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Google Nose is here!

I think everyone has heard enough of Google Glasses now, how about their latest product, a web application, Google Nose. The basic idea is you can smell the search item, for example, dumpster, wine or used napkins! Users can search for a smell in their 15 million scentibite database of smells from around the world. This is just the Beta version, but Google claimed that it "temporarily aligns molecules to emulate a particular scent" and it "works on nearly all desktops and quite a few mobile devices."

This is a really good design and a good search engine for users. If we have 4D cinema, why not have a similar thing over the Internet? Users can basically find the smell of an object and have a better knowledge of the item. For example, for people who want to search for a dish, they can smell it over the Internet and decide whether they will like it or not. They don't have to guess the item as Google also provide the ingredients list of the list. For people who are in a diet, they might even control their hungriness by smelling the scent of some food. For people who never smell roses, they can actually smell them without buying roses!

People can smell all kind of different things and probably it helps people to learn, not only just from pictures and textbook. This make learning more interesting and practically because everyone learn differently. Maybe scents actually help them to learn. The new search engine is definitely one of the great things that is happening in our lives now.  

Anyways, Happy April Fools Day! =) 

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Not getting a reply message

How often do you check for a reply after you send a message? Every minute or you don’t care about when will the reply come? Every time I send a message, I hope to see a reply within a reasonable time period, however, it is not the case. Some people just do not reply which is definitely causing a lot of frustration. A survey found that “39 per cent of cellphone owners say people they know complain because they don’t respond promptly to phonexa calls or text messages. A third of cell owners also have been told they don’t check their phones frequently enough”(Irvine). I think replying late and no response are different as no response can mean a lot of things. It is even more frustrating that when you can tell whether the person has read the message but not replying. I think even replying with a one word message is still better than nothing. However, I admit that I also don’t pick up any phone calls most of the time, I will just leave it ringing and wait for that person to message me about the matter. It is because I think answering phone calls is a bit annoying while I can spend less than 30 seconds to read a message.

We can also improve communication by getting rid of email and social media accounts that are not used often. Filtering messages that can help users to reply urgent messages and not missing any of those. We can also try communicating with others about how we like to communicate. It can be awkward but everyone will be happier after discussing about the issue.Technology connects us more but communicate less if we always assume the worst. I also think we should accept that no response is a part of the high-technology life. It is because nobody can possibly respond to everything. Being responsive is important but we cannot set an expectation that everyone is available for everything at every single moment.

Irvine, Martha. "High-tech communication makes ‘no response’ increasingly common." Toronto Star 27 02 2013, n. pag. Print. <http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2013/02/27/hightech_communication_makes_no_response_increasingly_common.html>.

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Websites are also for the disabled people

We have been saying how much we have benefitted from the Internet and Internet is a convenient and easy thing to us. However, it is untrue to people with cognitive or intellectual disabilities. “The National Federation of the Blind and the National Association of the Deaf have won legal victories against companies such as Target Corp. and Netflix Inc” (Joe ). Netflix provides closed captioning for its Internet video subscribers. And several companies collaborated with NFB to make their websites more accessible to people disabilities, including eBay Inc, Monster.com, Travelocity and Ticketmaster. The websites should include spoken descriptions of photos and text boxes for the blind, as well as captions and transcriptions of multimedia features for the deaf.

Making a website accessible can be costly and it depends on the complexity. According to some experts, it might be cheaper to build accessibility features into a new site than to retrofit an old one. Companies have to work on different features where people with motor disabilities can navigate websites without the use of a mouse, and to use plain language and a strong design to aid the disabled people.

I think most of the websites should consider building the accessibility features into the websites because the Internet is supposed to be user friendly to everyone, including the disability. If they are able to access the Internet like us, they can also benefit from the Internet. It is definitely difficult to have every websites to contain the accessibility features in a short time and it can be quite costly for smaller companies. However, I think we should at least have the important sites, like banks, tickets, and other newspaper sites that are used almost daily or regularly, to contain the features or improve the website accessibility. If electronics devices, like phones and tablets are able to provide a certain degree of features for the disabled, I think websites should also do the same.

