My Garmin GPS

For my birthday this year, my boyfriend told me that he had bought me a funny gift. He also mentioned that it was something I desperately needed. When I opened up the box, to my surprise, I found a GPS system. As previously mentioned in my blog, I am horrible with directions, so this funny gift would also be quite useful for a girl like me with absolutely no sense of direction.

The brand of this GPS system that was given to me was a Garmin. Before previously buying this brand, my boyfriend received very useful feedback from previous GPS owners and technicians via the Internet. The GPS review website he used is called GPS Reviews. As you can see, web sites like these truly do help in making a decision for someone who may have little knowledge on the product. It is also helpful to use a review site like the one above before purchasing items online, so you can see some of the positive and negative feedback from previous users.

My Garmin GPS system has already proved its usefulness. The other week, I ended up getting lost while going to a friend's house for the first time. I got right back on track after entering the address into the system. Something I value in this particular technology is the easy to use touch screen and simplicity of the technology. I anticipated a lengthy and difficult set up, however I was quite wrong. It was up and running in less than 5 minutes! In addition to the easy setup, I really like that the Garmin can use one's current location as a starting location. This really saves time for someone who is in a hurry or may be unsure of their current location.

Overall, I am very thankful for this technology. In the future, I (personally) will be able to use this device when traveling on business trips or just for the use of going on a road trip with my friends for the weekend.

Adrienne's blogging review.

Looking back on all of my blog entries, I can confidently say that I am happy that blogging was a requirement for my COM 435 course. There are so many thoughts that go on inside our heads each day and it is nice to take a moment to reflect on those thoughts and share them with others. Through reading other students blogs in this class, I have also learned quite a bit about new and emerging technologies and how each one affects my classmates in a different way.

When aimlessly searching around on the Internet the other day, I came across a web site called The Future Buzz. After reading an article about blogging, it confirmed my opinion on the matter. This article outlined 19 reasons why someone should blog. However, it also convinces people that although blogging is a good investment of one's time, the author said that not everyone should Twitter. As a Twitter user myself, I did not agree with this aspect of the article. The aspect I most agreed with in this article was the ability to change layout and text in a blog. This is not true for Twitter. For someone who loves both writing and design, a blog is the perfect place for expression of one's identity. As a former student of Art and Design, I truly do appreciate the availability and personalization of design layouts on blogger.com.

Overall, contrary to my disbelief, I have very much enjoyed writing weekly on blogger.com. In the past, I used to write in a journal on vacations and in the summer, when I had some extra time to gather and analyze my thoughts. This helped me to have a clear head and put whatever I was thinking down on paper. Not only did it help my writing skills, but it helped me solve my problems on my own. Overall, whether writing in my journal or online in a blog), I have significantly improved my grammar and organization in writing, which I am very thankful for. Not to mention, I learned a thing or two about new and emerging technologies :).

The Magic Mouse

Today marked the last day of "class" for COM 435 and my day to present my poster board which explained a new or emerging technology. My topic was the newly released Apple Magic Mouse, which comes with the new iMac or is available to purchase for $69 on its own. In the beginning of my research studies, I had chosen a different topic to present. Looking back, I am very glad that I changed my topic to the Magic Mouse. It was apparent in my presentation that I was much more knowledgable and passionate about the topic that I switched to.

At first, I was a little bit nervous about presenting my poster, because even though I had done extensive amounts of research for the project, I was afraid that I would not be able to answer questions from other students about the technology. Once I began speaking about the positive and negative implications, software requirements, etc., my nervousness disappeared and I became very excited to be explaining a new technology to my professor, TA and classmates. Unfortunately, I did not get the chance to interact with as many students as I would have liked to. The handful of my classmates that I did get to interact with seemed to think that the Magic Mouse was really cool. Even though this new technology has been on the market since October of 2009, I was still able to share information with others who were unaware of some of the requirements and features of the product.

Everything in my presentation went according to plan. The questions that many students asked were the same questions that I initially had when researching the Apple Magic Mouse. I had left out my computer equipped with headphones and a video which further explained various features of the mouse. However, not one person stopped by to check out the video. It may have been due to the awkward positioning of the chair it sat on or the fact that there was just too much going on in the presentation room. Overall, I was very impressed with my classmates' presentations on both days. They did a great job relating the information that was learned throughout the semester to their projects. Some students even brought in tangible examples of their new technologies. I had the same idea to bring in a magic mouse, however the closest Apple Store was too far away from my house in West Lafayette and the local Best Buy happened to be sold out. I was also proud of myself for creating and giving a good presentation.

