How you see color, part 3

So if light is just a wave of energy, how do we see color? How do we see at all?




You eyeball has specialized cells called cone cells. Cones come in three different types. Each type is sensitive to a different wavelength on the spectrum. The cones are usually referred to as short, medium, and long, often shortened to S, M, and L, for the length of the electromagnetic waves they sense.



You might think that the three types of cones must see red, blue, and yellow, the three primary colors. However, these colors don't really correspond nicely to colors. L cones, for instance, are sometimes referred to as red receptors. Actually, they are closer to green-tinged yellow. The other cones, likewise, do not easily match up with primary or secondary colors. As a matter of fact, cones' light perception varies from person to person. The different cones' are sensitive to overlapping ranges of light, which is what lets us sense the variations.



The genes for sensing visible light are carried on the X chromosome. That is why color blindness is more common in men, and why some women have an extra type of cone, which can allow them to see light beyond what is visible for most people.



In lower lights, different cells, called rods, sense light. Rods don't have much to do with color differentiation though.



Intensity and amount of light is what determines the saturation of color. Saturation describes how dark or pale a color is.



Once the cones – and to some extent, rods – have absorbed the light, the nerves send that information to the brain, which puts the information together to form the images that you see. Interestingly, the inside of the eye sees the image in front of you upside down, and the brain has to flip it back right-side up in order to be useful to you in navigating the world.

Microchips and photonchips

Earlier this week, Google celebrated the co-creator of the first microchip with one of their Google Doodles. A microchip is defined by Wikipedia as "an electronic circuit manufactured by the patterned diffusion of trace elements into the surface of a thin substrate of semiconductor material."




I'll be honest, I read that a few times, and all I got was tiny thingamajig with some tiny conductor thingies that makes computers and the like work. Computers, cell phones, and other digital products couldn't work without them. Various microchip-esque ideas came and went between 1945 and 1958, when the first working microchip was created by Jack Kilby. They have come quite a ways since then. Moore's Law states that (in the long term) the number of circuits that can be inexpensively fit on a microchip of equal size doubles every two years.



Now, a new advance may put Moore's Law in the past. A new chip is in development which manipulates individual photons of light, guiding them and also containing and initiating their interactions. These tiny pathways on a silicon chip represent a huge step towards a quantum computer. Is anyone else thinking about the wonders of tomorrow-land?

How You See Color, part 2

How You See Color, part 2

In my previous post, I described how color is made up of light, and things that appear to be a certain color are actually reflecting that color.

Those colors of light are part of the visible spectrum – wavelengths that the eye perceives. There are many other wavelengths that the eye does not perceive. The whole spectrum is referred to as the electromagnetic spectrum. The longest waves are radio waves, and their wave length is the size of a building. Smaller waves, going down the spectrum, include microwaves, infrared, then visible, followed by ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray. The visible spectrum has the longest wavelengths in red, getting shorter as you traverse the rainbow down to blue and violet. That is why heat, or infrared, has the word red in it. It comes right before red. Likewise, ultraviolet is just slightly shorter in length than visible violet light.

Theoretically, waves could be as long as the universe itself or infinitely short. The waves can carry information, like radio signals. Light also can transmit information, as in fiber optical cables.

Some wavelengths can be damaging to humans, like UV or ultraviolet, which sunblock can help protect against. Some wavelengths cannot easily penetrate the earth’s atmosphere. This group also includes UV, as well as most microwave, x-ray, and gamma ray.

How you see color

The human eye sees a wide spectrum of visible light - black to white and blue to red. While the keys on a FunKeyBoard are several colors, the fact is, the light is colored, and the keys just reflect that light.




Sunlight, lamplight, headlights...This light is all more or less clear, or white to the eye. White light is actually a combination of all colors in the visible spectrum. You've probably seen a prism split that white light into a rainbow, displaying the whole spectrum of visible light separately. Rainbows work the same way, with water droplets acting as prisms.



When you look at something, you perceive its color - unless you are colorblind, or course. A FunKeyBoard has a red case. What that means in terms of how you see the color is that the material it is made of reflects the red light. The reflected light is the light your eyes take in. The FunKeyBoard's case actually absorbs all of the colored light except red.



The keyboad that is on my laptop is black. It is reflecting back none of the colors of visible light, absorbing all frequencies. In actuality, it is not a pure black, which would reflect no light at all. Theoretically, a black hole would be the best example of a real black.

Google's Fall Spring Cleaning

With the advent of Google+, many of Google's services have become redundant. In a bout of off -season spring cleaning, the Google team is shutting down many of these programs. Programs on the chopping block include:


• Buzz - Buzz is the social sharing network I have written about in the past. It has been eclipsed by Google+ and other services that beat Google to the punch on this front.

• Jaiku - Another social sharing network that allows users to post snippets and share short links. Unlike Buzz, Jaiku could be used to share photos and the like.

• iGoogle sharing - iGoogle was a sort of personalized homepage for your internet experience. They added games and gadgets for more interactivity (like old Yahoo! homepages, remember those?) The social gadgets let you share your favorite things with other iGoogle users - from your to-do list, to games, to articles.

• Bookmarks list - this feature let users share their bookmarks with friends.

• Friend connect - this feature lets users add social features to their websites, including making registration easy and allowing you to add ratings and commenting to content.

• Gears - this feature allowed users to create offline web apps. They are discontinuing this feature in an effort to move into HTML5, an updated language for web design that allows a lot of fancy new application programming and such. HTML5, in combination with CSS3 allows developers to do a lot of things that previously could only be done by the use of things like Flash.

• Search Timeline - this feature let users look at historical search data. This can now be found by using the Google Trends or Insights features.

• Wave - I wrote about the wave before. This was a really neat idea that just never caught on, which allowed users to interact, webchat, and share files throughout their development.

• Knol - This service allowed experts to work together to create and publish web content.

