Useful Cloud Based Tools Presentation

I decided to do my presentation on Dropbox.  You can find my power point presentation at:
https://docs.google.com/a/myedge.cc/present/edit?id=0AWnHYmbMQYzSZGQzZmNjYmJfMGZqajVnN3Zu&hl=en

Useful Cloud Based Tools

    After doing some research on cloud based tools, I have chosen 2 tools for digital pictures, 1 tool purely for fun, and 2 home and business managing tools.
The first site is Flickr, at http://www.flickr.com/.  Flickr is from Yahoo, and is a free tool for organizing, editing and sharing photos and videos.  You create your free account, then start uploading photos from your phone, e-mail, or browser.  Flickr has five levels of privacy control so that photos can be viewed only by the people you want to see them.  The levels are: Anyone, Only Friends, Only Family, Only You, and Viewing on a Guest Pass.  The viewing on a Guess Pass is for someone that does not have a Flickr account, but is invited to see your photos.  You can edit your photos with Picnik and label, tag and organize them through the Organizr.  Flickr accounts can be connected to Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, or Yahoo Updates.  Your Flickr site can be customized to display your photos or embedded with a slide show.  Flickr also allows you to  search for friends by name or email address and will allow you to import your contacts from your e-mail account.

Manilla          The second site is Manilla, at  http://www.manilla.com/.  Manilla is a free account management site that allows you to consolidate your household accounts, financial accounts, subscription and travel accounts all in one location.  Your home page has tabs for Accounts, Mail, and Reminders.  The Accounts tab shows you a listing of all your bills and bill information, and bills can be paid from this tab.  The Mail tab shows e-mails that only relate to your accounts.  There is no spam in Manilla.  The Reminders tab show bills that are due within the next 14 days.  On this tab, you can choose to have yourself sent a reminder e-mail or text message when bills are due.  Manilla uses bank level security to protect your private information.

Pixlr        The third site is Pixlr, at http://pixlr.com/ .  This site is the self-proclaimed "most advanced online image editor in the world".  There is no membership required - just upload a photo from your computer, from an URL or from a library and start editing.  You can even start with a blank image and create your own graphic.  There is Pixlr Editor for detailed editing and Pixlr Express for quick editing.  Pixlr Grabber comes as a download for Chrome and Firefox that allows you to grab browser content for editing, sharing, and saving directly in the browser. Pixlr imm.io is available for photo sharing.  Pixlr makes the photo available to your friends and family, but removes the photo if it is not viewed in 30 days.

Blue Mountain E-Cards       Blue Mountain E-card is found at http://www.bluemountain.com/ and is a free e-card design and sending service.  It has cards tailored for all ages and genders and for all occasions that can be personalized and sent to your friends and family.  An account is required, but after that simple step you are eligible to make and send as many cards as you want.  It is a great way to remember all those who are special to you without spending a fortune.

Dropbox           Dropbox (found at https://www.dropbox.com/) is a wonderful tool that allows you to have access to any file placed in a Dropbox folder on your personal computers and phones, and access to the file from any computer via Dropbox.com.  Dropbox automatically updates the Dropbox file in all venues after changes have been made to the file.  Files and photos can be shared with friends, family and co-workers by sending specific links to files to your target viewer.  Also, you can make files or photos available to everyone by copying them to your Public folder. 
     Dropbox is very secure.  Files are encrypted with AES-256 before storage and data is transported using SSL. Dropbox provides an automatic backup source for your files with 2G of free storage. (More can be purchased with a monthly charge.)  Download the Dropbox installer on all your computing devices, upload files to Dropbox.com or drag and drop them into your Dropbox folder on your computer and you can have access to your files anytime/anywhere.

