NEW NET Weekly List for 29 Oct 2013
Below is the final NEW NET (NorthEast Wisconsin Network for Entrepreneurism and Technology) list of technology news and issues for Tuesday, 29 October 2013. The NEW NET meeting for 08 October was cancelled due to schedule conflicts.
The Weekly Top
Ten, (pre-NEW NET, based on potential or immediate impact and/or general tech
interestingness)
1.
Motorola's Project Ara
aims to create an Android-style ecosystem for modular hardware http://www.zdnet.com/motorolas-project-ara-aims-to-create-an-android-style-ecosystem-for-hardware-7000022550/ “Having come to dominate the smartphone OS
market, Android has built up a huge ecosystem around it. Now Google is hoping
to pull off a similar feat in hardware through its handset arm, Motorola. Motorola's
Project Ara, announced on Monday, combines a smartphone exoskeleton with a
variety of hardware modules that can be used to customise the device…Project
Ara is developing a free, open hardware platform for creating highly modular
smartphones…The idea is for phone buyers to be able to stipulate more of the
hardware included in their device when they buy it, and to have the ability to
swap out components when they want to upgrade or if anything breaks. The first
module developers kit is expected by the end of this winter…Motorola will begin
recruiting 'Ara scouts' over the next few months to help decide the future
direction of the project. It's been working on the idea for around a year, with
help from Phonebloks…”
2.
Historical Software
Archive lets you use vintage software in your browser http://www.pcworld.com/article/2058087/historical-software-archive-lets-you-use-vintage-software-in-your-browser.html “…The Internet Archive has protected and
preserved old software for a while now…Software is so transient, though. It’s
sometimes hard to get a program from 2003 to run on a modern machine, let alone
a program from 1983. For most people it wouldn’t be worth the trouble…The
Historical Software Archive, announced Friday, changes that. There’s no need to
fuss with stand-alone emulators. Instead, the Internet Archive runs MESS (short
for Multi Emulator Super System) with Javascript in Chrome, Firefox, Safari—any
modern browser…the Historical Software Archive is for all types of software—not
just games…check out Apple Presents the IIc, a series of instructional guides…Then
make a spreadsheet in VisiCalc, the 1979 Apple II program that pioneered the
computer spreadsheet…” https://archive.org/details/historicalsoftware
3.
Nextdoor, a social
network for neighbors http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/nextdoor-a-start-up-raises-60-million/?_r=0 “Nextdoor, a social network for neighbors…announced
a $60 million investment on Tuesday…Nextdoor has raised more than $100 million
in the last 18 months…Nextdoor has no revenue yet, but believes it is well
positioned to capture some of the multibillion-dollar local advertising market…“Much
more than the money, we’re trying to bring in the right people to get to the
next level,”…Mr. Tolia said the site had fewer than 10 million active users.
That growing community is highly dispersed across more than 22,000 neighborhoods
around the United States…Nextdoor is adding members at a healthy clip and
believes it can fill the information void left by the erosion of local
newspaper readership and local television viewing. The company is also
attracting classified ads, robust discussions on its message boards about
everything from crime to local businesses and services, and becoming a forum
for neighbors to meet one another…” http://techcrunch.com/2013/10/29/nextdoor-the-facebook-for-your-neighborhood-lands-60m-from-john-doerr-tiger-global-and-more-to-go-international/
4.
The Decline of Wikipedia http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/520446/the-decline-of-wikipedia/ “The sixth most widely used website in the
world is not run anything like the others in the top 10. It is…operated by…a
leaderless collection of volunteers who generally work under pseudonyms and
habitually bicker with each other. It rarely tries new things in the hope of
luring visitors; in fact, it has changed little in a decade. And yet every
month 10 billion pages are viewed on the English version of Wikipedia alone…Because
there is no other free information source like it, many online services rely on
Wikipedia…Yet Wikipedia and its stated ambition to “compile the sum of all
human knowledge” are in trouble. The volunteer workforce that built the
project’s flagship, the English-language Wikipedia—and must defend it against
vandalism, hoaxes, and manipulation—has shrunk by more than a third since 2007
and is still shrinking…The main source of those problems is not mysterious. The
loose collective running the site today, estimated to be 90 percent male,
operates a crushing bureaucracy with an often abrasive atmosphere that deters
newcomers who might increase participation in Wikipedia and broaden its
coverage…”
5.
Don’t trust VPNs? Create
your own with a friend and Google uProxy, a browser extension http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/10/dont-trust-vpns-create-your-own-with-a-friend-and-a-browser-extension/ “A browser extension being developed for
Chrome and Firefox will let Web users create VPN-like connections to the
Internet by routing all their traffic through a friend's trusted connection. Consumer
VPNs…let users create secure connections to a VPN provider's data center. The
user's traffic is sent to the rest of the Internet only after it gets encrypted
and pushed through the VPN service. The new "uProxy" will work in a
similar way except that your traffic is routed through a friend's secure
connection before traveling to the rest of the Internet. Both you and your
friend would need to have a browser extension installed and running for it to
work. You could also use uProxy to route traffic through your home Internet
connection when you're out of the house and on a public Wi-Fi network…uProxy is
intended to allow one user, with a safer and more secure connection to the
Internet, to share their connection to the Internet with trusted friends and
family, or even with themselves when they travel…”
6.
