Happy July 4th.
Good day to showcase a NASA photo showing "the American flag and a mini-DVD on the Phoenix's deck, which is about 3 feet above the Martian surface. The mini-DVD from the Planetary Society contains a message to future Martian explorers, science fiction stories and art inspired by the Red Planet, and the names of more than a quarter million Earthlings."
at least early adopters of consumer tech...in a Mindset Media study...leaders, assertive...immodest.
It combines it with its marketing pitch, and has its Sr. Director of Product Marketing, Bob Borchers, not some actor do the walk through.
BTW, it's not skimpy - runs over 30 minutes, and if you want to download takes up 101 mb on your iPod or 318 mb on your laptop.
Lots of creative applications on NY City's new grid
"NYCWiN will allow agencies to share high-bandwidth data, including wireless streaming video, at incident scenes for first responders. DoITT is currently working to ensure that wireless video feeds from NYCWiN can be shared with video networks operated by other city agencies. The New York Department of Transportation operates nearly 100 still and video cameras from its Traffic Management Center in Long Island City, Queens; the Metropolitan Transportation Authority focuses another 20 still and video cameras on the city’s major bridges and tunnels; and the New York Police Department operates several thousand cameras. The NYPD announced in July that it was seeking $90 million to deploy an additional 3,000 cameras in lower Manhattan."
and NY Times
"The Department of Environmental Protection wants to use the technology to eliminate the need for meter-readers to go door-to-door to monitor water usage. The city has installed 800 wireless water meters in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens that send readings every six hours over the network to a central computer."
ScienceDebate 2008 has cataloged from thousands it has collected over the last several months 14 areas it has invited the Presidential Candidates to clarify positions on. They cover the following topics:
1. Innovation.
2. Climate Change
3. Energy
4. Education.
5. National Security
6. Pandemics and Biosecurity
7. Genetics research
8. Stem cells
9. Ocean Health
10. Water
11. Space
12. Scientific Integrity
13. Research
14. Health
"Sensors everywhere. Infinite storage. Clouds of processors. Our ability to capture, warehouse, and understand massive amounts of data is changing science, medicine, business, and technology. As our collection of facts and figures grows, so will the opportunity to find answers to fundamental questions. Because in the era of big data, more isn't just more. More is different."
Wired Magazine has a series of articles on next generation analytics and data mining.
MIT Technology Review profiles
Pinger
Pownce
qik
Dash
Ushahidi
Qtech
33Across
Peer39
Mashery
Anagran
"UConnect Web will be offered in most 2009 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles starting in August. The in-vehicle router will cost $449, plus installation of up to $50. Mobile Web access for it will require a $29-a-month subscription, after $35 for activation, through provider Autonet Mobile.
The service could catapult Chrysler back into the race against General Motors and Ford Motor for advanced personal technology in cars.
Ford appears to have a hit in its Microsoft-developed Sync system for controlling personal electronic devices. Ford plans to introduce a built-in Internet system aimed at the contractor market in the new 2009 F-150 pickup when the truck goes on sale in late fall."
Well, not high-tech, but certainly innovative - read the genesis of the idea here.
I read it courtesy of Guy Kawasaki.
"Nearly 59,000 captive teens might seem like every parent's worst nightmare. But for Helsinki (Finland)-based Sulake, such a group provided a pain-free way to gain valuable insight into what "kids these days" really care about"
"Pain-free because Sulake runs Habbo, the nine-year-old virtual world that as of early June had some 100 million avatars, 9.5 million of them active on the site each month. And because Sulake could use the world as a platform to question the teens—virtually. Habbo's second Global Youth Survey features the results of a two-month-long poll conducted at the end of last year, which surveyed 58,486 teens in 31 countries. The findings were recently published in a 255-page report targeted at companies looking to market to the lucrative demographic."
BBC on continued use of audio tapes in UK police system
"Currently police have to post tapes to a typist to be transcribed before it can be submitted to the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) which can be very time-consuming and risks data breaches.
Having higher quality audio is also important if the audio evidence is used in court."
Ok, so many of these would probably fail basic math and science and history and geography - but when it comes to ingenuity and teamwork you have to admire them..
read about these high-tech school cheaters
GPS (with navigation through water "highways"), Bluetooth and more were on display at the recent annual mecca for boating enthusiasts.
Couple that caught my attention from Cruising World
a) Standard Horizon's floating radios: "The HX750S floats faceup, and when it hits the water, a strobe light
mounted on its face starts blinking. Once recovered, the 750S even
tells you the water temperature.
