Blog Overview

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Web 2.0 Tool

     The Web 2.0 tool that I find useful for education is the RSS Feeds, which we used recently this year. This tool allows a person to be updated on information from a specific website in the similar manner to the subscriptions on YouTube. I would most likely use it for this class as the other classes I am taking this year rarely require the usage of other websites except for specific websites for research assignments and papers. Specifically, I would use it for personal usage to gain updates on websites such as clothing stores, and Japaneses comic websites. It will help me learn the content that I desire as I can simply read the information that I desire to educate myself and learned from this simplified information.

Technology Article 5/26

Google files patent for creepy teddy bear

Remember Teddy, the super-computer toy, from the 2001 film "Artificial Intelligence?" Well, Google might be making one.

Earlier this week the company filed a patent for a toy that can control other Wi-Fi-connected devices. This could be one of Google's creepiest patents yet -- especially if movies like "Chuckie" still give you nightmares.

Imagine a teddy bear outfitted with sensors and cameras.

If it senses you're looking at it, the fuzzy toy will rotate its head and look back at you. Once it receives and recognizes a voice command prompt, you can then tell it to control media devices in your home (e.g. turn on your music or TV).

google creepy toy connected device iot

"Hello, David...How may I help you today?"

Google (GOOGL, Tech30) says the patent application isn't an indication the company will actually make or sell this connected toy.

"We hold patents on a variety of ideas -- some of those ideas later mature into real products or services, some don't," the company said in an email statement to CNNMoney.

Even if Google doesn't make one of these Internet of Things (IoT) devices, you can bet other companies will in the near future. Amazon (AMZN, Tech30) already has a standalone home assistance gadget called the Echo, which can be prompted to control playlists and or look up information on the Web if you start your request by addressing it as "Alexa."

A connected speaker system called Ubi performs similar functions.

Interestingly, one of Google's April Fools' Day gags this year was a stuffed panda built to be a cuddlier face of its search engine...

Social Bookmarking Questions

1.What's another way you can organize and store information on your computers?

Another way you can organize and store information is Cloud on the computer.

2.What have you learned from researching the above topics? What do you know now about those current events that you didn't know before?

I have learning different statistic regarding basketball and how concerned our nation is with ISIS. I have learned that ISIS has gained control of Syria.

3.What are other social bookmarking apps/websites?

Other social bookmarking apps/websites are Delicious, Corkboard, Stumbleupon, Instapaper, and many more websites.

4.Will you continue to use social bookmarking?

Unfortunately, no as I do not need to save many websites or keep myself updated on specific sites that much.

Desire for a Better World

    Things that ignite my desire to make this world a better place are poverty, which is common in all nations, violence, and finally the poor treatment of other human beings. Unfortunately, I have seen poverty, first hand, in India, and I know how distressful it is. Seeing children and adults having to beg others for sources which we take for granted and have an abundance of is rather an unsettling feeling. All though this is impossible, I desire a way to end poverty in total. Next, I would desire to put an end to violence as it is rather causes an unnecessary bloodshed. All though I have never seen or expressed violence that has lead to unnecessary bloodshed, I have heard of such experiences and I hope that there is a way to end it fully. Finally, I hope to find a way to stop the poor treatment of human beings. Unfortunately, this is commonly expressed in Middle-Eastern nations such as Islam. The poor treatment of women and other human beings is something that I wish never occurred. My religion also shares in ties to Syria, which is a nation suffering under the assaults of Muslims. Unfortunately the career I have in mind, is either in finance or being a computer programmer which is not very productive in fulfilling these goals that I desire to accomplish. Maybe I can use programming to make an app or program that is simplistic and easy to access for those under poverty. Other than that, I do not believe that my career can help solve the problems in the world which is rather unfortunate. 

Technology Article 5/15

Robots threaten these 8 jobs

Soon you could be competing with a robot for a job.

Economists are sharply divided over the exact timing of the threat from robots and other forms of futuristic technology. Some see an imminent threat, others believe it won't happen until later this 

century -- if at all.

Yet Amy Webb, a digital media futurist and founder of Webbmedia Group, predicts at least eight career fields are "ripe for disruption" very soon -- like in the next 10 to 20 years.

