A Smarter Planet

Video

Sun, 19 May 2013 22:59:16 -0400

The endless aisle. The outdoor gear and apparel retailer...

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:28:57 -0400

The endless aisle. The outdoor gear and apparel retailer Moosejaw Mountaineer has 11 retail stores in the U.S., with 80% of sales (70% of in-store) coming from online and mobile commerce . Store associates use iPod touch and mini-iPads to check competitive prices and extend a price match. If a store does not carry what a shopper is looking for, store associates order the item online if it is in the warehouse and ship it to the customer for free.

(via Mobile Commerce Daily - Payments)

Human Clone Embryonic Stem Cell Lines - Business...

Thu, 16 May 2013 15:46:08 -0400

Human Clone Embryonic Stem Cell Lines - Business Insider

Researchers announced Wednesday, May 15, in the journal Cell that they’ve been able to make stable colonies of embryonic stem cells by injecting the DNA from ‘adult’ human cells into a human egg cell emptied out of its genetic material.

“Our finding offers new ways of generating stem cells for patients with dysfunctional or damaged tissues and organs,” study researcher Shoukhrat Mitalipov of Oregon Health & Science University, said in a press release. “Such stem cells can regenerate and replace those damaged cells and tissues and alleviate diseases that affect millions of people.”

This technique they used to make these stem cells is called somatic cell nuclear transfer, and is the same technique used to clone animals, like Dolly the sheep.

To put it in very simplified terms: the researchers first harvest a human egg from a woman’s ovaries and completely remove her genetic material from the egg. Then, they take a human skin cell and insert it into the egg using an inactivated virus which fuses the two cells. The embryo that grows from this would be a genetic copy of the person that donated the cell.

The Art of Data Visualization | Off Book | PBS Humans have a...

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:20:01 -0400

The Art of Data Visualization | Off Book | PBS

Humans have a powerful capacity to process visual information, skills that date far back in our evolutionary lineage. And since the advent of science, we have employed intricate visual strategies to communicate data, often utilizing design principles that draw on these basic cognitive skills. In a modern world where we have far more data than we can process, the practice of data visualization has gained even more importance. From scientific visualization to pop infographics, designers are increasingly tasked with incorporating data into the media experience. Data has emerged as such a critical part of modern life that it has entered into the realm of art, where data-driven visual experiences challenge viewers to find personal meaning from a sea of information, a task that is increasingly present in every aspect of our information-infused lives.

Google and NASA Launch Quantum Computing AI Lab Quantum...

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:53:29 -0400

Google and NASA Launch Quantum Computing AI Lab

Quantum computing took a giant leap forward on the world stage today as NASA and Google, in partnership with a consortium of universities, launched an initiative to investigate how the technology might lead to breakthroughs in artificial intelligence.

The new Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab will employ what may be the most advanced commercially available quantum computer, the D-Wave Two, which a recent study confirmed was much faster than conventional machines at defeating specific problems. The machine will be installed at the NASA Advanced Supercomputing Facility at the Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and is expected to be available for government, industrial, and university research later this year.

Google believes quantum computing might help it improve its web search and speech recognition technology. University researchers might use it to devise better models of disease and climate, among many other possibilities. As for NASA, “computers play a much bigger role within NASA missions than most people realize,” says quantum computing expert Colin Williams, director of business development and strategic partnerships at D-Wave.

See how data from sensors can revamp a city’s sewer system

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:44:15 -0400

See how data from sensors can revamp a city’s sewer system

Former Googler, Apple Engineer Tackle Educational Robots | ...

Tue, 14 May 2013 13:47:02 -0400

Former Googler, Apple Engineer Tackle Educational Robots | AllThingsD

There are apps that teach kids the basics of programming.

And then there are robots that get the job done.

That’s the vision of a group of four tech entrepreneurs who late last year formed a company with the purpose of creating educational robots for kids.

The Bay Area-based company, called Play-i, is still in the early stages of building out its bots and determining their form and functionality.

Vikas Gupta, Play-i’s founder and CEO, says the robots will be targeted at children aged 5 to 8, and will most likely work in conjunction with tablets. Using a tablet or other mobile device running compatible software, the child will be able to program his or her robot to perform certain actions.

smartercities: A revolutionary new traffic system without...

