Article 11- 4/4/10

http://www.mibz.com/9058-toyota-and-mazda-license-agreement-on-hybrid-technology.html

The article I chose this week is titled Toyota and Mazda – License Agreement on Hybrid technology. It is about Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) and Mazda Motor Corporation and hybrid cars. http://www.eartheasy.com/live_hybrid_cars.htm stated, “A hybrid car features a small fuel-efficient gas engine combined with an electric motor that assists the engine when accelerating. The electric motor is powered by batteries that recharge automatically while you drive.“ They have signed an agreement to combine the hybrid system with SKY (engines.) This agreement also allows them to produce a hybrid vehicle in Japan. They want to be on the market by 2013. Since the first hybrid car was released (1997) they have over 2.3 million hybrid cars delivered to customers in over 70 countries and regions. Mazda wants to lessen the fuel consumptions in vehicles by 30% by 2015. Their overall strategy is to “enhance the basic elements of its vehicles, including engines, transmissions and reducing weight, and then gradually add electrical components such as start-stop system, regenerative braking and hybrid systems.”

I believe that this is going to be a great step for hybrid cars. Many people are starting to use hybrid cars, so I think this will have a huge affect on them. With Mazda trying to reduce the fuel consumption by 30% will be a huge advancement because gas is so expensive these days. If we do not have to buy as much gas then that will have a huge effect on many people. I believe that hybrid cars save so much energy and are a lot better for the environment, so I am hoping that Mazda and Toyota can make this all happen. If Mazda and Toyota can sell vehicles over Japan then this will be a huge step for them because Japan is huge with the car industry.

Article 10- 3/28/10

http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100328/BUSINESS/3280322/1003/4G+technology+won+t+be+the+norm+for+a+while

This article I chose is about cell phone carriers. These carriers are Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint, Comcast, and Clearwire. These services are known as 4G. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4G stated, “4G refers to the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to 3G and 2G standards. The nomenclature of the generations generally refers to a change in the fundamental nature of the service.” These companies are promising faster speeds for their cell phones. They are going to be fast enough to replace wireless Internet. 4G will be releasing these new speeds in the next two years. The two most dominant services behind 4G are, Sprint and Clearwire, and Verizon and AT&T. Sprint and Clearwire are going to we using WiMax, which will have towers that will provide broadband access up to 30 miles. Verizon and AT&T will be using Long Term Evolution. This will have download speeds of 50 Mbps.

I believe this 4G will be a huge technology advancement for Sprint, At&T, Verizon, and Clearwire. I personally have sprint and I know that the service sometimes isn’t that great. I have often thought about changing my plan, but after hearing these new advancements they’re creating I might continue to stay. I will be greatly affected by this and I know others will too. Cell phones have already come such a long way and it is unbelievable that we have more technology coming our way. This advancement in technology will allow people to browse the web more easily, not loose service, and send texts a lot quicker. I am definitely a technology nerd and I cannot wait for this new 4G. It will be very interesting to see what cell phone service will have the better advancement. Soon one day we will not have computers anymore and we will have it all on our cell phones.

Article 9- 3/21/10

http://www.worldcorrespondents.com/computer-addiction-treatment-now-available/881801

The article I read this week is about how teenagers are addicted to the computer. When people say technology they automatically think about the computer. This article states that technology is not that great. People do not know how to discipline themselves when they use it. People spend many hours of the day playing computer games and using social networking sites, such as www.facebook.com , www.twitter.com, and www.myspace.com. These sites are used to stay connected with friends, but some depend on these three websites way too much. Dr. Richard Graham is trying to find a treatment for this disease called addiction. His program is 28 days and there are three stages for the program. The article states, “It begins with psychotherapy designed to address the patient’s issues with face-to-face relationships. The next stage is to unpick their relationship with technology and encourage them to switch it off, and finally they are encouraged to take part in both physical exercise and activities with family and friends.”

I think what Dr. Richard Graham is doing is great. Many teenagers today are so affected by social networking sites. They spend hours a day sitting in a chair looking at a computer when they could be getting exercise or hanging out with friends face-to-face. I believe that this program will affect people in many ways. It will help people cope with their addiction to the computer and it will help them meet more people in person. It will expand their horizons in different ways outside of the computer. I hope that the Internet does not go any further with social networking sites because then more people will get sucked into it. I believe it is best to meet people in person and keep a relationship outside of the computer screen. I hope Dr. Richard Graham’s program works very affectively.

Article 8- 3/7/10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8544675.stm

This article is about PlayStation 3 and a bug that stopped gamers from using the online games network. There was a millennium-style bug that “had been caused by machines that had recognized the year 2010 and a leap year.” They told PS3 owners to not use their system until the technological problem was fixed. The PlayStation slim models did not experience this technological bug. The problem has been fixed and they stated that if there are any further problems that they can reset the date manually or online. This problem was also known as the Y2K bug. http://www.y2ktimebomb.com/ stated that the “Y2K bug was a clicking time bomb for all major computer applications. The computer and system application companies came out with year 2000 compliant operating systems and system software. IT companies around the world spent billions of dollars to go through their entire application source code to look for the Y2K bug and fix it.”

I believe that this millennium style bug only affected people who play on the PlayStation 3. I never heard of this problem until this article. I know that this could not have affected gamers that much because it is just a video game, but I know that they were probably going crazy. I feel as though the PlayStation Company should not be having these types of problems. Their system should be up to date and perfect with no problems. I myself was not affecting by this technology error, but I know that my brother was because he loves PlayStation 3. When he heard about his problem he immediately fixed his clock so he could continue playing. Its amazing how connected gamers get to their game system. If they are away from in for a couple hours they get depressed. I am glad that PlayStation was able to fix this error in their system.