Technology Helping Expression

Many parents and teachers of children with special needs wonder if using technology to communicate is a good idea, or if it will stifle and get in the way of oral speech production. Application development has definitely come a long way in this area of technology. As children progress through typical stages of language development, they are usually quick to find oral speech to be the easiest and fastest way to get a message across. But for some children with a variety of speech, cognitive or physical impairments, verbal speech is not an effective way to communicate. It's important to remember that we communicate in many different ways. We use facial expressions, gestures and body language, writing and oral speech, to name a few. If verbal speech is impeded, assistive technology can help them discover the joys of expressing themselves. One of the best devices are the tablets where children can use apps that have pictures and sounds to get across whatever it is that they want to say. What do you think about the help of technology when there are impairments in either speech or other forms of expression?

Pay Attention

As you are reading this post, I bet that you have other things to do such as getting back to web development project or answer the emails that are piling up in your inbox. You are also probably chatting on Facebook, checking your phones, and trying to do something else. There is only one way to avoid this situation, which no one ever does because there's too much risk. The first is to all out shut down your phone and all forms of social media. This includes phone powered down entirely, not even glancing at Facebook for a second, and even avoiding Gmail because Google had the genius idea of making that social. The risk that exists in this situation is the fact that if, on the off-chance, something actually important happens, you will forever be blamed for not helping. I have found that because of all the technology and constant connectivity, people, myself included, have found it near impossible to even stay focused on the conversation topic. I have been in the middle of a sentence, and had friends start talking about a completely different event that happened. Try to keep track of the conversation and all you will end up with is a headache.

Daylight Saving Time

Though the biannual ritual of turning clocks might feel like second nature to us today, it is actually a fairly new phenomenon that has only taken effect on a global scale within the past several decades (though many countries including Venezuela, Kenya and Saudi Arabia still don't partake in it today). Benjamin Franklin suggested the idea back in 1784, as a way to economize on sunlight and burn fewer candles during winter mornings and nights, but the practice did not become steadily official in the United States until Congress passed the Uniform Time Act in 1966, with the same intention of saving energy. An increase in cyberloafing — the slang word for surfing the Web for personal entertainment during work hours while internet faxes should be answered — may not be as life-threatening as heart attacks and workplace injuries, but it can cost companies thousands of salary wages flushed down the Internet tube.

Personal Computing

Personal computing is becoming a lot more personal these days. This is not talking about the ads that are tailored to what is in your inbox although that aspect has a completely separate dimension of its own. In the era of handheld computing, the value extends beyond the hardware and into the software, which is something that the software developers have to take into account as well as the operating systems. When a product becomes personal and intimate, good enough is not good enough. Consumers want the best product for their needs, and cheap is not always the best choice. Due to its personal nature, this market will support a wide variety of choices. In fact, not only will smartphones will prove this true, but so will wearable computing. We will see a wide variety of wearable devices all focused on providing specific value propositions for segments of the market that value them.

Erase Yourself

JustDelete.me is a page full of links -- not ugly blue hyperlinks but links disguised as buttons. Each button represents an online service; anything from LinkedIn to even internet phone services such as Skype to Wikipedia. Click a button and JustDelete.me will take you to the page on that online service that allows you to delete your account. If you click the "show info" link under each button, meanwhile, JustDelete.me will tell you, in plain English, how to delete your account from that site. It does not get any better or easier than that. Buttons are color-coded: a green button means deleting your account is easy, a yellow button means it's moderately difficult, red means it's hard and black (uh-oh) means "it's impossible to delete your account on this site." Turns out some sites love your data so much they won't remove it. Ever. In addition to its primary purpose of teaching people how to delete their accounts -- and serving as a one-stop shop for people who want to pare down their online presence -- JustDelete.me publicly shames services that don't let users remove their data. And for those who haven't yet created eternal accounts on these types of sites, including Netflix, Pinterest or Pastebin, JustDelete.me serves as a warning that some sites will never let you go.

Be Mindful

We are all teachers in one form or another. Some of us get paid to teach while others teach and do not even know that impact that they have on people. Those teachers that do it for a living are at risk for feeling burnt out and one of the ways to prevent that is for them to practice mindfulness. Mindfulness strategies can help lower stress, improve self-compassion and boost classroom organization among teachers. It is one of those techniques that can span different subjects and needs to be incorporated more into the education system. When solving complex problems and working to create a solution, mindfulness can really help, especially when things need to be put into perspective. When creating cloud systems for different clients, the AB- Soft team interacts with the business owners and then interprets their goals in order to create a custom program and application. Mindfulness comes into play when energy needs to be focused and the right product delivered.

