Would you rather be in line or On Line?

During one of our class session this quarter we started to talk about how technology has influenced the medical field and how because of the computer and the internet the rate of people that use online medical sites has risen in comparison to those who still go to see the doctor. While looking for articles in the online journal section of Ohio State’s library I ran across this article that talks about just that.  It seems that others wanted to know what was going on to create the shift with the changing times of technology. In order to do that they sent out a survey in order to collect data needed to find out their answer.

This journal is called “The integration of Information and Communication Technology into medical practice” and the people that created the study and the article are Michael Hardey, Joan Torrent, Pilar Ficapal . They had emailed over sixteen thousand doctors in order to see how many emails about cases they had gotten from patients or if they ever had. What they ended up finding was that in order to be a productive and integrated doctor you must learn how to use this new external source to help patients.

Now like we talked about in class there are pros and cons to doing this. Some of the pros are that it is faster than making an appointment and it does not cost you anything in most cases. Another reason is that it is less personal and you don’t have to feel embarrassed by whatever illness you have if it is an embarrassing one in your own opinion. Now with that being said there are defiantly negatives as well. The negative would be that without being there to examine you hangs on the doctor only has what your telling him to bass his or her diagnosis. You as the patient may be over looking a crucial element to your sickness.

In conclusion to their experiment they had this to say, “It is likely that all doctors are subject to ‘pull’ from those of their colleague and patients who are keen to grasp the possibilities afforded by the Internet and ‘push’ by the institutions within (for example by the implementation of electronic patient records or other clinical resources). This highlights a complex interaction between the technical organizational, professional and social aspects of ICT use. There is no one clear factor that encourages or discourages the use of technology resources but rather a set of practices, experiences and opportunities that conspire to encourage their integration into medical work.” (Michael Hardey, Joan Torrent, Pilar Ficapal 2011)

            In my personal opinion I might Google something that is bothering me medically to see what it could possibly be but I would never base the final say over what someone says online. Even if they are a doctor, for some people they may not mind but I would rather the old fashion hands on approach.

Michael Hardey. , Joan Torrent, , & LastPilar Ficapal , (2011). The integration of information and communication technology into medical practice. International Journal of Medical Informatics, 79(7),

    
Trip to Space Sparks Idea At Home
     
   Like most children at some age in their early childhood I dreamed of being an astronaut and traveling into space. But then the reality sets in that those dreams most likely will never happen. While looking through new technology events that are happening around the world I stumbled on to one that was quite frankly out of this world and well into another. What I’m talking about is Mars. The title of the article was is “Nuclear 'space battery' bests solar in Curiosity Mars mission” and it was written by a man named Martin LaMonica.

   

            An artist's rendition of the Curiosity robot designed for round-the-clock scientific experiments.

(Credit: NASA)

In his article he talks about how in August NASA will be sending another rover to mars. Only this time it will be different. This rover will not be powered by the normal solar panels that are attached to most unmanned space equipment. No this rover will be powered by a nuclear generator. The designers had this to say, “Designers hope the nuclear generator will make the mobile robot more productive as it conducts science experiments in the search for conditions to support life. Once it arrives on Mars, the robot will be heated and powered electrically from a ceramic form of plutonium dioxide. The nuclear decay from that block, which is covered in multiple protective layers, generates heat that is circulated with a series of heat-transferring tubes. The generator includes a thick cylinder about two feet tall to house the heat source and has fins to dissipate the heat. “(LaMonica Martin, 2011)

            The reason for using this generator is very simple. Because they are not using solar panels the robot will be able to go places that there is no sun light and it will no longer have to be powered down at night. When talking about how long the generator could last NASA said many years even though the mission is 23 months. This article gave me an idea that could possible benefit people back on earth in other ventures rather than space expeditions.

If we can use a nuclear generator to power this machine what is stopping us from taking that technology and using it to create a power cell to run something such as a car. I understand that it being nuclear means that it is unstable but any large power cell is unstable, but that has not stopped us from exploring those routes in the past. The new Chevy volt is an electric car that has a rechargeable power cell. Just think if you took it one step further and added a power cell that never even had to be charged. Think of the money that people would save.

