A guest blog submitted by Laura Backes with DSL Service Providers

The importance of internet access in the development of nations has led to a number of efforts to get third world countries connected, and has been met with mixed results. The infrastructure, topography and/or the remoteness of many areas has presented a challenge in getting much of the world online.

The following are ten attempts to provide internet access to third world countries:

1. One Laptop Per Child – With a mission to empower the world’s poorest children via education, OLPC seeks to provide every child with an affordable connected laptop. They are currently working on connecting Latin America, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Mongolia, among other countries.

2. Google – Google’s Internet Bus Project brings an internet-enabled bus to India in order to educate people about the internet and how it can benefit them. You can follow the project as it progresses at this site.

3. Green Wi-Fi – Using solar Wi-Fi, they provide “last mile internet access with nothing more than a single broadband internet connection, rooftops and the sun” in places like Lascahobas, Haiti.

4. Connect Africa Initiative – begun in 2007, the program sought to bridge technological gaps in the African region employing the aid of several IT companies as well as the European Commission, China, and India.

5. Connect the Caribbean Initiative – Attempting to “connect the unconnected by 2015”, this project is the Caribbean version of the ITU’s (International Telecommunication Union) Connect the World initiative, and is hosted by the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Operators (CANTO).

6. Connect Asia-Pacific Summit – One of ITU’s projects, which seeks to establish global connectivity by the year 2015, this one is an effort to provide information and communication technology to the Asia-Pacific region.

7. Connect Arab Summit 2012 – Partnering with the League of Arab States, the United nations agency for information and communication technology, the ITU has established this region as part of its over-arching initiative to connect the world by 2015.

8. O3b Networks – In an effort to connect the “other 3 billion (O3B) people to the internet, O3b networks is creating a global internet backbone to serve several billion consumers, businesses, and other organizations in 177 different countries.

9. United Villages – A company whose mission is to bring the internet age to remote communities utilizing a “store and forward” concept. Villagers store their data and email on a local server, and United Villages’ internet-equipped vehicles gather all this data, drive to a Wi-Fi or cellular -equipped city, and forward it over the internet.

10. The United Nations, on June 3, 2011, declared internet access to be a basic human right. “Given that the Internet has become an indispensable tool for realizing a range of human rights, combating inequality, and accelerating development and human progress, ensuring universal access to the Internet should be a priority for all states.”

It’s only a matter of time before the internet bridges connections in third world countries around the world, helping to catch them up with all of the countries who already have unlimited access. Soon enough we really will be fully connected.

Image source: United Nations

Have you ever wondered how teens use online video?

If so, you can rest easy because the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has amassed a lot of interesting data on the subject.

Pew recently surveyed 12- to 17-years-olds for the study and found that, among other things, they upload online video more than adults do.

27% of surveyed teens said they recorded and uploaded videos to the web as compared to 14% of adults. The last time Pew surveyed teens, in 2006, 14% said they had posted videos online.

According to the “Teens and Online Video” report, video chatting is also popular with teens, who use programs like Skype, Google Talk or iChat. 37% video chat in some way, Pew said.

43% who log on daily use video chat, compared to 31% for weekly users and 1% of people who use it less often.

But some habits break down differently based on gender and other factors. For example, when it comes to video chatting, 42% of girls do it compared to 33% of boys.

In 2006, twice as many boys uploaded video. Now the girls and the boys do it at exactly the same rate.

GalesburgPlanet picks up on the survey’s cultural findings, “White teens who use the Internet are more likely to report video chatting than online Latino teens; 41% of white teens do so, as do 28% of Latino youth. There are no statis­ti­cally signif­icant differ­ences between online black youth and either white or Latino youth in video chatting.”

Teens who come from households where the parent has not earned a high school diploma were least likely to video chat, with only 14% doing so. 40% of teens with parents who had completed higher levels of education video chat by comparison.

“In a similar vein, teen Internet users from higher income families are more likely to video chat than lower income teens,” reports GalesburgPlanet. “Of online teens from families earning $75,000 or more annually, 46% use video chat, while 32% of online teens from families earning under $50,000 annually use these services.”

