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Geotracking; Privacy versus Convenience

11/13/2019

Written by Daniel Burns

Geotracking is the act of services and platforms using location data gathered from a device either from GPS coordinates, IP addresses, and bluetooth connections, just to name a few. It has long been used as a convenient way for users to have a better experience while using mapping, friend finder, social media apps, and other services like Uber. But does all this location tracking and its gathering of data outweigh its good and convenience in our technology driven society?
   To answer that question we must understand why we love the abilities of location based services on our many devices. For social media users location services allow you to check in and tag a location to a post or photo to share your experience with friends and family. For families using people finding apps such as Find My (iOS) and MyCircle (Android), for example, make it easy and convenient to check up on your kids and family member locations aside from how intrusive of personal privacy it may be. Also for using simple apps such as Google Maps and Uber or Lyft which require your location to even function properly. These are just some of the hundreds of examples of how we use location tracking services throughout our daily lives. But Geotracking isn’t just location data based on just gps coordinates, it can be gathered from other entities such as IP addresses and bluetooth connections. For example, if you go to Google.com and you search for a local business or service it will ask you to use your location. Everyone will hit yes and in doing so you are allowing Google to use your computer’s IP address to locate you in your community and, nonetheless, your current region. Yes that’s right, by even visiting sites that don’t even ask to use your location, companies and sites can see where you are generally located (city for example) to tailor things such as advertisements and specific services just for you. And all that data is out there for anyone to use whether for good and in your favor or for bad and malicious intent.
   Two major concerns have come up with geotracking and its respective location tracking nature. One asking what does geotracking actually reveal and two being what are my rights and what can I do to protect myself. Firstly, geotracking can reveal many privacy concerns in our daily lives. For example if you are going on vacation to, lets say Hawaii, and you post pictures to Facebook with your location attached, if your post isn’t private (only to your friends) then anyone with malicious intent, like burglars, can see and they will now know that they can take their time cleaning out your house while you are gone. Another example of privacy concern, a major one in fact, is when a big exercise and activity tracking app called Strata decided to celebrate how useful their app was, they posted a map of the entire world and all the routes users have taken to exercise with their app. A really fun and cool interactive map that showed just how big their user base was. But unfortunately it even showed locations of activity in parts of the world, such as the middle east, where secret bases of operation were, and it essentially blew those users cover. All because of a simple app that logged your activity routes. Crazy huh? Second, all this can be avoided if you always know, in the back of your head, that nothing is truly private and your are essentially always being tracked. You can either disable location services all-together on iOS or Android, or you can specifically disable or give rule on a per app basis (new in iOS 13 and now Android 10). This can also be done in apps on macOS and Windows inside of their respective system settings.
   Just the act of being aware of geotracking can be enough to change your habits as a user to be more proactive in what you do. But for most things it's something that is inevitable and we allow it for the convenience in our lives. With ever emerging technologies using any kind of location based information we must ask ourselves, how does this actually help us, and is the trade off ultimately worth it.

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The State of Wearable Devices

10/9/2019

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Written by Daniel Burns

With the improvement of technology and miniaturization wearable tech is getting more and more advanced every year. Wearable devices consist of three main categories; smartwatches, health and fitness devices, and AR/VR (Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality). Just like smartphones and computers in general, these devices are getting smaller and smaller while gaining power and capability the world couldn’t of imagined 5 years ago.

   For smart watches, the dream started in the 1930’s on television with the imagined radio commutation watch warn by Dick Tracy himself. Today this is a laughable reality with the addition of popular smartwatches being constantly connected, used as communicators, every single day. Smart watches started out as being a companion device to the smartphone. Connected via bluetooth, the smart watch was a way to display notifications and alerts on your wrist, track steps, and later monitor heart rate. Most of all still do very well today as those are the bare minimum specs to become a “smart watch.” There are a ton of smart watches on the market today from Apple, Samsung, Fitbit, LG, and the now defunct Pebble. But let’s look at the Apple Watch as the gold standard of smartwatches. After all, the Apple Watch now towers over any completion thanks to its massive 80+% growing market share. It started out as a really stripped down companion to the iPhone with all the basic features, an OLED display, thick shell, and only single day battery life. Now the current Series 5 is bigger, thinner, more powerful than the first 4 iPhones, has an always on display, and connects via LTE and Wifi alone when the iPhone isn’t in range. The Apple Watch has become the next iPod so to speak with its small form factor, and ability to stream and store millions of songs directly form your wrist with the help of some bluetooth EarPods or AirPods. Since the introduction of the Series 4, Apple has added the ability to take an ECG anytime on your wrist in addition to regular heart rate monitoring. Which is crazy cool and the first of its kind to be FDA approved!

