Blog Posting Tips

I have posted many blogs for this class using blogger. Along the way I found out a few things that make using this site a little easier. There have been a few comments on how to view the blogs you have posted and your comments as well as how to arrange an image on a post.

The easiest way to keep track of our posts is by going to the dashboard where you can manage your blogs. At the top of the screen there is a link for the dashboard. Here it will allow you to view and edit your profile. Also, there is a link for new post, edit post, and settings. When you click on edit posts it will show you all of the posts for the class by author and allow you to view them and the comments.



For the posts that you have created there will be an edit option to the left. If you forgot to add labels or an image you can just click on edit and make changes, then publish the post again. You can also view drafts that you saved and delete a posts that you don't want.



Another thing to make blogging easier is how to arrange an image on a post. Every time I upload an image it will always place it at the top of the post. It doesn't seem to let me move the image by dragging or by hitting enter. It is very simple to solve this problem. At the top there is a tab for Edit Html. When you click that you can see your post in html format. All you need to do is highlight, cut, and then move the html for your image to the area in your post you want it to be. Then click on the Compose tab to continue writing and view the image placement.

These are just a few things I found that make using this site easier. I hope this will be helpful.

FaceBook Employees having too much fun?

I’m pretty sure everyone in our class has used facebook. Even our beloved Professor Drake has a page (good luck getting him to accept your friend request if you’re a current student). Anyways, to some facebook has A LOT of personal info stored on there accounts. Thats why we all set different privacy settings to protect ourselves from our Bosses, parents, or just plain stalkers. Well this past weekend I was doing my usual surfing of the web and came across this interesting story that I didn't know how to feel about it. It was an interview with a previous employee of Facebook who spilled the beans on some secrets. The biggest being that everyone who worked for Facebook had one password that would allow them to log in as anyone.

Guess what the password was….Chuck Norris!!! Seriously, that seems a little to childish to me, almost like it was one huge joke to everyone at the office. Other than the ridiculous password, I was more mad at the fact that the employee also mentioned that they could see any information that you have ever deleted or which profiles you visit. Just imagine dating someone who works at the Facebook office, they would have you on lock down lol. Or if its some creeper that you met at a party on a Saturday and that you ended up shooting down. They could do some serious damage to your profile the following Monday. The person could write made up things on other peoples profiles as you or just get sensitive information like where you live.

I guess the part of the ex employee interview that put my mind most to rest was them saying that the "Chuck Norris" password could only be used on computers inside of Facebook offices. This still doesn’t make it totally alright. I’m definitely all for technology and love how facebook has given me a way to reconnect with all my past friends/teammates from high school and college. But can we get a notice or disclosure when we sign up for Facebook of what employees are allowed to see or do to our accounts?

I guess this is just a remainder to everyone: Don’t ever put anything on the internet that you wouldn’t mind sharing with everyone!!

Origanially posted on Gizmodo via The Rumpus via The Awl

Google Groups

Anywhere that you are working in a group, it is necessary to get together and share information. Our group has decided to use Google Groups as a way to start a discussion, create pages, and upload files to share with each other. This is the first time I have used Google Groups and I'm pleased with how easy it is to use.

With Google Groups you can create your own group that is private and have discussions online or by email, create custom pages, and customize your graphics. All you need to do is create your own group and send invitations to others that you want in it. Besides creating your own group, you can search to find a discussion or group that is about a particular topic. If you find a group you like you can join immediately or request and invitation if its private.

In another class I had, my group tried to use the Collaboration suite offered by EMU. Unfortunately, it was difficult to use and didn't work out. Google Groups is easy to use and understand. They even have a tour to give you an idea of how it works. I recommend that you check it out.

Apple's New Idea

Well, I recently read an article that Apple has a big surprise for consumers. The company has scheduled a press conference on January 27, 2010. Experts believe that Apple may reveal there next big idea, the Apple tablet. Apple lovers are curious on what apple will deliver. Will it be an enlarged version of an iPhone or will the setup be completely mind blowing? The tablet is expected to be a 10 or 11 inch touch screen with wireless capabilities and possible cost is around $1,000.

Apple with the help of Steve Jobs has become the leader in digital music downloads via there application Itunes music store. Also itunes are capitalising on the smart phone apps via there extensive App store. Other big products from Apple are the ipods, itouch and the iPhone.

I myself use some of Apples products like there ipod and there itunes store. I just hope that apple doesn't disappoint consumers. I know apple is doing well with the iPhone which is pocket computer but can they replicate that success with a tablet which is larger scaled.

