2007/05/31

Practical Uses for Google Technology

Google has been extreeeemely beneficial in my life over the past seven or eight years -- but it was particularly useful over the past two weeks.

My dad is 86 years old, is on dialysis, has a pacemaker, was recently in the hospital for relatively serious surgery and is now in a sub-acute care facility. Two of my sisters, my brother and I have been working together to help my dad through the maze of health care professionals with whom he is dealing these days, especially in light of his most recent surgery.

One Google tool that has been Most Beneficial for coordinating of health care issues and for communicating betwixt us siblings is Google Docs. I helped one of my sisters set up a Gmail account, then helped her set up a Gdoc for listing all my dad's health care professionals and their phone numbers, the phone numbers for all my dad's relatives and friends whom we might need to call at some point, a list of to-do items concerning my dad, a chronology of what happens each day and what health care issues arose and how they were handled, etc.

The collaborative on-line Gdoc has been an effective way to communicate how my dad is doing, an easily accessible information resource, and a greatly appreciated way to look back a month later and know what happened.

My siblings are not tech enthusiasts or dyed-in-the-wool Google fans, so I haven't overwhelmed them yet with the other great Google tools. All in good time...

They, of course, use Google as an all-purpose web search tool, but I'm not sure they realize the vertical search capabilities of SkyNet, such as Image search, Local Search, Gmaps, etc. After they use Gmail for a while, I'll make sure they're aware they can easily use Gchat when they check their email. For occasions where collaborative spreadsheets might be useful, they'll be hearing about Gspreadsheets, and if they ask about whether my schedule is open on a certain day, I'll let them know that if they set up a Gcalendar, we can share calendars, and they can then see what days I have open.

One convert at a time is how it works best.

It's not even really a matter of converting. It's more a matter of letting them know the various Google technologies are out there, why they are useful and how they work. From that point on, it's up to their interest in the benefits of any given Google tool as to whether they'll continue using it. Quite likely, however, they'll not only use many of the tools, they'll spread the happiness and expose others to it also!

My dad says "Thanks", Google, and so do I.

*****

2007/05/30

Governor's Business Plan Contest & Networking

Networking leads to the most unexpected and serendipitous opportunities and adventures -- a case in point being the 2007 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest.

Connection 1: Several members of Abba Makolin Waldron & Associates, LLC (AMW), worked with a particular scientist at a large consumer products company. AMW is a manufacturing process consulting company which provides innovation technical resources for manufacturing companies. After leaving the consumer products company, one of the AMW members, Bob Makolin, stayed in touch with the scientist mentioned above who had been a colleague of Bob's. The particular scientist is Connection 1.

Connection 2: Discussions with Connection 1 led to Bob Makolin visiting Minneapolis to talk with the Donaldson Company about AMW possibly working on various projects for them. The Donaldson Company is a world leader in a number of areas, including nanofiber nonwovens, which was of high interest since AMW feels nanotechnology is an important emerging technology and a effective innovation enabler. Additionally, AMW has a ton of experience and knowledge in the nonwovens area. Several people at Donaldson are, jointly, Connection 2.

Connection 3: One-on-one business networking is an important marketing tool for AMW. Industry conferences are an excellent opportunity for doing one-on-one business networking. At the 2006 Insight Nonwovens Technical Conference, AMW presented a technical paper and also talked with the presenters of two conference papers relevant to nanofiber nonwovens. Those papers were of specific interest because they could help provide better value to the Donaldson Company if AMW was fortunate enough to work on a nanofiber project for them. The presentation and topic presented by NanoStatics was of particular interest to AMW. Bob Makolin and Bob Waldron had several discussions with the co-founders of NanoStatics, and they agreed it would be interesting to continue the relationship after the Insight Conference. A NanoStatics co-founder is Connection 3.

Connection 4: Due to work on numerous AMW projects and lack of high interest in nanofiber nonwovens by anyone in Northeast Wisconsin outside of AMW, neither Bob Makolin nor Bob Waldron gave high priority to pursuing the nanofiber nonwovens project. However, in January 2007, Bob Waldron submitted a 250-word abstract for a nanofiber nonwovens company to the 2007 Wisconsin Governor's Business Plan Contest. The concept and write-up was judged to be in the top ideas from the 289 entries submitted to the contest, and it moved into Phase 2 of the contest. Representatives from the contest entries in Phase 2 were invited to attend a Business Plan Bootcamp in Milwaukee. At that bootcamp, Bob Waldron met several other Phase 2 contestants. One of those contestants had a number of interests in common with Bob W., and they have since corresponded and gotten involved on some of the same projects. That contestant is Connection 4.

Connection 5: Bob Waldron submitted an entry for AMW NF Nonwovens in the 1000-word executive summary Phase 2 portion of the contest. The business concept and executive summary were judged, again, to be among the best submitted, and AMW NF Nonwovens became one of the 26 remaining entries which moved on to Phase 3 of the contest. A 20-page business plan was then developed for the venture and submitted, with the final judging to occur in early June. As a result of being a Business Plan Contest finalist, AMW was recently interviewed by a reporter from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. That reporter is Connection 5.

Connection 6: This connection is a future connection. AMW has connected to other people through the connections mentioned above, and has helped them make other mutually beneficial connections. No doubt more connections will result in the future from the networking mentioned above.