Joe, Palazzolo. "Disabled Sue Over Web Shopping." Wall Street Journal 21 03 2013, n. pag. Web. 22 Mar. 2013. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324373204578374483679498140.html>.

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Google Reader

Google Reader was launched in 2005 where people can keep tabs on certain websites that support RSS feeds. And Google has decided to retire Google Reader on July 1, 2013. Users who use RSS alternatives will have to look for a new reader to replace Google Reader now. Google’s web app that collates and syncs RSS feeds from across the web and “essentially the backbone for cross device RSS feed syncing” (Daniel). Google Reader might not be the most popular application that is created by Google. However, it is one of the favourite RSS readers among users. There are online petitions that protest Google Reader Shutdown. I am a Google Reader user on a daily basis to keep track of my favourite websites and keep updated on specific topics. For example, I use RSS feed to keep track of the posts on cdf forums throughout these years. I like Google Reader because it is a user-friendly application and I can quickly go through the tabs in less than 1 minute. I can “favourite” certain posts that I can return to afterwards. Another reason I like Google Reader is because there are other RSS reader applications that allows us to synchronize with Google Reader. I link all the RSS readers to my Google Account, as a result, there won’t be any duplicate unread feeds. Christopher McCann, thinks Google will not change its mind, therefore he wants Google to share the Google Reader code with public, as a open source, that is also what they have done with Google Wave in 2010. Therefore, Google Reader users can use the code for other projects. If Google insists on shutting down the Google Reader, I think open sourcing the code will be a good idea. Developers can learn from the code and have the code integrated into their own projects. Daniel, Kaszor. "Google Reader shutting down on July 1." Financial Post 13 03 2013, n. pag. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/13/google-reader-shutting-down-on-july-1/?__lsa=5945-315a>. Chloe, Albanesius. "Online Petitions Protest Google Reader." PCMAG 14 03 2013, n. pag. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416602,00.asp>.

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Transcend, a sensored-based App

A Canadian company Personal Neuro Devices, created a new smartphone app, Transcend, that links the smartphone to a separately sold headset that records electrical activity along the forehead. The app monitors brain waves in order to ease stress and guide users through the meditations. Users can pick the duration of time for the meditation or to listen to a guided audio meditation. A candle will be shown in the app screen and it brightness grows as the brainwaves indicate relaxation and centration. The headsets are also known as brain computer interfaces that are similar to the sensor-based fitness apps that track distance and speed have.

The application is pretty useful for people who want to ease stress and relax. The headset will be more practical later as the manufacturers are trying to integrate them into stylish musical headset. The headsets can be used for concentration and focus games. Many people rely on sensor-based fitness apps because they are more accurate and users usually find a better result when they use them along with the workout. Similarly, Transcend can help people to adjust the meditation that fits different users at a different period of time. Graphs are also shown in the app that shows the quality of mediation in real time throughout the session.

Many applications and technologies now require the biometrics in order to provide better results and experience to users. I believe there will be more applications in the future that help users to maintain a healthier lifestyle along with the biometrics technology. Maybe applications that can check the blood pressure or the amount of red blood cell in the users’ bodies. I am personally anticipating for some applications that can calculate how much sugar or vitamin that i have taken by checking parts of my biometrics, even though I don’t what will it be looking at.

Baker, . "App uses brainwaves to guide, improve meditation." Toronto Star [Toronto] 06 03 2013, n. pag. Print. <http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2013/03/06/app_uses_brainwaves_to_guide_improve_meditation.html>.

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Whose fault?

