Author: Nicole DiGiose

Siri vs Google Now

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

The battle of the digital personal assistants

Touchscreens are now the standard for phones and voice recognition is the next big thing. Since advances are being made in wearable technology such as the smartwatch and Google Glass, we’re most likely going to need to talk to our mobile devices much more often. Though voice recognition isn’t perfect yet, this opens the debate as to which digital personal assistant is better: Apple’s beloved Siri or Google’s sophisticated Google Now?

Image via showmetech.band.uol.com.br

First let’s take a look at Siri, who’s been getting smarter with each version of the iPhone that Apple churns out. One great thing about Siri is that it’s always a button press away, even if you have another app open. Always ready to assist, the intelligent voice was created to do things for you, including setting up calendar events, creating personal reminders, placing phone calls, launching apps, playing music and answering questions honestly, no matter what they may be. Siri can even update your Facebook status and send out your tweets on Twitter. Overall, this trusting confidant has been found pretty useful. Read More

Speedy cockroach robot can save lives

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

VelociRoACH mimics one of the world’s most hated pests in order to save lives

Being one of the toughest and fastest insects in the world, the American cockroach is often considered a pest, and many people pay big bucks just to keep them out of their homes. But don’t stomp on the icky little creatures just yet, because one day they may be responsible for saving your life.

Veliciroach

VeliciRoACH is one of the world’s fastest robots.
Image via inhabitat.

Modeled after the disgusting roach itself, the creepy crawly cockroach robot can scurry across the floor at 2.7 meters per second, meaning that in one second, it can skitter 26 times the length of its body, making it one of the fastest robots in the world.

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Three Things That Make Fall My Second Favorite Season

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

For me there’s nothing like wearing a pair of colorful shorts, a bright tank top and comfy flip flops while spending the long days beneath the shining sun. Maybe drink some freshly squeezed lemonade after taking a stroll along the beach with my feet in the ocean, toss a Frisbee around in the sand, wind down at a barbecue for dinner and then eat a fruity Italian ice, followed by roasting marshmallows beneath the glistening stars, laughing with my friends and catching the leftover hint of suntan lotion swaying in the warm air. And I must mention that driving with the windows down and radio up is what gets me from point A to point B. But it’s time to stop fantasizing about the past because today marks the first day of my second favorite season on our pretty earth: fall. Or autumn, as some of you may like to refer to it as. First of all, let me just say that I’m a fall baby — I trickled down to this earth like a leaf in November — it’s embedded within who I am. Right behind summer, so super close to it, just a tiny little nudge away from it in my heart lies my adoration for this gorgeous-stricken season, and here’s what I love most about it: Read More

Adventure

That Time I Pretended to Join the Circus

Image | Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

My boyfriend and I took a trapeze class at I.Fly Trapeze at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York, after a long work week. Needless to say, it was exhilarating, and the total opposite of feeling chained to a desk. With a rush of mixed emotions (mainly good ones) it reminded me that I was alive!

After my first go around, which, I’ll admit, my body was stiff for, especially after climbing a ladder up 35 feet high, which surprisingly took a lot out of me, I was ready to keep on soaring. I was thriving with adrenaline. It was amazing how quickly I got the hang of flipping through the air and just letting myself go.

The first time I let go of the bar and hung upside down from my legs, it was a tad frightening, but after having no choice but to feel comfortable with it, I couldn’t stop climbing that ladder for more. After that first push and that first swing, and that first “Look, no hands!” moment, I was addicted. It was a beautiful thing. I even got to swing upside down, hanging on with my legs only, stretch upwards, and grab the hands of one of the instructors who swung up from behind me. It felt so natural and real, getting comfortable with the movements and trust of my own body. We’re all so amazing, and sometimes you can’t unlock that feeling unless you go out on a limb and let go. I love life for that feeling.

So much easier than it looks!

So much easier than it looks!

That Time I Learned to Fly

The funnest, greatest workout ever!

Chilled Magazine: The History of the Hot Toddy

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for Chilled Magazine.

Pretty much the adult version of chicken soup, the Hot Toddy is known to be the go-to drink when you’re feeling under the weather, or the perfect potion to wind down with on a chilly, rainy night. Typically a mixed drink made of liquor, water, sugar and spices and served hot, this comforting classic is traditionally sipped on before going to bed.

Image via jackdaniels.com.

Image via jackdaniels.com.

Believed to relieve the symptoms of the cold and flu with its nutritious vitamin C, soothing honey and numbing alcohol, steaming mugs of Hot Toddies are saviors once the air becomes chilly and the days grow dark. While the Hot Toddy is most commonly associated with whiskey as the base ingredient, since at least the 17th century it’s been made with a multitude of different spirits, and years ago, that usually depended on where you were from.

