Culture Change with the Internet

In an age where 66% of adult Americans have a cellphone, smartphones are becoming a big thing. It has changed how we navigate, communicate, and relax. Being constantly connected to the internet, people are able to communicate with the internet and other people from almost everywhere. Smartphones have really only been a thing for about 8 years, yet they've instantly changed our lives more than we realize. 

When I have to go somewhere new, the first thing I'll do is pull out my phone, type in the address, and have it navigate me to my unfamiliar location. I have no need to carry a paper map in my car, or go out and buy a separate product like a GPS, because I have the capabilities of both already in my pocket. Not only have we replaced conventional maps and GPS's, we have made a lot of improvements. Now we have the ability to see if there is any obstetrical on our route, and go around them. If you're navigating within Google Maps for example, you'll be alerted if there is construction or heavy traffic on your path to you location, and asked if you'd like to take a faster route.

Like I've talked previously on in The Internet is More Important Than You May Think, smartphones are extremely powerful tools that allow us with seemingly instant connection with anyone else almost everywhere. We're use to having this power of no matter where we are, you can start texting your friend and carry out a conversation. Teens are often told to "put down your phone, and talk to the people around you". Though they might be disconnected from the conversation around them, they're connected with other people and activity communication. It's not just being anti-social, but possibly just being a little too social because they're able to talk to someone at any time without being right next to them. 

Smartphones have become a replacement to other forms of entertainment. Instead of calling someone, you're able to join a group chat, and text to a group of people all at the same time. You can have a video chat and look at the friend you're chatting with, or show your friend something. You can play co-op games together, or compete against each other. You're able to watch a video, netflix, or TV anywhere you want. Connection to the internet offers you endless amounts of entertainment with all the apps and content you have access to.

Android Apps Coming to Chrome OS

Recently Alphabet (Google) has announced that they're taking Chrome os, the operating system used in Chromebooks, and are merging it with Android. All of the information out on this merge is still very early on, and many things can change or even be cancelled, but still the idea of Android on or incorporated into a new chromebook would be fantastic.

Like I've explained in Why I’m Still Interested in Chromebooks, Chrome OS though lacking in compatibility in general programs, it's able to make up for in the applications developed by users to replace those programs. Though no where near having the complete functionality of another operating system, the merge with Android would make a big jump to closing that gap.  With the ability to access the Play Store and download apps from would ever increase what you could do on a chromebook.

Though we don't know exactly what this merge entails for the new version of chrome OS, what it seems like to me is that they're trying  to make the chromebook more appealing, and able to compete with other laptops.  Before many people haven't heard of a chromebook, and if they had, they probably were not interested in using one. Stating a different operating system would of drawn away most of the potential customers before they might look further into it. If they could advertise an Android laptop, right away many more people would be interested and further look into the capabilities of the laptop.  This would be a way to combat against the massive outreach of Windows and Mac over the market. So many people have an Android phone, and it would give a connection to the Android laptop.

Overall though we don't have many details over what the merge would mean exactly, hopefully it will come with access to the Play Store, furthering the usability of the laptop. Also this merge could be for a marketing scheme to grow the popularity and knowledge of the chromebook.

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Why Consoles Offer a Lesser Experience

It's something that I've heard debated about throughout my life as a child. People argue about this, and often never persuade one or another whether xbox or playstation consoles offer a better gaming experience. Often overlooked over by many hardcore console gamers is the fact of another genre of gaming, PC gaming.

Often overlooked, but it's an amazing experience for gamers. Steam offers an online multiplayer experience without having to pay more after purchasing the game. You get access to a plethora of games, and actual free games that you don't have to pay a monthly fee to access.

Many game developers develop games for PC because they can easily get their game published through steam. The greenlight program offers a way for developers to send in their games to steam, and then have them rated by players to see if it's worth bringing into the steam marketplace. This brings in a lot of PC exclusive games that offers a wonderful gaming experience for PC gamers.

Civilization V Review

Sid Meier's Civilization V, also commonly called just Civ V, is another genius turn based strategy game with Sid Meier's name on it. So good infact, that steam shows I've spent over 350 hours playing Civ V. It's a game that I would recommend to almost anyone.

It takes leaders and civilizations from a large span of time, and starts everyone one off in an ancient era. From there, you research technologies, progressing from age to age. You expand your borders, and settle new cities in foreign lands. You improve your land around you, increasing the yield from it. You create trade routes between other civilizations and city states, filling your coffers up with gold. You can create a big army and navy and take over the world.

Civ V is just a game that has endless playtime for me. With forty three civilizations to choose from, each with some unique units and building. You have 5 different victory types that you can shoot for to win the game. You could capture and control all of the civilization's capitals, you could achieve a scientific victory by researching all the late game technologies, producing the rocket components, assembling the rocket, and launching the rocket ship off to the nearest solar system. You can also achieve a culture victory by exposing your civilization's culture to every other civilization, and having your culture dominate over theirs. You could also achieve a diplomatic victory by achieving enough votes through the united nations meetings. Or you could just score enough points by your set time limit. Civ V just offers you plenty of reasons to replay again and again.

Additionally, there is a plethora of mods created for Civ V.  One of my favorite set of mods is called the Community Balance Mod. It completely changes many mechanics of the game, offering a whole new challenging experience. As the name suggests, it's a set of game changes that the community thought the game needed, and that the game developers never delivered. It gave new life to the game for me, and added countless more hours of gameplay for me to enjoy.

Overall, Civilization V is a amazing game. It offers what seems to be almost unlimited gameplay, and the community has developed even more through the wonderful workshop of mods.

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Chrome Extensions: Floating YouTube

A chrome extension has recently caught my attention. The floating YouTube extension on the chrome browser allows you to view YouTube videos over top of other windows. Someone like me, I watch videos all the time. Often I'll sit back and watch a plethora of videos as I casually play a game. Usually this is done at my home computer, where I have a set up with multiple monitors. Watching a video while playing a game is a breeze with multiple monitors. But when I don't have access to a set up with multiple monitors, It sometimes gets annoying. If I want to watch and play a game on a single monitor, the only option I have is to split the window for both the video and the game, offering a not as desirable experience for gaming.