AT&T’s Plan Revamp
Signals the End of Voice Minutes http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/25/atts-new-phone-plans-signal-the-end-of-voice-minutes/ “The days of worrying about minutes ticking
away on your cell phone plan are nearly gone…AT&TT is dropping the
availability of its old plans for new smartphone subscribers…all of the
remaining plans include unlimited calling and texting with the exception of
one. The three other major U.S. carriers — Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile— now
only offer unlimited voice and messaging to new customers…Back in 1984,
cellular…minutes were costly: US West…offered service…for about $200 per month
(about $450 in today’s dollars after inflation), including 300 minutes of
calling but not including long-distance charges…The carriers aren’t making this
change because they think customers should just have unlimited calls for free.
It is because voice traffic is falling and data use is skyrocketing…”
7.
Get ready for the Google
Glass Gold Rush http://venturebeat.com/2013/10/25/get-ready-for-the-google-glass-gold-rush/ “In 2008, the App Store gave birth to
million-dollar startups all over the world and has totally transformed the way
we use mobile phones. By observing the phenomenal success of the smartphone, we
can easily predict that Google Glass will be the next gold rush for developers.
This innovative wearable computer allows unique interaction with our daily
lives. The potential for groundbreaking applications is extraordinary…Running
alone in the park is so boring…Imagine if you…were being hunted down by zombies
or fanatic dogs?...If we can imagine it, we can build it. If we can dream it,
we can create wonders like the world has never seen before…For the smartphone
market, more than 50 billion applications have been downloaded from the App
Store (June 2013). Many startup companies and well-established businesses have
based their business model on this platform and some of them are earning
billions…smartphones…now allow a better interaction with the environment (such
as GPS, compass, a better camera, and faster broadband/CPU). These amazing
features only require that a user takes his smartphone out of his pocket,
unlock it, launch the app, and perform the desired action. Using a handsfree
device, the app could be available all day long and have a wider usage…the
public release is planned for 2014 with a dedicated app store that will
definitely create a new and explosive Gold Rush for new business
opportunities…”
8.
USB powers up http://www.economist.com/news/international/21588104-humble-usb-cable-part-electrical-revolution-it-will-make-power-supplies “Fiddly cables, incompatible plugs and
sockets, and the many adaptors needed to fit them all together used to be the
travellers’ bane. But the USB (Universal Serial Bus) has simplified their life.
Most phones and other small gadgets can charge from a simple USB cable plugged
into a computer or an adaptor. Some 10 billion of them are already in use.
Hotel rooms, aircraft seats, cars and new buildings increasingly come with USB
sockets as a standard electrical fitting…a much bigger change is looming. From
2014, a USB cable will be able to provide power to bigger electronic devices…this
could change the way homes and offices use electricity, cutting costs and
improving efficiency…The USB connection’s…trickle of electricity (up to ten
watts on the existing standard) is still barely enough for devices such as an
iPad. Yet USB charging is now the default for phones, e-readers and other small
gadgets. Some mobile-phone manufacturers are already shipping their products
without a power adaptor…The big change next year will be a new USB PD (Power
Delivery) standard, which brings much more flexibility and ten times as much
oomph: up to 100 watts…”
9.
LG unveils the Fireweb,
its first Firefox OS smartphone http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/22/lg-fireweb/ “…Firefox OS has been limited to ultra-basic
smartphones like the ZTE Open. LG is expanding the platform's reach today by
releasing its inaugural Mozilla-powered handset, the Fireweb. The 4-inch device
is still designed for newcomers between its 480 x 320 display, 1GHz Qualcomm
processor and 4GB of expandable storage. However, its 5-megapixel camera is a
big improvement over shooters in preceding phones -- this is the first Firefox
OS phone with both autofocusing and an LED flash…”
10.
Windy Day on MotoX: Google
Channels Pixar to Change Storytelling as We Know It http://www.wired.com/business/2013/10/motorola-google-mouse/all/ “People who own a Moto X…might be wondering
this morning: What…is that little red sombrero doing on my home screen? Those
adventurous enough to poke a finger at the hat are in for a big surprise. With
that single touch, a Moto X turns into a player for a new form of media — one
that combines computer animation and street theater with virtual reality. The
phone’s screen becomes a looking-glass that peers into a stylized virtual
forest…Move the phone up, down, right, left, and you can see more and more of
this colorful world — including that red chapeau, and an expressive mouse named
Pepe, who is alternatively intrigued and stalked by a hat blown around by a
stiff, persistent breeze. He encounters other creatures — squirrels, raccoons,
a bear — who assist or impede him, and sometimes, he gets flattened a lá Wile
E. Coyote. You follow the story by peering through the phone…like using
binoculars to pan over a landscape. If you turn away, you can explore your own
surroundings, but when you return your eyes once more to Pepe and his cohorts,
it’s as if the narrative has paused for you, resuming now that you’re paying
attention again…at times, it’s actually laugh-out-loud funny. In fact, the whole
package…reaches the notoriously stratospheric level of a Pixar movie. This is
not surprising because Motorola hired actual Pixar moviemakers to create it…Windy
Day, as the production is called, came from Motorola’s in-house moonshot
division, Advanced Technology And Products (ATAP). This research group…instantly
began a mini-DARPA inside Motorola. Like DARPA, ATAP engages researchers for
two-year stints, directing them to take on a project just at the point where
new technologies make it possible to make a groundbreaking advance…If the
result won’t be at least five to ten times better, a project is a non-starter…One
of those things is what’s appearing on Moto X phones today, a new type of
storytelling that Motorola calls “Spotlight Stories.”…Most of the time…the
powerful graphics capability on the phone is absolutely idle…So…ATAP worked on
building a graphics-rich platform for virtual worlds on smartphones…Dugan and Elmieh
were…trying to recruit…Jan Pinkava, an Oscar-winning moviemaker who had worked
on multiple Pixar films…Motorola...demoed the technology to him, and explained
that they needed artists to use it…to engage people emotionally…Pinkava
thought, “This is the best gig ever!” Pinkava’s key partner in the production
was Doug Sweetland, an animator with key roles in numerous Pixar films…they had
an idea that would shape the entire project: give the audience the camera…“We’re
not doing a game. We’re doing a narrative…while the main story provided a
backbone, the user-directed field of view allowed for more than one story to be
told at once…at one point, if the viewer keeps looking at a group of chipmunks
while the mouse heads elsewhere, they will see a bit of action they’d otherwise
miss…”
The ‘net
11.
