In the world of wearable technology, a new development has occurred in the form of a bracelet.  The company Jewelbots came out with a friendship bracelet for girls to wear that also connects to a smartphone application that allows the girl to program the bracelet.  Now, we are not talking about a full C++ code that is driving a Numerical Weather Prediction Model.  Instead, it’s a very simple system that controls the color of the charm.  For example, it can be coded to respond to a change in weather, a certain Instagram post, or when one of eight possible connected friends are near.  The main idea of this product is to start teaching girls how to code from an early age.  Hopefully, this will solve the issue of not enough women in computer programming.  This is a fantastic idea, and also quite stylish!

Source: www.livescience.com/56435-jewelbots-friendship-bracelets-teach-coding.html

Employees of mobile-using or BYOD (bring your own device) companies all share a similar worry: Is IT always watching me?  This can lead to very uncomfortable working environments.  In reality though, IT is not always up in your digital business like one may intuitively believe.  There are many reasons for this.

Even though, as an employee, you are loyal to your company, the company still has to discern between security and privacy.  In this article, security is defined as the “mechanics of maintaining the confidentiality of sensitive information,” and privacy is the “individual’s right and expectations to keep their information confidential.”  So as we can see, putting these ideas together can be a bit of a problem.  A company is equally worried about the safety of their company and their employees.  So the steps it takes to satisfy both these principles are as follows:

Legal. We have all skimmed over a privacy policy before.  Well these companies send them to their employees, of whom it is in the best interest to read considering it refers to their daily work activities.  This policy can put an employee at ease because it also outlines the penalties for privacy intrusion.

Policy and agreements. Here is when the employees sign off on what they’re agreeing to let corporate view.  This extends to extraction, archiving, and usage of data.  In short, these are documents that make sure everybody knows what everybody else is agreeing to.

Management. In this final step, the company is just enforcing all of the agreements it has made above.  IT will never take and store more information than what the employee is aware of, and will certainly never remove content from an employee’s device.

In conclusion, IT is doing no more spying on you than you have given them permission for, and employee privacy is not yet a thing of the past.

Source: searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/Tip/How-user-privacy-policies-can-quell-IT-spying-fears

A few years ago, a lecture was presented in Washington, DC, discussing the affects that social media was having on kids.  This was in 2011, so when the idea of social media was still maturing.  Naturally, parents were attempting to monitor their children’s motions online, but were told it was all for naught.  If a child desires to get around their parent’s watchful eye online, odds are, they will easily find a way.  That being said, social media responsibility should still be a topic of conversation, as it will directly affect a child.

Some of the negative effects included antisocial and aggressive behaviors in teens, general health issues in young adults, and lower grades for students. While these pretty alarming conditions result from an attraction to Facebook, there were also proven positive effects.  These included a better virtual empathy, a secure environment for introverts to learn social skills, and new teaching methods.

Boiled down, we all know social media is a huge way of life.  As parents, while you may not be able to monitor your child’s use, you are certainly able to communicate and educate about it.  This way if a problem does start to arise, the child will feel comfortable in speaking to you about it, and not let it grow into an unfixable problem.

Source: www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2011/08/social-kids.aspx

Mark Zuckerberg announced a few new features for his company, Facebook.  It is called the VR arm.  At the Oculus Connect 3 event on 10/6, he demonstrated some of the new features.  One in particular is the ability to answer a Messenger call with an actual “device” that isn’t there.  The arm has a capability to overlay VR avatars of your friends in your vision, so it seems like they are actually in the room with you.  This is a break through in connections and communities.  You can also use it to play games with you friends almost in real life – including poker, chess, and even some sword fighting! The VR arm is not available publicly yet, but it will be very exciting once it is!

Source: https://thetechportal/2016/10/07/facebook-new-tech-vr

A fan forum self-titled “Ride Archive” has recently released an interesting proposal that they are currently trying to petition the Walt Disney Company to adopt.  The project itself is named Disney Ride Archive.  The idea is to use new technology in the virtual reality realm to allow guests relive and experience Disney attractions that have long since been closed or retired.  The guests would go to one building in a park, and have the option to select an attraction from the past, and experience it as if it was still running and they were actually on the ride.

VR technology would take old photos, plans, videos, and audio from the old rides that have been stored, and recreate the attraction from there.  Audio would be remastered, and the visuals would be set up in 360 scope, allowing you to view every detail from the ride.  But that isn’t all.  At the end of your experience, you would be able to download an app for your phone, and unlock one of the experiences.  From there you could go home, and use your phone as the screen along with a VR headset and see the attraction whenever you wanted.

While this idea is extremely new, it has been getting some attention, mainly on Facebook.  Older generations like the fact that they may be able to ride their old favorite rides again, and younger Disney fans, like myself, are excited to experience the old rides that paved the way for newer attractions.  The Walt Disney Company could do so much with VR, especially in their parks since they are already leaders in experience design.  Check out the link below, and you can even sign the petition if you want to someday see Disney Ride Archive in action!

http://huddycreative.com/ridearchive/