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Technology Updates

How to Shop for the Best Technology at the Right Price

Buying the right technology at the right price can be challenging. We are surrounded by new shiny technologies that make big promises but don’t always deliver. Today’s rapidly changing technology landscape means careful consideration must be taken to ensure the right purchasing decision has been made.
Keep the following in mind and you will be on your way to making the right choice and getting the best price.
Is it the right tool?
Technology is just that, a tool. It may be a tool that provides only entertainment, but still it is still just a tool. The best technology provides a seamless experience with no barriers to use while being enjoyable and durable. Buying a technophobe a fancy thing that does far more than required may be a huge mistake. A good example can be found in the computer industry. If a user is simply going to browse the internet, jot some notes down and enjoy music and photos on their computer, they will be best served by a simple device that doesn’t muddle up the experience and doesn’t ask more of them than can be provided.
Today’s surge in HDTV, Gaming Consoles Tablet Computers and Netbooks is a result of people simplifying the tools they use for the majority of their computing experience. You don’t need the latest greatest processing machines to look at the latest photos from the Boy Scout Jamboree. Buying a powerhouse computer for Grandma could be a great waste of money. Better to get her an Xbox 360, a copy of God of War and show her how to view photos on her television.
Are there ongoing fees?
Some technologies are subsidized with ongoing subscription fees and long-term contracts. If you were to look at the costs between an iPhone and an iPod Touch, very similar devices if compared without the phone features, the price difference is immense. As of 11/01/2010, an 8GB iPhone 3Gs will cost you at least $1,058.76 after your two year contract is up, while an 8GB iPod Touch costs $229.00. If you used only the gaming and Home networking features of the iPhone, you would be wasting over $800. GPS devices with subscription based traffic are another good example of a system with ongoing costs. Find out if the technology is useless without subscription services, or if they still retain usefulness in case you feel you want to cancel the service. Figure subscription services and contract length into the cost of the technology.
Are there consumables?
Batteries and printer toner/ink are the most common consumable in today’s technologies. Find out what type of batteries your technology takes, whether it is user-serviceable, and how long it will take normal use to need battery replacement. Figure the cost of battery replacement into the cost of the device. If you are buying a printer, look into cost per page. A low price printer may cost hundreds of dollars more when ink prices are taken into consideration.
What do other people think about it?
Once you’ve found the technology you like, plug the model number into your favorite search engine and read up on customer reviews. If it is a new piece of tech, you may not see a good number of customer reviews, but if it has been around for a while, chances are there are many opinions out there. You may see a mix of great and horrible reviews for any given product. Look for patterns in quality, support/service and overall satisfaction and always read with a grain of salt.
What is the best price?
Finally, start digging for a deal. I myself love to use Google shopping. They go out and find the best prices for millions of products and list them in that familiar googley way. I get the best results by typing the model number into Google, hitting search, and switching to the ‘shopping’ link at the top. Then I sort by price and click around. Often you will find the lowest prices on refurbished items or items on eBay. This is sometimes OK, but if it means I get a shorter warranty, or no warranty at all, or if it is something that has batteries or consumables or can be damaged by water, I skip the refurbish and auction sites.
Avoiding Buyer’s Remorse
As an avid consumer of technology, I have learned over time that I should be very careful before buying something that doesn’t meet my expectations. I bought a Kaossilator with dreams of integrating it into one of my guitars. I had fantasies of laying down some sick beats, deep bass lines and ripping leads with the touch pad from the Kaossilator to the wild applause and adoration of the audience. For those of you that don’t perform live rock music, this is the impetus for …

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Latest Technology

North Korean, Iranian, Venezuelan, and China Missile and Nuclear Weapon Technology Share