None of the above relationships have led to a paying job yet, although another connection made at the 2007 Insight Conference did lead to a paying job for AMW. However, all the connections have resulted in intriguing conversations, several worthwhile meetings, and may yet lead to paying jobs. Equally enjoyable, and sometimes even more fun, are the connections AMW can make between people we've met and gotten to know. And if AMW had not been aware of, and worked hard to make the most of, the value of personal networking, the AMW NF Nonwovens business plan would not currently be a finalist in the Governor's Business Plan Contest.

The next time you have an opportunity to meet someone new, take advantage of that moment. The time you spend talking with them is guaranteed to be worthwhile, in some way, for either one or both of you. It may even lead one of your lives down an entirely new road! Life is a Journey, not a destination, so make the trip fun, interesting and full of variety.

*****

2007/05/29

Cindy Sheehan / NEW NET Issues List for 29 May 2007

Cindy Sheehan, on Memorial Day 2007, resigned as one of the public leaders of the US anti-war movement which is working to get American troops withdrawn from Iraq. In her post on the Daily Kos, she says:

"I've tried ever since he died to make his sacrifice meaningful," she wrote. "The most devastating conclusion that I reached this morning, however, was that Casey did indeed die for nothing....killed by his own country which is beholden to and run by a war machine that even controls what we think....Casey died for a country which cares more about who will be the next American Idol than how many people will be killed in the next few months while Democrats and Republicans play politics with human lives."

There is more worth reading in her 28 May 2007 Daily Kos post for people who have open minds.

It would be good to see the American people, the American politicians and the American media spend more time and energy on reaching agreement about how to resolve (end) the war in Iraq than they do on American Idol, Anna Nicole Smith or any other single person or issue that doesn't involve thousands of people dying. And there are other issues, like Darfur, that are unquestionably more important than American Idol. I don't know why America is like that, and I certainly don't know enough about people to even hazard a guess about how to 'fix' things. It seems part of the problem is America's division into two equal and opposite camps who use a political label (Democrat or Republican) to determine where they stand on an issue and what should be done about that issue. Because the issues are so complicated, these people tend to adopt the general views of their chosen political party and not worry about facts or changes in the situation.

I have yet to read about or hear about a cohesive plan from either party for withdrawal from Iraq. Surely the Democrats realize that if they don't develop a reasonable plan for withdrawal, then American troops will remain mired in the quagmire in which they currently find themselves, otherwise known as Vietnam. If the Republicans don't develop a reasonable plan for withdrawal, then the American troops will remain mired in the quagmire in which they currently find themselves, also otherwise known as Vietnam. And every so often the American people will approve another $100 billion or $500 billion to continue doing whatever it is that we're doing in Iraq other than getting precious American sons and daughters killed.

Sorry for the political rant. This isn't a political blog. But Cindy Sheehan's comments resonated so strongly that the mini-rant just wouldn't remain unvoiced.

-----

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 29 May 02007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 7:00 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

The ‘net

  1. Pandora Music Now Available on Sprint Phones http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070524/tc_nf/52531
  2. Q&A With Seth Godin http://searchengineland.com/070523-093411.php
  3. E-mail to bypass phone charges http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070523/wr_nm/phones_jangl_dc
  4. E-Mail Bankruptcy http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402258.html
  5. Yahoo Creates Home Values Meta Search http://searchengineland.com/070525-104303.php

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

  1. Cogneto: to identity and beyond! http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070525/tc_infoworld/88836
  2. Congress starts examining NSA surveillance http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070525-congress-discovers-spine-starts-examining-nsa-surveillance.html
  3. Cyber Crooks Hijack Activities of Large Web-Hosting Firm http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2007/05/cyber_crooks_hijack_activities_1.html
  4. New software can identify you from your online habits http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=mg19426046.400&feedId=being-human_rss20
  5. Proposed National Database Raises Privacy Concerns http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2135233,00.asp
  6. Keylogging Trojan Dodges Anti-virus Detection http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070524/tc_zd/208279
  7. Skype Worm Jumps to ICQ, MSN http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070524/tc_pcworld/132230
  8. Panda Unveils New Web-Based Malware Detector http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070525/tc_cmp/199701972
  9. Wi-fi and RFID used for tracking http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6691139.stm

Mobile Computing & Communicating

  1. WeFi Finds Friends from Their WiFi http://mashable.com/2007/05/23/wefi/
  2. No such thing as a free download http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/story/0,,2086165,00.html
  3. Verizon to Reveal iPhone Competitor This Summer http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=7418
  4. Michigan man arrested for using cafe's free WiFi from his car http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070522-michigan-man-arrested-for-using-cafes-free-wifi-from-his-car.html
  5. 1-800-GOOG-411: Freedom With Speech http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/2007/05/1-800-goog-411-freedom-with-speech.html

Open Source

  1. VA Software becomes Sourceforge Inc. http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070525/tc_infoworld/88837
  2. Dell Ubuntu Linux has arrived http://blogs.zdnet.com/Burnette/?p=318
  3. 10 Open Source Apps You Can't Live Without http://www.intranetjournal.com/articles/200705/ij_05_25_07a.html