On my tablet, I often watch videos or live streams on Twitch. The twitch app offers an interesting feature. You can hit a button to have the live stream overlay on your home screen. From there, you can open up any app and continue to watch the live stream. I love this feature because it allows me to multitask on my mobile devices. Recently I decided there must be a program similar on computers.

Away to Google I went, and discovered that people shared the same problems as I, and developed programs to solve it. On the Google web store, there was a few extensions that solved my dilemma. The most popular one Floating for YouTube allows you to input the video URL that you want to watch, and then plays in in a resizable, movable, floating window. It works well, and I haven't experienced anything wrong with it. 

A few things that could be improved include a method of switching videos after finishing one. Currently, the only way to change your video is to close out of the window, and then relaunch the extension. A button in the current UI that would bring up the opening interface would be perfect.

The Problem With Smartwatches

A new year means new Smartwatches. We have many interesting watches that are coming out in 2016, but right now, the new watchthat has been making news is the iWatch 2. Most of what we know hasn't been directly confirmed, but we can assume that it will be included in the next Apple phone. We've heard of a new alloy of aluminum, a bendable display, and no headphone jack.  The first two are solid improvement so that as the watch gets thinner, the watch won't bend and break, but what has shocked many is that the iwatch2  won't have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is standard in just about everything.

When I first heard about this, I was reminded of a situation similar to this a few years ago. If any of you have an older Apple product, you use a different cord to charge your device. This 30 pin cable was standard when Apple started making the iPod touch and the iPhone. When the iPhone 5 was announced, there was an outrage by the community about the different port for charging. They would have to buy new cables and docks if they wanted to buy the next iPhone. When the phone was released, people still bought it and bought new accessories for it. Over time this fit was completely forgot about as the lightning port became the new Apple standard.

From the designer's standpoint, and where they wanted to take the phone, a smaller port was needed. The change saved a lot of room, and also made some money for Apple as people bought new accessories from their store. The same thing can be said $with the headphone jack. That's a lot of room that could be used otherwise.

What is expected, is that you'll use the lightning port to listen to your phone. This either means new earbuds, adapters, or Bluetooth. Because of Bluetooth though, I feel like the change isn't as big. Yes you won't be able to carry around one pair of headphones and listen to everything, but if you're like the growing number of people who use Bluetooth headphones, then you will be just fine with the switch.

problem with VR

Virtual reality has recently hit the news through the growing popularity of the Oculus Rift and other similar devices. People are excited by the fact of this product developing into a new wave of virtual reality video games.  Games are already being designed in an attempt to emerge the player into the experience of it all. With the use of virtual reality devices, could games be designed so that the player can directly and physically interact with in it? 

This next level of interaction, or experience, though may seem distant, is a feasible idea. Having a game that has a complete level of immersion would take more than just a piece of hardware covering your eyes. You would need devices that are not only able to track your movements, but also stimulate the player with the proper responses to your action within the game. These devices are currently being designed and tested.

The Teslasuit is one idea to the thought of complete immersion. This wearable suit is designed with conductive cables within the fabric that has the ability to shock certain points of the wearer's body with a jolt of energy. This is an attempt to stimulate nerves to simulate being hit by bullets or basic interactions with objects. The creators also boast that they plan to implement the ability to simulate temperature and weather with the suit.

Though completely far out product, the idea is there. If simulated response is there, what about physically controlling the game? The Virtuix Omni is one answer to that solution. Basically a infinite 360 degree treadmill. This platform allows you to control your game by physically walking or running, and rotating yourself. It's a really cool idea, that has a working model, and the company is looking at starting to sell units to the public.

This is all a interesting concept, creating a completely immersive gaming experience. One problem though is the initial price.  Buying these products when they are released to the public is going to set you back thousands of dollars. Only a select group of people are going to be able to buy these products. This will lead to video game designers to put this new control on the backburner, as only a few people would be able to use this control method. 

It looks better for devices like virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift, as it will only set you back a couple hundred dollars. More people will have access to this, and developers would be more likely to design their game with Oculus Rift compatibility.

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Could Self Driving Cars be The Next New Thing?

If you haven't heard yet, self driving cars are a real thing. One big name, Google, has been pioneering this idea. They have been testing self driving cars for a while now, and are fairly close to a final product. This car will be able to drive to a location and navigate through traffic. The premise behind the car is lasers. It works by a laser sending out a beam and with the time it took to come back, it generates an image. The on board computer has been taught to identify things such as the curb, road lines, signs and pedestrians and react to them accordingly. Google has tested this car in many situations and even out on road. It has been predicted that a fleet of self driving cars will hit the streets soon and take over the roads. The premise of the roads being filled with SDCs would be a benefit, they would be able to communicate with each other and create a network of information about the road conditions and hazards. The only problem to this fleet, is selling the idea to the consumers. If you ask someone, they might not want to take a ride in a SDC, afraid for their lives. They might not feel safe driving alongside a SDC. Unknowingly though, you might already have driven along with a SDC. In 4 states, Nevada, California, Florida, and Michigan, the state governments have passed laws allowing SDCs to operate on the open road. Google has taken the opportunity, after a long while of private testing, to test the car on the road. Surprisingly this car is very refined and has only been in minor accidents, and every time, it has not been the self driving car’s fault. Another concern some people might share is the cost. Right now, Google has spent a lot of money in their cars. Though the amount of money put into developing it, it is only expected to add $7000 to $10000 to new car prices. This is a lot for some people who can barely afford to buy a car at current prices, but the technology is expected to drop even more in years following its release. Also, car companies are looking at taking the technology, and putting it into cars for cheaper prices. Overall, self driving cars will become a thing no matter if you like it or not. Farther into the future cars will become cheaper and more continent to build and ride.

Chrome Extensions: Adblock Plus

In an age where the internet could be debated as the main source of information, a lot of people are constantly checking the news, or getting updated on their friends through social media. All these services we're using, are not free to run.  For smaller sites, the fee for running the server and the payment are often softened with the use of an ad or two.  Sites that experience heavy traffic usually have plenty of funding from other sources, but still want to make a profit will put many ads into their website. Youtubers who live off of youtube do so because of ad revenue generated by their thousands of views watching an ad before watching the video. Twitch streamers often play an ad before views are allowed to watch the stream, and during breaks of the stream. Ads are basically everywhere on the internet these days. They're often designed to catch your attention by means of bright colors, animations, sound, or even a video. They're often placed on top of the content of the website, prompting you to wait till you can close the ad. Other times, you might be redirected to an ad you must watch or look at for so long before you can continue to the page you were originally wanting to go to. Ads placed within a website often push around content on the page, making a website look horrible because of their incredibly large size compared to the content on the page.