Recent studies find Autistic brain develops more slowly in some ways - performs better in others

Autistic children are usually (though by no means always) diagnosed in their early childhood.  New research from UCLA, however, indicates that brain development experiences delays into the teen years.  These findings could help account for some of the symptoms of autism experienced by many individuals in this age range.  The parts of the brain that are involved in learning, emotional processing, language, and social skills appear to develop more gradually in autistic preteens.  Often, autistic children experience difficulties with socializing, particularly in this already difficult period of their lives. 

While these new findings help researchers understand (and in the future, possibly ease) some of the difficulties autistic individuals experience throughout their life cycles, one should not take slower brain development in some areas to mean defective or inferior.  Particularly, areas like reasoning tend to be better developed in individuals who have been diagnosed with autism.  This is not limited to so-called “savants.”  While autistic individuals often score poorly on standardized tests or have difficulty communicating, those who know them well would probably tell you that many people with autism are incredibly smart, just not in a way that easily translates into what is “normal,” which is why autism was considered a defect for many years.  

14- year old invents email!

I’ve written about the history of technology a number of times – from keyboards to the internet itself. One of the more interesting bits of information here is the invention of e-mail. It was invented by a 14-year old. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai was enrolled in a programming course as a young teenager. Shortly after he finished, a coworker of his mother’s – Les Michelson - asked if he would like a job at the University of Medicine and Dentistry. Of course he agreed. For the next several days, Michaelson had Shiva observe the mail system in place and then told him to go forth and recreate it in electronic form.

Another interesting thing is how little email has changed since the summer Shiva began working on it. He was replicating a system that used to, from, cc, bcc, subject, date, and body on a campus-wide scale. Today’s email still uses the same fields. What Shiva created was entirely adequate, and it’s stability since the late 70s is indicative of his great success.

Google's Got Tricks Hidden Up Its Sleeve

I wrote earlier this week about how awesome I think search engines are. I wasn’t being sarcastic or even hyperbolic, in case you were wondering. I really do love search engines.

I prefer Google, though my parent’s use Bing! Either will perform a decent search. Google is known as a corporation that is kind of “fun.” This is reflected in some of their public products. Let’s go through some of my favorites.

These are all known as Easter eggs – “intentional hidden message or an in-joke” in something like a video game or computer program.

1. When you search for the word “anagram,” Google asks you if you meant to search for “nag a ram.” Which, obviously, is an anagram of the word anagram. 
2. Searching for “askew” makes the results screen tilt slightly to the right. When I first experienced this, I didn’t notice at first. I thought there was something wrong with my eyes, then my screen.
3. "Do a barrel roll” makes the results page rotate 360 degrees. This is a reference to an old Nintendo game.
4. The calculator also does some fun things. For instance, when you ask it for “the answer to life, the universe, and everything,” it yields the result “42.” This is a reference to Douglas Adams’ book, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
5. The calculator also accepts some funny measurements like “Once in a blue moon” and “donkeypower.”
6. Google maps are also funny, sometimes. When you ask for directions from Japan to China, it tells you to jet ski.
7. Likewise, when you ask for directions from North American to Europe or Africa, it tells you to swim. From North America to Australia, kayak.
8. There is a certain area in Antarctica where the little dude turns into a penguin.
9. At Legoland, he turns into a lego man.
10. In street view, you can actually see some of the people at Google head quarters! I wonder if any of them programmed any of these Easter eggs.

Navigating the Net

The internet can be a magical place. There is just so much STUFF out here. From today’s football scores to the price of tea in China, there’s a good chance there is a website, blog, album, or video series dedicated to it on the internet. But the benefit of the internet is also its downfall. How does one find the price of tea in China on the internet?

Answer: search engines!

A search engine works by going out and indexing or spidering websites. It automatically follows link to link to link. Then it takes all of the content it finds on those pages, and it uses that content to decide what the page is supposed to be about and how valuable that content in. The engine uses very complex algorithms to determine relevance and value in relation to any search term a user might put into the search engine. While most search engines keep their algorithms secret, they do release some general information about how they return results.  These algorithms are updated regularly to be more and more accurate, as well as to keep website owners from cheating to get their pages higher on Google's results page.

And using a search engine is so easy!

Facebook Celebrates National Cyber Security Month

 

October was national cyber security month.  In honor of that, Facebook has announced some upcoming security updates.

Trusted Friends
Trusted Friends is a feature that helps you get back into your account if you are ever locked out for any reason.  You just select three to five friends that you trust (this is where the name comes in), and they are your fall back.  If you are locked out, Facebook will send them codes. You then get at least three of the codes from your trusted friends, and use the codes to login to your account and reset your password.

App Passwords
Facebook is also introducing app-specific passwords.  These are automatically generated passwords that will be necessary for logging into certain apps, which could otherwise be security risks.

You can view an infographic about Facebook security on Scribd.  (Why they used a third party image service rather than posting it on Facebook, I have no idea.)

The scary part here is in the stats they released on this infographic.  Four percent of the content on Facebook is spam.  When compared to email, this is low.  That being said, that is still almost one item in twenty.  Additionally only 0.06% of accounts are compromised daily.  Unfortunately, that 0.06% is of over one billion, adding up to over 600,000 accounts compromised every day.

Other than Facebook's latest attempts to make their site secure, there are some basic steps you can take to protect all of your accounts.

1.  Don't reuse passwords.
2.  Don’t use a common password, like your birthday.  Try a secure password generator, instead.
3.  Never share your login information.
4.  Change your passwords regularly, and anytime you think an account might be compromised.

Common sense can often save you quite a bit of trouble when it comes to internet security.

Special Olympics

Today we got a letter from the Special Olympics. Its fund raising time, again, boys and girls!

The Special Olympics started over forty years ago, as a small day camp for individuals with intellectual disabilities. the main goal of the camp was to help the capers to explore the world of athleticism and their physical abilities. Five years later, the first Special Olympics was held, with roughly 1,000 participants. Nowadays, the Special Olympics are an international event held semi-annually, on odd years.

