KINDLE 2

Amazon just released their new and updated Kindle, a wireless reading device that can hold more than 150 titles at one time. They are selling it for $259.00 and there are more than 350,000 titles to choose from. The Kindle weighs about 10 ounces which is much less than a normal book, and is completely wireless. You can transfer a book to your Kindle in less than 60 seconds and change the book from text to sound- having the Kindle read it to you. The Kindle also has options of newspaper and magazine subscription as well as Internet access to Wikipedia and blogs that a person follows.
As you may see from reading my blog, I am a little hesitant about going completely digital. I love to read, and the Kindle would probably not be a bad investment for myself from a logical perspective, but aesthetically, I would much rather have a tangible copy of a book. Although many times you could buy the digital copy at a cheaper cost, I am the type that loves the smell of a book. I am the type of person that when I love a piece of literature, I want a copy on my bookshelf in my home.
Having a digital option is nice, but I really don't think that it is right for me.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/mpd/permalink/m3BETPLR0S7FKW

Technology going Green

With the frightening threats of global warming on the horizon, many parts of our culture are talking about Going Green. We are revamping the way we recycle, the type of cleaning products we use, and are no longer using paper or plastic in the grocery. It comes as no surprise that this is also spreading to the new and upcoming technology of our society. For instance:
-The New Panasonic Hydrogen fuel battery in Laptops- converting methanol into electricity:
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=21952088&imageindex=3
-Masc Design Chukka Music Player- Changes Kinetic Energy into Electricity to provide Music on the Go
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=21952088&imageindex=8
-Nikola Knezevic's Solar Powered Notebook with a Solar power grid as an extension of the Case providing a charge to last all day!
http://tech.msn.com/products/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=21952088&imageindex=12

I am personally all for the move to make electronics more earth friendly! There is no reason not to, we only have so much that we can take for the earth in the ways of things like oil and electricity. But then I come to wonder, will all of the employees of the current electric companies lose their jobs and we start this recession all over again?

When to Work

So, besides going to Purdue full time, I also work at Cold Stone Creamery. They have an awesome system that is online scheduling tool. It is really awesome that they have created a tool to do this online. Through this system you can request time off, send emails to other employees, put shifts that you would want to trade up. The owner and manager actually create the schedule through this tool, so when they are doing so the system will notify them if you want a certain time off, or if it is your preferred time to work. When the schedule is complete and published an email notification shows up in your inbox.

The website is easy to navigate, and I can see not only my schedule but everyone's schedule, or just the group that is working right now. It is so nice to have the schedule on the internet so that you don't have to go into the store and write down your shifts on a sheet of paper so that you remember them. They are right at your fingertips. Also, if the owner has something he wants to tell the whole staff, he can use that because it has all the contact information that he would need on there.

It is really wonderful! It makes things so much easier for everyone. For instance, if I was in a computer lab on campus and realized I needed to ask for a certain time off, I can just go on the website and do it rather than having to wait and possibly forget.

Avatars: Creepy? Yes? No?

In lecture last week (I think last Monday) Professor K. was talking about the development of relationships through online entities.
Social Media like facebook or myspace are rapidly growing and the populations that use these tools are changing as well. Both of the sites were created as socially networking sites: to maintain relationships, rejuvinate them, or create new ones. I know that I personally, did not join either of those sites to make new friends, but some do. For instance, my cousin met someone on myspace, and then the relationship developed and they were perfect for each other. It came as no surprise to the family when they got married this past summer.
But, in their relationship, while they may have met online, they went on dates and met each others families. They interacted offline!
In lecture Professor K. was talking about the ability to have virtual dates; to be able to choose where you want your avatars to meet, and to make them interact based on what you or the person you are on a date with creates as dialogue. It was at that point that I began to worry. Why would someone need to use an avatar? What is the point? Do you not have time to leave your computer and go meet someone for dinner? I guess the thing is: if you are too nervous to go on a first date in reality, what makes you think you will be less nervous when you actually meet that person face to face?
The speaker this morning on Geocaching said that he had 10-15 avatars. Why? Why would need more than one?
When avatars are brought into play, I really begin to wonder of identity. I understand that people want a bit of privacy, but past a certain point I wonder if there is a misrepresentation of the original identity.
Which in turn, makes me wonder, what do they really have to hide that they need 35 avatars?

The Internet and Me

Well, the first thing that I should make clear is that I am not necessarily an Internet savvy individual. I know how to search, and I am an e-mail and facebook user, but besides that, I am quite in the dark.
The major obstacle that hinders me is me. I do not always understand why you want to perform some functions via the Web, when you can do it at your kitchen table or with pen and paper.
I have been using Microsoft Office for quite some time although I updated to 2007 within the past six months and still have not quite gotten used to the new layout.

Last semester someone I was in a group with introduced me to Google Documents. I was amazed at how much it changed the process of developing a paper with four individuals. It had always been an annoyance to have to download documents, make a few changes and then have to reattach them to an e-mail to send back. Plus, when there are many revisions and more people involved, your inbox gets pretty clogged, and it can be confusing to decipher which document is the most up to date. You avoid all of these problems with Google Documents because one just saves the most recent version to the site.

I cannot say that Google Documents has completely changed the way I write personal documents, but when it comes to group projects- it is definitely the way to go!