More and more we aren't using cash to pay for our purchases. Buying gasoline, groceries, clothes, utility payments or any other purchase can be done by credit card and increasingly, by debiting our bank account. Don't buy stock in check printing companies! They too will soon be just like typewriter, vinyl record and buggy whip producers. As with most advances, allowing the ease of purchase brings its own share of problems. People have no clue whether they have enough money to pay for the purchases they made. The AVERAGE credit card debt in the US (as of January 2012) is just shy of $16,000! Seems like debiting your bank account may be the better way to go.
There are lots of new ways to pay for things. We have an EZ pass box that lets us zip through toll booths in the Eastern United States. Our checking account is debited every time we don't stop. Another new technology that is about to revolutionize payments is near-field communication (NFC). With a NFC set up on your cell phone you just have to pass the phone near a check out system and your payment is made. Don't have to get that pesky card out of your wallet any more. This technology actually sounds very scary to me. You could be buying up everything in sight just by walking by a store! Good news is that this new Digital Wallet isn't catching on too fast because it really doesn't help the merchant much. They have much less control over the actual purchase verification and though it might speed up the check out, it may lead to credit issues down the road. Lets see how this one plays out.
Every transaction that isn't cash has a fee associated with it. Credit card fees are usually charged to the merchant. Same with debit card fees. I wonder how soon until you end up paying a fee for every transaction? You know the credit card companies would love to do that. You actually are paying for the fees even if you don't see them. Merchants know what percentage of their sales are credit card (going up every day) and just add the 1-3% Credit card fee to the purchase price. The average American spend $429 each year in hidden credit card fees. Unfortunately even if you go back to cash, you will still be paying that same hidden fee. Paying in cash does help the merchant though! They get the same amount of money and DON'T have to pay the Credit Card company. Thus why many small stores offer a cash discount.
I think I'll miss my check book and having to balance it.....
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
#207 - Privacy, Google and you
Thursday, March 1, 2012, Google will implement a far reaching change to its privacy policy. Google will now default its gmail and search engine users into a policy that allows Google to track your moves on the Internet and sell that information to Google advertisers. This new single point information will let advertisers target their ads and pitch to your patterns online.
So what can one do to protect your privacy? Several items are available to help out. What we do is use the Firefox Browser (not Google Chrome) as our main browser. We have the Privacy settings in Firfox set for "Tell Websites I don't want to be Tracked". If you have a gmail account do the following today!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/how-remove-your-google-search-history-googles-new-privacy-policy-takes-effect
If you do use Chrome there is a plug in that can stop all the Google data gathering: https://www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/
Also always remember that if you login to Gmail, then Sign out when you are done. That also minimizes what can be tracked. Here is an article on more ideas including the above: http://www.kplu.org/post/protecting-your-privacy-amid-google-policy-changes
It really doesn't matter which search engine you are using, they all track your searches. So be careful out there and remember big brother is watching.
So what can one do to protect your privacy? Several items are available to help out. What we do is use the Firefox Browser (not Google Chrome) as our main browser. We have the Privacy settings in Firfox set for "Tell Websites I don't want to be Tracked". If you have a gmail account do the following today!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/how-remove-your-google-search-history-googles-new-privacy-policy-takes-effect
If you do use Chrome there is a plug in that can stop all the Google data gathering: https://www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/
Also always remember that if you login to Gmail, then Sign out when you are done. That also minimizes what can be tracked. Here is an article on more ideas including the above: http://www.kplu.org/post/protecting-your-privacy-amid-google-policy-changes
It really doesn't matter which search engine you are using, they all track your searches. So be careful out there and remember big brother is watching.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
#206 The Graying of Technology
As we all get older, how and what technology we use is important to those making technology products. The "boomer" still outnumber most generations. Now I'm not talking about those big number phones and remote controls you see advertised (death to the first person that gets me one!). I'm talking about how being older influences what technology you buy.
Tablet PCs are incredibly popular by the elders. I would say 1/2 of my tablet sales have gone to the over 50 population. Why? Hmm, Well they are very easy to use. They are essentially simple Internet devices and for many people that is all they need. No mouse, no cords, no reboots. Surprising Microsoft has NO CLUE when it comes to tablets.