The Special Olympics are held to encourage the participants and others facing the same challenges to explore their abilities and become more confident. At the same time, the games promote understanding among others. On the official website, you find these words:

Dignity, acceptance, and a chance to reach one’s potential – these are human rights worth promoting for everyone. For more than four decades, Special Olympics has been bringing one message to the world: people with intellectual disabilities can and will succeed if given the opportunity.

New Bill to Adapt No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind is an act passed in 2001 to regulate the public education system in the United States, requiring certain standards to be met.  This act has met many critics in education and administration.

A new bill has been voted through by a committee that would adapt the NCLB act, though it has yet to pass in either house.  This is the Harkin-Enzi Bill.  It was pushed through largely because the committee members were frustrated with the administration's offering of waivers to some states allowing them to avoid the law's key provisions.

The new bill would limit federal control in most public schools, while increasing the national government's oversight of certain schools with low performance.  Critique of the bill however, claims that it would inflate spending in a way that the government can not currently afford.  The bill would also require schools to begin keeping and offering records on what percentage of children went on to college level education and what percentage of those graduated.  However, there may be  flaws with this provision.  Simply counting students who attend post-secondary education is not necessarily an accurate measure of how many students were intellectually and educationally prepared for it.

What are your thoughts on the new bill?  While most agree the current No Child Left Behind laws are not what is needed, may disagree with this new option as well, for a umber of valid reasons.

The Outlook on Mobile Payment Systems

A digital wallet is a service that allows one to use one's mobile device as a payment medium, much like a credit card.  Google Wallet is one of the major front runners, along with their competitor Isis.  While Google seems to have a lead due to their presence in the smartphone market via the Android operating system, there are several other players who have various associations with credit card and phone provider companies.  Paypal is also in competition with Google on this front, through they say that adoption of mobile payment systems is further away than some think.

The mobile payment system still faces some issues - particularly the security concerns of users.    Some individuals worry that phones could be lost or stolen.  Personally, I think this is the same issue people face with credit cards.  Even if the phone is lost, users will need to enter a 4 digit code.  Additionally, the app will not store identification, so users will still need to carry their IDs with them for use.  Further, while the phone is asleep, you won't be able to make transactions.  This means that no sleeping phone (in your pocket for instance) can unknowingly be charged.

The wallet system has been unveiled for American Eagle Outfitters, The Container Store, Foot Locker, Guess, Jamba Juice, Macy’s, OfficeMax, and Toys R Us as of last week.

The Intel Classmate by Chester Creek

Earlier today, I was browsing articles online, and I came across this list of tech innovations that could change the world. Included on this list are improved sanitation, alternative energy, and one item we're fairly familiar with here at Chester Creek:  The Intel Powered Classmate. The Classmate is part of an initiative by Intel to bring technology to children across the world.  In fact, they have sent over four million laptops to places with low technology availability like Argentina.



This rugged tablet computer is particularly suited to the task at hand.  The tablet PC has been created to be durable, with a rugged case - drop tested from desk height - and some models have also been tested in extreme temperatures.  The other thing that really sets this line apart is that they include a "software suite of education tools to help teachers in the classroom," and keep students engaged.

You can read more on Intel's press release fact sheet.  You can also see Chester Creek's own version of the Classmate with the our unique, color-coded keyboard
specially designed to improve typing skills in students on our website.

Jobs Brought Computers to the Classroom

Steve Jobs died last week.  Articles about this man's life and death have been written by the score across all forms of media.  Steve Jobs was a man who influenced history.  He designed and marketed one of the first successful personal computers.

Part of Apple's early marketing effort includes introducing the personal computer to the classroom.

Since the sixties, public and private schools have been utilizing computers.  However, for a long time, this usage was confined to universities.  What's more, they were not computers as we know them, but rather mainframes.  A mainframe at that time was a very large and powerful (for its time) computer that mostly did very basic computations with paper punch input still common even in the mid- to late-sixties.  Even when computers moved into K-12 level schools, they were rarely found in the actual classrooms.

When Apple began producing computers for individual use, they also had to create a market.  Jobs and Apple began donating computers to schools for instructional use by teachers in the mid seventies.  At that point, mainframe usage began to lose dominance in education.  Although there were stumbling blocks, computer usage is common in almost every classroom across America today.  Today, Microsoft machines have become predominate in most of the country's school districts due to their comparative affordability.   That being said, the market and even idea of computers in elementary and high school classrooms was not considered realistic until Jobs created the market.  No one thought that children were capable of using computers until then.

In large part, we have Jobs to thank not just for Apple computers, but also for the prevalence of computers in learning.

National Disability Employment Awareness onth

This October is the first National Disability Employment Awareness month.  (Yes, we know it's a mouthful.)   President Obama has declared it so.  Our government defines disability in the following way:

• A person may be disabled if he or she has a physical or mental condition that substantially limits a major life activity (such as walking, talking, seeing, hearing, or learning).
• A person may be disabled if he or she has a history of a disability (such as cancer that is in remission).
• A person may be disabled if he is believed to have a physical or mental impairment that is not transitory (lasting or expected to last six months or less) and minor (even if he does not have such an impairment).

A number of organizations provide support for disability employment.  This support can take a number of forms:

• Federal law requires that employers make reasonable accommodation for disabled employees.  This means that any accommodations that do not cause significant expense or difficulty for the employer must be made for employees or potential employees who have  a disability.
• Training and education is provided by many organizations for individuals with disabilities.  This may be to help them seek employment for the first time or to re-train to obtain or return to employment after incurring a disability in some way.
• Some organizations work to match individuals with jobs that they will find suitable and fulfilling.  These programs are generally non-profits, and may either work one of two ways.  One way is to help connect employers and employees for a traditional work arrangement.  The other is to hire individuals with disabilities directly and find work for them with third party employers on a full- or part-time basis, temporarily or indefinitely.

