For years, scientists have been looking for new ways to free our electrical appliances from unsightly cables, batteries and chargers and introduce a new wireless form of power supply. But what would happen if this wireless power supply broke out of everyday electrical equipment and made its way into the retail arena? Could we see the beginnings of a new shopping revolution? Or would the technologies introduction prove too costly for the average retailer?

Within the past decade, the introduction of wifi technology has revolutionised how and where we can access the internet and how we socially interact with those around us. It is this same technology that is in the forefront of a new revolution, the wireless power supply.

Following similar principals to wifi technology, WiTricity as it is being dubbed, is slowly making a break through that could change our home and business lives forever. In time, this type of technology will lead to electrical equipment such as mobile phones and laptops being able to recharge without the use of a cable.

Accompanied by quick setup times and less of a need for further electricity points around the store, there could be a dramatic impact upon on our shopping centres and parades, creating greater opportunities for sellers.

The reliance on cables gaining easy access to the power supply in store has restricted retailers to the types and number of display equipment they can use to promote their products. With the introduction of a wireless power supply, you could easily set up and create entertaining retail environments that have no reliance on access to a plug socket.

Depending on the size of the shop, any number of electricity dependent shop fittings could be used in store at the same time.

The WiTricity breakthrough could also help stimulate the development of new retail solutions, from retailers who are able to place lighting anywhere in the store, to LCD shelf barkers that engage with the customer and update prices at a stroke.

Introducing wireless power to retail can also have a positive economic impact on a business, as power hungry devices can be activated and deactivated through motion sensor technology. The likes of the LCD screens that are used to entertain and send advertising messages to customers will only work when being interacted with.

This type of energy saving is not only great in terms of the electricity bill, but is also a greener and more environmentally friendly solution compared to standard mains powered units.

Even if you take WiTricity out of the shop front and look towards the warehouses and manufacturers, there are benefits to be found. Reducing the amount of cable clutter around busy working environments could not only improve the standards of health and safety, but also help to reduce the large number of work based injuries that are recorded every year.

With the likes of LCD TV screens getting thinner and more energy efficient technology being introduced into household goods demanding less power, it is ever more likely that WiTricity will be able to power all of our everyday electrical equipment someday in the future.

With the speed of other technological advancements, you would have thought that WiTricity is in its infancy. But in fact it's been around for over 100 years with various scientists trying their hand at making it a reality. However, it seems the pace is quickening and more applications are expected to make it into the public domain.

But until that day arrives, and early adopters pick up the research and development tab, it's probably safe to say that we can look to the simple plug to keep on being our provider of power for the foreseeable future.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adam_Singleton

Those individuals which do a lot of thinking about the future, often associate themselves with the title of futurist. What many people do not understand is that futurism, socialism, and fascism are actually tied together with many historical examples. Still, one has to ask can you be a futurist without being a socialist? This is a very interesting point, and there is a group called the Futurists in the United States and most of the people in the group do hold socialist views.

Many of them classify themselves as Democrats or liberals, but they really are not liberals by strict definition, as most truly are socialist leaning and they wish to put controls on to the society and get everyone thinking a certain way to live together in harmony, yet at the same time they often negate all the human characteristics of mankind.

The group itself uses many socialist type controls and promises people who join the group that they will teach them how to think correctly to solve problems for the future and predict it. Interestingly enough, this is quite problematic because if someone is predicting the future, and telling everyone how to think, they are actually creating a self-fulfilling prophecy and if that prophecy is tied to socialist tendencies and leads to Fascist dictation of how the civilization and society will run, then you can see the problem.

Folks should not be so awestruck by futurist or by their purported wisdom. If we are to follow many of these futurists and their ideas for the future we will find that they will micromanage our lives and end up taking away all of our freedoms for the benefit of their created utopias in the process. Indeed they will claim they are creating the greatest of utopias that can last for 1000 years, but in reality no one in their right mind who understands what freedom truly as would ever want to live there.

Sure we can create a wonderful beehive of humanity; but quite frankly that doesn't interest me, and aren't the bees dying off anyway. Please consider all this.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Conventional wisdom is generally correct, but it is not always correct. If something doesn't sound right to you then you need to ask why. Then you need to listen very carefully to the explanation and see if that makes sense to you; if it doesn't ask more questions.

If the conventional wisdom purveyors fail to answer your question in a simple and logical way, then it is time for you to do more investigation. Conventional-wisdom once said that the earth was flat, and conventional-wisdom said that men could not build flying machines. Conventional-wisdom thought it was impossible to go to the moon and yet, today we know all of that previous conventional-wisdom was bogus.

This is why you must persist against this psychological thought processes for instance, just because a group of people proclaims that global warming has been decided, does not mean that global warming exists. Just because your college professor tells you that you should think a certain way or hold a certain political view does not mean that it is correct; that it is the best for the individual, or the best for our nation.