Large screen monitors also are big sales items. The eyes go first is the saying. Surprisingly we haven't see an uptick in big speaker sales. The other reason for this is the price is still dropping on large (22"+) displays. Why not buy the bigger monitor.
Boomers love their laptops. They like them lightweight, but with bright large displays. Many who have laptops also have a desktop at home. The younger generations just live with a laptop, no desktop necessary.
For some reason EVERYONE hates cords. So wireless mice and keyboards are also popular.
Webcams to Skype with the Grandkids are also popular. What could be better to just add a webcam to your PC and for FREE you can talk 3,000 miles away and SEE your progeny. My wife found an iPad app that will let her make FREE phone calls. Another big winner combining tablets and FREE calls!
I'm not sure how we older Americans feel about cell phones. I like the latest and best, but many friends just want a simple phone. They aren't much into texting and that is a huge difference with the young. I don't mind turning mine off for hours at a time, and that would threaten the lives of most 20 somethings.
Technology companies are heeding the call of the older American market. The latest Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas had enhanced products for each of the categories I mentioned above. Larger, thinner displays, lighter laptops and better tablets. I'm not sure Tech companies will ever say in public that a particular product is focused on the elderly, but behind the corporate doors, I'm sure they do.
Tablet PCs are incredibly popular by the elders. I would say 1/2 of my tablet sales have gone to the over 50 population. Why? Hmm, Well they are very easy to use. They are essentially simple Internet devices and for many people that is all they need. No mouse, no cords, no reboots. Surprising Microsoft has NO CLUE when it comes to tablets.
Large screen monitors also are big sales items. The eyes go first is the saying. Surprisingly we haven't see an uptick in big speaker sales. The other reason for this is the price is still dropping on large (22"+) displays. Why not buy the bigger monitor.
Boomers love their laptops. They like them lightweight, but with bright large displays. Many who have laptops also have a desktop at home. The younger generations just live with a laptop, no desktop necessary.
For some reason EVERYONE hates cords. So wireless mice and keyboards are also popular.
Webcams to Skype with the Grandkids are also popular. What could be better to just add a webcam to your PC and for FREE you can talk 3,000 miles away and SEE your progeny. My wife found an iPad app that will let her make FREE phone calls. Another big winner combining tablets and FREE calls!
I'm not sure how we older Americans feel about cell phones. I like the latest and best, but many friends just want a simple phone. They aren't much into texting and that is a huge difference with the young. I don't mind turning mine off for hours at a time, and that would threaten the lives of most 20 somethings.
Technology companies are heeding the call of the older American market. The latest Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas had enhanced products for each of the categories I mentioned above. Larger, thinner displays, lighter laptops and better tablets. I'm not sure Tech companies will ever say in public that a particular product is focused on the elderly, but behind the corporate doors, I'm sure they do.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
#205 - 2011 Tech review
As the year 2011 ends, I thought I would look back at the year in technology and the significant items that occurred.
For us at PCSS, the biggest technology change was the addition of our Asus Transformer Tablet PC. It only took a few weeks and we were convinced that tablets are the wave of the future. Other then heavy duty spreadsheets and word processing, you can do it all AND more on a tablet. We use ours for Weather, Internet, Stock market info, email, games and reading books. The latter being the biggest change in our life. We download e-books from our library and read them on the tablet. The format of the tablet - 10" size with back lit color screen - makes it ideal for book reading. Also the use of touchscreen also has changed how we do things. When I get on one of my notebook PCs, I have to stop myself from touching the screen. Goodbye mice and touch pads! The Kindle Fire and new Nook from Barnes & Noble are too small for my eyes, but they sold a ton of them this past holiday season!
Microsoft actually almost led a technology with the advent of Office 365 - the cloud based version of Office. Well almost is giving them something since Google introduced Google Docs several YEARS ago. The problem with Google Docs is simple. Its not Office! We have all been trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint to an extent that anything else just won't work in the business world. We had several clients change over to Office 365. Our warning to them was to have backup Office on their PC. And sure enough Microsoft had SIGNIFICANT outages of the Office 365 product after introduction. Start up problems I'm sure. The US still isn't totally covered by the Internet so you can't have a completely cloud based product, yet. Its coming though.