Tue, 14 May 2013 12:20:09 -0400

smartercities:

A revolutionary new traffic system without traffic lights

Dialing for Data: How Big Data is Transforming Telecom

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:53:48 -0400

Robert Fox, Global Telecom, Media and Entertainment Industry Leader
IBM Global Business Services

By Robert Fox

Cut throat competitiveness has been with the telecom industry since its inception nearly 140 years ago when Alexander Graham Bell beat Elisha Gray in a race to the U.S. Patent Office to lay claim to inventing the telephone.

Fast forward to today and we see a highly complex, competitive telecom environment where voice services have taken a back seat to a growing range of data-intensive services such as streaming music, radio and video, high definition video, online gaming and social media.

Transporting all of this data through their networks is resulting in shrinking margins and network congestion for the carriers. But don’t hang up on them yet! Mindful of protecting customers’ privacy and preserving their trust, many of the carriers are annonymizing their data, or offering opt-in programs, as they start to embrace and leverage advanced analytics for competitive advantage.

A new IBM study on how telcos are using Big Data highlights this trend: 85 percent of the respondents indicate that the use of information and analytics is creating a competitive advantage for them – a 124 percent increase in the last two years.

And what types of data? That is changing too.

According to the study more than half of the telecom respondents reported using internal data as the primary source of big data within their organizations. Traditionally this has meant data extracted from phone calls, transactions, call center interactions and call detail records, like who made the call, who received it and duration of the call. But the proliferation of smartphones opens up a whole new category of transaction records, called XDRs which capture other transactions such as the purchase and download of a song or a video clip, a recharge on a prepaid account, or a mobile payment. Carriers are already using this type of information to improve customer experience, align solutions to customers’ needs and help predict the potential for up-selling or cross selling products and services.

Xively Actually Connects Things In The Internet Of Things –...

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:31:42 -0400

Xively Actually Connects Things In The Internet Of Things – ReadWrite

The Internet of Things isn’t really an Internet of anything, at least not yet. Sure, devices are connected to the Internet, but they don’t communicate with other devices — just with their own home servers. But that may be about to change.

A new common cloud platform dubbed Xively Cloud Services aims to provide a common ground through which any device connected to the Internet could actually communicate with any other device. Xively is an old fixture within the Internet of Things ecosystem, as it’s actually a new commercial version of the older non-commercial Cosm platform, which in turn used to be known as Pachube until Xively’s current owner LogMeIn purchased Pachube in 2011.

Like Cosm before it, Xively will offer a way for disparate devices to connect with each other, though now with commercial terms of service for commercial users and freely available services for projects in development. Whatever you call it, the availability of a platform like Xively is a key component in building a true Internet of Things instead of what we actually have now.

How Will Adding Intelligence to Everyday Things Change Your...

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:20:00 -0400

How Will Adding Intelligence to Everyday Things Change Your World? Big Think

On a global level, we are adding connected intelligence to both machines and objects using chips, micro sensors, and both wired and wireless networks to create a rapidly growing “Internet of things” sharing real-time data, performing diagnostics, and even making remote repairs. Many jobs will be created as we add intelligent connected sensors to bridges, roads, buildings, homes, and much more. By 2020, there will be well over a billion machines talking to each other and performing tasks without human intervention.

Think of it this way: from phones to cars to bridges, embedded technologies are increasingly making the things we use smarter every day. For example, some of the newest cars use cameras mounted in the rear to see if something is in the way when you are backing up. If there is something in the way, the car will apply the brake even if you don’t or you are slow to react. Likewise, the concrete in new bridges has embedded chips that can let engineers know when the concrete is cracking, stressed, and in need of repair before the bridge collapses. In addition, sensors on the surface of the road going over the bridge will detect ice and wirelessly communicate the information to your car. If you don’t slow down, the car will slow down to a safe speed for you.

saveplanetearth: 400 PPM: Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere...

