In college, or even in high school, did you ever take a self imposed cut day? Were you ever inspired by the 1986 film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off to take your own day off? Thanks to 2010s technology, your Ferris Bueller days might be over.
There is a new app called Class 120. It has a message of go to class or be tracked! ?You can thank Indianapolis, Indiana based company called Core Principal and it’s CEO Jeff Whorley. Class 120 will alert a parent or whoever is flipping the tuition bill when the student failed to attend class. The smartphone app tracks a student by a geographical system that tells someone what class students are supposed to be and whether they’re there or not. But here are two keys: If the student misses class, Class 120 doesn’t tell you where he/she is. And for this app to work, students have to program their class schedules in the smartphone. So far, this app is connected to 2,000 campuses.
These are two reasons why I’m not buying into this app. First, it can easily be manipulated. All the student has to do is not program the schedule in the smartphone and he/she can do whatever. Plus, it has a big brother ‘I’m tracking you’ element to it. When I was in college, I didn’t need an app to urge me to class. All the professor had to say was, “Miss this amount of classes and you automatically get an F or an I (incomplete).” Most of my peers got that message as well. And as expensive as college was even then, and way more expensive now, I didn’t want to rip off my supporters by failing to show up. But I do applaud ?Mr. Jeff Whorley for drawing the line. At least Class 120 doesn’t tell you where they are when they don’t go to class. At least it gives you that privacy and respect. But Whorley believes this app is needed to combat wasting billions of dollars a year on missed classes, which often leads to people flunking or dropping out. What do you say?
What a past couple of months it’s been for Sony. First came the hacking scandal, then came disappointing sale numbers. Now people are being laid off.
Sony lays off workers, 1,000 more of them. We’re not including the over 1,000 workers laid off back in October 2014. In fact, by March 2015, around 5,000 workers are expected to lose their jobs. Most of these job losses will be in Europe and China and most will involve smartphone manufacturing. Come April 2015, Sony is expected to announce a whole new restructuring plan. You see, Sony has lost over 1.5 billion dollars in the smartphone game, thanks to the strength of their competitors. But it’s not just them. The smartphone business in general is bracing to lose billions this year, and Sony is making a restructuring plan to make sure the 2016 year is profitable. It almost seems like they’ve given up on the 2015 year, and it’s only January. But this year, Sony is expected to sale 9 million fewer phones than hoped for. They want to cut down their Chinese sales while focusing on Western markets, like Japan and the US. Production is expected to decrease 30%, but they’re going to focus on the more sophisticated, expensive smartphones. They want to invest in smartphones that will turn your appliances off and on and apps that are security based (have you seen certain commercials where you can see people watching who comes from their tablet?)
Like I said, it’s been a hard year for Sony, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to get better anytime soon. But it looks like they’re trying to make the right moves. I don’t like for anyone to lose their job. But maybe Sony should have done a better job planning smartphones and studying the competition before jumping in the smartphone game. It sounds like they underestimated their competitors, and now they got the best of them. Now they have to re-do their whole smartphone plan all over again. What’s the lesson here?
Remember traveling through a foreign land, or being confronted by a language barrier in your own? When you and another person couldn’t communicate through the language barrier, you stormed out in frustration. Those days may be gone, thanks to Google’s improvement translations.
Google app Google Translate?is improving it’s game. There’s Word Lens. Word Lens, through your Apple or Android device, can translate any foreign sign into your own simply by taking a picture of that sign. Keep in mind it only works for the following languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian and Portuguese. They guarantee other languages are coming soon. Then there’s the conversation app itself, which they want to make easier. This procedure was just announced: Select two languages. Then Translate will pick up which language is being spoken and the other language will show up on your device. These improvements can be found on Apple devices, but it’s excepted to move to Android devices very soon.
I look forward to these improvements. It would make it even easier to break that tough language barrier. But I must offer one criticism, and that’s there’s need to be more languages offered. I’m sure most of you are aware that China is the most populous and has the fastest growing economy in the world. And according to Google’s own estimates, over 500 million people use Google Translation a month, and with these improvements, you know that number will rise. It would only make sense to include the two languages, Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese, in this. I can think of some other languages that can be added, but definitely the two major Chinese languages. But thankfully, the days of carrying around a book and looking for words to buy something in a foreign land or store are long gone. What language can you use through Google Translations?
Computer Geeks would like to take this time to wish all of you and your families a Merry Christmas! We hope all is well and everyone stays safe this holiday. Lets hope that Santa was nice and got you a fancy new tech gadget, or a new computer! If you are having any issues with your new technology device feel free to call us. Our call center is open all day today and we are available for service calls starting Friday the 26th!
We’d also like to thank all of you out there that have supported our business and our staff throughout the years that you have been great, loyal customers. It has been an honor and a privilege servicing the Beacon Hill and Boston community every day for the last 18 years! We look forward to a great new year in 2015, but for now, let me summarize some of the new, and old services Computer Geeks can provide for you
So I wanted to do something funny for you guys on Xmas and give you the 12 Days of Geek Christmas. This is an assortment of “gifts” our customers give to us throughout the year. I’m going to fill it with lovely pictures, and memes, and just overall fun things that should put a smile on your faces for the Holidays!
On the 12th Day of Geek Christmas my customer gave to me, 12 Trojan Viruses!
Please don’t trust him. Never open something when you don’t know what it is, or else they’ll getcha.
Here at Computer Geeks we are the nation’s leader in Dental IT Support, and there are days where everything goes haywire, and Dentists panic, till they call us!
Another thing we have all done, whether we dropped it, kicked it, stepped on it or just closed it real hard when there was something on the keyboard, we all need laptop screen repair.
http://youtu.be/1gyzSdGjJU8
On the 4th Day of Geek Christmas my customer gave to me, 4 water damaged laptops
On the 3rd Day of Geek Christmas my customer gave to me, 3 Paper Jams
?Tis the seasons to be traveling ? We all know that traveling, whether or not it is for business or pleasure, can be stressful. The packing, the preparations at home to be sure all the loose ends are sorted out before going away, and keeping organized, are challenging when we are on the go. NOT ANYMORE!
Your smart phone or tablet has found a way for us to have the stress free travel with Apps that will make our lives a little easier on the home and on the business front while traveling. The old saying, ?There?s an App for that,? certainly rings true in today's day and age. There are Apps for our phones and tablets that help us secure a car at our hotel, house, or apartment right from the convenience of our devices, Apps that will virtually eliminate roaming charges when we are overseas, and there are Apps that sync all of our calendars, to-do lists, and reminders. Did I mention that they are FREE? Below are some very cool Apps for the tech savvy traveler on-the-go.
Best Stress Free Travel Apps
UBER is an up and coming, and very popular App for today's traveler. Download the free App, and you can hail a cab from the convenience of your Hotel, office, apartment, or home. Your location is saved, and UBER will quickly send the nearest car. No cash? No problem. Tip and fare are automatically charged to your debit or credit card.
Wi-Fi Finder is one useful little gem while on the road. With all of the data restrictions on most cell phone providers, one often resorts to feverishly searching for a hot spot. Not a problem if you download Wi-Fi Finder. This App finds a local hot spit worldwide.
Voxox is a must have for the business traveler. Thus App eliminates, or drastically reduces, the roaming charges one incurs while on the road overseas. All you need is a hot spot ? don?t forget Wi-Fi Finder above to help you in that department. With this, you get a free Voxox number to use worldwide, the ability to e-fax all of those important work documents, language translation and the ever so convenient voicemail transcription. How can you beat that, and it?s all FREE!
Happy stress free travel all you techies. Your phone or tablet has you covered while you are away.
