side adjust the volume, skip through tracks, and pause/play songs. Users can load up to 4GB of music with a PC or Mac and get eight hours of playtime on a full charge. If needed, the Walkman can even play one hour of audio on just three minutes of charging. Sony also promises the earbuds will produce exceptional audio, even while underwater.

If you've ever tried swimming with a waterproof MP3 player before, you know how difficult it can be to keep it fastened to your body as the water rushes past. Sony's new MP3 player appears to strip out all the excess cables and devices to leave a much more streamlined player that won't restrict your movement when you need it most.

Sony's Walkman Sports MP3 Player will be available in blue, pink, white, and black and is set to be released in March at a price of US$99.99.
Check out the video below to see how the MP3 player holds in place during even the most intense workouts.

Source: Sony

WearIT sportifys the smartwatch

Although smartwatches have been around since the 1980s with devices such as Seiko’s Data 2000 watch that could store 2,000 characters in its user-programmable memory, there has recently been an explosion in the number of devices vying for wrist real estate. One that caught our eye at CE week in New York is the WearIT smartwatch targeted at outdoorsy and sporty types.

WearIT features a 1.54-inch capacitive touchscreen with 240 x 240 pixel resolution, is powered by a Cortex A8 600 MHz processor and 256 MB of RAM, and runs on an Android 4.1 Jellybean-based OS. It has 4 GB of onboard storage and a variety of sensors, including accelerometer, magnetometer, pedometer, GPS and digital compass. Its 550 mAh lithium-ion battery is recharged via USB.

Intended as a customizable sportswatch rather than a communications device, the WearIT can’t be paired with a smartphone to make and take calls like competitor devices, such as the Pebble, Agent, Vachen, I’m Watch and Kreyos Meteor.

However, it does includes Bluetooth connectivity for streaming music to a set of Bluetooth headphones and ANT+ connectivity for wireless connection of sport and health monitoring devices, such as heart rate monitors, speed and cadence sensors, blood glucose meters and pulse oximeters.

There’s also Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g/n) connectivity for uploading captured data to the cloud and for accessing social media, games, and issuing or accepting remote challenges. This also allows users to access the WearIT App Store. This hasn’t yet been launched, but WearIT’s creators promise a variety of apps will be available in addition to the basic apps included with the device. They have also started a program and created an SDK to get developers creating apps for the device..

The WearIT’s waterproof case measures 45 x 60 x 15 mm and will come in a variety of colors. The company is aiming to launch at CES in January 2014 in the US$350 to $400 price range. It also has plans to integrate a phone into a second version that it hope to have ready by mid-June 2014.

Source: WearIT

Virtual reality: Live your dreams in real time

DON'T think, just feel. Games-makers are embracing the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset and using it to create an entirely new kind of gaming experience. They are also changing the idea of what a game can be. "Right now we're on the precipice of a new wave of video games," says Robin Arnott, a sound designer based in Austin, Texas. "The Rift is such a gift for us."

Around 75 existing games are being adapted to work with the goggles, including classic first-person shooters like Half-Life 2 and racing games like Race Driver: GRIDrid. But Arnott wants to move beyond such games to create what he calls video dreams. He is part of the team behind SoundSelf, which he describes as a meditative trance experience. Players strap on the Oculus Rift and headphones, and sing a note. The game listens to your voice and sings back to you, shaping sounds and visuals in harmony.

Without full immersion, the game probably wouldn't work. But players trying the demo at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles reported getting lost in the kaleidoscopic visuals and forgetting where they were. "You get into a trance, it's very trippy," says one.

Instead of looking at a screen and hearing sounds from external speakers, the VR headset shuts out all visual distractions and pushes the player into the virtual world. "We can make these abstract, unreal environments feel real," says Arnott.

Other Oculus Rift games on show at E3 included If A Tree Screams In A Forest, in which players try to survive a short walk in the woods; Irrational Exuberance, described as a mix of stargazing and structure-building in a playground at the edge of reality, and Homework From Another World, a game about extraterrestrials and high school.

"I'm fascinated by the concept of lucid dreaming," says Los Angeles-based game developer Julian Kantor. His E3 game was called The Recital, in which the user moves from a realistic sequence playing the role of a pianist getting ready for a performance to a surreal environment of vast, illogical spaces with a soundtrack that adapts to your actions. "When you take off the headset at the end of the play session, it's as though you are waking up from a crazy dream," he says.

Arnott hopes the Oculus Rift will encourage people to make non-violent games that are more about exploring a new environment than completing levels. But more shocking experiences are certain to prove popular. For example, another early game made for the device is a guillotine simulator, while a firm called Sinful Robot is working on "immersive erotic encounters".

This article appeared in print under the headline "Mind-bending games let you live your dreams"

Instagram Video and the Death of Fantasy

Over the weekend, I went to a sunset picnic on a rooftop in Brooklyn. The evening couldn’t have been more picturesque — a group of stylish women chatting and lounging on blankets, framed against a lavender and glittering cityscape.

I pulled out my phone to capture the moment. I opened Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, and turned on the company’s new feature that lets people upload short videos in addition to photographs. I tried to document the carefully arranged snacks and decorations and capture the liveliness of the mood, but what I got instead was a grainy video of dresses and hair, whipped around by the wind, music thumping from a party next door and snippets of a conversation about birth control.

Last week, when Mark Zuckerberg, the chief executive of Facebook, and Kevin Systrom, the chief executive of Instagram, introduced the new video-sharing feature, they described it as the future of memory, a way to capture the moments and experiences that you wanted to remember and share them with your friends. But while that shaky video that I took on the roof was definitely steeped in reality and definitely true to the moment, it wasn’t the version of the night that I wanted to remember or share with my Instagram friends.

