Week 5- Blog Review Post

The technology blog that I have found is called TechCrunch and the main blogger is MG Siegler, he blogs about all different topics such as: facebook, groupon, twitter, apple and google.  There are various subtopics covered in his blog such as green technology, technology, gadgets, enterprise and mobile access. The specific blog entry that I read was quite compelling.  It was about one of the most recent and rudest behaviors our society stereotypes: using your cell phone at dinner.  I know my mom yells at me for it all the time and tells me to never do it.


In his blog Siegler talks about how he typically checks his phone under the table when in the presence of his mother, as most of us do, to keep parents content.  He hits on the exact issue of society: if you are not on your phone and the person you are with is, you feel awkward and in a way you feel compelled to pull out your phone and check emails, texts, facebook etc.  Siegler tackles this common belief of it being "rude" to pull out your cell phone and says how the usage of such allows you to be in contact with more than just the people you are with.  Although our generation is growing up "afraid" to whip our phones out in front of our parents we are a generation of innovation and connection and someday it won't be a question of using phones at dinner it will be a question of how they are used.


I found the last line of this particular entry really interesting: "In ten years, everyone goes to a restaurant and talks to one another without pulling out their phones at the table — or in ten years, the table is designed in a way to enable you to more easily use your phones? That’s an easy one."  It is inevitable that technology is taking over our future - we just have to be willing to adapt to the way we choose to let it.


Overall a really interesting post - and his entire blog looks really interesting too!


Here is the link to the blog: http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/21/phones-at-dinner/


Blog due date: February 28, 2011

Week 4 - Hardware Essentials

The technology discussed in this weeks lecture will really help with the voice recognition needed for the verbcal to be successful.  First off, the tests that google completed with voice recognition has really lead to the advancement of the way mobil devices recognize what the user is saying.  With so many different types of voices and accents out there it frequently becomes difficult to know what people are saying.  The three voice services google created: voice search, voice input and voice actions are all crucial to the way verbcal will operate.  Perhaps by reaching out to google and pitching my idea they will be willing to partner and launch it through their new developed software.

The biggest problem consumers will have will be inputting their events into the calendar because they will need to speak clear enough for the system to process what is being asked.  By implementing the latest voice recognition technology I can ensure user satisfaction and keep my customers satisfied.  Also, I could perhaps launch a disclaimer that allows the events that people input for the first two months of downloading into a database which analyzes voice tones and pitches in order to refine the technology.

By really pushing the idea of voice recognition and collecting samples within voice recognition verbcal will be more successful.  People frequently get easily frustrated when voice recognition technology does not work properly.  If the application becomes flawed or doesn't match up to what the consumer wants it is possible that consumers will no longer use it and my whole plan could fail.  It is key that I ensure a wide sample of voice recognition technology within my application before actually launching it.


Blog due date: February 21

Week 3 - Making of Your Laptop & Hardware Essentials/Digital Media

There are many ways in which digital media can aid my platform toward the launch and implementation of verbcal.  First, I can create tutorial videos on the various ways verbcal can be used (i.e. voice, calendar access, data entry etc.) and load these videos on my website.  To do this I will most likely use a progressive download as it is easier and less expensive then video streaming.  Additionally, this method will likely be supported by most computer users.  The draw back with Progressive Downloading is that users won't be able to fast forward until the entire video is downloaded.  Ideally once the videos are on my website I can link them to a YouTube account and create more chatter about how to use the app and the "user friendliness" it will offer.

In regard to hardware essentials for the creation of the company I will probably need a quad core in which I can have more speed and at least 8MB.  I most likely will not have a great deal of video aside from the tutorials so that won't use up too much space on my computer.  I will have a lot of spreadsheets and data for my website so it will be essential to have slots for my USB to go in (Ideally 2.0mbit/s).  The other parts to my computer will likely be a 3.20GHz chip, to allow for just enough speed to run the daily applications necessary and keep my website/social media updated.

Video will be essential in the launch/continuation of verbcal as it will directly show the consumer how user friendly verbcal is.  The link to the videos can be embedded on Facebook walls, within emails, in tweets and more!  Having a computer that I can create store all of my data and create updates/videos to will be an essential part of the success verbcal encounters.

Blog due date: February 14th

Week 2 - Spreadsheet Essentials & Application Software

Verbcal and Software:

There are many ways that I will be able to use this weeks lecture, specifically when launching my app.  When the app initially launches I will want to promote it with an interactive website that describes all of the  features, tutorials and details on the basics of how the users should use the app.  The website will need html coding as we learned in class this week.  Therefore I will need to know how to code specific colors for the text on the website as well as the background.  For example if I want one page to have a red background I will need to code it FF 00 00 and for a magenta page I would need to code it FF 00 FF.  By having an in depth understanding of how the 0-F color coding scale works and other html features I will save money because I will not have to hire someone to create my website since I will be able to do it myself.

Excel will be an integral part of the application launch and usage because it will enable me to track data of my users and the specifics of each part of the app.  When people download the app I can record their usage, their favorite parts of the app, the type of information they are storing on the verbcal and the frequency of visits the app gets.  I can then create graphs and charts to report out on the success of the verbcal and learn from my customers on what needs attention and what needs to be improved.

I can also record revenues (income and payments out) in excel and further use if then statements to see whether my accounts have sufficient funds to pay all fees that I will incur.  Overall excel my implementation of excel will be essential because it will save me time from doing math by hand and it will aid me in being able to track success measures of verbcal.

Blog due date: February 7th