Emerging Technologies

hello!

Well, we can completed our last session for COM 435 and today I saw some very interesting emerging technologies that I enjoyed.

First I would like to talk about my emerging technology that I presented on. It is the GeoLife 2.0. Geo Life is a GPS data driven networking site. The really cool thing about it is that its just like Facebook, except everywhere you go and talk about your point of interest, is how you network with people. For example: If i was into working out and cycling classes and I was new to a city, I would log onto my Geo Life account and look at other members and where they go and take cycling courses in that city. I can ask them questions and it can help boost my networking site. Next thing you know, you are friends with that person and have a new cycling buddy!

You have the option of not wanting to respond, and you also have the option to monitor who can see where you go, just like Facebook's privacy settings. This is a really good opportunity to learn your way around a new city in a matter of seconds. This technology is only emerging and is not available for the public yet. It only as about 100 participants who are still working out the kinks in it, and so far they have collected over 7 million GPS points in China, where the technology is being tested.

I would also like to comment on the technologies that I saw today when observing my peers. The Amprius' Silicon Nanowire Anodes in lithium-ion batteries was really interesting to me. It is a way for batteries to be run off of silicon which lasts a lot longer than the regular batteries. It took scientists awhile to figure out how to apply this as a battery because the silicon could break, but they figured out they would use wires to use as the battery. This is great for people like me who are always using their iPod and get annoyed when it runs out of batteries when i need it the most! Another interesting technology I saw was the social desktop. The way that society is forming, it is essential the we find new ways to access information with out having to use the internet. In Tracey Todd's presentation, she explained how the social desktop has URL's already embedded into the system so you can open your ichat, Facebook, email, etc. all on your social desktop. The only issue I can see with this is information overload and the capacity at which your computer can hold all of that information with out crashing! It sounds really cool though. I would def. use it, if it was possible to have on my computer right now.

I enjoyed blogging this semester in COM 435 and have learned a great amount about the technologies around me.