Chapter Two

Chapter Two lists the key areas in which computer capacities exceed human abilities: speed, accuracy, storage, and retrieval. Of these, I think retrieval is most important in our day-to-day lives. All of us have probably experienced frustration when a thumb drive gets lost or destroyed. A few years ago, Dropbox was created to address storage and retrieval problems. Dropbox allows for easy uploading, storage, and sharing of files. Free storage space is earned through referring friends to the service. Once the free cache of storage is used up, more can be purchased. Watch the following video for a demo of how Dropbox works:

 

On the current events front, Verizon has discontinued its unlimited data plan. Current customers will not be affected, but anyone new to Verizon will need to choose from the selection of tiered plans. The following article will help you figure out which plan to buy: (How to choose your data plan).

Is Facebook threatened by Google+? Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined Google+ and rapidly accumulated over 30,000 followers. Is he making a statement that he's not worried about the competition? Is it a coincidence that Facebook is now offering one-on-one video chatting? It will be interesting to read about how Zuckerberg uses his Google+ account to benefit Facebook. Read an article (here).

Chapter One

     Favorite item from Wednesday's PowerPoint show: "Database - the heart of an information system." Although failed social networking site Myspace is considered a junksite, it's database of users has value. Specific Media purchased Myspace for $35 million on Wednesday (Myspace sold).

     A review of Transaction Processing Systems led to a discussion about Square. This innovative device allows merchants to swipe credit cards using their smartphone. Vendors who typically engage in cash-only transactions now have the option of accepting credit cards without set-up fees. For many businesses, the low 2.75% merchant fees will be readily off-set by increased sales. Watch the video below to see just how simple it is to get the device and start using it:

     A more recent development is the release of Google+, a social networking site with some features that have the potential to outperform Facebook (CNN article). Google+ has a video feature called Hangouts which lets several users join a room. Then live feeds from each user's webcam appear at the bottom of the window, with the person currently speaking (or speaking loudest) displayed in the main window. Another Google+ feature which appeals to me is the ability to organize friends into categories and easily control communication sent to specific groups of friends, or "circles." I'll post a review after I get invited to join Google+.

Day One

Today's class focused on several technological advances that have made a profound impact on the way we live our lives - the Internet, blogs, smartphones, YouTube, and apps in particular. Despite Prince's wishful thinking last year (Prince interview), the Internet is not going away. The Internet contributes more than 1.5 trillion dollars per year to the global economy, more than the GDP of Canada (economic study).

Mr. Porter mentioned that some full-time bloggers make six-figure incomes. The 2010 State of the Blogosphere report indicates that most bloggers who earn income generate less than $20,000 per year. The report is an interesting read, with lots of charts (Technorati report).

Another area with income potential is app development for smartphones, a lucrative venture for a growing number of tech-savvy people. The app industry is growing exponentially and will provide many more opportunities as the industry expands. A recent article in Businessweek discusses the potential for HTML5 and WebKit to allow apps to become more dynamic (publishing apps).