Audi wants their car to predict where traffic will be.

At the GPU Technology Conference 2013 show in San Jose, Audi announced some of its plans for its Cars of the Future, one of the coolest ideas: cars that can predict where traffic will be, so drivers can avoid it. The amply named Predictive Traffic function would mine traffic records and current reports, including social media, as well as scheduled events like sports games that could bring cars to a standstill. The system, under Audi's plan, could also predict a driver's most likely destination based on their traffic history.
Pretty neat! Along with that, Audi announced a concept for a reworked directions system that would operate in a "human-like" way, giving directions based on landmarks instead of streets. A Smart Parking feature would work similarly to the traffic-predicting system, but do it for parking spots: mapping out available spots and prices for those spots, rather than making you drive around in circles hunting one down. These are both great ideas that will help us in the future and make life a litter bit easier.

http://www.popsci.com/cars/article/2013-04/audi-wants-its-cars-predict-where-traffic-will-be

Sven Milder

U.S. Puts Japan in Talks for Pacific Trade Deal

The article I will be discussing this week pertains to the Japan entering the Asia-Pacific free trade agreement.  It seems as though this can be both a good and bad thing.  Entering this agreement could be great for Japan and may help stimulate the Asian economy.  On the other hand I feel as though this agreement could be detrimental to the American automobile industry.  Japan seems to have a competitive advantage when it comes to making automobiles.  If a free trade agreement was constructed many of the American automobile makers would no longer be able to compete.  With all the money that America has dumped into the automobile the last thing we need is something to cause the industry to take a step back.  But ultimately the global economy is more important than any one single market.  So if the American automobile industry has to take a hit in order to better the global economy, then that is what we have to do.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/13/business/global/us-puts-japan-in-talks-for-pacific-trade-deal.html?ref=internationaltradeandworldmarket

Santonio Thompson, Crime in Haiti

In this article I learned that Haiti has come a long way when it comes to crime rates. Haiti is actually “one of the safest destinations; not just in the Caribbean, but throughout all the Americas.” If you think of Jamaica and how many people travel there and vacation but it is also a very violent place in many areas. Why is Haiti not like that right now? “In 2012 according to the UNODC, Haiti's violent death rate of 6.9 out of every hundred thousand Haitians is among the lowest rates in the Americas, and the same as Long Beach, California.” Such a low number of death rates could not just be coincidence, there has to be a driving force that has sustained Haiti’s crime rate. One reasoning behind the crime rate being so low is “focus on the strengthening and modernization of its security forces.” Which makes sense if the security is more up to date and it is being monitored better then you have less crime. Another cause for Haiti’s low crime rate is because of “its pledge to increase the size of its National Police by 50%, allowing them to fight crime more effectively.” Also Haiti has “increased the size of its force, the Haitian National Police (HNP) is counting on innovative technologies to track down criminals.” I think because Haiti’s population are said to be more worried about “cost of living, than with crime” then crime becomes less of an issue because the people aren’t speaking of it and making it as big of a deal. I think that other places with high violent crime rates, and other high crime rates should look into trying to increase their police force and doing similar things that have brought Haiti so much success.  

http://www.eturbonews.com/32953/haiti-among-safest-destinations-americas

4:53 pm 4/12/2013

Blog #9

Families In Bangaldesh Learn to Cope with Storms And Cyclones

This article talks about how families in different areas of southern Bangladesh are going through a struggle to get back on their feet after the constant blows of Mother Nature. Within the article, it talks about how areas on the low-lying coastal plains of southern Bangladesh are more exposed to the blows of Mother Nature. The Bay of Bengal sits near climate change and recurring natural disasters; however, this is where most of the farming families are. There have been multiple Mother Nature attacks where the poor people living in areas that are highly affected have been effected the most. In the article, a mother talks about her first hand encounters dealing with the act of trying to reach a safety mark with her kids. Many families are being helped to cope with these situations. The Government of Bangladesh is trying to provide training and food and cash for work programs, as said in the article. They are hoping that these programs and education will help increase the building or updating of the community. Another project and or program that they are continuing to improve is the “Enhancing Resilience (ER)” program. This program is a major priority in which the government plans to improve food security and protection against climate change.

This article is very inspiring. It shows that the government is trying to improve the living conditions for their people. This would be by educating them on what they can do to when Mother Nature tries to strike. In this day in time, education is basically everything. Giving people the education on how they can benefit themselves when a situation like this comes, they can get themselves further than they ever thought was possible. It also gives them hope that they CAN!!