The Pew survey revealed that 77% of teens have cell phones and that 97% of them can send and receive texts. Teens who text are more likely to use video chatting. 40% of teens who text video chat, compared with 27% of non-texters.

The survey also found that 13% of teens who go online stream video live for others to watch.

Teenagers who have social media accounts are far more likely to use online video. Observes msnbc’s Suzanne Choney, “What those videos were was not part of the report. But that kind of activity on Facebook, whether it’s well-meaning or otherwise, has led a growing number of parents to spy on their children’s Facebook activities.”

So what is the percentage of teens who use the Internet? If you guessed the number would be way up there, you’d be right: 95% use the web, based on Pew’s survey of 799 teens.

Sometimes science fiction is right: it looks like video chatting is here to stay!

Talk To Us! Do you video chat? If not, why not?

Image Source: Red Orbit

Although the feedback from the more than 65,000 students that I have presented to is that they really don’t like the new Facebook Timeline, one cool feature of this new product is the ability of the user to see exactly how your Facebook Timeline and personal information appears to others. You can essentially proxy in as a stranger, or anyone with whom you’re friends with, to see what they see on your TImeline page utilizing the “view as” button.

Step One:

On your Timeline home page, look for the cog icon, located on the left side of your page and just under the wide banner picture and just to the right of the “Activity Log” box. Click on the arrow.  Next click on “View As.”

Step Two:

After you click the “View As” link it will take you to this box that will appear at the top of the page:

Step Three:

Click on the blue “public” hyperlink at which time you will be able to see what information the general public (or a creeper) can see on your Timeline page

Step Four:

If you want to see what a specific friend can see on your Timeline, then just enter their name in the “Enter a friend’s name” box in the bottom left and hit enter.

Step Five:

When you are ready to navigate back to your Timeline page (in most cases because you now need to change your privacy settings), click the “Back to Timeline” button located in the bottom right.

The above noted five steps are an excellent way for a Facebook Timeline user/owner to check what information on their page is viewable by those who are unknown to the owner (like a creeper) and to your friends as well.  If you need to make changes to your “Privacy Settings” to hide your personal information, here is a link that can help:

How to set up Privacy Settings in Facebook Timeline

Darren
The Digital Sheepdog

Image Source: Mashable

As a society we are becoming mobile. In fact, 44 percent of US adults own a smart phone. As we become more mobile the way we access news is changing, becoming more diverse, or fragmented depending on your perspective. Social media is playing an ever increasing role in our discovery and consumption of news.

27 percent of people now get their news from social media. Over 50 percent of people have learned about breaking news via social media. The infographic below outlines some of the latest facts with regards to social media and news.

Infographic Source:  http://www.schools.com/visuals/social-media-news.html

Image Source: Roymorejon

I was reading a copy of Psychology Today and this article caught my eye, “What Parents Can Do About Cyberbullying.” I highly recommend you read this article.

I think the author is “right on” in all her points; however, the article was not at all what I thought it would be about. Parents of bullying victims often contact me, desperate for advice on how to help their bullied child.  Parents tell me there is not a ton of information out there to guide parents on what to do when their child is the victim of bullying/cyberbullying.  Parents find that much of the published information on this subject is written by adults with some great ideas and things that should work “in theory” but is not realistic in the life of a teen.

I was recently contracted to speak with a large school community in Virginia and asked to address these very issues.  It is hard to give an exact plan to follow; there are so many factors that play into each bullying situation.  I am around teens and cyberbullying every day.  I have a lot of experience working with victims, bullies, parents and school administrators.  Based on my personal dealings, here are some guidelines that will help:

• Before anything else, get proof! Take a screen shot or photograph of the cyberbullying.  Every time it happens, whether it is on your teens account or someone else’s account, record it and save it in a file.  Proof of the exact behaviors, frequency and intensity is important.
• Stop and think before you react!  Your actions and reactions will play heavily on the outcome of this situation and future situations.