How close is the Death of the PC?

Since I was asked to look in to Dell's newest addition to the Optiplex line up, the Optiplex 160 for our corporate environment, I thought about an article I read recently. It was in Forbes magazine with the ominous title of "The Death of the PC." The idea of the PC being dead has been long debated and still is hot subject to this day. There is a bigger threat then cell phones and laptops to the PC in the corporate world.

There is one thing that I see happening not just at my work place but even here at school. It is desktop virtualization. This is where the user thinks he or she is sitting at a PC but is in fact working off of a server some where else. My workplace uses this type of set up for all of our collection analysts. This has the advantage of lower equipment costs and greater data security.

Some have argued that there is a higher initial cost as you have to replace all the PCs with thin clients like Dell's new Optiplex 160. While this is true at first until you start amortizing the capital cost out. PCs are only good for about 4 years then your helpdesk cost start rising due to increased repair calls from the users. Some of the thin clients we still have in our environment are going on 10 years old and we are having to replace just because the technology will not connect with our new Citrix servers.
A quote from Forbes explains the difference between cloud computing and virtualization:

"It used to be that something virtual wasn't real. And that clouds were just that--those puffy things in the sky. Today we have the tech industry terms "virtual computing" and "cloud computing," which often get mixed up. Fortunately, there's an easy way to tell them apart, and it involves hearkening back to the age-old distinction between hardware and software. When you're talking about virtual computing, you're invariably talking about hardware; specifically, making PC-style hardware available to users in a new way. A new layer of software, typically running in a far-off data center, tricks users into thinking they are using a desktop PC like before.

Cloud computing, by contrast, usually refers to the sorts of software that run once a computer gets turned on. The "cloud" indicates that the software is hosted in a data center, not sitting on your desktop. If you use Google Docs instead of Microsoft Office for your word processing or spreadsheets, that's cloud computing. You can mix and match these two approaches, undertaking cloud computing on a nonvirtual, traditional PC. And the opposite: You can use traditional, Office-style programs on a virtual PC."

With the ease of just remotely resetting a users session, added to the the decreased costs of ownership coupled with data security, the PC is in a run for its life in the corporate world.

Cloud Computing

In 2010, the new thing for companies to invest in is cloud computing. Cloud Computing is the use of Internet based development and the use of computer technology. This style of computing that uses IT-related capabilities provided "as a service". This allows users to access technology-enabled services "in the cloud" without knowledge or expertise with the technology infrastructure that supports them.

Big companies like Google, Apple and Verizon have already started to use this technology with their cell phones. Cloud Computing is often compared to grid, utility, and autonomic computing. Through the definitions of all of these cloud computing is a little bit of a combination. Users are basically accessing a network through a service that is software. The iPhone and Verizon's new Droid cell phones take advantage of this new technology as they compete for the cell phone lovers attention.

According to "Open Cloud Computing" a few key characteristics of cloud computing are:

• Scalability which meets changing user demands quickly. Massive scalability and large user bases are common but not an absolute requirement.
  
• Reliability by way of multiple redundant sites, which makes it suitable for disaster recovery
  
• Security which typically improves due to centralization of data, increased security focused resources, etc.

I'm not sure what I feel about cloud computing but I do like the name! :)

Haiti and technology

Disaster can never be good. The times when catastrophe befalls people can never be said to be favorable or great. People of Haiti are facing one of the worst disasters. Moreover the repercussions of the earthquake is not limited to broken debris and people stuck in tons of rubble, it is also about the ensuing epidemic that might break out in the camps where people are staying.
If we compare this disaster to other disasters in the past, we can say that we have better technology to cope with the troubled times. The common man has access to technology like satellite imagery and VOIP that makes life a lot easier in many ways. Citizen journalism was seen to play a vital role even in the eve of the Mumbai terrorist attacks. The same can be seen in this case. We spoke about Web 2.0 in the previous class and I cannot see any better application of Web 2.0.
Now at the moment of this disaster AJAX and our project can also be of great help. Our concept of mash ups using web apis might serve the purpose of helping people in need,provided we have the necessary web applications.

Group Project

In our class last week we were suppose to get with our groups and discuss what kind of project we wanted to do for our class project. And I think our came up with some good ideas such as Dan had the idea of a Mashup of having reservations for a sort of Lodge Resort. Using API's for location,direction,payment etc and it was a good idea but we came into a problem that we thought that we would be making up the website for the lodges we would use but soon found out that we would be using components from a already existing site or API. But we liked the idea of where we were headed.