   Which perfectly leads us into the health and fitness category of wearable devices. There are a numerous players in this category from the makers of Polar, Garmn, Nike, Basis, Withings, and now including Apple. These devices don’t just monitor heart rate and activity, but some can track blood pressure, sleep patterns, and other types of physical activity. Some devices can be worn around your chest with a strap, belly, arm, and wrist. Most people now prefer the wrist because of its convince and less restrictiveness during workouts. In the past chest worn devices were more accurate than wrist warn but every year sensors, data, and now AI has filled that gap along with the previously mentioned user convenience towards wrist warn being the preferred. The Apple Watch and some other devices have been credited numerous time with saving peoples lives thanks to early detection using the devices. For example the Apple Watch will let you know if you have afib thanks to monitoring for irregular heart rates, high heart rates, and now low heart rates. May have been pre diagnosed before doctor confirmation of symptoms thanks to the incredible capabilities of the Apple Watch and wearable devices as a whole. You can even thank the device in emergency situations when your phone is out of reach thanks to fall detection, automatic 911 calling, and on star type emergency button convenience.

   Other types of wearable devices now include AR and VR goggles and glasses. With VR or virtual reality googles, you can put them on and step into a whole nother world dreamed up by game developers. VR goggles and handsets rest over your head and slide onto your face covering just your eyes and ears. Using two small but high pixel dense screens and lenses, the VR goggles let you see something unlike the real world and move about the virtual space to play and explore to your hearts content. Now AR or augmented reality you overlay information on top of the real world. This can be done with glasses and small transparent screens or projections onto your eyes. It can also be achieved on your smartphone using its camera and moving about the room. In both situations you can use your hands and controllers to play and position items. It really is a unique experience that is best just explained by actually doing it in person. VR and AR is powered either internally in the goggles or glasses like a smartphone or externally through a one cable solution connected to a gaming computer or a computer with a graphics card capable of powering the experience. The most successful VR devices on the market are from Oculus and HTC with the Rift and the Vive while AR glasses have been made by Google with the Google Glass or Microsoft with its Hololens.

   Wearable technology has come a long way thanks to the evolution of technology and Moores law. Miniaturization of components and complete systems have enabled devices like smart watches and VR glasses to become more powerful and more capable. I can’t wait for the day we wear AI powered communicators and step into full room virtual worlds just like Star Trek and The Orville alike have imagined. Dream on and virtual reality might just become our reality.

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What should be considered when selecting a monitor?

9/17/2019

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Written by Daniel Burns

When it comes time to buy a new monitor to go along with your new computer, in addition as a second display, or even replacing an outdated one for your current setup, the decision you have to make may seem like daunting task. Not to worry, let's break down the three main types of displays and their varying technologies to find the best use case for your next monitor. We will be going over specifically flatscreen monitors , after all it is 2019 and no one is buying a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube - Tube Type Large Monitor) brand new anymore.

   Let’s start with size, one of the most important aspects to when selecting a monitor. Get it? Aspects? Anyway, if your current monitor has a small screen size of lets say 17”- 22” inches, measured diagonally, and you think its on the small size then by all means upgrade to your hearts content. Of course there are limitations to size when it comes to how much room you have on your desk, what it’s being used for, how far away do you sit from the screen, and then of course budget. Monitors, when compared to TVs have a different guide or general rule to how close you should sit in front of them. You can do a quick Google search about monitor distance relevant to your size that you want to select. You will even find calculator to input custom distances and sizes aside from the basic charts. For example if you have a 24 to 29” inch monitor the general rule is to sit an arms length away from the screen or about 4 feet for a healthy dosage of screen time. You will hear results will vary depending on use case allot during this paper because it really does.

   Once you get your monitor size down now you will need to establish a budget and main use case. Generally if you want to save money the smaller the size of screen, then the cheaper they get. Then the bigger, the more expensive it gets, not including additional features and creature comforts. If you do everyday light email browsing, web surfing, and word processing then a cheaper and smaller screen with a resolution of 1080p at about $80 to $200 is fit for you. If you do that plus some light gaming then a bigger screen with a resolution of 1080p or 1440p that costs $200 to $300 is your ticket. But let's say you do some intensive gaming and edit photos and videos on the side, then expect to have a budget of $400 to $1,000 with a 4K resolution. Then at the very top of the market and you want it all, you’re an extreme gamer, or edit large videos and photos, then you already know you will be spending $1000+ on a single monitor with at least a 4K (2160p) or even 5K or 6K resolution these days. So adjust your budget to screen size and use case for the most part and screen technology will follow suit.