Apps That Make Life Easier

     When perusing WSJ.com, I came across an interesting article by Michelle Price of Wall Street Journal Europe.  It was entitled "Top 10 Apps That Will Change Your Life".  In the article Ms. Price proceeds to describe 10 apps that are "the most useful, most recommended and most interesting."  I'm not sure who recommended these apps, but some of them certainly could be beneficial.  See if any of these new apps could be a help to you:
OmniFocus - This app is a location-based task manager that uses GPS and WiFi positioning to remind you to do a specific task when you are near the location of said task.  For example, if you program "get prescriptions filled" into your smart phone in the morning, it will remind you to do the task if you are near a pharmacy.  (for iPhone and iPad)
DataVault Password Manager - This program is designed by Ascendo, Inc. and provides a way to store and manage passwords, credit-card information, and other essential personal information in a highly secure, encrypted format. (for desktop computers, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch)
Find My Car! - For those of you who have a difficult time finding your car when you come out of a mall or the Walmart store, this app uses the smart phone's location capability to establish the location of your parked car, then will locate the car for you on the phone's map function when you are heading back after shopping.  This program will also store visual information for those people who can't read maps.  (for iPhones)
Drinks Tracker - If you are tempted to overindulge, this app keeps up with the amount of alcohol you consume.  Just input the size, quantity, and strength of the drinks you have consumed and it will display the quantity of alcohol consumed in graph form. (for iPhones)
Word Lens - This app translates printed words in one language into another language using the phone's camera.  For example, if you are traveling and can't read a road sign, the app allows you to point the camera at the sign then gives you the translation. At the present time, this app only translates Spanish to English and vice versa  but other languages are in the process of being programmed for the app. (for iPhones and iPads)
IMDb - Internet Movie Database has the world's largest collection of TV and film trivia with a database of 1.5 million films and TV shows.  Put an end to arguments and discussions with facts from IMDb. (iPhones, iPads, iPod touch, and Androids)
Layar Reality Browser - This app uses the augmented reality technology to provide additional information about a user's location.  Just point the phone's camera at a location and Layar Reality will provide additional information relevant to the location, such as the most popular restaurants in the area or apartments available for rent. (iPhones)
Spotify - This app is for music-streaming without advertisements and allows the user to play back songs when offline.  (for desktops, iPhones, Androids)
Shazam - This is a "music discovery engine".  When you can't identify a song, just hold your phone to the music (whether it is playing on the radio or on a shop speaker) and the app will give you the song title and the artist. (Androids, iPhones, iPads)
The Good Food Guide 2011 - This app if for those people traveling or living in the UK.  (The author of the WSJ article lives in Europe.) It locates restaurants in a given area based on cuisine, cost, and reviewers recommendations using the phones GPS and WiFi location service.  (iPhones and iPads)
     With hundreds of apps to choose from, this list may provide an app that is beneficial to you.  I don't have a smart phone, but I must say they certainly are appealing! For more information, go to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704739504576067940909870176.html?KEYWORDS=Top+10+Apps+That+Will+Change+Your+Life

Facebook's Open Compute Project

     Facebook is sharing the details for its server systems and designs for its computer facilities in hope that it will generate innovation and improvements much like the results from open-source software.  This "Open Compute Project"  hopes to lower industry-wide energy use.  According to a WSJ article by Geoffrey Fowler, Facebook's Prineville operations are "38% more energy-efficient and 24% more cost-effective than the machines the social-networking giant had been using."  Current collaborators in the Open Compute Project include Intel Corp., Advanced Micro Devices, Hewlett-Packard Co., and Dell Inc. 
     Google, Apple Inc. and Twitter Inc.  are in the process of building new data centers to provide "computing resources, data-storage capacity and software services to companies and consumers over the Internet."  A Google spokesperson said that they were still becoming familiar with the project but supported any initiative that enabled businesses to develop energy-efficient designs.  Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.  are two companies that are historically secretive about their computing infrastructure.
    I think Facebook's new project is admirable, progressive, "green" and great for public relations. It has made me take another look at Facebook as a corporation and not just an aggravating social-networking site.
For more information go to:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704013604576248953972500040.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews
   

Google Becomes more Social with "+1"

     Google has decided to offer a new option for its popular search engine.  It will offer a "social search"  called "+1" or "plus one".  "+1" will allow users to receive search results recommended by friends.  According to an article by Amir Efrati in the WSJ,  the move to offer a social search is striking since nearly $30 billion in annual revenue comes from Ads placed in Google's traditional search engine.  This move by Google is an attempt to stay at the top of Web innovation and to attract and maintain advertising revenue.
     +1 works like this:
                a.  You must create a Google public profile through your Gmail or other Google account.
                b.  If searching while signed in, highlighted results will show sites that have been recommended by
                     your friends and contacts.
                c.  Search results can also contain content that has been highlighted by others using the +1 button.
Christian Oestlien, a Google product manager, stated, "Recommendations play a vital role in our decision-making process.  You look at the advice of people you know and trust."
     Google has attempted to enter the social-networking market several times before with little success.  A year ago the attempt was called Google Buzz.  This next attempt to become more "Social" won't replace the traditional Google search engine which is based on a mathematical algorithm that ranks sites on how "relevant they are to a user's search query".  "+1"  will allow friends to recommend websites via Gmail or other Google services.  The "+1" button will be similar to Facebook's "Like" button for any site that installs the button. Users can recommend the site or content by clicking on the button. One of the purposes of "+1" will be to reorder search results so that the most useful sites are listed first.  I'm sure the main purpose of "+1" is to keep advertising dollars coming in.  For more info, go to:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576232771273306208.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