 

That’s because Instagram isn’t about reality – it’s about a well-crafted fantasy, a highlights reel of your life that shows off versions of yourself that you want to remember and put on display in a glass case for other people to admire and browse through. It’s why most of the photographs uploaded to Instagram are beautiful and entertaining slices of life and not the tedious time in-between of those moments, when bills get paid, cranky children are put to bed, little spats with friends.

Instagram is a yearbook of our most memorable moments, not because they’re the moments worth remembering, but because they’re the moments worth projecting and sharing. And that’s part of the reason the service is the success that it is today, with 130 million users who have uploaded more than six billion photos to the service in less than three years.

Video, at least the amateurish footage I shot, is the antithesis of that fantasy. And as much as I think we’re getting more comfortable being ourselves online, there’s still a difference between the self you’re willing to share publicly and the self you’re willing to share when only a handful of people are watching.
This is a distinction that Facebook — and now, by association, Instagram — has never seemed to understand.A screenshot of the explore feature in the Instagram iPhone app.

The introduction of video sharing on Instagram feels like the latest indicator of that disconnect. Video is imperfect. It’s a lot harder to craft a perfect video of your outdoor picnic, of waves crashing at the beach. It takes a lot more thought to turn the everyday quotidian into the spectacular, regardless of the dozen filters, editing effects and smoothing software that Instagram’s new video feature offers. None of this is to say that people don’t want to share the mundane with each other — if anything, the rise of messaging services like

But those interactions don’t live on Facebook, nor do they live on Instagram, a facet of those social networks that everyone except both companies seems to understand.

Of course, none of this means that video on Instagram won’t be a success. It’s already seeing some early adoption — within the first 24 hours of its release, Instagram said it had five million video uploaded to the service. And the early popularity of Vine, Twitter’s video-sharing tool, is proof that people love making quirky short films about their lives. And while I do think there’s something interesting happening with the intersection of memory and devices and social networks, it might not be something that can happen in public, where friends, family and co-workers can comment and interact with it.

Unintended Consequences of Emergency Department Information Systems in U.S.

  Emergency department information systems (EDIS), a significant focus of both federal legislation and U.S. health care reform, may ultimately improve the quality of medical care delivered in hospitals, but as currently configured present numerous threats to health care quality and patient safety. Two physician work groups in the American College of Emergency Physicians assessed the potential harm lurking in EDIS and make recommendations on how to improve patient safety as these systems are implemented across the country.

---

 Their findings were published online Friday in Annals of Emergency Medicine ("Quality and Safety Implications of Emergency Department Information Systems").

 "The rush to capitalize on the huge federal investment of $30 billion for the adoption of electronic medical records led to some unfortunate and unintended consequences, particularly in the unique emergency department environment," said lead author Heather L. Farley, MD, of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Christiana Care Health System in Newark, Del. "Some relate to product design, others to user behavior. We offer seven recommendations on how to improve the safety of emergency department information systems, and through their use, patient care."

 Researchers created clinical scenarios related to four common pitfalls of EDIS use in emergency departments: communication failure, poor data display, wrong order/wrong patient errors and alert fatigue.
They then developed seven recommendations for emergency departments using any type of EDIS, with some recommendations directed at the EDIS vendor and others directed at the end user. These include:

• appointment of an emergency department "clinician champion,"
• creation of a multidisciplinary EDIS performance improvement group,
• establishment of an ongoing review process,
• timely attention to EDIS-related patient safety concerns raised by the review process,
• public dissemination of lessons learned from performance improvement efforts,
• timely distribution by EDIS vendors of product updates to all users, and
• removal of "hold harmless" and "learned intermediary" clauses from all vendor software contracts.

 "The recommendations developed by our work groups should be paired with those issued by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2011 in its report 'Health IT and Patient Safety: Building Safer Systems for Better Care,'" said Dr. Farley. "The irreversible drive toward EDIS implementation should be accompanied by a constant focus on improvement and hazard prevention. Our paper and the IOM paper create a framework for doing just that."

The guy who saved the bunnies

(CNN) -- This is a story about a guy who saved a bunch of baby bunnies, then posted the story online hopeful other people would
like it.

Boy did they ever. People awwww'd so hard on Facebook his story was shared more than 9,000 times. Redditors posted multiple marriage proposals. His videos on YouTube have hundreds of thousands of views. All over a bunch of rabbits so small they didn't even fill the palm of his hand.

Joshua Bisnar is a regular user of the social media site Reddit. He's also an active-duty Navy Hospital Corpsman. Judging solely from his previous Reddit posts, one could easily come to the conclusion he regularly performs good deeds, rescues tiny creatures and gets lots of fan mail. Like this one from a second-grader named "Kenz" who wrote about month ago, "I bet you are amazing. ... I treasure you very much."

Kenz, you read our minds.

Bisnar first got our attention earlier this week when his rescue of four orphaned rabbits made the front page of Reddit. He introduces the story this way:

"I live in Camp Pendleton, CA. And as I was raking the volleyball court at the barracks I found a dead rabbit (fully grown). As I continued raking I found a small hole with 4 tiny tiny rabbits in it. I grabbed a box put a few old shirts into it and picked up the bunnies. I researched how to raise them and what to feed them. I made a nice box for them to live in a and bottle fed them until I could [wean] them to eat the local foods. After a couple months I brought them to a wildlife rescue because they were starting to jump out of their box. It was a lot of hard work but I loved the bunnies...."