   Now let's get technical and get into the different types of monitors you may come across. Mainly three types of flatscreen technologies. First you might find cheaper and often smaller TN Panels which stand for twisted nematic. This is a type of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) LED display that sacrifices color accuracy and viewing angles for perforce and budget. A TN panel has some of the fastest response times and high refresh rates for a display. For gaming, video editing, and just plain pleasure, having really fast response times and refresh rates is top priority. But a TN Panel also has some of the worst viewing angles on the market, meaning that when you view the screen at any other angel then straight on, colors, brightness, and clarity is greatly reduced. Next we have the middle child of display technology, the one that usually rides the line between price and performance. The VA panel or vertically aligned usually has the longest and slowest response times but really high refresh rates. You might not find a VA panel as often as a the other two because it's generally the most expensive. Best suited for viewing slo motion, high resolution playback during sporting events or slo mo shots on the shoot thanks to its high refresh rates. Colors and viewing angles on a VA panel are usually better than a TN panel thanks to its high contrast and image depth but when compared to the mack daddy of monitors, the IPS panel, it squashes them both. The IPS display, also called In-Plane Switching, is what you will generally find these days. Your TV is probably IPS, your phone’s screens are definitely IPS and most laptops are now IPS too. IPS panels give you the best color accuracy, contrast, brightness, and viewing angles out of any monitor. You can practically look at an IPS monitor at any angle, let's say 180 degrees to the side and not notice any degradation to quality and brightness. But they are currently the most expensive on the market for very good reason. Their refresh rates on the other hand are pretty lacking when compared to the others. But every year they are getting better and better and we are getting to the point where most IPS panels are good enough to be in a cheaper device or monitor.

   So let’s wrap this up. It all really comes down to your use case. For the average user and every day Joe Shmo in 2019 a 1080p, full HD IPS monitor, with a screen size of 21 to 24” that costs around $160 would be great for the masses. If you’re a gamer or video editor then a high refresh rate, 4K, IPS monitor for $600 with a size of 27 to 32” is your best bet. You will always want to look at longevity and being “future proof” as a factor for spending more as well. Then if you have no budget, well, go crazy and treat yourself. Once again it comes down to use case and budget, then the rest usually falls into place.

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One week with the Apple Watch

5/24/2015

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“Watch Out Android Wear!”

One Week with the Apple Watch.

After having the Apple Watch for over a week now I have found it to be a very enjoyable experience. From being in the classroom, glancing at notifications, to being in PE or out for a run, logging my activity. Its actually been a very useful tool. This new product comes from the post Steve Jobs era with new CEO, Tim Cook at the helm, heading in the right direction for Apple’s future. The interface is of something new to iOS users. It could be a slight learning curve, at first, but to navigate the new interface Apple has made it easier by making things fluid and familiar to its bigger brother operation system, iOS. It just takes getting used to and after less than a day having it, I got the hang of it.

The heart rate tracking is quite fun actually. Its pretty cool to see your heart rate thought the week and with Apple’s new HealthKit, communication with your doctor is easier than ever. The new ability to submit and or show your weekly and daily blood pressure and heart rate to your doctor is amazing. No more high blood pressure spikes at the doctors office. Now you have a more accurate outlook on your health. Sleep tracking is kinda neat too. Its interesting to see your lowest heart rate while sleeping and an accurate time of your sleep.

The battery is as expected for a first generation device. It just depends on what you do with it in that day. If you do a lot including workouts, notifications, and checking time, you get the expected 18+ hours of use. I’ve got it to last about 2 days which is great compared to the 18 hours as told by Apple. Charging the watch is very cool. You just set it on its small puck sized charger and it wirelessly, inductively charges. It takes only 2 hours to get a full charge with the 5W adapter that comes with it and only 1 hour with Apple’s 12W adapter (sold separately).

The Watch case and materials itself a surprisingly very durable. It still feels like something Apple didn't make and thats not a bad thing. It feels very premium on the wrist which nails the whole point Jonny Ive made when designing this watch. I have the Apple Watch Sport, 42 mm space gray which has the aluminum body and iON-X glass. For example, in wood shop at school, I hit the center of the screen on a metal machine by accident and it didn't even scratch it. I was astonished at its durability. The higher end model;s have the Sapphire Crystal screen which is expected to be even better. So no worries here.

Already there are tons of apps for the watch in the app store. Surpassing Android Wear in just one day of available apps. So no problems finding any app. Android needs to step up its game if they want to compete. All in all this is a great new product that has the potential to live on. The Apple Watch is a game changer to the industry that will set new standards for other companies to follow. Whether you get the current Apple Watch, which is till on backorder after 4 million+ orders, or wait for the second generation. I assure you that you won’t be sorry with your purchase. I highly recommend the Apple Watch.

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Adium Tech Newsroom

Geotracking; Privacy versus Convenience

The State of Wearable Devices

What should be considered when selecting a monitor?

One week with the Apple Watch

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