So I wanted to research a little more about mashups and what they were, how they are made and ow they were used. So I did what most people do these days and I googled it, I found definitions of what a mashup was, types of mashups and also saw a comparison with mashups vs portals with differences between the two. I found one good site about how to start a mashup that came from Programmableweb.com. And it had a simple 5 step list of how you are suppose to:

1)Pick a subject

2)Decide where your data is coming from

3)Weigh your coding skills

4)Sign up for a API

5) Start coding

And it went into some detail of how each step would get you to start your own mashup. So this should be a interesting task and it seems like we will be using a little from each one of our past IS classes to complete this ultimate project.

Verison vs AT&T

So I'm here watching football, and I'm curious as to why Verizon and AT&T have all these 3g commercials. I've never taken the time to look into the 3g network, I don't use smart phones because I drop my phone way to often and haven't found a phone that wont break that gives me all of these options. So when I watched all of these commercials I was curious as to who really was telling the truth, and who really has the best 3g options.

During one of the commercials, AT&T used Luke Wilson to advertise, well he got a call from his friend who was on a TV show and it sounded like he were on who wants to be a millionaire. Well he asked a question and Luke used his phone to search the answer. My issue is how often does that really happen, I don't really need to be on the phone and look up things. If I wanted to do that why be on the phone? Because I'm not really listening to who ever I'm on the phone with.

Now on the other side, Verizon has commercials with "Maps" how 3g is everywhere in America. And they make it very clear that their 3g coverage is much better, I was looking at websites and this one caught my eye. its quite entertaining http://flowingdata.com/2009/11/24/verizon-vs-att-battle-of-the-coverage-maps/. I like the part where AT&T filed a lawsuit against Verizon for showing that their coverage didn't work in parts of the area, they claimed that Verizon was trying to hurt their image and that they have regular coverage in those areas just not 3g coverage.

A Good Idea

I was recently reading some blogs to make my weekly comments and I came across a blog from someone in our class here. He brings up a very good point. Basically he is asking if our blogs can be a review of the previous week, or maybe each paragraph could be on a slightly different topic even though our rubric for our blogs says to stay on topic.

I think it would be much easier if we could talk about different things in our blog each week instead of having one blog that is three paragraphs long on one topic. Would Dr. Drake be willing to consider allowing us to have 3 separate blogs each week that are each one paragraph long? I think that this would make things much easier for us as students in more than one way. I think it would allow us more freedom to talk about different things each week instead of one topic and I also think that it would give us more variety when we have to go make our 3 comment posts each week. Instead of having only one topic to post on for each student we would have 3 per student to post on.

I know that this isn't our decision to make as a class, but I think it's a really good idea. I'm not bringing this up for just the "let's make things easier" factor, I'm bringing it up because I really think it would make thinks better. We would have more information to read and decide on what we wanted to comment on etc. instead of feeling like we just have to make something up to get our paragraphs done for that week.

Head First Ajax

Ok, so I bought the Head First Ajax book this weekend and thought that I would look through it to get an idea of some of the material that we will be covering. I had talked to several people (Three to be exact) who had this class last term that said that the book was, to be blunt, a POS. Being fairly open minded I thought I would get it in order to form my own opinion. Well after spending $45.00 I initially concur with my classmates reviews.

I come from a programming background. I currently know Perl, C++, C#, VB Script, HTML, some JavaScript, some Java, and enough PHP to be dangerous. For the most part I'm self taught, having had one C# class and a couple C++ classes, I was able to get enough of the basics to do some substantial development out of the classroom. One thing I like in a programming books is a logical format that provides a lot of examples and code for me to analyze and assess. After opening the Head First book the only thing I can focus on is the pictures...lots and lots of pictures, followed by an illogical and hard to follow structure.

I read some of the reviews by other buyers on the amazon site (Amazon) and by in large, most of the reviews are very positive. With the exception of a lot of people talking about editing problems and the author showing examples that are not possible (1 Star reviews), most people find the book useful( 5 Star reviews). One of the interesting quotes that I saw in the 1 star reviews section was that "This book is not for the person learning on their own" by user I.M. There. While we are learning this in a classroom environment, my guess is that as with any programming class, we will be learning and stumbling through this topic on our own outside the class room.