Nuclear Weapons as a bargaining tool is not an idea that is long for this world I’d say. Of course, being a nuclear power and having nuclear weapons seems to give a country a bit of national pride and perceived safety from attack and until that changes, and the rewards are taken away, countries will continue to pursue nukes. Nuclear Proliferation is a scary way to play the political card of impasse with the threat of unspeakable WMD and war.
It appears that a leaked UN report shows that North Korea is indeed trading ICBM technology with Iran, and most likely also nuclear weapon technology. This is not the first report talking about North Korea’s weapon technology exports previously it has been known that Myanmar had also gotten nuclear and missile information from them. Also, Syria, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Sudan.
Perhaps, you recall that a number of years ago Iran agreed to purchase of 100 ($500 million deal) to SCUD-B missiles. But now we are talking about ICBM technologies. Unfortunately, when you mix ICBM Tech with Nuclear Warheads, things get very serious quick.
There was a full story on all this in Al Jazeera TV, a 25-minute program video posted on May 16, 2011 titled “North Korea and Iran’s Missile Power – A Leaked UN Report Claims N. Korea and Iran are Exchanging Illicit Missile Technology, Using China as a Transit Hub,” which aired in the Middle East on May 15, 2011 – and whereas, you might say this is any revelation or new information.
But in this last report it cited speculation and allegations that China was used as a transit point, and remember China is a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Why is China involved? Perhaps, most likely energy, Iran has lots, China needs lots. See that problem as well?
It seems that if you look back the history of nuclear proliferation and trace the steps, of which countries had it, with whom they shared the technology, you see a rather troubling pattern, almost as if Moore’s Law is in place, and the number of nations gaining these weapons or technology is rapidly increasing. Just pull up an old RAND Think Tank position paper or old research study and you’ll see the reality here.
Right now as we speak, Iran is attempting to gain allies by sharing its nuclear weapons knowledge in its nuke programs. With Venezuela for instance, along with again Medium and perhaps long-range missile technologies as well, a double whammy which causes a huge amount of unrest in the world and keeps intelligence agencies up at night. So, I hope you will please consider all this.…

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Technology Updates

Iran and N Korean Technology Treaty – Advanced Missile Tech, Centrifuge Scientific Knowledge

It seems as though while the US politic is busy distracted on mundane political nonsense during the 2012 political election season, that the centrifuges in Iran are busy spinning away like never before. Great, so apparently the sanctions are not working, but how could they work when then US has given all 20-nations which buy Iranian oil a free-pass. Meaning basically, no sanction rules, and interestingly enough, there are US food companies which sell food items there too.
Sometimes it seems as if these sanctions are more or less re-writing trade rules, putting barriers to entry up, keeping oil prices high world-wide, and allowing some nations special status. That is a real problem when it comes to global free-markets I’d say, and cloaking it under an anti-nuclear proliferation policy is silly – mostly because it isn’t working and it’s becoming quite apparent the Obama Administration doesn’t want it to work. So, what have we now?
We are entering the age of nuclear terrorism – and philosophically and strategically thinking – it doesn’t matter if the bad guys or proxy terrorists actually have a nuke or not, it’s the fear factor, remember terrorism is about fear. Okay so, rather than taking it down a few notches we are now using it as an excuse to use surveillance on all internet traffic globally, and as the world gets closer together this also means watching all communication on all social networks, since there are members from all countries now.
As if the fear factor wasn’t enough now it appears North Korea, a tiny country, and Iran a belligerent one (the leadership that is) have decided to use this fear as power. Of course, this is a fear lever that we have given them due to piss poor policy by the Obama Administration.
The Washington Post had an interesting piece recently about North Korea and Iran published on September 1, 2012 titled; “Iran and North Korea sign technological cooperation agreement, deepening ties,” by the Associated Press because the Washington Times reporters are too busy following the Obama Campaign roadshow these days to actually report on important news (opinion).
Apparently, nothing of any substantial nature has been done to reduce nuclear proliferation during the Obama Administration. It has become quite evident that they don’t take this challenge as significant, they just don’t think it’s a problem. Well, it will be a problem when a nuclear weapon is detonated inside of some major city in the world. When that happens, we can look back at who was asleep at the wheel, and which administrations allowed rogue nation states to continue the development of these weapons. Please consider all this and think on it.…