Did you feel it? Did you feel your icy heart melting?

For two months he fed the little critters several times a day using an eyedropper. Once the bunnies were big enough to begin jumping out of the box, he took them to a nearby wildlife sanctuary. "It was a sad day," he said. "I'm not sure what they are doing now, but I like to think they are fighting off coyotes with the sweet swords and armor I made them and living the dream in Orange County eating the freshest of grasses and meeting all sorts of sexy girl bunnies."

When asked about his recent online fame he joked, "What I don't like about it is that the fame is getting to my head. I have cut my friends and family off, they keep asking me for money. I see myself as a god amongst men!"

During Bisnar's roughly seven-month tour in Afghanistan in 2012, he posted photos of kittens he rescued and one of a tiny frog he nicknamed "Crouton."

But as a medic deployed with the Marines, he also had his share of trauma. In one post he describes the smell of burning flesh and blood when a human is injured by an IED, "You never forget it," he wrote.

"We had a number of patients die on us mostly because of the massive hemorrhaging before they got to us," he said. That hasn't discouraged him from pursing a career in medicine, something he hopes to complete when he leaves the military in about 18 months.

Bisnar told CNN he's been an outgoing animal-lover, eager to talk to strangers since he was a child. And sorry Internet, he also says he eats meat.

As for a plan to meet any of the men or women who expressed an interest in meeting Bisnar, he says he would love to meet new friends, but doesn't quite know how to go about it.

"I can't just go on YouTube and be like, 'Hey babe, you said you want to get married so let's do this damn thing.'"

Whatever he does next, we'll be looking for updates on Reddit.

Attack of Galaxy S4 gadget spam

When the Galaxy S4 launched in April, Samsung sold one version of its flagship smartphone. Two months later, there are five S4 devices on store shelves.

There's the self-explanatory Galaxy S4 Mini. Then there's the Galaxy S4 Zoom, which marries a smartphone with a full functioning point-and-shoot camera. Samsung released the waterproof and dustproof Galaxy S4 Active. And let's not forget the Galaxy S4 Mega, which strangely offers a massive 6.3-inch display -- only with fewer pixels than the original Galaxy S4. (None have yet been announced for U.S. markets, but the prospect doesn't seem far fetched, either.)

Despite all these spinoff phones sharing the same branding, the Galaxy S4 Active is the only "S4" that bears any resemblance -- inside or outside -- to the original Galaxy S4. The Mini and the Zoom have very different designs, processors, displays, and cameras, and they feature varying amounts of storage and RAM. They're hardly the same phone at all.

From a pure hardware perspective, there's no logical concept or idea that really links these phones together aside from being Samsung products.

The Galaxy S brand sells. It is a trusted, established name among all consumers -- not just the nerds. And in the world of Google's (GOOG, Fortune 500) Android operating system, brands are ultimately more important than the hardware itself. It's not unlike picking a car. That's why Samsung is making a smart decision to cram as many products as it can under the wildly successful S4 umbrella.

Samsung is learning from its early mistakes: When the first generation of the Galaxy S was released to each major American carrier, it carried a different name and external design, despite the fact that each was built on the same internal components. That "variety" strategy was good for sales, but it was an incoherent vision for building Samsung's reputation.

And so it began unifying. By the time the Galaxy S II came around, there were still multiple versions, but they all carried the same name and same general specs. Last year it added the Galaxy S III mini to the lineup as an experiment. Apparently, it worked well enough to warrant even more spinoffs this year.
Samsung could have given each of its new phones a different name, spending millions of dollars on marketing. Or it could lean on what it knows to be successful.

Branding has always been important for Samsung, because it's a company that thrives on gadget spam. Every year, the company releases dozens of its generally excellent televisions, cameras and computers, but aside from four or five models that provide unique features, each one is only slightly different from the next.
It's a cynical approach, perhaps. But at the end of the day, the end goal is to make money. And if the products are strong, who really cares what they're called?

Then again, if Samsung misfires and waters down its brand with sub par products, it could matter a lot.

Facebook 'Likes' Reveal Users Secret Data

A study by a leading UK University has shown that age, religion, political views, ethnicity and even sexuality can be accurately predicted by a computer program with just a list of Facebook "Likes."

In the study, "Private traits and attributes are predictable from digital records of human behaviour", researcher Michal Kosinski demonstrates how 'Likes', the digital sign of affiliation or 'liking' of status updates, photos, websites or products can reveal much of a user's identity. Use of illegal drugs, alcohol habits and even the relationship status of a user's parents can be inferred by Likes alone.

Michal Kosinski developed Facebook App, "myPersonality" to study the relationship between Likes, demographics and personal attributes. 58,000 US Facebook users volunteered to take part in the survey providing a detailed demography, results of psychometric tests along with access to their Facebook Likes. In return, volunteers received a free personality analysis.

The data from the 58,000 Likes and corresponding psychometric tests was processed through a model to predict individual psychological and demographic profiles based on Likes alone. Researchers' accepting Likes as firm indicators only when 100 users or more had demonstrated a correlating link.
Some Likes indicators were blunt, others less so. Christians were identified by "Jesus Daily" but some more tenuous links were uncovered. Facebook users with "I like lyrics that actually mean something" in their Like list were shown to be statistically more likely to be prone to substance misuse.