SkyNet

  1. $100 Million Payday: Google Buying Feedburner http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/23/100-million-payday-for-feedburner-this-deal-is-confirmed/
  2. The Final Days of Google http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20070524_002134.html
  3. Google Launches Security Blog http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070523/tc_zd/208114
  4. Google: Found in Translation http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117997041379112887.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
  5. Google Calendar Goes Mobile http://blogs.pcworld.com/techlog/archives/004484.html
  6. Bigger attachments in Gmail http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/05/bigger-attachments-in-gmail.html

General Technology

  1. Closing the book on Apple's Mac mini http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/05/24/closing_the_book_on_apples_mac_mini.html
  2. USP Lasers: The Next Big Thing? http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_23/b4037063.htm
  3. Intel: Software needs to heed Moore's Law http://news.com.com/2100-1012_3-6186765.html
  4. $99 Zero-Emission, Linux Computer That's "as simple to use as a Mac" http://www.whatsnextblog.com/archives/2007/05/post_98.asp

Leisure & Entertainment

  1. `Super Paper Mario' is super http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070523/ap_en_ot/games_super_paper_mario
  2. Exclusive Geometry Wars Wii Interview http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=164788

Economy and Technology

  1. House OKs bill to curb gas gouging http://www.washtimes.com/business/20070524-121323-8807r.htm
  2. Legislature should look to Wisconsin's natural energy advantages http://wistechnology.com/article.php?id=3943

Civilian Aerospace

  1. Will Work for Spaceflight http://www.space.com/adastra/070524_adastra_space.html
  2. National Space Society Conference Kicks Off in Dallas http://www.space.com/adastra/070524_isdc_intro.html
  3. Space Venture Symposium Highlights Industry Diversity http://www.space.com/adastra/070525_spaceventurefinance.html

Supercomputing & GPUs

  1. GPGPU Looks For Respect http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1582455.html
  2. Nvidia Preps CUDA Software for June Release http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2136264,00.asp
  3. New Supercomputer at UNM Makes Teaching Nanoscience Easier http://www.unm.edu/~market/cgi-bin/archives/001974.html
  4. Minnesota Supercomputing Institute Gets New SGI Cluster http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1580475.html
  5. NVIDIA's CUDA turns GPUs into high-powered CPUs http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/25/nvidias-cuda-turns-gpus-into-high-powered-cpus/
  6. 'Not So Fast, Supercomputers,' Say Software Programmers http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1579050.html

*****

2007/05/22

NEW NET Issues List for 23 May 2007

It's been another hectic, out-of-town week where non-tech activities kept me so busy that I somehow failed to post a single entry since the last NEW NET issues list. A continual challenge for me to improve my time management... An always-moving target for maintaining an appropriate balance between being involved and aware of the multitude of interesting activities and advancements going on out there in the world and setting priorities/keeping commitments.

Schedule Change for NEW NET This Week!!!

To accomodate other people's busy schedules, NEW NET is planning to meet on Wednesday this week, pending confirmation from Luke. That confirmation will be posted in an update to this blog post later today (Tuesday, 22 May).

Below is the final list of issues for the WEDNESDAY, 24 May 02007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:59 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

The ‘net

  1. Firefox and the Anxiety of Growing Pains http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/21/technology/21link.html?ex=1337400000&en=f839391a4b577452&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
  2. Second Life Gets More Atmosphere http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5714&Itemid=2
  3. Cleversafe takes a slice out of storage http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070521/tc_infoworld/88663

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

  1. Drive-by Downloads Threaten http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131905-c,onlinesecurity/article.html
  2. Spyware hunter probes larger market flaws http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070516/tc_infoworld/88552
  3. Zango sues antispyware vendor PC Tools http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070518/tc_infoworld/88648

Mobile Computing & Communicating

  1. Cities struggle with wireless Internet http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070521/ap_on_hi_te/municipal_wireless_woes
  2. Motorola's solar LCD: charge your cell phone http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070521/tc_infoworld/88687
  3. Motorola Unveils Second-Gen Razr http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070516/bs_nf/52329

Open Source

  1. Dell Linux machines to debut Thursday http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070521/tc_infoworld/88721
  2. Dell Ubuntu 7.04 Offering http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/05/21/15563.aspx
  3. Sun Responds to Microsoft's Patent Claims http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070516/bs_nf/52325

SkyNet

  1. Google, Salesforce.com discuss alliance http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070521/ap_on_hi_te/google_salesforce
  2. Robotic Car: Google aims for 3-D world http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_5935632

General Technology

  1. Paying more for a printer, but less for ink http://news.com.com/Paying+more+for+a+printer%2C+but+less+for+ink/2100-1041_3-6184538.html
  2. AMD next-gen mobile processor “Griffin http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/32095/135/
  3. AMD and Intel: It takes a platform http://blogs.zdnet.com/processors/?p=123
  4. Maker Faire 2007: It'll Make Your Day/ Year http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/05/maker_faire_200.html
  5. Death knell tolls for 17-inch iMac http://w ww.thinksecret.com/news/0705imac.html
  6. Uruguay children try low-cost laptops http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070518/ap_on_hi_te/hundred_dollar_laptop
  7. Baby Boomers Influence Tech, Too http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070518/tc_zd/207772