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Tech News Today

Families and Technology – Beware the Social Downfall

This is a high-tech world we live in. It was many years ago and still is, but the pace at which it is advancing is staggering. We barely get used to a new gadget or idea and it has evolved into a more complex gadget and we must have it. Our children, our employers, and friends must have it, too. Has all of this been a positive or negative influence on our families?
For all of time distance between relatives, friends and business associates had been a challenge of fulfilling the need to talk face to face as if in the same room and to experience what is going on in their world. Today’s advancement in communication has given us several ways to squash that challenge and have control over it. The cell phone, iPods, PDAs, laptops, Smartphones, video phones, and computers provide almost limitless ability to communicate by talking, text messaging, instant video calls, computer use, and access to the internet. We can work and play more efficiently.
What good has all this done for the family? Keeping in touch with children and spouses on cell phones has become a necessity in times of emergencies and needing to know their whereabouts. Many service providers offer lower plans to help keep them connected while offering children their favorite, text messaging. Video phones, Skype on computers, and cell phone video fulfill a need for friends and families, especially in the military, to feel the joy of seeing each other regardless of the distance between them. The social contact and content over the internet is awe-inspiring. Many people have found their true love on an online dating service and started families. The knowledge to be found on the internet is never-ending. I can’t remember how I used to find out so much information before. Yes, I’m that old. Parents have a choice to work full-time or part-time at home via the computer or PDA. This can mean lower commute and child care costs. Their employers may be able to restructure their companies to save on expenses. Television events still bring friends and families together. Children enjoy their video games which aids them in keeping up on advancing technology. All of these things aren’t expected to go away but just keep progressing.
Quality time for families has given many of us a vast catalog of fond memories. Socializing within the family circle is in jeopardy. Going into our own retreats with our choice of entertainment has alienated the family structure as we’ve known it. Children demonstrate more bad behavior with the absence of family values and closeness not being constant enough in their lives. The whole family gathering around the dinner table is a source of support, problem solving and a release from the day’s trials. It teaches etiquette, empathy and social skills. Even if families manage a dinner together it is too often interrupted with phone calls, text messaging, watching television or listening to an iPod. Dinner time can become a battle trying to put away the distractions of our modern world. Some families still compete with all of this by having family movie or game nights. Some still try to read that bedtime story to their young ones. We have allowed ourselves to become addicted to email, text messaging, and connecting online by ourselves. We are putting our family life on the back burner and not worrying too much that it may get burned.
Some families and parents realize too late the damage being done by our all so busy, modern world of phones and computers. They have difficulty switching to parenting mode and instead passively monitor their children. They may stay at home and work but they work more and their children see it and are affected by it. Children must have attention from their parents to learn to socialize, grasp the commitment for learning, feel security, and to become strong, confident adults. Spouses need personal time together to enrich their relationships. The internet has engulfed many and chat rooms have caused marital problems and divorces. At the pace we are going I fear the breakdown of the social structure of the family which will lead to the decline of the social structure in society itself.
Like it or not advancing technology isn’t going away. We need to learn to hold onto our family social structure. We can embrace the positive influences of our changing world and strive to keep the negative influences away. I remember my parents not liking rock and roll music when I was a kid but I like it. Now kids today like rap music but I don’t. Each generation to come will accept changes since they grew up with them. I believe there should be a grandparent or watchdog in every family now and in …

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Article About Technology

The New Surge in 3D TV Technology is Upon Us

Interestingly, 3D TV Technology has been existing for numerous years now. This unique engineering science is now currently being observed in not only the movie industry, but at the present, there is definitely an explosion of 3D technological innovation also being made attainable to the consumer in the HDTV market place. There are currently products being launched to the television market place which are in the market today for purchase and use in your personal Home 3D Theater experience.
In this article I will disclose what choices in addition to technological innovations are now on the market and being bought as well as exactly what might be attainable in the future. It is questionable as to how soon many of these products and this kind of innovative technological innovation are going to be snapped up by eager buyers. There are actually leaders of companies that are investing huge monetary resources in the improvement of this new wave of 3D technologies and who believe that inside the next 10 years the sale of 3D products will encompass HALF of their television sales income!
We have already seen the Consumer Electronics Show 2010 and there are actually a number of ideas that we can learn from the event. We now have found out that the tablet PC is going to be big as well as 3D television technology.
Looking back, a number of consumer electronic makers had samples of this new upcoming 3D technological innovation on exhibit. The manufacturers ranged from Panasonic, JVC, Samsung as well as others. This technological innovation was clearly the “talk of the show”. There are numerous companies who are seeing the writing on the wall and are now scrambling to put in place innovations, compatible systems, products and services so that they can claim a share in this potentially explosive market. As an example, Interactive TV Today will be taking a closer overall look at each 3D Television from the 2010 CES and has picked out some companies that they are waiting to find out what they are going to be producing during the new year. CableLabs is offering testing capabilities for 3D TV implementation through cable.
Companies like Panasonic and Mitsubishi have been working on a range of HD 3D enabled TVs. Inside of the Television industry, this really is viewed as the first principal improvement after the launch of flat panel TV. Sony is likewise involved in this cutting edge technology, which is being popularized with new 3D movie pictures hitting the theater like has declared that they will be launching a brand new IF-2D3D1 Stereoscopic Image Processor designed to convert 2D to 3D. This will make it considerably less difficult for 3D content producers to operate with their archived 2D material. Comcast announced at CES that they were intending to launch a video on demand product. Movies presently predicted to be introduced include “The Final Destination,” “My Bloody Valentine,” and a lot more. ESPN is going to launch a 3D channel in June and is planning on showing over 85 live events.
So, the “gold rush” is on and gaining in momentum. Companies are shelling out substantial amounts of capital in the creation of products and services in addition to positioning themselves for the future demand from customers and the possibilities in the future. Timing and correct choices are now immensely important. There will be opportunities for new and existing organizations to take giant leaps forward. Those manufacturers that don’t lead, or at least closely follow, this new revolution will just disappear into the past.…