Manage your digital
footprint: what does your internet profile say about you? http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/social-networks/3474750/what-does-your-internet-profile-say-about-you/ “The internet knows a lot about us…we need to
seriously consider the state of our digital identity. In the past any errors of
judgement or fleeting, rebellious actions could be quietly put to rest and
hopefully forgotten…Today, things are very different. In the digital,
always-connected age there is the real possibility that the things we share or
experience will follow us relentlessly throughout our whole lives, with
possible implications on the jobs or financial services open to us in years to
come…With reportedly 94% of Google searches never reaching the second page of
links, what appears on page one of your name is of the utmost importance.
Thankfully there are ways of populating this list with positive content,
essentially burying the past under a more reputable present. All it takes is a
little work…”
12.
Ditch your ISP's modem
and change your Internet experience forever http://www.pcworld.com/article/2056140/ditch-your-isps-modem-and-change-your-internet-experience-forever.html “…Most ISPs charge anywhere from $4 to $7 per
month for the modem that brings you Internet access…But most ISPs also let you
buy your own modem…the vast majority of us can ditch our rented modems and reap
some substantial benefits in the process…Since most people use the same modem
for five to ten years, buying your own is definitely a moneysaver long-term…Many
ISPs also limit your access to the Web-based control interface of rental
modems, which can hamper your efforts to monitor or tweak your network…which
can be useful for checking traffic logs and signal quality or troubleshooting
Internet issues…the most pragmatic reason to buy your own modem is to replace a
busted one…if they can’t fix or replace it quickly and you need Internet access
right away, it’s probably worth taking the time to buy a modem off the shelf…”
13.
Pinterest Raises $225
Million at $3.8 Billion Valuation http://allthingsd.com/20131023/pinterest-does-another-massive-funding-225-million-at-3-8-billion-valuation/ “…Pinterest has completed another enormous
funding, this time nabbing $225 million…The new infusion of cash…pegs the
latest valuation of Pinterest at $3.8 billion…Sources said the money was aimed
in part at goosing international efforts…”
14.
The Internet just got the
first four new generic top-level domains http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57608976-93/internet-begins-its-move-beyond-.com-.net-and-.edu/ “Think .biz and .mobi are a little weird to
see at the end of an Internet address?...on Wednesday, the first 4 of a planned
1,400 new Net-address suffixes -- called generic top-level domains, or GTLDs --
were built into the fabric of the Internet. The first four new GTLDs, taking
advantage of the newer ability to extend beyond Latin character sets, are the
Chinese word for game, the Arabic word for Web, and the Russian words for
online and site…one of ICANN's key aims is to help create a globally inclusive
Internet, regardless of language or region…”
15.
Fon finally launches in
the US, inviting consumers to share their Wi-Fi http://gigaom.com/2013/10/23/fon-finally-launches-in-the-u-s-inviting-consumers-to-share-their-wi-fi/ “…Fon…the Spanish Wi-Fi aggregator…has begun
selling its Wi-Fi routers to U.S. consumers. Called Foneras, the devices work
like any other Wi-Fi access point with one exception: they automatically
partition off a portion of their Wi-Fi signals to create a shared broadband
network accessible to any Fon member at no cost…Europeans embraced a
Wi-Fi-first attitude toward connecting mobile devices like smartphones and
tablets, while us Yanks seemed content to use our cellular connections…That
attitude has shifted in recent years, and U.S. companies are starting to
embrace the concept of shared Wi-Fi. The most obvious example of that is
Comcast, which recently began opening up all of its customer’s home Wi-Fi
routers to other Comcast customers…”
16.
Chrome is used more than
Firefox, IE, and Opera combined http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/10/24/across-desktop-mobile-chrome-used-firefox-ie-opera-combined/ “…In September, Chrome was used more than
Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Opera combined. If you combine Chrome and the
Android stock browser, Google’s browsers have greater usage share than Firefox
and Safari combined…Last month, Google Chrome held the first place spot by
capturing more than a third of the market with 34.68 percent market share. This
was double Firefox’s market share (16.60 percent), which came in second place,
followed closely by Safari (16.15 percent) and Internet Explorer (15.62
percent)…”
Security,
Privacy & Digital Controls
17.
Call Yourself A Hacker,
Lose Your 4th Amendment Rights http://www.digitalbond.com/blog/2013/10/22/call-yourself-a-hacker-lose-your-4th-amendment-rights/ “The US District Court for the State of Idaho
ruled that an ICS product developer’s computer could be seized without him
being notified or even heard from in court primarily because he states on his
web site “we like hacking things and don’t want to stop”…Battelle…requested and
got an order to knock on his door and seize his computer because he claims to
like hacking things…The Court finds it significant that defendants are
self-described hackers, who say, “We like hacking things and we don’t want to
stop.”…By labeling themselves this way, they have essentially announced that
they have the necessary computer skills and intent to simultaneously release
the code publicly and conceal their role in that act…” http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20131022/13260324972/govt-contractor-uses-copyright-fear-hackers-to-get-restraining-order-against-open-source-developer.shtml
[all
the hackerspaces in the US (including the DHMN hacker/makerspace) had best be
prepared for government agency monitoring them closely – ed.]
