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I was born and raised in the capital city of the Dominican Republic early 1980’s. Growing up as a little girl, I remember always having a television. However, I couldn’t watch TV as much as I wanted because the electric service was constantly being interrupted, generating blackouts at anytime of the day. I can recall when my aunt installed a landline in her house. My cousin and I used to call random numbers to bothering people over the phone, which we considered to be very funny. In my recollection, my aunt was the first one in the neighborhood to have a cell phone. The cell phone was big and heavy, it probably weighted around two pounds; Regardless of the size and the weight of this device, it was a big deal to me. I don’t recall seeing a computer anywhere, including public places such as hospitals, precincts, or schools. Computers were considered a luxury not available to everybody.
So many things have changed since then. The use of cell phones and computers in the Dominican Republic increased significantly over the past twenty years. At least 4 in every 10 homes have a computer. Most of the governmental agencies are equipped with computers. Cell phones are available to everyone with a wide range of prices facilitating people from all class strata to get one. I think that everyone has one. Almost every house has cable service. Wi-fi is widely accessible particularly I public places. Social network such as Facebook, Twitter, hi- five and whatsapp, are widely used by the general public, acting as an effective bridge of communication among Dominicans residing in the country as well as in other countries. Our generation is has become more connected to the use of new technologic gadgets.

Before coming to the USA i lived in Jamaica, the use of technology is not as advanced as here. Having internet service at home was some what a privilege before than it is today. A lot more people there are now able to apply for this service at home. About a year or two ago one of the main telephone and internet provider Digicel started to provide 4G internet service, and phones, but WiFi is not available in many places. A lot of people there are very much influenced by how technology is used here, and they are very much apart of the social networks, facebook and twitter. The improvement of technology has definitely helped the people there to stay connected to family and friends now than they could before.  In schools the use of computers for home work and online assignments is not the same as here, so there are limited amount of computers that are available for students to use on campus. The overall use of technology in my country has improved over the years but there is a lot more that can be done that could better help students and teachers.

How could some of these technologies be applied to other situations?

Some of these technologies could be applied to other situations such as astronomers going on missions to outer space. In that case, the intensive stratus suit would be really helpful. The fully pressurized suit was tested to withstand temperatures as high as 100 degrees Fahrenheit and, more importantly in Baumgartner’s case, as low as -90 degrees Fahrenheit. This could be very beneficial to astronomers if they are planning to go to outer space or any other risky planets in the future. In addition, the red bull stratos capsule can be used in racecars when racers are on their mission. It’s made of a fiberglass and epoxy “pressure sphere,” which will protect them in the cars. Finally, the chest pack and the HD cameras can be used in the above situations as well as other significant world record hikes so that these significant events can be properly documented. Many times we often have brave souls who are ready and skilled to take these risks like Baumgartner did, but because of the lack of highly equipped technologies, it is not possible. Who knows, maybe this could lead to history’s turning point.

Why was a specialized parachute needed for the jump?

A specialized parachute was needed for the jump in case if Baumgartner had spiraled out of control in addition to the depth and intensity of the 128,100 feet above earth leap. It had specialized key features especially for this jump and in case of any emergencies. This parachute was an amazement to technology which took five years to make. It was the first personal parachute ever used for a supersonic-speed fall; it weighs 60 pounds, or three times as much as a normal parachute. It included a “drogue chute” that could have deployed if Baumgartner began spinning out of control. He had a button on one of his gloves that would have caused the chute to open if he held it down for three seconds. That parachute (which is separate from the regular emergency chute) also would have deployed if it was being hit by unexpectedly high levels of pressure for more than six seconds. His rig also included a button to cut the emergency parachute.

Fahima A. Salina

I purchased WileyPlus at the beginning of the semester and have been using it during the entire course. Unfortunately there was a mix up and I never received a physical copy of the book for this CIS class but the electronic version was sufficient for this class. The quiz’, though generally confusing, were very comfortable and painless in regards to the WileyPlus system. The reading available online was very concise and well formatted, I found that every chapter had a logical flow to it and it was easy to follow. I don’t recall ever having problems with WileyPlus itself, but rather the information I was trying to learn and memorize.

When studying for an exam I rely heavily on the glossary and chapter summary sections on the electronic version of wileyplus. I feel that if you understand the vocabulary and terminology you have a better chance of understanding the questions come test time. Unfortunately a lot of the questions on the tests require you to know a specific name and the questions pose various similar choices that are difficult to differentiate. When it comes to tackling those questions it was very worthwhile studying the entire chapter and memorizing the terminology and when it applies. To be honest I did not delve into the audio lectures or many other features available through WileyPlus.