           

LaMonica Martin. (2011, 11 21). Nuclear 'space batter'y bests solar in curiosity mars mission. Retrieved from http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57329365-76/nuclear-space-battery-bests-solar-in-curiosity-mars-mission/?tag=mncol

Gears of War 3

            The video game that I decided to review is none other than Gears of War 3.This game is a hot new title that just dropped in the past month. Gears of war 3 is a game for the next generation gaming platform specifically created and rights restricted to the XBOX 360. Now because this is a video game there are a multitude of aspects that went into creating it along with mass numbers of bodies that spent tireless man hours turning a concept into reality. With that being said I want to focus on the game designer, graphics engine, control configurations, level design, and sound/audio.

          

  The first section that I wanted to touch on was who ultimately was responsible for creating the game. The answer to that is a company called Epic Games out of North Carolina. Because of the Gears of War series or “GOW” they were put on the map by being declared the designers of the year when the original came out. Hopefully they will have the honors again when every household has a copy of GOW 3 this year. Besides Gears Epic Games is responsible for a multitude of other titles. One of these titles being the Unreal line which includes Unreal Tournament. The reason I mentioned this is so that we can transition into my next topic which is the engine that was used on Gears of War 3, which just happened to be taken from the engine created to sustain the Unreal games.

           

The engine used in the Gears of War 3 game is called the Unreal 3.5 engine. (Wiki GOW3)  In the past two games the graphics have always been good but in the latest installment they are great. With the update to the 3.5 they were now able to have a crisper picture and a better feel for making the environment come to life. On the web page Games Thirst they said that because they wanted to bring up the quality of the images they had to sacrifice their 60 frames per second in order to make the improvement. (Game Thirst) Although in my opinion the best part about an Unreal engine is the fact that the game has what gamers call rag doll physics. This means that when a character gets shot or blown up it is like they are a limp rag doll and they slink to the ground or fall from where they are hiding. It’s just an extra perk in my eyes and to gamers like myself. Now that we know why the game looks so good we should look at why it feels good as well. This leads us to controller configuration.

           

 When it comes to video games the bottom line is always how it plays. You could have the best sound, graphics, and even story line but if it has clunky controls the enjoy ability factor goes out the window. Gears of war has always had seamless controls and the newest installation doesn’t disappoint. With the basics still the same they have also added in a few new features. As the old saying goes if it aint broke don’t fix it.

           

      Once the graphics and the controls were taken care of the next thing that had to be addressed was the need for somewhere to use these features. That’s where level design comes in. Quinn DelHoyo is a level designer for Epic Games and it was said that he found that  the levels in this game come together very streamline and that it is a nice one-two punch when couples with the graphics and the narrative. This game has a multitude of levels though they call them chapters. While I played this game it took me roughly four days on and off to complete this game from start to finish. However, with the replay ability factor and multiplayer online capability there is a limitless factor to how much this game can be played thanks to mapping and level design coupled with the interactive environment. The only thing that could make it better would be to have a great score or audio to go with it. Oh but wait a minute it does.

           

          The last technical element that is needed in a great video game like in a move is sound and background music. Have you ever tried to play a game with the sound off? If you have you know it’s not the same and the game with its fun factor get scaled down. The audio allows for you to put yourself in the game and let your imagination believe that you are in the situation with your favorite playable character. For Gears of War 3 the composer was the same as in the second game. His name is Steven Jablonsky and he has done music for a lot of well known things. For example he was the composer of the Texas chainsaw massacre and most recently the Transformers movies. That may have been a different outlet but shows he’s been in the game so to speak for a long time.

                                     

            All and all as an assessment for Gears of War 3 for the XBOX360 this game would have to be given a solid 10 out of 10. I do not say this because of just the storyline and because I have been playing since the first gears but because when you put in all the technical elements that I have just discussed this game makes for one heck of a ride. The visuals put you inside the game while the controls let you feel like you’re actually making a difference in the fight. Once in the fight you as the player and as the avatar you use the audio to immerse yourself deeper into this virtual world. These games were designed to let people escape reality and be someone else. This game hits the nail on the head and it was able to do so because of the advancements in technology such as the Unreal 3.5 engine used in this game. I would suggest it to any and everyone.