The big cell phone providers introduced the 4G network. Although we don't have it yet in Covington (coming soon!) we did try it out in the BIG cities and the speed is significantly better. I'm hoping when my cell contract runs out in 2012 that 4G will be more available. Faster is usually better when we are talking Internet. With my use of the new tablet, I don't use my phone for much Internet. Just email and some basic sites. Ideally for me would be a 4G powered tablet (android!) and a phone that just does email, calendar and calls.
The tragedies in Japan and Thailand had significant impact on technology availability. It makes us much more aware of the global nature of technology manufacturing. I wonder if any of the big technology companies will bring back manufacturing to the US to ensure a safer product channel? Right now hard drives are in very short supply and many laptops are getting that way. Solid State drives were not affected by the Asian disasters, but their prices are still too high to be put in all laptops. Apple is putting them in many of their smaller laptops.
The passing of Steve Jobs certainly had much of the press looking back at a remarkable career. If I were giving Steve a totem animal it would be the Phoenix. He resurrected Apple 3 times and that is amazing.
Google tried to get in the social network business with Google+. We joined but don't understand the interface and there just aren't enough people on it to get traction. Facebook rules and everyone else will fail in that area. Of course there were changes to Facebook that made all the users mad. The latest Timeline change will go forth in 2012. Let the social network whining begin!
We look forward to great things in 2012. One that won't be so great is Windows 8. Mark it down as another Microsoft problem child. Also coming out is the new Android operating system "Ice Cream". It has the potential to keep the Android (read that Google) system on top and beat back any Microsoft chance to get into the phone/tablet business. Have a very Happy New Year friends!
For us at PCSS, the biggest technology change was the addition of our Asus Transformer Tablet PC. It only took a few weeks and we were convinced that tablets are the wave of the future. Other then heavy duty spreadsheets and word processing, you can do it all AND more on a tablet. We use ours for Weather, Internet, Stock market info, email, games and reading books. The latter being the biggest change in our life. We download e-books from our library and read them on the tablet. The format of the tablet - 10" size with back lit color screen - makes it ideal for book reading. Also the use of touchscreen also has changed how we do things. When I get on one of my notebook PCs, I have to stop myself from touching the screen. Goodbye mice and touch pads! The Kindle Fire and new Nook from Barnes & Noble are too small for my eyes, but they sold a ton of them this past holiday season!
Microsoft actually almost led a technology with the advent of Office 365 - the cloud based version of Office. Well almost is giving them something since Google introduced Google Docs several YEARS ago. The problem with Google Docs is simple. Its not Office! We have all been trained to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint to an extent that anything else just won't work in the business world. We had several clients change over to Office 365. Our warning to them was to have backup Office on their PC. And sure enough Microsoft had SIGNIFICANT outages of the Office 365 product after introduction. Start up problems I'm sure. The US still isn't totally covered by the Internet so you can't have a completely cloud based product, yet. Its coming though.
The big cell phone providers introduced the 4G network. Although we don't have it yet in Covington (coming soon!) we did try it out in the BIG cities and the speed is significantly better. I'm hoping when my cell contract runs out in 2012 that 4G will be more available. Faster is usually better when we are talking Internet. With my use of the new tablet, I don't use my phone for much Internet. Just email and some basic sites. Ideally for me would be a 4G powered tablet (android!) and a phone that just does email, calendar and calls.
The tragedies in Japan and Thailand had significant impact on technology availability. It makes us much more aware of the global nature of technology manufacturing. I wonder if any of the big technology companies will bring back manufacturing to the US to ensure a safer product channel? Right now hard drives are in very short supply and many laptops are getting that way. Solid State drives were not affected by the Asian disasters, but their prices are still too high to be put in all laptops. Apple is putting them in many of their smaller laptops.
The passing of Steve Jobs certainly had much of the press looking back at a remarkable career. If I were giving Steve a totem animal it would be the Phoenix. He resurrected Apple 3 times and that is amazing.
Google tried to get in the social network business with Google+. We joined but don't understand the interface and there just aren't enough people on it to get traction. Facebook rules and everyone else will fail in that area. Of course there were changes to Facebook that made all the users mad. The latest Timeline change will go forth in 2012. Let the social network whining begin!
We look forward to great things in 2012. One that won't be so great is Windows 8. Mark it down as another Microsoft problem child. Also coming out is the new Android operating system "Ice Cream". It has the potential to keep the Android (read that Google) system on top and beat back any Microsoft chance to get into the phone/tablet business. Have a very Happy New Year friends!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
#204 Holiday Gadgets
So what are the hot gadgets this holiday season?