A 5-year old British kid spent around US$2570 on in-app purchases for game keys and weapons packs in a free game. Neither the kid nor his parents realised the charges until they received a call from the credit card company. Luckily, the company offered to refund to this family. Several days ago, Apple settled a lawsuit “brought by parents who thought it far too easy for their kids to make in-app purchases” and it is offering affected customers iTunes credits of at least $5, with cash payments available customers with claims over $30(Lovejoy ). These cases seems to be suggesting that Apple in-app purchases are dangerous. I admit, it is, but it is avoidable. Apple had separated app and in-app purchases two years ago where a password should have been required a second time before downloading in-app purchase. Apple also provides parental controls and restriction tools that allow parents to restrict what types of content to be used on the device, turn off app downloads or in-app purchases, and require the account password for every transaction(Matyszczyk ). In my opinion, it is the parents’ responsibility to reduce the possibility of this issue. Parents are offered different tools to restrict their kids making or reading certain information. However, if parents don’t bother figuring out how to use it, then it is not the fault of the kid or other companies. Normally, parents should not trust their kids with the password and kids are not aware of their doings. Therefore, Apple has been doing their to best to minimize these situations by offering different tools while parents should also try their best to use those tools to avoid minimize these issues. Matyszczyk, Chris. "5-year-old sorry for racking up $2,500 iPad bill in 10 minutes." CNet 1 03 2013, n. pag. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57572057-71/5-year-old-sorry-for-racking-up-$2500-ipad-bill-in-10-minutes/>. Lovejoy, Ben. "Apple Offers Refund After British Boy Spends $2500 on In-App Purchases in 15 Minutes."MacRumors. N.p., 01 03 2013. Web. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://www.macrumors.com/2013/03/01/apple-offers-refund-after-british-boy-spends-2500-on-in-app-purchases-in-15-minutes/>.

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You are the password

HeartID is a software created by Bionym and can takes a reading of a person’s heartbeat to authenticate the user. The software creates a distinct “biometric template” by analyzing the pattern of the heartbeat and pick out the variations in the waves. In other words, the software can recognize a person by his/her heart rate. Users would “simply hold the device, which would use embedded sensors to read the user’s heartbeat”(Amanda ). New York-based BIOPTid is developing a technology that reads the unique sweat glands from the moisture on  a person’s fingertip.This is different from traditional biometric technology like fingerprint and facial recognition. Everyone has their own biological traits that are almost impossible to replicate and people can use themselves as a password.

On the other hand, Andy Adler, a professor of systems and computer engineering, says “The whole security infrastructure needs to be well-thought through. Otherwise, it’ll have a lot of holes in it that can be exploited” (Amanda ). It is because one of the obstacle of this biometric technology is getting the initial sample that would be used as a reference to verify the user.

In my opinion, this technology might face several obstacles at this moment. It is still a very useful technology that worth developing. Complex passwords aren’t 100% safe and hackers always outsmart you and they can still reset your login. Switching to biometrics, a password will be a living person that is harder for hackers to duplicate. It is safer and prevent fraud for users, especially everyone is putting a lot of data online that hackers are able to obtain basic personal information easily. Moreover, with a “living” password, users don’t have to remember their complicated passwords and even changing the password every three months. Hence, biometrics security will definitely overtake the user-created passwords in the future.

Amanda, Kwan. "Your body is the next frontier in online security." Toronto Star [Toronto] 19 02 2013, n. pag. Web. 22 Feb. 2013. <http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2013/02/19/your_body_is_the_next_frontier_in_online_security.html>.