-Kazimieras Buozys

My country lies between two giant nations China and India, which are growing their presence in the world through their increased use of technology. People in my country of Nepal are taking advantage of today’s technology specifically in the city areas. From adult to child, people using technology especially for communication. For instance, mobile device, social sites like Facebook and twitter etc. However, Government hasn’t been able to take advantage of advanced technology as it should. Internet service (WiFi) has become household name in big cities like Kathmandu. Just a few years back, luxury of mobile phones and internet was far from becoming reality. But, with technology being cheaper and cheaper because of mass usage, people in my country are now able to afford to those technologies. Nepal government also in verge of change to use the available technology. Private sectors like banks, big hotels, shopping malls come first in race in terms of using advanced technology. Though the technology is not as advance as in America, my country is also greatly influenced by technology. Nepal has a pressure to emerge as competitive nation like our neighbor countries. In addition, people who have gone abroad like United States, Europe or Gulf countries are taking back technology as they return. And it has also greatly impacted our nation in terms of using advance technology.

Jiten Joshi

Instead of writing about how technology is being used in my father counter, Lithuania, I chose to write about Sierra Leone.  In Sierra Leone there is a 16 year old named Kelvin Doe, who, through natural ingenuity, has become something of an inventor. He uses scrap metal and trash to create inventions ranging from scrap metal batteries to a studio generator for his communities FM Youth Radio.

Kelvin has been inventing gadgets since he was four years old, and because he comes from a poor family and a generally poor area he can not afford to buy ideal materials. Instead he creates green technology by reusing things that people would consider garbage. He then turns them into ways for people to power their homes, or communicate through radio. His inventions even caught the eyes of professors working in academic institution in the US, including MIT and Harvard.

This shows that even though you are poor, if you put your mind to something you can create. It highlights the need for technology and how, through unorthodox methods, people are filling those needs.

-Kazimieras Buozys

The use of technology in my country Bangladesh is truly changing. Even though I have never visited Bangladesh, I have a friend who has visited and he notified me of these dramatic changes. He told me when visited Bangladesh in 2008, he went to an internet café and he learned that they were already using FIOS. Comparing that to New York, FIOS was just introduced to us a couple of years ago. This was a shock for me because I was not aware of this. In addition, currently new cellphone providers are developing. As you all might be unaware of, each individual in Bangladesh has multiple sim cards for their phone. Yes, that’s crazy isn’t it? As a result, cellphones are becoming very ubiquitous. Even children from about ages 10-13 are using cellphones. I received my first cellphone when I was 17 years old.

Internet connection is more prevalent in Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh) than in any other cities; because places like the village receive shortage of electricity. In an article called “Status of Information Technology in Bangladesh “ by Sustainable development Networking Programme (SDNP), a non-profit organization Internet Service Provider stated that, “There are possibilities of using locally designed long distant Micro Wave (using multiple wireless routers) and these links are now available in Bangladesh at very reasonable cost- for access to remote areas. Straight line of path (60Km range with 3mb access speed), each tower units cost approximately USD 2400.” For an ISP,(Internet Service Provider) the highest peak time charge (Internet usage fees) now is about Taka 1.50 paisa (6 am to 6 PM) and the lowest – off peak time charges is around 00.20 Paisa (2: 00pm to 6:00am) depending on the ISP. They will have a conference in Bangladesh on December 22-24 2012 that will provide an opportunity for computer and information technology professionals, researchers and scientists from all over the world to exchange and share ideas on issues related to information technology. This type of conference will be very beneficial to improving the technology in Bangladesh and it goes to show that Bangladesh is constantly trying to improve the way technology is being using in their country and what better way to do it than, to bring IT specialists and engineers from different countries to share their ideas.

Fahima A. Salina

By having more of our lives online, will our daily lives become more visible to outsiders on the internet?

This CNN article shows how advances in technology will help simplify our lives in the future. What I also gleemed from it was how much more reliant people will become on technology in the future. We as a society need to face the fact that as we become more reliant on technology much more of our lives will be accessible to the public. Some people won’t find a problem with this, others will feel like it is a breach of privacy. Unfortunately it is a reality that the more technology we utilize in our day to day functions the more our privacy is breached and potentially our identities damaged.

How do we prevent outsiders from viewing and tracking even the smallest details of our lives?

Jamaica has come a long from couple years ago when evrything use to be manually done. The country did not have a lot of resources to get businesses up and running like they want to. Thing are changing now  in the country jamaica in now more advance due to the changes in technology. For one today most jamiacan  student have access to the internet whether it is their own or they can now access them in the school institute student are now learning better and are more advance in their school work. Also teacher have better access to technology so they are teaching different for example, teachers are now using and power points in the classroom. Also, jamaica have their own wireline and cable network now so people could communicate better with love ones at home and abroad. So those are some of the way technology is changing in my country of jamaica.

Russia focuses a lot of its technological research on scientific and astronomical explorations. Russia is known for being the first in the field of space exploration, and achieved a lot in astronomy. For a long time Russia had the biggest telescope in the world, called the Big Azimuth Telescope. The telescope was constructed mainly using parts that were made exclusively in Russia, which showed the counties leadership in  the field of optical tools and technology and set it apart from other countries. When the US decided to abandon their space exploration programs it gave Russia a chance to strengthen their space exploration projects and technology even more and become a leader in space exploration.