Blog Assignment #1 - Term 2

Well, what do ya know? I have to do more of these blogs. Oh well, haha.

Today we had James Eberhardt come in to talk to us. He's... uhh... famous? I don't know. I think he was. Oh well, moving on. He came in to talk to us about mobile devices.

Of the things he discussed, the first thing that came to my mind to write here was of the ability to take photos and directly upload them to Flickr. However, I do have a concern with such an ability. Since it includes GPS information on where the photo was taken, it can potentially give out information people might not want to get known, especially given how dangerous the internet. It's not something I'd personally make use of. ( Link to Flickr )

Something else that caught my attention was about QR codes. I had actually seen those before, but I was never aware of what they were for. To learn they're a new type of barcode, capable of much more data, is just awesome. :D Also the fact that the patent owner isn't enforcing their patent, which is why it's so widely used, is even better. ( Link to Wikipedia article on QR code )

Another thing he mentioned was semipedia.org. It's a website that is making use of QR codes to link real places and things to their related Wikipedia articles. I think that's pretty cool, given how useful Wikipedia can be (As long as people don't mess with the articles). It certainly spreads knowledge around a lot more, and that's something that needs to be done in this world. ( Link to semipedia.org )

James also did me a favour when he talked about SMS. I had heard the acronym SMS and I knew it was related to text-messaging, but I was never aware of the full title for the acronym; short message service. SMS is something I think is cool in some applications, but lame in others. It's kinda all over the place. However, I had also only thought it to be limited to cell phones. But then again, learning about being able to send it to a computer would explain how shows like (ugh...) American Idol work. ( Link to Wikipedia Article on SMS )

The last thing I wanted to bring up was when James discussed GPRS vs. WiFi, and the differences between the two. Personally, I'm a fan of WiFi given how much cheaper it is, not to mention the ease in creating WiFi networks. I know there is one in Sheridan, while I have one set-up in my own house. It's relatively easily. Actually, that reminds me how shortly after the Nintendo DS launched, Nintendo and McDonalds made plans to install WiFi networks in all McDonalds that would work with the DS. I don't know if they did that in Canada, I've not stepped into a McDonalds store in years. I should find out. However, it goes to show you how easy WiFi is to set-up if they have done that in literally every McDonalds store. ( Link to news article on WiFi in McDonalds ). However, even then GPRS will still be more accessible yet more expensive. Bah.

And that's all for today!