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Microsoft's Surface Pro

Microsoft’s new Surface Pro is not defined as a tablet nor a laptop. It is a dual-mode device that runs Windows 8 operating system and equipped with four gigabytes of RAM and and Intel Core i5 processor. It allows users to run PC applications and multi-task. Users can also run programs, Adobe Photoshop that are “memory- and processor- hungry”(Michael ). It sounds like a laptop but its 10.6-inch screen and the lack of a physical keyboard makes it different. However, It is not a tablet as it is half pound heavier than an iPad. Similar to a tablet, users have to buy a keyboard or a mouse separately and according to the article, the keyboard “takes some practise to blindly navigate both keyboards.” Even though the keyboards include a trackpad to control the cursor, it is not very smooth and it may be easier to use the touchscreen instead. This device is about $900-$1000, excluding other devices. The Surface Pro is a nice combination of a laptop and tablet, however, it is not really convenient for some users. For people who wants to carry a light device, they might pick a tablet. It is because tablets are cheaper and and lighter. And these people usually don’t require the full functionality of a laptop. On the other hand, for people, like business users who “value portability but don’t want to sacrifice on power and functionality”, they might prefer this Surface Pro. There are other light laptops, like Macbook Air in the market that are cheaper than Surface Pro and have the similar, maybe even better, functionality as Surface Pro. Therefore, I don’t see why people will pick this new device over laptops. This device may be used as a tablet and a laptop but it does not work perfectly.

I agree that it is a good idea to have everything combined into one, because people don’t have to carry their phone, tablet and laptop with them everyday. Surface Pro may become one of the items that other companies will also start working on. However, it definitely requires some improvement in order to become a MUST-HAVE item in every family.

Michael, Oliveira. "Microsoft Surface Pro review: device doesn’t quite replace both tablet and laptop."Toronto Star [Toronto] 12 12 2013, n. pag. Web. 15 Feb. 2013. <http://www.thestar.com/life/technology/2013/02/12/microsoft_surface_pro_review_device_doesnt_quite_replace_both_tablet_and_laptop.html>.

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New Generation of Toys?

(from Google Images)

Combing tablets and toys seem to be convenient for many people who own a tablet and a toy. In the article, Mattel “outfitted Barbie dolls and Hot Wheels cars with special conductors to control games on a tablet” (Zimmerman, and Kell ). From the company’s point of view, this can increase their decreasing sales in traditional toys. Apart from selling the toys, the apps that control the toys might also bring them some revenue when customers purchase the apps. If the company collaborates with a tablet company, this might also be an opportunity to increase the sales of the tablets. This opens up more opportunities in app developing and toy making industries. Designers can be more creative on these projects, apart from what Mattel Inc. is having right now. Furthermore, families can make good use of the tablet, instead of just playing games on it, they can use it along with the toys, as an additional tools.

However, I agree with Sean McGowan who thinks this toy and tablet combination is too high-concept for kids. Kids may not play with toys and look at a screen at the same time. At the same time, this combination has some similar features as the app-games. These duplicate features might be a little be redundant and a waste of money to some customers. At this point, we still don’t know “how mobile devices affect children’s cognitive and social skills” but most agree, including myself, that “tech-focused play shouldn’t come at the expense of physical activity, face-to-face social interaction and creative play”(Zimmerman, and Kell ).  In my opinion, physical toys are different from app-games because app-games cannot replace the hands-on activities with just fingers activities. This can be one of the reasons why LEGO, the classic toys continue to sell well. Companies should have more creative and innovative games that are educational and different from app-games. App-games can be a different choice of entertainment media but should not replace the traditional toys. Zimmerman, Ann, and John Kell. "Toys and APps are Ye to Play Nice together." Wall Street Journal. (2013): n. page. Web. 8 Feb. 2013. <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324906004578290353493389178.html>.

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A better crowdsourced newsroom

(from Google Images)

Twitter is one of the top social networking sites with millions users. It is being used as a crowdsourced newsroom because it provides a real-time platform. I agree that it definitely has a number of risks. For example, Twitter contains false rumours and accurate news at the same time. Also, Twitter is well-known with short tweets(messages) and users cannot read the full detail of the articles. Although there are other apps for users to post longer tweet messages, most of the tweets are still posted as short tweets. Furthermore, people may find it hard to insert clarifications of the news or their mistakes in the previous tweets. Readers will jump into a conclusion quickly and having their own interpretation by just read a short tweet. Nevertheless, I also agree with the writer that the benefits of Twitter outweigh the risks. Users can pick up the latest information of the world and what is going on at this moment. Immediate responses can be received, which is convenient to many users. At the same time, “editors could take their time checking and rechecking information and then produce an artifact at some predetermined point that would wrap things up in a neat little bow for mass consumption by an audience” (Ingram.)