18.
Was Obama Unaware as U.S.
Spied on World Leaders? http://online.wsj.com/news/article_email/SB10001424052702304470504579162110180138036-lMyQjAxMTAzMDIwNzEyNDcyWj “The National Security Agency ended a program
used to spy on German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a number of other world
leaders after an internal Obama administration review…U.S. officials said…the
internal review turned up NSA monitoring of some 35 world leaders, in the U.S.
government's first public acknowledgment that it tapped the phones of world
leaders…The account suggests President Barack Obama went nearly five years
without knowing his own spies were bugging the phones of world leaders.
Officials said the NSA has so many eavesdropping operations under way that it
wouldn't have been practical to brief him on all of them…” [government
acknowledgement of various NSA monitoring programs raises two questions: (1)
what other interesting monitoring is or was being done about which Snowden
didn’t get documentation, and (2) what percentage of US citizens now think
Snowden did the right thing and is a whistleblower rather than a traitor? – ed.]
19.
Security Check Now Starts
Long Before You Fly http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/22/business/security-check-now-starts-long-before-you-fly.html?pagewanted=all “The Transportation Security Administration
is expanding its screening of passengers before they arrive at the airport by
searching a wide array of government and private databases that can include
records like car registrations and employment information…While the agency says
that the goal is to streamline the security procedures for millions of
passengers who pose no risk, the new measures give the government greater
authority to use travelers’ data for domestic airport screenings. Previously
that level of scrutiny applied only to individuals entering the United States…the
agency…can access…tax identification number, past travel itineraries, property
records, physical characteristics, and law enforcement or intelligence
information…”
20.
Memo to Workers: The Boss
Is Watching http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303672404579151440488919138 “Dennis Gray suspected that workers in his
pest-control company were spending too much time on personal issues during the
workday. So the general manager…installed a piece of GPS tracking software on
the company-issued smartphones of five of its 18 drivers…One employee, he
discovered, was visiting the same address a few times a week for a few hours
during the workday…The employee confessed he was meeting a woman during work
hours. Another driver admitted he was blowing off work. Both men were let go…Thanks
to mobile devices and inexpensive monitoring software, managers can now know
where workers are, eavesdrop on their phone calls, tell if a truck driver is
wearing his seat belt and intervene if he is tailgating…Office workers have
come to expect that their every keystroke is tracked on a server somewhere, but
monitoring for hourly and wage workers has long been limited to video cameras
in the break room and GPS on delivery trucks. Companies are now watching a
wider swath of blue-collar workers more closely to ensure work is getting done…Workplace
tracking technology is largely unregulated, and courts have found that
employees have few rights to privacy on the job…”
21.
You’re infected—if you
want to see your data again, pay us $300 in Bitcoins http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/10/youre-infected-if-you-want-to-see-your-data-again-pay-us-300-in-bitcoins/ “Malware that takes computers hostage until
users pay a ransom is getting meaner, and thanks to the growing prevalence of
Bitcoin and other digital payment systems, it's easier than ever for online
crooks to capitalize on these "ransomware" schemes…consider the experience
of…damage inflicted by a particularly nasty title known as CryptoLocker. It
started when an end user…received an email purporting to come from
Intuit…Within…hours, the company's IT department received word of a corrupt
file stored on a network drive that was available to multiple employees,
including the one who received the malicious e-mail…CryptoLocker…uses strong
cryptography to lock all files that a user has permission to modify, including
those on secondary hard drives and network storage systems…It warns that the
files are locked using a 2048-bit version of the RSA cryptographic algorithm
and that the data will be forever lost unless the private key is obtained from
the malware operators within three days of the infection…To obtain the private
key for this computer, which will automatically decrypt files, you need to pay
300 USD / 300 EUR / similar amount in another currency." None of the
reddit posters reported any success in breaking the encryption. Several also
said they had paid the ransom and received a key that worked as promised…Because
CryptoLocker encrypted all files that an infected computer had access to, the
ransomware in many cases locked the contents of backup disks that were expected
to be relied upon in the event that the main disks failed…”
Mobile
Computing & Communicating
22.
Livescribe 3 smartpen
digitizes notes, starts at $150 http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/28/livescribe-3/ “Livescribe broke new ground last year with
the Sky WiFi pen that could transfer handwritten and audio notes straight to…your
Evernote account…Having to jump on WiFi to send and retrieve those notes didn't
make it the most convenient thing…Enter the Livescribe 3, which offers a
solution to that problem. The company's latest smartpen is positioned as a
companion specifically designed to work in concert with a compatible mobile
device, which in this case only applies to those that run iOS. Once paired via
Bluetooth LE, notes written in a Livescribe notebook will automatically appear
on the accompanying Livescribe+ app…unlike the Echo or the Sky, the 3 does not
have a built-in microphone. Instead, it hands off the audio recording to your
iPhone or iPad when you hit the record button either on the paper or the app…it'll
sync the results with your scribbled notes -- the app actually highlights the
coinciding text as the audio playback occurs…these so-called
"pencasts" are simply not possible if the pen is disconnected from
the device. However, notes written while not connected will still sync up later
on…”
23.