Many people find these kinds of ads intrusive and annoying, and that's a reason why they use adblockers. They'd rather not put up with these poorly designed ads because it wrecks their experience of the website. AdBlock and AdBlockPlus are two of the most popular Chrome web browser ad blocking extensions. The reason they are so attractive to people is because they are simply free. Why would someone put up with annoying ads when they can just click a button to never see ads again?

Why does Adblock exist

In an age where the internet could be debated as the main source of information, a lot of people are constantly checking the news, or getting updated on their friends through social media. All these services we're using, are not free to run.  For smaller sites, the fee for running the server and the payment are often softened with the use of an ad or two.  Sites that experience heavy traffic usually have plenty of funding from other sources, but still want to make a profit will put many ads into their website. Youtubers who live off of youtube do so because of ad revenue generated by their thousands of views watching an ad before watching the video. Twitch streamers often play an ad before views are allowed to watch the stream, and during breaks of the stream. Ads are basically everywhere on the internet these days. They're often designed to catch your attention by means of bright colors, animations, sound, or even a video. They're often placed on top of the content of the website, prompting you to wait till you can close the ad. Other times, you might be redirected to an ad you must watch or look at for so long before you can continue to the page you were originally wanting to go to. Ads placed within a website often push around content on the page, making a website look horrible because of their incredibly large size compared to the content on the page.

Many people find these kinds of ads intrusive and annoying, and that's a reason why they use adblockers. They'd rather not put up with these poorly designed ads because it wrecks their experience of the website. AdBlock and AdBlockPlus are two of the most popular Chrome web browser ad blocking extensions. The reason they are so attractive to people is because they are simply free. Why would someone put up with annoying ads when they can just click a button to never see ads again?

IOS9.3 Troubles

A few days ago IOS 9.3 was released. Already, a crowd of angry Apple product users have surfaced on the internet complaining about issues with their newly updated devices. This is interesting for Apple, but it's something that is becoming a trend. In previous versions, there have been a bunch of bugs that have affected a large crowd. Apple have in the past released versions to patch those bugs, but they've usually include a bunch of their own bugs. IOS 9.3 is apparently not an exception to this.

According to a lot of angry post, blogs, and tweets, It seems like the new updated has prevented most hyperlinks from being opened in browser apps such as Safari or Chrome. This is a fairly devastating bug. For someone like me, I use my phone all the time to browse all over the internet. Additionally, some people also report that not only are they unable to click most links, but also they report that Safari crashes often.

Some other things that I've noticed the mob of angry people reporting, but not as significantly as the browser problems include their device running extremely slower, problems with the iMessage app, charging problems, and significantly less battery life to name a few. I can't guarantee that theses reports are true at this time, but it seems like at least there are significant problems affecting all devices, and potentially more affecting older devices.

Concerning Drones

Ever heard of drones? Chances are that you have. According to Dictionary.com, a drone is a unmanned aircraft that is either guided by a human operator, or can navigate autonomously.  What kind of drone first comes to mind?  Does a recreational drone come to mind, or does a military drone carrying a payload come to mind?  A lot of people when they hear drones associate them as something that bad and deadly. This is possibly caused by the media giving drones a bad reputation after the military successfully takes out a target with a drone. UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), as the military calls their drones, are a useful tool not only for relatively risk free strikes, but also for scouting.  Instead of sending in a unit to scout out a location, the military can fly a drone over the location.  Yes they’re often used to destroy a target, but it is often a much safer solution instead of sending in a squad to take out the target.

The word Drone is a very broad word.  A more correct definition of drone would be any unmanned vehicle. The word has somewhat evolved though to mean any unmanned flying vehicles. Many people refer to quadcopters as drones, as it fits the description. Many civilians enjoy driving or flying drones recreationally. There are also competitions held for racing quadcopters, which has pushed the development for longer lasting batteries, more powerful motors, lighters and cheaper materials, and design of quadcopters.

Drones are not just military weapons, or recreational toys, they’re also very useful and practical tools.  A few years back, the company Amazon announced their plan to ship their products that were under 5 pounds, by drones.  An idea back then that sounded impossible, but really could become the future of shiping.  Imagine having your package ship into your town. Instead of waiting for the delivery truck to go through it’s route, through traffic, till it gets to your house.  With a drone, it could fly straight to your house, avoiding all traffic, and drop off your package.

One example of current day use of drones is for search and rescue. During natural disasters, cities can be turned into as pile of rubble, trapping people, and making it hard to traverse and rescue these people.  Often helicopters were used to fly over the ruins looking for any signs of life. This was commonly a problem though, because it often took a few day, depending on the location, for helicopters to fly in to assist in the search. Now, drones equipped with heat sensing cameras are flown above the ruins like helicopters to search for trapped people. Though not a complete replacement for helicopters, it’s another tool that is a lot cheaper.

To summarize, drones are not just a deadly weapon that could be a threat to us.  They are used strategically by the military instead of risking soldiers’ lives, are also used recreationally and flown for fun or for sport, and used as a tool for saving people’s lives.

Importance of Education with Technology

Electronics and education, not a mix that is typical some students might say. Most of the time, the closest experience of both is when their teacher tells students to put their cell phones away.  Many schools have invested in updated computer labs, but this isn't enough. School Districts should continue to invest in mobile labs and computers, but teachers should also include the use of computers in their plans.

There are many online websites and tools that are available to teachers for little to no cost. Kahoot is a website that allows teachers to design a quiz, and give it to the students in class. Students can connect to the quiz with a phone, tablet, or computer to answer the quiz that is displayed on the teachers Smartboard or projector.