The programme proved surprisingly accurate in differentiating between non-variable attributes such as ethnicity, sexuality, politics and religion. The success rate in non-variable characteristics, predicted by Likes alone were;

- African, American and Caucasian Americans 95%
- Sexuality 88%
- Democrats and Republicans in 82%
- Christian and Muslims 82%

Although significantly lower, "good prediction accuracy" was still achieved in the detection of variable aspects
such as the relationship status of a user. The lower detection rate was, according to researchers, explained by a user's tendency to move between the categories of 'in a relationship' to 'out'; the unstable and changeable nature of human relationships proving difficult for a programme to compute. Difficult though not impossible. The relationships status of Facebook users was accurately and automatically predicted by Likes alone in 65% of cases.

Noted as "remarkable" by researchers was the ability of the program to accurately predict in 60% of cases whether an account holder's parents had separated before the user had reached the age of 21. The indication of divorced or separated parents was predicted by a user's increased probability liking relationships and emotionally laden lyrics in their Like list, for example, "I'm Sorry I Love You" or "If I am with you then I'm with you I don't want anybody else".

Unusual associations grouped users - intelligent users were seen to group together in their liking of curly fries and thunderstorms, females in relationships were identified by a common liking in weightwatchers and scapbooking and emotionally stable users outed themselves with likes for skydiving and business administration. Swimming appeared to be a deal breaker; those who had swimming in their Likes scored higher in the most Satisfied With Life (SWL) score whereas drug users were least likely of all to give swimming the digital thumbs up.

As businesses clamour for more information on customers, Facebook users will find that predictive programmes are honed to perfection. The risk of people being vulnerable to giving away more information than they have chosen to give freely, and of this information being misused is noted by Michal Kosinski n the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), "commercial companies, governmental institutions, or even one's Facebook friends could use software to infer attributes such as intelligence, sexual orientation, or political views that an individual may not have intended to share. One can imagine situations in which such predictions, even if incorrect, could pose a threat to an individual's well-being, freedom, or even life."

Researchers point out that as users become more aware of their vulnerability to information disclosure, they may lose trust in online services and be deterred from using digital technology. Young people are voting already with their digital feet leaving Facebook in preference for other social networking platforms; Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram which offer the anonymity that Facebook lacks. According to "Inside Facebook" 6 million American users left Facebook in March 2013 alone.

Michal Kosinski and his research team at the Psychometrics team remain optimistic for the future, "It is our hope, however, that the trust and goodwill among parties interacting in the digital environment can be maintained by providing users with transparency and control over their information, leading to an individually controlled balance between the promises and perils of the Digital Age."

Notes:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) http://www.pnas.org/content/110/15/5802.full

Your One Click Personality
http://www.youarewhatyoulike.com

@burrblog

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sally_Burr

iPad For Beginners - Getting To Know The iPad

In this post we are going to guide you through the basic functions of the iPad and tell you what the main buttons do on the device.

To follow this guide you need to be holding the iPad in a vertical position. Make sure that the "Home" button is facing towards the floor.

The first thing you will notice is the camera lens at the top of the iPad and the "Home" button at the bottom. You will use the camera lens when you are holding a Facetime meeting or anything that involves a camera.
The "Home" button has a wide range of uses but to start you off on the right track the best way to think of it is an exit key. Anytime you are using an app and you want to get out of it just tap the Home button and you will go back to the main screen.

On the top left you will have the headphones socket - you should have some that came with the iPad and this is where you will plug them in. On the top right at the side you will have a slider button. This has two functions:

You can use the slider button to mute the iPad.

Or you can lock the screen display of the iPad to swap it from flipping between horizontal and vertical.
You can pick which one you want to use in Settings > General > "Use Side switch to".

Lastly, underneath the side switch you have the volume controls. If you tap the upper part of the button you increase the volume and if you tap the lower part of the button it will decrease.

If you hold the lower part of the button for a few seconds it will mute the iPad.
Right at the very bottom of the iPad underneath the Home button you have the socket to plug the charger in.

I hope this has given you a better understanding of what each button does on your iPad.

Try out each of the buttons and you will quickly become accustomed to what they do. Don't be worried to try if you are new as that is the only way you will learn.

As long as you remember to use the Home key at the bottom to get back to the starting screen if you get stuck. Once you understand the buttons on the iPad you will be ready to start using it which we will cover in another article.

Chris Jones invites you to check out Tablet Mastered which is a complete step by step video course to master the iPad: http://www.tabletmastered.com/

To get started using the iPad like a pro - Check Out > iPad Lessons

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Luke_Jones

LEDs: One Of The Smartest And Most Viable Options For Any Lighting Application

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are one of the smartest and most viable options for almost any lighting application. With the most recent advances in chip and driver technology, it has become possible to produce LED lamps with a tremendously longer lifespan, more light while consuming considerably less energy and a smaller carbon footprint than any traditional lighting types. High quality LEDs are quickly becoming the only solution for an increasingly green-minded population.

High quality LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) have a rated lamp life of at least 50,000 hours. Used in a residential application, that equates to approximately 45 years of lamp life. More than likely, you'll never have to change an LED after you install one. You're more likely to move before an LED needs to be replaced. And if that happens to be the case, pack them up and take them with you because they'll most likely still be good for many more years of high quality, low energy light. Used in a 24-hour, round-the-clock commercial application you're looking at approximately 6 years of maintenance-free lighting that is still generating about 85% of its original light output. No matter what traditional lighting source (incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, metal halide & high-pressure sodium lamps) you compare to a similar styled LED, they can't compete with those numbers.

And when comparing the numbers, the energy consumed by Light Emitting Diodes is vastly lower than traditional lighting types, which directly translates to lower utility bills. Further, when using a high-quality LED lamp, you get more light on the ground with 8 watts than you can with a 65(W) watt incandescent lamp or an 18(W) watt compact fluorescent lamp. It only makes sense for a green-minded individual concerned with conserving energy to choose the lower wattage LED option over any of the lesser efficient traditional lighting types.

