New generation streaming, not downloading music

I just read this article on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/tech/web/music-streaming/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

It makes sense. Why download music anymore? There are so many good streaming services out there like Pandora and Spotify that downloading and owning music is almost a waste of time. I have Pandora on my computer and phone. So when I workout, I can turn on my favorite radio station and listen rather than creating a playlist on my iPod. My generation grew up with CDs then when I was 18 or so, Napster changed everything and we could create ‘mix’ CDs. Next iPod allowed us to download mp3s. Now it looks as if we are moving into a generation of streaming music due to cell phone data and very available wifi. Here is a little timeline of how this all happened:

1890s – Jukebox
1920 – radio becomes widely available with KDKA in Pittsburgh
1925 – records go on sale
1933 – FM radio
1964 – cassette tapes
1966 – 8 Track
1979 – Cassettes overtake 8 track and Sony Walkman introduced
1982 – CDs introduced and in 1988 they surpass sales of tapes
1990 – mp3 born
1995 – streaming music introduced
1999 – Napster
2000 – Pandora Radio
2003 – itunes
2008 – Spotify

Carat: Monitor what is using your phone’s battery

A group at UC Berkeley has developed an app called Carat that monitors your phones battery usage and then recommends what you can do to improve it. I just downloaded it last night and will report how well it works in a few days. Please note that this is different than battery saver apps which are designed to shut things down – those actually take up more battery.

Website: http://carat.cs.berkeley.edu/

Rumor: Microsoft launching tablet on Monday

Microsoft has plans to announce something big on Monday but at this point we do not know what. Rumors are that it will be a tablet to compete with iPad:

http://mashable.com/2012/06/14/microsoft-is-launching-an-ipad-killer-report/

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/15/will-microsoft-show-its-own-windows-8-tablet-on-monday/

What will this mean? Well we need to see the device. Kindle Fire is an awesome device that competes already and is doing really well. I have a Kindle Fire along with my iPad and I love both. Do we need more devices? Well the three markets that microsoft can really do well in are: Business, Movies, and Gaming. Right now none of the tablets are really business friendly – well Android ones are kind of but MS could add office. Companies are so limited when they decide to buy their employees iPads. A business friendly tablet would be nice. Movies – They could add netflix and amazon and with books they could add all the apps. This is good because iPad does  not allow amazon, amazon doesnt have nook, etc (though android has all). Finally gaming – xbox is the best gaming system and if they could find a way to really link the two together – like allowing users to somehow play their arcade purchases (or even real xbox games) ms would win the tablet war in a second. Everyone with an xbox would want it. Really though Android does most of this stuff and iPad is very popular. Can MS get a chunk of the market? I guess we will see.

Last day of class until August! What do professors do with their summers?

Even though summer has started at the university, I have been teaching a summer course: Computer Interface Design. The course was a blast. I taught HCI and design principles then went into Adobe Photoshop. I covered almost all of Photoshop and think my students really enjoyed the class. It was a lot of fun with some really good material that will be very useful to them when they leave UNCW and begin their careers. Now what do I do with the rest of my summer since I now have ‘off”? Well to be honest, I do not have off. Professors never really get time off. My job is my life so I am working everyday. I do not work for the sake of getting a paycheck (well I do to an extent) but I work to better our world, myself, education, my family, etc. My work is fun and I enjoy it. So this summer I will be finishing up a research paper, writing another, organizing 2 research studies for next year, collecting data for a research study, getting very familiar with mobile app development for the iPhone/iPad and Android based devices, and working a lot with HTML5 and Javascript. So over the next 8-10 weeks, those are my goals. I do plan to take a 2-3 week vacation at some point in July. Otherwise I am working all summer. Summers off? Not in higher ed…that is if you want to get promoted and be successful in your field.

Do all employees need social networking training?

A new start up company thinks so: http://mashable.com/2012/06/13/social-media-digital-royalty/

Personally I do not think they need training dedicated to it per se but some training on the topic can never hurt. That is unless employees are doing something they shouldnt be. I think this is no different than during new hire training when you learn to avoid sending emails out or instant messages out that might hurt the company. If anything, having training on social networking might actually give companies more say about your account…maybe? Maybe not but I think if anything a general training approach is not the answer, this training will need to be tailored to each companies culture to address their specific issue. So while this start up is a nice idea, I do not see why someone would hire them over the current trainers they use – social networking is not rocket science. A 13 year old could probably tell you what is appropriate and not. Additionally, many older employees are very conservative and hesitant towards these sites, so this type of training may only really be relevant to younger employees. Administrators can sort applications into productive and unproductive app groups to break down productiveness across different teams, departments, or individual employees. Work monitoring software goes beyond the core time tracking functionality of tracking clock-ins and clock–outs or managing schedules and workloads.

Verizon’s shared data plans

Well these plans seem to be terrible for people who use any amount of data. This will increase my plan and more than likely everyone’s. I mean who thought Verizon or ATT doing anything would save people money? The competition between these two is to see who can raise their prices the most. I currently am on the unlimited plan, so its $40 to add my line and I get unlimited data. Why should I pay the same for less?

Source: http://phandroid.com/2012/06/12/share-everything-family-plans-introduced-may-not-be-right-choice-for-everyone/

 

Facebook Launches App Store: Major Privacy Concern!!!!!

Well facebook has launched their app store for Android and Apple iOS users. So you can now download apps via their store but there is one issue: Facebook automatically tells me what apps my friends have and recommends apps to me based on their apps. Do they want me to know which apps they have? It tells me specifically who has what app. In my opinion this is kinda like someone looking at my browsing history because it actually is telling me what sites my friends used. For instance, it is telling me who has used match.com. I do not like this and I do NOT know how to stop it. Here is how to manage which apps can interact with facebook but this still doesnt solve the problem (actually it might, I just do not know for sure). If anyone knows how to prevent please let me know.

1. Log in to facebook
2. Go to privacy settings (top right corner for those on a PC)
3. Click ‘edit settings’ on the ads, apps, and websites section
4. On the apps you use section, click edit settings then edit the settings for each app

Facebook please make this easier to change.

Link to facebook app store: http://www.facebook.com/appcenter