Balancing Energy Independence with Alternative Energy

In the 2012 US presidential election, one of the hot topics of debate was the future of the United State's energy situation. Romney proposed policy focused exclusively on energy independence, regardless of the source. Under his plan, more subsidies would be awarded to oil companies, and he encouraged fracking as a means to take advantage of the recent domestic discoveries of natural gas. Obama, on the other hand, advocated for alternative, green power to solve our energy problem. This would take more time to decrease our reliance on other countries, yet in the long run makes much more sense to me.

Especially after my pod created our podcast on solar power, my belief that green energy is the future become stronger. Its main issue has been cost, yet that is quickly changing, as in Israel for example, solar power has become almost as cost effective as fossil fuels. It is also obviously much cleaner than fossil fuels, and less destructive. The damages of fracking are well documented, with perhaps the most extreme cases being gas leaking into people's water supplies. What I really can't believe, however, is that fracking was legalized a couple months ago in North Carolina. State Democrats had been blocking it for a while, yet in the last vote held on the topic, one Democratic representative accidentally voted "Ye" instead of "Nay" with the push of a button; hers was the deciding vote. A recount was asked for, but because of a ridiculousness rule stating that a if there was one deciding vote the decision is final, the ban was lifted.

Siri vs Google Now

As an Android user, I am admittedly writing from a biased standpoint, but I do have some legitimate reasons why Google now is superior to Apple's Siri. From the start, Siri was advertised as an assistant, something you could ask any question of and receive an answer. It has excellent voice recognition, understanding the same question even if it's being asked several different ways. It integrates with your calendar, alarm clock, and various other functions on your phone, as well as searching the internet for sports scores, restaurants nearby, and much more. It is definitely very impressive.

Google Now, however, performs all those functions and more. Perhaps the only area where it is beaten by Siri is voice recognition, specifically the manner in which you ask a question. Simply put, you can talk to Siri like you would a person, yet in my own testing with my Nexus 7 vs my brother's iPhone 5, you sometimes need to phrase your question a certain way for Google Now to understand what you are saying. Besides that, however, Google Now has a lot more features. For one, it does not only answer your questions, but predicts what you want to know by popping up cards during relative times. For example, within a few days it knows where you live and work, and will pop up a card with your route to work and traffic information after your alarm goes off. It also goes through your email and using messages you get from UPS and airlines, it will pop up cards when a package arrives at your door, and a card will appear on the morning of your flight, telling you if it has been delayed or not. The list goes on, yet my last point is that Google Now is also a platform, unlike Siri. Only Apple can add features to Siri, whereas Android developers can integrate their apps into Google Now, making it pop up a card with relevant information at certain times. For these reasons and more, Google Now was awarded Popular Science's award as the biggest innovation of 2012.

Black Ops II vs Avatar

The BBC recently ran an article discussing the annual dip in video game sales in the US, about 11%. Although this is quite interesting, I find other facts in the article more important. Firms like Activision Blizzard and 343 Industries in partnership with Microsoft are receiving huge revenues from game sales. Call of Duty Black Ops II just topped $1 billion in sales, just 15 days after its release, reaching that milestone a day quicker than the movie Avatar did in 2009. Halo 4 has also been very successful, getting about $234 million in the first 48 hours of sales.

Essentially, the gaming industry is becoming huge in the entertainment business, in my opinion challenging Hollywood itself. There have been multiple times where I have debated whether I want to go see a movie or play a game. This is not only a result of games becoming more graphically advanced, but also the fact that they have become more movie-like. There are many RPGs that have extensive plots, with a whole team of people that only create the dialogue for characters. Cutscenes are on the rise as well, enhancing your immersion in a game. Lastly, it amuses me to think back when I first started playing video games; it was a nerdy thing to do, gamers were a minority. Now, however, the majority of people in my age group play games, and many people older than me for that matter.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20638318

Google Reading

As much as I love the internet and mobile technology, I must admit it has had some potentially adverse effects on me. For starters, I am so used to scanning links that Google brings for relevancy, that is has had an effect on how I read any article. While I used to simply read something from start to finish, I now find myself scanning through text, hyper-link style, just picking out the main points. Even when I read phone or tablet reviews, I'll usually skip down to the conclusion, then pick through the text to understand the reviewers main impressions.

Secondly, I am not able to focus on certain things, such as studying, as much as I used to. Even when I go to the library to study, purposefully leaving my computer in my room, my phone takes its place. Even when I don't receive a text or other message, I have to deal with 'ghost notifications', something I first read about on the tech site The Verge. I had had them before, but never really realized what I was doing. Ghost notifications occur when you think you just heard an email or text come in, so you wake your smartphone, only to find the notification center empty. It is quite strange, demonstrating how connected we have become to technology.