Tablet PCs are very hot. iPads and Android talblets are in short supply and selling well. Inexpensive (less then $70) digital cameras are also hot. I have some customers that buy an cheap camera and just leave it in their car to have just in case. Flat screen TVs are very hot. The price of LCD, Plasma and LED TVs have come down and are available everywhere from Kmart to Walmart to any appliance store.
How about the Spynet Laser Trip wire? For $39 you can protect an area just like in the movies. Anyone that crosses the invisible laser light sets off an alarm. Pets will drive you crazy with this one, but kids love it "protecting" their rooms.
Want to know where your kid or pet goes? Garmin has the GTU 10 tracker. Just attach it to your kid or pet and you can go online and follow them around in real time or at your leisure.
Digital storage is also Big. We have 8GB flash Drives for $10 (a great stocking stuffer). External Hard drives to back up everything were hot, but are no longer available due to the Thailand flooding of most major hard drive makers. Solid State drives are now under $100 for 64GB sizes. These have no moving parts and are great for laptop replacement hard drives.
Last the ereader craze has been raised to a high level with the latest kindle and nooks. They are small (7" screen) but you really do get a lot for the cost. Just make sure you are getting complete Internet access with the ereader.
Wireless printers that let you print from anywhere in the house and from anything (phone, tablet, laptop) are also a very nice gift. You can also print to these printers from anywhere in the world with the e-print feature (HP exclusive).
Need help this Christmas? Just drop us a line for suggestions!
Sunday, November 13, 2011
#203 - Scams, Phishing and Internet Safety
We just heard from an acquaintence how their mother was scammed out of $8,500.00. It was a classic "Gammy Scam". The villian called grandma and posed as a beloved grandson. They say they are stranded/incarcerated in Canada or Mexico. Please don't tell the parents and send money. Surprisingly many seniors fall for this and wire the money to be never seen again. What is different about this updated scam is the detailed information that the scammer has about the relationship. They know the child & grandmothers name, details about the child and have somehow got the grandmothers phone number. It has to be identity theft or just getting info from facebook or other social media. Please tell your friends about this scam and to never wire money anywhere. Also be darned careful what you share online.
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Phishing is the attempt to get you to reveal user names, passwords, financial information or other personal information via an email. I get about 3 of these a week. Messages that say your account over due or that your credit card has been canceled. The crooks think of what would worry you the most and send it out via email. Now the email by itself is not bad, It the link enclosed in the email that will tempt you to log in or ask information to make sure you are you. These links are the phishing mechanism. Never click on those links! If you don't know whether an email is legit go to the web site of the company via your normal method (favorites or typing in the address). I call the company that is supposedly having an issue using a verified number (on your credit card or in the phone book) to ask if the message is legit.
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Keeping safe while surfing the Internet with a PC is increasingly tough. You just have to have a strong antivirus/antimalware program. The free versions of AVG, Microsoft Security, Avast or Avira used to be good enough, but we have been seeing problems with using just the free version. We increasingly do most of our Internet work on our Mac Mini or our Android tablet (they are safe from contamination for now). Consider upgrading to the pay version of your antivirus if you just have a PC and surf the Internet.
Monday, October 24, 2011
#202 - Steve Jobs and the end of an era
My first PC was an Apple II. I was (still am!) a geeky engineer that was fascinated that I could have a computer in my house. I already could program (Fortran, Cobal and Basic) so getting a computer that I could train to do just about anything was amazing. Buying it in 1981 also meant I was at the very beginning of the PC revolution. My Apple II cost about $1200 and I bought it through the mail (none were being sold in Baton Rouge then). It came with a floppy disk drive and 64K of programmable memory. Wow!
I subscribed to 3 Apple magazines that had lots of programs I could type in, learn from and then modify to my needs. I also learned about the two Steves - Jobs and Wozniak. Woz the ultimate techno nerd and Jobs the great promoter. Woz would talk about the future stuff we could do to improve our Apples and Jobs would talk about where the world was heading due to a great technology revolution.