From this project, I learned more about the value that our society places on the idea of 'touch'. From cell phones to ipods, and now to computer mice, many people in my generation appreciate the fact that other information is at our fingertips. Apple understands my generation's desire for things to be simple, easy, convenient, and aesthetically pleasing, hence the production of the Magic Mouse.

Bioplastics

Bioplastics is the topic that I have chosen to do my final project on. There is a significant amount of research and information on this topic, so I am a little uncertain on which aspect I should focus in on. To me, the most interesting aspect is what recyclable plastics could mean to the future of our planet. Many people have abandoned the easy and convenient habit of using plastic because it is not good for our environment. With an emerging technology like bioplastics, many people (myself included) who are centered on the idea of keeping our environment in the best possible condition will be able to use plastics at their convenience because they are no longer seen as a way of harming our planet. If scientists and researchers like those at MIT continue to create alternative ways for everyday products to not become a threat to the environment in which we all live in, we will be able to better preserve this land for future generations.

E-Books

The company E Books note themselves as a "vast range of ebooks from the world's leading academic, popular and professional publishers." Electronic books, commonly referred to as "E Books" may be read on PCs, Macs, Sony Readers and Mobile Phones. On the E Books web site, various works of literature can be searched by author, title, ISBN or keywords. Like any other online bookstore, E Books promotes "Special Offers." They also highlight current best sellers on the sidebar, in hopes of helping you find a worthwhile read for each customer.

In my opinion, this emerging technology will be very easily adapted by society. Many people already buy songs and ringtones off of their various cellphones and computers. If I think about our generation, it is easy to see how marketable this new technology is to them. We love the fact that we can get anything we need at the click of a button. Communication is instant. No longer will we anticipate our favorite classic to arrive in the mail: We will have it instantly with electronic books.

If our society conforms to reading literature solely on the internet, will libraries be non-existent? A library is a thought-provoking learning center that stimulates intelligence and outside-the-box thoughts from people. Although the internet can have the same effect at times, the idea of curling up with a cup of coffee and your favorite book on a rainy day seems simply irreplaceable.

Liable for tweets?

This article from CNN is telling of how technology can be very dangerous in our lives. Courtney Love is currently being investigated due to her tweets that supposedly slammed a fashion designer.

Experts call our current technology situation a "cultural shift." It seems to me like privacy is something that is rarely respected. However, in my mind, this is largely due to the many emerging technologies in our current culture. Twitter is just one example of sharing one's personal life with the rest of the world. In one sense, I believe that if someone should post something on the Internet for the public to see, they should consider the consequences of submitting, posting, etc.

Many cannot tell the difference between a joke and reality. Therefore, it makes sense that tweets can be mis-read. Although slamming the designer via tweets might not have been the best judgement on behalf of Courtney Love, I still think it is important that her privacy is honored.

Mapquest

As previously mentioned, I consider Mapquest to be a life savor. Conveniently enough, I have it on my iPhone. However, today I decided to check out Mapquest on the web. Most of the apps on my iPhone are very useful, but they do not always offer what the web does. The web typically has many more options and features. Mapquest is a great example.

Today, my friends and I were looking for a pumpkin patch in the West Lafayette area. Oddly enough, the closest one we found was about 30 minutes away. Because we were short on time, we could not drive around to look for the pumpkin patch. Mapquest was our answer. I typed in the address, as usual and immediately got results. Because there was a big group of girls traveling to the site, I expected that I would have to print out directions for everyone.

Due to the new feature of texting and emailing directions, I saved a lot of trees! Plus, it was very easy for everyone to find because the directions were easily accessible on their cell phones.

Gin System

Just this year I was exposed to the Gin system by my sorority chapter president. She asked me to help implement the use of the Gin system within our chapter for the fall semester. This meant that I would have to learn the ins and outs of the system. At first, I was hesitant to take on this project, because I do not consider myself to be very computer savvy. However, after created my own username and logged on, I realized that this may not be as be as bad as I had expected.

The whole point of the Gin system is to stop the unnecessary house emails that are sent out very frequently. A lot of the announcements are not applicable to the entire chapter, which makes receiving 14 emails that have nothing to do with you quite annoying. Other chapters on Purdue's campus have begun to implement the use of the Gin in their chapters and I have heard nothing but positive feedback.

For new users, the Gin offers a number of tutorials to familiarize chapter members. Also, it is conveniently enough available through a Facebook application. Because everyone in our chapter uses Facebook (some probably more frequently than e-mail), they can sign onto the Gin system without going to the web site address.

