Sometime during early February, Arizona residents saw what looked to be a rocket in the sky. People flocked to social media to speculate about what they saw. The strange object these Arizonans saw in the sky would turn out to be the SpaceX launch. What a sight!
Sources:
(1) Fish, Nathan https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-breaking/2018/02/06/rocket-seen-over-arizona-skies-most-likely-latest-spacex/313928002/
Category: Technology
Can Richard Branson Make Space Travel Available to the General Public?
Many people grow up dreaming of going to space. If you asked a class of kindergarteners what they would like to be when they grow up, I guarantee you that most them would say that they wanted to be an astronaut. As we grow up, reality sets in and our dreams of going up into space begin to dwindle. For the average person, becoming an astronaut is a statistically improbable plight. Each year, NASA
receives around 2,000 submissions of highly qualified applicants who want to become astronauts. Only around 10 percent of them are 
picked. If you are thinking, “Hey, that’s not so bad!”, keep in mind that you need at least a bachelor’s degree in math, engineering or a hard physical science and
they also require you to have either three years of job experience of 1,000 hours of experience being a pilot-in-command of a jet aircraft. There are only around 50 astronauts actively working for NASA at the moment. While becoming an astronaut remains to be a pipe dream to many, not everyone who wants to go to space has aspirations of working for NASA. Many would like to explore space out of sheer curiosity. It is a place unknown to most of us and many wish to see it up-close and in person. Many are also eager for new space technology due to global warming. At a time where our planet’s environment is suffering, with a recent slew of natural disasters; many are discussing the possibility of us needing to leave planet Earth in the future. Many are hoping to go to space for a variety of reasons. Luckily for us, Richard Branson and the Virgin Group aim to make our dreams of space exploration come true!
Virgin Galactic is a proposed company within the Virgin Group, which intends to offer a flight to space to everyday citizens, for an extremely hefty fee of around $250,000. Founded in 2004, this company aims to bring something to consumers which has never been seen before. Virgin is attempting to pioneer space tourism. The notorious entrepreneur Richard Branson has once again brought forth an innovative idea, bringing forth a space travel industry. Richard Branson has always fostered innovation with his Virgin empire and he 
aims to bring something to the economy; a kind of travel which has never been made available to the general public before. The highly imaginative and ambitious businessman has created this company in hopes of providing space exploration as an explorative commodity. The company has seen many delays within regards to their first launch, but it hopes to be the first in the industry of commercial space travel.
Virgin Galactic’s website states that only a couple of hundred people have made it to space. The company stated that it aims to make space travel and exploration available to the rest of us. Virgin Atlantic has created and designed multiple space vehicles which aim to bring us up, up and away! These two spaceships are the SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo.
Virgin Galactic also highly prioritizes the safety of it’s potential customers and it proposes that each potential flyer must undergo a 3-day space training course prior to boarding the spaceship.
The company has been looking into collaborating with NASA, but this has yet to happen. The launch of Virgin Galactic has been postponed and delayed for years now. Virgin Galactic has long surpassed its’ original, proposed launch dates. While this news has disappointed many wannabe astronauts, it is to be expected for such a complicated and potentially dangerous idea. Consumer safety comes first and this kind of business venture is not one which should be taken lightly. Can Virgin Galactic make it? Only time will tell.
The Science of Race Car Driver Fitness
In the world of sports and athletes it’s a given that football, basketball, baseball, and hockey players need to be in top physical condition to compete at the top of their field without injury. Race car drivers, however, are not often thought of as athletes requiring physical conditioning and training. After all, how much does it take to drive a car around in circles for hours on end?
On the contrary, recent studies have shown that race car drivers are just as much athletes needing to be physically fit as those that play traditional sports.
To test the strain that racing puts on drivers, devices were used to monitor their heart rates. The results showed that during the race their BPM was nearing 200, resting BPM is approximately 76. For the average person that BPM would result in a heart attack; however a well-toned athlete is able to sustain this.
While many Americans drive cars every day they aren’t typically driving at speeds of over 200 mph for hours at a time. The physical and mental stress that drivers experience requires them to be in both mental and physical shape. Endurance and muscle training allows them to be in ideal physical shape to drive for hours on end. Also as a result of the high speeds race car drivers experience as they take turns they experience more G-forces, the force of gravity that is felt as weight, than the average person and, like fighter pilots, they must train their bodies to be able to handle the additional pressure.
Physical training is vital; however so is mental. Being able to handle the mental stress of driving a 3500 lbs automobile at speed greater than 200 mph for several hours as a solo driver would be challenging enough. Most drivers are doing this surrounded by dozens of other drivers doing the same thing with sometimes no more than a few inches between the vehicles. Maintaining control so as not to cause harm to themselves or the other drivers around them requires an inordinate amount of mental control and training.
Race car driving is not just an afternoon driving in circles in an advertisement decorated car, it’s a testament the immense physical and mental training that drivers go through to be able to complete such a strenuous task safely.
