Conclusion

As the semester is coming to an end we would like to thank you all for following us this past semester. As a required part of our Information Systems Management course we have greatly enjoyed the freedom to post what we think is relevant in today's Information technology society.
We hope that you as a reader have taken something away from reading our blog these past few months.

Much thanks,

Alex, Jordan, Marie

Augmented Reality Layar

Connections is the focus of this application.  It uses images from a broad spectrum of tools from smartphones to tablets and stacks related information on top of it.  These connections are made in the form of videos, sounds, or photos. It brings you into a reality you didn't even know existed until Layar opens your eyes.  The app brings in a whole new feature of print that is new and allows users to interact with traditional adds.  Currently Layar is the top platform for Augmented Reality.  The downloads are above thirty-five million including both Android and iOS. So who is using it?  One of the oldest magazines Readers Digest is using this application to initiate interaction beyond reading each issue.  With a price of $20 a page it is easily affordable for just about any curios creator to test the process.

 

Watch it in action:

 

Such thing as too much memory?

As an avid PC gamer I have always been trying to follow the "best of the best" in the PC world. Most PC gamers decide to build their own desktop PC. The reason for this is to update outdated hardware with ease, and without needing to replace their whole machine.

One of the most important aspects when building a gaming PC is the GPU, Or graphics card. Recently a 2GB graphics card has been considered to be in the "high-performance" range depending on the other aspects of your machine. Personally on my machine I have a 2GB GPU and have never had issues.
With technology always getting better and cheaper, especially memory. NVIDIA has now created a GPU or graphics card that has 12GB of DDR5 memory called the Tesla K40. This is such a large amount that it is hard to even imagine what you would need it for. I think this demonstrates that technology has no limit and will continue to grow and become less expensive. Who knows, maybe 5 years from now ipads will only be $100.

-Alex

What Not to Wear

Wearable technology seems to be a big buzz topic this year, with the unveiling of the Samsung Gear line, which for now only features their watch, and Google Glass having a targeted release for next year. Having your tech gear be wearable brings on a wide array of implications for every area of technology. For social media, having a camera that can shoot from your point of view at any time allows users to post an increasing amount of things from their lives to their preferred media. It also allows for new innovations with navigation, allowing the directions to be directly placed in your field of vision with Glass' heads up display. Another big advancement is 'pay per gaze' advertising that Google is rumored to be looking into based on a patent application. Their patent uses the camera on glass to determine what a wearer is looking at. This patent would have a lot of interesting uses, allowing a computer to determine what information to display based on how long a user looks at different items. However it also allows for a new idea in advertising.. This sort of advertising would allow advertisers to truly only pay for what they get, only shelling out when a viewer looks at their advertisement, if they only glance quickly and close, a certain amount, if their gaze stays for a long time, they pay more.

     Their a lot of serious implications that come with these advancements. Is it truly safe to have your directions placed right in your environment, or will it prove to be a fatal distraction to drivers? As far as privacy goes, would you really want an advanced hacker to be able to tap into a camera on your face and being able to see what you see any time you wear the devices. I can also imagine a lot of people being uncomfortable with the idea of companies collecting and analyzing what you look at in your life to determine their next advertising campaign.

    Over all, the idea of wearable technology is still in its infancy, with only a few serious contenders out there. However, if there are enough early adopters to convince the industry that it could be profitable, we could see the majority of the population with it sooner than you think.

Revolutionizing Home Design

Make your renovations or new home seen through your eyes

Past unstable markets and the boom of Pinterest have pushed home owners or renters to be more creative in home design.  Pinterest has inspired many to redesign the space they have or picture the future of a "fixer-up" that falls in their price range.  Envisioning a finished master piece is no easy task if you can't get past the mismatch kitchen cupboard and on the other end if one wanted to build a home where do even you begin?  I have found several sites which are; free to use (at least demo), easy to manage, and most importantly give you the ability to see your design put together.

Key Features:

Demension:
Amongst the CAD (Computer-Aided Design) sites I have found allow the user has access to both 2D and 3D floor plans.  Three dimensional floor plans are a great way to see your plans from all angles, some sites such as Floor Planner, are great for this visual.