You can read the full text of President Obama's press release on the White House website.

Scores for MN state tests are out

Last year's AYP scores came out for Minnesota recently.  The state Department of Education defines these scores as:

Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a means of measuring, through standards and assessments, the achievement of No Child Left Behind’s (NCLB) goal.  The goal of NCLB is to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic achievement standards and state academic assessments.

Every year, students in the sixth grade take standardized tests.  In Minnesota, those tests are referred to as the MCATs - the Minnesota Comprehensive Assessment-Series tests.  Schools are graded not only on how well the students perform, but also on how many of them actually take the tests and what attendance is like on a day-to-day basis.    The scores also break students down into subgroups: all students; American Indian/Alaskan Native students; Hispanic students; Black students not of Hispanic origin; Asian/Pacific Islander students; White students not of Hispanic origin; limited English proficient students; students eligible for free- or reduced-priced meals and special education students.

Schools that are Title 1 (they receive funding based on having a certain number of free- and reduced-price lunch students) can face repercussions if they score consistently below their targets.  These targets are increased yearly, with the goal of having all students proficient in math and reading by 2014.  Schools that don't meet these standards are required to make improvements in various ways.  More years below their goals mean more required improvements.  If they do not begin scoring closer to or above their targets in a certain timeframe, they receive funding cuts.

These scores are released publicly, and can be found on the MN Dept. of Education website.

Facebook updates, Google+ opens to public

Google+ initially saw limited adopters and mixed reviews. The overall reaction was that while all the features and usability improvements over Facebook were great, everyone was on Facebook already.... you get the idea. While Google+ might be fun to check out, might even seem more attractive as a social networking site, it is a challenge to get millions of users to pick up everything (online) and move to a new home. They continue to gain momentum, however, and it seems like Facebook is helping them do it.


Facebook has become known for making substantial changes to the user interface without a whole lot of advance warning or choice for the users. Recently, they updated their display by introducing a "Facebook within a Facebook" feed on the side bar and adding a "Top News" section at the top of the homepage. Before that it was updates to the friends list. These frequent updates have generally been met with more than reluctance by the user base. Some would even say that they have been met with disgust. Roughly 86% of users dislike the newest round of Facebook updates. That statistic can be found on this really great infographic from SodaHead data with other details about users and opinions of Facebook, as well as on the on-going poll available on the Wall Street Journal (87.4% as of 9/25).

At the same time as Facebook's updates (Kind of. More updates from Facebook are imminent), Google+ is opening to the public. The service is no longer invite-only, but is available to all. They are also amping up the action with an added 100+ features since it was unveiled in June, and more to come. Integration with email and document storage is only part, though it could be a game changer. With Google's full array of services, they are in a position to offer the consumer:

• social networking

• photo sharing

• photo editing

• email

• document storage

• web chat

• video conferencing

• search

• advertising

• an e-library

• blogging

• translation

• news

• geo-check ins

• and more, all from one place

With functionality and ease of use the major item of consideration for the majority of consumers, this may mean quite a bit for the search giant. Add to that the technology (and attitudes) that has won over the geek crowd and Google+ is in a fantastic position.

If only they can talk more users into jumping ship from Facebook.

Touchable holographic images - Up and coming tech

I recently found and read this article about a touchable 3D technology.  Researchers in Japan have been working to improve upon the current 3D technology available.  Their work has been with glasses-free 3D, for one thing. They use retro reflective surfaces to projected  images that actually appear somewhere other than the light source. I am personally very excited for glasses-free 3D, as I wear glasses or corrective lenses on a day-to-day basis, and they generally do not play nicely with the 3D glasses necessary for viewing some films and games in the 3D format they were intended for.  Where these scientists have jumped ahead of their peers and competitors is the leap into touchable 3D technology.  They use an input interface with infrared sensors that can sense where the user is and work with the 3D output to allow the 3D objects and characters to respond instantly in real time to the actions of the user. Moving forward, they are looking to bolstering the interface with a sensor that will allow the user to experience tactile feedback, possibly in the form of a glove.

While I was a little disappointed after reading the article and then watching the video, this is still exciting technology to watch in the future.

Intel's Edge for Windows 8

You've heard me rave about Windows 8 before.  The raving continues.  I am so very excited about the prospect of a newer, faster, better Windows.

Not that there's anything wrong with Windows 7.  It was the highest grossing pre-order in the history of Amazon.  It featured a boatload of new features, including a faster boot time than previous iterations.  Minor criticisms include some security flaws.

Windows 8 is likely to be something completely different, since it is created for tablets as well as traditional PCs.  Not only will the interface be very different, it is being released for both Intel and AMD as well as ARM - a processor more commonly used for mobile devices, as it is ideal for low-power products.  Adding an ARM version of Microsoft Windows 8 further stresses the fact the Microsoft is looking to move more strongly into the tablet and mobile markets with this OS.  While ARM will be more functional for low-power, mobile items, it will also support full PC systems.  However, the ARM processor version of Windows 8 will not be backward compatible with all older programs, like the Intel version will be, and as all previous Intel and AMD versions of Windows were.  That one feature will probably ensure Intel's continued success in the processor market.

Windows 8 is expected to be available to consumers in Fall 2012.

Web Evolution Infographic

Browsing the web today, I came across the coolest interactive infographic.

This infographic does a great job of creating a "funner" timeline of the internet than one might find elsewhere.  It hits all the major points, like developments in CSS and JavaScript.

Check it out.  Were you on the web when Netscape was the only option?  I have never gotten along with Netscape, even in the mid-nineties.  However, I have heard good things from other about the old Netscape.  Apparently it was once the fastest and most reliable browser for the Mac OS.  I believe it was purchased by AOL around the end of 1998.

