The Demand of Black Boxes In All New Cars Might Not Be A Bad Idea

   If you listen to the news, there always seems to be some story about how technology is changing how we do things. We are finding out more and more everyday about things that we never had the technology before to use to understand. That being said, it is no surprise that Federal agencies are now wanting to jump on that path too, to use technology in their own way to improve on the safety of the vehicles that we are all driving.

   In a recently published article, the author talks about how federal agencies are wanting to make it a necessity for all new cars, starting in September 2014, to all be built with something called a black box. These boxes are devices put into cars that are used to record different types of data like, "vehicle speed, whether the brake had been activated, crash forces at the moment of impact, the state of the engine throttle, airbag deployment timing, and whether or not seat belts were in use"(1). With this new idea of these boxes, researchers would finally be able to conduct studies to prove how to make vehicles more safe, to hopefully narrow down the amount of car accidents that take place year after year. 

   With this box only adding the additional  $20 to the manufacturing costs per car, it is hard to see why it wouldn't be a good idea to take advantage of. No one likes to hear those sad stories about the devastating car accidents that happen in their community, and with this new development, that goal of increasing traffic safety, will hopefully be met, and that number of accidents can hopefully start to decline.

Resources:

• "Federal Agency Wants Black Boxes in Every New Car By September 2014", Cyrus Farivar. Ars Technica. December 8, 2012. Web. Accessed December 10, 2012.http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/12/federal-agency-wants-black-boxes-in-every-car-by-september-2014/

A TED Talk To Show That Time Spent On The Computer Is Well Spent!

     A couple of months ago I was introduced to a website for TED talks, which are videos taken of different conventions held to spread ideas. Some of these videos can at times be very dry, and hard to watch, while others really know how to hold the audiences attention. After watching a couple different videos on here, there was one video in particular that really stood out, and held my attention the entire time. The title of this video is, "Luis von Ahn: Massive-scale online collaboration".

    Luis von Ahn as you may have guessed, is the speaker in this particular video, and right away he sets a clear path for his presentation, and has a way of connecting all of the topics that he brings up. He starts his presentation talking about a program that he developed, called "Captcha", and then created a new version of this program called "Re-Captcha" which we all know as the annoying words that pop up on websites that you have to read and then type in to the computer to prove you are human, and to avoid scammers. Luis talks about how he created the updated version (Re-Captcha), because people had spent so much of their own time typing these annoying words in to the computer with the original program that he wanted to create, the other program so that while the people where wasting their time on these words, they were also doing something useful, by identifying words the computer had not recognized to put into an electronic book.

    As amazing as the "Re-Captcha" program alone was, Luis then connects that to his next point of topic which was how he, and some colleagues, came up with an idea from the previous idea of people translating words for an electronic book. From that idea, they had come up with a new website that they created for people around the world who wanted to learn a new language, to do so free, by translating sentences, and all the while, these same people that are translating sentences, are also helping to translate the web itself. By doing this, Luis and the team that worked on this project eliminated the expensive need to hire translators to do the same job instead.

    Throughout his presentation, Luis used different slides to also help draw the audience's attention, and to re-emphasize his points, which he did very effectively. He was able to keep the audience involved by also asking them questions, and combining the questions with humor as well. Luis even used a couple slides for humor to show some bizarre words that would be placed together. This presentation was very inspiring to me because, one of my favorite things to do is to read books. I have my own Nook Tablet, so I was really able to connect with the topics in this presentation right away, knowing that I could have played a part in creating the some of the electronic books that I was reading. For me, this was one of the best presentations I have seen.

References:

"Luis von Ahn: Massive-scale Online Collaboration", Luis von Ahn. TED Talks. Flimed April 2011. Web. Accessed 19 November, 2012. http://www.ted.com/talks/luis_von_ahn_massive_scale_online_collaboration.html

Why Companies Choose to Jump on the Facebook and Twitter Bandwagon!

   In our world today, technology is advancing more and more ever day, always developing new communication methods. It seems that one of the most used methods for communication is now through social media networks. These social media networks are creating an online community for anyone around the world to join, and stay connected.

