Technology Assignment

Ambient Backscatter

Engineers at the University of Washington have been working on a new wireless communication system that allows devices to operate without using battery power or wires.  The new technology is called the “ambient backscatter.” 

Shyam Gollakato, the assistant professor of ocmputer science and engineering at UW, siad “We can repurpose wireless signals that are already around us into both a source of power and a communication medium.  Its hopefully going to have applications in a number of areas including wearable computing, smart homes and self-sustaining sensor networks.”

The ambient backscatter operates off of the TV and cellular transmissions that make us so much of our surroundings.  This is possible by one device reflecting the existing signals to exchange information with another device.  Engineers have made prototypes that are battery-free and have antennas which can detect, harness, and reflect a TV signal.

This idea has been published at the Association for Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Data Communication 2013 Conference in Hong Kong.  The best-paper award was given for the project.

Potentially, these smart sensors can be permanently built inside just about any structure.  Once built in, they can structures can communicate with other structures.  For instance, if you left your keys on the couch your couch can send you a signal telling you where your keys are.

The engineers started their research with a prototype devices placed with in several feet of each other.  Antennas were build on circuit boards with flasing LED lights to notify a message has been received from the other device.  These prototypes were tested throughout the Seattle area.  Distance between devices and TV Towers ranged from less than .5 a mile away to about 6.5 miles away.

All prototypes were able to communicate no matter the range of distance.  Messages were recievieved between devices at a rate of 1 kilobit per second.  Giving enough signal power to send text messages and contact information.

Research has also been done on implementing this new technology into smart phones that already operate on battery.  It acts as an emergy back up for when the phone battery dies.  The phone would still be able to send text messages by using ambient TV signals.

I think this new technology has the potential of changing the way the phone, tablet, ipod, laptop industries work.  Actually, it has the potential of changing far more industries that the ones I listed. 

I am fascinated by the idea of devices that do not need the constant need for battery life.  We would save money on not having to constantly replace batteries.  We could feel a security of always being connected in times of emergencies.  That doesn’t seem like such a bad thing.

However, if this new technology were really to take off would it hurt the battery industry?  Are there negative things that can happen from being battery-free?  How many devices would this new technology be implemented into?  With mass amounts of people using the TV towers at once will it compromise the the Tower’s efficiency?

I do not know the answers to these questions but they are things that made me curious as we go into the future with communication and new technology.

Great Basin Graphics,

The Color Vibe 5k is nationwide color-infused fun run that teams up with non-profit charities and organizations to support their financial needs.  Color Vibe is based in Cache Valley and has gained popularity with over 1,000,000 supporting likes on Facebook.  

Color Vibe is proposing a partnership with Great Basin Graphics (GBG) to allow a larger donation to the Heart of the World Foundation.  We are asking for a discount to be put toward the retail cost of printing participant shirts for our upcoming Cache Valley Color Vibe 5k.  

With this discounted race, we will place GBG’s logo on the participants’ shirts, serving as a great mean of advertising.  Additionally, we will market your company to our 1,000,000 likes on Facebook as a secondary mean of advertising.  

The Appeal

Color Vibe has seen the high quality of work performed by Great Basin Graphics on behalf of the Top of Utah Marathon and Half Marathon. Both clothing and the services of screen printing and embroidery have been of a high quality. Individuals associated with the Top of Utah races have expressed their satisfaction in working with your organization. Not only are we drawn to the experience you have with runners, but also to the fact that you are local to Cache Valley. Being based from the area ourselves, we enjoy working with organizations that are share this connection.

We feel that working together would have positive impact for both Color Vibe and Great Basin Graphics. A large majority of Color Vibe participants are first-time racers, often young mothers and children. As this is a different demographic than those persons in attendance at many Top of Utah events, this could be an effective means for Great Basic Graphics reaching a new audience.

A core value of our organization is based upon the importance of serving the community. As mentioned throughout this document, this particular race will be benefiting the 501(c)3 organization, Heart of the World Foundation. By creating an association with your organization, we will have more funds available to donate to this non-profit. Heart of the World has a reach that covers the globe through its humanitarian service. Your assistance in this work would gain the appreciation of not only the local community, but beneficiaries around the world.