Password Alternatives

We all know that passwords need to extremely secure and that need has increased with the advancements that have been made in technology. There have been several alternatives to the standard password that are much more secure and "unguessable". It is very important with the wide spread of communication services and financial services that are done over the internet. One of the alternatives is the radio frequency identification which is a chip that is injected into the body. When it is hit by a radio signal, it emits its own which functions as a password. Another interesting option is a heartbeat. Every person's heartbeat is unique -- so unique that no pattern of beats ever repeats twice. This may make heartbeats perfect passwords; Taiwanese scientists have recently devised a heartbeat-utilizing encryption scheme based on the mathematics of chaos theory. Currently the system is still a prototype but it looks very promising.

Best Buy Might Sell Google Glass

Google Glass is voice-controlled, Internet-connected eyewear that allows users wear to take pictures, video conference, check email and perform a variety of other functions. Best Buy didn't deny that it plans to sell Google's much-anticipated computerized eyewear, Google Glass, after a famed tech blogger reported a rumored partnership earlier this week. But the big-box store also didn't confirm the rumors. Best Buy is considering devoting up to 6,000 square feet per store to display Google products, including Google Glass. This makes sense, since you really need to try Glass before buying it to see if it's for you and you also need to have it fitted to your face. I still have to wonder what type of problems this tech would be solving. It would be pretty cool and I think I would go try them out just to see if I really like them but right now, I feel like there is no pressing need for them. What are your thoughts on the Google Glass?

Digital Footprints

How much energy do you think that smartphone in your pocket uses? Turns out that when you tally up the charging and data usage, it is about 361 kWh a year on average. That is more than a medium refrigerator. That is definitely something to think about when doing all the application development. The mobile industry is not going anywhere so it is good to realize just how much energy the digital economy uses, not just the individual uses. The iPhone is just one reason why the information-communications-technologies (ICT) ecosystem, otherwise known as the digital economy, demands such a large and growing amount of energy. The global ICT system includes everything from smartphones to laptops to digital TVs to — especially — the vast and electron-thirsty computer-server farms that make up the backbone of what we call “the cloud.” At a gas station, for instance, the immediate cost and the smell of petrol is a potent reminder that we’re consuming energy. The digital economy is built on the sensation of seamlessness—but it still comes with a utility bill.

New LG Smartphone

LG came out with a new smartphone recently and it has several great things about it and some not so great. The most curious thing about the G2 is the placement of its power and volume buttons on the phone’s rear panel, rather than the sides. This allows for a narrower bezel (the area between the screen and the edges of the phone), but LG says it also lines up with where people’s fingers rest naturally. To wake the phone without reaching behind for the power button, you can simply tap the screen twice. The G2 continues LG’s tradition of packing lots of raw power into its flagship phones, with a 2.26 GHz quad-core processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 2.1-megapixel front camera, and a whopping 3,000 mAh battery. LG’s also throwing in an infrared blaster for controlling your home TV and stereo, similar to the ones found on the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One. Even though the mobile application development is right on the money, keep in mind that there’s no microSD card slot–just 16 GB or 32 GB of built-in storage–and the battery is non-removable. Mainly, it’s just a big, powerful, plastic phone with a huge battery to match.

Rather Dumb High Tech

Did you ever wonder why in the world people are always trying to fix something that is not broken? If you didn't, I will tell you anyway: they just want credit for fixing it and it is usually in the form of money. Take gaming. It used to be simple and straightforward. You bought a game, put it in the console, and started playing. These days, the software and application development people have gone so far as to sucker us into the 24/7 gaming. It is always on. Now the box has to be connected to another box that is connected to the internet and knows your credit card number. What a way to deter piracy and secondhand sales.

Protecting Privacy

These days, privacy is hard to come by. I guess the question is whether there is such a thing anymore. Also, you would be surprised to find out just how much your personal information such as email addresses, phone service numbers, and the like are worth to different types of businesses and hackers. Take a look at your social media profiles and keep them barren—the people who need to know your birth date, email address and phone number already have them. And what exactly is the point of sharing everything about yourself in your profile? Think twice about sharing your social security number with anyone, unless it’s your bank, a credit bureau, a company that wants to do a background check on you or some other entity that has to report to the IRS. Another thing that you can do is make sure that you turn on private browsing which will delete cookies, temporary internet files, and browsing history once you close the window. Every company that advertises online is interested in knowing what sites you visit, what you buy, who you’re friends with on social networks, what you like and more. And these days, VoIP and internet phones are just as vulnerable. By gathering information about your online activities they can serve you targeted ads that are more likely to entice you to buy something.

