Happy New Year! 2008

Happy New Year to everyone! May this year, 2008, be bigger and brighter than ever. 2007 went by so fast and a great deal has happened in just this short year alone. A lot is going on in the technology community including ever more complex gadgets and hardware consolidating features into ever smaller packages. That is going to be the theme for this year: miniturization. Whether it be the consumer, education, private or military sectors, this theme will be universal and integral in providing cutting-edge devices that solve our world's most complex and even simplest problems.

My goal is to attend at least 1-2 trade shows this year that deal with consumer electronics, robotics, convergence technology, or a related field and bring that coverage right here to Convergence Daily. Last year, as part of my daytime job, I attended the AGC Trade Show in Austin, TX to learn and understand more about the construction equipment industry, its players, and the equipment and vehicles typically used. Convergence technology is playing a role in this industry as well with major players using virtual simulators to teach new equipment operators the ropes before they jump behind the "wheel" of that million dollar piece of equipment. More advanced controlling mechanisms and software algorithms are being developed to make the training simulations as accurate and true-to-life as possible. In addition, we will probably see more advanced video monitoring & other technologies used in dozers, haulers, and other construction equipment in the hopes of increasing the overall safety of the operator(s) and protecting the investments of the equipment owners as well.

I'm continuing my major in Computer Engineering with a minor in Business Administration in the hopes of going into business full-time working for myself. This year will be a pivotal year of changes for me and will hopefully bring together some positive changes for this blog along with my other site Neowave.us.

Until next time!

My Black Friday Special: Sandisk Sansa e250R MP3 Player

Among those hapless souls waiting in line at one of many department stores nationwide on the eve of Black Friday, I found myself camping out alongside my cousin and uncle in front of a Fry's Electronics store in Houston, TX. This story I shall tell in a later blog post. For now however, I will fast forward to Best Buy ten hours later among the hourdes of senseless shoppers. While my uncle was scoring the latest deal on an HD Toshiba projector I found myself in the mp3 section checking out the latest sales. In the end, I came out on top with a Sandisk Sansa e250R 2GB mp3 player for only $99 bucks!

I will be featuring a review over this mp3 player in the coming days right here on Convergence Daily, but for now here is a tidbit covering this lovely device. This mp3 player also happens to play movies, FM radio, display photos, and do voice recording. This particular model is branded with Best Buy's Rhapsody player software which is comparable to Apple's iTunes and includes a microSD slot for extra storage (among several "one-ups" on Apple's iPod). So far this product is exceeding my expectations and I have yet to tap into its full potential after just a week's worth of use. Be on the lookout for the write-up over the Sansa e250R in the coming days!