Tag: The Internet of Things

Personal Technology Stories You Might Have Missed January 12 – 23, 2015

Linda Reimer

Article 1: Presidential Speeches That Include References To Technological Innovation: The first recommend article is from the Washington Post and it takes a look back at past presidential speeches that mention “modern” technology as an innovative tool. The list includes a few lines from John Quincy Adams on the subject of the growing of railroad technology, moves on to note Andrew Jackson mentioning the innovative power of stream, Lincoln offering words on the subject of the first global communications technology – the telegraph and goes all the way forward to 2015 when President Obama mentioned Instagram in his 2015 State of the Union Address – history and technology mixed together – cool!

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/01/21/the-first-mentions-of-technological-innovations-in-state-of-the-union-messages-catalogued/

Bump, Philip. (21 January, 2015). The first mentions of technological innovations in State of the Union messages, catalogued. The Washington Post. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 2: Technology Has Not Made Life More Stressful: Article 2discusses how many people think that the modern technology has made life more stressful, when in fact many people find the new communications technologies to be stress relievers as they allow people to more easily connect with family and friends.

Here’s the link to the article

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/16/upshot/technology-has-made-life-different-but-not-necessarily-more-stressful.html?ref=technology&_r=0

Miller, Claire Cain. (15 January, 2015). Technology Has Made Life Different, but Not Necessarily More Stressful. The New York Times. Online. Accessed January 15, 2015.

Article 3: New Features of iOS 8: This article is for iPhone & iPad users who’d like to know more about the new features of Apple’s latest mobile software upgrade – iOS 8. The new features include the ability to ask Siri, Apple’s virtual assistant, questions hands free while your device is plugged in as it might be while you’re in a car, the ability to use third party keyboards and the option to ask Siri to identify a song that is playing. The article comes with a video review found at the following link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/15/technology/personaltech/tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-apple-ios-8.html

Wood, Molly. (14 January, 2015). Getting the Most Out of Apple iOS 8. The New York Times. Online. Accessed January 15, 2015.

Article 4: Fitness Trackers: This “article” is actually a funny video review of some of the most popular fitness trackers by the always fun Wall Street Journal Tech columnist Joanna Stern:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/review-best-fitness-trackers-to-get-you-up-off-the-couch-1418760813?mod=ST2

Stern, Joanna. (16 December, 2014). Review: Best Fitness Trackers to Get You Up Off The Couch. The Wall Street Journal. Online. Accessed January 13, 2015.

Article 5: The Basic Gist of The Term The Internet of Things:  If you’ve heard the term “The Internet of Things” and wondered what exactly that means – then this article is for you! Re/Code tech columnist Bonnie Cha offers an accessible explanation of just what that term means and how the technology is advancing in that integrated direction.

Here’s the link to the article:

http://recode.net/2015/01/15/a-beginners-guide-to-understanding-the-internet-of-things/

Cha, Bonnie. (15 January, 2015). A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding the Internet of Things. re/code. Online. Accessed January 15, 2015.

Article 6: Google Translate Update: Google Translate has recently had an update and this link is to a video that shows how you can now have a conversation with someone speaking another language by using the software:

http://www.cnet.com/videos/hold-conversations-using-google-translate/

How To Video: Hold conversations using Google Translate. CNET. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 7: Windows 10 Is Coming In 2015! (And the Start Menu will return!): This BBC article offers some basic info on the new Windows 10 operating system that Microsoft will be unrolling later this year:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-30924022

Kelion, Leo. (21 January, 2015). Windows 10 to get ‘holographic’ headset and Cortana. BBC. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 8: Windows 10 Holographic Headset: Windows 10 is being unveiled later this year along with a cool new holo headset that allows you to

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/21/7867593/microsoft-announces-windows-holographic

Savov, Vlad. (21 January, 2015). Microsoft announces Windows Holographic with HoloLens headset. The Verge. Online. Accessed January 21, 2015.

Article 9: Microsoft Founder Bill Gates Will Be Guest Editor On The Verge Site In February:  Bill Gates will offer guest editorials on the tech site The Verge in February focusing on how technology will make the world a better place in the next 15 years:

http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/22/7870497/bill-gates-interview-future-verge-guest-editor

Patel, Nilay. (22 January, 2015). Bill Gates is guest-editing The Verge in February: Technology will build a better, safer, healthier world by 2030. The Verge. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 10: HBO Standalone Web Service Coming In 2015: Sometime this year HBO will be rolling out a paid standalone subscription service so you won’t need a cable

http://recode.net/2015/01/22/will-hbo-on-the-web-pull-the-plug-on-pay-tv-survey-says-yep/

Kafka, Peter. (22 January, 2015). Will HBO on the Web Pull the Plug on Pay TV? Survey Says: Yep! re/code. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 11: Amazon – Good For Readers or Not?  This “article” consists of a short article from NPR and a podcast of 50 minutes on the subject of whether or not Amazon’s e-book practices are good for readers. Essentially, the podcast offers a debate on the subject; on the pro side author Jon Konrath & Matthew Yglesias executive editor of vox.com, a digital news company, and on the con side Franklin Foer the former editor of The New Republic and author and lawyer Scott Turow.

