![]() Contributed by Kathy Flanagan As the holiday season come closer and closer people are looking for all types of gifts to buy their loved ones. People look for phones, clothes, toys, decorations, and even exercise equipment. Google Maps and Le Tour De France have teamed up with ProForm, a well-recognized fitness equipment company, to create a new stationary bike that simulates the terrain of the Tour de France route using Google Maps. The stationary bicycle is called the TDF Pro 4.0. The TDF 4.0 is perfect for a cycler in training for Le Tour De France or any big race. Using Google Maps, the bicycle will incline or decline up to 20% based on the terrain it is approaching. On the front of the bike, there is a 7-inch touch screen that projects the street view map of the route you are riding, along with stats of your workout, and connection to iFit. By using iFit you can unlock routes around the world. There are already 24 pre-programed workout applications on the bike. A separate iFit membership is required to unlock more courses to ride. Another great feature of the TDF Pro 4.0 is that it is silent. The designers created it with magnetic resistance to keep the noise low so you can focus on your ride and workout. There is an outlet on the bike to plug in music from an iPod to be heard though two speakers on the touchscreen. The TDF Pro 4.0 is the official bicycle of Le Tour De France and is a great piece of equipment to have in the house. The bike will help anyone simply get in shape, stay in shape, or train for a big event.
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![]() Post contributed by Enemy the Ox When we think about communication, we can assume NASA knows a little something about it too. “A messaging app for teams who put robots on Mars!!” is what Slack is using as their current motto. Slack’s software is built for the new way business is being done. This app allows businesses to help control and monitor their online and offline presence simultaneously. Slack combines email and social media in one organized application that allows you to filter your life and job through different channels. This application has a private channel that is for sensitive information, a channel for personal messages, and a general channel that manages marketing and social media accounts. Slack also provides a “drag and drop” option which allows you to share documents from places like Google Drive, Dropbox, or Box. Simply paste the link and that document is immediately searchable for everyone you work with. With the need for information being requested faster and demanded more often, Slack provides all the tools needed to navigate your way through the new waves of communication. Check out https://slack.com/ for more information. ![]() Post contributed by Romain Johnson II In this day and age, social media has taken a huge role in all of our lives. This trend has taken off in the past 10 years, especially with the use of Facebook and other social media outlets. Teenagers of the current generation are now suffering from this new age of social technology—suffering to the point of sleep deprivation, anxiety, and many other conditions that put these young people at risk of serious issues. Growing up, social media was somewhat of a big deal in my life. I had a Myspace page and eventually got a Facebook account and Twitter account. It was the new trend. Everyone was getting on these websites to stay connected outside of school. There were times when I’d stay up until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning chatting with friends about literally nothing. At the time, I didn’t see the issues and problems that came with staying up all night on these social media sites. It wasn’t until about my senior year of high school that I started to see how it affected my everyday life and the lives of my peers around me. When reading an article I came across on the internet, I finally was able to put two-and-two together. People my age and younger have a higher chance of depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem when they use social media than at any other time of their life. I have known a lot of people who dealt with a lot of issues because of social media, and even I was a victim. There were many times when I missed school because of lack of sleep because I had been on different social media outlets all night. Once I learned how to control my social media habits, I was able to get the proper rest I needed to function in a regular day, and this is something that teens now growing up need to learn how to do before it is too late. To find out more about the article I read on the effects of social media on teens, click here. ![]() Post contributed by Gustavo Zogobi Waze is the world’s largest traffic and navigation app. The app is free, and available for IOS and Android. Waze allows you to join other drivers to share location, road info, and real time traffic, saving money and time and making your life much easier. Google purchased Waze on June 2013, for a reported $1.03 billion dollars. Like other mapping service, Waze allows you to have voice-guided GPS navigation with turn-by-turn