• Kahoot's Website

Quizlet is a website that allows teacher to create a classroom and have online flashcards for students to study from. I’ve found it very helpful while learning another language.  Instead of making flashcards while many foreign language teachers make their students do, students can spend more time studying words and terms. Quizlet also offers other study techniques instead of just digital flashcards, that try to reinforce what you know, and single off exactly what you’re not confident on. They created an app that allows you to take quizlet with you on the go. There are also some fun little games that you can play with your terms and definitions.

• Quizlet's Website

These are just two websites out of many that are available for free.  There are so many other websites, and there are even videos from Khan Academy and many YouTube creators that teach or help students study a subject. There are just so many resources that can be used in class to supplement learning that teachers and students don’t use to their advantage.  Teachers should implement time into their lessons to show and use these tools. Students should also take advantage of the growing number of computers that school districts are offering.

• Khan Academy
• Crash Course

The Growing Concerns of Cyber Bullying

A growing concern recently in schools isn't what is has been in the past. A big problem use to be bullying, but now, along with the growing amount of technology, bullying has evolved into a cyber setting. With bullying, often it was able to be prevented with the use of adult supervision. But now, people are able to hide behind the facade of the internet. Bullying has become even easier because it's no longer just about physical strength, but is possible for everyone. For people being bullied, it often seems like there is no other option, but that's not the case. Social media developers have created means where you don't have to take the bullying.


One thing you can simply do is just quit your social media. It's an extreme option, but there are very reasons you need to take for it. Social media isn't exactly a need, and if you need, just delete your profile. Another option is just to unfollow or to just unfriend the person bullying you. If someone is truly being that hateful to you, you don't need to stand for looking at all their content. Additionally, a lot of social media sites have features where you can remove someone's post from your feed, or block

Power of Video Games

Sometimes, video games can lead to powerful messages. Recently, I've watched a pair of people play though a game live, streaming their playthrough, and their reactions through the internet. In the game, Life is Strange, you get to control the main character, Max, and go through a crazy week where she learns she has the power to rewind time, and uses it to try to "fix" what is going on. You make choices throughout the playthrough that can have a butterfly effect, leading to many different results, but at the same time, ultimately leading down the same story.  At the end, the two streamers faced a choice that had a big impact on the final results of the game. The choice they made, caused them, and their audience, including myself, to end up in tears.  The connection you have with Max. and the relationships she develops, you're able to relate to all of it thanks to the game designers. You developed an emotional status, you actually care for her and her friends like she was a real person.

It's sometime a little weird, but this game is but one example that shows how powerful a simple video game can be. Even without actually playing the game myself, but simply watching this duo play through live, I connected with the fictional "hero" of the game and her fictional life.  Video games can be used simply as entertainment, but that's not their only function.  Video games can also tell a story, just like a book or a movie. If you get a good team together, you get games like Life is Strange or Undertale, that can be so powerful that you relate and feel emotions for the choices or decisions that the character takes or goes through.

It's not just games that tell a story that have a big impact...

Through video games, I found a common ground that formed some of my lasting friendships today...

Video games are beginning to be used as tools for education (minecraft)....

Some might look at video games as pointless things, but I see it as a power tool, a new form of media, that is evolving into a useful instrument with multiple uses and purposes. Next time you....

Internet Over Daylight

In a recent study done by a British company, they concluded that the next generations of adults would rather have internet over daylight.

The company asked people between the ages of 18 and 25 to identify five things which they felt were important to maintain their quality of life.

Freedom of speech topped the list, picked by 81% of the 2,465 surveyed. Nearly seven seven out of 10 (69%) chose internet connect, followed by 64% saying daylight and 57% hot water.

It's funny at first, but I'd have to agree with the importance of the internet. It's something in my life that I truly could not live without. I look at my daily tasks and my education, all basically revolve around the use of the internet. I wake up and check the weather online. I use the internet to research for my school projects. My teacher uses online resources to teach their lessons.  This is a major part of my life that revolves around the use of the internet.

Something more interesting would be to see a larger group of young adults and from different countries. It would also be interesting to see how they compare to the older generations.

Security of our Mobile Devices

It's a big event, one that every source of news desires, and has covered. The big scandal of the FBI asking Apple to decrypt an iPhone has raised many concerns. What would happen if the FBI had this ability to hack into any iPhone that they wanted to at will? What if they hack into my phone?

This is where I feel people have the wrong idea.  I'm not afraid of the FBI. I have nothing to hide, and therefor, I have nothing to hide from them. In all honestly, I think that the FBI should be allowed the data on that criminal's phone, as it could benefit the case, but for one thing. It's not exactly that the FBI has the ability to access data, but that there is a vulnerability in the decryption that might be leaked or figured out. There are plenty of people with malicious intents. It's not going to be the FBI that is stealing your credit card number and personal information, it's going to be someone looking to steal your identity.  The FBI are not the bad guys, It's just that having a way to access encrypted data might lead to a leak of information through malicious people.

Games That has Affected My Life the Most

Many games have affected me throughout my life, but there were a few that had a larger impact.

One game that had a large impact was just simply flash game. My sister must of learned about websites that had collections of flash games from school. Her and I would spend many hours browsing and playing these simple games. Nothing really specific, but it was just the fact of exposing me to the computer and computer games that it has significance long lasting affect on me.

Another game that had a large impact on me is Runescape. It was one of the first true games that I played. I was exposed to it in elementary school by some newly made friends. Through it, I meet a lot of other people at my school and made friends with them through the common interest of the game. It's something that filled a lot of my downtime in between homework and school for many years.  It's helped me pass a lot of time ever since, and has continually updated.

The True Meaning of Emojis?

Emojis have become a new hit way to further communicate. They can indicate someone's tone or emphasize what your saying. Sometimes people convey a whole messages only using emojis. It's something that seems so harmless, but recently, that has not been the case. For a 12 year old girl, her message of some words and emojis got her arrested. The message consisted of this.

"Killing 🔫

meet me in the library Tuesday

🔫 🔪 💣"

To me, I see this as a harmless joke between friends, but I can also see how it can be interpreted as a threat. The fact of the word "Killing" followed by guns, a knife, and a bomb, someone might this this is a threat. There is little evidence that could be used in court that could say that this was a joke. All someone who would glance at this without context would think this was a serious threat. This is a big problem emerging with technology. Is a text, tweet, or post that contains a potential threatening message a true threat, or simply a sarcastic remark? With text on a screen, we don't always get an accurate tone of the writer. Emojis are in the same boat in this case.