Electronic Wallet

     Google has announced that it will team up with MasterCard, Inc. and Citigroup, Inc. to equip Android mobile devices with "NFC" technology so that owners will be able to purchase items with a wave of their phones.  NFC technology, or "near field communication technology", involves a mobile-payment Android application and credit-card/debit-card readers that are "contactless devices" meaning that a wave or tap or the cell phone would allow the readers to pick up account information.  VeriFone Systems, also included in Google's venture, makes contactless readers and would supply the readers for cash registers.  According to the WSJ article "Google Sets Role in Mobile Payment" by Amir Efrati and Robin Sidel, the perception that NFC technology is less secure because it is contactless is false.  The technology is much more sophisticated than the standard magnetic stripe and therefore harder to steal.  Also, the credit card companies would cover the cost of unauthorized transactions just like they do with conventional cards.
     Google plans to sell advertising to local businesses by offering them more information on their customers.  With this information, businesses can target advertisements and discount offers to smart phone owners in their area.  For additional information go to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703576204576226722412152678.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

The Samsung Nexus S Android will be mobile payment capable.

Powering the Hand-held Revolution

     While reading the Wall Street Journal last Thursday, I came across an article called "Getting an ARM Up on Intel" by Rolfe Winkler.  It proceeded to explain that over 90% of all hand-held devices are powered by chips based on architecture developed by a British company called ARM Holdings PLC.  ARM's chips are included in everything from smart phones and tablets to digital cameras and disk drives.  The recently released Ipad 2 includes a processor based on ARM technology that is twice as fast as the first Ipad and still has an impressive 10 hour battery life.  Other devices with ARM chips include the Iphone 4, the Motorola Droid, and the Samsung Galaxy S.
     ARM develops chip designs and then licenses the design to a chip-maker like Texas Instruments or Qualcomm.  According to the article, "Battery life is key.  It's why, in handsets, ARM's architecture dominates.  Intel's brawny processors are speedier, making them ideal for PCs.  Compared to ARM's, however, they gulp electricity, making them a bad fit for battery-powered devices." 
    In 1990, Apple formed a joint venture with ARM (then called Acorn) to develop a chip for Apple's new PDA called the Newton.  The initial investment was $1.5 million.  Apple made $800 million on the investment.  ARM's stock has tripled in value in the last 15 months, and it has a gross profit margin of 94%. ARM has a 5 cent royalty per chip.  Its total revenue in 2010 was $631 million.  The rapidly expanding hand-held market has boosted ARM's sells from 51 million chips based on 30 licenses in 1998 to 6.1 billion chips based on 250 licenses in 2010.  The future looks good for ARM.  I wonder if it's publicly traded?
     For more information go to: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703726904576193213862817184.html?mod=WSJ_Tech_LEFTTopNews

Look Ma, No Hands!

     I came across an article on wsj.com called "If looks Could Kill" by Michael Hickins.  While he was attending the CeBIT technology trade show in Hannover, Germany, he came across an emerging technology that allows the eyes of a computer user to move the cursor on the computer screen. This technology was developed by Tobii Technology, a Swedish company, and jointly presented with Lenovo. 
     The application uses a combination of infrared light, mathematical algorithms, and a high-frequency optical sensor to determine, from the eyes of the user, the exact spot on a computer screen that is being viewed.  The article quotes Sara Hyleen, who is an executive with Tobii, as saying "it can also calculate in 3D the exact position of the eye, so it doesn't matter if you're moving around or not."
     This technology is already being used in scientific and market research.  Scientific research is using this technology with autistic children who have difficulty verbalizing responses.  In marketing research, this technology has been incorporated into glasses that record the location of items that catch a viewer's eyes when looking at a web site or when shopping in a store.  Michael Hickins speculated that the technology would be great in gaming - allowing you to kill bad guys with a look.  I can't help but think that it would be of benefit to the handicapped or paralyzed.  To read the article go to:  http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/03/01/if-looks-could-kill/

