New Mini Computers

  The PC goes ultra-portable

  Some of today’s desktops can make even the sleekest of laptops seem downright bulky.

  Computers have been shrinking in stature for years, and the revolution has only accelerated in recent times. As chipmakers focus on creating processors that sip little power without sacrificing performance, thermal concerns have largely been alleviated in modern CPUs. Because of that, today’s pint-sized PCs offer enough performance to play HD video and satisfy Office jockeys, the opposite of the janky, compromised experience of yesteryear’s microcomputers.

  Innovation at its best, no more hassle with bulky computers. The mini computers are Sensible, powerful and extremely light weight. What will be the Next innovation be?

Reference: 

Brad Chaos: http://www.cio.com/article/2910989/desktop-hardware/mini-pc-invasion-10-radically-tiny-computers-that-fit-in-the-palm-of-your-hand.html#slide1 

Wireless Charger.

THE ThingCHARGER:

  In the world of fast pace, it is all about convenience and simplicity. And with the Wireless Charger, it is now possible. Wireless chargers are affordable and user friendly.

  Wireless Chargers are designed to prevent frustration, the hassle of wires ( you are constantly untying knots- wires might break resulting in the product malfunctioning).  With the wireless charger those impediments will be a thing of the past.

Why Brands fail?

  As i was doing some research on the collapse of businesses, i came across this very interesting article.

Reasons Why Kodak, Blackberry, Yahoo & Other Major Brands Fail.

  The announcement of Kodak going bankrupt was a shocker.  Not a shocker because you couldn’t see it coming, but a shocker because yet another once iconic, innovative brand is on life support.  This has been a work in progress for quite some time, as there were front-page newspaper articles in the late 1990’s showing that Kodak had to lay off 10,000 employees. (Writing on the wall)

There are definite reasons why these companies are dying and those same reasons contributed to the failure of other predeceased brands.  American Airlines – Bankrupt, Yahoo – Up for Sale, RIM Blackberry – Stick A Fork In Em’ and Sears is closing stores around the country.  The list of these major brands that will soon be a part of the history books continues to increase.

How can these brands find themselves in the grips of extinction?  The same way that you, your organization, church, non-profit or name your favorite brand can end up in the same place.  You should see a developing theme as most are in the same vein.

Reasons Why Kodak, Blackberry, Yahoo & Other Major Brands Fail

• 1. Inability to Innovate – Unable to produce new, noteworthy and fruit producing ideas.
• 2. Inability to Stay Ahead of The Times – Only look at the here and now, no forward thinking.
• 3. No Adjustments – Not adjusting to the market place or technology of competitors.
• 4. Uncle Rico Syndrome – Just like Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite was living off of his 1983 successes, many brands are living off of yesterday’s wins.
• 5. The Top Stays The Same – Unwillingness to change the key leadership players (especially in upper management).
• 6. Inbred Syndrome – Only hire from within and unwilling to bring outside folks with fresh eyes and fresh perspectives into the fold.
• 7. Reluctance to Take Risks – Playing it safe for a prolonged a period of time can be detrimental.  Most brand success stories have many instances of taking risks.
• 8. Refuse to Surround Themselves With and Retain The Best – Letting key players leave without creating opportunities for them to stay.  Some of the best innovations from high profile brands come from key players that were acquired from another brand.
• 9. Unwillingness To Change – They simply want things to be the way that they used to be.

  This goes to show nothing lasts forever. The 21st Century has been dubbed the technological era, consequently, tough decisions have to be made if one wants to remain a major contender in this game. Ensure that when changes are made that the product is simple, user friendly and are able to solve complex problems. 

Follow the link:

http://www.bigisthenewsmall.com/2012/01/05/10-reasons-why-kodak-blackberry-yahoo-other-major-brands-fail/

Technology: Allows one to choose they own baby.

New Genetic Technology Means Parents Could 'Design' Their Ideal Baby Sooner Than You Think.

The future is officially now, because a company recently patented their technology to make it possible for parents to choose certain traits and characteristics of their babies. As in, want your baby to have blue eyes? No problem! Want a kid who grows up to be over 5"7"? They've got you covered! Hoping your child will be captain of the football team?

I think this technology is an excellent innovation. For instance what if one of the parent has a debilitating disease and such disease is passed on through generations and there is some way of protecting your child from getting such disease, Would you not take advantage of such innovation?  I would.Leave your thoughts. The check the link below for the story. 

http://thestir.cafemom.com/pregnancy/162040/new_genetic_technology_means_parents 

Floppy Disk vs USB.

  The USB (Universal Serial Bus) Flash drives are small storage devices which can store large amount of data in the form of flash memory and are portable. They are available in different sizes varying from 256MB to 64GB. 

The history to when the USB pen drives first came in existence is quite controversial; however, it is said that the first commercially-available USB flash drive was called the "ThumbDrive," it was produced by Trek Technology in the year 2000. Soon IBM came out with its own model known as the "DiskOnKey". By 2002, there were several companies which entered the market producing a similar product and marketing it.

