For my research synthesis I chose to compare the two books titled “Here Comes Everybody” written by Clay Shirky and another by David Weinberger titled “Everything is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder”. Throughout these books the reader learns about the complex powers that have controlled organizations for decades, and have both made orderly, and restricted the flow of information. In the booming age of Social Media, knowledge is able to flow freely due to the lack of institution and the need for orderly retrieval. Both authors argue for, and against, bringing up points that readers should take note of. In my research essay  have chosen to discuss the limitations of their writing and address some of the pros and the cons of this new method of media distribution. Social mediums will continue to propel human knowledge and understanding of our world, though we must learn how to utilize tools on the Internet in order to access this vast database of knowledge.

In this not-so-science-fiction tech scene, Google has stunned many by showing off their “Google Eyewear” device. This device enables augmented reality vision through a set of glasses users wear on their head complete with voice control, maps, music, video, and basically everything else a smartphone can do. The possibilities are endless as to what this kind of device could provide for users, and how serious of a device this could be one day. Analysts predict the Google Eye could hit shelves by next year at the earliest, making this device a thing of the not-so-distant future.

For infant web companies, providing cross-broswer support is a financial challenge that can hurt them on their bottom line and their release cycles. The company 4ormat has taken the initiative to drop support for Internet explorer, a bold move when over 40% of web users still use it. This website however, is catered towards professionals and creatives who are wise enough not to use IE.

The benefits however of making this switch are tremendous. Less money spent on development, as all coding is done with FF/chrome/safari in mind. This also means more timely updates and release cycles, something that has users cheering as they embrace this new startup’s product. This might be yet another nail in Internet Explorer’s nearing coffin, signaling a push for new startups to do the same and not support the buggy, complex, and aging web browser.

Looking through the seasons top crops to come out of the YC combinator, some interesting startups seem to be occupying the list. TechCrunch has gone through and picked their top 10 favorite startups and listed them.

Conceptually, the idea of Pair seems real interesting, a social network for you and your loved one. Though I don’t see many advertising/revenue routes for this startup (tie in with cheesy intimate gifts?) it seems really interesting to take the idea of a social network and condense it into a private communication channel. 

All these apps I could see as being useful, and though not all have social networking as a key ingredient, the ideas coming out of the YC combinator seem to reflect the general direction of the tech industry in this moment. Take mundane tasks. Refine them. And turn them into an app.

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