Smartphones vs Toilets

After reading Dr Bassett's post "Technology and Economic Growth", I couldn't help but form an opinion on Robert Gordon's premise. He claims that we are never going to see the kind of economic growth that we did during what he defines as the second Industrial Revolution, mainly defined by electricity, running water, and the internal combustion engine. This compares with the current Industrial Revolution, which he states began in 2002 and includes computing and information technology. As I would have to admit that if confronted with the choice, I would pick to live in the second period of development, I think he dismisses the significance of our current age too quickly.

Economically speaking, the United State's has continued to expand, especially after internet became widespread. Apple is currently the most valuable company in the world, and other technology firms like IBM and Microsoft are some of the wealthiest companies around.Yes, smartphones and tablets are not as important as running water, yet now that human's basic problems have been solved with technology, what else can be expected? This is not to downplay the importance of mobile technology however. It is profoundly impacting how people lead their everyday lives, and will continue to do so, especially once objects like Google Glass become the norm. 

Augmented Reality on a Road Trip

Several major automobile manufactures are researching and developing in-car systems that project data on the windshield of cars. Although at first it seems unintuitive, this is mainly being done to increase the safety of being on the road, as people take calls, text, and operate navigation on their phones already, which is much worse than looking at that information on the windscreen and using voice to control its functions. It is basically more safe for the same reasons that Google Glass; this is just the car version.

BMW, Toyota, Mercedes, and GM are the main firms looking into this, and all of them have different versions of what information they see as being useful to the driver. Mercedes created software that gives details about points of interest if you point at them through the windshield of your car. GM wants to help drivers stay in their lane on a foggy road, and Toyota is developing a way to zoom in on objects outside your car. This peaked my interest, as I remember discussing driverless cars as a class one day. Although there have been any advancements in that field, particularly by Google, I still think they are some time away, so for now, I can't wait for my driving experience to be more like a video game playing out in real life.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121130-cars-turn-to-augmented-reality/1

Therapist in your Pocket

In the future, could therapists be out of a job? This is a question that never would have been asked before the advent of smartphones. A recent article on the BBC talks about the pros and cons of apps that act as therapists, and how the industry is growing rapidly. There is more than a hundred apps tagged under "medical" and "depression" on the Apple App Store. Apart from being much cheaper than hiring an actual person to listen to you, your phone is always with you, a constant companion. This makes it a perfect object, one that you can pull out at any time to see your progress, or to ask advice.

One particular line in the article reminded me of Neuromancer; Hoa Ly, a clinical psychologist and founder of the Swedish startup Hoa's Toolshop, said "We are developing people, not just apps." This is a very interesting statement, as it really shows how the virtual and real world are colliding more and more, just as the character in William Gibson's novel lived on RAM. I would say this is perhaps even more significant than things like Siri and Google Now, for although those are very powerful tools, the fact that people could rely on their smartphones for their mental health is quite crazy. This far, studies haven't been conclusive on the effectiveness of these tools, yet there is much potential and a growing user base for this market.

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121129-a-therapist-thats-always-on-call/1

Returning to the Moon

Just today, the BBC ran a story about a new company entering the growing space industry. Joining the ranks of firms such as Space X and Virgin Galactic is Golden Spike, a private venture started by two ex-NASA executives. They were disappointed that President Obama cancelled NASA's plans to return to the Moon on the grounds that the US has already been there. Their goal is to use existing rocket and capsule technology, along with $1.4 billion, to put two people on the Moon.

The Chairman of the Board is Apollo-era flight director Gerry Griffin, which of course reminded me of Angle of Attack. I can only wonder if they have a Harrison Storms character one their team, although in this day and age, someone like him is probably not needed, as the objectives of these Moon missions have changed. While the United States was trying to beat the Soviets in the 1960s by any means necessary, now the motive is profit. Golden Spike plans to make a total of 15 to 20 Moon trips to generate revenue. This puts a damper on my initial enthusiasm after seeing the article title, as if these missions go ahead, they most probably won't drive further exploration of space.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20635597

Amazon as a Player in the Tablet Space

Up until last year, one did not associate Amazon with tablets. The company was mainly known as an online retailer, with some of it's customers using their content services to buy movies, music, and books on their Kindle e-readers. Once the Apple iPad was introduced in 2010, however, a whole new market segment emerged. Samsung was quick to respond, releasing the Galaxy Tab in a hurry, before Google even had their tablet-optimized OS, Honeycomb, ready. The initial excitement created by a competing product quickly died down once consumers realized that there was barely any content, comparatively at least, on the then-called Android Market that one could take advantage of on a tablet. Also, even the regular apps weren't and still aren't optimized for a tablet's screen size, unlike with the iPad, which has a separate app store to take advantage of the 9.7 inch screen. 