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:53:37 -0400

saveplanetearth:

400 PPM: Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere Reaches Prehistoric Levels @ Scientific American via tcktcktck

Memoto Is a Life-Logging Camera That Snaps a Five-Megapixel Picture Every 30 Seconds | MIT Technology Review

Fri, 10 May 2013 09:27:01 -0400

Memoto Is a Life-Logging Camera That Snaps a Five-Megapixel Picture Every 30 Seconds | MIT Technology Review:

A startup believes people will want a photographic record of their lives, taken at 30-second intervals.

Remember that?: Memoto’s clip-on camera has 8 GB of memory.

“We want to provide people with a perfect photographic memory,” says Martin Källström, CEO of Memoto. His startup is creating a tiny clip-on camera that takes a picture every 30 seconds, capturing whatever you are looking at, and then applies algorithms to the resulting mountain of images to find the most interesting ones.

Just 36 by 36 by 9 millimeters, the inconspicuous plastic camera has a lot crammed inside. The most important component is a five-megapixel image sensor originally designed for mobile phones. An ARM 9 processor running Linux powers a program that wakes the device twice a minute; takes a picture and a reading from the GPS sensor, accelerometer, and magnetometer; and promptly puts the device back to sleep.

Santander: Test bed for smart cities and open data policies |...

Fri, 10 May 2013 08:05:43 -0400

Santander: Test bed for smart cities and open data policies | SmartPlanet

To support SmartSantander ambitions, the city is deploying more than 10,000 sensors to monitor everything from garbage collection to crime to air quality. Libelium, a Spanish startup, has contributed around 1,000 sensor nodes, which monitor available street parking (see sensor embedded in street, in image above), collect air quality data and manage street lighting for better energy efficiency.

Real-time brain feedback can help people overcome anxiety |...

Fri, 10 May 2013 07:46:54 -0400

Real-time brain feedback can help people overcome anxiety | KurzweilAI

People provided with a real-time readout of activity in specific regions of their brains can learn to control that activity and lessen their anxiety, say Yale researchers.

They used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), to display the activity of the orbitofrontal cortex (a brain region just above the eyes) to subjects while they lay in a brain scanner.

Through a process of trial and error, these subjects were gradually able to learn to control their brain activity. This led both to changes in brain connectivity and to increased control over anxiety. These changes were still present several days after the training.

Extreme anxiety associated with worries about dirt and germs is characteristic of many patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Hyperactivity in the orbitofrontal cortex is seen in many of these individuals.

Social networks will displace business processes, not socialize them - Stowe Boyd via GigaOM Research

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:07:10 -0400

Social networks will displace business processes, not socialize them - Stowe Boyd via GigaOM Research:

from the report’s Executive Summary

“Socialized business process” — the idea of adding social tools to traditional business processes — is unlikely to work in the long term. The enterprise is now transitioning to social network–based communication as introduced by social tools, and there is a fundamental conflict in communication models with business-process-centric business. The attempt to make the socialized business process work may be part of the adoption problem reported in the social-business industry.

The shift to social network’s pull communication, where individuals more or less subscribe to information sources, will run counter to business process push communication and eventually invalidate it. Push-and-pull communication styles won’t jibe, and pull lines up with the transition to social network–based communication. Most notably, this will undermine business processes and the collective-collaborative organization that evolved in parallel with business processes. The shift won’t take place in the way that email led to organizational flattening. Rather, it will invalidate the rules and roles of business processes and turn the process logic into just another kind of information passed along through the social network.

It may be obvious, but companies that are more oriented toward a connective-cooperative style of work will get more benefits from social networks than those that are less so. Stated more strongly, those wishing to get the boost that many believe is inherent in this lean, self-innovating, fast-and-loose model of work will have to actively move away from the cultural principles of slow-and-tight, twentieth-century business.

In order to better explore these rapidly changing dynamics, this report presents a psychodynamic cultural model for business called the 3C model. The name is based on three sorts of business culture:

Competitive: wheel-and-spoke organization, decision making by edict, feudal or clan culture
Collaborative: pyramid-and-processes organization, decision making by elite consensus, slow-and-tight culture
Cooperative: network-and-connections organization, laissez faire decision making, fast-and-loose culture

We also explore various archetypes of individuals’ psychosocial matches with the various flavors of companies. The freelancer and follower archetypes, for example, do well in cooperative settings, but they are poorly matched with entrepreneurial organizations (which may explain Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s recent edict excluding remote work.)