1. We can’t control what other people say and do.  We can, however, control how we act or react.
2. Keep in mind that it is impossible to stop a cyberbully.  There are many forms and places that a cyberbully can take out their aggression on your teen.  Many times cyberbullying is anonymous so it is hard to prove.  Some states are more forward thinking than others when giving consequences to cyberbullies.
3. The end goal is to stop the cyberbullying from happening.  Many of the actions you decide to take will affect the outcome of this conflict.

• Some school administrators may tell you that there is nothing they can do.  I have heard administrators say, “I can not watch all students, all the time.”  Do not accept this response.  Every child has a right to feel safe at school.
• If you can’t seem to get protection for your child at school, make sure you file a police report ever time the bullying/cyberbullying happens.  They may not charge the bully but at least you have a record of the abuse.
• Desperate measures call for desperate action.  You may have to remove your child from that class, school bus or school.

What NOT to do:

• Do not fight back on-line – the cyberbully is looking for a reaction.  A reaction feeds the fire and will only make the cyberbullying worse.
• When dealing with the bully – do not name call, threaten or act mean, negative or hurtful.  If you react by taking part in these actions you are now the bully/cyberbully.
• Do not storm into the principal’s office and demand the bully to be punished.  Remember two things:
• Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.
• There are always two sides to every story.

The job of the school is to remain neutral and solve the problem.

• Do not put the school administration on the defensive – be careful about how you approach the school administration.  Your attitude, tone and actions will affect how this will be handled.  My advice is to approach the situation by asking for help.  Your goal is to prove to them that your child is being hurt and needs protection.  Keep in mind that the school administrator’s job is to protect the reputation of the school.
• Do not immediately contact the parents of the bully – Think how that might affect the whole situation.   I have found that bullies copy the behavior of their parents.  You know the saying, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”  Many parent’s first reaction is to defend their child.  School administrators have told me 100’s of stories how parents have said…”my kid would never do that” before they have even heard what happened!! Another probable outcome is that it will make the situation worse for your child.  It could feed the fire for the bully and cause the bullying to get worse.
• Do not tell your teen to “ignore it” or “stay away” from the bully.  This does NOT work.  The bully is attracted to weakness.  He will see avoidance as weakness.  If your teen has the guts to come to you for help and you don’t help them, they will lose faith in ever feeling safe!
• Do not tell your child that this is all a part of growing up or that boys will be boys.  Bullying and cyberbullying is abuse and there is nothing “Ok” about it.  Your job is to protect your child.
• Do not tell your child to “toughen up”.  A victim does not have the power to stop the abuser.  In bullying and cyberbullying, it is also typically committed by a group or one bully with a group of silent bystanders.  Bullying is usually not one vs. one.  Teens need your advice, direction and experience.  Walk your child through this until the bullying has stopped or the problem resolved.
• Don’t give up!  Cyberbullying is much worse than the bullying that you and I dealt with before there were cell phones and the internet.  Too many kids believe it would be better to be dead than to live with the pain and humiliation of being the victim of bullying or cyberbullying.

What we CAN do:

• Teach your child about personal boundaries.  We have to show our children how to protect themselves by putting up an invisible wall.  Your child has the “right” to only allow positive, supportive, nice behaviors through that wall.
• Who are their friends?  Are they healthy friendships?  Do those friendships make us feel good?  Teach them examples of what constitutes healthy friendships.  Give examples of actions that happen in unhealthy friendships.
• How do their “friends” treat those that are not in their circle of friends?  Are they nice, positive and supportive of others?  Or do you see them treat others with mean, negative and hurtful behavior?
• Contact each teacher individually.  Ask them for help.  Tell them your child is being victimized and come up with a plan for the teacher to help while your child is in their classroom.  Remember, if your actions put them on the defense, they will be of no help.
• Block the bully on your teen’s cell phone.  If you call the phone company, you can block specific phone numbers from being able to call or send text messages.
• Un-Friend the bully.  Most social networks operate by requiring a user to “accept” a friendship in order to allow access to your profile page or to allow them to send messages.  If you remove this function, you remove the opportunity for someone to contact you.
• Your child’s instincts will be to read and reread the posts, looking for updates or to see if others have commented or “liked” what the cyberbullying is doing to them.  Tell them not to look!  (Tyler Clementi, the boy form Rutgers who jumped off the George Washington Bridge is reported to have checked Twitter and the mean comments written about him 42 times before committing suicide.)
• Teach them how to remove themselves from a situation.  It’s OK to get up out of that bus seat and change seats.  It’s OK to walk away from someone who is humiliating them.  Make a plan of how they will handle the situation when it happens.
• Distract your child.  Make plans to do things with your teen on the weekend.  Go to the movies, get manicures or take the dog for a walk.  Ask them to help you with a project.  Volunteer together.
• Help them meet new people and foster healthy friendships.
• Get your teen involved in “adult” chaperoned activities such as scouting, church groups or charity work.

When a teen commits suicide, so many times we hear parents say, “I had no idea how much pain my child was in.” Make it your business to know who is saying what to your child.  It is your job to protect your child!

If you have had experiences that might help others, please share them in the comment section.  This is a great forum to offer support to each other!  I look forward to hearing other experiences!

– Jill

Image Source: National Bullying Helpline

Let’s talk about a new Facebook feature called action links.

Action links promise to make it easier for users to engage with the apps they have on their timeline, ticker or news feed.

From Facebook’s developers blog:

“For example, when someone checks in on foursquare and shares it on their timeline, friends can already like or comment on the resulting post through the links that appear as part of the story. Now with action links, foursquare added another link – “Save this Place” – that enables people to save a place to their foursquare to-do list directly from Facebook.”

So basically you can interact with the apps you already use directly from Facebook. The links, as you can see above, appear beside the like and comment options at the base of each update.

Here’s another example: If you happen to be signed up to Fab.com (which calls itself a design marketplace) you can add products to your list of favorites on the website by clicking on the fave this product action link.

Drew Olanoff of TheNextWeb provides some analysis:

“The actions are definable by the developers and this could very well drive direct sales or actions within an app in huge numbers. It’s also a great way to entice people to sign up for your product if they aren’t already. For example, tapping a “pin” button on something posted from Pinterest could drive you to a signup form so you can request an invite.”

So in the overall scheme of things, action links may not seem like that big a deal. But as app developers come up with increasingly inventive and enticing action links, Facebook’s Open Graph content could become that much more compelling for app makers and users.

(Let’s take a moment to define the Open Graph concept because it’s often alluded to in Facebook and other tech blogs even though some people still don’t know exactly what it means. The Social Graph is basically Facebook at its core–users networking with their friends. The Open Graph includes 3rd party websites, pages and apps that users have liked. This is where action links come in!)

It turns out not everyone is so enticed by these new action links. ZDNet’s Emil Protalinski, for one, doesn’t think they’re a great idea.

“Frankly, I think this move is a mistake,” writes Protalinski. “Adding a Listen button is a good thing because Facebook users can quickly learn what to expect when they click such a button. Just like the Like button, they can guess the behavior before they click it. Allowing developers to add all sorts of different types of links is just too much. I think it will cause confusion, and Facebook users certainly don’t need more of that. It is certainly possible to pull off eventually, but I think Facebook needs more unification than differentiation right now.”

So it remains to be seen whether or not users will jump at the chance to click on more links while engaging with their Open Graph stories. Considering how much folks seem to like liking things, it’s a safe bet action links are here to stay.

On the other hand, is Facebook becoming busy and complicated? Will some users be turned off by too many choices?

We’ll keep an eye on Facebook and other social sites and let you know!

Talk To Us! Is Facebook becoming too complicated for the average user?

Image Source: The Verge

By TheOnlineMom

A recent survey of Mother’s Day gift-giving plans found that while Moms would prefer a tech gadget over the traditional gift of flowers by a three to one margin, most of them are likely to be disappointed. Flowers remain the most popular choice of probable gift-givers this coming Mother’s Day, with only 12 percent of those surveyed saying they were going to buy tech.