Let's Play in NCSU's Technology Sandbox

     While reading the News and Observer on Tues., Feb. 22nd, I ran across an article about the D. H. Hill Library at North Carolina State University.  The article was by Jay Price and it goes into detail about a new room in the D.H. Hill Library called the "Technology Sandbox".  This room is filled with the latest in large, interactive displays that use multi-touch, gesture-based computing.  The centerpiece of the room is an $100,000 Perceptive Pixel display wall that is similar to the ones used by cable news networks. NCSU officials believe this to be the first Perceptive Pixel display to be in any library or university. 
     Library staff at NCSU have received a federal grant to develop a "technology tool box" that would be used as a platform for other libraries in the ever-expanding bid to bring libraries into the age of technology.  According to David Woodbury, who oversees the Sandbox, "Libraries are places where you come to work in a group, and you need the tools to visualize the data, to share what's on your screen with your partner. They (the students) are going to be using these tools down the road in their jobs, and the idea is to get these things in to their hands now."
     Along with the Perceptive Pixel display, the Sandbox's 1700 square feet include, a quad-panel display (four screens that can display images from four computers or one giant image and is used for group presentations or group computer programing), a SMART Board (a digital chalk board used for educational purposes that allows you to display your computer screen while being able to manipulate the image with your gestures such as circle or underline important data while your talking about it),  a pair of Microsoft Surface Tables (tables that look like giant horizontal iPads and work like the Perceptive Pixel), and the Sandbox will include a Microsoft Kinect ( a new type of computer gaming equipment where players use gestures to control action on the screen and is expected to be an asset for the university's game developers.)
     This is completely foreign to my memories of studying in the D.H. Hill Library 30 years ago.  I made that comment to my husband and he replied "I never thought you went to the library."  He can be such a smart *%# sometimes but I love him anyway.  I'll admit that I didn't use it enough my first year at State. (I was too busy having a good time.) But that is beside the point.  The Sandbox is now open for public use 7 days a week.  If you would like to read the article, go to:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/22/1005614/ncsu-jumps-into-sandbox-to-touch.html#storylink=misearch
Other information can be found at http://www.ncsu.edu/ .  Go to the library tab and enter Technology Sandbox in the search window. 

For those who are addicted to Facebook...

     Taiwan-based, HTC Corp. has released two new smartphones made especially for Facebook users.  The phones, the ChaCha and the Salsa, have a blue Facebook button below the keyboard that provides instant access to the social-networking site.  The button is "context-aware, gently pulsing with light whenever there is an opportunity to share content".  HTC claims that you can instantly update your status, post a song that you are listening to (the song is automatically identified and shared), instantly upload a picture taken from your phone, or instantly share a Website by the touch of the button. 
      These smartphones use the Android Gingerbread 2.3.3 operating system along with the latest version of HTC Sense.  When you call or receive a call from a Facebook friend, the screen displays the friend's latest status and photos, and tells you if the friend's birthday is approaching.
     HTC Corp. and Facebook have been working together for several years to develop these phones and bring them to the market.  Facebook has over 500 million active users.  If you would like to read more about the phone go to:  http://www.htc.com/us/press/htc-unveils-two-social-phones-with-one-touch-facebook-access/27
 

This Message Will Self-destruct in 60 Seconds

     This Message Will Self-destruct in 60 Seconds.  Remember that line (or something similar) from Mission Impossible?  Well, it seems remarkably appropriate after I read an article about self-expiring text messages offered by TigerText, Inc. (no connection to Tiger Woods).  The messages disappear from both the sender and receiver's phone after a set amount of time (from 60 seconds to 30 days) so they can't be copied or forwarded.
     To use this service, both the sender and receiver must download the free app from http://www.tigertext.com/ .  It available for a variety of devices including iPhones, Androids, and Blackberrys.  A user sends a message over TigerText's network after first setting the time for the "expiration".  The receiver opens the message which starts the expiration process.  After the message expires, TigerText servers write over the old message.  No copies are stored.
     Approximately half a million people have downloaded the service.  Among this number, celebrities are using this service to keep their private lives private.  Banking and the health care industries are using the enterprise version which cost $10 per month per employee.  One group of physicians in the Greensboro, NC Moses Cone Health system use TigerText to communicate about patients on a real-time basis instead of leaving charts for another doctor to read hours later.  The expiration of these texts is compliant with federal HIPPA regulations. 
     TigerText says that it is unable to retrieve any message once that message has expired and is erased from the server. But the company does say that "it would comply with any requests from law enforcement and cooperate with any investigations." It seems to open opportunities for criminals and straying spouses, if you ask me. 
      The information in this blog was obtained from the article "Secret Texting... Pass It On" by Lauren Schuker in February 4's The Wall Street Journal.  Read it at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703740104576122460926972084.html?KEYWORDS=secret+texting

Watson Update and What do you think?

