A Day in the Life of Annette Branch

September 13, 2008 annwill
Tags: collaborative technology, Computer Impact: A Day in the Life of Annette

Today I used my personal computer to learn more about collaborative technology, and in particular the most popular computer uses and voice recognition systems.  A list of 101 uses will inspire anyone of any age to take advantage of the many resources available on the internet.  That is exactly what I found in browsing the web at www.edzone.net/~mwestern/101computeruses.html.  My favorites are number 78, which is “viewing a shark-live!” and number 80 which is “watching astronauts on the space station-live!”  But there are also helpful hints for creating slideshows, recording songs and much more. 

I am also curious about voice recognition systems in particular since I think this technology will be increasingly effective in our lives.  For activating the microwave, telling our phone to call someone or check our messages remotely while we are cooking dinner, or activating banking functions such as electronic payments, this feature would offer even more expedient access for everyone.  Those who would benefit besides business entrepreneurs or business executives include the elderly, those with visual and auditory challenges, as well as other individuals with various disabilities.  This is applicable in my own life today as I think of someone personally for each of these categories with special challenges who could be helped more effectively with this type of technology which they currently do not possess.  Voice recognition is also extremely helpful for secure access, whether computer access or building and property access.  You can learn more about voice recognition systems at www.microsoft.com/responsepoint as one example.  This location also offers a demonstration, which I watched and simultaneously added a bit of humor to my day:  That was a nice touch, ironically, since I faced some stressful issues with computer technology at work earlier this week.

I also stopped at the gas pump today to add one final note here in my diary page about computers.  I used my visa, charging my gas purchase to save time so that I could return home quickly to my writing of this article.  The convenience of not waiting in line for the cashier or losing cash and even pumping gas after hours when gas station doors are locked is tremendous.  The computerized listing on my visa statement has helped me target better my actual expenditures for gas, and this has compelled me to car pool recently when I saw it all itemized on the statement.  From an even more technological approach, however, the Sheetz gas station and gas pumps must be managed by computer hardware and software systems such as those I found today on the web at HiTech Computer Services.  HiTech Financial Accounting for Petrol Pumps lists many managed formats for computerizing a gas station; some modules include “Petrol Pump”, “Employee Module”, “Inventory Control” and “Accounts Module”, among others.  More can be learned on the web about this company at www.hitech-on-web.com.  When I stop to think about how much the impact has affected me and those around me at the gas pump alone today, and mostly for the better, the effects on our lives are truly life-transforming in almost indescribable proportions.

Entry Filed under: collaborative technology,Computer Impact,Uncategorized

One Comment Add your own

• 1. mdholden  |  September 19, 2008 at 8:28 pm

  Annette,

  I would dare to say that gas pumps and ATMs are the most publicly used computer hardwares. After learning about how hardware works from our class resources, I bet those machines require 24 monitoring and maintenance. It’s also startling how vulnerable out information is for big business to use…and predators! Nice post!

  -Dawn Holden

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