Tiny barometers in cell
phones could tell you how high you are http://arstechnica.com/science/2013/10/tiny-barometers-in-cell-phones-could-tell-you-how-high-you-are/ “The modern smart phone is packed full of
goodies that help it figure out where it is. Internal accelerometers provide
orientation, and WiFi and GPS signals combine with it to provide geographic
location…Until you walk into a large building. The GPS signal disappears, and
the WiFi may only tell you accurately that you are in the building…Clearly
navigational systems for inside buildings require an alternative approach…inertial
guidance systems rely on sensing changes in acceleration, and they use that to
calculate a new position. Every calculation has a small error, and, since each
new calculation relies on the results of the last calculation, this error grows
as fast as the national debt…As a person climbs stairs or takes the lift, the
barometric pressure changes, and an internal navigation system can use this to
determine which floor they are on. Unfortunately, barometers, as they are
currently designed, are not well suited to miniaturization…by the time the
barometer fits in your cell phone, it might be able to distinguish between the
top and bottom of Mount Everest, but not much more…researchers have figured out
a new way to make a barometer…they put a tiny cantilever over the opening of an
equally tiny chamber. The cantilever is not designed to seal the chamber;
rather, it acts as a pressure sensitive valve…By making the cantilever out of a
piezoresistive material, the electrical resistance of the cantilever changes as
it bends, providing a direct measure of the bending. With a bit of calibration
work, this can be turned into a barometer…”
24.
Top 7 Reasons Why Mobile
Ads Don't Work http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/top-7-reasons-why-mobile-ads-dont-work-153202 “A Dartmouth researcher's study sheds light
on the mobile Web and app users who don't click on ads…here are the top seven
reasons they steer clear of the ads on smartphones and tablets…1. The screen is
too small, per 72 percent of survey participants…2. People are just too busy
for ads…3. After tapping an ad and going to the landing page…respondents hate
it that they cannot easily return to the content they were reading or watching…4.
Too hard to get online with cell phones…5…it's too frustrating when mobile
consumption is interrupted…6. Ads take too long to load…7. Consumers are just
not in the mood for ads…”
Apps
25.
Smartphone apps come in
handy for Halloween http://www.androidauthority.com/7-best-halloween-apps-for-android-289674/ “It’s Halloween season!...there are a variety
of apps for Android that can help you get ready for Halloween…Costumes for
Halloween…is an online store where you can find Halloween costumes for kids and
adults…Halloween HD Wallpapers…includes 40 HD wallpapers that look good and
will add some seasonal charm to your device…Halloween Planner that can help you
quickly plan out your Halloween without clogging up your other apps…With
Halloween Ringtones 2013, you can easily find Halloween ringtones and assign
them wherever…there is an app called Horror Makeup that’ll help you put the
finishing touches on your costume…Scare Your Friends…sets a timer and when the
timer ticks down, a scary image pops up on the screen accompanied by a loud
noise…We have saved the best for last and it’s an app called Horror-Movies…You
pay a buck, download it, and you have access to stream every copyright-expired
horror flick out there…”
26.
Smartphone apps developed
at Michigan Tech to connect citizens and scientists for research http://up.secondwavemedia.com/innovationnews/smartphone100913.aspx “The National Science Foundation is
sponsoring a project at Michigan Tech called Cyber Citizens…the Cyber Citizens
project goal is to build smartphone apps and websites that connect average
citizens with scientists to help acquire valuable environmental information
across the world. A team of graduate and undergrad students at Tech…have worked
to develop four different apps so far. They include Beach Health Monitor, which
evaluates environmental factors to determine beach safety; Lichen Air Quaility,
which examines lichen to detect air pollution; Mushroom Mapper, which locates
and describes habitats of different mushrooms, and EthnoApp…an app for
community ethnography, used to collect interviews, photos and other information
that can help the research of anthropologists and archaeologists. The app
allows recording in the field with a smartphone…”
SkyNet
27.
Google's seven new
frontiers http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/us-business/google-seven-new-frontiers/article15096563/ “Even as Google’s engineers make progress on…new
projects, the company is still principally concerned with making money from its
current operations…Google already generates almost 90 per cent of its revenue
from ads…there are two areas where Google dominates the market in terms of
usage, but makes a comparatively small amount of money. The company’s task…is
to…make its video and mobile operations as profitable as they are popular…Smartphones…the
Android operating system…now powers more smartphones and tablets than any other
software in the world…Google is in the middle of a major overhaul to its search
algorithms to make them more useful for consumers who view their smartphone as
their primary search tool…YouTube…ads, from pre-roll clips to banners, has been
around for some time, but…YouTube recently announced a significant expansion of
its paid channel program, where users pay directly to watch content from
certain producers…Self-driving cars…“autonomous” vehicles could become a
roadway staple within the next five years…Google is perhaps the leading
researcher of…the…self-driving car…driverless cars could prove massively
profitable – both as a feature to be sold, and as a generator of data about how
people get around…Google Glass…Perhaps the most consumer-ready of its futuristic
projects, Google Glass is also one of its most polarizing products…While
smartphone users have to put their device between themselves and the action…Google
Glass allows the user to be immersed in the moment…Project Loon…Google this
year began experimenting with…WiFi balloons…designed to float into the
stratosphere and beam Internet signals to places where access is hard to come
by…Calico…Google’s newest and most audacious venture yet…seeks to research
something akin to eternal youth…Calico is…research…specializing in the cellular
causes and effects of aging. Its long-term goal is to find out why and how the
human body breaks down over time and to discover ways to reverse that process…”
28.
Cornell conductor and
Google Glass begin a new movement of orchestra http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/27/5034818/cornell-professor-cynthia-turner-mixes-google-glass-and-classical-music “Classical music doesn’t have a need for
modern technology. Instruments have been built for centuries, scores print just
fine on paper, and concert seating gives patrons a good enough perspective on
the orchestra as it is. But…Cynthia Turner, a conductor and a professor at
Cornell, is trying to turn many of those assumptions on their head using Google
Glass. "It could be a game changer for anyone who needs two hands to do
something,"…She paints an image of musicians all wearing Google’s
headsets, no stands or scores cluttering their chamber, the composer’s point of
view broadcast on a screen above them, and intermittent notes of text appearing
on-screen to explain to patrons what’s happening in a given musical movement…”
29.