directions, but what makes Waze really interesting and unique is its social layer. Waze's active community of users share real time traffic and road information. Waze gives you heads-up warnings about reported obstacles on your route (accidents, police traps, traffic, etc.) and then it will redirect you to your destination. Waze also uses the best routes that users prefer to take towards frequent destinations. Also, Waze can find the cheapest gas station along the way. Waze gives its users the option to report information via hands-free voice control, which the user can activate by waving a hand in front of a smartphone screen. The best part of Waze is its social and gamification features. Users can earn points when they contribute to the road information, and as points rack-up, their ranking in the Waze community rises. Also, Waze allows the users to edit maps to fix problems the users may see. Waze also eliminates the need of “I am five minutes away” texts to friends because users can see live updates from friends who also use Waze. Waze has Facebook integration too, so directions from Facebook events will automatically show up in the user's Facebook page. Waze was built for helping drivers to find their way without getting lost. Waze works with an internet connection or a data network connection from your mobile device. Connection with an internet service allows Waze to show real time traffic, real time information. Without an internet connection, you will not be able to navigate or find a route. If your connection is not working for any reason, Waze will try to get data from the servers for traffic alerts and hazards, but Waze may not always be able to give you correct information. Waze is very helpful for people who do know not the routes; for example, in big cities Waze is really helpful. I encourage readers to download this incredible app and avoid getting lost. Have fun with Waze! See: https://support.google.com/waze/answer/6078702?hl=en https://www.waze.com/about ![]() Post contributed by Peter Ludolph As technology has advanced, face-to-face communication has, for many people, diminished. We instead find ourselves using things like Facebook Messenger, text messaging, and e-mail as our primary means of communication. However, as we continue to advance, we can also see that face-to-face virtual communication sits at the forefront of the next technological revolution in communication. Products like Google Glass, Oculus, and today's feature, Microsoft HoloLens, will be leading the charge in this new form of communication, a form that has been anticipated for decades and may finally come to fruition. The three superpowers of wearable virtual technology have been hard at work developing their products. Google, with its Glass technology, has tried to make a wearable lens that can take the practicalities of technology on phones and computers and cram it all into a wearable and physically cooperative headset, in the form of glasses. Google hopes that Google Glass is something that a person can interact with and use in practically any setting. Oculus has a product called the Oculus Rift, and has tried to create a virtual reality headset primarily used for gaming. However, Oculus has another product, the Gear VR, that can be coupled with newer Samsung phones to create a virtual reality experience using only the phone. Lastly, Microsoft has recently developed the HoloLens, which in some ways bridges the gap between Google Glass and Oculus Rift. The Microsoft HoloLens functions as both a device for work and play. It has more advanced optics than Google Glass and a more sleek design than Oculus Rift. With a technology like Microsoft HoloLens, the world of digital communication that we experience now will change drastically. It is a transition from an onscreen experience to one in which we are immersed. The digital experience will move beyond the boundaries of a screen and a device; instead, it will be an experience in which we are physically active participants. People will interact with their documents with a wave on an arm. A person will be able to set up a virtual living room and have their physical environment become intertwined with a digital environment. A teacher will be able to create drawings in mid-air to students in order to help visualize a concept. The potential of this product is staggering, so the anticipation is high. It is yet to be seen whether this technology can live up to its hype. Previous technology such as Google Glass at first seemed revolutionary. However, after some time it was deemed by many users to be impractical. The HoloLens is still largely in its developmental stages, with the first prototypes being released in early 2016. In virtual imaging technology, we are only just now reaching the edge of the technological sophistication that is needed for this sort of product to exist. With companies like Microsoft and Google at the forefront of development, there are sure to be some interesting developments in the coming years. As this technology becomes more prominent, I think that we will see a shift in how we communicate. Through these systems we will communicate