Switching Platforms

These days, when people are done bickering about which brand of peanut butter is really the best and how to correctly pronounce Nuttella, they move on the type of platform they are using. First of all, even though many people have had cell phone service for a while, they might still be one their first or second smartphone. This means that they have not had sufficient experience to be able to define what it is they are looking in a smartphones. So it should not be a surprise when people say that they are switch from on platform to another. The big question isn’t whether consumers will experiment with different smartphone platforms — a certain percentage always will — but rather which smartphone platform will consumers eventually commit to. Over the next decade, as we see this play out at a global level, we’ll have a much clearer idea of which platforms can stand the test of time.

Exercise: Can Be a Wonderful Fix

The great thing about exercise is that it has many great effects on different health problems. Not to mention that there are plenty of app development in the field to make it even easier to get active. One of the perks is that it can reduce anxiety and lower stress. It can even protect you against stressors such as that big meeting. Moving can also reduce that two thirty feeling but be sure to finish exercising at least three hours before hitting the sack. An issue that comes with sitting for hours at a time in front of a computer can weaker back muscles and cause pain in the long run. Instead, it would be better to do strength training activities to ensure that the core muscles stay in shape. Taking a quick walk when you get cravings can also be beneficial in reducing the amount of empty carbs that you could be eating.

CES Well Under Way

With the Consumer electronics show under way, there are some pretty cool gadgets and concepts that are being shown. One of the things that we can expect from Intel is that if you decided to get an ultrabook, it will have a touch screen and a battery life that boasts about thirteen hours while a laptop but ten when the screen is popped off to become a tablet. With the application development getting more sophisticated, your password could be the use of facial recognition along with the unique sounds of your voice. Finally, you will not have to remember an extensive passwords. Your overworked mouse might finally get a little bit of rest this year. Intel-based systems will be able to use eye-tracking, voice-recognition and advanced hand recognition sensitive enough to sense your individual fingers. Depending on the situation, you may find yourself using any or all of these tricks to control your computer instead of using your mouse.

Application Development for Other Devices

With the Consumer Electronics Show coming next week, we will get a glimpse of where the technology of the year is headed. The annual event is the largest gadget conference in the world, where major technology companies and scrappy startups can show off their latest innovations. There have been some big changes at this year's conference. Longtime headliner Microsoft has dropped out of CES, and mobile devices are increasingly saving their big announcements for the Mobile World Congress event in February. Along with the changing landscape of mobile application development and devices, some of the other big things and changes that you will be able to see are home automation and online cars. Between the Nest thermostat and being able to control the lights with your phones, there is going to be very little in the home that will not be connected. here will be self-driving and assisted-driving cars, which use a combination of mounted cameras, sensors and GPS to can take the wheel completely or just help a driver into a tight parking spot. Cars will continue to integrate apps, voice control and entertainment into the dash, some even running on the Android operating system.

Sometimes Time Wasters

As wonderful as gaming apps are, sometimes it feels like these mobile application development companies are after our free time that could be put to much better use. I will admit that I have spent plenty time making birds fly, spelling out words, and drawing pictures that would make stick figures look like art. So how much time do you actually spend playing those games? Could you think of anything else that you could do with that time instead? With the new year in just about full swing, you are probably starting to get away from those new year resolutions that were made on the last day of last year. I am just putting it out there, a tiny little reminder, that time is more precious than you think. It is fine to play those games from time to time. I find Doors and Rooms exceptionally addicting but if gaming is turning to hours, there might be better things that you could be doing. Pick up a book or learn something new, or even better, get things organized and ready for the new year so that you do not end up searching for things.

Shopping Apps: A Complicated Game

First of all, I want to talk to these people that need a phone service or a mobile application in order to help them shop. Who has that much time on their hands and when did shopping become so complicated that we need technology for it? Either way, there are several apps out there that answer any food question that you might have. One of them is called Fooducate which gives a grade for the food product that you scan the bar code of. Grades are based on both the honesty of the labeling on the product and its overall health and nutritious value. For a box of reduced fat Ritz crackers, for example, it warns consumers, “Contains transfats! Even though the label says 0!” Even better: The app suggests healthier alternatives for foods that don’t make the grade. If you don't have an Android or iPhone, you can visit the mobile website and enter the product name. Although not so high-tech, the Dirty Dozen app contains the most-requested bit of info when it comes to toxins and food: what types of produce are most important to buy organic (the otherwise Dirty Dozen), and what items don’t matter so much (the Clean 15), all updated annually by the Environmental Working Group. The mobile website also enables non-smartphone users to check produce on the go.