Leisure & Entertainment

  1. Why Work Is Looking More Like a Video Game http://tinyurl.com/222lkd (NY Times)
  2. Frozen Codebase emerges from incubator ready to fly http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070520/GPG03/705200636/1247/GPGbusiness
  3. Video games giant sees battle in Europe http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070517/tc_nm/summit_electronicarts_dc
  4. Bruckheimer Q&A: Fueling video games http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070518/film_nm/bruckheimer_dc

Economy and Technology

  1. Elementeo’s 13-year-old CEO, highlight of TiECON http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/19/elementeos-13-year-old-ceo-highlight-of-tiecon/
  2. Why Can't Newspapers Get With the Program? http://www.ipdemocracy.com/archives/2007/05/20/#002500
  3. Alltel Agrees to $27.5 Billion Buyout http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070521/tc_pcworld/132038
  4. Engadget Report Sends Apple Diving http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070517/bs_nf/52366
  5. Staples to take back consumer electronics for recycling http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9721324-7.html
  6. Silicon Valley Could Use A Downturn Right About Now http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/22/silicon-valley-could-use-a-downturn-right-about-now/

Civilian Aerospace

  1. New Launch Delay for Second Private Space Station Prototype http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070517_bigelow_genesis2_delay.html
  2. Solar Power From Space http://www.space.com/adastra/070517_adastra_solarpowersats.html
  3. Ashes of Star Trek's 'Scotty, others,' found http://www.space.com/news/070518_upaerospace_ashesfound.html

Supercomputing & GPUs

  1. Perils and Pitfalls of HPC Spotlighted at LCI Conference http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1570525.html
  2. Multicore: Our Software Crisis http://www.renci.org/blog/pivot/entry.php?id=31

*****

2007/05/15

NEW NET Issues List for 15 Apr 2007

Steve Jobs is unquestionably one of the most charismatic CEOs in the news, and the quote below from the recent Apple shareholder meeting only reinforced that point, with his quip placing first in the competition for Tech Quote of the Week.

Shareholders pressed Jobs about what determines his compensation. Jobs has for years taken $1 a year in salary, and the Apple co-founder said: "I get 50 cents a year for just showing up. The other 50 cents is based on my performance."

Oh, by the way, Steve was the Fortune 500's top paid CEO. In some ways it's nice when the top person is rewarded primarily for their company's stock doing well. On the other hand, I abhor favorable monthly and quarterly financial numbers being the sole focus of a company. Fortunately, Steve's prime directive does not appear to be the short term numbers that most of Wall Street seems to focus on.

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 15 May 02007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:59 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. Lots of interesting tech news this week. Too many articles listed below, but they were all good, and I didn't have time to winnow out the least deserving.


The ‘net

  1. socialDragon: Advertisers get a piece of Average Joe http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070512/tc_infoworld/88423
  2. Yahoo to end North American auctions http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070510/ap_on_hi_te/yahoo_auctions
  3. Fancy Java in action: Iris photo editing http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9718577-7.html
  4. Fix your photos online with Phixr http://lifehacker.com/software/image-editing/fix-your-photos-online-with-phixr-251001.php
  5. Flash! Vermont Legislature Passes E-State Bill http://blog.tomevslin.com/2007/05/flash_vermont_l.html
  6. Windows Live Folders Part III http://liveside.net/blogs/main/archive/2007/05/12/windows-live-folders-part-iii.aspx
  7. GetMail For Hotmail http://www.e-eeasy.com/GetMail.aspx (and YPOPS or FreePOPS?)
  8. Wal-mart selling Skype hardware & pre-paid cards http://gigaom.com/2007/05/14/walmart-skype/
  9. Microsoft online storage disappears overnight http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatch/archives/011870.html
  10. Instant messaging: feature or product? http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/14/instant-messaging-feature-or-product/

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

  1. Windows Update KO's Norton Internet Security http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070511/tc_zd/207323
  2. Local agencies test sites for ID software http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techinnovations/2007-05-09-facial-recognition-tech_N.htm
  3. DHS privacy committee joins Real ID opposition http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/05/11/DHS-privacy-committee-opposes-Real-ID_1.html
  4. US intelligence wants ability to censor satellite images http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070509-us-intelligence-wants-ability-to-censor-satellite-images.html
  5. Intel’s embedded anti-malware could help business and consumer http://blogs.zdnet.com/Foremski/?p=182
  6. Tracking Himself: The 'Orwell Project' http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/11/AR2007051102030.html
  7. Massive DDoS attacks target Estonia; Russia accused http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070514-massive-ddos-attacks-target-estonia-russia-accused.html
  8. House reaffirms FISA as "exclusive means by which electronic surveillance may be conducted" http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070514-house-reaffirms-fisa-as-exclusive-means-by-which-electronic-surveillance-may-be-conducted.html
  9. Symantec: malware can hijack Windows Update, bypass firewall http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070513-symantec-malware-can-hijack-windows-update.html

Mobile Computing & Communicating

  1. Review: And now, a mid-sized BlackBerry http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070509/ap_on_hi_te/tech_test_blackberry
  2. nVidia's Newest Mobile GPU Gems http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070509/tc_zd/207105
  3. Helio's New Ocean: Phone & Email http://online.wsj.com/article/SB117875455785297883.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
  4. Mobile web is rubbish http://www.tech.co.uk/gadgets/phones/mobile-phones/news/mobile-web-is-rubbish-say-uk-students
  5. LG: first with colour e-paper display http://www.printweek.com/news/657042/LG-claims-world-first-colour-e-paper-display/
  6. Les Echos launches subscription e-paper http://www.editorsweblog.org/news/2007/05/france_les_echos_launches_subscription_e.php
  7. Will iPhone spark wireless wars? http://gigaom.com/2007/05/14/will-iphone-spark-wireless-wars/

