May
28
I have WiFi on my Camera? Why?
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I have a Sony Cyber-Shot digital camera (not a cemra phone) I bought a few months back and it has a WiFi symbol on the top of it. Does anyone know why the heck its on there and what its used for? Apparently technology is getting way ahead of me because Im so confused.
May
28
More ridiculously cool technology
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Microsoft technology brings us table -top technology with no keyboard or mouse.
May
23
Level Up Health Care with Network Technology
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One of President Obama’s major initiatives will be to bring the US health care system into the 21st century. Our lagging health care infrastructure has lead to massive medical inefficiency, high premiums to the average citizen and an overall ‘leaky faucet’ effect that is contributing to the pool of problems our economy faces. The Obama administration has proposed a five year, near $100 billion dollar, initiative to fix our health care system through innovative new technology that includes creating electronic versions of all health records.
Although creating electronic health records is a huge step in ‘leveling up’ our health care system to meet modern day information technology standards, there is also the less celebrity concept of implementing high-tech network technology towards health care. It will be one thing for doctors and patients to have access to medical data, and another for them to communicate that data.
From the Cisco System’s blog:
“Web 2.0 technologies are beginning to change the practice of medicine,” says Lynne A. Dunbrack, program director for Health Industry Insights a market research and advisory firm in Framingham, MA. “We now have a significant number of doctors who grew up with the Internet, and they want to use online collaboration technology to keep up with the relentless demands for ever-greater speed and efficiency.”
Medical communication technology still needs to catch up to the rest of the Web 2.0 technology , whether it be the ability for patients to easily browse a number of potential doctors or primary care facilities, or the functionality to allow a doctor to instantly access and update a patient’s records via their iphone. Although medical technology has advanced in leaps and bounds as far as its primary purpose- diagnosing and repairing patients, it still needs to embrace a new wave of communication and network technology.
This may be a difficult task. One barrier to the health care stimulus’ task of digitzing records is simply doctors and medical specialists are used to the old way of doing things. It can be extremely difficult to fully transition from the paper to digital world because it is a 180 degree change in the every-day routine and process of the work. The same goes for embracing new health care networking and communication technologies.
However, the advantages to utilizing these new technologies will far outweigh the hurdles of changing old ways. Cutting-edge video conferencing can allow multiple specialists to collaborate and diagnose on a level never before possible. ‘Medical-networking’ platforms can allow for patients to easily communicate with their doctor’s and nurses on a personal level, but prevent over-inundation of the available medical resources.
The first step to leveling up our health care system is for the medical community to change their mindset, and realize that any significant change for the good requires crossing a number of hurdles. The second step is rewiring and revamping the hardware and network infrastructure of medical facilities across the country. The barrier to entry here is the enormous cost and risk for both public institutions and private practices to make the digital leap of faith. There are ways to soften this blow as well.
Large network providers, like Cisco Systems and Juniper networks, can aid public medical institutions by providing the necessary network hardware infrastructure in bulk. Private practices are scared of technological change because it seems like a risk (and investment) that could set them back some years, or worse, sink their business. However, some of the costs that private medical institutions and practices will incur can be lowered by purchasing used network hardware and computer equipment, such as a used router or refurbished server.
Although costly, if US medical institutions change their mindset and network infrastructure, it will put us well on our way to 21st century health care.
Times are hard for the American currently. My goal is to start a conversation about how we can use eachother’s knowledge to better our lives and country. Now is the time for us to stand together, and the internet is the perfect vehicle for us to traverse this difficult path and emerge to a bright new era.
May
18
Run through of this weeks top technology headlines Windows Phone 7 Series-is this the best name? Motorola Quench- 8th Android phone Youtube HTML5-Love it! China hacks Google-A bunch of young adults who can potentially hack the world Subscribe for more!!!
May
13
Midnight Trader Technology Sector Update: Feb 10, 2010: MSFT, AAPL, IBM, CSCO, GOOG
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This technology sector update is brought to you by Midnight Trader dot com. Technology shares are mixed, with Sprint Nextel reports lower-than-expected fourth quarter sales. The wireless carrier said sales tumbled 6.7 percent to $7.87 billion, while analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News on average expected the figure to reach $8 billion. Meanwhile, Chinese Internet search engine Baidu (BIDU) said its clients became more confident about the company after Google (GOOG) indicated it may end its operations in China. Dow Jones US Technology Index: 552.81 Tuesday regular session close Top Technology Stocks MSFT: +0.00% AAPL: +0.35% IBM: -0.26% CSCO: +0.25% GOOG: -0.23%
May
13
Four Jobs You Could Get With An Information Technology Degree
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Many wonder what exactly does someone with an information technology degree do in the real world. Despite the fact that many of us regularly work with information technology specialists, a significant number of people don’t really know what this job is all about. They just know that they need to call the IT guy when something goes wrong with the computer. But having a degree in information technology provides you with more skills than just being the computer fixer-upper. With this degree, you could work in areas of the computer business as diverse as technology engineering, database specialization and consulting. Alternatively, you could opt to stick with the traditional IT job of maintaining and repairing computer systems for businesses of all sizes.
One of the most common jobs for someone with an information technology degree to get is an engineering job. There are engineers for both software and hardware, allowing people with interests in different aspects of computers to find their niche. Engineers assist in the development and design of software applications or hardware systems. This is a highly creative position, which lets people explore innovative technologies while making use of their specialized computer knowledge. One of the greatest rewards for engineers is to see something they’ve created gain widespread use among average computer users. To hear people talking about how great your new software program works is an ego boost to any engineer. The best of them will not be satisfied with this alone, though; they’ll continue to push the boundaries of their work to create better systems.
