The Star Trek Future is Now

The promise of voice recognition has been around for at least a decade and for me it always kind of seemed like a solution to a problem that did not exist.To use it you still had to navigate menus you couldn't just say  "open Word document" and open a document it be more like "Start" "Microsoft office" "Word" so it was exponentially slower than  current user interfaces such as keyboard and mouse so unless you were doing a lot of dictation or were handicapped in some way it just seemed unnecessary and cumbersome.

Welcome to the Enterprise
 The Ford Sync and MyTouch  is a system developed by Ford and Microsoft along with Nuance software have developed a system that integrates all of your electronic devices such as phones Mp3 Players and USB devices along with things such as environmental and entertainment controls and  and control them with your voice.The Sync system recognizes over 10,000 commands so insted of saying "phone" "Call" "John Smith" "Work"you can just say "Call John Smith at work"so it seems that voice recognition has finally found its place.

With cars today being equipped with  more and more electronic devices from entertainment to GPS to the electronic devices we bring into them such as phones and music players there needed to be a safe way to control them with out using your hands and taking your eyes of the road and the Ford Sync seems to be the first system to address this need in a meaningful way.Along with voice commands Sync will also read text messages allowed.

Technology Blogs

Technology blogs are very popular these days but they are not all the same. Some specialize in gadgets (such as cell phones,MP3 players,and Netbooks) other specialize in hardware(such as video cards, CPU's, Motherboards, etc..). and others just in general technology news.Here are some of my favorites.

Gadget Blogs

Gizmodo
Purported Nook Color Mock Up Appears On Barnes & Noble Website


Engadget
Nook Color revealed by overzealous screen protector?
Big story of today on both seems to be a possible leaked picture of the new touch screen color nook e-book reader mistakenly revealed when a screen protector for it was listed on Barns and Nobles web site.

Interesting but  I am sure the price will dampen my enthusiasm when it is finally reveled.

Hardware Blogs

Toms Hardware  
Android 3.0 Sample Tablets Available by Dec. '10 
 As the headline says Android sample tablets are expected to be released on Dec. 10 with some manufactures planning releases in January at CES.I am anxious to see how this competes with the iPad in both price and ability.

Anandtech 
Really didn't see much on Anandtech to interest to me.

General Technology Blogs
Boing Boing 
The last mystery of the blues: were Robert Johnson's recordings sped up?

I am a big Blues fan so this caught my attention.It  discusses whether the recordings of Robert Johnson had been sped up.

Slashdot  

Amazon To Allow Book Lending On the Kindle

Amazon is going to finally allow book lending for e-books this interest me because I just bought a kindle.

These are some of the blogs that I check out hope you find something in them that interest you.

    

Choosing a New Printer

When I started school this past summer I realized that I need a new printer.My old printer a had stopped feeding paper and I needed a printer at home to print my English assignments so I sat down and evaluated my wants and needs for a new printer,and this was my decision making process.

Wants and Needs

First I had to determine what my wants and needs were.

Do I Want a to Print Color?-Yes I wanted the ability to print color.
 Even though most of my printing would be text I wanted to be able to print color.

Do I Want a printer or do I Want a Multifunction Device?- I wanted a multifunction device.
While I would be printing most of the time I wanted the ability to also scan and copy documents.

Do I Need a Fast Printer? -No I did not need a very fast printer.
While fast is nice I was not going to be printing large documents or large  multiple copies of documents very often so speed was not that important.

Do I want Wireless Printing  Capability?- Maybe
Wireless capability would be a nice feature to have but it wasn't a necessity.

Do I want a Laser or an Inkjet Printer?- I would prefer a laser over and inkjet.
Laser printers generally have better resolution and lower operating cost than an Inkjet but have a higher initial cost.

What is my Budget?- I wanted to spend less than a $100 for my device.
It was possible I would have to spend more to get what I wanted but my goal was under a $100.

Prioritizing my List

So now I had to determine what as most important to me
Well my fist priority was the ability to print color,second was that it be a multifunction device,Third was my budget,fourth was laser or inkjet, fifth was wireless capability,and last was speed.
So my priority list was

1. Color Printing
2. Multifunction Device
3. Budget
4. Laser or Inkjet
5. Wireless Capability
6. Speed

 Decision Time

It quickly became clear that getting a color laser multifunction device anywhere near $100 was not going to be possible so question four was answered, it was going to be an inkjet,but which one?
In my case I got lucky I had just installed a multifunction device for a relative that seemed to meet all of my needs the Cannon MP 560 and it was only $89.99 on sale.  I did look at another printer the  Hp Photosmart e but it was $10 more expensive and it still uses the Tri-color ink tanks where the Cannon uses individual ink tanks. The advantage is that  you don't have to buy a whole cartridge just because one color is out, you can just replace the empty one which is cheaper.The Cannon printed over 9ppm in black and 6 ppm color so the speed was acceptable.It printed 9600 x 2400 dpi resolution in color and a 600 x 600 resolution in black, so the resolution was good, and it had built in wireless so my choice was the Cannon MP 560 and so far I have been satisfied with it.