Next in the lineup is the HX760S,
which has all the features of the HX750S but includes a wireless
headset that communicates with the HX760S via Bluetooth 2, a wireless
radio frequency. The company's third floater is the HX850S; in addition to being encased
in rubber armor, it has a GPS receiver. The combination of GPS and VHF
is ideal for taking advantage of digital selective calling, which is
useful in distress situations."
b) Garmin's Colorado 400c: "Preloaded with BlueChart® g2 coastal charts, Colorado is made with the saltwater mariner in mind. Packed with features, it includes a high-sensitivity receiver, barometric altimeter, electronic compass, SD™ card slot, color display, picture viewer and more."
"A lot of new venture flowers are about to bloom and Google and Amazon are liberally applying the watering can. No government initiative or five-year strategic plan could have hoped to have achieved anything so profound - Google and Amazon are literally pushing the frontiers of global capitalism right down to the teenager’s bedroom. Forget cutting lawns or waiting tables to earn some money, the next generation of college kids are more likely to pay for tuition by showing the world how to play the riff in Weezer’s Sweater song by Rivers Cuomo..."
via Larry Dignan at ZDNet
The Good, the Bad and the Scary future of the web..
..perspectives from Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Vint Cerf at Google, Richard Stallman of the Free Software Movement, Bjarne Stroustrup at Texas A&M, Mena Trott of Six Apart (which hosts my blogs), Leah Culver of Pownce and Jonathan Zittrain at Harvard Law School
GigaOm has put together a great set of speakers/topics at their conference - lots in streaming video. Plenty of exciting stuff in the data center, cloud computing, IT infrastructure areas.
"It’s one of the first civilian flyers to feature automated folding
wings, which slim down the mini seaplane so it can fit on a custom
trailer. (An amphibious version offsets the extra weight of landing
gear by trading the motorized wings for a manually folding set.)"
"He's a hypermiler, part of a loose-knit legion
of commuters who've made racking up seemingly unattainable mpg (many times 100 mpg) an art.
And a sport. Hypermilers practice such unorthodox techniques
as coasting for blocks with their car's engine turned off, driving far
below speed limits on the freeway, pumping up tire pressure far beyond
car and tire makers' recommendations and carefully manipulating the gas
pedal to avoid fuel-burning excess." - USA Today
Photo Credit - calcars.org
From Magnetic Brian Stimulation to Implantable Nanowire ...
"Why do Estonians and South Koreans love cell phones, PCs, and the Internet? Delivering the answer to that question is not the punchline to a very niche racist joke, it's actually the subject of serious research by Dawn Nafus, a Cambridge PhD wielding anthropologist for Intel.
The Index shows some surprises. The United States, for example, doesn't stand out as a particularly fast tech adopter relative to our level of wealth. Why not? Nafus explained that population size is actually a constraint on technology adoption, just the sheer number of connections betweens people seems to slow adoption.
As for Estonia and South Korea, her team found that they both have agile governments, strong offline social networks, and major upheavals in living memory (the transition out of Communism and the Korean War)."
"Cisco's innovation contest is one of at least a dozen corporate-sponsored competitions that have cropped up in recent years, all aimed at developing and rewarding innovation.
Innovation prizes are no substitute for the expensive, painstaking research and development that's the lifeblood of a high-tech company, but companies find them a relatively low-cost way to generate potentially valuable ideas from around the world. Cisco's I-Prize was borne out of the Cisco I-Zone, an internal Web-based workspace where employees can submit new ideas."
"Researchers used nine volunteers to train the computer. They were given 58 words and asked to think about the meaning and properties of the words. Brain scans taken when the users were thinking about the different words were then captured using magnetic resonance imaging, which identifies real-time brain activity.
The researchers then gave the computer two new words and images and asked it to pair them up correctly, which it successfully completed.
Mitchell said the next step would be to study brain activity for phrases rather than singular words."
CIO Magazine has tips and traps from CIOs at Virgin America, Vail Resorts, Genentech and The Dannon Company on adoption of newer technology - and other innovation ideas.
Guinness Book of World Records is validating but the over 8 million Firefox 3 downloads on day 1 should qualify it. The nice folks at Mozilla are giving out appreciation certificates - like mine below - to those that downloaded.
