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Analysis of Google location service from a privacy perspective.

Google location service is a small app that runs in the background of every android device. It provides location details to the system and different apps that request it. If enabled, it also logs the location history of the device and stores it in the Google servers. In this analysis, we discuss the strengths and weakness of this app from a privacy point of view. With the advent of Smartphone era, our phones have become immensely powerful, with the ability to collect different variety of data using a wide range of sensor that are embedded in our smart phone. This has raised a big concern over the privacy of the users, since these data can be used to infer very intimate details of the user's way of life. We will try to discuss these issues associated with the Google location service. Application Description The release of first iPhone by apple sparked a new generation of smart phones with functionality comparable to that of personal computers. According to statista.co...
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Smart Homes, will they ever come?

The Final Statement (Updated) An intelligent house is a house that automatically programs itself, by observing the inhabitants, in search for patterns. After the pattern is found the house then starts performing the activities automatically every time the pattern is noticed again. With the rapid advancement in the field of science and technology, we encounter new and creative innovations every day. This is even more prominent in the field of computers and electronics. Every year, electronic devices are being more advanced and computers more powerful. They are capable of doing things never before possible. Computers are being integrated into ever more devices around us. Wrist watches, phones, ATMs, radios, TVs, even toys and musical instruments are becoming more intelligent due to integration of computers into them. But what about something that is very close to us, our house, are they becoming intelligent as well? This blog was maintained to help us answer this question. The most i...

Living virtual?

Well this article is not about a smart house, but about a trend we are seeing today where digital technology is replacing the stuff in the physical world. According to this bbc article Chris Yurista, a Washington, DC resident who lives out of a backpack, claims digital technology has replaced the need for his home and his possessions. so, services like iTunes, Hulu, Flickr, Facebook, Skype and Google Maps for allowing him to lead a minimalist life. When i was young my mom used to say “you dont need anything but your computer, do you?” Its seems like this is quite literally the case for this guy.   read the article here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10928032

A Bit of Biology

  Neurons to inspire future computers Researchers have been working on an entirely new generation of neural networks, according to this BBC article. The research aims to model certain part of the brain in great detail in order to understand their working. While artificial neural networks have been around for more than 50 years they typically do not copy real neurons very closely. This research aims to do just that. For example by modeling the visual cortex, scientist can understand how a brain can recognize words and objects. This can then be emulated on a computer so that a computer would be able to do the same. Called Spinnaker, the project is trying to create a computer specifically optimized to run like biology does. Read the article here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10685138

How Smart Homes Work

This article from How stuff work gives a comprehensive explanation of how a swart house works. According to the article any thing that uses electricity can be put on home network. This network connected to the central computer which gives you ability to control all the appliances in the house. Its talks about a smart home technology called X10 and how it uses power lines to communicate between devices. It also mentions newer communication protocols like zigbee networks. It also goes on to explaining how a smart house is setup and what are the basic smart home products. smart houses can for example do these function. Light a path for nighttime bathroom trips Instantly create mood lighting for time with that special someone Program your television so that your children can watch only at certain times Access all your favorite DVDs from any television in the home Have your thermostat start warming the bedroom before you get out of bed so that it's nice and toasty...

Yes, Intelligent houses are going to change the way we live.

  The Final Statement An intelligent house is a house that automatically programs itself, by observing the inhabitants, in search for patterns. After the pattern is found the house then starts performing the activities automatically every time the pattern is noticed again. With the rapid advancement in the field of science and technology, we encounter new and creative innovations every day. This is even more prominent in the field of computers and electronics. Every year, electronic devices are being more advanced and computers more powerful. They are capable of doing things never before possible. Computers are being integrated into ever more devices around us. Wrist watches, phones, ATMs, radios, TVs, even toys and musical instruments are becoming more intelligent due to integration of computers into them. But what about something that is very close to us, our house, are they becoming intelligent as well? This blog was maintained to help us answer this question. The most int...

What is found in a smart house

  What Devices Are Found in a Smart House? -- powered by eHow.com   Smart houses use a number of new technologies, including automatic floodlights, and smart houses operate on a central nervous system. In this video Stephen G. Anthony explains what to expect in a smart house of today.