The Newest Tech and Tech Trends for the New Year

Courtesy of  en.wikipedia.org

By Hector Cisneros

Do you love to discover the latest new technologies that seem to come out of nowhere each year? Are you one of those early adopters of leading edge techie people who take advantage of new technologies to stay ahead of the competition or do you love new tech just because it’s cool? Every year there are advances in technology. This year is no different. Some of the technologies we will talk about in this issue are revolutionary breakthroughs, others are technologies that are maturing to the point that their cost and usefulness are creating demand. Some of the items we will talk about are showcased at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. So if you’re ready to learn about many of the latest cool gadgets and inventions coming your way, read on and discover what’s new in tech this New Year, in this issue of Working the Web to Win.

Is it Time to Fire the Postman?

Courtesy of  pixy.org

By Carl Weiss

As far back as the 19th century, when the telegraph came into vogue, people have been looking for a better way to deliver information and goods more efficiently than the US Postal Service. Today's wired world has created a myriad of electronic delivery systems that do everything from rendering payment, to delivering messages and even packages at the click of a mouse. In today’s blog, I intend to delve into a number of innovative, cost effective delivery options to the USPS, as well as the possibility that in the near future the post office could very well be as dead as the dodo bird.

Dawn of the Drones

By Carl Weiss

Courtesy of www.internetlawcommentary.com

The military loves them, Amazon covets them and millions of civilians own them.  I’m talking about drones, otherwise known as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).  Not since the dawn of manned flight more than 100 years ago, has a topic so enthralled the public and worried the federal government.  The FAA currently has its hands full trying to manage the booming airline industry where 21^st century jumbo jets are still being vectored to all the cardinal points of the compass by 1970’s technology.  The last thing they want to have to wrestle with are potentially tens of thousands of UAVs crisscrossing the friendly skies.  It’s one of the things that give bureaucrats indigestion.

The World Wide Weird

By Carl Weiss

English: Microchips (EPROM memory) with a transparent window, showing the integrated circuit inside. Uploaded by Richard Wheeler (Zephyris) 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Who would have thought when Robert Noyce invented and patented the silicon based integrated circuit way back in 1959 that the world would forever more be changed.  While the initial uses for the computer chip were initially limited to big business and military applications, within a dozen years, the computer revolution would enter consumer electronics with the founding of Apple Computer.  Since then the integrated circuit has become part of virtually every consumer electronic gadget from cellphones and televisions to the cars we drive.  Just when you think that just about every possible application has been thought up, some enterprising entrepreneur comes up with another use for the computer chip.  While there are a number of useful creations such as medical prosthetics that have been known to improve the quality of life for many, what I want to bring to you today are the “out there” applications that seem to be some sort of technological outgrowth of the lunatic fringe.