Google Chromebook concept
gaining momentum http://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2013/10/23/google-laptop-rates-victory-lap/sWMAsRZSQeqqUvtKDYRyDP/story.html “Sales of standard personal computers are
tanking, but the new-school alternative, Google Inc.’s Chromebook concept,
seems to be doing just fine…Chromebooks are designed by Google and a number of
traditional PC makers, such as Taiwan-based Acer, Samsung Corp. and Hewlett-Packard
Co. They generally sell for less than $300…a Chromebook runs Chrome OS, an
operating system created by Google as an alternative to bulkier software like
Microsoft Corp.’s Windows…Chromebooks don’t run standard Windows software, such
as Microsoft Office…The Chromebook was designed for…Net-focused computing.
Users log on to a Wi-Fi hotspot and set up a Google account to get access to
the company’s array of Internet cloud-based services — Gmail, Google Docs for
editing documents, Google Calendar for appointments, and Google Drive, an
online file storage service…First-generation Chromebooks were nearly useless
when offline. Google and its partners learned the lesson…I loaded up the C720
with apps to let me read and answer Gmail messages offline. The responses are
sent automatically the next time you’re online. You can also store copies of
your Google Drive documents, edit them, or create new ones without an Internet
connection. An app for Amazon.com’s Kindle e-book service lets you store your
favorite titles on the Chromebook. You can also get offline versions of The New
York Times and The Economist…as of yesterday, four of the 10 best-selling
laptops at Amazon.com were Chromebooks…the devices made up 5 percent of the PC
market in the first quarter of 2013, compared with just 1 percent a year
earlier. It’s still just a sliver of the pie, but it’s a growing sliver, at a
time when sales of other PC types are falling fast…”
General
Technology
30.
Seagate
storage technology could redefine datacenter architecture http://www.zdnet.com/seagate-storage-technology-could-redefine-datacenter-architecture-7000022265/ “The new Seagate Kinetic Open Storage
Platform allows for the removal of the dedicated storage tier and replaces it
with Ethernet attached storage hardware…that allows applications to write to it
directly. The result, says Seagate, is improved system performance and
scalability, reduced overhead, and TCO cut by as much as 50 percent for
appropriate storage…By eliminating the purchase cost for traditional storage
servers, flattening the storage architecture, and massively increasing storage
density, Seagate believes that the overall costs associated with storage not
only are significantly reduced, but that collateral benefits — in terms of
reduced staffing requirements and a reduction in power required — will also
accrue to adopters of this technology. Much of this is accomplished by the complete
removal of the storage server requirement…Seagate sees the potential for a 400
percent increase in random write performance due to this. The…trick is that the
drives do the space management, not the file system…common tasks such as file
copies, or anything that simply involves moving data from one location to
another, can be handed off completely to the storage system, freeing up server
CPU for other tasks…”
31.
Self-driving
cars projected to reduce injuries by 90 percent, save $450 billion annually http://www.techspot.com/news/54458-self-driving-cars-projected-to-reduce-injuries-by-90-percent-save-450-billion-annually.html “Driver error is the number one cause of
automobile crashes so what would happen if you removed humans from the
equation? According to…the Eno Center for Transportation, vehicle-related
injuries would drop by 90 percent and save the US economy roughly $450 billion
each year…40 percent of fatal crashes in the US involved alcohol, drugs,
fatigue or distraction – all metrics that wouldn’t affect an autonomous
vehicle. Even in cases where a vehicle is primarily responsible for an
accident, human elements like not paying attention and speeding often
contributed to the occurrence of crashes and / or the severity of injuries. The
adoption rate of self-driving vehicles among consumers will…play a big role in
how many accidents can be avoided and how much money the economy could save.
For example, if one in every 10 car was replaced with an autonomous vehicle, it
would reduce crashes and subsequent injuries by roughly half and save around
$25 billion each year…”
Leisure &
Entertainment
32.
Turn Your Quadcopter Into
the Best Halloween Decoration Ever http://gizmodo.com/turn-your-quadcopter-into-the-best-halloween-decoration-1450757389 “Once you realize how boring your
neighborhood is from the air, that expensive quadcopter you bought should find
a good home in the rafters of your garage. But don't bury it too deep, you'll
need access to it around Halloween every year because Alton Porter has come up
with the perfect use for your forgotten drone: turn it into a flying banshee…All
you'll need is a hollow plastic skull, a pair of glowing red LEDs, some
lightweight fabric to complete the costume, and the quadcopter…” [watch the video – ed.]
33.
Wearable Technology Has
Changed the Halloween Costume Game http://www.zoho.com/general/blog/how-wearable-technology-has-changed-the-halloween-costume-game.html
“When it comes to holidays, it’s all
about tradition. We eat certain foods, go to certain parties and practice
certain rituals because that is how it’s always been…Halloween in it’s very
essence is a holiday to practice traditions and rituals, not a field for innovation…There
are witches, ghosts, monsters, zombies and vampires, but no room for
entrepreneurial ideas. Wrong. Enter Mark Rober, a former mechanical engineer at
NASA turned wearable tech Halloween T-shirt and costume designer…he had an idea
on revamping how realistic and modern Halloween costumes could be by simply
using smart phones and tablets…By using two iPads and FaceTime, Rober created a
costume that gave the appearance of seeing through his body. After uploading
the video of his costume to YouTube, it immediately went viral…The next year,
Rober created a free app, a plethora of T-shirt designs and a website to sell
this “wearable tech,” for Halloween participants everywhere…“We spent zero
dollars on advertising,” Rober said. “We just had a YouTube video and that was
it. We did a quarter million dollars in revenue, just in three weeks…”
34.
