We are ending our second week of a government shutdown. Let’s look at the ways technology will be changed, or ways that we wish it would be changed.
10. NSA: Unfortunately, this organization will be spying and recording as usual. You know they’re going to keep this agency alive if all other aspects fail.
9. Smithsonian/National Parks: What does this have to do with technology?? It takes a lot of research technology to keep these American institutions going. But sense these workers were told to stop due to the shutdown, the research and technology is bound to follow.
8. Gov’t Contractors: Companies like United Technologies will have to hand out furloughs and slow down productions. With the contractors and inspectors gone due to the shutdown, that just trickles down.
7.No Emails?: Every person furloughed is forbidden to check work emails or any other work related technology. Failure to comply could even result in jail time. I heard some may even have their smartphones taken away to ensure obedience.
6. Data.gov: This website is shut down. A lot of people, including school children and college students, depended on this website for research projects and other projects. Obviously, government and private sectors are far more dependent on internet research then they were in the mid 1990s. What if this trend continues?
5. Cyber Security: An agency called NIST, whose specialty is ensuring online security, is shut down. Some nations may see the shutdown as an opportunity do get into cyber mischief. Is the government shutdown a field day for hackers?
4. National Science Foundation: They will make no payments during a shutdown, no grants, no loans, no nothing! Think of all the research and technology they can really help somebody that won’t be happening now.
3. Health/Disease: The Center of Disease Control will be limited in researching diseases, and the technology needed. I hear some cancer patients may not even get treatments due to the shutdown. The seasonal influenza program could be halted because of it.
2. NASA: During the shutdown, only 3% of NASA employees will be working. So pretty much, NASA is shut down. So to all the techies out there: there won’t be any cool science/technologies coming out of this historic institution. And with all this talk about comet Ison, this may not be a good time for that.
1. Furloughs: 800,000 people are without work now. That’s 800,000 people who literally don’t know where there next check is coming from. That’s 800,000 people who probably won’t be buying computers, smartphones, video games, or technological gadgets anytime soon.? My concern is if these men and women aren’t put back to work soon, this trend is going to trickle, then explode throughout the US economy.
Monday, I reported Apple passed Pepsi as the most valuable company. A lot of tech companies made that list. Let’s take a look at them.
10. Facebook: It has over 1.15 billion users. It’s founder was voted Time Magazine’s Man of the Year. It connects people from all walks of like. Ten years ago, could anyone had pictured this?
9. T-Mobile/Deutsche Telecom: T-Mobile is the 4th largest phone company in America. Deutsche Telecom is the 10th largest int’l phone company in the world. Globally, they have over 150 million subscribers.
8. Amazon: In the last decade or so, Amazon and books have been synonymous. They’re the creators of Amazon Kindle, which can hold many, many books at once. Their website gets over 65 million orders a month.
7. AT&T: It was the oldest phone company in America and until 1984, really the only phone company in the US. Today, it boasts over 108 million customers. It’s the seventh largest of all companies in the US and fourteenth in the world.
6. Intel: Since 1968, it’s been the world’s largest computer chip maker. For many years, it became the premier source of microprocessors. I hate to see what the computer industry would be like without this valuable source.
5. Samusng: In 2012, it surpassed Nokia as the world’s most successful phone maker, owning a quarter of that market. Did you know they also sale life insurance?
4. Microsoft:? For decades, Microsoft set the standard in software technology. Have you ever used a Windows system on a computer? I rest my case.
3. I.B.M.: Since the 1910s, I.B.M. has led the world in technology manufacturing and marketing. From the floppy disk to the ATM, from the hard drive to the Think Pad, they’ve seen and taken part in it all.
2. Apple: Yes, it was voted the most valuable company in the world today. They gave us Macs, Mac Books, iPods, iPhones, iPads, Apple Stores. It’s founder Steve Jobs is a culture icon. But in my eyes, this company should be #1:
1. Google: In 1998, it started as a search engine site. It now leads the league in marketing (Ad Words), mapping, social media (You Tube), software, web browsing, (Google Chrome) and so much more. Last time I checked, it’s stock was $872 a share. And it’s only a 15 year old company.
Since Yahoo’s ‘renaissance’ under CEO Marissa Meyer, they’ve been trying to reach out to different demographics. They’re pursuing the sports lover with intensity. Now Yahoo is adding another tool to it’s sports arsenal.
