New Florence. New Renaissance.

Thank you, thank you

A recent communication I sent to my blog sponsors

“As part of a recent back up of the Deal Architect and New Florence blogs, I also saved them as Word files. I was shocked they totaled 9,300 single spaced pages! Without images !!

That’s easily the equivalent of over 20 books in there.

And my thought immediately went to thank you and the other blog sponsors for making this possible. You are facilitating tens of thousands of readers around the world to learn about the amazing innovations and disruptions our industry continues to deliver. And in doing so also getting yourself coverage as media coverage of enterprise technology dwindles.

I particularly appreciate how little editorial control you ask for and how you respect the NDAs I have with my consulting clients.

On behalf of all our readers, thanks so much for your continued support."

Spooktacular Halloween Lighting

Electronic House gallery

The one in photo below has lights, lasers and fog, and a UFO that was built out of an old satellite dish. Besides the special effects and Queen, the show includes 348 DMX channels, 27 Light-O-Rama channels, and much more.

Move over BRIC, here comes CIVETS

Taking its name from the small wild feline whose dietary and digestive habits help generate a certain high-priced gourmet coffee bean, CIVETS countries (Colombia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and S. Africa) grow on average nearly 5 percent per year, a rate twice to three times as fast as developed countries. These cats attract big foreign direct investment dollars, import at accelerating rates, and invest increasingly in their own infrastructures. With an average age of 27, their populations attract companies looking to hire, to move into new growth markets—or both.

Global Trade

Photo Credit

High-tech Halloween gore

Rober first got the idea for mixing Halloween and smartphones in 2011. Using two iPads and the FaceTime video chatting app, he strapped one tablet to his front and the other to the back. The live video feed made it look like there was a hole blasted through the center of his body.

One hit YouTube video later, and Rober had found his new calling. This year, he quit his job as a mechanical engineer at NASA and started Digital Dudz, a company that makes costumes that integrate tablets and smartphones.

CNN

20 Great CIO Ideas to Steal

InformationWeek has a nice gallery of ideas from its annual 500 issue.

They include Home Depot’s  MyInstall, a personalized Web portal designed to help customers keep close tabs on each phase of a home improvement project. Public relations firm Ketchum built IdeaShop, a searchable database containing great ideas that were never sold to clients but are still ripe for use.

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center did an extensive study on OpenNotes, a movement to allow patients to view their doctors' notes via a secure website. The Dallas Cowboys' mobile app enhances the in-stadium experience, and how the Salvation Army (in photo below) embraced mobile apps to track the number and type of goods being donated and to give social workers quick access to information on people in its substance abuse program. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi and Procter & Gamble have put mobile devices and apps into employees' hands: Mitsubishi with a secure BYOD program, and P&G by replacing sales reps' paper catalogs with iPads.

Repair or Upgrade?

BusinessWeek on a growing market for repairing electronics - to the annoyance of device makers and carriers who would rather you uprgade every so often

"Wetherill set up shop at an Orlando restaurant in 2009, fixing customers’ busted screens and batteries while they dined. He says he once brought an iPhone back to life that had been dropped in a deep fryer by a McDonald’s cook. Three years later, Wetherill is running a 47-outlet chain called uBreakiFix, which he says generated $17 million in sales last year. “Many people would say, ‘Take my arm before you can take my phone,’ ” says Wetherill. “If you can get a phone fixed for $100 or less, it’s a heck of a lot better than buying a new one.”"

Photo Credit

 

Fortune’s 50 Most Powerful Women

The Most Powerful Women in Business list is compiled by FORTUNE editors, who consider four criteria: the size and importance of the woman's business in the global economy, the health and direction of the business, the arc of the woman's career (resume and runway ahead), and social and cultural influence.

15 of the ladies are in technology or media companies led by Ginni Rometty of IBM. See the full list here.

Carefree Highway

“Sensors will be placed along the A14 between Felixstowe and Cambridge – approximately 70 miles long – creating a 'smart road' which could transmit data on traffic movement.

Messages could then be sent to the mobile phones of passing drivers about upcoming traffic and the technology could even pave the way for the Government to automatically control car speeds. “

“Telecomms watchdog Ofcom has announced that the UK will become one of the first countries in the world to road-test "white space" technology, which sends signals over the gaps between television channels rather than the mobile phone network.

The radio waves used by white space devices can travel longer distances and more easily through walls thanks to the low frequency they use, potentially helping better connect remote parts of the UK. “

The Telegraph

Photo Credit

Forget Sandman, focus on Sachin

A friend pointed out Sachin Tendulkar, an Indian cricket phenom, is on his farewell tour. If you think Mo got a nice farewell, Sachin is getting an even bigger sendoff, even in the US courtesy of Willow.TV

“Willow.TV is the largest broadcaster of Cricket in the United States and Canada. Willow produces and manages "Willow Cricket", a 24x7 channel dedicated to cricket on DISH Network and DIRECTV, which is available a-la-carte and bundled in the Hindi Mega Pack on DISH Network and the HindiDirect package on DIRECTV. Willow holds exclusive licenses from various cricket boards worldwide, including the BCCI (India), Cricket Australia, English Cricket Board, Cricket South Africa, Cricket New Zealand, Cricket Zimbabwe and others.”

Kinect and sign language

At the Microsoft Fall Analyst Event I attended they showed off an Irish moderator ask questions in English and have it translated into Mandarin and the Chinese interviewee responded in sign language which a Kinect sensor translated. The latter portion brought plenty of oohs and aahs and the video below shows the concept well.