Interpretation is the whole problem with emojis. What do Emojis mean? There is not really a set definition for each Emoji, and someone could interpret the emoji differently depending on the context. One could see a ":P" as a playful tease, or as a hurtful jest depending on the context of it. The way the receiver of the emoji interpretes it may or may not be the way the author intended it to be.

For me in the 12 year old girl's shoes, I would of simply not posted that message. It's something that seems so simple, but it is a problem that plagues many. The fact that they post a message without thinking how this could impact someone, or how it could be interprate differently. We don't really know the full context of this girl's situation. She claims this was a response to bullying. If that is true or not, it's just simply not acceptable. 

Social media isn't bad, it's just not often used in a successful manner. It's a powerful tool that can have a positive impact. But it is a two edged sword that can also be used to harm others.

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Bluetooth Earbuds

It's something that I've seen many people come back to school after break with. It's seem like bluetooth earbuds are becoming a household object. It has a good reason too, I've used a pair for a few months and I have no reason to go back to a normal  pair of headphones.

First of all, They're light. At first when I purchased them online, I was concerned that the weight of them might make them feel awkward to wear. But when I first put them on, I could honestly feel no difference compared to a conventional pair of earbuds. They fit snug in my ears, and they also came with adjustable sizes if they didn't fit.

Another concern I had when I began to search for a pair was the price. A couple years ago, I thought that bluetooth earbuds would be a cool thing to use, and looked online to see if there was one I liked. After searching "bluetooth earbuds" in amazon, I was quickly dismayed. The price for a poor looking quality pair was $60+. To get a decent pair, I would of have to payed over $100. Additionally, there were only a few models that I could choose from. Now if you search, there are endless choices, usually ranging from $20-$40 with more expensive, higher quality options also available.

Overall, the further design of the earbuds, the lower price, and more companies producing them has lead to an increase of interest in this newer way to listen to your music.

Virtual Reality

Virtual reality has recently hit the news through the growing popularity of the Oculus Rift and other similar devices. People are excited by the fact of this product developing into a new wave of virtual reality video games.  Games are already being designed in an attempt to emerge the player into the experience of it all. With the use of virtual reality devices, could games be designed so that the player can directly and physically interact with in it? 

This next level of interaction, or experience, though may seem distant, is a feasible idea. Having a game that has a complete level of immersion would take more than just a piece of hardware covering your eyes. You would need devices that are not only able to track your movements, but also stimulate the player with the proper responses to your action within the game. These devices are currently being designed and tested.

The Teslasuit is one idea to the thought of complete immersion. This wearable suit is designed with conductive cables within the fabric that has the ability to shock certain points of the wearer's body with a jolt of energy. This is an attempt to stimulate nerves to simulate being hit by bullets or basic interactions with objects. The creators also boast that they plan to implement the ability to simulate temperature and weather with the suit.

Though completely far out product, the idea is there. If simulated response is there, what about physically controlling the game? The Virtuix Omni is one answer to that solution. Basically a infinite 360 degree treadmill, this platform allows you to control your game by physically walking or running, and rotating yourself. It's a really cool idea, that has a working model, and the company is looking at starting to sell units to the public.

This is all a interesting concept, creating a completely immersive gaming experience. One problem though is the initial price.  Buying these products when they are released to the public is going to set you back thousands of dollars. Only a select group of people are going to be able to buy these products. This will lead to video game designers to put this new control on the backburner, as only a few people would be able to use this control method. 

It looks better for devices like virtual reality devices like the Oculus Rift, as it will only set you back a couple hundred dollars. More people will have access to this, and developers would be more likely to design their game with Oculus Rift compatibility.

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Automated Jobs

Sometimes, when you're in a rush, you end up parking somewhere you should not have. A cop will come by and write you a ticket along with all the other cars parked illegally beside you. Sometimes, you might get a ticket, when you couldn't even understand that you were not allowed to park there. You could go and get legal help, but that itself would cost more than the fine, at least until now.

Joshua Browder, a 19 year old programer, has created bot to help you appeal your parking tickets in the UK. Visiting the website, the bot will prompt you will easy questions to get a handle on the situation. It will then start to ask more specific questions to try to figure out if there was something that could make your fine be appealed. It will then create you an appeal letter which you can print out, sign, and send to court. This process has apparently successfully appealed 3 million dollars worth of parking tickets. An impressive number to boast, but is there any concern with this automated attorney? 

It is safe to say that lawyers should not be afraid of losing their jobs to automated bots like Joshua's. Bots like this one only are able to perform simple jobs like this. They can file a claim, but they can't pick up a case and argue it for a client in court. This leads us on an interesting topic though, is there jobs that are being threaten by automated methods of technology?

In the past, there has been many applications of technology that has significantly reduced the amount of manpower needed. Some that come to my mind right away include farming with the use of massive machines, and factories with automated assembly lines. One of the next jobs that could be automated is driving. 

With the recent boom in self driving cars, jobs like taxi drivers, truck drivers, and bus drivers could be threatened. Recent tests have proven that self driving cars are safe out on the road, but that doesn't mean that everyone will accept that. For automated driving to become an everyday thing, first everyone has to accept it. I know that many people already resent the ever increasing power of technology, and would be deathly afraid at the thought of a fleet of self driving cars out on the streets. There are other people who are just concerned at the thought of computer driven cars.  There are dangers, but with time comes improvement. This technology has been developed for over 10 years, and continues to improve. 

To me, I almost would trust a computer of a human driver. A computer is never distracted. A computer is never tempted to look down or away because of a cell phone. A computer wouldn't turn around to scold their noisy children.  A computer solves all these human problems that create thousands of accidents every day.

The application of automated driving will need more time to be transferred to a truck or bus, but if the public accepts the idea of the upcoming self driving fleet, the process is sure to speed up, with companies looking to increase their profits from running these operations. 

Another area threatened by automation is currently underway of getting replaced. With the recent cry for increased minimum wage, and the response to increase in, food chains like McDonald's who have to comply with these new laws, have simply replaced the man with a machine instead of increasing their pay. They have started to introduce automated cashiers that will take your order and send it back to the kitchen. In a way, this is a much more efficient way of handling the hordes of hungry who are eager to get their Big Mac. Once over the initial investment of touchscreens and computers, these machines will easily save McDonald's a large sum.