Hauntbox: open-source
hardware box for controlling your automated, electronic haunted house http://makezine.com/review/make-35/hauntbox-prop-controller/ “The easiest way to automate a haunted house
is to bribe your friends to hide behind curtains and pull ropes all night. A
slightly more complicated (and considerate) way is the Hauntbox “automation
machine.” With screw terminals for six digital inputs like break-beam triggers
and motion sensors, and six outputs…you can trigger lights, motors, pneumatics,
and all manner of mechanical hauntery…The hardware is open source; the
dead-simple browser interface lets you program delays, durations, and the
optional sound module from any device on your network; and an override tab
gives you manual control…the Hauntbox is easily the most straightforward
platform I’ve seen for web-controlling…a fully automated haunted house…”
Entrepreneurism
and Technology
35.
Become a Leading SEO
Mechanic with Both Google & Bing Webmaster Tools http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2302345/Become-a-Leading-SEO-Mechanic-with-Both-Google-Bing-Webmaster-Tools “Webmaster Tools offerings from both Google
and Bing can offer a wealth of insight to business owners. In order to get the
whole spectrum of insights, marketers must learn just what they can do with
both Google and Bing Webmaster tools. Using both together allows you greater
insight into the factors contributing to the success…of your SEO strategy…Marketers
need to have a plan as well as the ability to manage from a reactive
perspective…Once you have this in mind, you can start digging into GWT by
focusing on a few things first: 1. Quick Barometers…2. HTML Improvements…3.
Sitelinks…4. Search Queries…5. Links…6. Manual Actions and Malware…7. Index
Status…8. Content Keywords…9. Crawl Errors…”
36.
Same Old Amazon: All
Sales, No Profit http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-24/same-old-amazon-all-sales-no-profit “…the familiar Amazon paradox: The e-commerce
king…has made a habit of losing money of late—in three of four quarters over
the last year—yet its stock price is near an all-time high, following a 35
percent jump over the last 12 months…Amazon just posted a healthy $17.09
billion in net sales during its third quarter, a 24 percent jump compared with
the same period a year ago. But the company lost 9¢ per share…Jeff Bezos and
company have been calling their shots for years. More than a year ago, they told
faithful long-term investors that they were entering a growth phase…investors
are happy to sit and watch the company grow faster than the rest of e-commerce…Amazon
is taking market share away from both online and offline rivals…Bezos called
attention to the three new Kindle Fire tablets, 8 million square feet of new
fulfillment center capacity, and 1,382 newly deployed Kiva robots, which roam
Amazon’s warehouses delivering palettes of products to human workers…”
Design / DEMO
37.
Technology and Design
Create Winning Products http://independentretailer.com/2013/10/14/technology-and-design-create-winning-products/ “The coolest product introductions, as indicated
by the recent 2013 Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards, close the gap
between man and machine in ways that make consumers’ daily tasks easier than
ever…The winners are: Interactive device: Google Maps for iPhone…Products: Leap
Motion Controller…Concepts: Decelerator Helmet, a toy to see the world in slow
motion…Student design: SparkTruck, a mobile 3-D printing workshop…Spaces
(architecture): Klong Toey Community Lantern, an indoor-outdoor modular
community center in Bangkok…Social good: The AidPod, which repurposes Coca-Cola
shipping crates to deliver medicine to war-torn areas…” [the Decelerator Helmet seems like it would be an especially cool thing
to have, especially if combined with a DVR that lets you go back and look at
recent events in slow motion – ed.]
38.
Smithsonian's
Cooper-Hewitt awards the designers 'shaping the world' http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/20/4858192/cooper-hewitt-2013-awards-honor-designers-shaping-the-world “The Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt museum
recently handed out its 2013 National Design Awards…Leading the recipients this
year is James Wines, who has earned a lifetime achievement award for the
architectural work of his SITE design firm. Wines and his colleagues have made
it a priority to design "environmentally oriented buildings, interiors,
gardens, and public spaces."…TED picked up the award for corporate
achievement thanks to its enormously popular annual conference and TED Talks…Accolades
for product design went to NewDealDesign, the San Francisco-based studio
responsible for designing Fitbit's line of fitness trackers, the innovative
Lytro camera, and several iterations of the Slingbox…” http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2013/10/cooper-hewitt-announces-design-award-winners/
39.
Square, Airbnb and why
experience really is design http://gigaom.com/2013/10/22/square-airbnb-and-why-experience-really-is-design/ “…I decided to order a pen case from a small
leather goods maker in North Carolina…Their website was clean, simple and kept
the focus on the goods. However, when it came time to pay for the pen case, I
was taken to PayPal’s website — and that is when the experience of interacting
with the brand was broken…The checkout page acted like a time machine, taking
me back at least a decade, as if all the progress we have made with e-commerce
didn’t really happen…I was faced with the friction of the PayPal experience. That
prompted me to ask: why doesn’t the pen vendor just take Square. I mean, all I
have to do is send them an email and send them Square Cash, a new product that
launched last week. I have been using
the service for about a week and let’s just say that sending money (in the US)
hasn’t ever been this easy before…while Square might not be as big as PayPal
(yet), it has done one thing right: built a seamless experience…There is a
consistency of experience: an expectation of payment being invisible and
painless. These days, when there is talk of design…what matters most to the customers
is the whole experience…Designing this experience is what makes one company
different from another. That is why experience design…has to be unique and
can’t really be xeroxed…”
DHMN Technology
40.
