Jul 28, 2013 | internet, Uncategorized
The founder of Yandex Ilya Segalovich passed away over the weekend at the age of 48. The?technology?father of Yandex, perhaps Russia’s top search engine site, succumbed to brain failure and stoppage of breathing.
Segalovich grew up in what was then a Soviet province of Kazakhstan. In high school, he met Arkady Volozh. Years?later, in 1993, with the?Internet/World Wide Web in it’s infancy, they came up with ‘a quick search engine for the end user’. It took a while to develop, but?by 1997, their search?engine was?launched for the Russian nation to use. In 2000, he and Volozh named it?Yandex. By 2011, Yandex was worth more than eight billion dollars.
But perhaps he’ll be recognized for things he did outside the computer world. In 1993, he and his wife founded a charity called Children of Mary. This organization helps give orphans education, employment and a decent shot at life. Many people praised him not for his business savvy, but his work as a human being and citizen of the world. Russian politician Alexei Navelny commended him for his modesty and finding ways to hold political leaders accountable, like making an app for election journalists.?Fellow Russian?Internet sharks say?he was a man not corrupted or spoiled by money,?fame or other trappings of success.
Maybe what they say really is true. Despite Segalivich’s wonderful contribution to technology, he’s getting more props for what he did as a man and how he carried himself. Makes us think about ourselves, doesn’t it?
Jul 27, 2013 | Uncategorized
I’m going to date myself a little: when I was in school, the only time we played computers was on Friday. The top game we played was Oregon Trail. We thought that was a treat! Obviously, a lot has changed, and at least one school system is trying to keep up.
Los Angeles’ Unified School District will spend $30 million dollars to give out iPads to all 640,000 students in elementary, middle and high school by the end of 2014. District leaders believe this will help kids learn the technology skills they’ll need when they go into college and/or the job market. According to district executive Mark Hovatter, “Whatever jobs kids want to have, technology is likely involved. You’re just not going to be able to do well in society if you don’t have some experience.” On each IPad will be educational tools like digital textbooks. The iPads will also be used for scheduling, video conferences, and interactive lessons.
This is wonderful! Hovattar hit it right on the head! I don’t think anybody can survive without knowing something about technology these days. I was just about to lose my faith in the education system in America. I’m tired of reading stories where schools are being shut down so they can build prisons. I’m tired of reading stories about certain states’ education budgets being slashed ?while the governor gives himself and his cabinet raises. It’s about time a city and a district does right by it’s kids. Do you think the rest of America will do the right thing and follow suit?
Jul 26, 2013 | Entertainment, internet, networking
The ESPYS were held July 17. Watching that show makes me think of how close modern technology, especially social media, has bridged the gap between them and everyone else. This is especially true for Twitter. So I looked for the most entertaining tweets of the summer so far.
10 Jose Conseco: “Welcome to Twitter (expletive)…”. Nothing like broadcasting an old rivalry for all the world to see.
9. Metta World Peace: “I’m so happy to be Metta this morning because at 4 am…I turned into the Geico lizard…” I?don’t get it either, but with his colorful Tweets, I had to put World Peace on this list.
8. RGIII:?He Tweeted?how “pleasantly surprised” at how good?The Internship was. Remember that Google movie starting Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn last month? I’m glad someone was pleasantly surprised.
7. Nazem Kardl: This Toronto Maple Leaf center criticized ‘it’ couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian for?naming their baby North West. “Get a hold of yourself!” Well Nazem, what to?you expect from a?man who thinks he’s God?
6. Johnny Manziel: “…I appreciate all the love and support over the past couple of days.”?He showed love to his supporters after some not so flattering reports of?Johnny Football’s off-the-field activity.
5. Andrew Shaw: “Best feeling ever! Wooooooo!” This Chicago Blackhawk center summed up the feeling of winning the Stanley Cup, NHL’s richest prize.
4. Gosder Cherilus: “How do you survive 27 years of jail…to change a country and the world…Big ups to you Nelson Mandela!” This Indianapolis Colts tackle gave?respect to one of the?greatest civil rights leaders and heroes of our generation.
3. Adam Jones: He literally laughed at Heat fans who left before the infamous Game 6 of the NBA Finals was over, and tried to get back in when the Heat made a comeback. “Hahahahahahaahha! Bandwagon.” Jones has a point. After 2010, there were an awful lot of Miami Heat fans all of a sudden.
2. Chad Johnson: He tweeted about being sentenced to 30 days in jail due to a probation violation. The sentence was triggered by him slapping his lawyer on the butt during proceedings. He closed the tweet with “See you in 30.” He was out in 7.