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Technology Articles

Easy Engraving With Latest Technology

Difficult, complicated and time-consuming manual engraving is now becoming obsolete. Digital engraving and its benefits are what people can now enjoy and experience. There are many technologies and machines that were invented to provide people with faster, more convenient and accurate engraving methods. Different items and applications including ball pen marking, trophy engraving, metal engraving and glass etching were more available.
It became possible to quickly customize or personalize gift items. Key chains, ball pens, and mugs and other giveaways were quickly engraved with intricate text and even logos. Now, even a design can be laser engraved on iPods, iPhones and other gadgets. This made the end product look more sophisticated and personalized.
Other machines were able to imprint photo or photo engrave on various materials. Pendants can be imprinted with photo of loved ones to make it more meaningful and custom-made. Some machines are small, space-saving and easily placed on your desktop while some are quite large and requires considerable space. Because they have the right equipment and facilities to produce novelty items, manufacturers are more confident in opening their business as a provider of such items. They can offer production in multiple quantities because their machines can produce so quickly and accurately. People who need specialty items as giveaways, awards, and gift items are good prospects for this kind of business.
There is high demand for these types of products and services. A company would like to increase their branding and provide freebies with their logo on it. In events, trade shows, conventions, seminars and sales presentation, giveaways or freebies will excite customers. Manufacturers are asked to provide the items and customize them with some text and logo of the company engraved on the item.
Ball pen marking, trophy engraving, metal engraving and glass etching are some of the services offered by some manufacturers. They are equipped with necessary machines, technology and facilities to produce company’s many requirements and job orders. Quality and fast results is what manufacturers can provide. They should also be able to offer unique and original products that are impressive and sophisticated. Convenient and fast delivery are also a big plus for a manufacturer especially for a customer’s very urgent needs.…

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Science And Technology News

Why You Should Purchase Technology Insurance From Educated Professionals

Many small business owners are very meticulous and careful when choosing their insurance company and their insurance coverages. Choosing the appropriate insurance broker to administer your insurance portfolio is just as important as the other two. The three-legged stool for success in putting together your technology insurance program is to choose the appropriate insurance company, the appropriate insurance coverages, and the appropriate insurance broker to administer your program.
The education of your insurance broker is one of the fundamental basics in warranting his or her qualification to administer your program.
The education of your broker can take many forms. The first form is the pure academic form that can be revealed in your brokers level of academic accomplishment. Looking for a broker with a college degree, and possibly an advanced college degree, such as an MBA, can be an important part of your insurance strategy.
Besides the pure level of academic accomplishments, having industry specific academic accomplishments within the insurance industry is extremely important. Some of the more common industry designations that are professional in nature are:
o CPCU -chartered property and casualty underwriter
o ARM – associate risk management
o CLU -chartered life underwriter
o ChFC – chartered financial consultant
There are other designations but they are of a lesser value mainly because the threshold for obtaining the designation is minimal at best. Usually only about 5% of the brokers United States have one of these designations.
A Technology insurance professional should have both the college academic level and the insurance industry academic level commensurate with the coverages that you are seeking.…