Open Source

  1. A cynic rips open source http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;810329453;fp;4;fpid;1968336438
  2. Ubuntu Studio 7.04 is Here! http://blog.joejaxx.org/?p=7
  3. KDE 4.0 Alpha Arrives http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,2129015,00.asp
  4. Microsoft says open source violates 235 patents http://news.com.com/2100-1014_3-6183437.html

SkyNet

  1. Google to focus on software: CEO http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070510/tc_nm/google_software_dc
  2. Google's A Good Buy http://www.forbes.com/personalfinance/2007/05/11/google-yahoo-starbucks-pf-ii-in_cb_0511soapbox_inl.html
  3. Picasa, Google Maps enrich photos with tales of your travels http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003703725_ptpicasa12.html
  4. Google Plans to Secretly Track Your Online Gaming http://news.spong.com/article/12548?cb=471
  5. Google search by employer not illegal, say judges http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070510-google-search-by-employer-not-illegal-say-judges.html
  6. Adding Sounds To Google Earth http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2007/05/why_the_lion_ca.html
  7. Who’s Afraid of Google? http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/11/MNGRIPPB2N1.DTL

General Technology

  1. Who Will Support 'Whole Home Network'? (myDigitechnician!) http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070504/tc_pcworld/131579
  2. LEDs emerge to fight fluorescents http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/environment/2007-05-10-led-lights_N.htm
  3. AMD Faces the Day After New Centrino http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070510/tc_nf/52188
  4. Inside Apple: Stomping on Vista; iPhone Launch Crisis http://news.yahoo.com/s/zd/20070510/tc_zd/207134
  5. iPods and pacemakers do not mix http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/05/10/study-ipods-and-pacemakers-do-not-mix
  6. Stifling summers forecast by Nasa for US east coast http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2530788.ece
  7. Backing up is hard to do http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/05/11/backing-up-is-hard-to-do
  8. Microsoft, SanDisk: smart USB drives http://www.eetimes.com/news/latest/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199501125
  9. Sat nav driver's car hit by train http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/6646331.stm
  10. Woz Explains Apple Fanboyism http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/wozmodo/woz-explains-apple-fanboyism-259703.php
  11. Maximum pleasure from Apple mini http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003703721_ptgett12.html
  12. Inside AMD's Phenom And Opteron Quad-Core Architectures http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199501467
  13. AMD launches the Radeon HD 2000 series of GPUs http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070514-amd-launches-the-hd-2000-series.html

Leisure & Entertainment

  1. At USC, developing game coders http://news.com.com/2100-1043_3-6183014.html
  2. Soulcalibur Legends to be told on Wii http://www.gamespot.com/news/6170592.html
  3. D'oh! Simpsons Inside a Video Game! http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070511/bs_nf/52221
  4. Microsoft eyes huge launch sales of "Halo 3" http://news.yahoo.com/i/1214
  5. EA has four new iPod games in the pipeline http://news.yahoo.com/s/macworld/20070509/tc_macworld/ea20070509
  6. EA losses widen 56 percent http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070508/ap_on_hi_te/earns_electronic_arts

Economy and Technology

  1. Google maintains it won't split stock http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070511/ap_on_hi_te/google_annual_meeting
  2. TMT test of cash, clicks and content http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070511/tc_nm/summit_preview_dc
  3. Tesla Motors Secures $45 Million Series D Investment http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release_html_b1?release_id=251410
  4. Microsoft delves further into manufacturing with Zune plant http://tinyurl.com/29zsnc

Civilian Aerospace

  1. Charles Simonyi to Chronicle ISS Flight in Book http://www.space.com/news/ap_070430_simonyi_bookplan.html
  2. Regolith Rumble: Moon Dirt Digging Contest http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070511_regolith_challenge.html
  3. Rocket Racing Team Withdraws from League http://www.space.com/news/070507_rocketracing_team.html
  4. Methane Rocket Engine Successfully Tested http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070507_methane_rocket.html
  5. Cremated Remains of 200 Lost in Mountains After Trip to Space http://www.space.com/news/070510_lost_ashes.html
  6. NASA's Moon Dirt Digging Contest Yields No Winners http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/ap_070513_regolithchal_nowin.html

Supercomputing & GPUs

  1. Filling the Gap http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1561446.html
  2. Burton Smith on Reinventing Computing http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1558933.html
  3. RapidMind Looks to Tame the Multicore Beast http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1560982.html
  4. Compilers and More: Precision and Accuracy http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1556972.html

*****

2007/05/14

EAA Women Soar 2007

You can change the life of a high school girl who is interested in aviation, science or technology by getting them involved with EAA's Women Soar 2007.

EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) is sponsoring a two day program aimed at inspiring young women in grades 9 - 12 to be "the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, scientists, engineers, pilots, astronauts and dreamers..."