           

Links of sites used

http://www.unrealengine.com/showcase/gears_of_war_series

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gears_of_War_3

http://www.gamesthirst.com/2010/05/25/gears-of-war-3-vs-gears-of-war-2-battle-of-the-engines/

"Gears of War 3 VS Gears of War 2 – Battle of the Engines." Game Thirst. N.p., 5/25/2011. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://www.gamesthirst.com/2010/05/25/gears-of-war-3-vs-gears-of-war-2-battle-of-the-engines/

"Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Gears of War 3. N.p., 10/26/2011. Web. 26 Oct 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gears_of_War_3.

OFFICAL GEARS OF WAR 3

http://youtu.be/Wysw2tlB5i4

How Technology Secretly Rules our way of life

Part B. Tech diary day

On a day to day basis the majority of the world’s population uses technology more than they actually realize, I myself am an example of this statement. When the task of creating a tech diary was purposed in class I personally felt that I would not have very much to put into it besides a few texts here and a call there. However, after yesterday I will never underestimate my technological daily uses again. On October 23, 2011 my tech diary day began. I split this journal up into three sections in order to capture every element of technology that was used from the time I wake up until I return to sleep.

                                                                  

To start the diary I will begin in the morning. When I first woke up at 9am I saw that I had a text message waiting for me. This is a normal everyday thing because it is my girlfriend saying good morning. So right at the start of my day technology is already a part of my life. From there it was time to eat breakfast and get ready for class. When I got in my car to go to class that was when I noticed a bulk of technology I use. Recently I purchased a 2010 Camaro and it’s fully loaded. That means heated seats satellite radio, USB port for my IPod, and a GPS with on star. During my trip that averages forty- five minutes to class I use my cell phone, CD player, Sirius radio and most likely my IPod. Before getting out of my car I needed to call my mother to ask her a question and because I was still in my vehicle my hands free feature in my car came on and my call was filtered through the car speakers. Once at school and in class I text on and off for the majority of the class which lasts roughly an hour and forty eight minutes. While in that class the professor uses a projector to teach so I wanted to add that in because it is effecting my day. The next section of my documented day would be my afternoon.

               

In this next section of my tech diary I will focus on my tech uses during the bulk of my day. Going from my first class I have a few minutes to get to my second. While on the way to that next class I throw my IPOD on and listen to some of my favorite music to pass the time. Once in the next class I pull out my laptop and pull up the slides for that class in order to better follow along. Again in this class like the next my attention isn’t being held so I text on and off for the next hour. When I get to the point where I can’t take it anymore it’s time for FaceBook or a computer game. Once class is over my IPOD goes back in my ears and I listen to music until the bus has taken me back to where I parked on the other side of campus. The car ride to work is the same as the trip described on the way to school. Once I get to work I have to be signed into my cash register at Meijer by 3:30 pm. The cash register alone is a form of technology that I use for eight hours a day a majority of the days during the week. While at work when I do not have any customers my cell phone is on and I will text or play games until a customer comes to me. That covers the afternoon portion of my day and it’s time to move onto the last part or the evening.

When my night is beginning to wind down my texting becomes slowed and more spaced out. After work is over I get back into my car and go back to my house for the night. After dinner is when the newest piece of technology comes into play. With my girlfriend going to school almost three hours away Skype has become a great way to get face time during the week. After that we exchange a few texts and then go to sleep. That concludes my summery of my tech diary day.

After looking back on my day I can say that I use technology far more than I ever thought I did. From when I get up to when I go to bed technology plays a key role in my life. I would say that my time is well spent for the most part. However, I do think that at a few points in my day putting down the technology would prove to be more beneficial. With that being said I can see why in this technological era people grown more dependent on their devices by the day.

As far as totals and tallies for my technology use it was very shocking

1.      Text sent                             178

2.      Text received                     152

3.      IPOD                                  1 Hour

4.      Satellite radio                      90 Min

5.      Cell Phone                          16 Hours

6.      Electronic Cash register      8 Hours

7.      Laptop                                  2 Hours

8.      Skype                                    2 Hours 38 Min

I would say that I am an early adopter. I do like to grab the newest technology as it comes out however, not only because I don’t want to be the last one to have it but because with every advancement in technology it gives more room for growth as a culture. I would also say that I am dependent on this technology but not on an unhealthy level. Technology is a way of life and today’s diary proves that.