Traditional Scottish preparation of the Hot Toddy involves the mixture of whiskey, boiling water and sugar or honey, along with additional ingredients such as cloves, a lemon slice or cinnamon (in stick or ground form). In the Midwestern United States, a common version uses ginger ale, lemon, honey and bourbon whiskey. In some parts of Canada, heated ginger ale, honey and either whiskey or brandy was originally used to make a Hot Toddy. Today popular variations of this flexible drink include the Hot Gin Toddy, the Hot Apple Toddy, and the Grand Rum Toddy. Read More

Four technologies you might not realize you’re using every day

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

Technology plays a bigger role in your life than you think

Technology affects your life in everything that you do—it saves time, passes time, opens gates to new experiences, and makes getting where you need to go quicker than ever. Without thinking twice about it, you use your phone to look up directions, speed up the process of sitting in the waiting room by playing Words With Friends, and talk with relatives halfway across the country as if they’re sitting right in front of you. But how about the technologies you’re using daily that you’re probably unaware of? Read on below to find out just how big of a difference these quiet technologies make in your life.

Accelerometers

If you’re from the 21st century, it’s safe to say you sent a text today. It was simple and quick and most likely you thought nothing about the technology involved. Beneath those words on your touchscreen lies an accelerometer, the silent little technology responsible for turning your screen to a horizontal position as you flip your phone so your fingers have more space on the virtual keyboard.

An accelerometer measures the speed and motion of an object, giving it the capability to distinguish which angle it’s being held at. The sensors in the accelerometer tell the tiny computer in your phone to make the visual output appear wide instead of long, all so you can text and view comfortably on your high-tech smartphone.

Accelerometer

A mobile phone’s accelerometer knows if the phone is upwards or sideways. Image via engadget.com.

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RFID tags are talking, and they’re talking about you

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

Because RFID technologies will know all about your spending habits (if they already don’t), making a trip to the store can be quick and easy

Whenever the radio-frequency identification (RFID) industry is able to lower the price of tags, stores will be stocked with networks of smart packages that can track every phase of the supply chain. Shelves will be filled with smart-labeled products that can be tracked from the second you make your purchase to the moment the product hits the trash can.

Used for identifying and tracking items, an RFID system, which is made up of a small memory-storage chip (tag), is usually placed on the bottom of an item. RFID emitters send out radio waves to detect tags and read their stored data, which can range from a small serial number to several pages.

RFID Tag

An RFID tag. Image via news.softpedia.com.

Though RFID may not be everywhere, things are quickly heading in that direction. When you walk into the local grocery store to do your weekly shopping, some of the products you regularly purchase may already be tracking your spending habits. Read More

Journalism

Meet Kevin O’Brien—He’s More Than Your Ordinary Bartender

Aside | Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for the October issue of Chilled Magazine.

After recovering from his lung transplant in 2007, Kevin O’Brien had no intention of returning to bartending. It wasn’t that living with cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening disease that causes thick, sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive tract, held him down, he was just focused on succeeding in radio broadcasting. After all, he had his BA in Mass Communications and back then, bartending was just a side job.

It wasn’t until 2010 when O’Brien got back behind the bar, after his cousin, a manager at Kodiak’s Restaurant and Bar in Farmingdale, New York was in need of an experienced bartender.

“He got me a spot there and I realized how little I knew and began learning more about mixology, craft beer, and hospitality,” O’Brien said. “After a year at Kodiak’s I decided to stop working in radio and commit to learning more about the bar business.”

Image

According to O’Brien, living with cystic fibrosis makes what he wants to do all the more special. Before his surgery in 2007, he would go to work as a bartender with his oxygen tank even when his lung function was plummeting below 10%. Read More

Biometric Touchscreen Recognizes Your Fingerprints

Posted on by Nicole DiGiose

An article I wrote for Electronic Products.

The first touchscreen to recognize you by your fingerprints may change the way you interact with computers in public places

Going to the café to sip on some coffee while getting a bit of work done on your laptop may soon become even more convenient. Winding down with nothing but some fresh brew and a fingerprint-identifying touchscreen display on the table in front of you may not be so far-fetched.

Current touch displays cannot scan fingerprints and fingerprint sensors cannot display images, but according to researchers Christian Holz and Patrick Baudisch of the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany, what they invented does both.

Touchscreen Tabletop

Future coffee shops may be equipped with interactive touchscreen tabletops. Image via New Scientist.

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