  The two networks that seem to be primarily used the most are Facebook and Twitter. So many people around the world are using these networks everyday, in order to stay connected and up to date with what is happening in the world today. With that being said, it is no surprise that companies themselves would also start to join in, in this online community, and hey why not? These networks are creating free publicity for them, in an area online that people are constantly browsing through and using. By using twitter alone, anyone that would decide to follow a company on twitter, would then always automatically receive new updates on that company anytime the company would post anything which creates a big benefit for the people that do not want to take out time to search on what is new with companies. 

  Two companies that have been using facebook and twitter to promote their business, is Marcus Theaters and Time Warner Cable. They have created their very own facebook pages, and twitter accounts for customers to stay connected, get involved and to be able to receive new information on the theaters and the Cable company. Both of these companies make it easy for people to find their twitter and facebook account by simply going to the companies websites, and both have links to both of the social networks. On both the facebook page and twitter account, for Marcus theaters, customers are able to chat about movies they want to see or have seen, see what movies are currently playing, get the links for the showtimes, and special sales and events at the theaters.  For the facebook page and twitter account for Time Warner Cable, customers are also able to stay connected to chat about TV shows, movies, or the company itself. Time Warner cable uses these networks to promote new hit TV shows, sports, or movies, talk about udates in the company, or any network issues or promotions.

  It is amazing how much of an affect simply having a facebook page or twitter account can have on a companies sales. By companies creating these accounts, they are also increasing their own ranking in the computers search engine, when anyone types in a search for anything pertaining to that company. The best part about the companies creating these networking accounts though, is that it doesn't just benefit the company but also the people that access these accounts, so that people can get easier access to updates they may not have gotten otherwise.

References: 

• "Companies Create Accounts On Facebook, Twitter And Others To Attract Followers And Promote  Products And Services!" Zuttuter. 13 October 2012. Web. Accessed 29 October 2012. < http://zuttuter.wordpress.com/2012/10/13/companies-create-accounts-on-facebook-twitter-and-others-to-attract-followers-and-promote-products-and-services/ >

Why am I at MATC!

   Hello all! So for anyone that does not know too much about me, I will probably say that when you read this little information about me, you might wonder what goes through my head! So I will start off with this, I am currently an MATC student going to school for my associates degree for IT Programmer/Analyst. Now how i got to this point is a whole other story.

   

   I started off going to school at UW-Milwaukee, after I graduated from high school. Originally I had been going to school for education. I soon decided that was not for me and switched to Linguistics as a translator. After taking a few language classes I soon decided that even though it was fun and interesting, that was not what I wanted to do with my life. I then decided to try switching my program over to nursing because I was always interested in the health field, which made my decision final to switch to MATC as I heard wonderful things about their nursing program. This was actually the first reason that I had switched to MATC.

   After spending a couple semesters finishing my general courses, I was also required to receive my CNA certification, which I did. After I got certified, I quickly found a job in a nursing home as a CNA, and after working over a year their, along with other CNA's and nurses, I quickly realized that this was not the field I would be happy with for the rest of my life either. Instead of being excited about the nursing program, I soon found it making me unhappy. My next choice of program was my final choice: IT Programmer/Analyst. I have always had a knack with computers and enjoyed them, but never thought too much about it until my own father kept insisting that this would be a good choice for me to study, and work with. So far it has been the best choice, and I have no regrets. I am looking forward to graduating in this program, and finding a job as a programmer analyst. 

  I am a very outgoing and diverse individual, and enjoy activities such as, reading books, playing volleyball, acting in small productions, swimming, and playing around on the computer. As far as my own work experience that I have had so far, I am sad to say that I have not really held any position yet really obtaining to computers. I am a typical college student having had the simple jobs to pay my bills. I have held a couple positions in restaurants including, a serving assistant at Old Country Buffet, a server for Bartolatta's Catering, and a hostess at Texas Road House. I have also held positions in retail as well dealing with customer service, as an assistant manager at Claire's Boutiques, and a cashier at Menards. My more professional jobs I have had, are my more recent ones, including my CNA position at Clement Manor Nursing Home, and my current position as a medical assistant at Milwaukee Occupational Medicine.

   I think that's about all about from me for now. I know it sounds like I am kind of a confusing person, but really I'm not. I'm just another individual in this world trying to find their true passion, and possibly realizing I have found it. So until next time, goodnight everyone!