The Gin system is split up into different boxes on the main screen: Announcements, Upcoming Events, New Files, Upcoming Birthdays and Discussion Board. The Announcements tab is provided by Nationals. They post information (and regularly update it) to inform various chapters of what is going on at a national level. Our chapter posts our "paper chapter" and other applications that chapter members may be interested in under the New Files tab. Upcoming birthdays lists all of the birthdays per each month. The Discussion Board tab is the most used among our chapter. Here, anyone can submit a post. Also, people can leave comments. This solves the problem of sending an entire house email out to every member.

Overall, this new technology has been so useful to our chapter. It is a great way to keep organized and provide all our information in one spot. I give it an A!

Wikipedia Worries

Many college students resort to the Internet for research projects, rather than hitting the library. If there is a subject, person or place that I am unfamiliar with, the first web site many people visit is Wikipedia. I almost find myself visiting this particular site daily.

Although the intentions of the Wikipedia site are good, there can potentially be problems with using this as your only tool for research. As learned in lecture, the point of any wiki is to share the knowledge of multiple people with others. The idea is that the collective intelligence of various people will be more powerful than just the intelligence of one individual.

Most information found on Wikipedia sounds like the content could come straight out of a published encyclopedia. However, if one looks further than just Wikipedia, they will find that not all information is correct. A recent example of this is when I researched the life about Barack Obama for one of my classes. I was interested in the way he rose to leadership. After finding some of my information on Wikipedia, I wanted to double check the information, so I could give my audience the correct facts. After going to the library to complete my research, I checked out various books on Barack's life. Most dates were correct, but I found some variation in his childhood and college years.

Overall, I think that people need to realize the dangers of sites like Wikipedia. Although it can give you a quick answer or overview of a subject, it is not completely reliable.

Facebook Frenzy

Facebook tends to consume at least one hour per each of my days. As much as I love the fact that I can connect with my friends from Haiti, or the kids I went to grade school with, I have a few Facebook issues that I am sure others share as well.

There is one in every crowd. A creeper that is. "Creeping" on Facebook is a term I have ran into more than a hundred times in my life. "Stalking" is another good one. Those creepers or stalkers who friend people in which they have no connection to poses a big problem for me. Why does he or she need to see who I am or what I am doing, if we have absolutely no mutual friends? What are they possibly going to do with my personal information?

I have experienced a lot of younger people adding friends or accepting friend requests for the mere reason of having the most friends. I see it as being the most ignorant. I will admit that when I first joined Facebook, I would accept any human who added me. Now, after seeing the trouble people can get in from accepting random people to be their friends, I tend to be a little more smart. If I have never met someone or do not personally know them, I will not accept their friend request.

Circuit contact lenses

This web address will take you to what my group proposed for our Com 435 Technology Pitch. From the University of Washington, our group strongly believed that this would be a great technology to pitch for our project. It is really a cool idea and something that I have never heard of.

So far, the University of Washington has had tremendous support from their community, as well as the IT and Technology departments at the university. The support alone shows that this emerging technology has a lot of potential. The fact that these contact circuit lenses are safe makes the product very marketable.

To some people, this idea may seem very far fetched. I will be interested to see if this idea ever makes it to the market. Because it is so affordable, safe for your eyes, and an undoubtedly interesting product, I believe that there will be many potential investors willing to promote this product.

I could definitely see myself using this product once it has been tested and rated by consumers. Just because they might be safe for rabbits, doesn't mean that there will not be any harmful side effects for humans. Once I read ratings from Consumer Reports, I will test this product for myself.

Webcam

Sometimes a phone call just isn't enough to satisfy the need to keep in touch with loved ones. When I moved away from home for the first time to attend Purdue University, I was very homesick. I missed not being able to talk to my mom and dad every day after school and each morning. When I was a freshman, texting was starting to be very popular, but my parents did not know how to text. 

As a freshman in college, I purchased a Macbook Pro. This was my first personal computer. I loved the fact that it was portable, easy to use and good for my major at the time: Art and design. The built-in webcam was also a great feature. The webcam allowed me not only to chat with my parents, but also see their faces. This made a world of a difference. My parents and I would schedule a time each week to video chat. It was very helpful in communicating between us. 