I'll conclude with this. I will continue to explore this book with an open mind and try to leave my analytic brain somewhere else when I crack the book open. Most people in their reviews have stated that while this book is probably not designed for an engineering type of mindset, it does present the material in a easy to understand format as well as a reinforcing style. So I will try to do my best to use the book and I will provide an update to this blog as I progress through the class to see if my initial assessment has changed.

Project

I am really excited about the idea my group has come up with for out project. We are going to try to integrate four API’s that will give different information on a movie title that is entered into our application. As a big movie buff I thought of this idea and my group and Professor Drake thought it would be a good project to do. I really hope we can get it to work because I really like the concept.

What we are going to do for our project is create an application where a movie title is entered then information about the movie is pulled for the Internet Movie Database, DVD and other merchandizing information is pulled from Amazon and EBay and finally Netflix is checked to see if the DVD is availably there.

We have already started to look at the API’s we will need and it looks like we are in good shape there. Now comes the hard part of using Ajax to create our application. I am a little bit nervous about this part. Programming can be really hard and getting it all to work may be another challenge but I think my group is up to it and we will do well.

Google's New China

Google recently faced a cyber attack that originated from China that was attempting to steal intellectual property from the company. The attack was also aimed at many other corporations that are involved in many business categories such as web-based companies, finance, technology, media, and finally chemical sectors. The main goal of the attack was to access Gmail accounts of Chinese human rights activists.

Google's investigation claims that the attackers did not get any information other than the date the accounts were created and the subject lines of certain emails - no actual email content was seen. The attacks were not limited to Chinese Gmail consumers - dozens of U.S. and European-based users were threatened, all of which were supporters of the human rights movement that has been cropping up in China. Google states that accounts that were accessed were done so through phishing or malware attacks on user's computers.

The interesting bit of detail in this story is that it wasn't a user or a group of users who were seeking this information - it was a government. This shows that the Chinese government does not respect intellectual property and is willing to commit crimes in order to silence those who oppose them. With this said, Google is reconsidering its stance with China in filtering web searching and content.

Blogging

I guess I'm a little late to the party, starting my first blog. Having a "web log" is something that has interested me for a while. The only experience with blogging is on Biggerbuybuton from IS 279 and IS 379. I eventually got use to the idea of having a short blog due every day. However, just because I was used to it didn't mean I got them done every day. By the end of the last section I remember not being too behind, and having to catch up by writing just about 8 or so blogs. One thing I didn't like about the way we did blogs in those classes was that it kind of felt like you were writing the blog for no one because we weren't required to read or comment on other people's blogs. I had a film class in community college that we has to post and comment on other's post about the films we watched in class (mainly because there wasn't enough time for an in class discussion after we watched the movie.) this class really had an online community feel to it which made it easier and fun to post, I’m hoping that this will feel somewhat like that and not just writing an eDiary like I’m Doogie Howser or something.

One thing that I am worried about is writing a full blog every week. I’m really don’t like to write a great deal. I have the tendency to try to find the shortest way to write something and when I’m given a minimum length to write, it tends to be frustrating for me. Three paragraphs isn’t too long to have to write and I don’t think I’ll have too much trouble, if I don’t get behind.

I did have a question that I thought I’d add to my first blog. I was wondering if the weekly blog was to be on one single topic, or if it could be a “week round up” of sorts containing a paragraph about how our project is doing and a something we read in our book and then maybe something interesting we saw on line that week that related to class. The rubric says to “remain … on topic.” So what if the topic is something like “What Happened Last Week” or “How This Week is Going, So Far.” This might make it a little easier to write every week.

What is AJAX?

Initially AJAX seemed to me to be a name from a classical Greek epic like ILLIAD. I was pretty sure that there was a character named AJAX in those stories. I thought it might be Hector's illegitimate brother or may be Achillie's jealous friend. After knowing that AJAX actually is an acronym for Asynchronous Javascript and XML, I was transported to a different place altogether.
The emphasis in AJAX applications is to fetch the data in the pages without refreshing the page in the browser. The term AJAX was created by Jesse James Garrett in February 18 2005.
Ajax is an umbrella for different technologies that makes web-applications look like desktop pieces. Lets look at this interesting AJAX enabled interactive diary of TOM RIDDLE. Those who have read the Harry potter series shall know Tom Riddle and his diary really well. Those who havent read Harry Potter check out GOOGLE.com( =) )
http://pandorabots.com/pandora/talk?botid=c96f911b3e35f9e1 This is a good example of AJAX because the page fetches the results without refreshing the web page in the browser. And type this question, Do you like apples? Another AJAX enabled internet application is the Mosaic. It's a fun application that enables a user to drag and drop pictures and create a mosaic. There are a number of websites that are actively using Ajax. The floating boxes that come up when one hovers over a certain link have been enabled by AJAX. How about a game of chess? wwwJesperOlsen.Net/PChess/,
I am looking forward to the class and learning more about AJAX.