Robert Scoble interviews James Martin, CEO of Threshold which is trying to bring home automation to he masses through affordable automation. Today, the market is dependent on expensive, customized installation talent.
CNET has an analysis
"Threshold will eventually start by selling a home controller, or a wireless base station and application server that can control all the various Threshold devices in people's homes. The controller, which has a Linux-based computer inside, will sell for around $300, according to Martin. Once they buy the controller, customers can log to a personalized Threshold Web site to create settings for their home controller and related devices.
Devices will include a power controller to control lights and monitor energy output (about $30); a clock radio with MP3 player and LCD video monitor (about $200); a full-motion Web camera for monitoring front and back doors (about $100); and motion sensors that can track movement or environmental temperatures (about $30)."
"Swiss company Biotex is developing a garment with wireless sensors embedded in the lower back to provide real-time values for similar metrics. Hydrophilic and hydrophobic material draws the sweat into flexible sensors just two millimeters thick and a few square centimeters.
Monitoring levels of sodium, potassium, sweat rates and sweat pH is all within reach. Understanding how to interpret and adjust per the data is still to be determined. Medical applications for diabetics and obese children are also being pursued."
"In this system, which began last year, (Emerson Electric) managers divide new-product sales into one of four categories: minor improvements, major improvements, products that are new lines for the business, and ones that are completely new to the world"
Not just across state lines, this project which covers 2,500 miles of highway between New Jersey and North Carolina will "mash up" data from 800,000 fleet vehicles with GPS, toll tag booths, sensors embedded in the highways and system which will calculate how long it is taking drivers to move from one cell tower to the next along the highways - into real-time traffic information.
Popular Science has a gallery of some tech gift ideas for Dad.
A Tabasco tie would be pretty hot also :)
Hospitality Technology comments "Even in high end luxury or resort level hotels, the average guest settles for an in-room technology package that was far less than what he or she had available at home"
Against that background comes the new Intercontinental in San Francisco.
From the hotel website "The hotel's conference and banquet facilities all have natural light and are the most technologically advanced in San Francisco, equipped with capabilities for high-speed Internet access, ISDN lines, independent climate controls, and advanced security."
From a Nortel press release "..housekeeping can report with a room's touchscreen phone that it is ready for the next guest. Each room's minibar is connected to the VoIP network and programmed to report billing and restocking requirements automatically. Voice over wireless LAN handsets allow staff to respond quickly to guest requests from anywhere in the hotel without incurring cell phone charges."
BTW - Portfolio magazine profiles Intercontinental CIO Tom Conophy and his travel patterns.
Turbines which harness wind power of cars driving by on highways. Others which harness energy as pedestrians walk. Algae which generate hydrogen. Micro-filters to desalinate sea water. Vertical farms in buildings many stories high.Energy paint which traps sunlight on buildings and converts into electricity. Next generation magnetic levitation vehicles.
Many such fascinating ideas in this Popular Science gallery
"Within thirty years, we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended."
Vernor Vinge, 1993
At mid-point he revisits the topic in this article and paints the following
scenarios:
"..singularity will come as some combination of the following:
The AI Scenario: We create superhuman artificial intelligence (AI) in computers.
The IA Scenario: We enhance human intelligence through human-to-computer interfaces—that is, we achieve intelligence amplification (IA).
The Biomedical Scenario: We directly increase our intelligence by improving the neurological operation of our brains.
The Internet Scenario: Humanity, its networks, computers, and databases become sufficiently effective to be considered a superhuman being.
The Digital Gaia Scenario: The network of embedded microprocessors becomes sufficiently effective to be considered a superhuman being."
And here is a video on the topic
"As SFpark is envisioned, parking rates would be adjusted based on time of day, day of week and duration of stay. People would be able to pay not just with coins, but with credit cards, prepaid debit cards and even by cell phone. If a meter is set to expire, a text message could be sent to the driver. More time could be purchased remotely.
People also would be able to check parking availability before arriving at their destination via the Internet, handheld devices such as BlackBerrys, or cell phone. Sensors would be embedded in the asphalt to keep track of when a parking spot is empty."
Packed with new features - Longer battery than other 3G Phones. GPS. 3G 36% quicker than other phones.
Much cheaper than other PDAs.
But just as impressive - lots of attractive new applications for enterprises. Better, more secure support for corporate email. MS Office document read capabilities. Several new verticals apps. Typepad. Whole SDK ecosystem. Software distribution capabilities. Support for several Asian language scripts. GPS facilitating location aware services. Stacey at GigaOm has fuller list of applications.
