A vision of the future – presented by Microsoft

11 Replies Christopher Roberts

The other day I stumbled across a video on Microsoft Office’s YouTube Channel which showed a vision that Microsoft had of the/a possible technological future.

The video contained all sorts of cool, crazy and weird things, from electronic mugs that determined your mood and glasses (the ones on your eyes not the ones you drink out of!) that could translate audio, to animated newspapers (digital paper) and 3D holograms.

Below is the video:

So what do you think, is this the future, is it too optimistic, or just a little weird?

I am now very much looking forward to the future to see how right Microsoft got it!

As with most things in life, a rather comical spoof has been of one of Microsoft other visions of the future. I thought I would include it here to give you a laugh too 🙂

What’s your take on these two videos? Does the second speak more truth than the first, your newspaper will crash, we will all have mental implants, oh, and there will be small fiddly bits of tech which you can easily loose!

I enjoyed both videos, what about you?

The internet and your job

15 Replies Alvina

In today’s social-media-centric culture, there is more to your identity than how your conduct yourself in public or what a piece of paper reports about your financial and criminal records. Social media pages in some cases are actually viewed as more honest representations of a person because many people don’t use censorship or discretion when updating them, often posting content that would embarrass or discredit them if seen by the wrong eyes.

Responsible employers now will probably look into a potential employee’s online presence, and use social media sites like Facebook or personal blogs to make final decisions. The good news is that you can use this fact to your advantage.

Be Responsible

While it’s understandable to want to post everything that is important, funny, or remarkable to you on a Facebook page, know that what you upload to Facebook might be seen by someone you wouldn’t necessarily want to see it, so conduct your Facebook activity with the same caution and restraint that you would in person.

Your Facebook page can also be blocked to people outside your friends list, so if you just can’t help yourself from posting unprofessional things, make sure to restrict access to your page.

Facebook's LogoBecome an Authority

Facebook is one way that a potential employer can try to learn more about you, but Facebook is only one way. Blogging can be a very powerful tool in looking for a job and can speak great volumes about you and your personal life, for better or for worse.

If you maintain a blog, again, be professional. Don’t post anything you wouldn’t want your potential boss to see – but don’t stop there. Try to establish yourself as an expert and an authority in your field. Connect with people on LinkedIn to build a following, and then write about your passion in an insightful, professional manner that would catch your employer’s attention.

Make sure to blog consistently, and more importantly, to interact with your peers and other enthusiasts. If you don’t have a blog, now would be a great time to start one. Just make sure you follow these guidelines, as well.

All of this will inform your potential employer that you have a great passion for your field, are knowledgeable enough within it to be helpful to others, and that you are a part of a network of professionals with similar interests, which will great increase your chance of getting hired. Remember, who you are online is almost as important as who you are in person, so create an online presence that will dazzle and impress.

Will an Apple Television ever happen?

17 Replies Armenante

Since the release of the Apple TV set top box there have always been rumours that apple will try and break into one of the few corners of the entertainment world they are yet to conquer: the television market.

With the Apple TV set top box offering features such as streaming from iTunes to your television as well a streaming YouTube videos its a handy little device. However that functionality is in most television sets now a days, so what’s stopping apple joining the already quite competitive market?

Well for a start competition is already well established in the TV market with companies like LG, Sony and Samsung all offering so called smart TV’s. This means that apple would have to would have to do something very different to create a unique selling point. The features and the GUI of the Apple TV are already there, meaning that surely they already have the building blocks they need.

LG's LogoIf they were to add the Siri (their intelligent voice assistant) surely this would make a very effective home entertainment system. This is something similar to what Microsoft is already doing with the home entertainment system on the Xbox but it’s not quite as intelligent as Siri! The Xbox service can only follow commands and is not able to interpret them.

Rumours about an Apple TV are on the up again due to the pending release of Steve Jobs official autobiography. In an excerpt from a Washington times post Jobs has been quoted as saying to the author that:

“He very much wanted to do for television sets what he had done for computers, music players, and phones: make them simple and elegant,”

Walter Isaacson wrote.

Isaacson continued:

“‘I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use,’ he told me. ‘It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud.’ No longer would users have to fiddle with complex remotes for DVD players and cable channels. ‘It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.’”

Apple hasn’t announced any TV based products in its line up and the blogosphere doesn’t appear to be covering it that much, however I personally wouldn’t be surprised if Apple decided to make the Apple TV into less of a hobby and more of a competitive product for the television market.

If they did they would probably do it with the same drive, determination and overall design quality that they have carried along with the Mac computer range, iPod, iPhone and iPad.