Questions about Blogging

I have been playing with my new toy of blogging for the last hour. I have made some comments to other posts as well as I made two blog posts. I then have come across a couple of questions about blogging that may be easily answered and will help me from here on out.

I noticed that when I make a comment back to a post, I could not find an area where I could also include a link. Is this possible and I just have slipped the spot where that is easily done? Or is this something that blogging could add in the future?

I also was curious about my blog posts. Is there an easy way to access your blog posts quickly with what you have only written? Also the thought process of this, how do I find out quickly who responds to my posts? Is an e-mail sent to me if I set it up that tells me when a comment was posted. Or do I just have to search for it and keep looking around.

I found a link of common questions about blogs. It looks like the trackback is what would answer my last question. I just need more information so this could be as smooth as possible.

Helpful Resource

In this course we are learning Ajax which is a combination of XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript working together to create dynamic web pages. I haven't had a lot of experience with JavaScript before, so I needed a resource to help me learn a few things. One of the best resources I found was w3schools.

This site is great. They offer tutorials, references, and examples for learning XHTML, CSS, JavaScript and so much more. They even let you experiment with code and test the examples yourself.
The course book does a good job of explaining how Ajax works but other resources are needed. This site has really helped me to get a better understanding of JavaScript and building web pages. I hope this information will be as helpful to others as it was for me.

Previous Experience with Head First Book

I didn’t know anything about web development and then I was introduced to Head First HTML with CSS and XHTML. The book not only helped me learn HTML and CSS, but the way the book was written it made it very interesting. It was by far one of my favorite books and the interesting part was that it made me learn the material in a fun way. It made me WANT to learn how to write HTML so I can create the web pages that I wanted to. Then once I finished the book, something happened. I wanted to learn more.

I then ordered more books about web development. I ordered some books that just had pictures of different web sites so I could see some different sites with their color schemes. I think this is actually the hardest thing is trying to get a color scheme that will connect with your information that you are trying to give to a specific audience. You don’t want it to be too bright and you also don’t want it to be too dark. I then went to borders and read some books or to be completely honest, lets just say that I scanned through them and just came to the conclusion that I knew how to do everything it was saying. I ended up not buying any books and I just couldn’t find another book that was similar and helpful like the one Head First HTML with CSS.

I tried a little bit with the program Dreamweaver. I was introduced to a helpful guide by my business partner John Hanna, who showed me the basics of how to create a web site using Dreamweaver. I felt like a little kid again, I just couldn’t wait to get home and continue working on my web site and continue learning the steps on how to create a successful website. When I finished all the steps I then was at a similar spot that I was just a short time ago. I wanted to learn more. I am now being introduced to the book Head First AJAX and really hope it is similar to my Head First HTML. Based on looking at the pages by scanning the book it looks like it will again teach me more about web development in a fun and exciting way.

I am going to end this blog with me posting that I am excited to learn AJAX and hope I continue my path of learning how to be a successful web page creator.

Blogging

I have the worst attitude about writing and a lot of times it frustrates me. I admit to everyone that I am a terrible writer and so most of the time I just give up. I have tried a couple of times and I have noticed that my biggest thing is the way I phrase things. I also have learned that I write what I think instead of trying to make something smooth. With blogging in this class, it could be another huge opportunity for me to increase my writing skills.

I want to first start with doing a little research about blogging so I have a complete understanding what is expected. I read the syllabus and then read about blogging online on the emuonline.edu website. Blogging quantity seemed like an important item that should be highlighted and made sure everyone in the class realizes what is expected. We are expected to make at least 1 post a week and make 3 posts comments on other classmates.

With researching about blogs, I found out that there are many different types of blogs. Blogs are different based on the type of content. Also blogs are different in the way that content is delivered or written. I looked up the different types of blogs and this is what I came across:

· Personal Blogs

· Corporate and Organizational Blogs

· By Genre

· By media type

· By device

My goal is to have a positive attitude with blogging and really learn how to improve my writing. Thanks for reading my first blog.