Amazon saw an opening. They already had an impressive content selection, and because of their Kindles, their consumers already associated the company with quality hardware. From this the $199 Kindle Fire was born, released just in time for holiday shoppers last year. It possessed a similar form factor of their e-readers, having a 7 inch screen, making it a perfect portable media device, whether for reading books or watching movies. Although it technically runs Android, the Seattle-based company opted out of a public relationship with Google, wanting to solely promote their brand. There is no Google branding on the tablet itself, and it runs a heavily skinned version of Mountain View's OS. Additionally, you cannot access the Google Play Store; Amazon created their own app store, with it's own developer guidelines. This results in a somewhat limited tablet experience, yet for the average user who mainly consumes media content, it is perfect. Unlike even the current Android tablets, it offers applications that look great at that larger screen size, and consumers can browse a multitude of movies, music, magazines, and books.

The other Android OEMs essentially approached the tablet market in the wrong way. They were quick to push out hardware, with some offering their own content stores within Android, like Samsung's Music Hub, yet they relied primarily on Google, a company that has publicly stated they are mainly interested in smartphones, to provide content. Amazon first built their impressive media collection, then made cheap hardware that acts as an outlet for consumption. It's just been less than a year since the Kindle Fire was first introduced, yet one can already see the effects. At the end of 2011, 81% of tablet users used iPads, with Android taking a paltry 15%. As of October first of this year, however, Apple commands 52% of the market, while the Kindle Fire alone accounts for 21% of Android's 48%. The Seattle company has surprised the technology world, officially becoming a major contender in the tablet space, and with the release of the Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9" two weeks ago, the future looks bright for the company that is not afraid of challenging the industries biggest players. 

HTC's New Windows Phones

Just as there are Republicans, Democrats, and everyone else in the political arena, there are Android, iOS, and the rest in the smart devices market. Currently, Android commands an impressive 55% market share globally, with iOS around 24%. This is a major issue for other manufacturers of smartphones and tablets, because although there is Android as an alternative to Apple's OS, Samsung is the only company that is currently making a profit using Mountain View's software. This is exactly what spurred a struggling Nokia to partner with Microsoft in February of 2011, agreeing to make Windows Phone their primary smartphone strategy. No other company has thrown their full weight behind Redmond's offering like Nokia has, as previously, the other corporations had made a few Windows Phones, but they were essentially just rehashed Android models that were not met with much excitement in the industry. This bold move by Nokia was a huge commitment to Microsoft, as it's future as a company is now dependent on how well they are supported by the Windows manufacturer. Their CEO, previously an employee of Microsoft, claimed that no other Windows Phone OEM would have such a close relationship and partnership with their software manufacturer, and Steve Ballmer himself said that Nokia would produce their flagship products. Nokia's unveiling of the Lumia 920 and 820 on September 5th seemed to confirm this, with the CEO's of both companies on stage presenting the soon-to-be-released Windows Phone 8 smartphones.

Come September 18th, however, just two weeks after Nokia's event, Taiwanese company HTC presented two high-end Windows 8 smartphones of their own. Now, this would not have been a surprise normally, as HTC has had a relationship with Microsoft that goes back 15 years, when they made Windows Mobile phones for the enterprise market. What made this event a shock was that Microsoft had secretly partnered with HTC to produce these phones, even telling the company to name them the Windows Phone 8X and 8S. Additionally, Steve Ballmer informed the crowd that Microsoft would be running a joint ad campaign in the US to promote these phones as the "signature Windows Phones". These are the phones that customers will see on TV, and when they walk into a carrier's store with the intention of buying a Windows Phone, there will be nothing more obvious than the phones with that moniker in their names. Nokia Lumia? People in the US don't quite know what that is.

This was a slap in the face for Nokia. It may not effect their sales too badly in Europe, where they have a much greater presence than HTC, but they have recently been trying very hard to gain some market share and mind share in the States, as they are not very well known here. HTC is much more well known here, and this branding of their phones coupled with Microsoft's financial support could really put a damper on American sales of the Lumias. The Finnish based company knows this, with their US President Chris Weber taking to twitter immediately after HTC's event, saying "While others may choose to tactically re-brand their products, Nokia is driving an industry-leading smartphone franchise – that we call Lumia -- exclusively around Windows Phone." The defensiveness and spitefulness is quite apparent in that statement. Only after the coming months will we know the full impact of these events, yet even now, it is safe to say that Nokia's climb back to relevancy and profitability just got steeper.