The replacement of jobs isn't a complete terror of the night, as it also creates many new jobs.  Machines need to first be created. Code has to be written. The machine has to be installed. Afterwards, the machine has to maintained and eventually updated. It creates a whole new job market that needs to be filled by people with talent. Programmers, designers, manufacturers, IT staff are all required in this continuous process of automation.

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The next iPhone

A new year means new phones. We have many interesting phones that are coming out in 2016, but right now, the new phone that has been making news is the iPhone 7. Most of what we know hasn't been directly confirmed, but we can assume that it will be included in the next Apple phone. We've heard of a new alloy of aluminum, a bendable display, and no headphone jack.  The first two are solid improvement so that as the phone gets thinner, the phone won't bend and break, but what has shocked many is that the iPhone 7 won't have a 3.5 mm headphone jack, which is standard in just about everything.

When I first heard about this, I was reminded of a situation similar to this a few years ago. If any of you have an older Apple product, you use a different cord to charge your device. This 30 pin cable was standard when Apple started making the iPod touch and the iPhone. When the iPhone 5 was announced, there was an outrage by the community about the different port for charging. They would have to buy new cables and docks if they wanted to buy the next iPhone. When the phone was released, people still bought it and bought new accessories for it. Over time this fit was completely forgot about as the lightning port became the new Apple standard.

From the designer's standpoint, and where they wanted to take the phone, a smaller port was needed. The change saved a lot of room, and also made some money for Apple as people bought new accessories from their store. The same thing can be said $with the headphone jack. That's a lot of room that could be used otherwise.

What is expected, is that you'll use the lightning port to listen to your phone. This either means new earbuds, adapters, or Bluetooth. Because of Bluetooth though, I feel like the change isn't as big. Yes you won't be able to carry around one pair of headphones and listen to everything, but if you're like the growing number of people who use Bluetooth headphones, then you will be just fine with the switch.

New Theater Entertainment

Cinemas use to be a location where the source of entertainment came from the movies shown. You would go in, buy overpriced popcorn and drinks and then sit down for a couple hours watching that new hit film. Now films are not the only product that cinemas are showing off.

Esports have become a big thing.  Games like League of Legends, Dota 2, and Counter Strike to name a few all have big competitions with even bigger rewards. Many people tune in or go to watch the competition. Teams are forums and practice just like any other team of any other sport does. Something new, Super League Gaming, was founded in an attempt to bring esport like competitions to a more friendly competition in a local setting.

After buying a ticket from a participating theater, you show up with a laptop, and ready to play the current choice of game, Minecraft.  They chose Minecraft as one of the first games to try out because being one of the most popular games, it had the ability to attract a large amount of people from a large range of ages.  Additionally, the game could be easily modified for Super League’s purpose. Showing up, the event starts off with some casual building on your own plot. It then moves to a version of Hunger Games in Minecraft.

The reason for the theater, besides a common location is the main screen.  Displayed on the screen is a spectators view showing off the current game, along with an overlay that has a current leader board.  Spectators in the theater can watch the current game, and players can look up to get a third person view of the game.

To me the idea is amazing.  Movie theaters are looking for additional ways to make a profit, and this is their solution.  Hosting games and competitions would attract many people. It wouldn’t have to just be Minecraft.  The creators of Super League Gaming have said themselves that they’re looking into other games that they could host, League of Legends mentioned specifically.

I find that there is a lot of room for improvement for Super League’s current setup. Right now, this is only offered in a select few locations and theaters.  This is to be expected, as this is a new idea with need of testing the market. To be practical though, this needs to be offered in the future at more movie theaters.  Additionally, there is little reason for someone to go pay a lot of money to play in a theater when you can sit at home and do the same thing. There needs to be a beneficial reason to why someone needs to go to the theater to do this.

Either way, next time you go to the theater, you might not be paying to watch a movie, but instead bringing your laptop to play some games with your friends. If you’re interested, more information can be found at their website.

https://superleague.com/

Out With The Old, In With The New

For me, communication is key. To keep in touch with my group of friends, we’ve gotten into a habit of communicating through the internet instead of texting. Therefor, instant messaging has been very important to me. We started off using skype, a common program that most everyone has heard of.  It was great, it allowed us to message each other in a group room, and also voice chat with each other. As years passed by, Microsoft updated skype. These updates added few features, and was mostly just cosmetic changes, that also came with poor performance.  Eventually, we started searching for an alternative. We tried Google hangouts, a decent alternative, but we couldn’t get everyone to agree. It had a nice web client and app, but it didn’t have a solid program.  Teamspeak was nice, and included some features that the previous programs didn’t have, but required a monthly payment if we wanted a private server.  Then came Discord.

A few months ago, a group of games undergoing the same search as my group of friends and I, decided to stop looking and create their own solution instead. They created a premium looking product, that doesn’t require a purchase to use, or unlock any features.  It runs smoothly, and doesn’t burden your computer. The mobile app is also up to date, and doesn’t slow down your device.  It’s been something that I’ve come to rely on as a replacement to Skype.

Similar to Teamspeak, you are able to create servers, where you can invite people to. You have access to permissions where you can choose who has the ability to do what. You have the ability to create multiple text and voice channels.  A cool new feature though is the ability to sync your youtube and twitch accounts. You can give special permissions to subscribers automatically when they join your server with their discord account synced to their twitch or youtube account. This allows subscribers to have a direct form of communication with the streamer. I’ve seen a lot more twitch streamers recently using this feature to their benefit.  

One of the coolest features is an overlay. Discord being designed for gamers, understands that most of the time, users will be playing a game. Instead of tabbing out to, Discord is developing an overlay that will allow you to continue to chat while ingame. It’s currently being tested, and Discord itself is more in a beta position, but it’s functional, looks nice, and is one of the best instant messaging programs out there right now.