Yahoo bought out the services of Hitpost. Hitpost is a developer of sports based apps. Hitpost was founded by Aaron Krane. He’s been studying and working in social gaming media for years. He found potential for great fusion between free phone/social media game and our obsession with sports. So Krane and his company Hitpost created apps from live sports discussions to? fantasy football polls to virtual betting. Now you can’t make any money on those betting apps, so put your money back in your pocket!
This comes in the wake of Yahoo getting in the fantasy sports world. As well they should. Millions play fantasy sports every year; I’m just not one of them yet. Yahoo is wasting no time with it’s new acquisition. Go to it’s website and all you will get is a page telling you Hitpost is joining Yahoo. But it doesn’t give you a link to click on. It doesn’t even tell you when this merge will be getting up and running. This is a red flag to me. Most acquisitions will at least have some kind of transition, but for Hitpost to shut the whole operation down until further notice? I think that’s a bad call. Will Hitpost have their fans and users when they get set up with Yahoo? How will this move, or lack of move thereof, affect Hitpost?
Without a doubt, You Tube has impacted many lives. It has impacted the viewer as well as the producer. Musicians have been discovered there. And now, You Tube is going to celebrate that.
November 3rd will mark the first ever You Tube Music Awards. The awards will take place in New York City. You Tube favorites like CDZA and Lindsey Stirling will be running elbows with household names like Eminem and Lady Gaga. B-Movie star Jason Schwartzman is scheduled to host. And of course, an event like this can, and should only be seen on You Tube. You can expect acts around the world to participate, from London to Brazil. Nominations will be announced October 17, where else, but You Tube.
This is a huge step for You Tube! In just a few years, You Tube went from just a fad to a staple of American life. There’s been a lot of stars discovered on You Tube, such as: Justin Beiber, Cody Simpson, and Avery. So it’s only right they get an award show. And I’m glad major stars are showing their support. This could be an opportunity for yet another rising You Tube star to come out and shine. I can’t wait to see where these awards go! What ever happened to that Bieber fellow?
The 65th annual Emmy awards aired last night, honoring the best in television during the last 12 months. There were lots of surprises. But there was one moment that 10 years ago would have been impossible.
The drama House of Cards won an Emmy last night. It’s director, David Fincher, took home best directing for a drama series. What makes this unique is House of Cards can only be seen online on Netflix. This is the first time in history an exclusively online show won an Emmy. They also won for cinematography and creative arts. Those two were given in a private ceremony, but Fincher’s award was given during the show, putting this tremendous feat on a public national forum. Keep in mind House of Cards was nominated for 9 Emmys, and that Nelflix has over 30 million streamers, a trend that shows no signs of slowing down.
This is a great sign for online entertainment. And Netflix isn’t the only one. I saw a report on CBS This Morning talked about the rise of You Tube shows. I heard one You Tube producer say he wouldn’t put his program on mainstream TV unless they made him a huge offer, due to the creative freedoms You Tube gives him. You can get Netflix for a little as eight dollars a month. That beats what a lot of cable companies right now. I heard some families are hooking up their computers to their big screen TVs not to watch prime time TV, but You Tube channels! And now an exclusive Netflix show is getting Emmy awards and this kind of recognition? Is streaming online entertainment the future of visual TV?
Did you have a Nintendo back in the 1980s and ?90s? Did you go to someone?s house and play their NES? I did. We have one man to thank for that.
Nintendo founder Hiroshi Yamauchi died in his native Japan early this morning of pneumonia complications. He was 85 years old. But did you know Nintendo has been around since the 1940s? No, not as an electronic gaming company, but as a card game maker. Mr. Yamauchi inherited it after his grandfather?s death in 1949. By the late 1970s, he saw the rise of the home video game, and put his innovative skills to work. ?By the mid-80s, Nintendo was the world leader in home gaming, and names like Donkey Kong, Super Mario Brothers, and Zelda became household names. In the early ?90s, Yamiuchi followed that with Game Boy and games like Tetris? Super Nintendo and games like Final Fight, Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Yamauchi retired in 2002. In recent years, Xbox and Playstation have knocked Nintendo off the home gaming throne.
But nobody can deny the impact Hiroshi Yamachi?s Nintendo Entertainment System has had on our pop culture and psyche. Even today the Nintendo Wii is having moderate success. The more I learn about Mr. Yamauchi, the more I respect his ability to have success and keep a low profile about it. Okay, maybe it was a different time when he ran Nintendo, but I never saw him at a press conference displaying Nintendo?s new product. In fact, I don?t remember him being in the public eye much at all. But yet he created an empire, and according to Forbes, his worth is over $7 billion. So he did a lot of things right. What?s your favorite Nintendo memory?