Cannon MP560

HP Phtosmart

Is the Goverment Regulation of Video Games a Good Idea

The Issue 
Almost since the first popular first person shooter, Doom, was released there have been attempts to tie video games to violence and antisocial behavior.With the advent of newer more powerful systems and better graphics that allows more realistic depictions of violence and /or sex this debate has heated up again


 The Past 
  The Comics Code
This is nothing new, in 1954 facing criticism and threats of regulation  for causing "juvenile delinquency " the comic book industry decided to self regulate and start enforcing the "Comics Code Authority".At the time horror and crime, not superhero, comics were the best sellers. These comics depicted somewhat tame, by today's standards, depictions of blood,gore,sex, crime and violence. Fredric Wertham a psychiatrist  published a book called "Seduction of the Innocent"  in 1954 that called out the mass media and in particular comic books for its depictions of violent content and its harmful effects on children (sound familiar). This led to the congressional hearing's that led to the Comics Code.


Second Verse Same as the First
As you can see this is not the first time "experts" and the government have tried to blame a mass media for problems of violence and crime. Jack Thompson a lawyer from Florida made a career of suing and crusading against the media, and in particular video games, starting in 1997 calling them "murder simulators" but he really rose to prominence in 2003 when he went after Rockstar Games and their game Grand Theft Auto III . Eventually Jack Thompson's claims and antics became so outrageous that he was discredited and disbarred. In some ways Jack Thompson and others like him succeeded because in 1999 the video game industry, like comics before, facing possible government regulation set up their own ratings system.While I have some issues with age restrictions I do like the content advisory part of the system that lets you know what kind of content the game has.You can also argue that like the "explicit lyrics" stickers used in the recording industry some titles use the Mature rating to boost sales.

The Present
The Nanny State 
 There has been no study I could find that proves beyond doubt that violent or sexually explicit video games or media in general cause abnormal levels of violence or sexuality.But for the sake of argument lets assume that in some percentage it does, that does not in my opinion give the government the authority to regulate video games.If their abnormal behavior crosses the line into criminal then and only then should the government step in and only to separate them from society. Any regulation begs the question who sets the standards and at what level?
What is more offensive, a persons head getting blown off or two people kissing?
What is to far, a persons hand getting cut off or him being cut in half, body parts showing or simulated sex?
What words or are going to be offensive and to who?
Different people will have different answers to those questions. In all honesty I do sometimes have concerns over some game content, mostly due to the fact that it glamorizes criminal behavior, and I wonder if some kids and teen could be attracted to that lifestyle. I think most people, even kids, if they have been raised correctly can separate a game from reality. But even if they can't that is the price we pay for freedom. No one but you, if you are an adult, or your parents ,if you are a minor, can or should decide what is acceptable.
Some Other Video Games That  Have Been Controversial

The Modern Bionic Man

No mater how you feel about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan one thing I think most people can agree on is the compassion they feel for the numerous solders that have lost limbs in those conflicts. At one time the loss of a limb was almost an automatic discharge from the military as disabled.Today with advances in materials, design and computer aided controls more solders are returning to active duty and even to combat zones.
 Microprocessors have been used in prosthetic limbs since 1993 but with the increases in amputees from the war there has been a greater incentive for new technologies as well as an increase in funding both private and from government sources. The advances of this research benefit both the military and civilian market.
Dean Kamen , the inventor of the Segway, was approached in 2005 by the defense department to build a better prosthetic arm the result is the "Luke Arm" named for the prosthetic arm used by Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
The Luke arm uses a computer chip to interpret signals directly from  the users nerves to allow the amputee more fine motor control than ever before.This technology and others like make me believe the modern bionic man may not be to far in the future.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2009/10/27/930842/prosthetics-technology-keeps-soldiers.html
http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_15355413
http://www.forceunleashed.org/2008/12/10/segway-inventor-makes-star-wars-inspired-prosthetic-arm-for-amputee-soldiers/
http://www.amputeeresource.org/High%20tech%20prostheses.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21901445/
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/aug/24/business/fi-arm24

Should Computers be Used in the Classroom?

I think most people would agree that computers are useful in education but are they useful  as an actual educational tool in the classroom?
 For some courses,such as CAD and other computer courses,they are not only useful but  necessary but what about classes such as Math,Reading and History are they useful there.I believe that at the moment they have limited use as an educational tool in todays classroom. That does not mean I don't think they are useful as an educational tool just that I think they are of limited use in the classroom.Part of the problem is teachers not being trained to use this new tool not to mention the lack of proven educational software.
It is possible that as educational software gets better the computer will become more useful in the classroom but I also think if that happens there will be less need for less teachers.For example in our Math Hub here at FDTC last semester I pretty much taught myself math 101 on the computer.The things we were covering in lecture were of limited use for me as I had already learned them with the Math Lab software. The Math Lab allowed me to learn a greater pace than the lecture and as much as I enjoyed my teacher to be honest that time would have been better spent in the Hub.