Journal 15 April 26, 2009

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/04/10/i_robot____and_gardener_mit_droids_tend_plants/

The article for this week’s current event blog comes from MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A group of undergraduate students have created a robot that has the capability of watering, harvesting and pollinating several cherry tomato plants. These robots have the ability to water each individual plant, as well as pick tomatoes when they are ripe. IT knows when to water the plant because there are numerous sensors in the soil that can tell the computer network when it is necessary to provide water or fertilizer. The robot is able to recognize a ripe tomato by using a web camera, and pick it with the right amount of pressure as not to harm or kill the plant. The process behind picking a tomato from the plant is far more difficult for a robot than a human. The robot must have the right touch, as to not hurt the plant, and know when to pick the ripe tomato. I think this topic and these articles are key stepping stone towards the future. I believe that robotics are going to play a huge part in our future, and this is one of the first innovations that may lead to bigger and better things for the field and the world as a whole. The article states that the agricultural industry is large and growing exponentially and is becoming an integral part to our society. This little advancement in robotics could possibly lead to more ideas and bigger robots to help grow and harvest crops. There have been a ton of movies and books about robots and their various roles in our future, but this brings all of these fantasy stories closer to reality. People have all of these ideas about robots and how in the future they will be able to do everything that humans do not possess the urge to do. Maybe everyone will have something like the robotic maid in the television series The Jetsons. I am very impressed to see that undergraduate students, who are just the same age as I am, are coming up with these little pieces of technology that may become a base for bigger and better robots to further our society.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30109901/

Journal 14, April 19, 2009

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/helping-parents-snoop-on-kids-iphone-habits/

Probably the newest most innovative piece of technology on the market is any iPod product. I, myself, have an iPod Touch and love using it every day, and one of the main reasons is because it picks up WiFi internet and allows for wireless internet use. As an adult, I have enough discretion and internet sense to know what web sites I should visit and which ones I should not. These abilities are shared by most adults who regularly use the internet, but many children do not know what is good and what is bad on the internet. Since both the iPhone and the iPod touch are internet compatible, and more and more children own them, then there needs to be a way to monitor and block access to these inappropriate web sites that children can but shouldn’t visit while using their iPod products. This is where the app store comes in with iTunes. The article that I found talks about different apps that allow for parents to limit what their children can go to on the internet, and some apps even track where the child tries to go. The first app is Mobicip, which is free. It is basically an internet that the parents can put locks on certain websites. There are more apps that are not quite as cheap as Mobicip, but have more ways to limit and monitor children. One of these more efficient monitoring tools is called iWonder Surf, and its big difference is that it allows for parents to pick which web sites can be blocked or unblocked, and costs just under fifteen dollars. The other is Safe Eyes Mobile, which allows the access to the internet to be controlled and it also emails or alerts the child’s parents when the child is trying to access the blocked sites. The significance of these apps, and this article, is to show that even though technology is progressing and children are being exposed to more and more these days, that there are people out there who still are trying to let kids be kids and not be exposed to too much too early in their lives.

http://www.mobicip.com/online_safety/content_filtering

Journal 13, April 12

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29972476/

How cool would it be to walk out to your car, get in and just tell it where you want to go and it would automatically drive you there. Kind of like an autopilot. There is no technology in the near future that will be able to do this but Honda Motor Co. has developed a way to read patterns of electric currents on a person's scalp as well as changes in cerebral blood flow when a person thinks about four simple movements, moving the right hand, moving the left hand, running and eating. This is a small but necessary step in working towards a car that can drive without the help of a human. Honda showed a video of an employee wearing the helmet thought about raising his right hand and in a few seconds the programmed robot raised his right arm. Honda did not do a live performance because they thought that an audience would cause a distraction and the experiment would not work. Another key problem they are facing is brain patterns differ greatly among individuals, and so about two to three hours of studying them in advance are needed for the technology to work. Yasuhisa Arai, executive at Honda Research Institute Japan Co., stated “I’m talking about dreams today, practical are still way in the future.” Honda has made robotics a centerpiece of its image. “Our products are for people to use. It is important for us to understand human behavior," he said. "We think this is the ultimate in making machines move”, Arai told reporters. This is astonishing to me to think that we are able to just think about moving our hand or running and our brain signals can be transmitted to a robot that will do what we are thinking. I can think of this being a series advantage in some aspects of our lives but also making us, humans, even more lazy and reliant on technology.

https://unccmail.uncc.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29900077/
This article is talking about scientists using brain signals and the flow of blood to power electrical devices such as cell phone batteries, iPods and other small devices. It seems that more and more people are trying to figure out how to get away from using batteries and other pollutant items and replace them with things that are produced through our bodies or even using our bodies to run devices.

Journal 12, April 5, 2009http://theboard.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/dont-text-and-drive-play-it-safe-name-a-designated-texter/

There are way too many incidents involving cars and alcohol. Drinking and driving is probably the number one cause of accidents that kill. What many don’t realize is that text messaging and driving is also a big concern when it comes to accidents. Lawyers in the New York Legislature are trying to pass laws that prohibit text messaging while driving a vehicle. The same state legislature as well as other states has already passed laws forbidding drivers from using hand held cell phones. There is a method to the madness. If you think about, it can not be safe to have your head down with your fingers moving across your cell phone instead of your eyes on the road with your hands on the wheel. In a recent survey done by the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company one in five drivers said that they do in fact text message while they are driving. That number increases to one in three that text and drive. Of the states that have in fact passed laws banning test messaging while driving, none are really cracking down on the issue. Other than a small fine of maybe $100, the states are doing nothing to enforce these new laws.
I think this is great that the states are finally coming to there senses when it comes to cell phones. I will admit that I do use my cell phone when I am in the car but I try to refrain from text messaging while driving. Text messaging takes more away from one’s focus on driving more than talking on a cell phone. As one of the articles says, ‘For most people driving in a car is the most dangerous thing they do all day. So why not focus on being safe and not worry about text messaging.’ I’m happy these laws are being passed, hopefully they can be enforced and they will make our roads safer.