Are Modular Phones The Next Big Thing?

http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2015/10/fairphone-2-hands-on-modular-phones-are-finally-here/

Replacing a phone is a common thing. Most phones are designed to only be used for a few years before being replaced by the next model. Companies are cranking out new models almost every year just to keep up with the demand, and people continue to upgrade. What if we didn't have to buy a new phone every few years? Something that is big in the PC gaming community is the fact that you don't have to buy a whole new desktop just to upgrade your computer. All you have to do is buy a new part and replace it. What if this process was possible for phones? This is where module phones come in.

Module phones is a realitivly new concept that is only about a year old. Even though so young, concepts have been developed by 3rd party phone manufacturers, and most recently discovered that, Google. The concept of simply buying a better camera or a larger capacity battery sounds fantastic to me over simply buying a new phone.


Good things for the module phone idea:

1: You can design the phone.

For someone like me who is often on a small budget, this is like an answer from the heavens. I would be able to design my own smartphone, just like I can for a computer. I could concisely sacrifice some areas of the phone to buy better preforming parts in other areas of the phone.

2. Large selection of Parts available.

3. Cheap upgrades

Potential bad things:

1. Not enough manufacturers of different parts.

2. Software disaster.

3. Software updates?


Overall, I love the idea, but have doubts of it actually going anywhere far. If the first few module phones are successful, then there is future hope for it. If they get little sales, there is no hope for them in the future.

Dyson Spheres: The Source of Future Power

Taking a look into humankind's future looks bright. With advancing technology, the sky's the limit. But being that bright and soaring in the sky will all require power. Currently we depend on mostly fossil fuels, which is a concern for many. Many countries have started looking into alternative sources of power such as solar, wind, and hydro power. Also nuclear energy has been expanded on, making it more efficient, and safer to use. Though we have many great sources of power on Earth, it's not near enough for the far future.

By far into the future, I'm talking about intergalactic space travel. A lot of focus has been put into space travel and colonization of other planets.  Not so far into the future we might be mining and collecting resources on other bodies in our solar system. All this travel will require some form of power. Lets face it, as the human civilization expand, we will need even increasingly amounts of power. At some point we'll surpass what is capable on earth, and will look out to some other source of power. Something in that sort has been devised to collect almost all the energy available in the solar system.

Here comes in the Dyson Sphere. No it's not a vacuum, but it is inside of one. A dyson sphere is in some sense a solar panel on an extreme scale.  It's something that would surround an entire star in order to collect all of the light energy that the star is releasing. Now currently, this is an impossible engineering feat for us today, but potential something we could do right now would be a dyson swarm.

A dyson swarm is a ring of objects with photogenic cells orbiting the sun. We could continue to construct rings to form a more net like pattern. This could produce ridiculous amounts of power compared to what we have on earth if we could device a way to transmit the power.

YouTube Sponsorships

It's something I've noticed that has became a big thing recently. Youtubers have outreached to their communities through the means of promotions and giveaways.  Some people view this action as greedy, only doing it for the added benefit of attracting more subscribers, there for money. Other people view it as greatful, an added benifit of being subscribed to said channel, having a chance to win some some sweet loot.

Though I agree with theses views, as they can apply depending on the situation, and how the Youtuber deals with said giveaways and promotions. But if you take a step back, and look at the big picture, you'll see a mutual relationship between the Youtuber, company, and viewers.

YouTube is typically entertainment. A lot of people go online to YouTube and watch entertaining videos to pass time. In the process you'll watch an ad in front of some videos. This ad revenue is split between Google and the video's creator.  A lot of people have quit their jobs and started doing YouTube "full time" as they're able to live off the money they get from their views.

Content creators are always after more viewers, as overtime people might lose interest and stop watching some YouTubers. Gaining more viewers can be hard.  Companies are always looking for bigger profits, and to expand their markets. Advertising can become expensive, but some companies have taken noticed of the popularity of YouTube, and have struck deals with some Youtubers. They get to host giveaways of a companies product. The Youtubers will generally gain more viewers as people come in for the giveaway and notice the contents on the channel. Companies get extremely cheap advertising to hundreds of thousands of people who have interests in the products they sell. And views get the opportunity to win free stuff. 

Electromagnetic Hypersensitivity

A strange new disease has appeared recently that people affected claim to be electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS).  Assumedly, electromagnetic fields produced by phones, cellphone towers, microwaves radios, computers, routers, powerlines, and general electronics are enough to discomfort people who have self diagnosed themselves with EHS.  People who claim to have EHS report to have headaches, fatigue, burning sensations, pain, and sleep disturbances.  To me, this all seems all preposterous, as symptoms like this could indicate so many different problems. I look at this and see someone suffering from headaches, and claiming it on their wifi. These people assume because the use of technology and a sudden occurrence of a nonspecific symptom, that they must be “allergic” to electromagnetic fields.

After reading a few interviews of people claiming to have EHS, most of them noticed nonspecific symptoms all of a sudden one day after using a computer or cellphone. They looked online and diagnosed themselves with EHS.  Most didn’t go to a doctor, and the ones that did, the doctor almost always reported back that nothing was wrong with them.

One case that jumped out to me was about a kid who the article referenced to as “G”. G went to school after they got new routers and reported to have nonspecific symptoms. He often went to the nurse and was sent home. After being at home he did not experience the symptoms anymore.  Right here, I have extreme doubts. I’m sure everyone when they were a kid has pretended to be sick to get out of school.  I’ve done it myself when I was younger. Continuing on the story, G’s mother looked up his symptoms online and diagnosed him with EHS. Okay, so let's go on the assumption that G isn’t just playing sick to get out of school, and is actually suffering from symptoms. What I don’t understand is why G’s mother didn’t go out and talk to a family doctor to diagnose whatever G was suffering from.

Cases like this that have been reported on has just added fuel to the fire, making this false diagnosis more apparent on the internet. People suffering from nonspecific symptoms go online and self diagnose themselves with this fake disease. Studies have been done, and there has been no connection found to low levels of electromagnetics waves produced by routers and cell phones and people claiming to suffer from EHS. In most cases, the EHS patient couldn’t tell the difference when the field was on and off.

https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/lawsuit-alleges-school-wi-fi-harmed-child-with-electromagnetic-hypersensitivity/

Why TV Has Been Replaced

It might be a common thing for many, but it also might be a confusing thought for others. Why would someone spend their time watching some random person on the internet play games? Why would you watch games when you could be playing those games?