Blogging IS449

This is not my first time blogging for this course. Last semester I took IS449 with professor Drake and we had the same requirement for blogging. At times it seems difficult to come up with ideas to blog about but as the semester progresses it gets easier.

This is a writing intensive course but there are huge benefits from the class blog. This is a great way to share ideas, trouble shoot problems, and find resources. Many of the things I worked on last semester were done with the help of others through blogging.

It only takes a few minutes to write a few paragraphs and share information. Then you have an entire class working together to make that information more useful with feedback. It is very important to keep up with your blogs every week because they are worth a large portion of your grade.

Google G-Drive??

(Credit: Google)

Tonight has been a very stressful night for me. People kicked in my door when me and my roommates where out of the apartment and basically took everything. And because I'm such a tech geek, I was hit the hardest. So I really considered not doing this post at all, but I'm sitting at my mom's house late at night about to try to do the best that I can.

One thing that really interests me is checking out what is going on in the technology world. Google being one of the companies that is always in the news about their latest innovations, makes me read up on anything that mentions their name. Well while surfing the net during some downtime at work, I stumbled across a story about a major improvement to Google Docs that will be coming to all users in a few weeks. There will now be an option to upload files that are non-Google Doc files such as music, videos, pictures and zips to be held on Google's servers. All users will be give 1GB of storage for free, with the option of adding additional storage for a small fee. (Picture above shows how the app will tell you the amount of storage you have left)

While the sudden addition of being able to add non-Google Doc files is nice, this may not be the long awaited G: Drive that sparked rumors last summer. Some say that when it Google official storage space is added, that it will be more tied into it's properties and will be available to all users. I personally like this idea very much. How many of us have had to email ourselves a paper that we worked on all night and had to print it out at the lab? This eliminates all that. Basically upload anything, your favorite songs or photos to the Google storage and it will always be available where ever you go. And I'm sure they will find a way to implement this into other Google Platforms like Android and play a major role in Google Chrome OS.

The original Story can be found on

CNET

(Credit: Google)

Information Overload on Ajax

My first question is what this “ajax” is we are supposed to be learning in this class. So I decided to make my first blog on what I found out about Ajax on the web.

Ajax is short for asynchronous JavaScript and XML according to Wikipedia. This not so new language is responsible for the mixed content pages we have gotten used to seeing from Google to Weather.com. It works by using retrieving data via XMLHTTPRequest object. Hmmm.. What is that and how does it work?

An XHR or XMLHTTPRequest is a domain object model application programming interface. Now I have worked with API in a sense of using calling routines when I have written programs. XHR works by bringing more data up in to the webpage as the user interacts with the page. That is really cool and to believe that developers for Outlook actually had a good idea.

There was a nice historical flow on the development of XHR with the different browser programs each trying to have the best version. Then XHR Wikipedia site got in to the hard core coding examples that my brain wasn’t going to understand at Midnight. I will be back to this site and many of the others I ran in to just by typing ajax in the google search. I hit information overload at this point.

Microsoft Helping Retailers

Microsoft is a multinational computer technology corporation. With the help of this multinational corporation, the retailer has been looking at this opportunity to get them out of the recession. Microsoft will help the retailers to work exactly with customer needs and help retailers to make more out of it at the same time. Microsoft has created technologies used in stores such as Microsoft Surface that help customers explore products, and sells tools such as mobile tablets that retailers use to check stock.

They have also created a dynamic way for the retailers to keep their customers informed about the products in the store, which can also be accessed through the web and their prices can be checked with other competitors on their fingertips. One of the strongest trends that the retailers can make more out of is the availability of enormous variety of cell phones and smart phones.

Retailers can also attract more customers with the accessibility to the web through their Wi-Fi connection to suggest products based on profile information, which can also help them to maintain products availability, product area and more. This gives the retailers a huge help to keep their customers coming and it doesn’t even cost them anything because the customer pays for it on their own. Also having a latest technology where retailers can have shoppers pay with digital cash from their bank accounts, having them pay over mobile devices will help them to eliminate hassles with their credit card companies.

Group Project

So I have chosen the people, or rather maybe they have chosen me, to work with on our group project. We're trying to decide what to do for our project. Two of us, Steven and I own a company that we would like to use for the project and our group is ok with that. The problem we are running into is we aren't really sure what to do for the external sources requirement.