1. Steve Cishek: His MLB All-Star Game tweet said, “Nothing like Mariano Rivera running out of that pen.” He paid tribute to a retiring future Hall of Famer. He got the whole arena into it and echoed their sentiment. His tweet may have made baseball history.
That’s my Top 10. What’s yours?
Jul 25, 2013 | internet, networking
The owners, stockholders and employees?of Facebook?woke up glowing this morning. Their stocks are up 26%. But perhaps what’s most celebratory is their ad revenue.
Their ad revenue in mobile ads?nearly doubled?in just two quarters, from $373 million in Q1 2013?to $656 million in Q2 2013. Now, their total ad revenue?makes for 41% of all?Facebook revenue. Facebook?CFO David Ebersman credits News Feed ads that give great returns to advertisers. Mobile advertising is fairly new territory for Facebook. Up to last year,?they’ve been so heavily dependent on desktop ads, to the point where they’ve gotten criticized from all sides for it.?Another reason Facebook?mobile ads are growing?is because?Facebook users are growing. ?Daily active users have jumped 27% in the last year; monthly users increased 21% in the last?year (that number is now over a billion). But mobile users have jumped?a whopping 51% in the last year.
A-ha! I think I’m adding two plus two together. This is why they’ve struggled on Wall St. since they’ve got on the NYSE. Now that mobile users are increasing, now they’re investing in mobile?ads. And as annoying as some of these ads can be, it looks like they’re paying off. But will it last? Experts say Facebook stocks could go to and past $38. But will they stay up and increase and run with it after this breakthrough?
Jul 25, 2013 | Dental IT
A very well noted software in the industry is Carestream Dental. This software has been around for a very long time and has been developed to improve the workflow and increase efficiency for your dental office. This program has specialty specific solutions for wide array of doctors such as orthodontists and maxillofacial surgeons. These tools are designed to make faster diagnoses and give the dentists more time to spend with the patient.
Carestream offers SoftDent which is a full practice management suite that actually automates the daily office tasks and has been doing this for over 25 years and the program keeps upto date with all the industry changes. The latest update of the SoftDent has the best scheduler to date so your office staff can book appointments with ease. Carestream also offers PracticeWorks which is a very intuitive program that is focused on automation and centers around the scheduler for ease of use. These programs are designed main for the general dentists in mind.
But do not worry, Caresteam has not forgotten the Orthodontists, OrthoTrac is actual the first orthodontic practice management software and it has been in the industry for over 30 years. This software is designed to allow for information to be more accessible and to increase productivity in the office.
WinOMS is a program developed by Carestream for oral and maxillofacial surgeons. This software was actually developed by using feedback of actual OMS practices to make an more user friendly and efficient process for the office staff. Attached with that is the EMR-Elite add-on that captures clinical notes and removes the need for paper charts.
So with all the software out there Carestream has something for every dentist. Are you currently using Carestream products? If so please let us know your experiences and if not please click this link to learn more about the?Carestream product lines?outlined above and more.
Jul 24, 2013 | Computer technology, General
For the last decade, Apple has had a yo-yo growth trend. Take the stock market for instance. One time last year, it was around $700 a share. Now it’s hovering at $443 a share. Now the growth trend has declined.
Between Sept. 2011-June 2012, Apple?has grown between 40-75?percent each quarter. But during the?last 2013 quarter, Apple?has only grown one percent. That’s their lowest quarterly growth rate in over 10 years, and probably?ever. Don’t expect growth anytime soon. Experts say in the next year, you can expect 3% growth at best, none at all, or?a decline up to 5%.?So what happened to make a?major tech conglomerate like Apple only grow one percent?
For one thing, Mac and iPad sales have dropped. It hasn’t had a product launch lately. They are?redoing the operating systems for upcoming devices, but that won’t be until Christmas. ?Some experts wonder if they can continue leading the ‘post-PC’ era, an era dominated by smartphone, tablets, laptops and other gadgets. The next wave is going to be extremely competitive. Then there’s the building and speculation of new products, like Apple televisions and Apple watches. Some say Apple is in need to promote and sell cheaper products.
I say chill out. Apple has always bounced back. In 2009, they had a quarter where growth was barely 10 percent. Two quarters later, growth was around 50 percent, and rose even higher the next quarter. So Apple will get out of this hole. My question is: How will it happen this time?
Jul 23, 2013 | Security
Remember the stories I did on Yahoo and other online companies claiming they were forced to participate in the NSA surveillance of people’s cell phones and computers? Then I came across this report. I’ll just leave it up to you what to believe, or how to interpret these reports.
Did you know that venture capitalist have invested a whopping $700 million dollars into security startups in the past 12 months? According to one research firm, that’s 10 percent of all venture dollars in the US. Former spy chiefs are also investing. In fact, over 80 companies work on cyber security. This market was worth $67 billion dollars in 2012. By 2017, it will be worth $93. While budget cuts are being sought after in other areas, more money is wanted in cyber security operations.
