Contact Lenses + The Future= Real Sci-fi

 Today people can walk around while having the option to either be known or unknown to the world. You don’t have to worry about people knowing who you are, what your name is, where you work, or where you live, unless you want to give them that information. Babak Parviz, an assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Washington is currently working on a project to develop “new contact lens embedded with electronic circuits.” The idea of these lenses is better known as “Bionic” Contacts because it seems to resemble the robotic vision from the Sci-Fi movie Terminator. The first “Bionic” lens could be on the market in the next 10 years if Parviz and his assistants have a few major breakthroughs in the near future. Parviz states that the lens could be used to improve eyesight, monitor a persons health, receive visual driving directions, revive information on buildings such as history and dimensions, and one day have face recognition.

Photograph courtesy University of Washington

This kind of new invention sounds amazing and the public would probably flip for it but that also means that some of our personal privacy could be gone within the next 20 to 30 years. Having the ability to know who you are talking to or passing by on the street may be helpful with contact lenses that have face recognition in specific situations. For example; if you are out and happen to meet a stranger it might be nice to know if they have a criminal record. Nevertheless just having instant access to a personas name could leave people more vulnerable than safe. As with all innovations, there are always going to be people who use it for good and those who choose to use it do harm. 

Intrigued? If so take a look at these two videos.

 

How do you feel about a future where anyone could have a bionic eye on you? 

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g1sjOQU-Yk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhdG9D_ARWY&feature=related

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/bigphotos/37595976.html

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080129-bionic-eye.html

Social Networking Sites: There’s one for every person.

Human beings are social creatures that need to have some sort of social interaction to stay healthy. For example in the popular game called “The Sims”, characters have a social meter that must be kept in good standing which is represented by a green line. The social meter is kept high by interacting with other Sims over the telephone, in person, or chatting over the internet. If a Sims social meter drops too low and turns red, a character called “The Social Bunny” appears to restore the Sims mental health. This game has been created to mimic human life and the fact that it has a social meter in correlation with a hunger, hygiene, energy, fun, and bladder meter shows the importance people place on socializing. So it’s no surprise that there are networking sites for all types of interests and people from around the world.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any creditable sources as to how many networking sites exist, but I did learn that there are approximately over 200 active social networking sites available. There are also numerous categories in which these sites fall into such as general, books, online games, music, green living, art, motherhood, travel, life experiences, and politics just to name a few. I have also realized that the top ranked networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster, and Hi5 are all under the category of general. The fact that all of these top ranked sites are under the same category may have some correlation to their popularity. In conclusion, I believe that as a person’s life becomes more hectic with work and family, people tend to seek out different ways to get personal advice and make new friends. As a result people turn to social networking sites to meet other men and woman with similar experiences or interests.

Sources:

http://thesims.ea.com/

http://www.askdeb.com/blog/internet/what-are-social-networking-sites/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_social_networking_websites

http://social-networking-websites-review.toptenreviews.com/

E-Shopping Benefits

In today’s world, businesses have made it easier for consumers around the world to reach their products through the use of e-marketing. Not only does e-marketing benefit businesses but it also benefits consumers in a big way. Through the use of the internet people are able to view advertisements for new products, view price comparisons between stores, and read customer reviews. All of these examples help people save more time, money, and energy than ever before.

For example if I need to buy a gift for a friend’s wedding but don’t have time to drive to all of the stores the couple is registered at, I can simply go to the store’s website instead. If the store has a wedding registry there will be a link on the store website to look up either the bride or groom by last name, city, and state. By going to the store’s website alone I can save hours of my life that I would have spent driving around the city in traffic. Using the online registry also allows me to view what items my friends would like, how much each of them cost, what items have already been purchased, and in what stores the items are available.  Another great option that websites offer is purchasing gifts online and having them delivered to the couple’s address, your own home, or store pickup.  

From this example I could save money on gas by not having to leave my home, and save money on the gift itself by choosing the item that best fits my price range. I can save time by searching for the gift at my leisure and not having to worry about store hours. Overall, I think most people would like any opportunity to save and I personally prefer to conserve my gas because gas prices keep rising.  

Sources

http://analogik.com/articles/231/e-marketing

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/regHome.asp

http://www.businessihub.com/e-marketing-the-right-way-to-display-your-product/

Can Social Networking Sites Affect Your Wellbeing?