The Effects of New Technologies on Customers
Developments in technology over the years have changed the way that businesses interact with their customers. Gone are the days when a customer relationship management (CRM) program took care of all customer interactions. Social media has become a major influencer with the development of review sites and the sharing of information. Mobile and other touch devices are also changing the way we interact. This is all influencing the way that business is carried out and the way we interact with our customers.
Technology influences customer’s attitudes and behaviors. Opportunities exist and unfortunately dangers are lurking out there too. This requires a change in marketing focus as it should include the influence that emerging technologies have on customer behavior.
Customers are much more likely to have a direct influence on the marketplace as they have immediate access to information and are also immediately able to share their experiences. Social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are enabling customers to have an influential voice.
The humble computer is no longer the tool that customers use to decide on purchases – they use smart phones, iPads, and laptops to gather immediate information and use social portals to debate and question their potential purchase. There is no longer a restraint on time or place where this occurs.
There are opportunities that arises from this change in behavior. Businesses must move away from established strategies and adapt and embrace developing technologies. This will enable heightened levels of customer interaction and increase business reach and lead generation. Customers are the lifeblood of any business and this is the perfect time to intensify your relationship with them.
CJ Blackstone is a journalist and business writer who covers topics like social customer complaints software for financial and news sites.
Changes in Science, Space and Technology
There have been and will continue to be major changes in technological development this decade. From biotechnological research being conducted by Huntingdon Life Sciences Inc to the efforts being made to overhaul the energy grid, the 2010’s will see a wide range of achievements in the science, space, and technology industries. Three advancements in particular promise to promote a renewed interest in space research and the continued evolution of quicker Internet speeds:
The new James Webb Space Telescope—NASA’s new telescope will be more advanced and powerful than any tool the agency has ever used in order to peer into the depths of space. In fact, the James Webb Telescope will be able to see further into the past of our own universe, capturing glimpses of some of the early stages of galactic formation. The telescope will give us a view of the very first galaxies that were created after the Big Bang and should promote a wide variety of upgrades and overhauls to fields related to astronomy, cosmology, and other space-related industries.
Building a space ark—The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, whose previous credits include the creation of the Internet, now has its sights on the creation of a 100 year starship that would take humans further into space than ever before. While this lofty concept may seem relegated to the realm of science fiction, multiple sources confirm that plans are underway to create an exploratory committee for the viability of the project. Perhaps the most exciting part of this development is how much independent and auxiliary research will result from such an ambitious undertaking.
The new 4G LTE network—This Internet network isn’t as cosmic as the James Webb Telescope or a 100 year space motor but the effects could actually be more universal for the people of Earth. With quicker Internet speeds and an ever-accelerated network, smartphone technology should advance as well as the demand for more complex tools, like Augmented Reality, the Semantic Web, The Internet of Things, and even holographic smartphone apps. All of this is dependent on the public buying into the need for more complex cell phone operations which the 4G LTE network, already being adopted by several major mobile providers, should allow for.
We’ll have to wait and see how quickly these advancements take shape. We can certainly expect increased Internet speed sooner than the space ark. It will interesting to see how Internet evolution on Earth affects our ability to study outer space.
Guest blogger Leo Charrel writes about technology and society for a variety of websites and blogs. He also enjoys participating in various social media forums and conversations like the one found by clicking here.
Domain Names – A Look Back to History and Their Evolution
The domain names find their significance when it comes to identifying more than one IP addresses and are used in the URLs for the identification of web pages. For example, if you have a career placement site, then you would likely want to choose from the many jobs domains, so that yours will be unique to your product or service so that clients can find you. The creation of the domain name system and the domain name servers (DNS) can be traced back to 1984.
When Wide Area Networks (WAN) were used to connect several computers, like ARPANET in the 60’s, there arose the need for identification to access different systems. With an increase in the number of connections, an effective system for the maintenance and regulation of domain paths all over the network was needed. In 1973 the Internet Protocol (IP) addressing system came into the existence so that various networking computers could be located easily. The newsgroups and the electronic mail (e-mail) gradually came into existence by the 70’s.A stable and easy-to-remember system was demanded with the growth in the number of users. The demand was for a system which was better than the IP system containing long and complex strings of numbers. The University of Wisconsin, in 1984, prepared a ‘name server’, the first of its kind. This made sure that the users, networking with several others, need not remember the detailed path to any other system. This led to the birth of the present-day addressing system. The implementation of the Domain Name System(DNS) took place a year after. Further, the ‘.com’, ‘.net’, ‘org’, etc. were introduced and were known as the top-level domain names. Thus one could expect a sudden change like ‘121.245.078.2’ getting converted to ‘yourcompany.com’.World Wide Web originated in 1991, shaped the public domain to exist by the domain registration. At first, the domain registration was free. But by 1992, due to the exponential increase in internet usage, Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) and National Science Foundation (NSF) created the ‘InterNIC’ to maintain and organize the growth of DNS services and registry. Gradually NFS stopped subsidizing domain registrations by 1995. InterNIC initially started to impose $100 as a fee for registration for 2 years. In 1998 the U.S. Department of Commerce published a document, called White Paper, outlining the transfer of domain name management systems to private organizations. Today domain registration is much cheaper at around $8.00 per year.ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) now accredits many companies to make an addition to the global domain name database called the Shared Registration System. Presently, there are more than 19 million registered domain names and 40,000 get registered every day.