Kayla Howard

Submitted: April 12th, 2013 12:25

Source: http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/families-in-bangaldesh-learn-to-cope-with-storms-and-cyclones

Engineering College Lets Students Shop With Biometric Scans Instead Of Credit Cards Sven Milder

These days, fingerprint scanners are used, but not very widely outside of Tom Cruise movies. But a small South Dakota college is doing a trial run of a scanner that has you swipe a finger to make a transaction. The School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City has put the tech into two shops on campus. Purchasers type their birthday into a pad, swipe their finger in a machine, and get a receipt delivered by email. The scanner checks the buyer's unique print to identify him or her, and it also checks for living hemoglobin in the finger, preventing any unsavory characters from trying to use a severed digit.  The 2,400-student campus is filled with only mechanical engineering or hard science majors, which is why they were picked for the pilot program run by Hanscan Indentity Management and one of its subsidiaries, Nexus USA. About 50 students volunteered to try it out.
 This seems like a cool idea but what about the human identity people like to keep there privacy. This might have some serious hiccups, such as identity theif. There are privacy issues involved with these scanners--you have to offer up your fingerprint before it can be identified as you--but it's a give and take. You give your fingerprint, and a thief, presumably, can't impersonate you as easily. Although once these get more widely used, it'll become more worthwhile for someone to figure out how to beat it

Sven Milder
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-02/college-testing-out-fingerprint-scanner-checks-pulse

Bracelet For Human Rights Workers Sends Kidnapping Alerts to Facebook, Twitter. Sven Milder

Bracelet For Human Rights Workers Sends Kidnapping Alerts to Facebook, Twitter.
Activists and aid workers who document government abuses or monitor elections often risk abduction by those who oppose their work. Now one organization has developed a gadget to help.
Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders is distributing a bracelet that sends out "Help!" messages when its wearer activates it, or if someone pulls the bracelet off its wearer forcefully.

The bracelet has a GPS tracker and will send information about the wearer's identity and location to nearby workers who could come to the rescue. The Civil Rights Defenders headquarters also gets a notice. At the same time, the bracelet posts messages to Twitter and Facebook, which Civil Rights Defenders says will make repressive regimes warier of garnering international condemnation for kidnapping activists.

Sven Milder
http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2013-04/bracelet-human-rights-workers-sends-kidnapping-alerts-facebook-twitter

Crime in Afghanistan Santonio Thompson Jr.

The reason why I chose this article is because it was such a shocker to read. When I think of crime I think of stealing, and murders, breaking into peoples houses. But in different place we view things that are just normal as a criminal act. In Afghanistan "running away is considered a "moral crime" ". Even things such as being raped could land the victim of the rape to be held behind bars because sex before marriage is illegal there. What if the woman is forced? Even then it is often considered adultery which is yet another moral crime in Afghanistan. "Despite progress in women's rights and freedom since the fall of the Taliban a decade ago, women throughout the country are at risk of abduction, rape, forced marriage and being traded as commodities." Think of how difficult it would be for a woman to have to constantly live in a house hold with a man that beats her because she is afraid to leave because she would face going to prison. There was one young woman who "  was stabbed repeatedly with a screwdriver in the head, chest, and arms by her husband who accused her of adultery for inviting a man into the house, the rights group said. But afterwards, she was arrested, he was not." I look at Afghanistan is makes me that much happier to be in the United States rather to be in a under developed country. 



April 4th 4:56 pm

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/03/28/10897062-400-women-held-in-afghanistan-for-moral-crimes-such-as-fleeing-domestic-abuse?lite

Beijing Opposes U.S. Rule on Technology Imports: Weekly blog #8

Beijing Opposes U.S. Rule on Technology Imports

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/01/business/global/beijing-opposes-us-rule-on-technology-imports.html?ref=internationaltradeandworldmarket&_r=0

This article discusses the United States ruling that will be limiting Chinese made technology imports.  As one would imagine China is not pleased with the ruling.  This ruling has seemed to add to the amount of growing tension between China and the US.  The tension began when the US accused china of backing a Thursday.  It will require NASA and the US justice of commerce to seek approval from law enforcement before purchasing IT equipment from China.  Currently China imports nearly 129 billion dollars worth of technology equipment.  China has stated that this ruling will significantly affect the relationship and trust between the two countries.  The Chinese People’s Daily paper stated “This abuse of so called national security measures is unfair to Chinese enterprises, and extends the discriminatory practice of presumption of guilt.”  The US ruling is said to be in violation of the WTO, but nothing can be done about the matter on the part of the Chinese because they did not sign the agreement that set international rules.  I feel as though this was a terrible move made by the American government.  With all of the problems that we are facing with North Korea, I don’t think it is a proper time to stir the pot with other international super powers.