When most people think of a social networking website, the first one that comes to mind is Facebook. This might be because Facebook has over 500 million active users or the movie The Social Network which is a chronicle of the founding of Facebook. Personally all of my closest friends and myself have a Facebook account and I strongly believe that it can affect a person’s emotional health. From my personal opinion and experiences, I have learned that people wear a “mask” on sites like Facebook and Myspace. What I mean by “mask” is that, people will only let you see what they want you to see and you should never be fooled by this “mask.” The photos people put up are often a signature smile in a flattering pose or with a majestic background. You will rarely see pictures of people looking angry or sad and that’s for a reason. No one wants the world to think their “crazy” or an “emotional mess.”

This leads me to my point, that social networking sites can affect your emotions. Although no one ever really shares their whole life’s story with the public, sharing only the good aspects of one’s life can make others feel inadequate or depressed. Have you ever looked at a friend’s profile to learn they have traveled the world, have a great job, and their life looks perfect? Well, it has happened to me and all I can think about is how these people are my same age and that they have already done so much with their life, and what have I done with mine. I know I shouldn’t compare myself to my friends but sorry to say it EVERYONE does it at one point or another.  More ways these sites affect people are as simple as a comment, deleting friends, sending invitations, sending personal messages, and posting a picture. Leaving a comment can be taken several different ways but the worst for most people is when a person doesn’t respond because that is a reply on its own. Not responding to a message or comment leaves the sender in the position to assume the reason why the recipient never wrote back, often leaving people feeling neglected or as if they are being avoided. Deleting a person you don’t talk to is perfectly fine but sometimes the person who was deleted feels hurt because they don’t understand why. Posting pictures can also have a dramatic role in friendships ending, losing jobs, and ruining a person’s image. All these examples I have just given can affect people to some degree.

Although I have only pointed out ways in which sites can be detrimental to a person’s health it can also help people feel connected to others. Overall a person’s state of mind will determine if a simple message, picture, or comment will affect them or not. So just remember the “mask’ that people wear is like seeing only the tip of an iceberg, there is still so much more under the water that you don’t see.

http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

http://www.thesocialnetwork-movie.com/

http://naturalbias.com/is-facebook-bad-for-your-health/

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2167947/can_being_on_facebook_hurt_your_career.html

Electronic Payments: It’s fast, but is it safe?

In today’s world people want everything fast. They want to finish school fast, they want to move out fast, they want to have a high paying job fast, and so forth. Unfortunately or fortunately for most people that’s not how life works. Certain things in life take time for a reason. When you go to a doctor, wouldn’t you hope that they went through years of schooling and training before mastering their field? If I found out my doctor took only a few tests and got a certificate, I would run the other way as fast as humanly possible. I believe it’s no different with technology.

Cell phones and computers have all taken years to become as useful as they are today but there are some aspects of this technology that aren’t completely fool proof just yet, such as electronic payments. Although we believe some websites to be a 100% secure, they never truly are. There’s always going to be people out in the world that are willing to take your personal information if it will benefit them in some way or another. Hackers for example commit cyber crimes all the time because they can hide behind a computer screen without leaving a single trace of their identity. These hackers are constantly looking for holes in companies’ software to take advantage of the situation and steal whatever they can. 

I personally prefer to pay cash when making payments but I have succumb to making electronic payments for credit cards, SunPass, and buying gifts online. The main reason why I gave in to electronic payments is for the same reason most people do it’s fast and easy, but it’s always in the back of my mind that anyone could steal my identity and I might not know it. As a result I constantly ask myself “how can I get all my information off the internet? “ Unfortunately people can steal your personal information even if you haven’t made an electronic payment. For example during my years studying at my university I have received 2 letters in the mail informing me that my personal information might have been stolen by a hacker and that I need to put a fraud alert on all my personal accounts and check my credit reports.  

In conclusion, technology dealing with electronic payments, in my opinion is not as secure or trustworthy as business like us to believe.  May be in the future securing personal information while making payments will be better, but there will always be someone out there looking for new ways to steal your information. 

Sources:

http://www.electronicsweekly.com/Articles/2010/06/02/48763/At-least-31-of-companies-have-been-hacked.htm 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2774477.stm 

https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/11436-The-Real-Business-Impact-of-Being-Hacked.html 

http://business2press.com/2011/02/07/nasdaq-directors-desk-computer-systems-hacked-confirmed/