Year IV students’ blog for Internet Education

The average commercial kitchen nowadays is not very high-tech and connected to the Internet. This is why I chose this particular field, it’s a challenge at the same time a lot of help to the average kitchen. Kitchens need more gadgets to make chores easier and faster. In today’s rapid technological growth, it would be ignorant not to use these gadgets and Internet opportunities.

I thought it would be cool if there was live video streaming in kitchens just like in conferences. It is very hard for a manager to visit the kitchens of each branch of a certain restaurant or hotel. Managers would go from branch to branch to check on quality control, security, etc. and a task like this is very time consuming. There are already a lot of programs capable of video streaming but none specifically for the kitchen. A kitchen needs more angles because cooking is all about the techniques no matter how small they are. Camera angles that cooking shows offer are not enough because most of the time they can only show one angle at a time. In the kitchen, some things happen that just one angle cannot cover.

I envision the gadget to be camera-based. Cameras would be mounted on the walls and counters of the kitchen. There would also be a giant screen for incoming videos from the different kitchens. The cameras would have motion sensors, allowing it to follow chefs running around the kitchen. There would also be manual controls for the other kitchens and a master control for the manager or head of the business. This gadget would be expensive but a kitchens makes a lot of money so it could probably afford a device like this.

A nice Internet application that can be enhanced to fill a kitchen’s need for the device mentioned earlier would be videoconferencing. This would truly help a commercial kitchen. Chefs can ask for tips and trick from more experienced chefs in other places in the world. The percentage for errors would go lower because managers can watch the kitchen with watchful eyes. For a better understanding of a video conference here’s an explanation from Wikipedia.org:

A videoconference (also known as a videoteleconference) is a set of interactive telecommunication technologies which allow two or more locations to interact via two-way video and audio transmissions simultaneously. It has also been called visual collaboration and is a type of groupware. It differs from videophone in that it is designed to serve a conference rather than individuals. Source: wikipedia.org

Another invention that could help restaurants and hotels in the in-table touchscreen menu. Instead of menus on cards or paper, the choices should be on a screen on the table accessible by touch screen. This would help restaurants and customers because it would be easier to take the customer’s orders and will be able to provide it quickly. This would benefit hotels as well by easily sending customer requests through their touch screen bedside tables. They would be connected to the management through the wireless Internet.

To my surprise there is such a device on the market today, the new Microsoft Surface, the answer to my prayers. If you want to watch how the Surface works click the link. The Microsoft Surface is the future of interactive entertainment. With the Surface the dream of having the futuristic restaurant with Minority Report tables will not be a thing of the past. Businesses would attract more customers because of their quick services.

Source: www.Microsoft.com

+Direct interaction. Users can actually “grab” digital information with their hands, interacting with content by touch and gesture, without the use of a mouse or keyboard.
+ Multi-touch. Surface computing recognizes many points of contact simultaneously, not just from one finger like a typical touch-screen, but up to dozens of items at once.
+ Multi-user. The horizontal form factor makes it easy for several people to gather around surface computers together, providing a collaborative, face-to-face computing experience.
+ Object recognition. Users can place physical objects on the surface to trigger different types of digital responses, including the transfer of digital content. Source: CrunchGear.com

I aim for a faster and more efficient connection between the kitchen and the outer world. Most of us know the kitchen as a cramped, busy and noisy place that’s separated from the entire world. The kitchen should be connected directly to its customers and its fellow kitchens to make service a lot easier. With the Internet’s growth in the not so distant future we can achieve greater feats with less effort making our lives much easier.

After doing some net snooping, I found out one thing. One of the battles fought in the music world today is the war on corporate-control. It seems that everyone is sick of big record labels taking over everything. The logical development that would happen to the music world is independent distribution.

People have been finding ways to sell their music besides the old and outdated cd’s. Radiohead has pioneered a user based method to sell their music. It won’t take long for music to be easily accessible and purchased wherever you are. The new iPod Touch boasts of a “mobile” iTunes store which enables you to purchase music directly from your iPod as long as you’re connected to the web.

Accessibility+portability= convenience .: exposure! This would enable bands with talent but lack exposure to get to show their stuff. Let us not forget that wireless Internet connections are relatively new and the future will only bring faster connections. Having to buy music from stores will be a thing of the past.

One big problem are claims to intellectual rights. Technology has made music distribution easier but does not financially reward the artist. Artists then have no real choice until a good model comes out since they’re currently in a double loss situation.