    Okay, my new technology post was made on Friday, Feb. 4th.  This post concerns a couple of topics I wanted to talk about.  The first is about Watson, the IBM computer system that processes information given  in natural language that I blogged on last week.  There is a great article in this weekend's Wall Street Journal by Stephen Baker.  FYI, Watson cost IBM more that 30 million dollars and has 2,208 computer processors working "in concert".  It will be facing Jeopardy's champions Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter in two games that will be aired on Feb. 14, 15, and 16.  I know I will be watching to see how it goes.
    The next topic concerned an article on the front page of The News and Observer's Thursday, February 3rd paper.  The article was called "Researcher's demotion hurts UNC image" with a subtitle of "Blamed for hacker's breach".  It was written by Eric Ferreri. The article blasts UNC for demoting cancer researcher Bonnie Yankaskas after the research database that she was overseeing was hacked into in 2007.  According to the university's investigation, 180,000 patient files were exposed as well as 114,000 social security numbers.  The article goes on to say that 127 university professors have signed a petition to request reinstatement of Yankaskas saying that the punishment was unjustly harsh.  Yankaskas was reduced from full professor to associate professor and her salary dropped from $178,000 to $93,000.  Yankaskas, 65, says that she"can't be expected to be a data security expert".  She had turned over the security aspects of the database to a subordinate.
    In my opinion, she should be held accountable if she can be proven to be negligent.  As with the law, ignorance is no excuse.  If she was the person overseeing the database, then she should have taken every precaution for database security.  She should be well familiar with the steps taken to secure the database even if she turned the duties over to a another person.  People in charge of sensitive data should be able to prove that they have not been negligent with its security.  I know that even the best security can be hacked, but you have to provide (in good faith) the best security that you can. What do you think?  BTW, I was one of the people whose data was compromised. Read the story at:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/02/03/964783/researchers-demotion-hurts-unc.html#storylink=misearch

Planning Weddings in the 21st Century

    I was reading the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, and I came across an article that sparked a personal as well as CTS 287 interest.  The article was by Katherine Beohret, a recently engaged reporter, and was called "With This App, I Thee Wed...".  Well, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary last November so I was intrigued by the article.  How could technology make planning a wedding easier than what it was like 25 years ago?
    Ms Beohret has researched several wedding apps (for basically iPhones and iPads) that would help an engaged couple plan their wedding, shop for items for their wedding registry, find the right wedding dress for their body types, and list local vendors for photography, transportation, rentals, and officiants while keeping a daily count-down to the wedding (56 days to go!). 
    She looked at two free apps from TheKnot.com based on two features of the website.  The Look Book helps find the perfect wedding dress based on body type and personality, and Wedding 911 answers all kinds of wedding questions.
    Two apps for the iPhone and iPad, called Brides Wedding Genius and My Wedding Concierge, deal with shopping for dresses and jewelry, planning your honeymoon, and inspiring the user with creative ideas for her wedding.  The iWedding Deluxe iPhone app http://www.iweddingdeluxe.com/Home.html  costs $9.99 does it all and allows you to store all your contacts in one central location. 
    MyWeddingBudget ($1.99 Android) and Wedding Organizer  ($2.99 Blackberry) failed to offer as many advantages, but were the only apps available at this time.
   This article was found in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2011 on page D3 and can be read in its entirety at  http://online.wsj.com/public/page/personal-technology.html just click on the iPad icon.
    Thinking about the planning and the cost of a wedding turns my hair gray.  This alone tells me that I need to get a job NOW!  Did I forget to mention that I have THREE daughters?