"You should be quite worried," Webb said at the Milken Global Conference in Los Angeles last 

month. She points to these eight careers, in particular:

1) Toll booth operators and cashiers: People who work in the transactional space shouldn't be big fans of the Apple Watch or Apple Pay.

That's because the rise of wearable technology and mobile payment systems may make jobs like toll booth operator and grocery store cashier virtually obsolete.

"There is no real need for a person to be there every step of the way," Webb said.

2) Marketers: Powerful advertising tools of the future may allow brands to fashion their messages to customers with precision accuracy.

Webb pointed to new experiments with technologies that study customer behavior to identify what kind of ads will be most effective.

"This is pretty much unlike anything we've seen before," she said.

If these tools work, they may translate to smaller creative and strategic teams at marketing and ad firms.

3) Customer service: Many customer service jobs have been shipped overseas to India and other lower-paying countries. New technologies like predictive analytics could kill off more of these jobs.

Look no further than Watson, the friendly IBM (IBM, Tech30) supercomputer that won millions of fans by defeating former Jeopardy champions.

Webb warns that one of the things Watson can do, though it's not positioned that way right now, is to replace everybody in the customer service department of a company.

4) Factory workers: Get ready for robots to steal more manufacturing jobs from humans -- at a cheaper price and without taking breaks to text their friends.

The next wave of disruption is likely to be led by haptics, a sensor-based technology that allows people to virtually feel what they are working on even when the actual task is taking place far away.

5) Financial middle men: Don't knock Bitcoin -- Its underlying technology may steal your job.

Blockchain, Bitcoin's computer program, is able to automatically process transactions and create a perfect, reliable digital record.

Webb believes blockchain will disrupt the middle men in the banking, escrow, insurance and mortgage sectors.

"Whether or not Bitcoin ever takes off is beside the point. It's the underlying infrastructure that will dramatically change the work that's being done," Webb said.

We may have received a sneak preview of that this week when Nasdaq (NDAQ) said it will use blockchain to keep transaction records in its pre-IPO market.

6) Journalists: The Internet wiped out countless newspapers, and new technology could kill even more journalism positions.

Webb, a former journalist at Newsweek and The Wall Street Journal, said the next culprit will be algorithms that allow news outlets to automatically create stories and place them on websites without human interaction. Robot journalists (fedora optional) are already writing thousands of articles a quarter at The Associated Press.

7) Lawyers: If you're going into the legal world, veer toward litigation.

Webb believes non-litigation lawyers could soon be replaced by online form-based services like LegalZoom that can carry out simple tasks like trademark applications, wills and even divorce.

It's all been made easier by the trend to make records more open and easily accessible, lessening the need for high-priced lawyers.

Related: Where do Millennials want to work? Not at corporations

8) Phone workers: Many millennials don't have landline phones. That trend is only likely to continue with the advances of digital communication.

That means telecom companies like AT&T (T, Tech30) and Verizon (VZ, Tech30) could eliminate billing, operator and other positions on the telephone side of the business.

"There are a bunch of jobs that don't really need to exit," Webb said.

Fearing the future? These predictions will make people who work in these fields understandably cringe. But Webb isn't pessimistic about what lies ahead.

"

I don't see our technological future as a dystopian one. I just see it as different. For many people different is dystopian, which is something you need to get over," she said.

One outcome may be that tomorrow's employers will value very different skillsets than today's.

"We need highly-skilled plumbers and highly-skilled people in all types of fields we no longer venerate," Webb said.

Discussion Questionins Digg Reader

Why did you select the sites you subscribed to?

• I selected the sites I subscribed as either they were top sites that appeared in my head regarding the subject for Government and News. However, for the Personal folder, I was rather serious with. I chose my interests in food and in different clothing stores that i enjoy greatly.

Was it easy to find feeds and to subscribe to them?

• Yes, it was very simple to Google Search the RSS feeds that I required for the project

Which sites were your favorites?

• The sites that were my favorite all of my Personal sites such as H&M, Best Selling Eyeglasses, etc...

What else can you use RSS feeds for?

• RSS Feeds can be used to share information to other people interested in the sites that you are subscribed to and also it can keep you updated on information from sites you enjoy.

How likely are you to continue to use RSS feeds in the future?

• I will most likely not use RSS feeds as unfortunately there is no other people for me to syndicate information to and I am not very interested in getting updated from specific sites.