Featured Artcle:
Ethnics in Technology
By Michael Bruny, Sr. Contributing Writer

technology | tekˈnäləjē| noun ( pl. -gies) the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, esp. in industry: advances in computer technology | recycling technologies • machinery and equipment developed from such scientific knowledge • the branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied sciences.. 

 

 

 

 

Whether it’s creating more economically and environmentally friendly services or changing our doctors’ offices to provide quicker service, technology turns our innovative ideas into realities and has a positive impact on our lives.
We’ve chosen 5 fields in which you can immediately see technology’s impact on how we live our daily lives: 


Banking: I dare to guess that the majority of ethnic professionals use direct deposit for their paychecks and don’t spend much time working with checks. This technology has been around for a while and has been enhanced with programs like PayPal, an easy way to send and receive money online and make online purchases without providing credit card information. But what about our entrepreneurial readers who do get checks for services rendered or products sold? They still need to take time from their busy days to go to the bank and potentially wait in line so they can get the cash into their accounts without processing delays that may result from using an ATM. To some, standing in line to see a teller sounds primitive, but take heart, help is on the way thanks to continual improvement of the check depositing process.
With the ATM, we first had to put our cash in envelopes that required moistening. Then we moved to self-adhesive envelopes, and then to using no envelopes at all when depositing cash or checks (Bank of America). Now you don’t have to leave the comfort of your own home if you want to deposit a check. You can simply scan the check and send it to your bank electronically. There is even an iPhone app that allows you to do the same thing by taking a picture of the check to be deposited (Digital Credit Union). “With tech-savvy members in every state, DCU has been aggressively developing technology that allows members to do their banking anywhere and any time—whether online, in line, or over the phone,” said Craig P. Roy, DCU’s Sr. Vice President of Support Services.


Travel: How did we travel by automobile before we had the GPS? The letters stand for global positioning system, a device created by the Department of Defense in the 1970s. Whether a stand-alone system, one that comes with a vehicle, or a system on your phone, the GPS is helping more and more people get where they need to go, especially when street signs are missing.


Health Care: Many hospitals and doctors’ offices are taking advantage of technology that’s been used in other industries for years. They are converting from paper to digital documents. The digital information allows them to instantly send prescriptions to pharmacies while we’re still in their offices. They can also look up pertinent information about our health conditions, medications, and test results.


A global look at what technology is doing in health care can be seen in rural regions of the world where hospitals may not be in close proximity. One good example comes from the work Intel is doing: “Intel continues to make computer chips that are smaller and less expensive, allowing affordable mobile devices to be created that connect rural areas of a country with the main hospital. Rural doctors can send test information and other information real-time to bigger facilities that can analyze and quickly provide results and prescriptions to patients,” says Harry Danso, Project Manager at Intel’s Hudson, MA facility. When time is the difference between life and death, this technology allows more people to live.


Communication: Both business and social communications have been enhanced thanks to technology. More and more people are talking about social media and how to leverage it for business. Social media should not be viewed as a fad. Professionals are using such sites as LinkedIn, Plaxo, and Facebook for networking and marketing purposes. They are also using blogs and microblogs such as Twitter to build company and personal brands as well as provide customer service. Creating a Facebook fan page can help you attract and stay in touch people you’d like to hire or do business with. Tomeeka Farrington, Founder and Principle of Spotlight Communications in Boston, MA, had this to say: “Nowadays if I ask clients how they found us, the web is the #1 answer. Understanding how social media works allows you to put yourself in a position to be at the top of the list when someone does a Google search involving your industry or speciality.” Tomeeka recently launched Social Media U. (www.socialmedia-u.com) after giving a presentation on social media during which she was asked, “What is Facebook?”



Want to learn how to create a Facebook fan page of your own? Check out “How to Setup a Facebook fan page”: http://www.spotlightcommunications.net/ignite/2009/11/23/how-to-setup-a-facebook-page/.


Entertainment: Listening to music and watching television and movies have been revolutionized by technology. Technology has evolved from VCR to DVD and from DVR to Tivo. We’re able to watch our favorite programs when we want at station websites (on ABC, NBC, etc.) or sites such as Hulu.com. We can listen to music without having to buy a CD with online radio stations and sites like Napster and Rhapsody, both of which provide access to unlimited music for a monthly fee. On sites like Pandora, you can create your own station based on a preferred genre or artist.


Choice and customization are the directions in which we’re heading with media. You no longer have to listen to or even buy a whole album or CD. You can just purchase the songs you like on iTunes. This experience includes your entertainment while you drive. Satellite radio allows us to choose from tons of radio stations, and video entertainment centers are available for our passengers. We have more opportunities to create our own entertainment and share it in the formats we choose.


The word technology can feel elusive or evoke a sense of science fiction, but it’s all about making our lives and society better every day. 

 

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