Earlier in the semester one of the first things we talked about was the Internet of Things. I’m going to be honest, at first I thought this was a boring, useless topic but after coming across the article Five Technologies that will change our lives in five years, I became more interested. I did some digging, and found some things that I had no idea were in the Internet of Things.

So, here are 5 things you might not have known are in the Internet of Things:

1. Fitness trackers
   • These utilize your smartphone’s sensors and connectivity that can track and monitor your movements, location and workouts. I’m looking right at you Fitbit.
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2. Smart Belly trash cans
   • These trashcans use real-time data to let municipal services know when the bin needs to be emptied. Because who likes looking at overflowing trash cans?
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3. Street lights
   • Street lights by Echelon let a city provide just the right lighting for the time of day, season, and weather conditions. This makes driving safer and reduces energy use.
4. Protecting wildlife
   • When a species is endangered, researchers can put a collar on the known animals of that species to track their movements.
5. Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
   • Automatically identifies and tracks tags on retail products, helping keep an accurate inventory count. The most common place that I have found these would be in books.
   • 

References & further reading:

http://www.postscapes.com/internet-of-things-examples/

https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/281757

http://blogs.forrester.com/f/b/users/bhopkins/133144_1.gif

http://www.computerworld.com/article/3122429/internet-of-things/five-technologies-that-will-change-our-lives-in-five-years.html

A week or two ago I published a post about self-driving cars and how they could benefit the elderly. Today, the government released some guidelines for this driver-less technology. These are by no means laws, but more along the lines of federal standards for manufacturers to work with.

The ultimate goal of government is to have manufacturers share more information about their vehicles; as opposed to car makers creating their own guidelines. The government wants manufacturers to prove that their vehicles could meet a 15-point list of safety expectations.

The 15 points include:

1. Data sharing
   • The cars should store driving data. This will help with the reconstruction of what went wrong in a car crash or system breakdown.
2. Privacy
   • Owners should be able to reject any personal information (driver behavior)
3. System Safety
   • The vehicle should be able to respond to software malfunctions, loss of traction, and other risks. The manufacturer needs to prove that their car can operate even when technology fails.
4. Digital Security
   • Safeguards to prevent online attacks
5. Human-machine Interface
   • How can vehicles switch safely between autopilot and human control?
6. Crashworthiness
   • Cars must meet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s regular standards for “crashworthiness” and prove that their cars are designed to protect occupants
7. Consumer Education
   • Automakers must train sales representatives and others about how the car works
8. Certification
   • Any updates must be submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
9. Post-crash Behavior
   • Must prove that cars are safe to use after a crash. Example: The car should not be able to go into driverless mode after a crash unless all sensors have been repaired
10. Laws and Practices
    • The cars must follow state and local laws that apply to drivers
11. Ethical Considerations
    • Human driving decisions carry ethical considerations, programming decisions should be disclosed to N.H.T.S.A.
12. Operational Design
    • Describes where, when, and under what conditions a driverless system works
13. Detection and Response
    • How will the car respond to other cars, pedestrians, animals, and falling trees?
14. Fallback
    • The car should be able to change modes safely when there is a technological problem
15. Validation
    • There needs to be testing and validation of driverless cars

This is a sensible checklist for automakers manufacturing self-driving cars. The checklist covers all points from technology to guides on how to use this new technology.

Sources:

The 15-Point Federal Checklist for Self-Driving Cars– New York Times

Regulators Release Guidance for Driverless Technology– Marketplace

Google announced that it will be starting something called “Project Zero”. This project allows hackers to breach Android phones with only providing email and phone numbers. Google is offering cash prizes to the winning entry- $200,000 to first place, $100,000 to second place.

This initiative asks contestants to submit bugs to the Android issue tracker as hackers come across them. Hackers also have to provide detailed descriptions about where they found the bug and a very detailed description of it. This initiative will help discover bugs that might go unreported. Fixes will be developed quickly when the bug is reported.

Other than bugs within the software, the hackers will also be on the look out for security issues- or loop holes that allow hackers to access sensitive information. In summary, these are called “zero-day flaws”. DigitalTrends.com provides the example that a zero-day flaw in iOS 10 for example could sell for as much as $250,000.

Google is hoping to get rid of dangerous bugs that could potentially impact a user’s security on their device. In today’s world your smart phone has the ability to store everything from bank account information to your drafted emails.

Project Zero is an initiative that all users (including iOS users) should be happy Google is taking on. It will help increase security while decreasing potential bugs in the software.

Articles:

http://www.digit.in/general/google-will-pay-you-200000-for-finding-vulnerabilities-in-android-31715.html

Google will give you up to $200K if you can hack the newest version of Android

Instagram announced that it’s new anti-harassment ‘keyword moderation’ will soon be available to the masses. The update to the app was actually released today (9/12/2016) and is available for download from your respective app store immediately.

