Ignorance is indeed bliss!

                 Its been a while since my last post, but after a lot of thought, I felt I should write about this. Well, its nothing new, just something to debate on. It's about the ignorance people show sometimes towards technology. It's mainly based on what I experienced yesterday This actually may be a short post.
             
                       So, I will start by talking about the place I went yesterday for an interview. The place looked pretty good. It was a media company and I had applied for a research analyst post there. The company was based on internet advertising. Since it was mainly over the internet, their idea was that the people should have some kind of knowledge in technology. As I was going through the technology questions, I realized they were pretty easy and solved it in no time. And then as I was going through the test paper, I overheard other two people, who were also giving the test, asking each other what the answers were. At first , I thought to ignore them, but then one particular question drew my attention. "Android is the product of which company?"
One of them said that he didn't know while the other thought it was Microsoft. I thought that was hilarious, but the conversation after this made me laugh even more as one of the guys mentioned that the other had an Android phone. This wasn't the only case, when I told two other people whom I met that a guy actually wrote Microsoft instead of Google, they were actually confirming with me whether it was correct or not.

                    I come to realize that those not having much of an IT background or those who don't have any interest tend to not follow on the changes in technology. This ignorance indicates that there is still room for improvement even in a city like Mumbai. Well I don't know about others, but I feel that, being graduates, one should be more aware about the different technologies that are regularly used.
                 

Mission Critical Computing

From the sounds of it, it feels something every business, intelligence personnel would have. But what exactly is it that we can define as "Mission Critical".
The Wiki gives the following definition:

Mission Critical refers to any factor of a system whose failure will result in the failure of business operations. That is, it is critical to the organization's 'mission'.

A Mission Critical Machine is one whose performance is vital in performing a particular task. For example, a room full of server needs cooling air to be flowing to prevent overheating that will shut them down. It is very important for all facilities to keep working in a business. Such Components are very important for the business. If one such fails, the entire business fails.

Mission Critical Computing has historically been defined as secure, reliable and scalable computing and process environments that support a company's front office processes and operations. These are the processes and operations that directly support an organization's end users and customers. The operations are mission-critical because they are core to the company's mission and, if they fail, they can cause significant financial or reputational damage to the organization. - Nicholas D. Evans

Let's look at how 'Mission critical computing' has been used by Microsoft :

Iphone 5s, Xperia Z1 and Galaxy Note 3

So, a new day and a new topic to talk about. Sigh. It's really not easy to think of topics than I thought it would be. Let's see, well there is the iOS 7 releasing on the 18th September. Well that reminds me, Iphone 5s has launched along with the 5C. I think it's time we compare the 5s with new phones of sony and samsung.

The following are the videos of the first hands-on experience for xperia z1 and galaxy note 3 :

Since the Iphone 5s is to be launched with iOS 7, I wasn't able to find any hands-on experience videos.

If you look at the phones from the processor point of view, z1 and note 3 look better options with both having a quad core processor whereas 5s only having a dual core. Also the added advantage of having RAM in the android phones which helps in making them faster.

In terms of camera, considering the history the company has in providing very good cameras over the years, the z1 has an advantage over the other phones with a 20.7 Megapixel camera whereas Note 3 has a 13 Megapixel and 5s has an 8 Megapixel camera. Although, from past experience, iphones do have very good picture quality regardless of the megapixels.

The following links will give you the features of all the 3 phones :

Iphone 5S - http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_5s-5685.php
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 - http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_note_3-5665.php
Sony Xperia Z1 - http://www.gsmarena.com/sony_xperia_z1-5596.php

It's very difficult to say which phone really stands out and hard to pick one if given a choice since every phone has it's own advantages and disadvantages. It will be interesting to see how they will fare in the market.

Electronic Waste

After days of dwelling on what I should start with, how my blog is going to me and what I should write, I have finally decide just to take any random topic which sounds good but at the same time very important for the future.

Electronic Waste, e-waste, e-scrap, or waste electrical and electronic equipment describes discarded electrical or electronic devices. In more simple terms, it's the electronic devices which we think cannot be repaired and are just thrown away. It can range from discarded computers, television sets, mobile phones and even refrigerators. The most important thing people forget to understand is that it is very hard to recycle eletronic waste.

In the U.S. we are tossing over 130 million cellphones in the trash every year and disposing of 17,000 tons of e-waste every day. -ENVIROLIB

Even by the U.S. standards, that seems a lot for e-waste. The problem is not just there but actually exists all over the world. And the number of cellphone users all over the world grow every minute.

Lets look at some of the facts about E-Waste

1. 80 to 85 percent of electronic products were discarded in landfills or incinerators, which can release certain toxic into the air.
2. E-waste represents 2 percent of America's trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys.
3. 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year.
4. Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.
5. Only 12.5 percent of e-waste is currently recycled.
6. For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.
7. Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity  used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year.
8. E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA.
9. A large number of what is labeled as "e-waste" is actually not waste at all, but rather whole electronic equipment or parts that are readily marketable for reuse or can be recycled for materials recovery.
10. It takes 539 pounds of fossil fuel, 48 pounds of chemicals, and 1.5 tons of water to manufacture one computer and monitor 
11. Electronic items that are considered to be hazardous include, but are not limited to:
• Televisions and computer monitors that contain cathode ray tubes
• LCD desktop monitors
• Laptop computers with LCD displays
• LCD televisions
• Plasma televisions
• Portable DVD players with LCD screens.
12. SOURCE : www.dosomething.com

Thus, the need to find a way in which the waste created can be decreased. I bumped into one such idea for cellphones by Dave Hakkens, a Dutch Designer who has proposed a Lego-like model for mobile phones. The video that I have shared will give you a better idea about it.

Let's hope this idea works and we have many more similar ideas for other electronic devices so that the world can become a better place to live.