That was Then... This is Now

I Survived The End of The World Posters by flyingdiscs Make posters online at Zazzle. Well it's December 22 and everyone is still here! So despite all of media hype and disinformation surrounding the Mayan calendar the world didn't end (told ya so...) but the way we see and interact with our "world" through the Internet is definitely changing. Mobile devices have become the primary means of communicating for an entire generation. Forbes has a very good article about what that means for business and individual users .

The MIS 290 class has started working on developing mobile apps. Using the development tools at the site iBuildApp.com it is possible to quickly create a working app for the iPhone or any Android compatible device. Developers can choose from many pre-defined templates and modules or with a little time and effort they can even create their own. If you know HTML or JavaScript the iBuildApp site provides a generic “bare bones” module to insert original code. Some of the basic modules provided by iBuildApp include: Facebook, Twitter, Google Maps, Contact Information, Streaming Video, and RSS feeds. There is even a simulator to test the app that emulates an iPhone or Android. The picture below shows one of our apps being tested on an iPad:

Today in the BUS 350 Operations Management class, we held this semester’s "Billionaire's Challenge." The exercise involved analyzing a production case study using Microsoft Excel's Solver "add in." Students had to first set-up and solve the case then change key variables using Excel to earn at least one-million dollars profit. After that they may compete to make at least $1,000,000,000. This semester's Billionaires are: Maria Schwab - "Winner" $3.9 Billion! Ciera Hughes Julia Naab Augie Hibner Caleb Kolby Weston Luzadder Nice going everybody!

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity touched down on the surface of the Red Planet, completing a 354-million-mile journey, and marking the beginning of a new era in planetary exploration. The rover which is about the size of a small SUV, approached Mars at about 13,000 miles per hour. When the Martian atmosphere slowed the craft to about 900 miles per hour, a supersonic parachute deployed, slowing the craft even further. But the rover was still descending too quickly to land in one piece. After the rover separated from the parachute, rocket motors fired, continuing to slow the descent. Then, at about 60 feet above the surface, a "sky-crane" lowered the rover to its new home on the Red Planet. According to NASA, the rover touched down at approximately 1:30 a.m. EDT Read the full article from the Huffington Post here .

On July 9 some computers that have been infected with the “DNS Changer Malware” will lose their Internet access when the “safety net” of servers now in place from the FBI will be taken down. If you are worried that your computer may be infected, visit http://www.dcwg.org to perform a scan of your computer. There is also advice on what to do if your computer is infected.

Thought this article from USA Today was worth sharing. Lots of interesting trivia on the early days of technology. Never knew that Steve Jobs worked for Atari for example. Video games definitely have come a long way since then. Here’s a video of “Pong” from 1972:

This summer I have been reviewing JavaScript in 24 Hours by Michael Moncur in preparation for a programming class that I will be teaching this Fall. One of the chapters features a “Solitaire Poker” game that is actually pretty involved. Overall this seems to be a good book for beginners with lots of examples and is appropriate for our students who are Business majors. Anyway, I managed to get a Royal Flush while playing it the other day. Now if only that would happen when I go to Vegas!