Problem and Solution

This spring we will be hosting a 5k run to raise fund for the Heart of World Foundation.  It is our desire to lower costs in every aspect possible to ensure the majority of the registration fee will benefit the Heart of the World Foundation.

We are familiar with your graphic design work with other local running events, including Top of Utah, and are impressed with your professional work. We recognize that you are familiar with providing T-shirts to running organizations. We have confidence that you can be the solution to lowering our T-Shirt costs and increasing our charitable donation. We propose this be done by donating the printing of the T-shirts.

       

We feel T-shirts are an important part of every race for tradition, memorabilia, and marketing.  Traditionally, T-shirts are given at every organized race. A cool T-shirt has become part of the racing experience. They are a memorabilia for the runners of the great experience they had participating in the run and the ‘cause’ they ran for.

       

T-shirts can also be an advertising tool for others in and out of the running community. Hundreds of people continue to wear their shirts after the race creating walking advertisements for GBG and Color Vibe. It also raises awareness to the philanthropic work of the Heart of The World Foundation.

       

In exchange for free printing of T-shirts, we will display your company logo on the shirt and you will be instantly associated with working with a charitable organization and a running company that hosts hundreds of fun runs nationally every year. We would also like to offer an opportunity to set up an “on location” booth at the event that can enable you to sell any products you desire.

Capabilities

Color Vibe is an organization capable of hosting successful races to benefit nonprofit sectors and support social change. Throughout the years, Color Vibe races have grown at an increasing rate.  The fun and energetic atmosphere of Color Vibe has made a mark on the running industry with color filled fun for all ages. This spring we will be hosting the 5k color run in Cache Valley to support the Heart of the World Foundation, a foundation that supporting women and their calling to motherhood. As 70% of our participants in Color Vibe races are women and children, we feel this is a great way to give back to our own community. Each race put on by Color Vibe is supportive of community outreach and positive change. With over 1 million supporters Color Vibe has and is continuing to make a difference.

Budget

It is our proposal that we purchase t-shirts from Great Basin Graphics at the regular retail price in exchange for free screen printing. This proposal is based upon similar arrangements that have been made in the past with the Top of Utah race series. See appendix A for full budget break down.

Conclusion

Our challenge is to donate a large portion of funds to the Heart of the World Foundation and still cover the cost of facilitating the event and paying for the t-shirts. Our desire is for the majority of the registration fees go toward this foundation. You can make our dream possible by producing the t-shirts free of printing costs. Doing so will allow us to donate more money to the foundation and market your business.

Sincerely,

The Color Vibe Team

Kade Richardson, Adam Dickey, Shalee Julian, Ashley Brasseaux, Angie Anderson

Appendix A: BUDGET BREAK DOWN

Product	Expense	Income	Total
Registration Fees		300 @ $20 = $ 6,000	$6,000
Sponsors Al’s Sporting Goods Wasatch Running		Donation = $500 Donation = $500	$6,500 $7,000
Facilitation of Race	3,000		$4,000
Food	$600		$3,400
Prizes	$100		$3,300
GBG T-Shirts (free printing)	300 @ $4.00 = $1,200		$2,100
Donation to the Heart of the World Foundation			$2,100

Social Media Case

Samy and Amy Bouzaglo, the owners of Amy’s Baking Company sought advice from Gordon Ramsey, host of popular a TV series called Kitchen Nightmares.  They believed turning to a credited media source would fix their problems and turn their failing restaurant into a spectacular Bakery Boutique & Bistro. After receiving negative feedback on yelp they were hoping Gordon Ramsey could change the minds of the unsatisfied customers.

Samy and Amy did not get the positive reviews they were hoping for from being on the show.  In fact, they got the exact opposite to the extreme.  They were portrayed on the Kitchen Nightmares as unable to take criticism, dishonest, having poor customer service and under cooked soggy food.  For the first time in the history of Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsey walked out on a restaurant unable to help the owners. 

After the episode aired on national television responses flooded the restaurant’s facebook page.  The responses from the public were degrading and ridiculing.  The reaction to the public from Samy and Amy were unprofessional and offensive.  Nasty comments went back and forth until Samy and Amy announced their facebook had been hacked and police and FBI investigations were underway. Amy’s FBI investigation announcement received even more ridicule calling her a liar and a fake.