Prebuilt Floor Pans:
Looking to optimize your space, this is the feature for you.  Prebuilt plans work wonders for a user who is looking to design a specific room or has a typical layout.  These plans give the bones of a floor plan from here it is up to user to adjust to specific dimensions a room has.  Personally I have used this feature myself to find new ways to rearrange furniture in rooms with many obstacles such as; windows, doors, closets, and outlet placement.


Prints:
For those of you looking to build or remodel and don't know where to start when you meet your contractor, print off your vision and bring it.  Although CAD gives you freedom to design to your hearts content keeping budget in mind because, who wants to be told "It can't be done on that budget"  So my tip keep it simple for the first meeting give the contractor perspective on your style but don't create something so unobtainable you will end up crushed.

-Marie

Hacking: Is the term being over used?

I am no professional hacker, but IT security has always been a big interest for me. After competing in the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition my Junior year of College, and learning about different methods; DOS,DDOS,SQL Injection, and others. Compared to the average college student, I would consider myself to be quite aware and knowledgeable of IT Security and hacking.

Hacking is defined as:

• Use a computer to gain unauthorized access to data in a system.

• Gain unauthorized access to (data in a computer).

So why am I arguing that the term is over used?
We have all seen Social Media posts where someone leaves their computer on and their friend makes a status for them, usually a joke, then claiming they "hacked" their friend. That is not hacking, that is simply your friend leaving their computer on, and you using it.


The news is also starting to use this term when it is not necessary as well. On October 15th Yahoo News released an article titled "'Place Hacking': New global movement to find adventure in forbidden places".
The article explains how these "hackers" are sneaking onto old military bases, hospitals, and other locations and calling it "place hacking".
10 years ago this would simply be called Trespassing: Entering land without proper permission. Relating to my definition of hacking above, you can see there is no computer use here, and no gain of data from a computer by an individual simply walking on a piece of land. So yet again this is not hacking.

In conclusion, as technology becomes more prevalent in everyone's daily lives, people should understand terms related with different technologies before using them. This same method of understanding something before saying it holds true to almost everything. For example: Being a passenger on a plane does not mean I know anything about flying it, or being a Pilot.

-Alex

Windows 8.1 is Here!

The next big thing is here again! Microsoft officially released 8.1 as an update on October 17th. The biggest feature to return is the start button. Although it doesn't exactly mimic its older counterpart it is still nice to have the button back.

Other features include the ability to split apps at any point on the screen, instead of just at the thirds. 8.1 also allows for multiple apps to run at once on different screens. Finally, the benefit I found the most critical, the drivers for windows have all been improved. The update was released in a beta version as a .iso file a long time ago, however, users with this version will have to re-install their regular windows, and re-install their apps.

From the launch of the new operating system, Microsoft has been plagued with complaints over how not user-friendly the interface is for non-touch screen systems. I personally have not experienced any undue difficulty with operating without a touch screen beyond a relatively short learning curve. I've grown to embrace the new apps, and the side-by-side views. I am definitely in the minority on this one. Whether Microsoft has solved all of their problems remains to be seen.

Search Engine Optimization and Google

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is intended to increase a website's visibility and click-ability on search engine results pages, in particular Google.  The ultimate goal is to have a high ranking organic search.  Organic results are purely dependent on search engines model for delivering relevant search results.  Second to organic are paid results which are often pay-per-click and appear at the very top and right hand side of results page.  Various methods can get a site to prime organic or paid spots.

Organic:

 There are three classifications in ethics related to SEO.  White hats are at the top of their ethics game and avoid questionable methods.  Next there are gray hats they have a tendency to take some ethical liberties.  Black hats use unethical tactics such as gateway pages, cloaking, and link farms.  Acting as a white hat in promoting a site can take the form of proper title, meta-tags, and descriptions which aid in guiding search engines in finding sites being promoted.

Paid:

Google paid results are populated based on three criteria relevance to the search, click through rate, and landing page quality. This insures that all parties involved are satisfied.  Advertisers are paying for proper placement, users are finding relevant results and Google is fulfilling its intended mission.




-Marie

Googles Operating System

For those who are not aware, Google is now launching an Operating System called Chromium OS. Chromium will be an OS designed for users who primarily use their computers for surfing the web. Google states that their goal is to create "an open-source project that aims to build an operating system that provides a fast, simple, and more secure computing experience for people who spend most of their time on the web"

Open Source is defined as: denoting software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified.
Yes you heard that right the Google operating system will be FREE.