through a different digital perspective that is tied much more closely to our natural person-to-person conversation style. Not only will our communication change from person-to-person with this technology; we will also change how we communicate with digital technology and computerized systems. There will be a much more collaborative system linking humans and their technology as we see the virtual world take shape. Below are Links to the Oculus Rift, Google Glass, and Microsoft HoloLens websites. https://www.oculus.com/en-us/ https://www.google.com/glass/start/ https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us ![]() Post contributed by Amanda Bagnall-Newman Today’s age is filled with a variety of technology within our reach. From where I sit, I can reach my iPhone, iMac, Nintendo DS, Nintendo 2DS, Tablet, Bamboo Pen, Underwater Camera, Graphing Calculator, and my digital alarm clock. This is more technology than my grandfather ever used in his lifetime, all at my fingertips. Americans are wired to their smartphones, tablets, and other tech devices. This isn’t necessarily bad. I personally enjoy my tech lifestyle (having Yahtzee on my phone has been the greatest). Now, what is the closest living thing to us humans (other than ourselves)? Our pets! I love my babies! My family has five lovable outdoor cats and two mutt-weilers (Rottweiler/mutt mix), and we love them to the ends of the Earth. And I am sure I am not the only person who loves their pets. So why not share our lavish tech-savvy lifestyle with our beloved pets? I've found an article that addresses this very question: Why your cat needs an iPad. Welcome to the year 2015, where we have so much amazing tech laying around our house that we don’t use, so we give to our pets. A whole new line of apps are popping up that market towards our cats and dogs. No longer do we have to touch that slimy tennis ball or the dead mouse off the carpet; we have an app for that. Go Dog Go has released a fetch machine that launches balls for a dog to chase. The dog can be trained to reload the launcher and play to his heart’s content. Your dog is a strong, independent animal and doesn’t need a human to throw the ball for it. One problem, my neighbor had a dog that would play fetch till it would pass out from exhaustion. That dog lived for the chase: the tennis ball chase. Imagine if your dog ran itself to death because you weren’t around to stop it. Wouldn’t this then seem like a bad idea? The article mentions a great point; Americans live such a busy lifestyle that we can’t always provide the attention our pets deserve. This is understandable. When I get home from my night shift in the summer, my kitten will go crazy for attention, even hopping in the shower with me (freaked me out the first time, but we’re cool now). So how can we solve this problem? Provide our critters with a new form of entertainment: iPads. But the bigger issue is this. Technology is creating a communication gap between humans and our pets. Instead of your dog being excited to see you when you come home, he gets excited to see you take out an iPad. While we provide entertainment for our pets with these new devices, they will slowly replace us. There are already machines that feed animals automatically, provide a constant stream of fresh water, and even clean out the kitty litter box. The only connection we have left with our babies is love and affection, but yet again, we have an app for that. ![]() Post contributed by Willie Franke On September 29, 2015, Google released two new smartphones to the world: the Nexus 5x and the Nexus 6p. The 6p is larger at 5.7 inches, and the 5x is 5.2 inches. The 6p has a 12.3 megapixel back-facing camera and an 8 megapixel front facing camera which, according to Google, takes “the best selfies in the world.” Another feature of the new phones is the ability to take slow motion videos with ultra HD 4K video. Google is also using a new fingerprint scanner to unlock the smartphones instead of having the classic unlock code used with previous phones. Google is using its own Android Marshmallow Operating System. I had no idea what this “Marshmallow” system was until I looked it up here. One feature of the operating system is called “Now on Tap.” It works when a user holds down the home button while on a page, prompting the system to highlight main words like places, celebrities, locations, and events. All the information taken from the text pops up in a little box on the bottom of the screen, and the user can send that information to another user or paste the location in the maps feature. I think the new operating system and phones are great additions to the technology and communication world. People today love documenting their experiences and keeping up with current news quickly. The new cameras on these phones and the new operating system help users get information faster and post better selfies or pictures of experiences. ![]() Post contributed by Willie Franke A new app released just over two weeks ago from five University of Michigan students that makes walking home alone safer for everyone. The new app, called “Companion,” was created