Today’s technology enables us to do many things. We have video and audio streaming. People are claiming legal rights shiznits here and there about the distribution of their music in this way. The problem is that the corps’ want most, artists want more and listeners want more for less. Surely, even in such a mess, a swell enough business model can emerge.

It seems that Radiohead’s methods have proven successful as they have just topped the U.K. Album Chat with “In Rainbows” just after they have made it easily available online.

Music that is illegitimately distributed will forever be debated upon. There is actually one thing that people tend to miss out. Some people actually want to pay for their music. Even if it seems like a drag to buy the real thing because it costs money, people still buy the real thing. I got to read on some stuff from http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/kelly08/kelly08_index.html which really got me. There are things that people are willing to pay for besides the actual merchandise. Some of these would be immediacy, authenticity, findability and personalization. I believe that it is safe to say that we are, forgive the terminology, a social-trumping group. We love to one-up everyone else and we are willing to pay quite a sum, even, just to have the best things.

http://www.futureofmusicbook.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/ http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/kelly08/kelly08_index.html

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2005/08/the_future_of_t.html

During our era, the Internet is an important factor in people’s lives. It has been a source of information and entertainment to us. It’s useful for students, professionals and even kids.

I love gadgets and the Internet. I thought about being a doctor. Doctors really don’t have the time in the world. They always need to save someone’s life. They don’t have time to check their email or know who won in the latest NBA game. Sure they may have phones but it’s a big thing to carry. So why not a Cellphone Watch? That’s where my idea comes in.

In my “abstract”, I said that busy people like doctors can access the internet if they needed to. They don’t need laptops for that now. I have searched the internet for something more portable. I found out that a watch can actually be used to connect to the internet. I don’t know how it actually works. Still researching that part. The brand is Suunto. I think it is still limited to MSN because you access the internet with MSN Direct. There is such a thing as a Cellwatch. It functions as a phone which can connect to the internet. The M500 Cellwatch was designed by SMS Technology Australia. For more information/specs, click here.

The problem with the M500 Cellwatch is that when you are going to text someone, the keypad is too small. We can work our way through it is by adding a touch-sensitive holographic keyboard. There is such a thing as a holographic keyboard. It’s small and portable but it’s a separate gadget that one has to bring. So I thought why not incorporating it into the the Cellwatch? The keyboard will make it more useful to most of us who have a harder with small keys.

There are also gadgets that are getting smaller and smaller. An example is the web cam. The Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 is one of the smallest web cams I’ve seen. With gadgets getting smaller by the years, they soon may be an add on to the M500 CellWatch.

What does this have to do with being a doctor? With Cellwatches, it’s like having your own PC. Doctors are known to be very busy because of their work. If I do pursue my dream, I’d want to be updated. I would want to email my family, be updated with news around the world and all. This, more hi-tech CellWatch of the future, may be used by other busy workers out there. The CellWatch may come in handy when a doctor has to consult another doctor about a procedure. The doctor would know the answer ASAP. She/He could also see the other doctor using a webcam if they do upgrade. They could also use the CellWatch to talk to other doctors to share ideas or discuss current diseases and maybe discuss on researching a cure for cancer.

Another use of the CellWatch is to diagnose patients online. It would be better because if the patient really can’t go to a clinic, they could go online and get a check-up. They could pay the doctor via credit card.

NASA has developed a Virtual Collaborative Clinic that connects medical facilities around the U.S., allowing doctors to manipulate high-resolution, 3-D images of MRI scans and other medical imaging. Not only can doctors consult and diagnose, but they can simulate surgery by using a “CyberScalpel.” Virtual surgery gives surgeons an opportunity to practice before ever entering the operating room, reducing the time required for the actual procedure. Using this kind of virtual technology, local hospitals can access resources and skills only available at larger institutions. NASA plans to use the technology to provide remote health care to astronauts on extended space journeys.

In a journal article I found, it said that patients want doctors that know the latest medical treatments. With the use of the CellWatch, doctors can get updated with the latest treatments and diseases. Participants of the said research of the project stressed a point about their desire for the doctor to know about them. About their medical condition and potential health issues. Also to know about their culture, their medical and family history, their personal health, and their communities. Using the Internet via CellWatch, they can keep track of their patients and their current and future state of health. Here is an excerpt of the abstract of a journal article by Göran Umefjord, MD; Göran Petersson, MD, PhD and Katarina Hamberg, MD, PhD.

