computers 2

This class was very helpful to me. It taught me alot about web 2.0 tools and how to use it effectively. It told me about the RSS feeds and different blogging sites. I learned how to properly use google docs for my classes and how to share my work. I learned how to use websites like jing, blabberise, voki, and delicious.

tech article

In the 1990s, Kushler invented a cell phone technology called T9, which helped launch the text messaging phenomenon. And before that, he developed a once dominant language input gizmo for the disabled.

Now Kushler, 58, is rethinking the keyboard again with Swype.

Swype's technology lets users of touch-screen keyboards type -- if you can call it that -- by using their fingers to connect the dots between letters in a word. Users don't have to lift a finger from the screen to type a word or worry if their aim is a little shaky, because Swype's software can smartly and accurately figure out what they meant to say.

Dozens of smartphones running Google's popular Android operating system come with Swype installed, and Swype recently began letting anyone with a newer Android phone download the application for free. Nokia Growth Partners, the venture arm of the world's top phone maker, invested in Swype last year, and the product is available on Nokia's flagship N8 smartphone.

The app isn't offered yet in the online Android Market, but the company is taking requests for those who want access to a beta version. In that short period, it's netted more than 500,000 downloads in addition to the 20 million devices it comes installed on.

Ask anyone who's spent time using Swype, and odds are they'll sing its praises. Gadget enthusiasts consistently rate it highly, and buzz continues to build.

With phones' small screens, typing can be a chore. Even the most adept BlackBerry typists can't compete with Swype's efficiency.

To illustrate what a leap forward this concept is, Samsung Electronics enlisted the help of a young office administrator at Swype's Seattle headquarters to demonstrate the technology on camera. In the commercial, Franklin Page breaks the Guinness world record for text-messaging speed using Swype on a Samsung phone 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/01/05/swype.kushler/index.html?hpt=Sbin

Holiday Plans

For this holiday I'm probably going to my grandparents house for Christmas eve because in my family everyone opens there presents at 12:00 midnight. The next day for Christmas I'll probably be going to my dads parents house for Christmas day.

tech article 12/17

Yahoo layoffs: 600 jobs cut in long-rumored move

 Yahoo cut about 600 jobs Tuesday, the company confirmed, finally swinging the ax on layoffs that had been widely rumored for weeks.The layoffs represent a 4% reduction in Yahoo's global workforce, said a Yahoo spokesperson, although the company didn't specify which divisions suffered cuts. In an e-mailed statement, the company said its "personnel changes are part of our ongoing strategy to best position Yahoo! for revenue growth."The cuts were first reported by TechCrunch on November 11, saying 20% cuts were coming across the board. AllThingsDlast week with its own sources.Yahoo has struggled as it tries to reinvent itself beyond an Internet portal. The company has lost major market share in display advertising -- once its biggest stronghold -- to Google and Facebook. followed up later that day, claiming a 10% cut would come in the product sector only. Fortune reported the 10% figure 

 

http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/14/technology/yahoo_layoffs/index.htm

voki hw

tech article 12/10/10

A futuristic taxi with global ambitions

It's a long way from the streets of New York to the factories of Turkey, but this 5,000-mile journey could soon be made by all of the city's iconic yellow taxis.
A glass-roofed, eco-friendly vehicle designed by Turkish automaker Karsan is among the three finalists in New York City's search for a taxicab for the future.
New York launched the "Taxi of Tomorrow" competition to find a safe, energy efficient and accessible model. The winning design will be the exclusive New York City taxi for at least 10 years, according to city officials.
Karsan's V1 is the only model that was designed from scratch for the contest.
A reflection of the country's growing automotive ambitions, it would be Turkey's first high-profile branded vehicle if it wins.
So far all the cars Turkey makes are built under license for major manufacturers. Karsan, while not exactly a household name outside its homeland, makes vehicles for Hyundai, Peugeot, Citroen and Renault. The Karsan V1 would be wheelchair accessible, spacious enough to hold five passengers and a stroller, and have a glass roof to give passengers a view of New York's skyscrapers.
It could hold a gasoline, compressed natural gas or electric engine, depending on which technology is the greenest at any time.
Nahum said his ambition is to build taxis for other major world cities.
"We believe in the next 10 to 15 years, other cities will follow New York's lead in looking for a dedicated taxi responding to the needs of the city," he said.
The winner of the "Taxi of Tomorrow" contest will be the first ever custom-built New York taxi. There are 16 different vehicles from nine manufacturers in the current fleet of 13,000 licensed taxicabs.
There have been many efforts to design futuristic taxicabs over the years, but "this project marks the first time ever -- anywhere -- that such an exercise will be backed up by an automotive manufacturer that can turn these concepts into tangible reality," New York Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky said in a statement when the finalists were announced last month.
The winning proposal will be announced early next year and the first new vehicles are expected to be on the road in 2014.
The V1 isn't the only contender in the race to have a Turkey connection. Another finalist, Ford's Transit Connect, will be built in Turkey and adapted in the United States if it wins. Also in the running is a taxi design based on a Nissan van.
Turkey's prime role in the race to produce a new taxi might come as a surprise to New Yorkers, but the country is quietly becoming an automotive powerhouse. It's the 15th largest vehicle producer in the world, according to Invest in Turkey, producing around 900,000 vehicles a year.
According to Nahum, the industry is planning to increase its output to 2.5 million vehicles annually within the next three or four years.
As well as home-grown companies like Karsan, many international companies, such as Fiat, Ford and Renault, have established a presence in the country, often with local partners.
Renault announced last year that it would begin production on the electric version of its Fluence car in Bursa, the so-called "Detroit of Turkey," in 2011.
"The Turkish automotive industry has grown a lot in the last 10 years because manufacturers in Western Europe have seen it as a low-cost place to make cars and ship them to the European Union," said David Leggett, an automotive industry analyst at just-auto.
Fiat, Ford, Renault and many others have got together with local partners and made a lot of vehicles, mainly for export.

"There's also a lot of demand coming from Turkey's domestic market, because the economy has boomed," he told CNN.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/12/06/turkey.taxi.future/index.html

Google Reader

Google Reader is a very useful for finding out information. It's good for me because i can find out tech information alot more quickly than usual.