IBM's Watson

    Every night my husband, Ben, and my daughter, Elizabeth, and I watch Jeopardy and see who can answer the most questions.  Well, I have to say most nights Ben wins the challenge. When we were first married, the same Jeopardy was run back to back each night.  When I realized this, I would watch the first Jeopardy before Ben came home from work (I got home earlier than he did.) and would memorize as many questions as I could.  My short-term memory is pretty good!  Needless to say, he could not get over how smart his wife was and was also pretty bummed at getting beaten. One night he arrived home early and caught me scoping out the first Jeopardy!  All I can say is that it was good while it lasted.  I still get a chuckle out of thinking about his expression when I was killing him at Jeopardy and his expression when he found out I was cheating!
    Recently, I heard that the two best Jeopardy contestants would be going up against a computer system named Watson.  A little research led to the IBM site IBM: The next Grand Challenge.  You see, IBM attempts what they call "Grand Challenges" such as having a computer system beat a chess master at chess or mapping the human DNA genome.  This time they have attempted to create a computer system that understands natural language content and can search and analyze data.  IBM feels that this system could give new insights into - and gleen new information from - existing data. 
     IBM speculates that this new technology would be used in future data management and analytics.  We have smart phones, smart cars, smart homes, and now we could have smart cities.  IBM feels that this technology could integrate transportation, utility usage, and health care (to name a few) into a system that maximize a city's resources.  This is a quote from the website:

     "Jeopardy! The IBM Challenge poses a specific question with very real business implications: Can a    system be designed that applies advanced data management and analytics to natural language in order to uncover a single, reliable insight — in a fraction of a second?"
   
    Look for the advertisements for the Jeopardy challenge and if you would like to see the videos and learn more about Watson, go to:
http://www-03.ibm.com/innovation/us/watson/what-is-watson/the-next-grand-challenge.html

e-Books: Kindle versus Nook Color

     I'm going to blog on my favorite pasttime - reading!  I love to read, and a year ago my husband got a Kindle for me.  Now, when he first gave it to me I was not sure that I would like it.  I mean, my practical side was screaming that I would not be able to share books with friends and family. So I accepted the gift, acting like I liked it, but thought, "I'm never going to use this!"  Well, I turned it on and within 10 minutes had set up my Amazon account and had figured out how to download my first book.  I read that one and downloaded the next in the series.  (I love Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse series).  All I can say is that Ben has created a monster.  I LOVE the Kindle.  It is instant gratification.  If I want to read a book, newspaper, or magazine, I can turn on the Kindle's Wi-Fi, go to Amazon and download my choice of reading material.
     When our instructor requested blogs on new technology, I knew that my first attempt would be about the latest in e-books.  I have chosen to look at Amazon's Kindle 3 and the Barnes and Noble's Nook Color.
      The Nook Color uses the new VividView color touchscreen technology and a LCD screen.  The Nook can be read indoors or outdoors without complications from glare.  It has 8 GB of memory  - enough to store 6000 books!  Its battery is good for 8 hours after one charge.  It has built-in Wi-Fi but no 3G.  The Nook Color has a media player that can accomodate 100 hours of music or audio books.  It is excellent for magazines, children books, and other reading materials.  There are 2 million books available for purchase from Barnes and Noble. The recommended retail price is $249.00.
     The Kindle 3 has 4 GB of memory with a capacity for 3500 books.  It is the thinnest on the market being just 0.335 inches thick.  It is 4.8 inches wide and 7.5 inches tall.  It uses the E-ink technology which gives you a reading experience equal to reading a book.  The screen is not backlit so it avoids the eye strain that comes from viewing a lighted screen for hours.  The battery will last up to one month on one charge with the Wi-Fi turned off.  It will last up to 3 weeks with the Wi-Fi turned on.  With a Kindle, you have direct access to the Amazon store and free Wi-Fi across the U.S.  Amazon has 700,000 books available for purchase with the Kindle and an addition 1 million available for free.  Amazon also keeps a backup of all the books you have purchased and will download a book to you again if you delete one by mistake.  The purchase price for the Kindle 3 is $139.00. 
     It is amazing how you can get attached to a gadget, and I love my Kindle.  If you are interested in reading more about the lastest e-books. Go to:
http://ebook-reader-review.toptenreviews.com/

Introduction

    Hi there! Well, there is a first time for everything.  I have never blogged about anything.  I'm not sure I even know how to do it - but I will give it my best shot.  I guess CTS 287 is exposing me to more than new, emerging technologies!
    My name is Pam, and you can say that I have had a mid-life crisis.  I have gone back to school after 30 years! (I'm nuts, right?)  I graduated the first time from NCSU with a BS in Textile Management.  After working in the industry for 7 years, I stayed home to rear 3 daughters.  After more than 20 years, I felt it was time to once again join the work force. (I'm sure my husband has wondered why it has taken me this long!) I will graduate from ECC in May with an Associate in Computer Information Technology. I chose CIT because I wanted computer skills before applying for a job.  I had practically no skills when I started school so my computer experience mainly has been obtained through school and personal use.
     So here I am, starting a new career at my age and still wondering what I want to be when I grow up!