And if obtaining a cleaner, better light while saving money weren't enough to make the green-minded
individual happy, Light Emitting Diodes are up to 95% recyclable. And, there are no harmful poisons or elements in Light Emitting Diodes which cannot be said for fluorescent lights and compact fluorescent lights. They contain a poison called mercury, which requires a specific method for its disposal. Not only are these two traditional lighting types dangerous, but disposing of them properly after their life span has come to an end is quite expensive. LED tube light replacements do not contain mercury, use less than half the energy & can even be recycled for all of those wishing to take the additional step and do more for the environment.
As I would imagine it is now abundantly clear, high quality LEDs are the best choice for anyone looking to do something good for the environment while obtaining a better lighting source and saving money in the process.

Jack Ellison is a professional green technology writer from the Austin, Texas area. When he is not writing scientific documents for various green energy projects, Jack focuses much of his time writing informative articles on high quality LEDs and commercial-grade LED technology.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jack_Ellison

History of Mobile Application Development

Don't we all just love mobile apps? Well, these applications that have come to be a part of our everyday lives have an interesting history and not many may know about it. For many of you, the development of mobile applications dates back a few years ago to with the iPhone application development. However, app development may go back a few years before that when Blackberry first gave wireless email in 2002 by RIM. Since then the world of app development has advanced in leaps and bounds as you will see below.

The App Development Journey

We cannot ignore the big shove given by Apple with their iTunes marketplace. We can say that this was really the first time mobile phone users were able to fully take advantage of mobile applications. A year after Apple released their first iPhone which had preloaded apps, they launched their App Store in 2008 and this took Smartphone users by storm. The same year in October, Google launched their Android Market with HTC Dream which was the first Android Smartphone available commercially.

As of April 2009, the number of Apps that had been downloaded in Apple's App Store had surpassed 1 billion which was incredible considering the App Store had only been in existence for eight months. In September 2011, this number had grown tenfold with over 10 billion downloads. Android also have proved to be a major competitor with app development and in April 2010, the total number of apps downloaded from the Android Market exceeded 1 billion. Barely a year later in January 2011, the total app downloads surpassed the 10 billion mark as well. By March 2012, App Store enjoyed over 25 billion downloads and though Android Market was later changed to Google Play, it too did very well with over 15 billion downloads as of May last year.

Most Popular Apps

We cannot talk about the history of mobile applications and fail to recognize some of the most downloaded applications in the history of apps.

The first paid Android app to hit the 1 billion mark was 'beautiful widgets' and this was way back in 2011. In 2012, we saw 'drawsomething' receive 50 million downloads in a duration of only 50 days after its release. 'Instagram' also received 38 million new downloads in just 3 months from its 12 million downloads in January 2012 to over 50 million in April that same year. 'Angry birds' the most popular mobile game also had over 1 billion global downloads May last year.

The Future of Apps

Currently, about 70% of iPhone users have downloaded applications from popular brands while 60% say they are interested in doing the same. According to a research conducted by Indiana University, people are more interested in downloading apps from a brand they recognize and this could mean good news for your business.

Both Smartphone's and tablet users have different needs when it comes to apps and it's easy to see why the app development industry has a strong future. What many of you don't know is that app usage is actually higher than mobile web usage and though initially the business world took more advantage of mobile apps, things have changed and apps have revolutionized how our needs are met. Access to the internet is now easy, and statistics indicate that half the cell phone market is dominated by Smartphone's. This therefore means that there is increasing demand for apps and App development is now on practically every operating system. You too could take advantage of the massive potential mobile apps give us by talking to a mobile app development company.

Nicole Anderson is passionate about Mobile Application Development and its ability to revolutionize markets. Mobility is the next hottest trend that provides new ways to interact and engagement with consumers and businesses. Nicole interacts with clients and analyzes their business process to help them implement a new digital strategy that will take full potential of the mobile market. Nicole enjoys sharing and different aspects of the mobile market.

Info@MobileDeveloped.com
http://www.MobileDeveloped.com

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A Guide To Remote Rebooting Any Windows PC

Many people do not realize that there is a line of DOS command built into every computer which can be used to perform a variety of very handy functions including rebooting another computer from a remote location. Rebooting a computer remotely is actually far easier than most people might think. Here you will find step by step instructions for remote rebooting via command prompt.

Preparing The Computer You Want To Reboot

The first step is to enable remote rebooting on the computer in question.

1. In order to do this you must log onto the computer as an Administrator.
2. It is then necessary to enter the run function from the start menu.
3. Once in the run window you simply have to type in services.msc and click on OK.
4. A list of available services will appear and you will need to scroll down until you see remote registry on the list.
5. Select this and right click on it, then choose properties from the menu.
6. Under startup type choose automatic.
7. You will need to reconfigure your firewall to allow Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) to be accessed. How to do this depends on the firewall you are using.
8. Finally you need to right click on 'my computer' and select the properties menu. Scroll down to computer name, domain and workgroup settings to find the computer name. Make a note of this for future use.

Once you have completed these steps the computer is ready to be rebooted from a remote location.

Rebooting The Computer Remotely

Once you know that the computer you wish to reboot from a remote terminal has been set up appropriately, you will be able to perform a remote reboot using command prompt. To do this you will need to log onto any Windows computer using an Administrator account. The next step is to access the Start menu and choose Run. The command you need to enter is cmd.exe. Once the DOS window opens type shutdown/i and press the enter key.