How about the first version of Internet Explorer?  You can still download it, as a matter of fact.  Not that you would want to.  I imagine it would break the internet pretty hard (prevent pretty much everything from displaying or functioning correctly on the internet, that is).  I know IE 6 and 9 are already doing a pretty good job of that.  I'm a big fan of Opera and Chrome, myself.  Most of the best features of Mozilla/Firefox were available in Opera first.  Plus it is so easy to customize.  Chrome is amazing because it’s so fast.  It is a slim, sleek browser that gives you the option of using a ton of great add-ins.  Where it's different than other browsers in that respect is that all of the add-ins are opt in - you have to specifically request them.  The lack of bloatware is part of what makes Chrome so fast and reliable.

That's all… just my two cents.  Again, check out the infographic for details on the evolution of some of the things you use to access the internet.

Getting Organized for Fall

Shopping completed, it's time for most students to head back to school.  With so many distractions out there, it's important to stay organized through the school year.  Pro tip: get a planner. Or make a note with smartphone. The time you'll spend writing things down is worth it to not get a late grade on that big paper.  That goes not just for college  students, but for high school and elementary, as well.


I've always found that it helps to get settled back in for the new year. (September seems more like a new year than January to me.  January isn't even a change of seasons.)  For me this means devoting some time to getting things arranged the way I like them:  stapler tucked away over here, scissors in this box, pen cup over there...  It seems to help me be more productive.

And never forget to add some style.  Unless you like the minimalist look, make sure you have at least one funky piece of desk-stuff.  Get a flowery pen cup/bag, or decorate your binder/inbox with photos.  Make your work space both organized and unique, to make this year as productive as possible.

Java Jabber

Today at work, most of us are probably cradling our coffee pretty close. It sometimes feels necessary to get that extra boost, especially in the midst of a long work week, or on the way out that door before its even light outside. The only thing keeping me from the trid cup sometimes is the knowledge that it isn't terribly healthy for me.

But!

Good news!

We all know coffee can help you stay alert and awake when you're short on sleep. It can also increase physical performance. Now, a study on nutrition and cancer done last year has shown that coffee alsohelps slow cancer's spread as well as helping increase the effectiveness of treatment. Another series of studies from 1995 - 2003 showed that "long-term caffeine use has been found to reduce the risk of brain damage, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, epileptic seizures and even stroke."  Unfortunately, the benefits of caffeine in women begin's to decrease after about 3 cups, whereas it seems to continue to increase in men.  A different set of studies in 1993 and 2005, indicates that coffee drinking can help protect your liver.

And for those of you who feel that you just cant live without coffee, don't do anything drastic.  Another study from 1993 has actually shown that coffee decreases the risk of suicide in women by 13% for every cup consumed daily.

E-Wallets

Credit cards may soon be a thing of the past.

A not-so-new technology called, “near-field technology” allows devices to communicate wirelessly at close range.  The application of this technology currently making headlines is as a way to store and use credit card information.  Rather than swiping a card or waving it at the machine, if you have one of those new-fangled cards with the little squiggly lines, you would simply hold your phone near the terminal to pay.

Currently, there are two major frontrunners.  The ubiquitous Google has made a bid with Google Wallet, supported by Master Card and Sprint. The other frontrunner, Isis, has the support of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as Visa.  Though it seems like Isis has the lead with the three largest phone networks and the largest credit card company in the US, Google seems to be the first out of the gates, and that head start could mean big profits.

In any case, at this point, both systems claim that their eventual goal is to be open - that is, to support all credit card companies.  Being carried on multiple phone networks wouldn't be a bad thing either.

This is actually a pretty exciting development to me.  I hate having to dig in a wallet for a card.  Now, I'm not one of those up-to-your-eyeballs-in-plastic-debt types, but I do carry something like a half dozen credit and debit cards on a daily basis a number that isn't terribly strange.  It would be very nice to pare down to a phone that I carry anyways.

The sticking point here is saturation and adoption.  Few point-of-sale terminals support the little wavy thing, which has been around for what seems like ages. (Just checked, this was originally called, "blink" technology.)  Neither Isis nor Google Wallet will be able to pull ahead or succeed until they are able to convince a large number of consumers and businesses to use their technology.

What would you use an electronic wallet for?

School Shopping!

It's almost that time again.  You know what I mean.

School.

Families everywhere are scrambling to prepare.  On their first day back, most parents want their students to have all of the important things:

• New gym sneakers
• Number-two pencils
• Notebooks
• Crayons, markers, glue
• A calculator for the older students
• An iPad?

Although I am of the so-called digital generation, that seems a bit strange, even to me.  Though I understand the benefits of browsing on the go, it is still hard for me to see the iPad as an educational-must have.  It is and will probably continue to be more of a convenience or toy to me.  Don't get me wrong, I like that I can check my email, the news, play Angry Birds...  But I will never be able to research and write an essay on a tablet.  There's no keyboard!  I can't open side by side windows.  While it's true they have word processing packages, they are not free, and you have to load them.

At this point, I have to inject: if you are going to buy your student something as expensive as a tablet, consider another route.  Get a notebook.  They are of a comparable price, nearly as portable (depending upon the model), and come with both a keyboard and more functionality.

The Chester Classmate, for example, comes with everything a student could need, including colored keys for typing prowess, internet capability, and a swivel touch screen which can also function as a tablet.  All this, plus the Classmate features ultra-rugged construction designed to withstand anything your student puts it through.

No more goofin' off guilt

How many of you ever get bored at work?  Be honest, I won't tell.  Sometimes we all need a break.  A recent study means you shouldn't feel so guilty about that.

According to an article published by the Wall Street Journal this month, recreational web surfing during work actually increases productivity.  Web browsing like that, taking a mini break, is usually to sites that we enjoy.  No one sneaks a break from actual work to do something they dislike.  According to the study, taking a break to do something like respond to emails does not have the same beneficial effects.  Correspondence it not always enjoyable, even though it may be a break from the tasks at hand.  The recreational browsing can refresh a worker and increase their focus once they return to work, allowing them to more than make up for the time spent.