As you can see in the following screenshot. Chromium OS is attempting a minimalist approach in the user interface. While the default programs seen are very minimal and simple (Just a web browser, and an email client). Google will also have multiple apps available to download on the OS.




One great app you may find useful is something Google is referring to as "Chromoting" which is simply a remote desktop connection to your computer at home.While Chromoting you will be able to run your home computer remotely from the device that you have Chromium OS installed on, and have access to all of the files on your home computer. For those of you wondering about current Android apps native to Google as well, yes there will still be Netflix on Chromium OS!
The Chromium OS will roll out on Chromebooks, which are basically Google Netbooks. These devices generally have a small amount of internal storage using a Solid State Drive or SSD, so Google has already gone a step ahead an incorporated the Google drive to help manage your files. If you chose to opt-out of Google drive as I had mentioned before native Android apps will work, so options such as Dropbox will be available as well.


This is a great example on how Cloud Computing is becoming the next big thing. Google has always been a power player in the IT world, and it should be exciting to see how Chromium OS turns out.

-Alex

Windows Mobile - The iPhone killer, or the next Zune?

Windows Mobile is attempting a comeback in a big way. Since Microsoft first began their work in the mobile market in 1990 they have never been quite successful. Their latest attempt is the Nokia Lumia series. These phones run the Windows Phone 8 Operating System, the latest offered by Microsoft. The new OS falls in line with Microsoft's strategy to unify user interfaces across all of your devices. WP8 features the 'live tiles,' similar to Windows 8 for computers, that can show real time updates from news sources, social media, and other applications. The biggest selling point, judging by their marketing campaign, is the 41 megapixel camera that comes with the Lumia 1020. That is 3 times more than the Samsung Galaxy S4 (13mp) and 5 times more than the iPhone 5s (8 mp). However, I for one am not convinced that this feature alone can push Nokia/Microsoft into a serious contender in the smartphone market.

This biggest drawback to running a Windows Phone that I see are the apps. According to pcworld.com, the Windows Marketplace just reached 100,000 apps in July. In comparison, the Apple App store hit 775,000 as of January 2013 (about.com), and Google Play, the primary android app store, reached 1,000,000 in July 2013 (readwrite.com). While I'm sure that the Windows numbers will continue to grow, they have a lot of ground to catch up to keep up with Apple and Google.

Leaving Apple in the Dust

Last week we talked about the craze  or flop of the iPhone 5C and 5S, this week let's move forward and talk about the moto X by Motorola.  This phone has transformed Apple's Sirri concept into something much more powerful.  Beyond that it has taken the idea of customization to a whole new level.

Voice Commands:

Apple's, like the majority of smartphones, voice commands currently are not completely hands free.  The moto X however, went that extra step for it's customers and has become literally hands free.  As each device begins to recognize your voice the possibilities are endless.  You don't have to be next to your phone or have the display on to execute a command. Because, the display doesn't have to be active users can even set alarms without  running the risk of blinding themselves. 

Customization:

I think it's a fair conclusion that moto X one upped iPhone again in the customization aspect.  The iPhone 5C currently comes in five vibrant colors and iPhone 5S is available in three metallic styles.  There is no disputing this is an improvement over the standard black and white options previously available but, when you compare it to the near 2000 ways to mix and match options up for grabs on the moto X it seams much less impressive. A few ascetic features which are customization include but are not limited to both the back and front cover as well as the buttons.

In closing can you as a consumer look beyond the iPhone craze and venture into the new technology the first Google based Motorola has to offer?

New iPhones, Old Technology?

We have all heard about the new iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C, But are they really that new? In this post I will share my opinions on these new phones and what new customers can expect.

First off we can review that the Apple, and the iPhone has come a long way since their debut in 2007. iPhones were the first phones that really got users to use their device as more than just a phone, Apps now came into play and expanded the mobile market to an all time high. While smartphones hold about 56% of the market share for mobile devices Apple comfortable holds around 25% of that share. Here are some points that I think Apple is missing out on.