While the ever-popular iPad remains at the top of the tech-loving mom’s wish list, the $499 starting price tag probably puts it out of reach for most families. However, that doesn’t mean there aren’t dozens of other great tech gifts for Mom. From e-readers to smartphones, from headsets to portable speakers, there has never been a better time to pick up a gadget at a bargain price.

Here are a few suggestions that will brighten Mom’s day without breaking your bank:

Motorola TZ700 Bluetooth Portable Car SpeakerMake sure Mom drives hands-free by getting her the easy-to-install and easy-to-use Motorola TZ700 Bluetooth portable speaker. The speaker clips on to the car sun visor and provides up to 45 hours of talk time and up to 6 months of standby time. Simple voice prompts let you know when the device is connected, how much battery is left, and when you are on mute. Compatible with most smartphones, including iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows.

Price: $66.00 (Includes free shipping.)
Where to buy: Buy.com

Sony Digital Photo FrameDigital picture frames are a great way to get those photos out of the camera or smartphone and into Mom’s living room! The 800 x 480 resolution LCD screen on the Sony 10-inch Frame brings photos alive with vibrant color and crisp detail. Holds up to 200 photos, which can be rotated or shown as an engaging slideshow. Pictures are transferred via a USB cable or thumb drive or by plugging a camera memory card directly into the frame. Comes with a remote control and the option to also display date and time.
Price: $114.99
Where to buy: Sony store

NOOK Simple Touch with GlowLightLet Mom get under the covers with this latest NOOK e-reader from Barnes & Noble. As the name implies, the Simple Touch with GlowLight enhances the existing Simple Touch by adding a soft glow feature, which is optimized for bedtime and other low-light reading. The 6-inch touchscreen, the easy-to-adjust font sizes, and the extra-long battery life make the Simple Touch with GlowLight the perfect e-reader companion. Comes with access to over 2.5 million titles in the Barnes & Noble NOOK bookstore.

Price: From $139 (Includes free shipping)
Where to buy: Barnes & Noble

Jawbone® JAMBOX™ Bluetooth® SpeakerThis revolutionary device can act as a smartphone speaker or as a stand-alone speaker for music and other media. The Bluetooth technology allows for easy wireless connection and portability, and it’s powerful enough to fill a room with its crystal clear hi-fi audio. The JAMBOX automatically recognizes devices after it has been connected just once, and Jawbone’s MyTALK online platform allows you to download software upgrades and a variety of add-on apps. Comes in a choice of 4 colors, including red, black, and blue. And if you are looking for something a little more powerful, Jawbone has just released the BIG JAMBOX!

Price: $199
Where to buy: Jawbone, Amazon

Otterbox® Protective Smartphone CoversOtterbox smartphone and tablet covers are renowned for their stylish but sturdy designs. You can choose from dozens of different styles and colors for a wide range of devices from virtually every manufacturer. Surprise Mom with a hot pink case or a military camouflage-style version. Otterbox also designs cases for e-readers, and many other devices.

Price: From $19.95 (Check compatibility)
Where to buy: Otterbox

Plantronics Marque™ M155™ Bluetooth® HeadsetThe Plantronics Marque M155 is a stylish in-ear Bluetooth headset that’s compatible with the iPhone and most Android smartphones. There is a simple 2-step guide to pairing with each device. Voice recognition software means there are no buttons to press – Mom just has to say “Answer” to connect with an incoming call. With the Plantronics Marque M155, Mom can also stream music, listen to podcasts or get driving directions. There is also a free 1-year subscription to Plantronics Vocalyst voice and text services for managing e-mail, updating Facebook, and more.

Price: $59.99
Where to buy: Plantronics

The above article is reproduced from TheOnlineMom.com, a website dedicated to promoting a healthy understanding and appreciation of the positive role technology can play in family life.