The new feature was first used by Taylor Swift and other various businesses and brands to filter inappropriate comments on posts. The first major example of this was on Taylor Swift’s profile. After Kim Kardashian released a Snapchat of Swift approving Kanye West’s song “Famous”. Fans of Kim and Kanye then went to Swift’s Instagram and started posting the snake emoji in the comments. A few hours later users were unable to post the snake emoji to Swift’s account. This is all with the help of the ‘keyword moderation’.

Instagram says that each individual user will be able to type words that they find offensive and unnecessary to their accounts. Other sources says that this moderation capability will not actually delete the comments, but rather hide them from other users. Inverse.com goes on to state that these comments are what they call “ghost-banned”; the commenter will be able to see their own comment but will not know if someone else has implemented moderation and other users will not be able to see the comment if the person has opted for moderation.

Again, this feature will soon be available for the masses. Here’s how you can filter your own comments (taken from macrumors.com):

1. Go to your profile
2. Tap the Settings gear icon in the top right corner
3. Find and tap “Comments”
4. Toggle “Hide Inappropriate Comments” to automatically hide keywords that are “often reported as inappropriate”
5. Or, add your own custom keywords in the text box, separating each with a comma.
6. Tap “Done” to save your changes

Sources:

http://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/12/instagram-update-anti-harassment/

https://www.inverse.com/article/20884-instagram-custom-comment-filter

Google Photos is an app with free, unlimited storage for photos and videos. Part of the appeal to the app is that it allows you to back up all your photos on your iPhone so you will never run out of storage again. Besides, who actually likes getting that message “Storage Almost Full” everyday?

The app also allows a visual search, without tagging. The days where you had to go through all your photos and tag the places and the people in them to allow for better searching are over.

The updates to this app allow users to stabilize and edit videos in iOS Live photos. This in turn also allows the photos to be easily turned into shareable GIFs and movies.

This feature was already available, but you had to download another app to do it. Google and Apple have created an app that combines some of the other apps that you had to download in order to save and edit photos.

Personally, I think this is a great idea. I’m going to start using it because I’m tired of getting the “Storage Almost Full” message. I started using it as I was typing this post and I loved that it connects directly to my Google Gmail account. I was able to go through and select all the photos on my phone to back up to Google Photos.

If you choose to delete your photos from Google Photos it will automatically sync and delete the photos from everywhere else.

In the time it took me to write this post, all 929 photos on my phone were selected, uploaded to Google, and deleted off my phone. It was easy to use and easy to do. Below I’ve included the link to the app download from Apple. Currently this

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-photos-free-photo-video/id962194608?mt=8

Google Photos for iOS now lets you stabilize Live Photos

New Google Photos update should make iOS users jump with joy

Google Photos can now stabilize and share your shaky Apple Live Photos

We all know that self driving cars are starting to be test driven on the streets in multiple cities. Could these cars be safer for the elderly?

In 2012 more than 5,560 older adults were killed with more than 214,000 injured. Older in this case can be defined as 65 and older.

Old age can often be the reason for the elderly to be involved in an accident. As you age your start to loose mobility and flexibility. This in turn limits the body’s range of motion. Ultimately, it makes it harder to drive because you are unable to turn around among other things.

Although self driving cars are still in the works, automakers have taken the initiative to make cars safer for the elderly and everyone else. For example, cars have blind spot sensors that alert the driver to when there is a car or an object in their blind spot. It is usually a light in the side mirrors and the light will go off when the area is clear.

Another piece of technology that automakers have added to cars would be the right turn camera. When the right turn signal is activated in my grandma’s car, a camera switches on to the dashboard and will show you what is behind you. This is helpful because it will prevent drivers from hitting any pedestrians as they turn.

The display of a driver’s speed is also new advanced technology. For example, my aunt drives a BMW (I can’t remember the exact year and model). Her car is equipped with a projector that displays her speed, radio stations, and climate control on the dash in her line of sight while she is driving. This prevents her (and anyone else who owns this model of car) from looking down at the speed or looking over to change the radio station. She doesn’t have to take her eyes off the road. Those split seconds matter when you are driving.

Her car also has the ability to read text messages to her if she chooses. It also lets her send an automatic message that tells the person she is responding to that she is currently driving and will answer later.

Cars basically have built in computers into their systems. They include maps, touch screens, sensors, and other various alerts to try to keep the driver as safe as possible.

Self driving cars are the future and will be helpful in more ways than one. Automakers ahve already started to automate cars and add more safety features. Cars will be safer, and the rate of accidents will hopefully decrease.

http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafety/older_adult_drivers/

http://www.csmonitor.com/Technology/2016/0907/Can-technology-pave-safer-road-for-older-drivers

The new Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Yoga (think Microsoft Surface Pro) with OLED is hitting the market soon.

OLEDs work through transmitting electricity through certain materials that glow specific colors. This allows OLED screens to be thinner, lighter, and more efficient. This also lets pixels become completely black which allows for greater contrast on the screen.

On the downside, OLED is still very expensive. But that doesn’t mean Lenovo skimped out on the materials used to make the Thinkpad X1 Yoga. The model sports a carbon fiber cover. The design of the Thinkpad is to be a traditional work station and not a computer that is only used for Netflix streaming.

