Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training eZine

March 2014

In This Issue

Digital Life in 2025

Top 5 IT Certifications for 2014

Technology for Business

Quick Links

Last Month's Newsletter

Hatching Great Training for You

More great training is coming to you from PCATT. Take a look at the courses that are offered in April.

How Are We Doing?

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

If there is a particular kind of training or a burning desire to share something with us, click here.

Contact US

pcatt@hawaii.edu

honcet@hawaii.edu

(808) 845-9296

Proud to be:

Greetings,

Four years ago on April 1, the year the first iPad was introduced, I emailed our staff with great news: PCATT had been selected by Apple to test-drive the iPad. We would each receive an iPad and could use it at no charge for one year. There was a lot of excitement in our office since the first US release was scheduled for April 3 and we love new technology. Maybe you saw this coming, this was my one and only successful April Fools prank.

Today, you are receiving our March eZine on April 1. Rest assured, this is not an April Fools joke. Wishing you a good day and watch out for those pranksters.

All the best,

Beryl Morimoto

Program Manager

Digital Life in 2025

Image from pewinternet.org

What will our digital lives be like in the year 2025? Pew Research Center in conjunction with Elon University's Imagining the Internet Center conducted a survey of 2600 tech experts to try to answer that question. They summarized 15 predictions, eight are positive, six are negative, and there is one recommendation:

"Foresight and accurate predictions can make a difference; 'The best way to predict the future is to invent it.'" - Robert Cannon, Internet law and policy expert.

Quotes from the surveyed technical experts are detailed in the Pew report; we hope you find them as interesting as we did.

Made in the Future

Image from madeinthefuture.co

As we look forward, how will we design, make, and distribute things in the future? This presentation from IDEO and MIT Labs is engaging with fresh ideas in five themes:

Meaning Economy
Outer Skills
Making Exchanges
Raw Systems
New Matter

Reviewing these enlightening concepts will take a little time, but they're enjoyable.

Native, Web, or Hybrid App?

Monir Hodges is a multi-talented professional who contributes to PCATT in many ways as a software developer, Webmaster, application developer, and instructor. She teaches courses such as Java programing, Web and mobile app development, and others. Monir has developed useful mobile apps for Honolulu Community College and PCATT Conferences. Her Web application for Course Management at PCATT is a state-of-the-art solution that is innovative and easy to use.

We recently posed this question to Monir: Native, Web, or Hybrid App: What is the difference and which should you choose? You might be intrigued by her answer.

Top 5 IT Certifications for 2014

Image from wgu.edu

The Western Governors University lists five certifications they consider to be the top IT certifications for 2014.

Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)
Microsoft Certified Systems Associate (MCSA)
Security+
Cisco Certified Networking Technician (CCENT)
Network+.

As with any posting, the comments add insight. Salaries listed appear inflated, especially for Hawaii. What do you think? Are these the top five certifications for 2014? You are welcome to share your thoughts by adding a comment on the bottom of the Night Owl Blog on the Western Governors University site.

Hatching Great Training for You

More great training is coming to you from PCATT. There are four courses we'd like to highlight:

View the schedule for April and watch for additions to the schedule on the PCATT website.

Making Employees Lifelong Learners

Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella, has described himself as a lifelong learner. Rapid changes in technology are impacting all of us, not just people like the CEO of Microsoft who works directly in technology. The only way to keep up is to become a lifelong learner and it's best if you enjoy it. Here are several ideas to implement a culture of learning in your work environment.

Technology for Business

With the right tech experts and moderator, a panel can be a great learning experience. We saw this in action at the Technology for Business event coordinated by Pacific Business News. It was fun meeting new people and colleagues in the tech community who we haven't seen in a while. We encourage you to get out and network at events such as these hosted by PBN.

Oceanit, Delivering Breakthroughs

Group from PCATT on a tour at Oceanit

Many thanks to Susan and Sumil for a most informative tour of Oceanit. We can all feel proud of the innovation going on at this small company headquartered in Hawaii. The hour-and-a-half tour whizzed by and if they let us stay, we would still be there asking questions. The collaborative approach to problem solving with a focus on the customer was a theme we heard as Sumil and Susan described their various projects. The Oceanit website provides the best information about their company but take it from those of us who visited, Oceanit is true to their slogan, "Delivering Breakthroughs".

And Finally...

#SelfieBot by Orbotix

And finally, we can't let the day go by without featuring tech April Fools' Day jokes from Google and other tech companies. Favorites are Nest on Virgin Atlantic, WazeDates, Emoji translation, and Orbotix Selfiebot. Enjoy!