The young women who participate in this event on 22 - 23 July 2007 in Oshkosh at the EAA headquarters will participate in special presentations, interactive experiences, and two days of interaction with women who have excelled in aviation and other technical and scientific fields. They'll have a chance to meet Anousheh Ansari, a recent space explorer who spent time in the International Space Station last fall, as well as Boeing's first woman test pilot, a woman aviator holding a world speed record, an Air Force combat pilot and other great mentors.

Money is certainly no reason for a young woman to not participate in EAA Women Soar. Most of the cost for the event is underwritten, and the high schoolers only have to pay $10 for the two day event if they register by 30 June 2007. But don't wait, because EAA only has room for about 200 young women.

Certain events can change a person's life. If a young woman you know is undecided about whether she should pursue an education in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, discuss EAA Women Soar with her and offer to pay her way and provide her transportation. Or if you know a young woman who is already firmly committed to this career path, helping her make a few special connections through EAA Women Soar might be the difference between an ok start to college and a career or a fantastic, eye-opening introduction to a bunch of special women who have achieved great things in their lives and now want to give back to others.

Check out the Women Soar website. Then get your daughter, niece, student, or daughter of a friend interested in the program.

It might be the best thing you ever did for them.

*****

2007/05/13

FS3, Many-core Processing and The Future of Computing

A recent article from HPC Wire (High Productivity Computing) quoted Burton J. Smith (currently with Microsoft, formerly with Cray) as saying,

"There are two possible future scenarios: either computers get a lot cheaper but not much faster, or we use parallel computing to sustain continued performance improvement. In the first case, computing becomes a "mature" industry, and hardware and software become commodities. In the second, consumers will continue to enjoy the benefits of performance improvements, but successful software and hardware providers will have to embrace parallelism to differentiate themselves and compete."

There are very few people in the world who comprehend the computing world and the world as a whole face this challenge. I look at the situation with mixed optimism because of history. There are no guarantees we'll find a good solution. After all, the science fiction and predictions of fifty years ago pictured us with George Jetson personal rocket ships by the year 2000, as well as regular trips to the moon and other achievements which have not yet come to pass. But even the civilian aerospace efforts are beginning to make real strides, as other posts on this blog have noted. As the magic 8 ball says, "outlook good" and "signs point to yes."

Over the past fifty years of computing, people have generally found a way around most roadblocks. One might even say that, for true hackers, finding the way around roadblocks is half the fun, if not more. If you read "Hackers" by Steven Levy, it quickly becomes apparent that getting around artificial barriers was a challenge relished by the founders of the personal computer revolution. The same is true for many in today's ongoing mini-revolutions.

Although a way will be found around the difficulties in many-core programming, there will be a period of inefficiency and churning as hundreds of companies and organizations and thousands of IT students and professionals theorize, experiment and collaborate on good ways to program for the new hardware paradigm. Companies such as PeakStream and RapidMind are already producing commercial software to harness the power of many-core programming. Many other formal and informal groups around the world are thinking about and working on approaches to this issue.

The FireSeed Streaming Supercomputer (FS3) project is one of the efforts underway to unleash the power of tens of thousands of linked processing cores. If you'd like to get involved in an ad hoc tech project tackling many-core computing, contact me and join the fun!

FS3 is currently focusing on the NVIDIA GPU. The 128 cores of single precision processing muscle found on today's NVIDIA 8800 GTX for $600 may morph into 256 or 512 cores of double precision goodness for the same price before the end of 2008. Linking together ten boxes with SLI'd video cards (scalable link interface) will then provide 10,000+ processing cores for under $50,000.

The only question is, can the computing world effectively make use of those 10,000 cores which will be available to every startup company, every biotechnology and nanotechnology company, every university, and many wealthy or dedicated computing enthusiasts. And how about the 10,000,000 linked cores available to large corporations and government agencies -- don't think that No Such Agency and other groups aren't already thinking about and working on this issue.

Lastly, what will happen when an exceedingly brilliant and insightful twelve-year old has a 1000 core desktop computer sitting in their bedroom?

*****

2007/05/12

PPNB Supercluster and Innovation

The northeast Wisconsin PPNB industry supercluster (pulp & paper, printing, nonwovens and bio-refinery) holds great promise for innovation in the next five years.

Innovation needs a driving force. In this region's PPNB supercluster, the following factors are working together to provide that driving force:
  1. A strong PPNB ecosystem was built up over the past fifty years in northeast Wisconsin.
  2. Global economy pressures created both a need for jobs and a surplus of smart, experienced PPNB supercluster workers.
  3. The New North, area Technical Colleges, and other organizations are encouraging and enabling networking and collaboration in northeast Wisconsin.
  4. The knowledge economy provides new effective tools for information gathering, information sharing, and inexpensive and quick global communications.
  5. The intersection of each of the four PPNB industry sectors brings to the individual sectors new ideas, new ways of looking at opportunities and challenges, transfer of appropriate technologies and development of hybrid technologies and products.
  6. Emerging technologies, such as nanotechnology, result in products and manufacturing processes that were not possible ten years ago.
PPNB innovation has not yet reached critical mass, but an organized and determined effort by the right people will soon get us there. The infrastructure to support the critical mass is being built, and new ideas are being tried on a regular basis. Within the next one to two years, expect to read regular stories about PPNB innovation, regular meetings and quarterly conferences for the PPNB supercluster, new equipment and manufacturing processes originating in northeast Wisconsin and a new period of growth for the PPNB ecosystem in our region.