http://tech.yahoo.com/news/pcworld/20090328/tc_pcworld/policechiefshowswhytextingdrivingdontmix

Journal # 10, March 22, 2009

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/kit-eaton/technomix/it-car-plane-no-its-terrafugia-transition-bit-both

Do you remember the television show The Jetsons? They all drove around in flying cars and sidewalks that were conveyor belts. Well, we are not quite to the point of conveyor belts replacing sidewalks, but we have finally developed a flying car. It’s called the Terrafugia Transition and on March 5th even though it only managed to stay airborne for 37 seconds, it became the first car in flight. It might not look quite as cool as the flying automobiles from the Jetsons but it will do the same thing, fly. The car actually transforms into a plane within 30 seconds. The cabin includes fold away controls for steering the plane. Because of its looks many people are calling it the roadable aircraft instead of the flying car. The car aspect of the car uses roughly 30 miles per gallon to run the engine that not only controls the front wheels of the car but also the same engine controls the pusher-propeller. In the air it can reach up to 115 miles per hour and can travel up to a range of 450 miles. One of the great things about the “roadable aircraft” is that it is small enough to fit into a regular sized garage and the doors on the vehicle actually resemble normal car doors. This is only a prototype but it is already a monumental advance in technology. Terrafugia has said that they already have 40 orders placed for these new high tech cars/airplanes. They will be sold for roughly $150,000 and will begin to be made next year.
I think this probably one of the coolest things I have heard. Everyone thinks the future is going to have flying cars. Well this is the future. This is a great advancement in the automobile and aircraft industry. This is also good because its kind of eco-friendly with the airplane engine using unleaded gas instead of aviation fuel. I think we are in the future right now and this is one step closer to everyone having these flying cars or “roadable aircrafts”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5944201.ece

Journal 9, March 15 2009

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D96SPMP00.htm

Sirius XM Radio is the only satellite radio company in the United States. But now the only satellite radio company is on the verge of bankruptcy. The company recently barely avoidied filing for bankruptcy last month and now the radio company is trying to sell directly to the customers. The only way the company used to make money was through new car sales and now that concept is down 10 percent. The company is now trying to stream its radio to iPhones, iPods and the iPod touch. This gives subscribers a new way to access the satellite radio and it also lets knew customers sign up for the radio without having to buy a new radio that supports the radio system. There are plans that Sirius radio is trying to work out a deal with certain T.V. companies, one of which is DirecTV, where the satellite radio is included in T.V. packages. Sirius satellite radio faced up to $1 billion in debt at the beginning of 2009 that the company could not repay. So the company allowed the company Liberty to give them a loan with 15 percent interest and gave the Liberty company 40 percent stake in Sirius. The company is expected to make roughly $300 million this upcoming year. One expert thinks that this will be a turnaround year for Sirius. On Thursday, shares of Sirius rose from 3 cents to 19 cents.
I recently just purchased a car in November and in this car one of the premiums was to have Sirius satellite radio. I can see that the only way the company made money was if cars that were sold had the radio in them. I would not purchase Sirius in my car because their just is no need for two styles of radio in your car. I think that Sirius radio has the right idea trying to sell subscriptions to iPods and other things so they can listen to the radio through their mp3 players. It’s a great marketing scheme but I just don’t think that Sirius will last much longer.

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/commentary/listeningpost/2006/09/71711?currentPage=all

Journal #8, March 8, 2009

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chanceme9-2009mar09,0,1741864.story?page=2

It’s a day you’ll remember for the rest of your life. It’s the day you get accepted to college. Will it be Stanford, or Berkeley or even MIT? But students spend up to a year waiting and waiting to hear back from these universities to see if they have been accepted. Students have created a way to communicate with other students to determine if they have a good shot at being accepted into the school of their choice. These websites such as mychance.com and collegeconfidential.com are websites where students post their grad point average, SAT scores, and any other credentials that colleges look at. Other hopeful students can look at your credentials and can respond to you on what your chances are on being accepted to the universities you have applied to. Some say that the biggest downfalls of these websites are that the responders rely too heavily on the numbers, test scores and grade point average. There are numerous occasion were people who are responding back to other hopeful applicants become to harsh. Some responders come back with replies such as “You have a better chance of being struck by a meteorite than getting in, unless you have some ridiculous hook”. A hook is a special way to get in, for example ethnicity. Karl Bunday, a volunteer moderator on collegeconfidential.com , says "The ethnicity thing is a big firebomb”. But many students think this is a very good stress reliever in the process of waiting for the letter from the school with their acceptance or rejection.
I think this is a great way for hopeful students to actually see what pthers thin their chances are of getting into the school of their choice. This is also a great way to relieve some stress for the hopefuls. I wish I would have known about these websites during my application process. This would have made my life a whole lot easier. I think that college officials will eventually go on these sites and put their input in on these future students. This is a great way for students to not only relieve some stress but also to see what their odds are at being accepted.

http://www.hundredsofheads.com/31-569-1.Article/College-Confidential--Who-Can-Say-What-to-Whom--When-----and-Why-