Part of the reason for this investment, or so we’re told, is to stop hacking, and what hacking can lead to. Some are quick to remind us that just one cyber attack can lead to an act of war or other catastrophe. Cyber security investor Ted Schlein said, “Wars in the future will be fought initially through cyber means…So, if a commercial company can develop a pre-emptive offensive technology,
think it makes perfect sense.” People in his field say more is needed to be done to keep space with the increasing dangers of cyberspace.
On the surface, investing in cyber intelligence may seem like a good idea. I’ve read reports of millions of dollars being stolen by hackers and thieves from banks and credit cards. I’ve read reports of nations spying on other nations of military secrets and other sensitive information. But the cynic in me is telling me there’s something more to this. Something’s telling me these investments are going to keep the spying on innocent Americans going. And Heaven forbid if that innocent American ‘gets out of line.’ That’s my fear. Am I right or am I just paranoid?
Jul 22, 2013 | internet, networking, Wireless
I see it all the time, even when going out with family and friends. In the midst of loud music and conversation, someone pulls out their device and either posts or takes a picture on Facebook. I’ve done it myself. Apparently, I’m not the only one.
Announced yesterday, there are now 100 million people who use Facebook on their phone on a monthly basis. They made an interesting statement about developing nations like India, Philippines and Indonesia. According to their own statement, many in nations like these can get the app on?a 20 dollar cell phone. It goes on to say the Facebook app reaches 3,000 different?phones. They can do this by?using less data than most Java apps. They also have Facebook for Every Phone, a program powered by Snaptu, an Israeli based technology company. What Snaptu does is use servers to study how mobile apps work, and use this knowledge to help Facebook get on low end phones.
So that’s how they do it. It’s a good strategy. Many people in developing nations can’t afford the hundred of dollars smartphones and other devices (like iPod Touch). So if Facebook can get their app on cheaper devices, I say more power to them. It makes good business sense. Socially, it can put a damper on things. Can you imagine people in these countries spending dinner hour keeping up with Facebook friends instead of conversing with their own family? Isn’t there enough of that in this country?
Jul 21, 2013 | News, Security
We’ve heard and had it all, haven’t we? We heard of malware problems from one major company to the National Security Advisory spying on our devices. We thought the SIM card was safe, right? Well…
After years of research led by German cryptographer Karsten Nohl, software flaws have been found that can hit millions of SIM cards and can open up more cans of fraud and surveillance. He’ll?address this at a conference in a week or?two. ?Nohl and his team tested about 1,000 mobile phones of all types.?They found vulnerabilities caused by old security standards and bad configuration codes. These can let hackers infect the cards and?steal all?kinds of information, leading to fraud and theft. But thinking about?what we know?now, they don’t have to be hackers. I can see gov’t agencies using this to their advantage.
In this research, Nohl found only 25% of the phones?and SIM cards he tested can be hacked, and an eighth of the?cards could be really venerable. But that’s a half?billion mobile devices. Their biggest concern is Africa, where SIM card payments are so widespread,?and where?technology fraud is perhaps the most rampant. According to Nohl, companies are desperate to fight?hacking and fraud,?no matter where it lies.
So what’s to make of this? First of all, don’t freak out!?This is not fear mongering. I’m glad I came across this report because knowledge is power. The majority of the SIM cards?are okay. And now we know there is a threat, something can?be done. It appears cell phone companies are already getting the memo. If not, we can?do what we can to raise awareness on these issues. How concerned should we be about Nohl’s findings?
Jul 20, 2013 | internet, Uncategorized, Wireless
Remember when Apple Maps was released? Remember what a disaster that was? At first you don’t succeed, try again, or in this case, just buy another company.
It looks like Apple is acquiring Hop Stop. Hop Stop is a website that tracks public transit in cities across the US, Canada and some places in Europe. For me, it especially helps when I’m traveling in other cities. It’s great for getting?one from point A to point B, especially?for?one on foot, bus?or subway. It even tells you when the next bus is coming. ?Also included is Locationary Inc., which focuses on business-based maps. Apple hopes to?ease up their relations with?Google maps. Google maps are the most popular free app at the App Store. Hop Stop is one of the most popular free navigation apps.
I tell Apple now, if this acquisition does go through, don’t spoil a good thing! Hop Stop is fine the way it is; I speak that on experience.?I’ve seen other examples of how corporate takeover of a smaller entity ruins the smaller entity. I hope that doesn’t happen here.?I see and respect why Apple wants to make this purchase; just don’t mess it up. Will Hop Stop make Apple a star in the mapping game?