So the next time you're at your desk, glance around, and navigate to angry birds, don't feel so bad.  Just make sure you get back to work sooner rather than later.

Happy Birthday, Technology!

My first CD was the soundtrack to Titanic.  Interestingly enough, my fiancée’s first CD was also a soundtrack - the Matrix.  Do you remember your first CD? (or record, or cassette, or 8-track?)  Our first CD's were from 1997 and 1998, respectively.  Yup.  CD's that are now over 12 years old, which to me sounds old.  Have we really been using compact disks that long?  Whatever happened to cassettes and floppies?  I don't remember my first of either of those, but I definitely had them.  Matter of fact, I still have an old tower at home that reads floppies.  I think the system backups are on floppies for it. But even so, 12 years.  The first CD to ever roll off the line (of the factory, not just a test) was The Visitors album from ABBA.  That was in 1982, almost 29 years ago exactly.

Have we really been using compact disks for twenty-nine years?  What? And now, we have not just the USB port for data transfer, but the USB 2.0.  And the Thunderbolt, previously mentioned, which may eventually usurp the USB's throne.

How fast the world changes...

Sinister Squirrels Secretly Sabotage

Fiber optic communication is an exciting alternative to traditional electrical transmission.  Using fiber optics, we can transmit information at even greater rates than with copper wiring that is often common.  Information is transmitted through fiber optical cable by sending pulses of light, which forms an electromagnetic wave.  These waves are formulated to carry information.  Once the light pulses reach their destination, it is converted into an electrical signal.    The bandwidth available over fiber optics is staggering, but limited by the distance information must travel.  Lately, we've noticed large spools of fiber optics being put in along the roads near where I grew up.  This is even more exciting because like many areas in the region, the only internet service currently available there is dial-up.  I know.  Terrifying.

How do you feel about squirrels?  They're pretty cute, huh?  All furry and chittery, eating their acorns and stuff.  Not so much if you grew up in the country.  Squirrels are noisy.  They get into everything.  They eat the bird seed.  They eat your one chance at escaping dial-up...

That's right. These diurnal rodents are responsible for a large amount of the damage to fiber optics cables, causing extensive and expensive destruction to the cables.  This not only costs the fiber optics companies money, it also slows the spread of the fiber optics network.

If I had any sympathy for squirrels after they infested my grandparent's basement one winter, it's certainly gone now.

Images from Wikipedia

The World Wide Web turns 20

Last week was the web’s twentieth birthday. I’m a little sorry I missed it.  Now when I say the web, I don’t mean the internet.  Not today, I don’t.  While these terms are generally thought of as synonymous, this was not always the case.  The internet refers to a global system of connected networks, which generally follow a standard set of protocols.  When you are on the internet, you are surfing the web, right?  Technically yes, but they are not the same.  The web, or world wide web, refers to the way the data on these servers is organized.  On the internet as we know if, everything is linked by, well, links.  That is what defines the web.  It is literally a web of interconnected points, tied together with hypertext links.  This is where the “www” in web addresses comes from.  Without the advent of the web, the internet would have no real organization.  Search engines wouldn’t really be workable, as we understand them now.  Imagine trying to find a recipe or some such!  The way the web is all linked together is really the most impressive thing about it, defining of the entire internet, making it usable for passive information sharing, rather than just active communication.

While the internet predates the web (see wiki article here), dating back as far as the 1950′s, the world wide web counted its 20th birthday the first week of August.  The world’s first website is still available as an archived set of pages here.  I’m sure you can forgive their typos, as they were busy making the interwebs happen.

Web 2.0

You have probably heard the phrase "Web 2.0" thrown around a lot.  Its used frequently by the tech-savvy to describe a trend in technology that has grown ever more prominent since the rise of the internet - particularly in the last five years or so.


Wikipedia defines Web 2.0 as:

A term associated with web applications that facilitate participatory information sharing, interoperability, user-centered design, and collaboration on the World Wide Web. A Web 2.0 site allows users to interact and collaborate with each other in a social media dialogue as creators (prosumers) of user-generated content in a virtual community, in contrast to websites where users (consumers) are limited to the passive viewing of content that was created for them. 

Web 1.0, therefore, represents a time when websites were generally used to throw information out there, to be retrieved by anyone who wanted it.  Today, users and creators are one and the same.  It no longer takes a tech or an IT department to create a website, build a blog, or publish a video.  As users became creators, the line between the two has blurred such that most current websites are interactive.  Sites have surveys, forms, games, etc. that allow users to both receive and send information, interacting with a dynamic webpage.  At the very least, a good many of the companies with a grounded web presence offer links to social networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn in an effort to engage users.  Engaged users are not only more likely to keep coming back, but they can help you to continually adapt the site to bring in more users.


This give and take of information and ideas is key in the world of online business, building a web presence, and even politics.  Social media and Web 2.0 have molded our world in ways subtle and obvious.  It was not terribly long ago that Twitter helped civilians coordinate a revolution in Egypt, after all, and though some claim Web 2.0 is a fad, this seems to me to be more of an evolution.

Thunderbolt!

Thunderbolt (originally codenamed Light Peak) is an interface for connecting peripheral devices to a computer via an expansion bus.  (Wikipedia)

Thunderbolt was explained to me as being the replacement for the USB.  It is a technology that allows super high speed transfer of data, which can also be daisy-chained between multiple devices.

With the 10 Gbps performance of Thunderbolt products you can (Per Intel)

• Transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds
• Backup 1 year of continuous MP3 playback in just over 10 minutes

This technology was developed by Intel, and brought to market through collaboration with Apple.  This technology allows transfer of nearly all types of data.  You can daisy chain up to six devices by connecting them one to the other, and connecting to devices of various levels of performance will not slow the performance of any of the faster devices.

Check out the following links for more info:

Downsides to Thunderbolt

Make Tech Easier

Why we love the internet

The internet.   The tubes.  The interblag.  The bloggosphere.  The webnet.  The intertubes.  The webberblog.  The blagonet.