RFID Technology:

For those of you who haven't heard of RFID technology it is something that Android has been creating a strong market for over the past years. RFID is also known as NFC or Near Field Communication. This started simply as beaming a photo to someone across the table, and has now evolved to using your phone as a credit card at almost any store that has a card scanner.  The iPhone has always been explained as something the is "revolutionary" or that will change the world, But if this is so then why are they excluding a technology which is strongly growing in the past year from their new devices?

IOS 7 Movement Detection Software is old news:

One of the largest selling points to the public in my opinion is the introduction of the movement detection software included in the new IOS 7. The goal of this is that your iPhone will track and store locations you frequent, such as your home or work. With this stored information you can access a screen that will provide information about these locations. For example when I wake up my iPhone can let me know approximately how long it will take me to commute to work given the traffic conditions which are updated with RSS feeds.

I don't know about you but this sound exactly like Google Now to me, which has been out since July of 2012. Looking at the screenshot to the left you can see the same information based off of frequently visited locations.

I think Apple is making a smart decision by including this technology after seeing its success with Android devices, but why exclude RFID?

Fingerprint Scanner:

Here is another example of something that has been done in that past that Apple is claiming to be revolutionary. The fingerprint scanner included in the new iPhone 5S.  The Motorola Atrix was released in 2011 and had a fully functional fingerprint scanner. The fact here is that it never really caught on, it simply just put another security precaution on the phone. For example all iPhones now have added security features such as a pin number unlock, but how many people honestly use that? Will the fingerprint scanner actually catch on with Apples new attempt? It should be interesting to see how this plays out.  

In conclusion I think that many people are very excited for the new iPhones, but I also think that people should step out of their comfort zones and explore additional options outside of Apple devices to find similar technology at a more affordable price. With the 5C introduced as a more "affordable" option for an Apple device it should be interesting to see how the market plays out. Will users chose an Android platform available on multiple devices with the same technology and a little more experience in these new technologies such as RFID and Movement Tracking? Or will they take the leap with Apple as the venture into the market again with their new devices? We will just have to wait and see.

-Alex Maslyn

Introductions

The Awesome Technologies blog is authored by Jordan Weak, Marie Pistek, and Alex Maslyn. We are three students from the University of Northern Iowa studying Management Information Systems. Over the course of the following semester and possibly beyond we will be talking about various technological subjects that interest us. But first, a little more about ourselves:

Jordan 

Hi, my name is Jordan Weak. I am a senior year student here at the University of Northern Iowa. I currently work for John Deere as a Part Time Student Employee working on various Info Systems projects to support the Power Systems department. I first became interested in computers all the way back when MySpace was still cool. I searched high and low through Google to convert my "Top 8" to a "Top 12" list of friends. Seeing the way that simple piece of code worked like magic is what sparked my interests. My main focus in technology is database design and application development.

Alex

My name is Alex Maslyn. I am a senior at the University of Northern Iowa persuing a degree in Management Information Systems with a Minor in Computer Science, with my degree I will also achieve a Computer Applications Certificate. I am actively seeking a full-time position in the IT consulting field specifically in Application Development. 

In my prior jobs, I worked as a Visual Basic Developer and SharePoint administrator for John Deere; Where I have designed and developed an engine tracking application used worldwide by John Deere Original equipment engineers, and the EPA to monitor regulations. I have also had experience with IT Consulting Internship at McGladrey on an Application Development team, where I focused on programming custom applications for 9 different clients primarly in C#.  Both of these positions required that I complete tasks on schedule with great attention to detail.

Outside of working and class I am also the President in the Management Information Systems Association or MISA. Information Technology has always been a passion of mine, and I am excited to share my thoughts on this blog.

Marie

My name is Marie Pistek. I am a senior at the University of Northern Iowa double majoring in Real Estate and Management Information Systems. Currently I work at John Deere Power Systems in the OEM (Original Engine Manufacturing) Department. My position entails both ordering and shipping prototype parts for customers worldwide. Beyond that, two colleagues and I are responsible for data management. This includes development, population and maintenance of several Access databases used within our team. Through this I have gained a year’s experience working with SAP, Business Objects and Excel Macros to develop automated reports. Several of which are displayed for external customers. I have found the value and power in team working skills, the ability to network efficiently and a strong work ethic.