A guest blog by HireANanny.com

It’s great to be a kid. All of life’s most pressing, earth-shattering decisions – like who gets to play shortstop – can be made with a simple flick of the wrist or toss of a coin. No board meetings or conference calls – unless of course you consider congregating on a see-saw a ‘board’ meeting, or talking into tin cans connected by string a conference call. No, kids get to make their decisions in much more fun and colorful ways.

Here are 10 of them:

1. Rock, Paper, Scissors – A favorite means to settle issues between contestants. You need only keep in mind the proper hierarchy: Rock breaks Scissors, Scissors cut Paper; Paper covers Rock. If, however, the kids are fans of the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory, things get a tad more complicated.

2. Card Draw- This can be a simple process whereby participants each draw a card from an ordinary deck of playing cards, with the high card draw winning. Alternately, it can involve trading cards which are valued according to the player or character represented on the card.

3. Coin Toss – The simplest and perhaps oldest of all decision-making techniques. Pure chance, two possibilities, 50-50 odds. Now all we need to do is find someone who’s got a quarter. This sometimes involves a quick search under sofa cushions.

4. Dart Throw – Occasionally this is substituted for the coin toss when there is a dartboard in the vicinity. When making decisions, you can decide the winner by proximity to the bull’s-eye or by the numerical value of the area in which each dart lands.

5. Magic 8-Ball – “It is decidedly so.” This toy has been the kid version of the horoscope, and has decided the fates of  little league teams and puppy loves for decades. Just ask it a ‘yes-or-no’ question, shake it up and, voila, there’s your answer.

6. Eenie-Meenie-Miney-Moe – This rhyme can be used in various forms – or extended to one’s own advantage if need be – so it’s best to set the ground rules at the outset when employing the veritable Eenie-Meenie decision-making device.

7. Spin the Bottle – There’s generally only one decision to make with this technique and it’s primarily employed by older kids. So you young whippersnappers can stick with the baseball cards for a few more years before we go into detail, OK?

8. She Loves Me- She Loves Me Not – Pluck the petals from a flower, reciting the rhyme to find out whether s/he does in fact have feelings for you. This one often goes together with #7.

9. One-Potato, Two-Potato – Players begin with both fists held out in front of them. A neutral party counts on each fist in succession, “One potato, two potato, three potato, four; Five potato, six potato, seven potato, more.” On “more”, the fist counted would be placed behind the player’s back. Repeat until just one player, the winner, has a fist left in front.

10. Bat Toss – This is normally used for choosing sides in baseball. One player lightly tosses a bat to another, who catches it in one hand. His or her grip marks the starting point, each player alternating grips above the last, to the knob of the bat. The top grip wins.

Image Source: Kristy Berridge

I was driving in the car the other day with my teenage daughter sitting in the passenger seat and having a conversation with her. When I glanced over at her, I realized that I was having a conversation with myself since she was busy texting someone even though she purportedly was listening to me. Does this scene sound similar? It seems that the art of conversation is being lost with our children and our communicating with one another has now gone to silent mode.

We live in a digital world where the new technology has us communicating quicker and in real time. Years ago, families would sit around the living room watching TV or playing board games together. Nowadays, they sit together doing their e-mails, checking their Facebook status, or texting. The silence is deafening as no one is speaking to one another each caught up in their own cyberworld of communication. It seems that our plugged-in lives with all of our mobile technological devices have allowed us to become use to the new way of being “home alone” yet together.

Our children sit in our cars wearing earphones listening to their iPods or texting on their smartphones as we drive them place- to- place, everyone in their own bubble of silence of being connected to something else but not to the real person sitting, working, being near us. We forget about the conversation, the richness of our voices, the physical cues our bodies give to help us relate to one another, and a way to connect on a social and emotional level. Here are a few ways that you can bring back the art of conversation back into your family and still have an online presence:

1. Every day have a moratorium on technological devices: Choose a time when you are with your children (mealtime, carpooling, etc) that no cellphone, iPod, iPad, or computer are allowed to be used. Even if it is only 15 minutes a day, use this time as an opportunity to talk to one another on whatever topic is appropriate. This also gives everyone a time to be un-tethered to technology and focus on one another.