If you have ideas to share or want to work with others to strengthen, expand and innovate within the PPNB supercluster, please consider contacting me or one of the following people:
Many others in northeast Wisconsin would also be glad to talk with you about PPNB innovation. The more people we get involved with this effort, the sooner we'll reach critical mass.

Here's to the upcoming explosion of innovation in Wisconsin's PPNB supercluster!

*****

2007/05/08

NEW NET Issues List for 08 May 2007

The combination of planets aligning, numerous work and personal activities, and the approaching summer solstice resulted in a week passing since the last entry on this blog. Situations like this highlight the value of having contingency plans to allow daily or nearly-daily blog entries in spite of personal issues, web access problems or other situations where the normal approach.

All that aside, below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 08 May 02007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:57 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. There are more items I'd like to add to this list, and may update this post by adding a couple more later today.

The ‘net

  1. Yahoo Photos going dark as Flickr shines on http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/2007-05-03-yahoo-photos-flickr_N.htm
  2. Yahoo releases browser-based instant messaging client http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070504-yahoo-releases-browser-based-instant-messaging-client.html
  3. Unrest in Cyberspace; Europe in SL; Misleading SL stats? http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/18667/ http://news.com.com/Europeans+latch+on+to+Second+Life/2100-1043_3-6181431.html http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/05/why_is_linden_l.html
  4. Kicking The Tires On Shopping Search, Part Two: The Independents http://searchengineland.com/070504-105037.php
  5. The Awesome Power of Spare Cycles http://www.longtail.com/the_long_tail/2007/05/the_awesome_pow.html
  6. America: The Growing Digital Divide http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/06/america-the-growing-digital-divide/

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

  1. Trojan impersonates Windows activation http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=390
  2. Bush administration proposes retroactive immunity for phone companies http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070504-bush-administration-proposes-retroactive-immunity-for-phone-companies.html
  3. Three CNET reporters plan to sue HP http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070507/media_nm/hp_suit_reporters_dc

Mobile Computing & Communicating

  1. RIM, Nokia unveil high- and low-end phones http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070503/tc_infoworld/88272
  2. Samsung's Q1 Ultra Second-Gen UMPC http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004332.html

Open Source

  1. Don't be afraid, Linux isn't just for geeks http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/andrewkantor/2007-05-04-linux_N.htm
  2. Turn your Linux box into a PDF-making machine http://applications.linux.com/applications/07/05/03/1421232.shtml?tid=47
  3. A keyhole for your system's back door http://security.linux.com/security/07/05/01/1852208.shtml?tid=47&tid=35

SkyNet

  1. Google nets role in '08 presidential campaign http://www.columbusdispatch.com/dispatch/content/business/stories/2007/05/07/candidates_google.ART_ART_05-07-07_C8_6Q6JQE1.html
  2. NBC Universal sides against YouTube in piracy suit http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070507/wr_nm/youtube_nbcuniversal_dc
  3. Fear of Google http://scobleizer.com/2007/05/06/fear-of-google/

General Technology

  1. Cats, not windmills, bigger threat to birds http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/05/04/MNG9SPKPT31.DTL
  2. IBM's catches air, touts Top Ten list http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070503-ibms-catches-air-touts-top-ten-list.html
  3. Silicon Valley engineers peek at the Tesla Roadster http://news.com.com/Silicon+Valley+engineers+peek+at+the+Tesla/2100-11389_3-6181574.html?tag=st.txt.caro
  4. Switching Back (to Windows) http://www.nik.com.au/archives/2007/05/06/switching-back/

Leisure & Entertainment

  1. Creative Launches $40 MP3 Player http://www.newsfactor.com/news/Creative-Launches--40-MP3-Player/story.xhtml?story_id=003000C99JN9
  2. Game combats campus culture shock http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6598943.stm

Economy and Technology

  1. Microsoft weighs $50bn tilt at Yahoo http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article1747293.ece http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/technology/05soft.html?em&ex=1178510400&en=9a190510be91352b&ei=5087%0A http://news.com.com/Commentary+A+Microsoft-Yahoo+mashup+Pros+and+cons/2030-1069_3-6181510.html http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2126219,00.asp
  2. All Wired Up in the Shenandoah Valley http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2007/tc20070502_775059.htm
  3. Photobucket: A Steal v. Google/YouTube http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/05/07/photobucket-was-a-steal-v-googleyoutube/

Civilian Aerospace

  1. Junkyard on the Moon http://www.popsci.com/popsci/aviationspace/783e4963dfe42110vgnvcm1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
  2. Homemade Space Glove Wins NASA Contest http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/070504_astronaut_glove_win.html

Supercomputing & GPUs

  1. The Uncommodity Solution http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1548685.html
  2. RapidMind 2.0 looks for GPGPU gold in parallel workloads http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070507-rapidmind-2-0-looks-for-gpgpu-gold-in-parallel-workloads.html

*****

2007/05/01

NEW NET Issues List for 01 May 2007

Below is the final list of issues for the TUESDAY, 01 May 02007, NEW NET (Northeast Wisconsin Network for Economy and Technology) 6:57 - 9:00 pm weekly gathering upstairs at Tom's Drive In, 501 N Westhill Blvd, Appleton, Wisconsin, USA.