From Wikipedia:

The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet Protocol Suite (TCP/IP) to serve billions of users worldwide. It is a network of networks that consists of millions of private, public, academic, business, and government networks, of local to global scope, that are linked by a broad array of electronic, wireless and optical networking technologies. The Internet can also be defined as a worldwide interconnection of computers and computer networks that facilitate the sharing or exchange of information among users. The Internet carries a vast range of information resources and services, such as the inter-linked hypertext documents of the World Wide Web (WWW) and the infrastructure to support electronic mail.

It goes by many names, but what is the internet to you?

A way to connect

• Sharing pictures with your family, see your grandkids decorating the Christmas tree that day.
• Getting recipes or tips from message boards, any time night or day.
• Ordering prescriptions for pick up from the comfort of your couch and getting a notification on your phone when they're ready.
• Paying bank statements online
• Shopping online
• Playing games from World of Warcraft to Cribbage.
• Catching up on reading - ebooks are cheap and accessible almost anywhere
• Chat with friends on the other side of the country (My pen pal is in Washington state)
• Learn!  There's so much information out there!

What do you use the internet for?

The Case for Homeschool

Pros:

• (relative) Freedom from regulation
• A curriculum adapted to suit each child's needs
• The ability to focus on a child's passions, keeping them focused
• Focus improved by lack of distractions
• The ability to impart knowledge outside of "school" - ethics, values, etiquette, etc... that often is left out at public schools
• Religion to be incorporated - or not - at the discretion of the parent
• Improved test scores in many cases
• Sheer flexibility of program and scheduling
• Studies show that homeschoolers grow up to be more self-confident and less peer-dependent (and therefore less likely to give in to peer pressures)

Cons:

• Increased cost, still less than private school - Homeschooling is not generally government funded
• Loss of income - one parent is home at all times, and therefore not generally working (or working much less)
• The loss of "grown up time" for a parent that is at home with children at all times
• Lack of regulated standards (a societal concern)
• Possibility of unmonitored child abuse (societal concern) - there is no evidence of a higher risk than in public institutions

Sources: Wikipedia, Homeschool.com

Chin up - look for ergonomic technology

Are you reading this on a computer, smartphone, or tablet?  If it is a computer, is it a desktop, laptop, or netbook?

Studies consistently show that chronic back and shoulder pain is on the increase.  The culprit is likely the increased use of technology.  Specifically, it is the increasingly mobile technology that is causing the problem.  Poor posture pulls your body out of its correct alignment.  Even five, ten years ago, posture was better and related chronic pain was less common.  This is because as America tranwsitions to more mobile solutions like laptops, netbooks, and tablets, we crane our necks further and further.  Desktops, while not perfect, at least put the screen closer to eye-level, reducing neck strain.

This is not to say that one shouldn't use these technologies;  the trick is to use the with awareness.  Pay attention to your posture.  Make a point of getting up and walking around every hour or so.  Physical activities and stretching can also help.

If all else fails, try a more ergonomically correct office arrangement - a better chair, better keyboard, a mouse that fits better, or maybe a monitor stand/riser to bring the screen up to eye level.

Where Tablets Fall Flat

Today I stumbled across an interesting article about iPads, which I rather agreed with. These are fun little toys, and work great for casual surfing on the go. You can even check your email, if you use a compatible account.

There are downsides aplenty, of course. The most discussed short-fallings are things like lack of Flash support, or sheer adaptability. Flash is necessary to many web applications like video. iPads come with iOS and are strictly regulated, as far as things like compatibility with third-party applications, programs, and software. To make an iPad (or even iPhone) do many of the things Android tablets do, users must "jailbreak" them.

Leaving all the software short-comings aside, the obvious failing of an iPad -- or any tablet, for that matter -- is the lack of physical controls.

Like many users, I have been impressed with the predictive text software on an iPad. This makes it significantly easier to use. However, sometimes an otherwise innocuous typo, caused by the smoothness of the screen and less-than-Olympic level accuracy, is auto-corrected into something completely ridiculous. Oft-times, it is also difficult to navigate on a tablet due to some combination of the webpage or app you are looking at and the way the gestures are intended to work.

Although I am easily classified into the "digital generation" and grew up with technology, I also have to put myself in the "old-fashioned" camp that longs for a tactile keyboard for anything other than "casual" surfing.

Temper Tantrums

Today I was talking to some people about education and the topic of temper tantrums came up. With younger children, especially, this can be a trial for both parents and teachers. This can be an even tougher challenge when it involves children with special needs.

I found an interesting article about tantrums that suggested that by merely helping children to identify emotions, we can help them stay calm. When someone can not only recognize that they are getting upset, but also why, it becomes much easier to take a moment to put that feeling away and focus on something soothing.

In the same vein, but for a different reason, it helps if the people around, adults especially, make a point of noticing how a child is feeling.  The expression of empathy alone can make the difference.  Children who feel ignored are much more likely to act out.  That may seem like common sense, but so often its tempting to try to ignore something and make it go away.

Some other strategies for calming a child before the tantrum erupts include giving them space, avoiding stressful situations like hurrying, encouraging the to distract themselves with a physical activity or something they are very interested in, and suggesting deep breathing.

Got the Invite, Google+ exploration

This past weekend, as I was browsing Facebook, I was excited to discover that a friend had been invited to Google+, and not just from the irony.  Within minutes, I had an invite, but no computer at which to explore.  This week will be a learning week for me, as I interact with Circles, Sparks, etc...

In a previous post, I discussed some of the features of Google+, and I will soon have a review of those features up for you.  I the meantime, I've been inviting people.  The main drawback to the service is currently two-fold for me: not many of my contacts are using it yet, and I cannot take my Facebook photos with me.  For many of use, Facebook has become the main home of our photo albums.  Personally, I have nearly 2000 photos uploaded over the last four or five years, which I do not want to part with.  Further, Google+ is offering a growing suite of editing tools that make its photo albums enticing.  Hopefully a resolution will be found that will allow Google+ users to keep their Facebook photos and integrate them into the new service.