2. Practice the art of conversation: Teenagers, in particular, are so technologically savvy that they may not even know how to hold a real conversation. Talking and expressing oneself, listening to one another, and knowing how to respond back takes practice. By modeling how to hold a conversation, asking appropriate questions to help solicit a response, and then reflecting back to them your understanding of their comments, allows them the opportunity to learn how converse.

3. Help balance the use of technology with real voice communication: Texting, emailing, Facebook, Twitter and other forms of digital communication have a place in our lives, but not 100% of the time. We need to help our children balance their cyber connecting with one another with voice and face-to-face communication. For example, when your child sends you a text, sometimes send them a text back and ask them to call you. Yes, let them experience the ability to dial and to hear a voice through its speakers! Also, with the new technology of video chatting, Skype, and other forms of being able to see one another face-to-face, it forces and encourages everyone to hold conversations with one another learning a valuable tool of learning how to socially interact. This way we don’t sacrifice the conversation!

Dr. Andrea “Andie” Weiner’s research concentrates on children’s social and emotional skill development. As the founder of Emotionally Smart Beginnings, she produces educational products for children and parents that cover topics from making friends to how to read emotional cues.  For more from Dr. Andie, visit her website.

Image Source: Passion Fire

Google is testing new technology that will blow a lot of people’s minds.

(No, we’re not talking about Google’s augmented reality glasses, even though they are fascinating and could revolutionize the way users interact with media. Still, that’s old news.)

Google has been issued the nation’s first license to test self-driving cars. That’s right, Google has found a way to take the driving part out of driving a vehicle. Or, rather, the human part.

According to Mashable, “Google’s self-driving cars use a laser radar on the roof of the vehicle to detect obstacles, pedestrians and other cars. With the help of GPS and a bit of artificial intelligence, the car can drive itself with very little or no intervention from the human sitting inside.”

So that means drivers will soon be chauffeured around their neighbourhoods by AI-enhanced cars developed by the minds at Google. What could possibly go wrong?

Hopefully nothing, but if there is a glitch, the human driver can easily override the AI with a tap of the brake or by taking the steering wheel in hand.

Nevada’s DMV issued Google the nation’s first license to test the tech after demonstrations on the Las Vegas Strip and Carson City proved that it was safe enough to try out on city roads.

The DMV also reviewed Google’s safety plans, employee training, systems functions and accident reporting mechanisms before issuing the license, reports automotiveIT.

Google’s modified Toyota Prius will have a unique license plate design, featuring a red background and an infinity symbol.

“The unique red plate will be easily recognized by the public and law enforcement and will be used only for licensed autonomous test vehicles,” said Bruce Breslow, head of the Department of Motor Vehicles. “When there comes a time that vehicle manufacturers market autonomous vehicles to the public, that infinity symbol will appear on a green license plate.”

Naturally, Google isn’t the only company working on this kind of thing. Daimler’s head of research told automotiveIT this year that ‘the preconditions for autonomous driving will be in place’ by 2015 and Cadillac said last month that it would be ready to build a self-driving vehicle by the middle of the decade. Google’s technology should be available to consumers in about 3 to 5 years.

Of course, not everyone is comfortable with the idea of handing over control of their vehicle to artificial intelligence.

“Consumers are still learning about how autonomous driving technology could be used in their vehicles,” said Mike VanNieuwkuyk, executive director of global automotive research at J.D. Power. “Many owners are skeptical about releasing control of their vehicle and would like to see the technology proved out before they adopt it.”

There’s initial skepticism with every new technology, but if self-driving cars are shown to be safer than driver-controlled vehicles–and fewer lives are lost on the roads as a result–we could see them adopted by the masses before we know it.

Just think of all the texting we could do sitting behind the wheel of a self-driving car!

Talk To Us! Would you ever trust a car drive to you around?

Image Source: Medgadget