Here’s the link:

http://www.npr.org/2015/01/22/378889431/debate-is-amazon-the-readers-friend

Debate Is Amazon The Reader’s Friend? NPR. Online. Accessed January 22, 2015.

Article 12: The Battle For Net Neutrality Goes On: And this last article is an NPR offering on the subject of just what will happen later this year when the FCC rules on Net Neutrality & how congress will influence this new rules.

Here’s the link:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/01/21/378844286/critics-say-republican-net-neutrality-plan-strips-fcc-s-power

Rose, Joel. (21 January, 2015). The Battle Over Open-Internet Rules Shifts To Congress. NPR. Online. Accessed January 21, 2015.

And remember if you need assistance in learning how to use a new e-reader, tablet, computer or smartphone, or a new piece of software you can go to the library and get assistance for free!

Our Digital Literacy Services staff are happy to assist you in learning how to use hardware and software so contact us for a free one-on-one session today!

Give us call: 607-936-3713 or send an email to us at the following email address: DIGLIT@STLS.ORG

Kindle Matchbook, The Growing Internet of Things & Hugo Award Winners Announced

Linda Reimer

Kindle Matchbook: Amazon issued a press release this morning to announce a new service they’ll be launching in October called the Kindle Matchbook. This new service will allow Amazon customers who purchase or have previously purchased a new print book from Amazon to purchase the e-book edition for a cheap price of under $3. And in some cases those same print book buyers will even be able to obtain an e-book version of the same title they’ve already purchased in print for free!

Additionally of note, this new service works with more than 10,000 books printed by a variety of publishers and is retroactive to 1995. Translation – if you have purchased a print book from Amazon by one of the publishers whose titles are available in the Amazon Matchbook library anytime between 1995 and the present you can purchase the Kindle price for less than $3 and in some cases the e-book will be free for you to download! Amazon hasn’t offered a list of all the 10,000 books that will fall under the umbrella of this program but still it cool! And some of the qualifying titles include books written by Jodi Picoult, James Rollins, Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Neil Gaiman, Jo Nesbo & J. A. Jance.

Here’s a link to an Engadget article on the new Kindle Matchbook service:

http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/03/kindle-matchbook/

And a link to Amazon’s rather dry press release on the same subject:

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1851331&highlight=

The Growing Internet of Things: The term “The Internet of Things” refers to the ways that we can use the Internet 23/7/365 in our increasingly Internet connected high tech world to access and share data, to remotely control devices (like turning the lights in your house via a an app on your smartphone while you are at work) and ordering items online for delivery in the physical world. This is a concept that is growing in relevance as computers, smartphones and tablets are joined in the space of everyday items always being connected to the Internet by household appliances, cars and other devices.

National Geographic offers a short article today on the “Internet of Things” which offers additional information.

Here’s the link:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130830-internet-of-things-technology-rfid-chips-smart/

And the Washington Post offers a related article on the subject which sheds a brighter light on how homes are becoming smart and their owners are thus better able to keep track of what is going on in their homes when they’re not there.

The article is titled “The Internet of Things” and here’s the link:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-29/business/41594783_1_smartphone-users-devices-kickstarter

Hugo Award Winners Announced: The 2013 Hugo Award Winners for the best Science Fiction and fantasy works of 2013 have been announced. The best novel of the year is  “Redshirts” by John Scalzi, the best novella “The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson, the best novelette “The Girl-Thing Who Went Out for Sushi” by Pat Cardigan and the best short story “Mono no Aware” by Ken Liu.

And you can read more about all of the Hugo Award winners for this year and even access free samples of their award winning works at the Media Bistro site – here’s the link:

http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/2013-hugo-award-winners-revealed_b77103

Have a great day!

Linda R.

References

Amazon Press Room: Latest News. Amazon. Online. Accessed September 3, 2013, http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=176060&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1851331&highlight=

Boog, Jason. (2013, September 3). Sample the Best Science Fiction of 2013. Media Bistro. Online. Accessed September 3, 2013, http://www.mediabistro.com/galleycat/2013-hugo-award-winners-revealed_b77103

Cooper, Daniel. (2013, September 3). Amazon launches Kindle Matchbook: discounted e-books for those who own the hard copy. Engadet. Online. Accessed September 3, 2013,http://www.engadget.com/2013/09/03/kindle-matchbook/

Howard, Brian Clark. (2013, August 30). How the “Internet of Things” May Change the World. National Geographic. Online. Accessed September 3, 2013. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/08/130830-internet-of-things-technology-rfid-chips-smart/

Ravindranath,  Mohana. (2013, August 29). Building the ‘Internet of things.’ The Washington Post. Online. Accessed September 3, 2013, http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-08-29/business/41594783_1_smartphone-users-devices-kickstarter