Next you will see the remote shutdown dialog appear on the screen. At this stage you will click on Add then type in the name of the computer from earlier. Once you have done this simply apply the required settings and hit the OK button to shut down or restart the named computer. This will not work for computers which are connected to the same local network.

I hope this article was helpful. If you're looking for easy automated patch management - I highly recommend Batch Patch! You can buy it here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Noah_Zee

Technology Advancements Up to the 21st Century

There are many technology advancements that exist that are becoming more and more in demand as companies expand their workforce. Technology has advanced in many eras dating as far back as prehistoric and ancient times to today, the 21st century. Technology is not just for advancements in industry, but has been seen through cultural evolution and social development.

Jumping to the industrial revolution, there were many advancements in mining, transport, textile manufacturing and metallurgy. This was the time the steam engine was invented that allowed for increase in transportation in Britain. This was the beginning of the entire transportation revolution that aided us to advance in the 2nd industrial revolution in the 19th century. Steamboats and railways were created based on the original concept of the steam engine. Mass production in everyday use products such as shoes and bicycles where also being developed.

Hoping most avid readers of today paid attention in history class; the advancements in technology in the 20th century obviously lead the way to where we are today. Something as simple as the telephone back then could be looked at and marveled like a magician pulling a rabbit out of his hat. Nuclear and space technologies came into existence that gave people emotions of anger and excitement. Even transportation technology advanced in introducing airplanes for military and commercial use. Also, do you really believe you can live life without your TV? Well, when TV was first introduced, there weren't exactly a lot of options of channels.

Moving right along to the 21st century, we have seen rapid advancements in cellular, networking, and computer technologies. We have Smart phones that take advantage of Broadband Internet access that allows accessing data from anywhere in the world, mind you if your service provider has a decent signal. We have even begun to dabble with quantum computing, bioengineering and even nanotechnology. All of these innovations of today will skyrocket us toward a better tomorrow.

Imagine playing video games online and being able to play with 10,000s of people simultaneously. IBM's grid technology is on the way for allowing this happen by basically reinventing what we know as the Internet into something far more superior. The demand for data storage has also increased. Look at large social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+. They have massive data centers filled with servers to store your information that you and your friends can access on the fly.

These advancements are being taken advantage by corporations as well. Smart investors look to see which companies are making bold strides where new technologies can be utilized for profit. Company IT infrastructures in how computer networking is delegated is also exceeding many technology expectations at a very fast rate. IPv4 upgrading to IPv6 is an example in how the future of computer networking is changing. This Internet protocol alone will change the way networking equipment is designed to handle the increased demands of routing and communicating with other computer networks around the world.

Networking security also has its fair share of advancements. Malicious pieces of software known as computer viruses arose; jeopardizing our sensitive data including our identity and bank accounts. Trojans, worms and malware flood the Internet seeking that unsuspecting visitor to invade their PC. Technology advancements with anti-virus applications and software firewalls help disinfect intrusions and prevent these little buggers from doing damage. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Governments must also keep out other countries of sensitive data. Would you really want another country to figure out how to control all traffic lights in a high-crowded metropolitan area? Probably not.

In conclusion, technology is always changing. Typically, it is for the betterment of mankind. Whether for advancements in communications or a different area, we will prolong our place on this planet by continuing to make the world a better place.

Chris Angulo is the SEO Strategist for Vology. Vology provides technology solutions for data storage, virtualization, computer networking products and IT infrastructure.

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Creative Careers With Computers

Computers are not going away any time soon - in fact, they are only going to progress and that means that the need for computer skills will remain on the rise. The requirements for educated professionals that build attractive websites and design graphics and logos for the web are going to become increasingly demanding. Advances in computer technology are generating a wealth of job prospects for many interested in working with the web or designing websites.

Lifetime Security

Consider all of the opportunities that are available in the computer industry. The world revolves around the computer from businesses storing their data to having the best websites for their customers and clients to use. The dominance of computers in our society has no end in sight, however as the high-tech world is always progressing, the savvy job seeker will be continuously updating their marketable skills.

The Art Job That Won't Leave You Starving

Many people that are creative and artistic turn away from art due to the fact that they don't think that they can make a good living being creative. The fact is that if you are a lover of art and you are creative you can make a wonderful living using your creativity to your advantage with computers. You can have a career you love doing what you love without worrying about making ends meet. Consider enrolling in graphic design courses where you will be able to learn web design, digital photography and image editing. These courses will allow you to let your inner artist come out. Web design courses will allow you to work anywhere in the country designing websites for businesses that help them to increase their sales and become more successful.

Take Your Knowledge Anywhere You Choose

Once you've completed your graphic design courses or your web design courses you will be able to work anywhere that you choose. If you've been thinking of relocating, this will provide you with the skills and knowledge that you need to be able to pack up, pick up and move. You'll be able to create a great portfolio with the skills, knowledge and experience that you gain from a quality design course.

High Demand

When your chosen career is in high demand you will find that you have a lot more confidence in yourself and the work that you are able to produce. You can count on your services being needed businesses of all shapes and sizes. Large corporations will require your expertise and even small mom and pop businesses will be able to benefit from the skills and knowledge that you have acquired from your studies. You may soon find that you have more clients requesting your services than you can even keep up with.

Visit Academy of Learning College for more information about home inspection courses.

