Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Last post of the semester!
Well I want to thank you all for your awesome work this semester, you have been a great class! Today (wednesday) is our last day of class and we are going to do a short recap of the semester. I want everyone to pick one topic or article we discussed in this class then gather information to give the class a 2 minute current update on the topic. Post the information and summary to this blog.
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It was known as the great Wikipedia blackout. It spread fear to college students everywhere as they tried to to do last minute papers but to there surprise Wikipedia pages were blacked out.
ReplyDeleteWikipedia blacked out it pages to raise awareness for the SOPA and PIPA bills congress was trying to pass. During the great blackout Wikipedia's sopa and pipa page was accessed 162 million times. Of that 8 million looked up their congressmen information through the Wikipedia tool. Now with sopa and pipa a couple months later the laws don't hold much weight with members of the house or senate but are expected to undergo surgery to reduce some of the damaging effects of the laws.
I chose the topic of solar panels.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.articledashboard.com/Article/Factors-influencing-solar-panels-efficiency/2895781
This article is about one of the main reasons people choose not to embark life with solar panels, and that reason is efficiency. New technologies have emerged that have the potential to increase the efficiency of solar panels up around 40% and even 80%. 80% efficiency is amazingly great, and they use nano particles and magnet modules, where as the 40% efficiency they use a silicon wafer.
I decided to find an updated list of the 10 most trending topics on Yahoo in 2011. The list from 2010 was, 1. Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster 2. World Cup 3. Miley Cyrus 4. Kim Kardashian 5. Lady Gaga 6. iPhone 7. Megan Fox 8. Justin Bieber 9. American Idol 10. Brittney Spears.
ReplyDeleteAn updated list for 2011 inclues; 1. iPhone 2. Casey Anthony 3. Kim Kardashian 4. Katy Perry 5. Jennifer Lopez 6. Lindsey Lohan 7. American Idol 8. Jennifer Anniston 9. Japan Earthquakes 10. Osama Bin Laden. The only topics to make it on the list in both 2010 and 2011 were Apple's iPhone, Kim Kardashian, and American Idol
One of our first posts was about textbooks moving to the iPad and whether or not we liked this idea. Well, over the course of a few months, Our Lady of Providence School in Indiana is actually doing this. Starting next year, students will carry around iPads instead of textbooks and will be using the technology to further their education in a more interactive way. The school says that some of the classes will have textbooks in the rooms that they may use, but that those books will soon be phased out as the teachers are starting to write their own textbooks for the iPad. The math department is the first department going text-book free. Both the teachers and students are excited about the change.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120502/ZONE11/305020052/Our-Lady-Providence-replace-books-iPads?odyssey=mod|newswell|text||p
I found out that on March 29th Foxconn pledged to make working conditons better for those in the factory. They are going to only allow people to work 49 hour weeks and that they are going to give people better pay and more vacation time to rest. In an article from PBS the head of The Fair Labor Association stated that he investigated foxconn and found many things that violated the rights of the workers. Many people were working 60-80 hours a week and they were not getting paid those overtime hours. Also, there were many accidents happening because the people who work at Foxconn do not speak to each other and there is a lack of communication between everyone. He said that these conditions are typical for those in Chinese Factories and Foxconn was actually getting more work done efficently then other factories around China. Foxconn also agreed to hire more people and to shorten hours to allow people to rest. Apple is helping out with this cause and is very engaged. They want to help make their working conditions better. I am happy that it all worked out and that these workers are able to get rights. People say that this is a first step to reform how other factories treat their workers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/30/business/apple-supplier-in-china-pledges-changes-in-working-conditions.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june12/apple_03-30.html
Just like a few weeks ago, it seems that there is a new, big app that everyone is talking about. There was a couple of weeks period where it seemed everyone was talking about and playing Draw Something. The talk has faded recently. I'm not sure if there is another app out that is getting its 15 minutes of fame right now. I'm still not up to par on what's big nowadays so I'm out of the tech loop. There will probably always be a new, revolutionary app that comes out and it will make a huge buzz. I don't really see apps ever leaving.
ReplyDeleteThe topic that I chose to talk about was solar energy. We have talked about this a little before in class. Solar energy has come along way since it was created. I found an article when I was looking up information and I found an article about "The 5 Most Significant Solar Panel Technology Advances of 2011." 3D solar cells are number one on the list, they have micro grooves that trap sunlight and direct it inward. Next is a virus to boost solar cell efficiency this is something that would produce higher efficiency without any major additional costs to the customer. Another advancement of solar energy is printable solar cells. These can be printed onto plastic, fabric, or paper and then placed where ever. A company from Canada called QSolar had invented multicolored solar panels that can fit on the window panes of commercial building and come in a variety of colors. And the last advancement from this article is using organic molecules allowing sunlight to come through the window. I feel that some day the advancements will be used in many places to cut down electrical costs.
ReplyDeleteI chose to do the topic on e-books and whether they are good or bad. Here is the first link we had.
ReplyDeletehttp://money.cnn.com/2012/04/13/technology/apple-doj-ebooks/index.htm
This is what i looked at.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/05/ereaders-ebooks-survey-how-many-people-read_n_1405449.html?ref=ebooks
Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project conducted a survey that was funded by Bill and Melinda Gates. They called people to ask questions and what they found was quite interesting. What they found was by February 2012 that 21% of Americans had read an ebook. However of the respondents 19% said they hadn't read a book in any format in the previous 12 months. So people are actually starting to read less but those that read are reading ebooks more.
There is more talk about using eBook readers everyday and these tablets are always improving. In the article I found it discusses how Microsoft has just invested $300 million for 17.6% into Barnes & Nobles's eBook reader the Nook. This is a big deal because besides all this investment Microsoft is also going to make a Windows 8 app for the Nook. Microsoft feels that by creating this app they will create a large amount of new customers for Barnes & Noble. This step up for the Nook may create a bigger competition between the creators of tablet eBook readers. With investements like these I feel that more people may consider an eBook approach to reading because e-readers are starting to become more advertised each day. I would consider buying a e-reader if it would have the added benefits like a Microsoft system and programs besides being able to just read books, magazines, etc.
ReplyDeletehttp://money.cnn.com/2012/04/30/technology/microsoft-nook/index.htm