For someone like myself, who spends a fair amount of time watching people play games, I can say that it has become one of my main sources of entertainment. A while ago I would have to say that my main source of entertainment was TV. What happened? Truthfully, I don't know exactly. TV started to get bland, and I kept having less and less time to watch TV.  When I had some time, It seemed like there was nothing on that I wanted to watch.

With online solutions, this solved many problems. Services like Netflix and Hulu offered me shows that I could watch at any time, and anywhere on any device that had access to the internet.  This allowed me to watch shows before I went to bed, or waiting for a ride after school.

Going online, I also found many other sources of entertainment, mainly Youtube. At the time, Youtubers were just starting to experiment with gaming, and found that it was an instant success. Thousands of people, including myself were instantly hooked, and subscribed to many people.

The Hacking of Christmas Days

Many people over holidays enjoy participating with their family in traditions. A traditions that I share with my family is waiting for everyone to wake up before rushing downstairs on Christmas morning. An event that is sadly seeming like it will become a tradition is the "hacking" of gaming servers on Christmas day.

Children wake up Christmas morning, rush downstairs, wildly open up their present with their parents watching. He or she opens a present to find that they got the game they ask for to play with their friends. They rush to the console, pop in the disk, and tries to message their friend to realize that the servers are down.  If you haven't heard before, in the past few years, squads of rouge programmers have came together to bring down big gaming servers such as xbox live, playstation network, and most recently, steam.  This practice angers many gamers wanting to play or download their new game, but are unable to.  They go on massive rants on forums and social media complaining on how someone could do such a terrible thing, and why are companies unable to deal with the hackers?

From what I'm able to put together, there are a few reasons behind why someone would do such a thing. After this event happened in 2014, hackers from the group that claimed the responsibility, Lizard Squad, were interviewed by media. Most of these interviews included rude language towards Microsoft and Sony. They claim that Microsoft and Sony are corrupted companies that overcharge and spend little resources on the protection of their servers to prevent attacks like they preformed. While they claim they are just trying to spread this message, I sense they're after something else, attention.

To me, their message would be just as received if they attacked anytime else. Attacking on Christmas means unless the companies bring in more employees on Christmas day, the servers are at the mercy of the hacker group.

Technology Going too Far?

A topic that I've found interesting and debated over is the fact if technology has gone too far. We always find progress to be good, and it usually is, but sometimes knowledge isn't always the best.

The classic example I could think of is nuclear fusion. It's an efficient way to make a massive amount of energy. The US has almost 100 nuclear reactors thst generate enough power for their surrounding areas for a long time. The downfall to this is of course the deadly waste generated as a byproduct of the process, but there are facilities designed to contain this waste deep below in the ground.

On the other side, the first thing we used the process for was in a weapon. Nukes are deadly weapons that decimate anything in its blast radius, and if you're not killed by the explosion, good chance the radiation will get you. Throughout time since, countries have built up stockpiles of nukes, waiting for a Nuclear War to start. If there ever is a world War 3, there is good chance nukes will be launched, and many citizens dead.

Another idea I had was robotics. Recently I watched Avengers Age of Ultron, and was fascinated by Ultron this Ai running on a supercomputer loads itself into one of Tony Stark’s robots and try to take over the world. Most would say, what an interesting fantasy, but the truth is, we're striving closer and closer to a situation like that. Ai industry and research has been rapidly expanding with companies like Google leading the way. We have programs that are able to interact with people.

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Microsoft's New Game Plan

Microsoft has some big plans when it comes to gaming. Windows 10 includes an xbox app that allows a PC to remotely control and play xbox one games. It’s an interesting idea but Microsoft is adding more.  People who preorder the game Quantum Break will receive a digital PC version for free.  Along with this, you will apparently be able to go back and forth from PC and xbox and continue from you left of each time. We’ve known from the times of Windows 10 pre releases that Microsoft wanted to bridge the gap between console and PC gaming. Though I don’t think the two separate communities are ready themselves, it’s an interesting proposition none the less.

Having the ability to play multiplayer with both a console and PC would be a big deal. Though some might complain that PC or console has an unfair advantage, this would be a big selling point for any game or console that could do so. If done, Microsoft could advertise that their console, the xbox, does this, and Sony’s can’t. With the PS4 doing so well, Microsoft could use anything to attract a bigger crowd.

This idea of a PC copy with a physical console disk, isn’t new. This “cross buying” has been done before with dvds, offering a digital copy with a purchase of a dvd. If this is to become a benefit, it’s something that would have to become a standard practice for almost every xbox game. This isn’t too practical though, because not every game is produced for both console and PC. But this might just encourage game producers to develop the game for both platforms. This would lead to longer develop times to produce a game, and additional costs, potentially leading to greater risks. But if the game is popular, you would be selling to multiple markets instead of one.

Competing in mobile department
http://www.phonedog.com/2015/10/24/will-windows-phone-s-long-streak-unpopular-phones-ruin-it-windows-10-mobile

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What are Video Games to Me

If you ask anyone what the view video games as, there is a good chance that they would reply with video games are a waste of time. I would have to agree on the point that video games are a time sync, but they're much more that that.  To me, video games can tell stories, just like a book or movie, a connection between my friends and myself, and a source of endless entertainment.

To me, a lot of gaming comes down to the campaign or story behind the game. Some of the games that I enjoyed the most include Heavy Rain, Grim Fandango, Last of Us, the Half life series, and the Portal series to name a few. These games all are driven by a story, and you follow along with with whatever mechanics the game gives you. To me, the games are telling you a story, and unlike a movie or book, you are directly interacting with the story.  This interaction to me, is a huge reason why I spend my free time playing games.

Story isn't the only thing that draws me to games. Multiplayer is another key feature of games that really see it to me. Being able to spend time with friends is a common pass time, but through a computer or game console, I can chat, interact, and play with friends without having to drive to their house.  Even if my friends are unavailable, I'm able to go online and interact and play a game with other people.

Additionally, video games are a source of seemingly endless entertainment to me. There are many games that I could spend days on end playing, and many more created every year.  If I ever get bored of playing a game, there is always YouTube or Twitch where I can participate in communities of people watching a content creators play games and interacting with the community watching them.