Tech tips for college-bound students and their parents
English: Photo taken by me (Kyle Bluck) at the Anzac Day parade in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. Copyright. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(ARA) – Just 30 years ago, textbooks, paper and pencils were the main supplies college students needed. In today’s digital world, where more teachers are using technology to deliver a better learning experience, college-bound students need to equip themselves with the latest technology to make the most of their college experience and give themselves an academic edge. But how do students and parents know which technologies can get the job done, and how can they best use them to their advantage?
“From viewing lectures online and getting help from a digital tutor to using one of more than 20,000 education-specific apps now available, today’s college students have many options when it comes to technology,” says Brian Kibby, president of McGraw-Hill Higher Education. “Finding the right tools can enhance the learning experience and improve student performance in class – sometimes by a full letter grade or more. These tools have great potential to help students master course material and prepare them for success not only in the classroom, but after graduation.”
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The expanding capabilities of broadband Internet in rural areas
English: Bigpond Satellite internet dish. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
(ARA) – Moving to rural Oklahoma from Denver, presented Mike Thomas new challenges in connecting to the online world. As a small business manager who works from home, Thomas grew increasingly frustrated with his poor Internet connection. Because he no longer had access to a reliable high-speed Internet connection, tasks that once took seconds to complete in his previous suburban home turned into several frustrating minutes at his new location.
Like Thomas experienced in Oklahoma, there are still many parts of the country where rural residents have been underserved by broadband providers. But that’s rapidly changing.
Recently DISH, the satellite TV provider, partnered with Exede to bring DISH high-speed satellite Internet from Exede to rural areas.
“The cumulative time I was spending in a month waiting to download and upload simple files added up to a full workday,” says Thomas. “I was pulling my hair out before wasting time waiting online. Now, with high-speed satellite Internet, I can multitask online. A work file that previously took 10 minutes to send now takes seconds.”
The availability of broadband by satellite gives many residents in rural communities access to high-speed Internet for the first time. DISH’s service offers 4G level speeds of up to 12Mbps downloads, which is easily enough to allow viewing of video clips without the jittering caused by buffering.
“Living in rural America doesn’t have to mean going without broadband Internet,” says Brian McIntyre, vice president of Broadband at DISH. “With DISH’s broadband service, rural residents can access and engage in a robust Internet experience that enables them to do more online, faster.”
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Science Fiction to Science Fact Part 2
Cover via Amazon
In Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) the Enterprise’s navigator, Lieutenant Chekov, suffered serious burns to his hands from a sparking console when V’Ger probed the ship. A spray gun spritzes his hand with regenerative material, and the skin is healed. The same technology is newly developed, but still experimental, and is being used at our very own UPMC Mercy Hospital. The usual method takes weeks to grow the skin for grafts, and the skin is very fragile. That long of a waiting period puts the burn victims at risk for severe infection. The entire process of the “Skin-Cell Gun” takes 90 minutes. To prepare and apply the solution of the patient’s own stem cells is completely painless (4). Amazingly, the usual recovery time is reduced from weeks to days. The process proven effective for second-degree burns, although it is still too new to determine how the new skin will hold up.
Before the production of Minority Report (2002), Spielberg employed the help of John Underkoffler to act as his science advisor. He worked with a team of experts, and one of the futuristic technologies they dreamed up was a touch-less computer screen. A very similar technology appears in Iron Man (2008) and the video accompanying this citation will have to serve as a film example of such a screen (5). In this TEDtalks video, Underkoffler demonstrates the exact technology appearing in the film (5).
The Fifth Element (1997) features flying cars, flashy guns, and some seriously futuristic fashion (by Jean Paul Gaultier). But flying cars spell death for birds and power lines, our guns are far more compact than the ones the aliens wield, and those garments are still to haute couture for today’s city streets, so none of those ideas have yet to come to fruition. The world in 2012 will just have to settle with the film’s idea of organ printing becoming a reality. The Fifth Element, who after one serious reconstructive surgery is introduced to us as Leeloo, is ‘rebuilt’ from nothing but a heavily gloved hand (7). Although we cannot yet synthesize an entire human body, organ printing will eventually allow full generation, layer by layer, of organs (8). Once the size limitations are breached, the organ transplant waitlist will become obsolete. At the bottom of (8) there is CBS news story about a successful grown windpipe transplant in a tuberculosis patient. Because the organs are made of a patient’s own stem cells, there is no chance of the new organ being rejected.
The very first work of science fiction was a short story entitled Somnium (translation: The Dream) and written by Johannes Kepler and published in 1634 after his death. The story was about a dream about a book about Duracotus, whose mother tells him the secret of lunar travel. In this rendition, the trip was made possible, not by rockets, but by a bridge of darkness that occurred during a solar eclipse and a little help from demon friends. Kepler’s intention was to create a more accepting attitude toward the Copernican heliocentric universe by suggesting what movement would be seen by observers in the reference frame of the moon. No actual technology was suggested, as Kepler’s intention was not to create a new genre. He was, however, the first to predict the phenomenon of ‘weightlessness.’ “…For, as magnetic forces of the earth and moon both attract the body and hold it suspended, the effect is as if neither of them were attracting it… (9) “It is easy to imagine that readers of this story would be inspired by the seemingly impossible idea of space travel. Perhaps it roused the interest of Jules Verne, who wrote the first novel about space travel, From Earth to the Moon (1865). The concept of weightlessness appearing in the novel is evidence of his familiarity with Kepler’s work. The three main characters are shot to the moon from a cannon in a projectile called the Columbiad from a base in Florida. The first real trip to the moon was the Apollo 11 command module was called the Columbia and was launched in 1969 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. An obvious parallel to Verne’s book.