High-performing companies of the near future will be operating based on looser ties among individuals in and across businesses. Many more of them will be supported by next-generation cooperative tools. Individuals in these companies will have more autonomy, and there will be more opportunity seeking when compared to the largely slow-and-tight, risk-averse companies that are dominant today. The value of consensus is falling in a rapidly changing, unstable world where there is a higher premium for business innovation and more uncertainty than ever before. And this leads to a devaluation of business processes, in particular those business processes intended to direct human agency and to act as a surrogate for management directing employees’ every move.

You can sign up for a seven day free trial of the GigaOM Research service, and read the entire report.

Matt Buchanan on wearable computers before Google...

Thu, 09 May 2013 16:40:14 -0400

Matt Buchanan on wearable computers before Google Glass: http://nyr.kr/12Vi7Wb

Above: Steve Mann adjusts his Eyetap. Photograph by Randy Quan.

Anatomy of a Smart City- Postscapes

Thu, 09 May 2013 15:13:46 -0400

Anatomy of a Smart City- Postscapes:

Via

Injectable Microscopic Robots Can Detect Threat Of Blindness -...

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:01:57 -0400

Injectable Microscopic Robots Can Detect Threat Of Blindness - PSFK

Oxygen is vital to human life, and while many know of the ramifications that a lack of oxygen may have to our lungs or brains, many are not aware that our retinas also need oxygen to function; without it, permanent blindness – sometimes within mere hours – can occur. Up until now, it has been difficult for doctors to gauge how much oxygen is reaching the eye, but now researchers at Swiss university ETH Zurich have developed miniscule robots that can be injected into the eye and measure the amount of oxygen in the retina.

iPhone-Operated Digital Lock Makes House Keys a Thing of the...

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:51:54 -0400

iPhone-Operated Digital Lock Makes House Keys a Thing of the Past | Wired.com

Kwikset’s new Kevo door lock turns your iPhone into the simplest of digital keys. Just have your phone in your pocket or purse, tap the Kevo lock, and you’re in.

We first saw the Kevo on ABC’s Shark Tank when UniKey CEO Phil Dumas pitched the idea to the program’s investors. He convinced Mark Cuban and Kevin O’Leary to hand over $500,000, then parlayed his 15 minutes of reality TV fame to raise another truckload of cash. Dumas eventually caught the attention of Kwikset, which partnered with him to make his dream a reality.

This thing is incredibly cool. The Kevo looks like an ordinary lock, but the halo of light surrounding the keyhole gives it a vaguely futuristic look. An app links your iPhone (sorry – no Android) to the lock using Bluetooth and the miracle of location services, eliminating the need to fumble through your pockets or purse for your keys. Just tap the lock with your finger and the halo flashes green, letting you know the door is unlocked. You don’t even need to take your iPhone out of your pocket.

A Smarter Planet

Video

The endless aisle. The outdoor gear and apparel retailer...

Human Clone Embryonic Stem Cell Lines - Business...

The Art of Data Visualization | Off Book | PBS Humans have a...

Google and NASA Launch Quantum Computing AI Lab Quantum...

See how data from sensors can revamp a city’s sewer system

Former Googler, Apple Engineer Tackle Educational Robots | ...

smartercities: A revolutionary new traffic system without...

Dialing for Data: How Big Data is Transforming Telecom

Xively Actually Connects Things In The Internet Of Things –...

How Will Adding Intelligence to Everyday Things Change Your...

saveplanetearth: 400 PPM: Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere...

Memoto Is a Life-Logging Camera That Snaps a Five-Megapixel Picture Every 30 Seconds | MIT Technology Review

Why It Matters

Part of our Business Report:

Big Data Gets Personal

Santander: Test bed for smart cities and open data policies |...

Real-time brain feedback can help people overcome anxiety |...

Social networks will displace business processes, not socialize them - Stowe Boyd via GigaOM Research

Matt Buchanan on wearable computers before Google...

Anatomy of a Smart City- Postscapes

Injectable Microscopic Robots Can Detect Threat Of Blindness -...

iPhone-Operated Digital Lock Makes House Keys a Thing of the...