Facebook is also another crowdsourcing platform but to me, Facebook seems to be less useful in crowdsourcing. It is because Facebook does not have tag/trending or retweet features. Users can only either like or comment on a post. The information can only be circulated among the users’ “Friends” group, unless they make the account public. Google+ is also pretty similar to Facebook while it is available to google accounts. Users can find the newest feed and articles from the Google+ page. Google+ is a bit less popular to Twitter and Facebook because it is a much newer platorm. Twitter provides lot of features that are available to the public and doesn’t require an account. Facebook and Google+ can be relatively private, compared to Twitter. Thus, I would say Twitter is a better crowdsourced newsroom, compared to other social networking sites.

Ingram, Mathew. "Like it or not,real-time crowdsources newsverification is here to stay." GIGAOM. (2012): n. page. Web. 1 Feb. 2013. <http://gigaom.com/2012/12/18/like-it-or-not-real-time-crowdsourced-news-verification-is-here-to-stay/>.

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Are you addicted to technology?

A survey found that "30 per cent of respondents plugged in before climbing out of bed in the morning; 31 per cent went online at the dinner table and 42 per cent used their devices in bed before falling asleep"(Tapper.) The study showed that technology is the major addiction of everyone. People spend so much time on their phones and computers, compared to the past.

Technology has a negative and positive impact on us. It makes our lives more convenient while decreasing our "ability to focus, store memory, multi-task efficiently and learn how to interact with each other"(Tapper.) As we all know, technology saves us time and makes our lives better. However, it doesn’t seem to making our lives better now.

Do you spend much more time in front of a computer than interacting with your family? If you do, that means your social life and social circle are shrinking. Is technology more important than our social lives? NO! That’s why we should spend less time on playing with our phones and computers. Technology helps us to connect with others but it is definitely not a substitute of a real-life interaction with our families and friends. We should still hangout with families and friends whenever we have time instead of interacting in front of the computers. Apart from lack of social life, we are also lack of exercise if we spend too much time with our computer and phones. It is also obvious that we are relying on the technology too much. We always pull out our phones for answer, like simple calculation. Our phones basically do everything for us, including simple tasks. That’s why we get anxious when our phones and computers went dead.  

Over-using and over-relying on technology is certainly not a good habit as we are missing out other important things in our lives. We should make sure we are making good use of the technologies instead of letting them to affect our lives negatively.

Tapper, Josh. " ‘Constant connectivity’ the norm for many, says study." Star. 25 01 2013: n. page. Web. 25 Jan. 2013. <http://www.thestar.com/living/article/1320067---constant-connectivity-the-norm-for-many-says-study>.

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We draw the line of privacy.

Location services have been a popular feature in recent years. I have been using them to find my location or even others’ locations. I never thought about that it is invading my privacy. This service saves me so much time in finding my destination. I was even praying for having location services to find the room on a certain floor for me . I also enjoy having location services in photo sharing apps because I can find out where did I take those photos. People choose to expose their location because they want to. They are given an option to hide their locations. However, I am getting second thoughts about location service now. Users’ locations are exposed to the public and others can track down their home addresses easily. It becomes a safety problem instead of a privacy problem. Some may say we can always set our accounts or information private, and I agree that it is always the user’s responsibility for the information he/she share. The user has to take the risk of any leaks of his/her information.

Nevertheless, location services are not necessarily a bad thing and it totally depends on how people make use of it. As we have always been told that the Internet is not safe, we should have be cautious all the time. Nicholas Carr writes “What we don’t share is as important as what we do share.” We draw our line of privacy by not sharing what is not supposed to be share. If we don’t even protect our own information, why would others protect ours?

Carr, Nicholas. "Tracking Is an Assault on Liberty, With Real Dangers." Wall Street Journal. (2010): n. page. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.