Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com If you’ve lived in Iowa for at least one winter, you’re probably pretty well trained on what the end of the calendar means; persistent frigid temperatures are coming with mountains of snow. After a day or two of complaining, most Iowans accept this seasonal norm and go about their wintery lives, but that is except for when the heating bill arrives. From November to March, eyes across the state bulge in their sockets when their winter heating bill arrives. Just as everyone forgets how to drive in the snow, we also forget how pricey it is to heat a freezing midwestern home. The good news is those annual heating bill freakouts may soon become extinct as smart houses learn how to minimize our energy usage and lower the price of keeping us warm in winter. In increasingly digital world, thermostats are some of the most analog technology we use. While homeowners have been able to program specific temperatures to corresponding periods of

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com In the mid 2000s the journalism was all abuzz about the prospect of citizen journalists. Independent producers who would research topics and illuminate major concerns in the world. Activists and politically fueled blogs had already been up-and-running for sometime, but the real interest sprouted from video producers that could deliver impactful, unexpected stories. An investigative utopia where you and your neighbor volunteered to wave the flag of the fourth estate and show the world first hand what was happening on the streets of America and potentially beyond its borders. Today, no one talks about citizen journalists and why is that? Because the overwhelming majority of user created content is unwatchable crap. Streaming video is powerful. Get hooked by a video shared on social media or embedded in a website than you seven times as likely to stay on that site and continue clicking around. That is huge for content providers. It i

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com One of the more awkward points in a relationship is when you realized you’ve outgrown someone. The worst is when you’ve got to break up with a significant other or drop a friend that no longer fits your lifestyle, but that awkwardness is not exclusive to people. While some items pretty much force you to drop them (such as out of style clothes), others become so ingrained in our lives you consider learning to live with their obsolence (like large DVDs collections). It becomes much more uncomfortable when it seems society is about to outgrow something, and right now it seems that distress is being caused by mobile carriers. To be fair, mobile carriers offer a great deal of value, mostly in wireless data connections; however, their primary service is quickly becoming obsolete. One could argue that phone numbers are not truly necessary, and by dropping your phone number one could lead a much more peaceful existence. Now before you

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com If you’re a fan of James Bond, you’ve probably noticed the last two films have relied heavily on the magic of computer hacking. Apparently “Q,” James Bond’s gadget guru, can do more than hide lasers in watch wristbands, he’s also a cyber security terrorist. In the film Skyfall Q undercuts all of James Bonds value saying his hacking skills are magnitudes of order more lethal than 007s spy talents. While not nearly as exciting as hanging from a helicopter or firing a rocketlauncher, Q is right; one nefarious hacker has the potential to cripple a business and potentially nation. So with our lives becoming more and more digitally integrated every day, why would the government want to make it easier for hackers to gain access? Practically everyone owns a smartphone, and the truth is these devices are actually computers, i.e. hackable. The NSA, CIA, FBI, and every other intelligence agency in the world works around the clock to hack