As good and successful as the Apple II was (they made it for over a decade!) The next two Apple PCs - The Apple III and Lisa were economic disasters. Even their successor the venerable Macintosh took literally years to take off. And somewhere in that chain of events, Apple let Steve Jobs go. As we all know he came back to start the "i" revolution. ipod, ipad, iphone...
Steve was always about design before function and design integrated into function. The PCs IBM made were boring, square and very functional. Apple PCs just looked better. So much better that there were Apples in museums of art! The importance of design over function lead the incredible success of all Apple products. They are innovative and usually first in class products. They are also pretty expensive. There is no "cheap" Apple product. Thus their tremendous margins and profitability. All thanks to Steve Jobs vision.
I'll miss the Apple product introductions that Steve was famous for. The demonstrations of products that catch your imagination and set you free from limitations the rest of the technology world impose. Vaya con dios Steve. You will be missed here.
I subscribed to 3 Apple magazines that had lots of programs I could type in, learn from and then modify to my needs. I also learned about the two Steves - Jobs and Wozniak. Woz the ultimate techno nerd and Jobs the great promoter. Woz would talk about the future stuff we could do to improve our Apples and Jobs would talk about where the world was heading due to a great technology revolution.
As good and successful as the Apple II was (they made it for over a decade!) The next two Apple PCs - The Apple III and Lisa were economic disasters. Even their successor the venerable Macintosh took literally years to take off. And somewhere in that chain of events, Apple let Steve Jobs go. As we all know he came back to start the "i" revolution. ipod, ipad, iphone...
Steve was always about design before function and design integrated into function. The PCs IBM made were boring, square and very functional. Apple PCs just looked better. So much better that there were Apples in museums of art! The importance of design over function lead the incredible success of all Apple products. They are innovative and usually first in class products. They are also pretty expensive. There is no "cheap" Apple product. Thus their tremendous margins and profitability. All thanks to Steve Jobs vision.
I'll miss the Apple product introductions that Steve was famous for. The demonstrations of products that catch your imagination and set you free from limitations the rest of the technology world impose. Vaya con dios Steve. You will be missed here.
Monday, October 3, 2011
#201 - The new PC
My 4 year old Ultra PC was showing its age last week. Actually it was sounding its age with lots of grinds and hums and fan whines. So what to do? I need a PC to run PCSS. I have accounting and email on the PC that just doesn't work the same on my Mac Mini.
That pushed me to a new PC. Choosing a PC is always a tough decision. What processor? How much memory, What kind of Graphics? So lets see how I visited each of these questions and their answers.
The PC we went with is an HP 6005 Pro minitower PC. It comes with lots of options and flavors so that decision just brought more questions.
Processor did not mean as much to me as some other geeks. The Intel "i" series and the AMD Phenom series are their top end processors. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. For every day computing: Spreadsheets, Word Processing, Internet surfing almost any of the new processors would work. For me it came down to cost per speed. The winner was the AMD Phenom II x4 3.02Ghz processor. This is an upper speed mid range processor. Great multimedia performance with a reasonable cost. I got this processor in the HP desktop for the same price as a slower lower grade Intel processor.
How much memory? The PC came with 4GB of internal memory and a 500GB hard disk drive. Those are plenty for my needs. It came with Windows 7 Professional 64bit edition. I had a spare 2GB memory stick so I put it in for a total of 6GB memory. It seems faster then the Windows XP computer I left with 2GB of memory. Note that Windows 7 - 32 bit edition can only see 3.75GB of memory, no more.
I'm still working on Graphics. The HP PC came with ATI Radeon 4200 graphics internal to the motherboard. I'm going to get a bigger screen (24" vs 19" I have now) so I'll probably need a graphics card that can push more pixels on the bigger screen. The ATI will only do 1280x1024 resolution and I'm sure the 24" display will want 1600x1200 resolution. I'll let you know when I get this worked out.
The PC came with a nice DVD-RW drive with lightscribe printing on CDs/DVDs. I'll add another drive so I can do copies. I'll also put in a media card reader so I can put my camera card in without an add on item.
The tough part is the software. I'm going with Office 2010 (I've been using Office 2003!), Adobe Acrobat 9 (X is the latest version) and Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 7.0 and Google Chrome. Move all the files and favorites, install the AVG antivirus and more. Changing PCs isn't a whole lot of fun. Thank goodness its almost done!