Our company is a Pay Per Click advertising consultation company. We are both certified in Google AdWords. We started the company early last year, and we do need to drastically improve our website. I think it would be a great opportunity for us to learn something in this class that we could apply towards our business, and I'm excited that I won't feel like I'm just doing another pointless project that will be forgotten at the end of the semester. I realize that the other projects were for learning, but it'll be nice to actually be able to use the output from this project for something in the real world.

The biggest issue we're facing when using our company for the project, like I said before, is finding external sources for the project requirements. One thing I had thought of was to maybe use some sort of calculator from Google or another site, if it exists, that people could put in their information, such as budget, how much they would make for each conversion, things like that. Then the calculator would calculate their ROI. I'm trying to think of other things, but we will have to get together again and see if there's anything we can come up with.

Pico Projector

Wow I've beening thinking for nearly a week now on what to write about in my first class blog. I found an interesting article online about cell phones. I read in an article today that Texas Instrument, TI-DPL , is dueling over two models of a cell phone projector called pico projectors. TI sees the pico projector as there biggest DPL revenue maker. Samsung leased one of the first cell phone projectors last year . The only big draw back to Samsung's projector is the large size of the cellphone. Samsung is now on the second generations which is much thinner, cost starting at $399.

Projector phones are predicted to replace the need for laptops and equipment heavy projectors in the work place areas like, conference rooms and meeting areas. Though the equipment is not main stream yet experts believe it could become almost a standard on cellphones like digital cameras are now in the next five years. Currently, the Sydiant projectors can display up to 1024 X 600 pixels and the projector screens are as small as a penny. So there is a lot of competition in the pico projector market.

Well, I think the cell projector is a good idea. Consumers might buy into the need for a projector. The projector can be used to show friends pictures or share a video. I think it might me easier to use the cell phone projector than the standard ones because of the less equipment that is needed. I don't think it will ever completely do away with the standard projector.

Nexus One vs iPhone

I'm sure that nearly everyone has heard of the new phone released by Google called Nexus One, as lately it seems to be taking up quite a bit of space in the news. Phone technology seems to be developing at the pace that computers were in the mid 1990's. Every time you buy something, within about 6 months to a year, something faster with more capacity and more capabilities is hitting the shelves. With this fast developing technology it is hard to decide whether you should buy the new technology as it comes out or wait for the next generation to emerge. I for one have learned my lesson about getting the new technology as soon as it hits the shelves. I found this out when I purchased the iPhone.

When the iPhone was released back in June of 2007 (Wikipedia) I was quick to purchase it in July of that year, and to be honest, my life has never been the same. However, with that being said, the most important lesson that I learned from that purchase is that had I waited about 2 more months, I could have saved $200 after Apple's price reduction. That is a tough lesson to learn for a Student. While Apple was kind enough to provide early adopters with a $100 store credit, I personally would have been ok with waiting the 2 extra months and saving the full $200. With all that being said, I'm curious to see what the next couple months have in store for the Nexus One.

The Nexus One is carrying a hefty price tag with it. It currently cost $529 to buy the phone unlocked and $179 to purchase it with a T Mobile 2 year contract. (Google/NexusOne) While this is very similar to Apples original price of $499 for the iPhone, Apple actually required a 2 year contract with AT&T (a terrible service provider in my opinion) in order to get that price. Time will tell if the original price of the phone will come down, but I know from experience that I will wait at least 6 months or so before I begin to evaluate whether or not I will make the switch.

With that being said I'm also curious to get some feedback on what people think about the features of the Nexus One versus the iPhone. While both phones have similar features such as GPS, camera, etc, The iPhone has a many more applications (100,000 vs 20,000). While I'm sure that more will come to the Android OS soon but for the time being that is a large difference. So in short, please let me know your thought on both jumping on new technology vs. waiting, as well as the biggest differences between the capabilities/availability of each phone.

Blogging 101

So when I heard we were blogging, I was nervous and excited. I have read blogs before but never actually wrote a blog. So I wanted to search the best and most efficient way to blog. I searched exactly that on google.

The first thing that this specific website says it to tell the audience exactly what your talking about, and where this blog is headed. It also talks about being a great writer (which I am not). The next thing it says is to not save your most important information for the end, but to engage your readers early and often. Finally it talks about using catchy titles, so your readers want to come back and so they are interested in what your saying.

Another website, has a few points of how to start a blog. After you have a website and know what to write about, you want to decide how often to post. It is recommended that you should have about a months worth of blogs before starting your blog. Once the blog is started the best way to expand your blog is to tell your friends, and ask them to tell their friends. And finally it says to use other blogs that your interested in, to give your blog some depth and to give your readers a chance to see more into your life. This is another example website you can read to further your knowledge dailyblogtips.com.