No wonder, "35 percent of the Fortune 500 has participated in the iPhone 2.0 beta program. The top 5 banks, the top 5 securities firms, 6 or 7 top airlines and other industries such as entertainment and pharmaceuticals."
Photo Credit - USA Today
"In Mr. Varsavsky’s approach, FON’s business is subsidized by non-Foneros — passing Web surfers who buy time for access to the network — which he can then share with FON’s customers. The approach is different from that of Boingo, a Wi-Fi aggregator based in Los Angeles that charges users a monthly fee for using hotspots while they are traveling.
Yet both FON and Boingo have faced significant resistance from Internet service providers that carefully restrict access to their customers, leaving the idea of a seamless wireless Internet based on Wi-Fi technology an unfulfilled dream so far."
It's generally accepted that regular MP3 music files compromise CD sound quality for convenience and portability. (Some listeners argue that even CDs are less than optimal.)"
"Most of us fly for speed, but French industrial designer Jean-Marie Massaud believes that slow cruising in an airship could be the next step in air travel.
... The design of the Manned Cloud calls for a double-decker, 5.6-million-square-foot airship shaped like a whale. Boasting a top speed of 105 mph and outfitted with all the amenities of a cruise ship, it would ferry 55 passengers from Paris to Madagascar in four days, offering a turbulence-free, unpressurized flight at an altitude of a mere 9,800 feet."
Photo Credit - dezeen.com
Jason Harris at GigaOm provides a handy update on VoIP services on the go
Skype Mobile
3 Skypephone
iSkoot
Truphone
Fring
Talkonaut
Nimbuzz
Gizmo5
Google Earth visitors "can wander through much of the virtual Disney World
at ground level. If they see something that interests them, they can
click on any of 276 icons embedded in the map at attractions and
hotels, bringing up more pictures, video, information, or links back to
Disney's Web sites."
"To create the virtual tour, Disney photographers shot 100,000 photographs. They were turned into 1,500 three-dimensional models of everything from Cinderella Castle to park benches."
"In US, T-Mobile has offered similar service for voice calls, piggy backing on other people’s broadband connections. AT&T which is going to be soon pushing a 3G version of iPhone will be a good candidate for offering similar boxes. Such a device helps them overcome coverage issues, and at the same time takes a load off their wireless backhaul network. More importantly, it makes it easy enough for them to sell a bundled service and take market share away from cable companies. When looked through that prism, now you understand why AT&T honchos are always talking about Wireless and why Cable Companies are ready to spend billions to go wireless."
"LeSieur tried to find online
tools that could guide autistic children around the Web, but he
couldn't find anything satisfactory. So he had one built, named it the
Zac Browser For Autistic Children in honor of his grandson, and is
making it available to anyone for free.
...(it) disables
extraneous keyboard buttons like "Print Screen" and turns off the right
button on the mouse. That eliminates commands most children don't need
anyway, and it reduces the chance an autistic child will lose
confidence after making a counterproductive click."
Jeff Nolan reports from the conference.
What recession? Entrepreneurial juices continue to flow.
"History is filled with examples of how technology helped usher in new eras of prosperity. To help build the case for optimism, the MIT News Office asked a collection of MIT faculty and researchers for their thoughts on the potentially life-altering technologies that lie just around the corner."
Read the perspectives at MIT News
Benjamin Plotinsky reviews in Commentary magazine (sub required) two recent books - Benjamin Nugent’s American Nerd: The Story of My People and David Anderegg’s Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them.
"In general, according to Nugent, nerds “remind others, sometimes pleasantly, of machines.” ‘What nerds crave above all else is order, “a heavily rule-bound universe.” Hence they favor role- playing games like Dungeons & Dragons, which operates according to laws prescribed by the “Dungeon Master.” Medieval court society is similarly perceived as hierarchical and rule-bound, and thus more easily navigable than, say, a contemporary American high school. The same can be said for the fantasy universe of a writer like J.R.R. Tolkien..."
"In Anderegg’s judgment, antagonism toward nerds is a distinctly American phenomenon—a direct descendant of 19th-century American anti-intellectualism. That being the case, and despite the fact that most nerds will turn out all right in the end, he worries that the stereotype has produced a great deal of unhappiness among young Americans. He also thinks it has scared brainy teenagers away from intellectual pursuits, resulting in particular in a national shortage of scientists. "
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