over a year ago, but was just released to the public this past month to help students or people in general walk home alone at night and feel safe doing so. All that needs to be done is download the app, link your number with a friend’s phone who also has the app, and start walking. So how does this exactly work? After the connection between the two phones or electronic devices is made, the GPS Tracking system on your phone sets up a map of where you are now, and where your determined destination is. As you walk home, your friend can see your icon walking along your path home. If a situation happens while you’re walking home, for example if you speed up, your friend’s phone will get an alert that you’ve began to walk faster, and he or she can send you a message confirming if you’re okay. If you don’t respond with “I’m ok” in 15 seconds, the app notifies your companion with an option to call the police. Another feature for the walker is at any time he or she is feeling nervous, he or she can hit the “I feel nervous” button which pins on a map areas where people feel nervous. I think this app is a great invention that will be highly successful. I have already downloaded the app, and I highly encourage others to do it as well. I think this will stop violence on college campuses, and catch predators preying on people walking alone. This app will help people walking alone notify a partner as soon as a situation happens where there is an emergency. As you can see by the picture, the app is extremely simple to use, and will be highly effective in society. ![]() Post contributed by Brandon Pribbernow On September 9, 2015, the Apple Corporation released a new line of products which includes the Apple iPad Pro and the Apple Pencil. Apple is a great company that produces great but high-priced products that people continue to buy. The iPad Pro is the newest version of the Apple iPad products. The Apple Pencil is something completely new to the company, and is something that they have never done before. I personally do not feel the Apple Pencil will be a very successful product. When I first heard of the Apple Pencil, I was very interested to see exactly what its purpose was and how it would be used. After looking into the product, I do not see it going very far or being very popular. The Apple Pencil is an overpriced, over-glorified stylus, which will only work on the Apple iPad Pro. This means if you have any other touchscreen Apple product that came out prior to fall of 2015, the Apple Pencil is completely useless to you. The features on the Apple Pencil are also very limited, and buying this product would be a great way to waste $100. What I find most entertaining about the idea of the new Apple Pencil is how one of the founders and creators of the Apple Corporation felt about styluses. When Steve Jobs announced the iPhone back in 2007, he hated the idea of a stylus, as you can hear from this short video clip. I completely agree with him in this video, a stylus is just another material item that a customer will most likely lose or misplace. My final thoughts about the Apple Pencil is that it is a bad idea and goes against what Apple wants. I personally am an Android user, so I do have a bias towards Apple products, but looking at what this product does and the features it has, I don’t think it will be as useful as some people hope it will be. The product does not do anything outstanding or special that a person could not do before this product came out. The first group of people to try this product I feel will be disappointed. Post contributed by J'Clef
As we know, Apple Inc. is one of the best, most efficient technology sources in the world. Throughout my life, I have encountered devices such as the iPhone, iPod, iPad and even their new brand of headphones: Beats. I remember in middle school, purchasing my first-ever iPod. It was so exciting, from being able to FaceTime, to going to the app store, to downloading Angry Birds. Apple has been an company that has had new updates or some type of new feature to the product every year. If you have never had the experience of owning an Apple product, I believe it is worth the try. One thing about these Apple products is that they are very secure. The software is very hard to break into, there’s hardly no limitations, and very easy to work with. Now that we are in the year of 2015, Apple has done it again, creating the iPhone 6s. The iPhone has come a long way, from only being able to make calls and texts, to having apps, to now using your fingerprints to lock and allow access to your phones. As of last week, Apple has come out with features of the new iPhone 6s, shown in Figure.1. The new iPhone has a 5.5-inch (diagonal) massive screen. Also, the camera has been enhanced that you may be able to take pictures while also recording a short active video at the same time. In my opinion, Apple is the real definition of technology enhancement and growth. What do you think about this new iPhone? Is it as great as the world makes it out to be? Do you believe Apple is worth buying? What is your experience? |
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