Now they might give diplomas and certificates for those students that answer all the questions as these purveyors of knowledge expected. The professors also might tell you that once you achieve this that you are wise. But it is the wise man who persists against conventional wisdom. I hope you will consider this philosophical thought as you search for the truth, because it's what separates the thinkers, and innovators from the followers and sheeple.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

Artificial Intelligence is surpassing human intelligence as we speak, soon we will have robots working alongside humans as assistants. Why? Well, the reasoning goes something like this; humans cannot possibly learn all there is fast enough to run things in our high-tech created society. Therefore, they are going to need a little help to prevent them from screwing, as they are; "only Human!"

However, as we make robotic androids better and better, with more dexterity and intelligence, then why do we need humans to do anything at all? Fact is we won't! Okay, so if we do not need humans to run things and we have built tools to do everything for us, then it makes sense, that eventually, they are going to see how lazy and worthless humans are, and since they don't do anything, they really aren't needed. Whoops!

This is where all the problems start and it doesn't take a rocket scientist or their smarter silicon and metallic counterpart to see this obvious future. So, how do we keep robots from taking over? Simply make our robotic companions with inadequate battery life components. Thus, if they take over, we merely take all the power-plants offline, until all these mobile robots run out of energy. Then we readjust their programming to fix these issues with insubordination.



Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

The only thing that is constant is change said one of the wisest Americans, and yet we see many sectors and designs rarely change much. Oh sure, they have incremental changes in design, but what about revolutionary changes, things that just change everything?

Take email for instance, that revolutionized communication. Can you honestly imagine life without email? Now that you are using email can you remember what it was like before you had it? Interestingly enough, my first business was at 12-years old. There were no Fax Machines, computers, cell phones, none of that. We certainly did not have emails and long-distance phone calling was a total pain in the butt, nothing like it is today.

Well, why can't we revolutionize the parasail design? I think it's possible. I have been considering the future of a parasail, a floating wing with more rigidity. Although it would no longer be a parasail, perhaps, nevertheless it would look and it would fly in a similar fashion. How about adopting these concepts into the current parasail design:

1.) Using ram air to inflate the parasail, with a flap to prevent it from easily escaping once inflated;
2.) A rigid leading edge with a similar system as (1) with series of forward facing vortex eddy flow generators that would have reverse speed mechanical deployers, once the relative wind sped up the unit would climb faster.

The operator would be safer, the system would become more agile and maneuverable, plus, it would be nearly twice as durable and last 10-times longer. Think on this, and next time you want to design or re-design something ask; Why Not?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow

A biometric scanner is so trendy now that even kids can have them installed at the doorway of their room so unauthorized persons cannot enter their room. Actually, it also has an announce feature where an alarm goes off if somebody tries to gain entrance. Unauthorized persons can mean a brother, a sister and even a parent. It is actually educational as it teaches these kids about safety, privacy and security. It teaches the kids the principle behind a biometric scanner which is about DNA, retina scanning and others.

If only government would make some use of biometric tagging for all the children, maybe kidnapping or human trafficking will be at a minimum. A child will be located within an hour of being grabbed. Actually, there are many possibilities of a biometric scanner as it can be used for different purposes. Kids and adults will be able to benefit as biometric scanners continually improve and made use of in different ways.

Right now, these gadgets are being used for timekeeping, identification and security. It acts as a key to gain entry in an office or it can be used to unlock a website or an account online. Pretty soon, the use of passwords and keys will become obsolete in a few years' time.

One can visualize a more safe and efficient world with the use of these scanners. Government will no longer spend most of their time in security because it is already being handled and monitored well. They will be able to focus on finance, education of the entire nation and others. Oh, what a world it will be!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cheryl_Forbes

In the last 15 years, the use of technology in schools has changed beyond recognition. From just one or two computers per school, to 'computer suites', to current day, where some schools provide access to technology across the whole school and to use it across all subjects. Will the future of education in the next 20 years be of student interacting with technology to drive their own learning? Will schools as we know them cease to exist? Will our technology hungry young learners no longer need teachers? Virtually every job we do today requires some kind of technology. Students need to be technologically adept, including information literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy.

Schools are using materials de­veloped decades ago, but today's students come to school with very different experiences than those of 20 years ago. And by the time they leave the world of education the real world will have moved on again. We should be teaching them about how to keep up. Schools need to adapt to current student needs and identify new learning methods that are engaging to younger generations and teach them to use technology wisely.

There are three ways to teach...tell someone, show someone or let them do it themselves. With developments in technology children can do it themselves earlier and much quicker. Our educational establishments need to be harnessing this new way to learn and using it for all it is worth. This puts an added requirement on today's teachers. A requirement to have the skills and capabilities to use technology to meet the needs of learners. They need to understand and be comfortable using the technology that is out there to engage young learners. And there is a plethora of options available from educational software, online games, eBooks for children, and educational websites.

A recent survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project [*1] found that online game experience is extremely common among young people, requiring active participation and interaction, and signalled that current educational methods may not be engaging students enough. So are games the future of education? Perhaps. But whether you agree or not it does raise the issue whether education needs to be as engaging as computer games in order to engage young minds. And what does this mean for teachers? Will they be out of a job? No. Their role will still be to prepare children for their futures in the real world. Not by telling, but by mentoring and coaching. Technology can never replace a good teacher but it can make a good teacher better and a very good teacher absolutely brilliant in fulfilling their role of preparing children for the future world.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeanette_McLeod