That pushed me to a new PC. Choosing a PC is always a tough decision. What processor? How much memory, What kind of Graphics? So lets see how I visited each of these questions and their answers.
The PC we went with is an HP 6005 Pro minitower PC. It comes with lots of options and flavors so that decision just brought more questions.
Processor did not mean as much to me as some other geeks. The Intel "i" series and the AMD Phenom series are their top end processors. They both have their strengths and weaknesses. For every day computing: Spreadsheets, Word Processing, Internet surfing almost any of the new processors would work. For me it came down to cost per speed. The winner was the AMD Phenom II x4 3.02Ghz processor. This is an upper speed mid range processor. Great multimedia performance with a reasonable cost. I got this processor in the HP desktop for the same price as a slower lower grade Intel processor.
How much memory? The PC came with 4GB of internal memory and a 500GB hard disk drive. Those are plenty for my needs. It came with Windows 7 Professional 64bit edition. I had a spare 2GB memory stick so I put it in for a total of 6GB memory. It seems faster then the Windows XP computer I left with 2GB of memory. Note that Windows 7 - 32 bit edition can only see 3.75GB of memory, no more.
I'm still working on Graphics. The HP PC came with ATI Radeon 4200 graphics internal to the motherboard. I'm going to get a bigger screen (24" vs 19" I have now) so I'll probably need a graphics card that can push more pixels on the bigger screen. The ATI will only do 1280x1024 resolution and I'm sure the 24" display will want 1600x1200 resolution. I'll let you know when I get this worked out.
The PC came with a nice DVD-RW drive with lightscribe printing on CDs/DVDs. I'll add another drive so I can do copies. I'll also put in a media card reader so I can put my camera card in without an add on item.
The tough part is the software. I'm going with Office 2010 (I've been using Office 2003!), Adobe Acrobat 9 (X is the latest version) and Internet Explorer 9, Firefox 7.0 and Google Chrome. Move all the files and favorites, install the AVG antivirus and more. Changing PCs isn't a whole lot of fun. Thank goodness its almost done!
Saturday, September 10, 2011
#200 - Ten years later
Its the eve of the 10th anniversary of the al Quida attacks on America. So much has changed in the world in the past 10 years. Just fly once and your life will be impacted by the hate of extremist 1/2 a world away. Lets take a look at the technology and how its impacted our response to being attacked.
We are now scanned, probed and much of our life closely monitored due to the attacks. Heaven help you if your name coinsides with someone on the No Fly List. Computers have a very significant role in deterring similar attacks. The US Armed Forces even has a Cyber Command to actively attack enemies and defend from same attacks. There is great worry that the next 9-11 will be a cyber attack that shuts down our important infrastructure, like power, Internet and communications. Imagine an attack that shuts down our cell phones? Its been tried quite recently.
The recent earthquake and several hurricanes that have hit Virginia have disrupted our power supply and all that means. We are so dependent on power. One week without power is like being transported back to the 15th century. Every time we lose power, I'm thankful for the battery back up system we have that makes shutting things down safer (no damage to valuable systems). I see the US having more of these back up systems in the future. Sales of back up electric generators is at an all time high in Richmond, Virginia. There have been good talks on how to make our power system safer and hardened to prevent terrorist attacks. I hope we move forward with these proposals.
The us of robots in combat has also come about in the war on terrorism. Drone planes routinely run missions in a very dangerous part of the world. Robots are used to diffuse bombs and go into dangerous areas. These technologies will soon move back into the commercial arena. The use of robots or remotely controlled vehicles will become more common later in this decade is my prediction.
The technology for body scanning was first used in medicine, but has had much research dollars spent on it for security purposes. I would imagine this increased spending will also come back to help the medical fields that invented this technology. Imagine a safe simple scan that can identify the vast majority of diseases in a human. You'll go to the doctor once a year for your scan and know immediately of any issues.
Let's remember the losses we were subject to 10 years ago, but lets move forward as a nation (or better yet world).
We are now scanned, probed and much of our life closely monitored due to the attacks. Heaven help you if your name coinsides with someone on the No Fly List. Computers have a very significant role in deterring similar attacks. The US Armed Forces even has a Cyber Command to actively attack enemies and defend from same attacks. There is great worry that the next 9-11 will be a cyber attack that shuts down our important infrastructure, like power, Internet and communications. Imagine an attack that shuts down our cell phones? Its been tried quite recently.