Patrick Quinn is a Copywriter at Higher Education Marketing, a leading web marketing firm specializing in
Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other web marketing services and tools.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=M._Patrick_Quinn

Computer Courses Will Help Your Career

You may want to jump start your career in the computer industry with some great computer courses that will allow you the knowledge that you desire to make working with computers your new career. Computers are constantly being upgraded and new programs are coming out daily that will require the need for people that have skills in computer work. One popular place to learn is a computer college.

What advantages will you get from computer courses?

Take advantage of all that the computer world has to offer. Gaining the proper knowledge and skills to work with computer is a great way to make sure that you have job security. You will find that there are very few businesses that don't use a computer in some way, shape or form. Business store their data in a computer as well as need assistance in building websites and providing content. Whether you go into IT or just learn essential office software, you'll find it helps you stay employed.

What sort of work will you do?

You can choose from a large variety of opportunities to put your education and knowledge to great use. You may work for a company where you will maintain their computer system as well as their website or you may work for a company that provides computer service to businesses. You might also land a job with a company where you take care of all of the data entry that they require. No matter what position you choose to take, you will want to make sure that you have the knowledge and skills to do your job. Computer College is the best place for you to get the training and education that you need.

You will also learn on the job. Computers are used all over the world and they can malfunction at any time and that is where you may come in. You may also come in handy when a customer or employee is in need of security work or even a new web page for their site. Don't be afraid to step outside your box and do something that can change your life an provide you with a better way of living. One of the most useful parts of computer courses is how they teach you how to expend on your existing tools. A good program is very problem solving oriented.

Where can you learn?

A computer college is one of the popular places to earn computer certifications. Though you can find computer courses at a university or community college, or even at the high school level, many people prefer the focus and short study times of a career oriented program. Of course choosing the best fit also depends on your personality and needs. If you have four years and plenty of money, there's advantages to going the university route too.

Visit Oulton College for more information on computer college classes like web design courses.
Patrick Quinn is a Copywriter at Higher Education Marketing, a leading web marketing firm specializing in Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media Marketing, and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other web marketing services and tools.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=M._Patrick_Quinn

The Benefits of Hiring a Tech Consultant

Most companies these days cannot function without the aid of computers and technology, and no business whether it is big or small is going to expand if they are continually having problems with their IT. When computers fail or stop operating to full capacity, this can have a negative effect on the smooth running of the business.

Good Tech Support is Crucial

When your business is experiencing difficulties with its IT, then you will need to correct the problem fast, and this can only be done with good IT support. Larger companies may very well have their own IT department, one that can provide instant IT support when things go wrong. However, smaller businesses may not be able to afford such a luxury, and they will have to seek alternative methods in which to solve their IT problems.

Outsourcing Your IT Problems
 
For smaller companies, having an on site IT expert is not always affordable, that is why more and more small businesses are now using independent IT tech consultants when things go wrong with their computers and software. These tech consultants can be called in to troubleshoot IT problems and they will only charge the company for the services the rendered rather than being on the company payroll full-time.

Finding the Right Tech Consultant

Before you decide on which company or individual you wish to hire for you IT problems, you should make sure that they are able to respond to your call as soon as possible. Computer problems, be it with software or hardware, can occur at any time of the day or night, and your tech consultant is going to have to be ready to respond to your call whenever it happens.

One step that you should take before you enter into an agreement with a company or individual, who offers tech support, is to make sure you do some background checks. Ask them questions about their previous work, and ask to see proof of any testimonials that they have received from previously satisfied customers.

That way, you will be able to see if they have the experience and the know-how to successfully handle any it problems that your business may experience.

Hopefully, this article has provided you with the information that you need to make a secure judgment on hiring a tech consultant to handle all of your IT problems. So long as you do some background checks, you should have no problems finding a suitable tech consultant in your area.

If you're looking for a computer service consultant in the Los Angeles area - I recommend contacting ITwithIQ! Check out their computer and mac repair services.

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Reasons Why to Invest in Used and Refurbished Computers

There are so many options to choose from. Like many people, you begin to do your research online. Options abound such as PC or Mac, high-speed multi-core processors, RAM and RAM expandability, hard drive storage capacity, graphics card and the list goes on.

If you're in the market for a laptop, you can also add other very important features such as battery life, weight and dimensions, and screen size. The number of available USB ports is very important in laptops for added storage capacity such as thumb drives and also for hardware. With all of these things in mind it can definitely become very expensive to get everything you want if you're purchasing new.

An option many consumers are choosing is buying used computers (desktops) and used laptops. Second hand computers can often give you a pretty big bang for your buck particularly if you're balling on a budget.

Refurbished

One good option to explore is "refurbished computers". You can research some of the big online retailers like Amazon and you can often find computers wholesale or at least for wholesale prices. Also, you can explore some of your "brick and mortar" retailers such as Best Buy, CompUSA, Staples, Office Depot, and Walmart either in store or online.

Most computer manufacturers have used or refurb sections on their websites as well. You can explore Dell, Compaq, Gateway, HP, Acer, Lenovo, and Apple just to name a few. A refurbished computer is often a computer that was returned to the store by the consumer for any number of reasons. It can be either as trivial as a scratch or dent or as major as a defective motherboard, hard drive, memory, power supply, etc.

The computer is then sent back to the manufacturer and is repaired, often undergoing rigorous testing before being returned to the retailer for resale. At this point it can no longer be called "new". The retailer then offers it as refurbished and at discounts from 20% all the way up to 70% or more.

Be sure to check the stores policy on refurbished computers. Usually it will have the same factory warranty as a new computer, but for much less cost. You will also want to check exactly what is included with your purchase. For instance you will want to see if it includes a keyboard, monitor, mouse, drives, and all the appropriate connectors and cables.