1223 surveys were completed (response rate 34%). Of the participants in the survey 322 (26%) were male and 901 (74%) female. As major reasons for choosing to consult previously-unknown doctors on the Internet participants indicated: convenience (52%), anonymity (36%), “doctors too busy” (21%), difficult to find time to visit a doctor (16%), difficulty to get an appointment (13%), feeling uncomfortable when seeing a doctor (9%), and not being able to afford a doctors’ visit (3%). Further motives elicited through a qualitative analysis of free-text answers were: seeking a second opinion, discontent with previous doctors and a wish for a primary evaluation of a medical problem, asking embarrassing or sensitive questions, seeking information on behalf of relatives, preferring written communication, and (from responses by expatriates, travelers, and others) living far away from regular health care.

This shows that patients do want something for their convenience and a doctor that isn’t too busy. A doctor with a CellWatch has the qualities that those 1223 patients need. They need a doctor that isn’t too busy, that doesn’t require for them to see them and that doesn’t need any appointment.

Doctors that are assigned to a certain patient can monitor their patients using a Doctor Version of CellWatch that includes a monitoring device. When a patient goes into a coma/seizure or in “trouble”, the doctor knows the status of the patient ASAP.

It won’t be too long before they do come up with a more advanced internet. Microsoft is teaming up with researchers tostart it now. The people in the future will definitely benefit from the CellWatch. I’m sure it will be enhanced for people and their respective jobs.

References:
LearnTheNet

SocietyofTeachersofFamilyMedicine

JournalofMedicalInternetResearch

Microsoft

In the year 2020, I see myself as a transportation engineer. I find ways to have more efficient transportation means. I make transportation planning models, route assignment and trip distribution so that traffic flow can be moderated. I would be a transportation engineer, but focusing on air transportation.

I see flying cars, trains and buses. It would be like transportation on land, but only in the air. It would minimize traffic. These cars and trains would have invisible tracks/mini air tunnels to follow so that they would still be organized. I imagine the sky to be full of invisible tubes. These tubes in the air wouldn’t be seen by the people below so that they could still enjoy the sun, rain and snow. I imagine the light, for example, to hit the air tunnel, go around it, and then go back to its original passage. To further explain my idea, please refer to the figure below.

STEALTH F-117A, a stealth jet fighter, has a special paint coated on it so that it cannot be detected by radar signals. Just like the jet, the air tunnels would have a coat of special colorless paint that would deflect the particles (e.g. light, water, air), making the motion of light in the picture above possible. These particles wouldn’t appear to be hitting the tunnels, but appear to be just sliding right through it. This would give people the illusion that there is nothing up there.

I will also have the tunnels covered with mirrors all around it to perfectly reflect the sky. This would be coated with my special paint so that the illusion of having nothing there would be complete.

According to an article in ABC news, scientists predict that in 25 years, we would already have flying cars. Paul Moller invented the M-400 Skycar. It would be able to fly at up to 300 mph. He’s developing a computer-controlled system so that “the driver would become a passenger”.

There are already a lot of prototypes for flying cars. But I have yet to see a design that would allow a car to operate both on the road and in the air. It is possible for a program to be installed in the car that would control the status of the car: whether in the air or on land. I see cars that no longer have steering wheels, pedals, and gear stick. The driver would “drive” the car by just pushing buttons on a wide flat screen in front of him. If Paul Moller would be successful with his computer-controlled system, cars could even be auto-driven.

Every car would have an internet activation before they fly into the air. This would enable the car to connect to the main system and give it a free (unused) “air tunnel” to use. The main system keeps track of all air tunnels and flying cars so that no one would collide on each other and also to regulate allowed speed. Our policemen need not worry about people who violates traffic regulations. The main system controls the range of velocity allowed to the car. Also, they need not worry about drunk driving. Being inside the air tunnels, there would be no possibility of losing control of the car, or bumping to other cars. Driving couldn’t be any safer and easier than this.

Just like cars, it’s also possible, though maybe harder, to have flying trains. These trains would be like flying worms in the sky. We don’t have to pay expensive tickets and wait at the departure area for a long time to ride an airplane. All we need to pay for is gas. By having transportation on water, land and air, we would have smoother traffic flow. It would also be easier and more affordable to reach the other side of the world with just a flying car. It would not only be in movies. It would be reality.

References:

1. ABC News: Flying Cars, Orbital Flights… Futuristic Travel Takes Off
2. SPACE.com: Future Flyers - Pushing Forward for Personal Aircraft
3. Washingtonpost.com: Air War Weapons
4. Moller International