One of the items for tonight will likely be getting a tour of Andy's new phone which he picked up across the pond. Another item is discussion of the planned NEW NET meeting on 22 May 2007 at EAA, if both Adam and Erik are still available for that evening.

The ‘net

  1. PlayStation Meets Mainframe http://www.ddj.com/blog/portal/archives/2007/04/playstation_mee.html
  2. LinkedIn Launches Corporate Blog http://mashable.com/2007/04/25/linkedin-blog/
  3. Joost Signs Major Advertisers http://clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3625683
  4. Selling a Convenient Untruth http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070429/7iraq.htm
  5. Lawmakers propose reversal of Net radio fee increases http://news.com.com/2100-1028_3-6179627.html
  6. Jamglue's Growth and Scaling http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2007/04/jamglues_growth.html
  7. Joost TV Open for Business http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131434-c,onlineentertainment/article.html
  8. Jabber creator signs on to Wikia search project http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6180379.html

Security, Privacy & Digital Controls

  1. June 2007: Ad Aware to Get Big Upgrade http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/004027.html
  2. As Web 2.0 evolves, security becomes an issue http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/04/25/HNweb2security_1.html
  3. Startup pitches smarter AV http://news.yahoo.com/s/infoworld/20070425/tc_infoworld/88010
  4. New US Border Check Tool: Google http://searchengineland.com/070424-094350.php
  5. Ohio U. Limits File-Sharing Programs http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4749165.html
  6. Laptop Recovers Lost Data In 60 Seconds http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070428/tc_cmp/199202224

Mobile Computing & Communicating

  1. LG KE850 PRADA was just a beginning http://www.unwiredview.com/2007/04/26/lg-ke850-prada-was-just-a-beginning/
  2. Nokia Joins 'Mobile Wallet' Initiative http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070426/bs_nf/51786

Open Source

  1. The Virtues of Monoculture http://www.oreillynet.com/onlamp/blog/2007/04/the_virtues_of_monoculture.html
  2. Adobe Flex goes open source http://blogs.zdnet.com/Stewart/?p=353
  3. Ubuntu Linux Vs. Windows Vista: The Battle For Your Desktop http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199201179

SkyNet

  1. Google Scratches Google Calendar Maintenance http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070425/tc_pcworld/131229
  2. Google Declares Personalized Home Page Glitch Solved http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131312-c,google/article.html
  3. Google Calls Viacom Suit on YouTube Unfounded http://tinyurl.com/2fdh6n (NY Times)
  4. iGoogle, Personalized Search And You http://searchengineland.com/070501-084656.php
  5. Googling state government documents http://www.nytimes.com/cnet/CNET_2100-1038_3-6180002.html?_r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

General Technology

  1. Vista: 'Moving day for all those files' http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/04/19/technology/ptbasic.php
  2. Let PCmover Migrate For You http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2121648,00.asp
  3. Build Your Own Internet-Controlled Robots http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,131237-c,futuretechnology/article.html
  4. Dell Swaps Hard Drives For Flash In More Notebooks http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199201481
  5. Top 10: USB thumb drive tricks http://lifehacker.com/software/lifehacker-top-10/lh-top-10-usb-thumb-drive-tricks-255738.php
  6. Vista – End of the Dream? http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/04/29/vista_end_dream/
  7. Getting books published without a publisher http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003684505_ptselfpublish28.html

Leisure & Entertainment

  1. Nintendo Sales Up, but Wii Misses Target http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20070426/tc_pcworld/131243
  2. IBM announces Cell-based "gameframe" system for hosting virtual worlds http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070427-ibm-announces-cell-based-gameframe-system-for-hosting-virtual-worlds.html
  3. Dance Dance Revolution hits the high school gym class http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070430-dance-dance-revolution-coming-to-a-gym-class-near-you.html
  4. GameTap to offer free, ad-supported gaming, along with new store http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070501-gametap-to-offer-free-ad-supported-gaming-along-with-new-store.html

Economy and Technology

  1. MySQL hits $50 million revenue, plans IPO http://news.com.com/2100-7344_3-6179290.html
  2. Payscale, shows useful compensation info http://venturebeat.com/2007/04/25/payscale-providing-useful-info-on-compensation/
  3. HitForge, a new twist on incubators http://gigaom.com/2007/04/25/hitforge/
  4. Strong sales of Macs, iPods = Apple dancing http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2007-04-25-apple_N.htm
  5. Americans Spend $1,200 A Year On Tech Gadgets http://news.yahoo.com/s/cmp/20070428/tc_cmp/199202277

Civilian Aerospace

  1. Hawking goes zero-G: ‘Space, here I come’ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18334489/
  2. Q&A with Charles Simonyi http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2003677786_websimonyiqa23.html
  3. Planet Hunters Edge Closer to Their Holy Grail http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070424_exoplanet_side.html
  4. Private Rocket Launches Ashes of Star Trek's Scotty http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/070429_upaerospace_sl2lnch.html

Supercomputing & GPUs

  1. Revenge of the SMP? http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1536477.html
  2. HPC: Meeting the Ethanol Challenge http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1532996.html
  3. MIT Students Complete First Course on Cell Broadband Engine http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1533844.html

*****