Weight wise, the Thinkpad is surprisingly lighter than the MacBook Air (by a whole 0.2 pounds!). Also what came as a surprise to me when I read the article was that the author said this was his favorite way to watch Netflix in bed because of the massive screen.

The Thinkpad X1 Yoga is the size of a regular laptop, but has the ability to act like a tablet.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/27/thinkpad-x1-yoga-oled-review/

http://www.cnet.com/news/what-is-oled-tv/

Recently Fitbit announced that it will be releasing new Fitbit Charge 2 and Fitbit Flex 2. The has boasted that it is the first in the fitness tracker category, and now it is making even greater strides to set itself apart from other sync-able fitness devices.

The Fitbit Charge 2 will be a new heart rate and fitness wristband monitor. It will have interchangeable accessory bands as well as a large screen. This is an upgrade from the older version which only had your heart rate along with a smaller screen.

The Fitbit Flex 2 will be swim-proof. Fitbit is also trying to make them more fashionable by advertising that they will go well with jewelry.

The device allows you to compete with friends in competitions. For example, there’s the Weekend Warrior competition which allows friends to compete to see who can take the most steps in a weekend.

Fitbit also has the ability to sync to your smartphone through Bluetooth and sync and track your progress online.

https://www.fitbit.com/whats-new

25 years ago on August 23, 1991 the internet was born. What started out as a single website explaining what the internet is has grown to social media pages and beyond.

Where would we be without the internet? Well for one this post would not be published.

You would have to search through the stacks in the library starting now for information for that 10 page paper due at the end of the semester.

That TV show you missed the other day? That would have to have been recorded on a tape in your VCR or you would have to wait until it was a rerun.

Facebook wouldn’t exist. Neither would Twitter. Any form of social media wouldn’t exist. You wouldn’t be able to post to Snapchat while you were out.

Newspapers would still most likely be the primary source of information. Readers wouldn’t be able to look up articles on The Wall Street Journal or The New York Times.

Online tutorials wouldn’t be a thing. And neither would the online textbook for this class.

Speaking of textbooks- you would probably have to buy them all. Looking up information for classes online obviously wouldn’t exist without the internet.

On the upside though LionPath wouldn’t be a thing.

I think we all owe Sir Tim Berners-Lee a huge thank you today for making our lives a little easier (excluding LionPath).

In today’s world technology is everywhere- including classrooms. I remember when I was in high school (which seems like forever ago) I was jealous when friends in a neighboring town were given school issued iPads to use during class time.

Recently The Huffington Post published an article titled Technology In Education: Are We Addressing The Real Problems?. The post uses bridges between villages to help relate technology in classrooms. The bridges (or technology) could benefit the village (the students) or it could just be unnecessary if it is not used properly. The article goes on to state that “technology can amplify great teaching but it seems technology cannot replace poor teaching”.

I agree with that statement. However, the extent of technology in the classroom is still up for discussion. Those friends I mentioned earlier had assignments and requirements for their iPads that now when I look back I don’t 100% agree with.

I distinctly remember a history class they were all taking. They were required to download 5 or 6 different apps just for that class. When I asked them about it a few months later they said that they barely used some of them and that the teacher was still using a traditional text book and sometimes had them taking traditional handwritten notes. Yes, the apps were used from time to time, but they were not used to their full potential it seemed like. They even mentioned how some teachers did not allow the use of iPads at all.

This is where I would say yes there should be technology in the class room, but the requirement of numerous apps that may not be used is unnecessary. This same concept could also apply to teachers who require students to download numerous apps but then do nothing to teach and require solely on the apps.

This is also prevalent in college. Here at Penn State we have Angel and Canvas. EVERYTHING that you would need for a class is on Angel or Canvas; depending on what your professor uses. It’s easy to open up a PowerPoint and follow along.

Students like to use laptops and tablets in class. These devices provide the ability to easily follow along and take faster notes. That’s fine. But how many times have you seen the person in front of you’s Facebook page, email, or some other assignment that they were working on? I know I’m guilty of doing that and I’ve also seen it. Can we really say that letting students use technology in classes can be more effective than traditional ways if students are prone to more distractions?

From my own experiences, I had a class (Comm 370 with Steve Manuel- highly recommend) where we were not allowed to use laptops, tablets, or cellphones. If he saw you using an electronic device he would immediately kick you out of class for the rest of the day. That was probably the class where I learned the most in my 3 years at Penn State.

Besides distractions, how much learning is exactly going on while students are engaging in technology to study or write papers or work on projects? The article also discusses how students copy and paste information while learning. The article says how there is a difference between copying and pasting using technology and “copying and pasting” while taking hand written notes.

Copying and pasting with using technology does not really help students learn. Students literally just have to highlight, right click, click copy, take it to a new word document, right click, and then hit paste. In the time that it took you to read those almost step-by-step instructions a student was already done copying and pasting. There is no learning involved in copying and pasting with technology.

What there is learning in is traditional copying and pasting- when you look at the board and then write down what you see. There is learning taking place.

So where do we draw the line with technology in the classroom? That’s the real question here.

Comments? Opinions? Reply below!