Some people prefer to work on areas of computer technology that apply more to businesses than individuals. Although engineers can do this, a more common area of work for someone with this desire is to use their information technology degree to work in database specialization. Through this position, the individual creates and re-designs database systems to assist businesses in running more smoothly. This area of information technology is highly specialized and tends to be favored by people with an information technology degree who don’t ever want to be bored with their work. They can spend hours each day tinkering with the merging of different systems and the design of new database applications, allowing them to create a product uniquely suited to the development of a client’s business.
Of course, not all people who get an information technology degree want to work just with computers. Some want to do more work with people than they do with machines. Whereas engineers and database specialists primarily work alone with their equipment, computer consultants work primarily with people. They explore some of the same aspects of those people in other IT positions but instead of doing the actual work of designing and developing systems and software, they assist others in understanding the utilization of that software. They may make suggestions to companies for systems that could make operations run more smoothly or consult on large purchases made by small businesses.
The Internet is expanding rapidly. As it does, the information technology degree becomes applicable to an increasing number of jobs. However, some folks like to keep things simple. If you’d like to just be the person who fixes computer problems as they arise, you can still use your information technology degree to get that type of job. Generally known as a network administrator, this job is usually a full-time position, which involves fixing daily computer problems, checking the system for errors and assisting with regular updates to the technology. As important as computer function is to most businesses, this remains one of the most important positions available to information technology specialists.
Andy West is a writer for Virginia College. Virginia College offers many Information Technology Degree programs. Visit Virginia College at http://www.vc.edu/site/department.cfm?deptID=2 to select the IT Program that is right for you.
May
8
Technology’s Accelerating Power
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In July 2009, Brainstorm: TECH gathered the world’s top technology and media leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, and visionaries to explore the trends that are changing the future of business. Brought to you by IEEE Public Visibility, this video covers Technologies Accelerating Power, a discussion between Raymond Kurzweil an inventor, entrepreneur and visionary, and Susan Hassler, IEEE Spectrum Editor-in-Chief.
May
3
How to Incorporate Technology Into your Business
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Honestly I can say I am a geek when it comes to technology. I love the latest inventions of anything that is electronic. Whether it is the iPhone, Blackberry or some new laptop that innovates the industry, I love to try it out.
However as a business owner it is more than just having the latest tech items. You must be able to use those items so that the return on your investment for that item is warranted. In other words, you wouldn`t spend five thousand dollars on a computer if it did not in some way make your business run smoother, faster and/or more efficient. That would make it a waste of money.
In this article, with the help of the Counselors to America`s small businesses, or better known as S.C.O.R.E, I want to give you 5 helpful tips for when you implement technology into your business.
Plan, plan, plan. This is true in area of life, and especially true when you are integrating technology into a business. You must have a plan. Just like you would have a business plan or marketing plan, you should also have a technology plan. This plan should outline what kind of technology you are going to implement, its purpose, cost, a strategy as to when you will upgrade it, who will maintain it and so on. Your technology plan, like all other plans, should fully detail the who, what, when, where, and why questions.
Design your goals. In the design of your plan make sure you outline the goals you want this new technology to achieve. For our business we implemented the latest version of the MySQL database. Our goal was to use the new version for faster response time and a more efficient means of the database design. Your design of your plan must end up with you reaching the goal for its intended purpose.
Investment. As SCORE puts it, you want to think of technology as investment into your business. The technology you implement should help your business run more efficient, faster, more cost affective and so on. A friend of mine runs a home repair business. Recently he purchased a customer tracking and invoicing piece of software. His plan was to make sure he could track all of his customers, their needs, and subsequent invoices for jobs with a few mouse clicks or little typing. That piece of software helped speed up the tedious task of office work which was dragging him down. Therefore his investment into that software was worth it.
Solve those problems. You can start by defining what problems your company or business faces. Then define how technology will help solve those problems. In our example above, the problem was the amount of time wasted by organizing paperwork, doing invoices by hand and so on. The new software implemented, solved that problem.
Seek the experts. Last but certainly not least, however last for a reason, seek the advice of technology experts. Although you may love the new tech gadgets, software and devices, you may not have all the answers to your needs. If you know what your problems are, but aren`t sure how to solve them with technology, talk to someone in the technology field who is an expert. You can always look in the yellow pages for computer and software professionals. You may not know that a piece of software exists for what you need, but they sure do. Just keep in mind, as with all partnering, and that is basically what you are doing here, good partners will accelerate success, while bad ones will accelerate failure. Do your homework on the expert. Make sure they do have the experience of what they are talking about and have your best interest at heart and not their own.
Technology is a beautiful thing. When implemented properly it will help your business tremendously.
About the Author:
Bruce A. Tucker is the Associate Director of http://www.Indocquent.com, an online resource for individuals and businesses to post their products and services for sale and hire. You can follow Bruce on Twitter at http://twitter.com/indocquent.
May
3
Midnight Trader Pre-Market: Sector Update: Technology Strong, iPad on Sale April 3
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9:14 AM, Mar 5, 2010 — Dow Jones US Technology Index: 580.42 Thursday regular session close Top Technology Stocks MSFT: -0.28% AAPL: +2.84% IBM: +0.50% CSCO: +0.16% GOOG: +1.38% Technology shares are on the rise before the bell Friday, with Apple (APPL) announcing its iPad will be on sale in the United States on April 3. The product will be available in other major countries by late April. Meanwhile, the head of the FBI has warned of a growing cyber security threat. In a speech at an Internet security conference in San Francisco, FBI Director Rober Mueller said that terrorist groups including Al Qaeda not only use the Internet to recruit and group members, but also target the Web and hack into it to cause wide-scale damage.