Emerging Technologies

A future technology that I found interesting was the new Lytro Light-Field Photography Camera. Most cameras create images using a flat plate—whether chemical film or a digital sensor—to record the position, color, and intensity of the light that comes through a lens. Lytro's camera does all of that and it records the angle at which rays of light arrive. The resulting files aren't images but mini-databases capturing the three-dimensional pattern of light, called a light field, at a particular moment. Software can be used on that database to produce many different possible photos and visual effects from just one picture taken. I think that this could become very popular. The camera sounds fun, easy to use, and it allows you to use your creativity to the fullest. I think the thing that surprised me the most is that way after you have taken to one photo, you are able to refocus it, change the lighting, and create an image that is almost completely new! I also like the fact that, after you post it on the internet, others are allowed to experiment with the image too. A possibility for the future in this area is for all cameras to be light-field based and being able to create 3-D images at home. A technology that was considered an emerging technology back in 2009 that is used now is the Intelligent Software Assistant, or Siri. Siri is in pretty much every smart phone out there and is used by thousands of people. The software is able to voice recognize you talking to it, hear your question, and supply an intelligent and helpful answer. Tell Siri you want to go to a restaurant and she will supply you with all restaurants nearby and directions from where you are to each one. Where Siri lacks in information, she makes up for it with sarcasm, humor, or just conversation. No matter what you ask, Siri has an answer.

Survey

First Impressions

Theodore Roosevelt- The River of Doubt Timeline

Online Safety

I read a news article about a girl who was a victim of cyber bullying. The girl, Megan Meier, had met a boy online who seemed nice and said the two had a lot in common. Megan and the supposed boy, Josh Evens, had talked for a while and Josh had seemed nice, until he started making degrading remarks to Megan and posted things like: "Megan Meiers is ugly and fat!" Megan, who had had problems with depression before, was terribly hurt by these comments and unded up killing herself. Her mother found her young daughter's body in her closet. The family then found out that the supposed Josh Evens was actually a neighborhood friend and parent that created the fake profile to try and find what megan was saying about her daughter.

When I read this article I was shocked. It it sad that a grown woman, especially being a friend of the family, would be so imature as to bully a young girl. Though the woman was at fault, I feel that the situatuion could have been avoided. Megan should not have even started talking to the boy because she had no idea who he was. He may have seemed nice at first, which is probably why Megan continued to talk to him, but you never really know. You have to be careful with what you do or post on the internet and that includes who you talk to. Only talk to people that you really know.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3882520&page=1

Online Safety Cartoon

By ashleahf | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Identity Theft Cartoon

By ashleahf | View this Toon at ToonDoo | Create your own Toon

Google

Google is coming out with a new privacy policy. The three main things that the new policy has different from the old one is that Google is making their privacy policies easier to read, their aggregating data across products for Google and user experience, and their arguing that it's easier to just take your data and go somewhere else.

In the article I read, the guy was saying that, while some of the things in the new privacy policy were helpful, it was scary how much Google would be watching you and how much they would know about you. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/googles-new-privacy-policy-the-good-bad-scary/67893.

In my opinion, I have no problem with Google tracking my searches because I don't search anything I need to worry about others reading, but I do not agree with the fact that they will be looking at my emails. I'm not worried about what they will find there, I just feel that your email is a little bit more personal. I don't understand how looking through my emails is going to make their site any better unless they are working on being up to date with my friend in South Carolina or what my swim team is doing for practice tomorrow. Even though I feel this way, I'm still going to keep my gmail account as will many other people; maybe I'm lazy, but i like Google and feel that one odd change that they are making to there products is not enough for me to switch to Bing and a new emailing site.

Wordle- Copyright Terms

Copyright Laws

When you go to a restaurant or another place for a usual get together and ask for a song to be sung to you or another for their birthday, you probably will not hear the famous "Happy Birthday to you" song. This is because the song is copyrighted and belongs to Warner Music Group. The group charges $30,000 for anyone who wants to use their song; for example, if it's sung at a chain restaurant,played in a movie, sampled in a song,or downloaded as a ringtone.

http://heidi-lowry.suite101.com/famous-copyright-infringement-cases-in-the-music-industry-a243968

The 15 Things I am Most Thankful for

Internet Safety

Internet safety pertains to being careful online. The internet is a great way to get information, stay connected, and release boredom; but it can also be used for negative things, which is why we learn about and practice interent safety. There are three main things that you need to know to stay safe on the interent. First, never share personal information over the web; you never know who will be able to read it or what they will do with it. Second, do not share passwords with anybody; they could get onto your account and change, do, or say whatever they want. Lastly, if you ever get a message from someone you dont know or someone that seems creepy, or an inapropriate picture or message, do not respond. Print out the message, make one copy of the picture, and report it all to a parents or other adult you trust. I learned that police officers go under cover and pose as young kids over the internet so that they can catch the bad people that are out there.

My Podcast

Feed Readers

I used both Google Reader and Bloglines as feed readers. Though both sites could be very useful, I liked Google Reader the most. It was designed in a familiar and easy-to-use pattern. Bloglines also had an easy-to-use layout, but Google products all tend to look and work in the same way which makes for a lot less searching for the right things. When you search for sites to subscribe to, only sites that actually have web feed come up in the search results list, unlike in Bloglines where you have to sort through everything and guess that the one you clicked on is able to be subscribed to. Lastly, I like Google Reader because, even though I had spent a while on it, I don’t completely understand how Bloglines works. Whereas I knew how Google Reader worked right from the beginning. There are a lot of resources to use as Feed Readers that work in different ways depending on the person’s opinions. In my opinion, Google Reader is better, but that doesn’t mean you will feel the same way.