The recent earthquake and several hurricanes that have hit Virginia have disrupted our power supply and all that means. We are so dependent on power. One week without power is like being transported back to the 15th century. Every time we lose power, I'm thankful for the battery back up system we have that makes shutting things down safer (no damage to valuable systems). I see the US having more of these back up systems in the future. Sales of back up electric generators is at an all time high in Richmond, Virginia. There have been good talks on how to make our power system safer and hardened to prevent terrorist attacks. I hope we move forward with these proposals.
The us of robots in combat has also come about in the war on terrorism. Drone planes routinely run missions in a very dangerous part of the world. Robots are used to diffuse bombs and go into dangerous areas. These technologies will soon move back into the commercial arena. The use of robots or remotely controlled vehicles will become more common later in this decade is my prediction.
The technology for body scanning was first used in medicine, but has had much research dollars spent on it for security purposes. I would imagine this increased spending will also come back to help the medical fields that invented this technology. Imagine a safe simple scan that can identify the vast majority of diseases in a human. You'll go to the doctor once a year for your scan and know immediately of any issues.
Let's remember the losses we were subject to 10 years ago, but lets move forward as a nation (or better yet world).
Thursday, August 11, 2011
#199 - Tablet Follow up
We've had the Asus Transformer Tablet PC now for over 3 weeks. The docking station came this week, but we still haven't seen the tablet sleeve cover. I've made a nice bubble wrap home made cover to protect the screen while traveling. We've made the rounds of many customers so that they can have a touch and feel of the tablet. Most are favorably impressed with the size, resolution, brightness and speed.
The remarkable initial impression of the Transformer was how quickly it picked up all my information. After opening the box and charging the tablet the first item you see is to enter you gmail account information. From this information the Transformer automatically updated our contacts, calendar, facebook, android apps, and even our wifi location settings (including passwords!) from our android Motorola Droid Pro phone. We only had to add our AOL email info and then download some specific android Tablet apps.
We've been looking for a better calendar app since the android app is pretty simple. We like to enter appointments in the field and see week/month activities fairly quickly. Both of those tasks are tough with the android calendar app. We found several and are evaluating them now. We also added the Opera Android browser. This is a fast browser that has tabbed windows and has a 6 panel favorite sites (like google chrome) you can quickly switch to. I wonder why there isn't Google Chrome for andoid yet.
The USA Today and the CNBC apps for android tablet are also very nice and I highly recommend them for news and financial updates. We put on several card games and of course Angry birds (regular and rio versions!).
Battery life has been very good (around 8 hours) and now we should get near 16 hours with the docking keyboard. My initial impression of the keyboard is positive. Having a trackpad is a huge help with editing in any app. Also nice are the dedicated keys that just make using the tablet on the Internet very easy.
If you have any question just comment below or email me!
The remarkable initial impression of the Transformer was how quickly it picked up all my information. After opening the box and charging the tablet the first item you see is to enter you gmail account information. From this information the Transformer automatically updated our contacts, calendar, facebook, android apps, and even our wifi location settings (including passwords!) from our android Motorola Droid Pro phone. We only had to add our AOL email info and then download some specific android Tablet apps.
We've been looking for a better calendar app since the android app is pretty simple. We like to enter appointments in the field and see week/month activities fairly quickly. Both of those tasks are tough with the android calendar app. We found several and are evaluating them now. We also added the Opera Android browser. This is a fast browser that has tabbed windows and has a 6 panel favorite sites (like google chrome) you can quickly switch to. I wonder why there isn't Google Chrome for andoid yet.
The USA Today and the CNBC apps for android tablet are also very nice and I highly recommend them for news and financial updates. We put on several card games and of course Angry birds (regular and rio versions!).
Battery life has been very good (around 8 hours) and now we should get near 16 hours with the docking keyboard. My initial impression of the keyboard is positive. Having a trackpad is a huge help with editing in any app. Also nice are the dedicated keys that just make using the tablet on the Internet very easy.
We've had no problems getting on WiFi sites. The antenna seems strong and we have had very few Internet drops (less them my laptops!). The tablet is about the same speed as my Lenovo Windows 7 laptop. Some sites take a bit longer to load, but that happens on all Internet devices.
If you have any question just comment below or email me!
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