5 Tips To Keep In Mind When Doing Keyword Research
Before we get into details, we should ask ourselves what keyword search really entails. Why would you need to conduct keyword research? Remember that you can only get the best results if you know what you are doing.
By definition, keyword research is one of the most vital things you can do if you are a beginner in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your business site. This is done with help from tools such as Google AdWords. This way, you can get an avenue to the market and also a clue of what people are searching for when it comes to your products or services. These keywords will be of great benefit to you but you have to understand your customer base first and the market in general.
Suppose keyword research is new to you, the following 5 tips will help you catch the concept and have a better understanding of what keyword research really entails:
• First, you should use the best tools for keyword research.
There are several sites that offer keyword research tools. Out of experience, the Google AdWords has been found to be the best tool for keyword research. It is accurate and reliable compared to all other known keyword research tools. The Google AdWords tool will allow you to search by both topic and then by keyword. This tool allows researchers to get multiple results and is actually the best.
• Regroup the keywords into three groups.
Create three sets of keyword searches. This is important because you will be able to get the optimal amount of results. Make sure that the first group contains the most competitive terms, followed by the second group and put the least competitive terms in the third group. Regrouping will help you determine which words to allocate more time to while researching. The best way to do this is by creating a researched keyword list to help you determine the most competitive and also the least competitive keywords.
• Utilize the long-tail keywords.
These are the keywords which visitors target the most. These keywords display exact results for those customers searching for specific products from your site. This will make your site to have more visitors.
• Pay attention to competition.
Conducting keyword research by use of the Google keyword tool will actually give you a clue of competition under your field. This way, you will be able to determine the level of keyword competition. High competition will make you find the best keyword.
• Do not neglect less competitive keywords.
Focus also on these keywords since they will give you more progress during your search.
If you try implementing these key factors into your keyword research process and also focus on your site’s conversion optimization, you will begin to see a positive change in your revenue.
To Kindle or Not to Kindle
There is an interesting debate going on in the world of consumer literature these days, and it’s not about what to read or not read, but instead it’s about how to do it. To Kindle, or not to Kindle, that is the question. Proponents say it encourages greater readership among reluctant consumers and entices younger readers into the vast world of literature. This is a major accomplishment and diverts the amount of attention that has been focused on electronic games. Meanwhile, Kindles, other electronic devices and e-books also offer larger numbers of writers the opportunity to have their works read and purchases. Perhaps the widening of the market is the greatest actual social benefit these electronic devices have offered, though some people stress they go way beyond that.
Of course one of the most personally compelling reasons to purchase a hand held electronic book device is the amount of space it consumes, versus the equivalent, well that would be a ridiculous comparison, let’s just say even one or two actual books in hand. And especially for students, you can start adding up the amount of books you need to carry pretty fast. Pass by any student health and wellnes center on college campuses and you’ll see first hand the amount of books students carry with them at any given time.
Those overly stuffed, heavy weighted backpacks might soon give way to a simple purse or even a slot in one’s computer case. And students are not the only ones who are excessively weighted down by reading material, or any other standard daily carrying needs. For many professionals, adding one book to their professional bag is too much, but simply sliding in a thin, lightweight Kindle requires little to no extra room or carrying power.
The simplicity of use, enormous amount of books it can hold, and the relative low cost of reading them are some of the most popular aspects, naturally, of these devices for many consumers. Meanwhile, there are some counter arguments to these devices, and these include the devaluing of some of the classic works, or established writers and reducing income for an already enormously competitive field. In addition, major books stores like Borders are closing their doors due to the enormous loss of patronage these devices are contributing to. Regardless of your personal take on the situation, this is definitely the direction of the future, and contribution technology can make to changes in society, it certainly will do so. Other hand had electronic devices provide excellent Internet services and you can do anything from checking your email to finding quality apartment reviews.
Microsoft Launch New Digital Magazine
Microsoft has come out with a new online magazine Publicyte which is to be used to promote its public sector initiatives. The new magazine is led by Mark Drapeau, editor and chief.
Drapeau is hoping to make Publicyte, the digital magazine, “a great source of creative thought leadership on technology and innovation for different public sector verticals” such as government, education and health care. “We want to present Microsoft in a new light to influential people in the public and civic sectors and through the media that covers it.”
As well as Drapeau, the magazine will incorporate articles by other writers from Microsoft as well as contributions from writers out with the company. The main focus will be on Microsoft.
There has been no major announcement about the magazine as the company wants the readership to grow naturally. The audience is expected to be public and civic sector professionals. The goal is to influence how people think about issues like social media and government.
From Axesoft supplier of Microsoft products including Microsoft Office 2010 Home & Student – Review