   Pen drives comparatively have a much larger size than a usual floppy disk, which has a maximum data capacity of 1.44MB, or a compact disk, which has a maximum capacity of 700MB. This invention was a vast transformation from the era of floppy disks, as people required a device that would have a larger memory and yet be portable. The previous technology could only be used to store small size data for a short period of time that is 3-5 years, while Pen drives can store much larger size data for at least 10 years and no special care is required unlike in the case of CDs. The latest pen drives consist of a built-in MP3 player and finger print scanners. They only concept of "data storage" seems to be common between both the technologies. This technology highly attracted consumers as it made large amount of data transfer possible, which would otherwise be very expensive to carry out.

  Technology advanced from the era of Floppy disk which was then replaced by hard disk drives, ZIP drives, optical drives and USB Flash Drives; however, another method of storing data information is by “Storage Cloud”. So what will be next big thing in the next ten years? You will never know in the world of technology. 

references:
Zandbergen P, "Information System Courses". Retrieved from: http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-floppy-disk-definition-advantages-disadvantages.html

computer hope: http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/stordevi.htm

Technology and communication

Do you think that this Generation is over connected? In one of my English Assignment we were asked to write a personal response on "Are you over-connected?" I do believe we are over connected since the introduction of technology/internet, we no longer communicate with each other in the traditional sense. However,if we retire our devices and converse with each other, this problem will soon be a thing of the past. We need a sense of balance- do not spend all your time on your device, set aside time for the family.

Technology, not only destroy our ability to communicate, it also "butchers" the English language. Eg Brb,Lol ,GM. It has become a significant part of our lives and was invented to make our life easier; however the same technology has complicate them. We depend on technology to solve all our problem, our ability to think will be practically non-existent. As the saying "I fear the day technology was surpass our human interaction. The world will have a generation of idiots". 

Lets learn to appreciate each other's company and set aside the technology and converse with each other. 

Just my opinion. Feel free and leave a comment.

New Device to improve night driving

  New technologies improve an illumination of roads. An example of this is the glow in the dark street signs or street lights that light up at the sight of the car. Now added a new technology company Vauxhall / Opel of Concern General Motors. The system changes direction of the light of headlamp on the driver’s view.

  Existing adaptive lighting AFL + (Adaptive Forward Lighting) with different modes of operation depending on the traffic conditions will be supplemented by the new lighting system based on matrix of LEDs, which analyzes the light sources from oncoming cars and off individual LEDs in the matrix group to avoid dazzling other road users. The development of technology for tracking the movement of the driver’s eye lasts almost two years. The system not only controls the direction of light rays, but also their capacity.

  The system uses a camera which is focused on the points on the driver’s face, such as eyes and nose. By landmarks determined line of sight. Additionally, the driver’s eyes scanned the peripheral infrared sensors and the central photodiodes more than 50 times per second in the dark. Vauxhall / Opel has optimized the system, increasing the speed of the camera and reducing turnaround time. This has improve the response of headlamp. According to the developers, drive of headlamp instantly respond on the horizontal and vertical planes.

  The system uses a camera which is focused on the points on the driver’s face, such as eyes and nose. By landmarks determined line of sight. Additionally, the driver’s eyes scanned the peripheral infrared sensors and the central photodiodes more than 50 times per second in the dark. Vauxhall / Opel has optimized the system, increasing the speed of the camera and reducing turnaround time. This has improve the response of headlamp. According to the developers, drive of headlamp instantly respond on the horizontal and vertical planes

  Vauxhall / Opel says, that the lighting control system with the help of sight suitable for any driver and does not require calibration. Unfortunately, it is still in the stage of the research project and will not be soon. But the lighting system based on matrix of LEDs is expected to be submitted within the next 18 months.

  Driving Vehicles at Night is a difficult task for Novice drivers, because of reduced visibility. its hard at times to decipher the object in front of you, whether its an animal or pedestrian. With this new technology it will put nervous drivers at ease and may even reduce the quantity of accidents that occur at night.

Reference
Gloria St. (31st March 2015) "Concept of system that is controlled by the driver's view". retrieved from  http://itechfuture.com/concept-of-system-that-is-controlled-by-the-drivers-view/

Drones: Good technology or Privacy Invasion?

  Drones also referred to as Unmanned Aircraft System was invented primarily for Military purposes, but has grown exponentially over the years and is now being utilized in domestic situations to improve the safety of communities.

1. They are used to save lives: Whether the situation is man-made or natural, the drone can positioned to survey damage, stranded and injured victims.
2.  To aid law enforcement and fire department

• Locate lost children
• provide surveillance 
• suspect tracking
• assist in accidents
• locate bush (brush)/wild land fires- verify the extend of the fire
• monitor large crowds
• monitor persons who are suspected to be a threat to national security

     3. They can give media access to hard-to-reach places. 

Despite the aforementioned benefits of the drone, i consider it to be an invasion of privacy: 

1. Persons are constantly being monitored, 
2. Persons who are suspected to be a threat to national Security are under constant surveillance - 24/7 they are incapable of living a normal. Drones monitor what they do, where they go and who they talk to". Even though you are not guilty of a crime,
3. Media will have access to restricted crime scene.

Your movements will be basically "restricted" to your home; however, your home is still not safe. See-through-imagery are installed on drones, you will have to be-careful what you say or do in the place where one suppose to feel safe.  No Place Is Safe. 

References:

1. Micheal Melle "benefits of drone" www.sri.com
2. Chris cole and Jim wright "Drone wars UK". Dronewars.net/aboutdrone/