IST 195 - Week 8 (End)

As we can see in the recent past, technology is becoming embedded more and more deeply in the world around us. It is hard to find anything that doesn't have a blog or fan site on the internet. With this technology comes innovation and creativity of the highest caliber. Practical applications are created everyday to help facilitate and easier lifestyle for users.

The ability to quickly and efficiently communicate with such a broad number of recipients has led to numerous practical uses. For example, with the Snow Problem, use of the internet coupled with smart phones/RFID tags, and some management software, we can easily solve a problem.

For any idea to work though, there needs to be a plan set in place. In order for this idea to work, it requires participation. We already have the technology needed, but an idea like this requires a community effort. It harnesses the idea of community participation, in which the more people who cooperate, the better the service becomes. And in return, the incentive for users to take part, is that they can use the great service which they are helping to create.

IST 195 - Week 7 (Twitter)

In class this week, I noticed a utilization of social media that seems very practical in our ever progression social world. When Alana came to speak, she invited questions via twitter from the class. This seems like a great, efficient use of social media in a practical sense.

So, by implementing this idea into the Snow Problem, we can thus make the process more efficient and effective. So, students will tweet about their experiences regarding the snow removal using a trending phrase such as #SUSnowProblem. In the NOC will be a computer with a real time update of all tweets with this phrase. It will log the amount of positive tweets vs. negative tweets. Also, we can implement a system wherein the users tweet certain key words in order to give feedback to the system admins. For example, if there is too much snow in some area, the user would tweet "#SUSnowProblem #snow here." From this tweet, assuming the user has GPS enabled will let the admins know exactly where and when the snow is building up and if the system is working as well as it should be.

IST 195- Week 6 (Input/Output)

In chapter 5/6, we learned about Input and Output. These are two important aspects of our modern, digital world.

For our scenario, remote digital cameras would be placed strategically around campus along the most used commuter paths. The cameras would capture images of students (input) and relay them to a central server. It would log the types of clothes/shoes/boots most commonly worn around campus in the snow. With this information, the bookstore could stock up on the product and sell to the students at a discounted price. Then, to entice students to participate in the sale, QR Barcodes would be displayed on the doors to buildings. By scanning the code with their smart phones, the students could unlock the discount at the bookstore.

IST 195 - Week 5

Using RFID tags (with the onboard storage space of several Kb to store simple relay instructions) and RFID readers strategically placed along the walkways of campus, we could capture the movement of students. RFID tags, say in their smart phones would provide receivers to collect data about student commuting habits and patterns. The data, transmitted in binary, would be received by the RFID reader in the sidewalks and stored in a host machine.
The data would be carefully reviewed and an efficient plan would be established based on the calculated averages of the data.

IST 195 - Week 4

RFID technology is truly an advance in the way our world operates in this day and age. If we can properly implement this technology to work for us, it can immensely help with data collection, and overall project coordination. In the Snow Problem, we can incorporate RFIDs into the sidewalk. In the not so distant future, almost all products sold (including say snow boots) will have built in RFID receivers. Use of this technology coupled with smart phone applications, and connected network access, data will flow seamlessly throughout the system. The data will then be calculated to fit the needs of the majority of the students commuting habits.

IST 195 - Week 3 (Excel)

The Snow Problem

With the relative ease and and immense usability of software programs such as Microsoft Excel, we find that mundane and impossible tasks in the past are now very possible. After some quick formatting and organization of data in Excel, information and and calculations can be used to easily make rational financial decisions.

By inputting energy and cost data into Excel, we can calculate the effective rates and the efficiently budget our resources accordingly. We can uses the results to decide how much money and energy is needed to heat the coils versus how much we would need to spend to pay for traditional snow removal equipment and hourly labor wages

IST 195 - Week 2 (Connected)

(The Snow Problem) Technology that has been created in the last 40 years has proved to power our society to new levels. With the creation of the internet, and internet devices, we have seen countless applications which provide unprecedented practicality in the ever evolving 21st century. In a few short years, every device that requires a power source will be linked to the internet.

With this kind of connectivity between devices, difficult tasks will be manageable and easy. The heat coils in the sidewalk will have their own IP addresses, and with that, will have the ability to be controlled, and used from an open source program from any internet device. Students will be able to sync the heat coils to their class schedules so that the sidewalks are cleared off enough by the time they are ready for class.

IST 195 - Week 1 (Snow Problem)

The Snow Problem

Problem: Snow covering the sidewalks on campus has to be cleaned off multiple times a day. This requires the university to spend the money on snow removal equipment as well as hourly wages for the workers to do the job.

Solution: Run heated coils under the sidewalks and roads. The heated coils will keep the pavement warm enough to melt snow as it falls, reducing the need for workers/snow removal equipment. As an added bonus, the energy required would come from a storage battery, in which the power would be generated from the spin bikes in Archibold gym.


The Charging Problem

Problem: Laptops are great, but with all of the computing power they use, they also burn through energy, requiring a charge. This is not a problem necessarily, if you have your charging cord with you and an outlet nearby.

Solution: Develop a technology comparable to Powermat Charging technology. So basically, every student's laptop (and eventually other devices) would have a built in charging receptor, and in all of the lecture halls/classrooms the desktops would act as the matching receptor. Therefore, students wouldn't need to carry around their cord, they would simply put down their laptop on the desk, and it would charge.