One area of interest to me has been the processor wars with AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) and Intel. AMD has for the most part always lagged behind Intel. AMD made a comeback in 1999 when they introduced the first 1 gigahertz processor but Intel followed right behind them and then jumped back in the lead by introducing a faster processor than AMD. AMD has faced additional hurdles from Intel…such as giving rebates to vendors that choose Intel processors. AMD is fighting back with a lawsuit against Intel.

The lawsuit was filed in 2005 which accused AMD of unfair marketing practices and basically giving AMD an unfair advantage. Intel enticed manufacturers to use their processors by giving them big rebates and advertising support in return for using their processors. Another condition of the rebate from Intel is for vendors to promise to do little if any business with AMD. Clearly Intel has more financial power than AMD but I feel that should not be used to bully vendors into choosing Intel. Well after four long years the courts finally made their decision and agreed with AMD. Intel must pay $1.25 billion to AMD for their unfair marketing practices.

AMD makes a great processor. Their processors offer great performance at an economical price. I have used AMD processors for many years and they offer speedy performance at a fraction of the cost of Intel.

Blogging

Alright so I was sitting here and thinking about what to right in this blog. I have heard of blogs but haven't really seen or have written one before. So I googled search th e meaning of blogging and what i got in return is wikipedia defintinon: and it states " is a blog is a type of website, usally maintained by an individual with regualar entries of commentary, description of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. Blog can also be used a verb, meaning to maintain or add a blog. (Wikepdia)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blogging

This clears up the meaning for me in that I know exaclty what the term of blogging means. And this should be interesting what will be written by people during the course of the semester. As it is open to many things we can write, discuss or comment about. While i was reading about blogs I noticed that there are different kinds of blogs such as personal blogs, corporate and organizational blogs. They can also be grouped together by genre, media type, and by device which I found interesting to read about.

So during the course of the semester we can technically do all these types of blogs. There were some interesting things about blogging history, origins, how it has transformed over the years, and legal and ethical issues that were also mentioned. So in this little research I have done I have learned something I never really knew about.

The MajicJack

I had no clue what to write about so I figured to find out about the latest technology I'd turn to my local newspaper. I found an interesting article about the new MajicJack. MajicJack is a little device that plugs into your computer and through your Internet, this devices lets you make international phone calls for free. The makers of this device have come out with an even better MajicJack.

The new MajicJack also plugs into your PC as well and detects a compatible cell phone when it is within 8 feet. When the user wants to dial out the MajicJack reroutes the call to go through the Internet without crediting the cell phone for airtime. This includes international calls. This device can only be used with AT&T and T-Mobile right now but the makers of MajicJack are trying to use this device with all cell phone carriers.


The MajicJack sells for $40, which is fairly low considering what you get with this product. This might not affect us American students but I could see this being a big success for international students and the men and women that are serving the US over seas. This is a great way for people to keep in touch with their loved ones without breaking the bank. MajicJack has been a success so far but with more and more students coming to the US for education and more and more of our armed forces being sent over seas, the MajicJack will be a booming invention. I predict that this company will come out with nice profits!

Microsoft's New Hope

Microsoft is trying to do way with the keyboard, mouse and all other input devices used on electronics. Their new Natal technology will work by using human body and voice to input information into the desired electronic device. This technology can be used on more than just your home computer. It can be used in a wide range of everyday electronics. This could revolutionize they way we all use technology and change Microsoft’s image.

When people think of Microsoft right now, Windows and PC are what come to mind and all the problems that go with them. Apple is thought as the cool and cutting edge technology leader. Microsoft has had a really bad five years with the mediocre release of Vista and Microsoft’s launch of their version of an iPod, the Zoom, Microsoft needs something to boost them back to the cutting edge.

Natal maybe the technology that does just that and like Windows changes the way we use electronics. As a person who grew up with keyboards, the mouse, and joysticks, I have a hard time getting use to touch less electronics. I do not feel comfortable yet with the idea of not having an input device. For me it really just depends on how good Natal is going to work. If it winds up being another Vista, Microsoft is going to have a huge problem they may not be able to come back from. Bill Gates has often said that “Microsoft is always two years away from failure.” So we will wait and see if this is a victory for Microsoft or a failure. Only time will tell.

Hello class.