The unique responses between the restaurant owners and the public deemed Amy and Samy as having “The Most Epic Brand Meltdown On Facebook Ever.”

After the outpouring media attention Samy and Amy closed their restaurant and reopened September 1, 2013 and are struggling to keep their business alive to prove themselves.

Anna Black Memo

Date: September 19, 2013

From: Shalee Julian

Re: Online Reputation

To: Anna Black

During my search on the internet I found several things about who you are.  Your hometown is Orem and you belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are currently single and have never been married.

You enjoy a good movie, especially ones that may be a little older, animated, or come from the fantasy or Romance genres.  You also enjoy sitcoms, specifically those that involve telling a story about the lives of a group of friends.  For example, How I Met Your Mother, Friends, The Office and The Big Bang Theory.

You enjoy a good read if it is written by Charlotte Bronte, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or J.R.R. Tolkien.  You seem to enjoy books of older eras yet still read today’s fantasy novels.  When you are not reading you might spend your time playing Mario Kart: Double Dash or a game of Foosball.

Your music interests are broad and encompass many genres.  You enjoy female artists of today like Ingrid Michaelson.  You can jam out to alternative rock artists such as The Killers or Death Cab for Cutie but slow down your day with a little John Mayer.

You attend Utah State University after graduating high school in 2011.  At college you have found interest in mustaches, yoga, and hiking.  Since moving to Logan you have been involved in the Logan Utah YSA 1^st Stake Relief Society, Logan YSA 25^th Ward, 50 Day Book of Mormon Challenge, USU Book Exchange, and taken CMST 3050: Technical and Profession Communication.

All of this information came from your facebook account https://www.facebook.com/anna.black.79?fref=ts.  I could not find you in any other place on the internet. I searched “Anna Black” and “Anastasia Black.”  I entered key words like “Orem” and “USU” but could not any other information.  I searched for you on LinkedIn and found no luck either.

It may be a good idea for you to start building a more professional online reputation.   You do not have a negative reputation currently but you also do not have a strong professional one either.  Creating a LinkedIn account and describing your self professionally can be a good start.  Good luck!

Letter to Cousin

Dear Nathan,

I am glad that you are interested in learning more about communication studies.  Professional and technical communication are two of my favorite concepts I am currently learning about.  I will give you simple definitions for both terms to get you thinking before we dive in deeper.

Professional communication and technical communication are defined as two separate terms yet are closely related topics. Professional Communication is a broad field of communication within the business world.  It is a new concept that uses strategy, theory, technology and software to improve communication.  Professional communication focuses on the improvement of reading, writing, editing, speaking, listening, software applications, computer graphics, and internet research.  These skills can be produced in many forms such as, oral presentations, lab reports, production of websites, cover letters, interviews, case studies etc.  Professional communication studies how communication affects society, culture, science, and technology.  How people interact and respond to different forms and types of communication shape the way the society works around them.  Professional communication sees the power communication can have in achieving goals.  Whether it be to get a job, qualify for a grant, sale or sale a product.  The process and quality of written, oral, or digital communication is crucial in obtaining an end result.

Technical communication can be broken down into the three characteristics it possesses. First, it communicates about technical or specialized topics such as management theories, medical terminology, or computer science.  Understanding technical terminology in a specialized area improves skills and comprehension in training and creates a more efficient and safe organization.  Second, it uses technology to communicate via email, web pages, facebook, or twitter.  These avenues of communication make it easier for users to find information and business to market and inform the public. Third, it provides instruction on how to accomplish a task.  The task may or may not be technical or use technology.  This kind of technical communication can provide clarity in operating a product and making it more user-friendly.  These three characteristics of technical communication create value for businesses and customers.  It provides a way to make information more available and usable which in turn helps companies and individuals to achieve goals.¹ 

I hope this gets you thinking about what it is to have professional and technical communication skills.  Take time to ponder how you have used these forms of communication in your life already.  You can also think about how implementing these concepts can help you in achieving any goals you have for yourself or your business.  If you have any questions let me know. Hope to hear from you soon.

Shalee

1- http://www.stc.org/about-stc/the-profession-all-about-technical-communication/defining-tc