Video chatting is much like a conversation. Of course, you cannot physically touch the other person you are interacting with, but it is much more personal and interactive than a phone call or text. In addition, with video chatting, you can see others' facial expressions and gestures. The only drawback in my mind is that oftentimes the chat freezes up. This means that sometimes, your screenname will force quit and sign you offline. 

To this day, I am thankful that I have webcam abilities on my computer. It has helped to continue the strong relationship I have with each of my parents. 

Pandora

One of my favorite things to do is listen to music. No matter where I am, music always follows. I listen to my favorite artists from the minute I wake up to the moment I fall asleep.

I came across Pandora a few years ago while sitting in my dorm room. I needed to find an alternative way to listen to music. A girl two doors down from me got sued by Purdue University for illegally downloading music. I did not want to take any chances in throwing away my life savings, just to listen to the latest and greatest from LimeWire. 

When I found Pandora, I was so excited. Pandora was spreading rapidly through the dorms, as there was much hype about this new web site. Why? Because it is free! Every poor college student can't argue the fact that free music is a good thing. Even three years later, I still find that most of my friends listen to Pandora. 

Pandora is truly a revolutionary idea. To be able to log on to a site where you can choose your genre of music, and a play list is made for you is a music lover's dream. Now, I find myself using Pandora more than I use my iTunes. It is available on my iPhone, therefore I can listen to music while I work out, walk to class or just doing my homework. 

Bitter about Twitter

Many people have claimed that "Twitter is the new Facebook." At the same time, I have run into various friends, family and co-workers who claim they would never be caught dead tweeting.

When I worked as a marketing intern this past summer, I immediately became interested in the world of social media. After a few weeks, I was motivated to share the benefits of the new ways of social media that we could use within our business. I started brainstorming on how our company could use Twitter to draw more fan interaction.

When presenting the idea to the president of our company, I learned that many people thought that Twitter was stupid, and simply a waste of time. After I explained that Twitter would eventually help our business strategy, more and more people were interested in trying out this new social media tool. However, several people wanted to know how Twitter differed from Facebook and why so many people used it in their daily lives.

Because many of these people in the presentation were older and unfamiliar with emerging new technologies, I took it upon myself to explain my personal usage with Facebook and Twitter. I explained that my generation is very hands on. We grew up with everything at our fingertips. Our daily communication consists of e-mailing, texting, Facebooking, skyping, etc. Twitter is just another way of staying in touch with those that we cannot see everyday. Following famous celebrities, organizations and businesses also fascinates us. Twitter was introduced to me by a friend from one of my Communication courses at Purdue. After joining Twitter, I was immediately addicted. I update my status a few times a day, as more of a habit than anything. I have noticed that my friends who are active on their Twitter accounts, seem to have less of a presence on Facebook. I know that my statuses on Facebook have largely decreased. What is the point of telling people what you are doing twice? I tend to use Twitter solely for updates and occasionally to upload a Twitpic. However, Facebook mainly serves as my network to share my most recent pictures with my friends.

From my personal experience, it seems that many people are hesitant to adapt to emerging new technologies. Personally, if I have an interest in an emerging technology that I could see as potentially useful to my social or professional business network, I will check it out. After my presentation on Twitter, I found that a few more people were open to the idea of tweeting for professional reasons.

iPhone

Throughout the past year, I have been through several cell phones. I never invested much money in any because I always tend to drop or lose them. When, I received an iPhone as a gift from my parents, I definitely had more of an incentive to take better care of it since it was so expensive. Within the iPhone, the E-mail service, Mapquest and the Notes application has made my personal life a lot easier.

Prior to my iPhone, I always made a point to stop on campus to check my e-mail or go all the way back to my apartment in order to check for important e-mails. When I realized that my iPhone offered the internet and an e-mail service on my own hand-held device, I was ecstatic. With my iPhone, I can now e-mail friends, family, group members or potential employers in a timely manner.

In addition to saving a ton of time with having my e-mail with me at all times, the iPhone provided me with another very helpful feature. I have never had a very good sense of direction, so the Mapquest app available on the iPhone truly did make my life a lot easier. Even when driving within 15 miles of my hometown, I can get lost. Being able to plug in my destination address or even street names was very beneficial. With this particular app on my phone, I am a much more confident driver.

Finally, the Notes app has been very helpful to me, especially as I am working my way into the business world. This past summer, my internship led me to Dallas, Texas. When visiting with co-workers and upper management over meals, meetings, etc., I did not always have my binder by my side. However, the Notes app, conveniently on my phone was always readily available for me to jot down a to-do list or important things to remember.

These are just a few features that I love on my iPhone. More to come...