Assignment # 6

What’s New and what’s Next in terms of technology, how would you prepare for these changes? (at least 2,000 words)

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Time is very fast. I was thinking that it was just yesterday when I enjoy my life and today as I am making this assignment it’s already a new year. Another year for us to face new challenges brought by the inevitable changes that are currently happening and will soon to be happening. Who knows what will be our life this year? Whatever it is, we should be prepared for these changes. Because these changes will results either for good, better or for worst.

I think it is in the attitude of people that before he can appreciate what’s new with his today he must first know how to appreciate what he have yesterday. People can not appreciate things abruptly unless there is someone that will help them see the changes that are happening and by the time that they be able to notice the change, then it will be also the time they can see what’s new. For me, it’s not only every year we try to appreciate what’s new because everyday when the sun rise and the sun set and another day comes it’s already a new day. I’m not only referring for a day, because along with that new day it also comes with a new experience. Anyways, I am not submitting my thought in general that there is a change everyday. Because there are also things that do not change even how many years will past and come. Though we want to take a hold of a new for these non changing things, still it is hard to arrive at that point of change. However, contrary to the statement that I have is that there is no constant thing here on earth, everything that we have is changing and this transformation that takes place has something to do with the lives of many. Part of the history of our lives is the experiences we accumulated from the past years though this year is different from those years that had passed still what makes up us today is what we are yesterday.

People never stop learning new things. And the curiosity of people makes a central motivation to create new invention. What’s new? What’s next? What’s next in terms of technology? Predicting the future is hard work. It takes insight, dedication and secret armies of super hip teenagers. What’s next in terms of trend? Being cool may be our country's most precious natural resource an invisible, impalpable substance that can make a particular brand of an otherwise interchangeable product like sneaker, jeans, movies are fantastically valuable. And cool can be used to predict the future. So that one can follow with the new trend and not to be left behind you need a lot of money. As you can imagine, that kind of information is worth a lot of money to a lot of people, and there is a small but dynamic industry entirely devoted to harvesting the fresh style of fashion, the trend watchers, who figure out what is cool and what is not cool and put up for sale the information. Most of the people in the small, selective cool industry are not cool. They just pay cool people to figure it out for them. What’s next in terms of security? Thus, it will be safer now? Or the safety remains the same? The next vision for security is to cope up with the terrorist threats. Everybody is worried about terrorism. As much as possible the government set up some inspection point to check the safety of everyone. At the airports we are taking off our shoes, at work we are flashing our badges, and at home we are making sure the doors are lock whenever we go out or we sleep at night. However, these practices seem not enough for coping with some truly horrifying scenarios like bombing. Today there are technology produce to address the fears and cut- off the potential threats. Since terrorists can pick targets anywhere, counterterrorism has to defend everywhere. To protect ourselves with something better be ready for the next wave of high-tech defense: radiation detectors, Internet safeguards, handheld anthrax "sniffers." There is no universal remedy, but in a world of ancient hatreds, modern shields still have their uses. What’s next in terms of technology we used in airports? According to the Time Magazine, Expect more big changes at the nation's air terminal probably at the security checkpoints. The screening devices that currently check your bag and the beeping gateways you walk through are best at finding suspicious metal objects only. Soft explosives, such as plastic, can slip right through. In an age of suicide bombers, that's a fatal shortcoming. A Screening device, a machine that uses a millimeter microwave technology, similar to what the military already uses to see through walls, to examine passengers for known explosives anywhere on their bodies. Even soft explosives show up. As for that checked luggage, airport devices that inspect it now use X rays and C.T. scans to signal the possible presence of explosives. If they turn up something suspicious, a human handler has to open the suitcase and poke around inside—a time-consuming effort that can delay flights. What’s next? Baggage-screening devices now use X-ray diffraction technology. When a bag is found to contain something suspicious, the specialized scanners can zoom in on the indicated area and analyze the suspect materials to determine their chemical composition, all with the suitcase closed. Bioterrorism. Still, in Time Magazine. This is the area where our defenses most need a quick fix. Smallpox vaccines haven't improved much since the 1960s. Until 9/11, few drug companies felt the economic impetus to develop costly antidotes to all-but-conquered infections and ailments. Current anthrax vaccines require 18 injections over six months. That's too slow to defend against a sudden widespread outbreak or to permit people to return safely to contaminated homes and workplaces, where spores may linger for years. What’s next is smallpox vaccine, which is more useful by countering their potentially dangerous effects, which include infection and even death. To limit the wave of terrorism that a bio-attack could set in motion there is an air-quality testing unit the size of an ATM. When installed in subway stations, airports, arenas or convention centers, these devices sample the air and submit it to tests in a self-contained laboratory. Within an hour, they can report the presence of anthrax, smallpox or other pathogens. In our just-in-time society, that may not seem like a lightning response. But it's far better than allowing the invisible killers to linger undetected for days, exposing ever more people to infection. Also, it makes it possible for newly infected people to seek prompt treatment. Port Security. What’s with the technology in Port Security? To ensure that those containers aren't used to smuggle in nuclear terrorism, customs agents often track ships before they leave foreign ports using computers to keep tabs on their cargo. Some containers have electronic lids that will indicate if they have been tampered with the route. Ports and sea cargo are the most vulnerable areas right now. With the high-energy X-ray systems it can penetrate 17 inches of steel, giving customs inspectors a view of what's hidden behind the thick walls of a cargo container. Another is the producing radiation sensors that determine whether suspicious items within a cargo container might be dangerous. What's new? It would be to make the detection technologies faster and smaller. It is designed to detect trace amounts of radiation, it's a battery-powered, lunch-box-size hand held detector that customs officers could use to inspect suspicious containers at close range. What is the next gadget? Get ready for a fresh crop of cool gadgets. We have a new cool gadget in shopping the IBM Concept Cart. Tomorrow's supermarket may look a lot like today's, but the humble cart is fast evolving. By next fall, using radio-frequency sensors to navigate, your cart will display a map to guide you through the aisles, pointing out sales and specials. Instead of taking a number, you'll use the touch screen to request shrimp from the seafood section or cold cuts from the deli to be picked up on your way to the checkout. In the field of Science, what would be the next? Maybe we can get closer into any planets. The opportunity that we can land in to the other planet. How fantastic it would be if there is an opportunity that a human that can land in to the other planet safely onto the surface and carry out the mission they need to perform. Of course, games will not be left behind. Millions of people get hooked on the game's godlike powers that let players create a town, fill it with enough parks and police stations to please an unseen population, and watch the town grow like the tribal wars. Well, what's next in gaming is to widen its appeal beyond the 3 million hard-core gamers. Mostly gamers are men in their teens, but today's girls are also in with gaming. How about in design? We live in an era that puts little stock in stability. So where does this leave architects, whose work is all about permanence? Buildings are supposed to be hefty, purposeful and unyielding. How can you create structures that embody a quicksilver society when they have to stand still? In cyberspace and in real life architecture doesn't have to stand still. Since we are talking about what's next in terms of technology in the field of design or architecture what comes first in our mine is the architecture of buildings will be more fabulous. High-Tech designs will be created. Moreover, predictions are always a chance. Past foreteller vowed that these innovations would change our lives.
Consider the following What's Next in terms of technology from time.com:

VIDEOPHONES

Engineers said the Picture phone, unveiled at the 1964 World's Fair, would replace standard phones by 2000. Forty years later, consumers still balk at the high price and at losing the ability to take calls in their underwear.

A MOON COLONY

The New York Times in 1960 predicted "a flourishing civilization on the moon twenty or thirty years hence." The first moon landing was in 1969, and we're still waiting for the place to go co-op.

FOOD IN PILLS

Those apple-pie pills the Jetsons popped sure looked neat. But—unless you count PowerBars—food that's purely functional hasn't taken over store shelves.

CARS THAT DRIVE THEMSELVES

The idea of an "automatic vehicle" first showed up in concept cars of the 1950s. Sensors in the road and the car were supposed to do all the work, but they have never moved past prototype. Unlike, say, seat warmers.

JET PACKS

After the test pilot of a rocket-propelled backpack told Popular Science magazine in 1969 that the machine made him "feel safer than I do driving the family car in traffic," it seemed Buck RogersÐstyle travel for everyone was imminent. But a mass-market model never managed to fly.

MOVING SIDEWALKS

They were part of the '64 World's Fair "City of the Future." An exhibit of scooters and Rollerblades would have been more prophetic.

COFFEEMAKER

Talking To The Pot: Instead of fumbling with confusing buttons to schedule the coffeemaker, you "surf" to this $99 device via your Web browser and program it in plain English. Salton's breadmaker and microwave will even scan food bar codes to pull up recipes. And no more blinking 12:00. These appliances set their own clocks.

SMART CAR

A Very Smart Car:
Even when no one else understands you, this car probably will. The redesigned Acura TL (around $35,000) has HandsFreeLink, a service for Bluetooth wireless phones. When you step into the 3.2L V6 ride, the system searches for your mobile phone. Once it makes contact, a phone icon pops up on the dash; to make a call, you just speak a name or number. The navigation system is also voice-operated and recognizes 293 different commands. For those who would rather listen than talk, the car comes standard with an ELS Surround audio system that pumps out DVD audio from Sinatra to Linkin Park in surround sound.

Another resource where we can have an information of what's the next technology.

MEDICAL TECHNOLOY

Cool your brain, save your mind.
Techniques that rapidly chill the brain could prevent damage and even aid resuscitation after a heart attack .

PHYSICS

The World's smallest fuel cell promises greener gadgets. The world's smallest working fuel cell has been created by US chemical engineers, at just 3 millimetres across. Future versions of the tiny hydrogen-fuelled power pack could replace batteries in portable gadgets.
While batteries are used to do that today, fuel cells are able to store more energy in the same space. Even the most advanced batteries have an energy density an order of magnitude smaller than that of a hydrogen fuel tank.
Yet batteries are much easier to make at the small scale than the pumps and control electronics of a fuel cell. And small pumps can use more energy than they generate.

ROBOTICS

Robotic exoskeletons that try to decode the electrical activity of muscles can get confused - sensing limb movement is more reliable

These are some of the fields of technology where there is always new. A lot more to discover and a lot more to come. How can we prepare for these change? Will these innovations make us safer? It's a never-ending contest. We close the old gaps; they probe for new ones. They thrust; we parry. In some ways, we've only just entered the fight. If nothing else, we'll soon be better armed.

References:
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101030908/xalwaysnext.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126901.100-cool-your-brain-save-your-mind.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16370-worlds-smallest-fuel-cell-promises-greener-gadgets.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16357-invention-exoskeleton-power-steering.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16357-invention-exoskeleton-power-steering.html