I am also excited to see how Google+ flows into ecommerce and online business.

Since the whole application is still in Beta, we can expect to see quite a few changes and additions before it is widely released.  In the meantime, I'll be making notes and sending invites.chesterc

Nurture vs Nature - Autism

The cause of autism and ASD has been a topic for much discussion, research, and debate for years, more so as the prevalence of this disorder increases.  There has recently been a quantity of research regarding genetic links to ASD.  In fact, in a post from last month, I discussed a couple of these studies, which were finding more solid links between certain genes and proteins and autism.

Today a new study reports a more tangible link to environment in development, as well.  Often, children in a family are more likely to have autism if another family member also has it.  This study on twins and families indicated that up to 55% of the cause of autism may be environmental.  While this seems to be contradictory to the previous studies, it is not.

It is becoming more and more clear that autism is not simply something you are born with, an "in your genes, if you have it you have it and there's nothing to be done" disorder.  Instead, while ASD is certainly linked to genetics, it is also largely influenced by environment.  A child with the genetics that say he or she may have ASD will not necessarily develop autism.  Instead, whether or not they present autistic symptoms may be determined by other factors.

Think of it like this.  Everyone who gets speeding tickets and traffic violations has (or had) a vehicle, or at least used one.  However, not everyone who has a vehicle gets traffic violations.  Having the vehicle is necessary to the ticket, but is not the sole factor.

Likewise, it is appearing more and more likely that while genetics may determine who is at risk or likely to develop ASD, environment plays a role as well, possibly even in larger part than genes.  When it comes to ASD, nature and nurture work together to decide if an individual will begin displaying autistic symptoms or not.

Google Plus

Google is the number one search engine.  When they roll out algorithm updates, it shakes the SEO world and everyone scrambles to catch up.  Adwords and Analytics are household names in the web industry, like how most disposable adhesive bandages are automatically referred to by the brand name Band Aid.

In the past, Google's forays into the world of social media have been pretty un-spectacular.  Now, however, they have started to release what may well be a game-changer.  Google+ is a social networking application for PC or mobile that brings all of the best features of sites like Facebook and combines then with the Google innovation and resources.  Tying in to their array of currently available services, this new product is currently available through invitation only.  This makes it more desirable and allows the early-adapters to get the hang of it before it becomes widely used.  It also allows Google to respond in real-time to any concerns from users.  I found in my research a couple of places where users had made suggestions and replied a day or so later, thanking Google for actually responding - something many people have despaired of in regards to Facebook for ages.  (Internet ages of course, something like several months or a year in the real world, I suppose.)

The down side to the invitation only releases of Google+ is that a social networking site can only get so far if only a fraction of your social network has it.  If no one you know is no it, the only draw is the novelty - there is no practicality until it becomes more widely used.  That same factor was probably the largest downfall of Google Wave, discussed in my previous post.  Every network has to start out with only a few users, however.  The bigger question is whether Google+ will be able to over take or co-exist with Facebook, as Facebook was able to do with MySpace.  (In related news, I have heard rumors that Justin Timberlake recently was involved in a buy-out of MySpace, with plans to revamp it largely as a music sharing site.)

Some distinctive features of Google + include:

• Circles.  Rather than a post going out to everyone you know and then some, you will be able to filter your posts and feeds by your social circles - work colleagues, family, friends from school, friends from *insert hobby here*, etc...
• Sparks.  I haven't used Google+ yet, but it sounds like this feature includes things you're likely to be interested in in your stream without requiring that you go out and find it first.  It also allows you to connect with others with similar interests.
• Hangouts.  This features allows you to jump into a video conference when you feel like it, "stopping by," effectively.  This allows multiple users to swing in and out of video chats as they are available and smoothly shows all the webcams.  Don't have a webcam?  Get one.  Or get an awesome, rugged, portable laptop that comes standard with a great one built in.
• Mobile Upload.  Google+ allows you to sign up for a service that automatically adds pictures to a private album in the cloud so that you can post them anytime any where without the hassle of uploading.

Will these features be enough to push Google+ past the shiny-and-new-and-exclusive stage of its current popularity?  That remains to be seen, but there are rumors and comments indicating that there may be a multitude of extra new features in the works, including shared games directly on the networking service, among other things.  I for one am anxiously awaiting an invitation from my early-adopter friends.  

Google is Making Waves in Social Netwokring

How many of you out there remember Google Wave?  How about Google Buzz?  


Google Wave was a service based on online real-time collaborative editing.  This service was released by invite only, at first, and allowed users to video chat, share documents, edit those documents, and see changes made by other in real time.  It also tracked the changes so you could see who had done what.  This could have revolutionized group projects and business proposals.  There were only two problems.  First, as a completely new type of service to most people, there was quite a bit of a learning curve, not just to learn how to use but also in what situations it would be helpful to use the service.  Second, because of the slow, invitation-only roll-out, there were relatively few others using the service.  Speaking from personal experience as one of the first users of the wave in the general public (I don't consider myself part of the beta, early-adopter, trend-setting crowd), only one of my contacts was using Wave.  There was not a whole lot of incentive to learn all of its features, and we had few applications for it in our lives.  Google Wave is still available, to the best of my knowledge, but I believe that it is no longer being developed or released for new users.


Google Buzz is a social networking service that takes Twitter's lead and moves further.  You can post links, comments, pictures, etc... and share them with your contacts.  What's more, it is integrated directly into Google's mail application, which currently holds over 7% of the market share, if you will, for email clients.  Moreover, Google's mail app is growing in usage by over 20% annually, making it the second fastest growing email client, next to iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad.  Even so, most people don't bother with Google Buzz.


Now, Google is rolling out a new, more extensive, social networking site.  Look for my next post, with more details.