Justice Permits Resale of Copyrighted Imports

The article that I am going to be discussing this week focuses on the resale of copyrighted imports.  The situation came about when a Thai student was caught selling textbooks that his family imported from Thailand.  The family would purchase the books at a much cheaper rate, ship them to Supap Kirtsaeng (the Thai student in America), and he would resell them for a profit.  One of the publishers of the text books, John Wily & Sons decided to sue Supap for his actions.  The publishing company was originally awarded $600,000 for the copyright infringement, but this award was later reversed by the Supreme Court.  The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mr. Kirtsaeng, ruling that imported copyrighted goods were subject to the same rules as goods bought in the US.  The owners of the copyrighted material are now free to do whatever they like with them. There is a growing concern that this ruling could lead to increased prices overall and may also hurt developing countries.   This is going to limit publishers’ ability to sell books in a developing nation at a cheaper price and ultimately will result in higher prices overall.  Personally I feel like this act is going to be detrimental to developing nations.  It is already very difficult to obtain a proper education in developing nations.  And this will only lead to make it more difficult.  The cost of books and copyrighted goods are going to have to remain the same price on the global market.  Publishing companies fear that if they remain selling their goods at a discounted price in the developing nations, they will be losing sales in developed nations because consumers will be able to buy the cheaper books from someone selling them in a developing nation.  I will continue to follow this situation and am very curious to see where it will lead us in the future.

This article can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/business/supreme-court-eases-sale-of-certain-products-abroad.html?ref=internationaltradeandworldmarket&_r=0

This Tiny Car Drives Itself .. Sven

This Tiny Car Drives Itself, We've seen some cool ideas for self-driving cars, but it's complicated designing one that can work alongside other, human-driven vehicles. One way to get around that? Make a teeny, tiny car that's small enough to take to the sidewalks, squeezing through urban walkways instead of the road. Unveiled Tuesday in Tsukuba, Japan, the Hitachi Robot for Personal Intelligent Transport System, or goofishly acronymed "Ropits," is a one-person vehicle designed to shepherd people with difficulty moving. It uses GPS and laser sensors to stay on course, and a gyro sensor to keep upright on un-even ground. That tech is especially important for a vehicle like this, since sidewalks and other pedestrian areas aren't as uniform as roads.  Sounds simple enough to operate, too. After hopping in, a passenger gives direction through a tablet PC that stores maps. Tap a point on the map, and Ropits zips off to destination.

The car’s ‘active suspension’ controls each wheel individually and allows the vehicle to tackle curbs and uneven ground, keeping the passenger’s comfort at the same time. The passenger can choose the destination by using a touch-screen map and the vehicle will automatically head towards it. In case of emergency, the passenger can take control of the car by using a joystick controller in the cockpit.

http://www.tokyotimes.com/2013/japan-invents-one-man-robot-car-that-can-drive-itself/
Sven Milder

Families in need

Life in limbo for China's migrant families

 

Within this article, it talks about how the government is trying to force the migrants that have moved into Beijing, China back out. These migrants have moved to Beijing to look for or have found jobs. In the article it states, “In China, families are registered as rural or urban”. Those who are rural migrants live in the “shaded” areas. In these areas there is little access to healthcare, social security, and public education. These three systems are all apart of China’s Hukou System.  With this system, the households have to be registered. The migrated families have to register for the towns that they came from not the cities that they moved to; therefore, making it harder for the families to receive public services. Not only will these migrated families have to move back but also their children will lose possibly their only type of education or the type of education could decline. It is also said that Beijing is in the process of trying to change the Hukou System but the downfall of this is that most of the social services are funded by local cities and not the national government.

This article is a troubling article. Mainly because you think of all the children that would not be able to receive a decent education due to their family having to move. It could be possible for the local government and the national government to work together on creating jobs as well as giving the migrant families a place to stay even if it would be on the outskirts of the city. The government could also work together to revise the Hukou System to the point where it would work for everyone within the region even the country.

 

 

 

 

Kayla Howard

Submitted: March 22, 2013 12:05pm

Source:  http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/06/world/asia/china-migrant-families/?hpt=hp_c2

Euro Zone Economy Shrank at Year-End

The article that I read this week discussed the ongoing economic struggles within the Euro zone.  The Euro zone consists of the 17 countries that all share the Euro as their form of currency.  GDP in this area has recently shrunk by .6%.  This number has come from a decline in both household spending and investing.  Unemployment in these areas has risen to a record high 11.9%, while the US is at a recent low of only 7.7%.  The economies within this Euro zone are currently viewed as the softs spot in the global economy, but it does not appear as though their struggles will drastically affect other large economies.  Both Japan and the US are expected to experience continued growth.  The Sovereign Debt crisis has caused Greece, Ireland, and Portugal to seek government bailouts which has raised the borrowing costs to staggering levels in both Spain and Italy.  The cure for this problem has been increased interest rates accompanied by increased government spending.  With all of these problems in the European economy the stock market has remained surprisingly strong.  The Central Bank has been pumping out monetary stimulus.  These gains are expected to decline as the economy begins to recover.  When the economy improves the amount of monetary stimulus will decrease and may possibly slow the market.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/07/business/global/daily-euro-zone-watch.html