Buying Girl Scout Cookie Online

While this may seem like a petty article, to me the ability to buy girl scout cookies online is revolutionary. I love the girl scout cookie season and now you don't even have to know a girl scout to be able to buy thin mints, peanut butter patties or one of the many other delicious cookies.

According to this article from Bloomberg business Weekly the No. 1 reason while people don't buy girl scout cookies is because they can't find a girl scout to buy them from. So accord to the Girl Scouts of America chief communications director they decided to evaluate what they were doing and find a new approach to hopefully solve this problem.

They are calling it the "Digital Cookie" program according to the article. The program will run January through April just like the regular selling season. Another perk to this new initiative is that it allows for credit card payment so that those without cash can still support a girl scout.


More informaiton can be found in this article from Bloomberg Business Weekly or on the Girl Scout website.

This new program has brought the girl scouts into the modern era, which is a big and heavily debated step for them to take. What do you think about this new program, is it hurtful to the idea of what girl scouts do and stand for to create an online ordering area.? Do you think you will buy some girls scout cookies online this season?

In Ear Monitors

Musicians have used In-Ear-Monitors for years. There are different beliefs, but the most widespread is that IEM's started showing up in the late eighties with Stevie Wonder and his engineer, Chris Lindop.

Since that time the technology has developed into custom molds of the musicians ear. 1964 Ears is one company that develops these. Here is a video to give you an idea of who they are and what they do. 

These can be used by professional musicians or just people that are really serious about the music they listen to. 

My question is this. Considering how much money people will spend for "Beats by Dr. Dre" and other brands of headphones that can cost over $300. Do you think people would spend the extra money to get in ear monitors that  are better quality and are molded to their ears?

Viral Social Media

This post is mostly me just being amazed by social media and how it works. We can analyze it all day long and talk about why things happen and what purpose they serve. However, like anything else, sometimes things happen that we can't explain. One recent example is the ongoing craze about "Alex, from target".  The article I read from Yahoo detailed an interview with the girl that took the picture.

Another article explained some of the numbers of his fame, such as followers, tweets, etc.
The article stated,  "Now "Alex from target" has 664,000 followers, fallout from the simple fact that, while at his job bagging groceries at a Target store in Texas, a girl took his picture and said he was cute. Other girls agreed, the picture went viral, and now Alex has been featured on the websites of CNN and The Washington Post. Ellen DeGeneres tweeted at him and (I'm pretty sure he was on the show too.) Five million people have read the BuzzFeed post about him.

All of this happened simply because one girl thought he was cute and wanted to know his name. So her friend took a picture of him with his name tag on.

Biotech / Parkinson's and more

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Google is a corporate giant that seemly has a hand in every type of commerce. In September, Google purchase a company called Lift Tabs. Lift Tabs is a biotech company mostly known for it's creation of a spoon that counteracts the involuntary movement associated with Parkinson's disease and essential tremors.

While it may look a little bulky and odd but inside the "liftware" is a motor that vibrates to stabilize the person's motion as they raise the spoon to their mouth. For more detailed information about this technology look on the essential tremors website. 

Here is a more in depth picture showing how the technology works. 

My thought is, why does google want this? I think the technology is obviously innovative and will be a great help to people that need it. 

Why do you think Google (a search engine giant) wants this Biotechnology?

Nike Magista

On May 6 of 2014 Nike released the new age of football boots. The radical new Magista changes everything that we once knew about football boots.

“Our aim at Nike has always been to meet the athlete’s particular performance demands and amplify his unique set of skills. Magista inherits that transformative history of design and innovation and supercharges it,” comments Mark Parker, NIKE, Inc. CEO and President.

Born from four years of R&D in the Nike Sport Research Lab and with feedback from some of the world’s best attacking playmakers, including Barcelona’s Andrés Iniesta and German forward Mario Gotze, the Magista is designed to enable devastating creativity in a game where space is at a premium.  

                               

Simply put the Magista is the footballer’s greatest tangible asset when it comes to gameplay. Its knit technology allows for the boot to “hug” the player’s foot. Never before has this been seen on a football pitch. This technology allows for unprecedented feel, fit and control by creating a second-skin, sock-like feel.

Nike Article

Health Care and Google

You might be asking yourself what in the world do health care have to do with each other? In this article written for the New York Times blog section: Bits the two things come together. The article is titled Am I Sick? Google Has a Doctor Waiting on Video. We are all guilty of googling our symptoms or a disease we hear that about. This is one step up from that, Google "helpouts" is a program that can connect you with an expert and video chat with them. The medical aspect is a work in progress of obtaining doctors with appropriate credentials to be available for questions.

Beyond this Google has launched itself into the health care world, it is actually one of its largest side projects. According to the NY Times blog they are working on developing a contact lens that monitors glucose levels. Ben Schachter had this to say about Google and its ventures into other areas, "When you’re as big as Google is, there are only so many other markets that matter, and health care is one.”

This idea of technology being used in medicine is not a new one. According to Jonathan Linkous at the American Telemedicine Association says that, “This year, between 800,000 and one million consultations will be done over the Internet directly to consumers in the United States, so clearly customers want this.”

Even new technologies such as Apple IPhones and Androids are joining in on being means to which someone can care for their health using different apps. The technology in medicine is continually expanding, and in many ways which we wouldn’t imagine. How do you feel about Google joining the health care world? Is this a logical move for them and would you feel comfortable using a Google “helpout” to talk to a doctor? 

The Size of Google

This video explains briefly just how massive Google has become. And it shows no sign of slowing down. If you are further interested in just how BIG Google is, you should check out this more detailed video. Recently, Google has been expanding even further. USA today released an article about former Google Executive, Megan Smith, becoming the Chief Technology Officer for the White House. Google is a player in countless markets, buying companies left and right and expanding their reach quickly and easily. When companies get too big or have a monopoly on a market, usually the government steps in. For example, When AT&T was in their big merger, the Government shut it down because the market would have been monopolized. Google has a big hand in countless different market segments. How big are they allowed to become? This is a business and they are creating products and services that enhance human life. How far can they go and still maintain a positive image?