Hands On: BlackBerry Z10
Blackberry is hedging their future on the BlackBerry 10 platform and the BlackBerry Z10 .Without a great leap from the previous BlackBerry versions the company could soon go under. Did the Z10 make the jump they needed? Is the Z10 a phone that will not only keep the current BlackBerry users happy while also converting users from different platforms? Lets take a look.
Did Somebody Say QWERTY?
Conversations happen very fast, both in person and through smartphones. The importance of speaking accurately and confidently also applies to typing on a device. Having a physical keyboard gives users the precision they need with the typing speed they want when communicating.
Similar to the BlackBerry® Z10 smartphone, the upcoming BlackBerry Q10 runs on the BlackBerry® 10 platform and includes a suite of features including smart keyboard software that understands and adapts to a user’s typing style. It creates personalized word suggestions and contextual auto corrections while a user types. Conversations can move along without having to waste time fixing typos.
Keeping all those conversations organized is key to staying efficient and productive. The BlackBerry Hub helps organize multiple inboxes so users can view all their messages in one place instead of having to jump around from app to app. Keyboard shortcuts let users take action quickly and can be accessed directly from the home screen. Users can type “email Paul” or “call Paul” and the device begins action.
Q10 users will have access to BlackBerry World to download apps, games and entertainment over 4G LTE connectivity. BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) fans can also use 4G LTE to video chat with friends. BBM on the new platform includes a screen sharing feature so friends can share picture slideshows and co-workers can review documents together.
The Global Ready BlackBerry Q10 will be available for pre-order in the coming weeks and will be available for purchase online and in Verizon Wireless stores in June. Users will be able to choose from Black or White color models, with the White model being a Verizon Wireless exclusive. Customers can sign up for additional information here.
Drivers urged not to text and drive by Verizon and other partners
Spring is the time of year when temperatures start to rise and thoughts turn to upcoming day trips and summer vacations. In fact, AAA reported that this time last year nearly 35 million Americans were planning Memorial Day road trips to celebrate the unofficial start of the summer.
And, as we prepare for more cars on the road, it is important to remember to take precautions to stay safe behind the wheel. This week, Verizon is joining forces with AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and a number of other businesses and community organizations to help promote safe driving through It Can Wait. The campaign urges drivers to pledge not to text and drive and provides resources and tools to help prevent distracted driving.
Drivers can turn to technology to help maintain focus while on the road. The Safely Go app allows users to lock their phones and sends automatic text messages alerting others that they are behind the wheel and can’t respond. The app can also route phone calls through Bluetooth or other hands-free devices.
For more than a decade, Verizon Wireless has taken a driver’s seat approach concerning legislation and innovation around the prevention of distracted driving. Thirteen years ago, Verizon Wireless broke with the industry, becoming the first wireless carrier to step forward and support hands-free driving legislation across the country. As part of this leadership effort, Verizon Wireless developed a Responsible Driver Action Plan, which included first-of-its-kind commitments to include responsible driving messages in company advertising and customer communications.
Hands On: Sonic Connect 2
Have you ever been waiting at home for an inportant email or a skype call? Don’t want to drop everything to sit in front of your computer to keep a watch. The Sonic-Connect 2 may just be what you are looking for. This device attaches to your computer and gives you and audible, visual, and vibrate alert to let you know when you get new e-mail’s, Skype calls, or Skype Messages.
NOKIA 928 Available Now From Verizon Wireless
Having the right camera in your pocket makes the difference between capturing the perfect shot at the right time and a blurry or dark pic destined to be deleted. The exclusive Nokia Lumia 928 with Windows Phone 8 features PureView technology and Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) which create blur-free pictures and videos, even in low-light conditions.
Fans at a concert can record full 1080p HD videos with the 8.7-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss® optics and take advantage of the high audio amplitude microphones for distortion-free sound. Reliving those moments on video is easy with the phone’s a 4.5-inch PureView display.
Built-in apps on the Lumia 928 like Smart Shoot, Cinemagraph, and Panorama let users take advantage of 4G LTE speeds to share pictures or videos quickly. Smart Shoot lets users shoot five consecutive pictures and pick the best faces from each frame.
Apps can also turn smartphones into tools for entertainment, discovery and navigation. Nokia Music gives users access to unlimited ad-free streaming music, HERE Nokia City Lens lets users discover new places and VZ Navigator helps users get to where they need to be.
The Global Ready™ Nokia Lumia 928 with wireless charging capabilities will be available online and in stores starting May 16 for $99.99 after $50 mail-in-rebate with a new two year customer agreement.