If you plan on upgrading your refurb, find out what the expandability options are. This is crucial if you want to extend the viability of your computer. For example, if you can only expand up to 4 to 6 gigs of RAM or are limited on the ability to upgrade the motherboard, processor, or graphics card you may want to keep looking.

Used

Many of the same rules apply when dealing with second hand computers that are used. Find out as much as you can in regard to the used computer or used laptop. If it was purchased within the last few months and is relatively new it may still retain its factory warranty. If you are purchasing the computer from a friend, off craigslist, or from any kind of store or used computers provider, see if you can "boot up" the computer and try it out. Assess the keyboard, mouse, drives, ports, battery, software, and internet capabilities if possible. It is not unreasonable to expect that an informed consumer would want to evaluate and assess a purchase.
If there is too much hesitation from the seller it is probably wise to walk away with your money in tow and in pocket. Now that you are armed with some useful information for purchasing used computers and used laptops, take your time and weigh your options. Slow, steady, and analytical wins the second hand computers race, but don't paralyze yourself either.

There are plenty of deals out there to be had. Happy computer hunting.

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Basic Troubleshooting for a Slow PC

Does your computer take FOREVER to start up or load a program? Does it leave you frustrated and feeling unproductive? Well there's a few very basic things which you can do to try and get it running faster. These steps are very easy, most of the work can be completed within 10-15 minutes and even the worst technophobe can do it!

Step 1: Housekeeping

The first thing you can do is to get rid of any files, folders or programs you really don't need or don't use any more. The easiest way to do this is simply to delete files you no longer need, such as pictures, videos, documents etc. Now of course I'm not suggesting you delete precious photo albums or your music collection but have a look around your personal files and see if there's anything you really don't need. You'll see the files start to go into the Recycle Bin on your computer, just leave them there for now, we'll take care of that shortly.

The next step is to look for programs or applications you don't use anymore. You can normally delete these by going to the Start Menu then clicking on Control Panel. Then on the window that comes up there's normally a heading in green which says "Programs" and a blue link underneath it which says "Uninstall a program"... click on that blue link and a list will load up. Right click on the program you want to remove and click Uninstall and this will start the uninstall process.

**Advanced**

If you're comfortable using Windows Explorer, you can go to your local disc (normally your C: Drive) and go into the "Program Files" folder and delete any old program folders from here as well. Sometimes you can uninstall a program however it will leave a folder and sometimes some files behind.

Step 2: Disk Cleanup

There is a tool built into Windows which is used to delete and clear out temporary data which builds up on your computer and it's very straight-forward to use. Click on the start menu and in the little search bar type in "Disk Cleanup" and you'll see the program in the list above. Click on it and it will bring up a little popup and start searching your computer for temporary data it can get rid of.

This program will also clear out your Recycle Bin! So before doing anything else, you may want to double check that to make sure that all the files in there are things you want to get rid of. If you find something you want to keep, click on it and click "Restore" at the top and that will move it back to it's original location and it won't get deleted. Once you're happy, click on OK on the Disk Cleanup tool and that will automatically clear out your computer.

Step 3: Disk Defragmenter

This is another tool built into Windows which can really help the performance of your computer. Basically what this does is re-arrange the files on your hard drive. There's a description of how it works below. To run it, click on the Start Menu and in the search box, type "Disk Defragmenter" and click on the tool under the

Programs heading. Once it's loaded, click and highlight your local disk which is normally listed as (C) then click the "Defragment Disk" button near the bottom. You'll see that the tool is now running. Unfortunately, this can take up to a couple of hours to complete however you can still use the computer and leave that running in the background.

**How the defragmenter works**

When you save files onto your computer, the data which forms that file is not always stored in the same place. A computer's hard drive is basically a big CD and sometimes the data which forms a file is broken up and spread all over the disk. For example, half the data for a file could be stored on the outer edge of the disk, and the other half of the data could be right near the middle. What the Defragmenter does, is move the pieces of data so that they're right next to each other. How does this make your computer run faster? I'm glad you asked! When you open a file, the computer has to search for the data on the hard drive disk, and the computer will search and it will find the first half... and continue searching until it finds the second half, then stitch the two pieces together and load the file for you to see. When the two half's of the file are right beside each other, the computer spends much less time "searching" and will load up the file much quicker.

Step 4: Update and Run Anti-virus software

Sadly there are bad people out there who seek to take advantage of computers and the internet community and there are computer virus out there which will disrupt your computer if it becomes "infected". The good side though is that there a large selection of anti-virus software available to combat this problem. One of the possible causes of a slow computer is that it could be infected with a virus so it's important to have some anti-virus software installed. Not only that but it needs to be kept up to date on a regular basis, my

Computing teacher at school once advised me that it should be updated AT LEAST three times a day!

Software providers are very proactive when it comes to releasing updates for their antivirus and good software will do this automatically for you.

I'm not going to endorse a particular company and their software, but if you do an online search for "popular anti-virus software" you will find many reputable websites which recommend good products. Some anti-virus programs are free and others are paid for, both have their pros and cons. I personally use free anti-virus software and have never had any difficulty with it. That said, I consider myself to be tech-savy and I can recognise things which might be bad for my computer before they affect it. Paid anti-virus programs usually do have many advanced features which offer a higher level of protection.

So there you have four basic things you can do to improve the speed of your computer. If you're still having difficulties then you may need to seek professional help for some more advanced troubleshooting.

I have made a video to accompany this article, please click the following link to see me working through 
these steps: http://youtu.be/bBHeyZt9TX4

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