A New Form of National Security: Operation Drone

This may not directly relate to things we've talked about in class, but I'm always interested in seeing how technology is used for national security purposes, etc. This article in particular stood out because it shows just how willing and desperate the governments of latin america have become to stop the horrible drug trade. The drone technology they use is suppose to aid the government in pinpointing paticular locations that are hard to reach and may not be as easily accessible by foot. I think it has a little bit of a "big Brother" feel to it, but I think that is what it's going to take in order to stop a lot of the drug crime going on there. The drones are snuffing labs, but then two more pop up. The extent to which this technology will bring change is still unknown.




Article found at: http://motherboard.vice.com/2012/6/28/drug-sniffing-drones-are-flying-over-bolivia-the-new-cocaine-underdog

A History Forgotten?

In class we discussed the history of the Internet and technology that aided the improvement of the Internet and computers we have today. However, we discussed little about the world wide reception of the Internet and even technology that had been developing abroad to enable this transfer of data. This article sheds some light on how advanced the French were in their understanding of the Internet and the software that could enable this. Minitel allowed for the french to pay bills and book trips online. This was happening way before the personal computer even came into households. The article comments on how this could have been a great technological advancement and Minitel could have profited from this first-movers advantage. Unfortunately, it never went anywhere. It's interesting to read about these dying technologies, and to think that the international arena might have been much more advanced than we want to remember.


Article found at :http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/29/minitel-to-be-shut-down-tomorow-france-bids-adieu-to-the-intern/

Phase Changer Memory

How important is is? Well its had some issues changing the memory industry, but they might have just had a breakthrough that could make memory that stores 10x faster than the current technology does. The article doesn't seem to think Micron, phase changer producers, will be pushing for the technology that essentially allows the chemical process to occur at a faster speed and thus allowing the processor to store memory at a quicker rate. This article directly relates to our discussions in class about RAM and memory processors, how its stored and how a microprocessor stores the code. I find this interesting, and am eager to see if this phase changer discovery really takes off.


Article found @ http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/23/phase-change-memory-breakthrough-could-lead-to-gigahertz-plus-data/

What is an App?

Gizmodo had a great article discussing what we know as apps and what today is actually an app. The article considers the phone, and how there is a Application Launcher that launches other apps. This app for apps basically allows the user even more freedom and quckier access to apps on their mobile phone.  It was interesting because it reminds you how much software is involved in creating the interactions we have with our computer. It a great example of  abstraction, and application launchers do that to hid the process of opening apps and having to locate them within the computer. I like that the website noticed this, and feels its important to its reading audience to understand it.

Found Article @ http://gizmodo.com/5920312/what-is-an-app-launcher?tag=What-Is

Consumer Marketing

Acxiom, a very inconspicuous sounding name, is one of the leading companies of consumer marketing information. They hold hundreds of thousands of very crucial information from what kind of printer type you like, to what kind of ads appeal to the average middle-age person. The article suggested there is an increasingly fine line between stalking someone's internet activity, to simply obtaining information about a certain websites activity. I found this article extremely interesting, because the internet seems to increasingly know more and more about me, and what i do even if I don't explicitly say it. It's disturbing. The article relates to the scope of  the internet's influence in our daily life. I'm sure when BBN, Cerf and Khan were making the first inventions, like packet-switching, they did not think they would be aiding the eventual formation of the information marketing company Acxion's take-over of the internet.  


Article Found @: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/technology/acxiom-the-quiet-giant-of-consumer-database-marketing.html?src=me&ref=technology

Snuff: At what point are videos illegal?

Wow. Recently The Verge published a special article on gore sites published on the internet where users can upload videos about people doing violent things, or witnessing murder, accidents, and other "gory" incidents that happen around the world. Lessley Anderson, the writer, discussed how the video of Magnotta, a Canadian blogger who posted a video of a murdering of a Chinese student. This is only the beginning of what the site had to offer. The article begs the questions, "who watches this stuff?". Anderson never really answers this question, but discusses how some of the users are regular people who wander onto the site for various reasons. The article is intriguing, and may not have a direct connection to what we have discussed in class, but it does seem to make one wonder if the internet should restrict somethings or should everything be okay to look at? 

article found @: http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/13/3076557/snuff-murder-torture-internet-people-who-watch-it

Retina Display Advancement

Soon after Apple announced its new Retina-optimized display Macbook, software companies began jumping on board to optimize their software for this new and improved display. Some software companies are taking longer to improve their software, however Google just announced that it will be coming out with Chrome Canary to be used for the new technology. It shows the response of many software companies to the hardware companies innovation and and technological advancements. This article discusses both the affects of display screens and the issue with pixelation and the loss of quality, but it also reintroduces the topic of software and hardware issues we discussed earlier in class. I think it's an exciting article that holds a lot of promise, however it will depend if enough software companies decided to jump on board and optimize their products, otherwise it might not really make a huge difference.


Article found at :http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/13/google-will-update-chrome-for-apples-new-retina-displays-already-available-in-canary-build/