Rocket Launch
to Kick Off Space Week http://www.hayspost.com/2013/10/03/rocket-launch-to-kick-off-space-week/ “The annual community rocket launch kicks off
Space Week at Fort Hays State University…FHSU’s Science and Math Education
Institute (SMEI), Department of Geosciences, Forsyth Library, the Astronomy
Club and the Department of Teacher Education are co-sponsoring the week’s
activities as part of the global celebration that is Space Week…Dr. Paul Adams
with SMEI and Forsyth Library have worked together to provide the FHSU Maker
Space as a place to “invent, investigate and innovate.” Tools and materials to
assemble 50 model rockets for the rocket launch are available in Forsyth’s
Maker Space for a donation of $10…Dr. Heinrichs wants everyone to attend the
rocket launch…“Come out and get inspired. Come out and get fired up about space
again…”
41.
Arduino
controlled Pneumatic Flight Simulator
http://diytech.tgdaily.com/story/maker/arduino-controlled-pneumatic-flight-simu/6945482f656e7a55344156674c3036663344505a30413d3d “…This pneumatic flight simulator is call the
‘LifeBeam’ and is the creation of a student called Dominick Lee. He created it
whilst challenging himself using his hardware and software skills. It’s
construction is made from plastic tubing that can readily be found at a
hardware store. The centre section has a moving frame where a seat is mounted.
This frame rotates forward and backwards, whist its outer frame rotates left
and right. This gives the user 2 axis’ of movement and the feeling of pitch and
roll.The joystick controls are processed using a custom program and sent to an
Arduino which controls the pneumatic controls that provide pitch and roll
movement.This is an awesome project that I could imagine being extended to
racing simulator…”
42.
Seattle’s
first biotech hackerspace opens Friday
http://www.geekwire.com/2013/hivebio/ “Two years ago, a group of science
enthusiasts tried to open up a do-it-yourself biotech laboratory in the Emerald
City… unfortunately for them, good ideas did not lead to execution…Fast forward
two years and it’s looking quite a bit better. Thanks to the efforts of a
17-year-old whizkid and a Zulily photo editor, Seattle now has its first-ever
DIY biology lab. HiveBio opens its doors Friday after six months of raising
money, finding the right space and everything else…The co-founders originally
picked a location in South Seattle, but a growing demand in online membership
forced them to look for a larger space…HiveBio, a non-profit organization that
raised $6,420 on Microryza, will host open lab hours and educational classes to
anyone interested in science. Members pay a monthly fee ranging from
$54-to-$108 per month, depending on how often they want to use HiveBio. Keyed
memberships, which allow 24/7 access, go for $175-to-$240 per month. Others can
also use the lab or attend classes and events for a one-time drop-in fee of $15…”
Open Source
Hardware
43.
Asterid, Open Source
Fully Assembled Professional 3D printer on KickStarter for $499 http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1542850 “Plastic Scribbler has launched their Asterid
Open Source 3D Printer on Kickstarter that aims to be the “world’s first $499
fully assembled 3D printer with an 8"x8"x8" build volume".
Their new printer offers high-end results without the high-end price tag…The
Asterid 3D printer is supplied completely assembled and ready to use
out-of-the-box. Plastic Scribbler will assemble everything from the electronics
to the hot-end and wrap it all together with an extruded aluminum frame…all you
need to do to get started when you receive your Asterid 3D printer is unpack
it, install the software & filament and start printing!...since their new
Asterid 3D printer is completely open source, it will work with all your
favorite open source software…”
44.
QU-BD Introduces World’s
Least Expensive and World’s Fastest 3D Printers http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/1548091 “QU-BD, Inc. introduces the OneUp and
Revolution Series of 3D printers, the least expensive and fastest 3D printers
in the world, respectively. The OneUp is the least expensive, commercial grade
3D printer available on the market and features a 50 micron resolution setting
a new standard for low cost 3D printers and is currently available on
crowdfunding site, Kickstarter.com. The Revolution Series also features a 50
micron resolution but allows unprecedented printing speeds up to 450mm/s and
beyond. This allows lightning fast 3D prints that finish in minutes, not hours…counter
to many competing 3D printer companies, QU-BD will remain open source…”
Open Source
45.
All Things Open
conference xxx “…All Things Open is coming to Raleigh, NC.
It’s the first open source-focused conference of it’s kind to come to the
capital of North Carolina…at the SouthEast LinuxFest (SELF) two years ago…I had
mentioned that Raleigh needed an open source conference. Fast forward to a few
months ago…I got a call from the organizers asking for recommendations on dates
and locations to host an open source conference in Raleigh. Next thing I know,
All Things Open is a legit conference
46.
Here
are the six tracks: Developer (two tracks)…Operations (two tracks)…Business…Emerging…Lee
Congdon, Red Hat CIO, will be speaking after our lunchtime Opensource.com
Tweet-up…Angela Byron and Jessica McKellar will be sharing their thoughts on
Women in Open Source. Last but not least, Chris Dibona, from Google, who
recently told us why open source is brutal, will be delivering a keynote
presentation…” http://allthingsopen.org/
47.
Ubuntu Touch: The
smartphone Ubuntu Linux arrives http://www.zdnet.com/ubuntu-touch-the-smartphone-ubuntu-linux-arrives-7000022221/ “Ubuntu Touch isn't ready for every user yet.
But power smartphone users, Ubuntu Linux fans, and developers will want to give
this new contender in the mobile device operating wars a close look…Ubuntu
Touch is what Canonical…sees as Ubuntu's real future. The Linux desktop is
great, but it shows little sign of paying back Ubuntu founder Mark
Shuttleworth's investment. Ubuntu's commercial future lies with the OpenStack
cloud and Ubuntu Touch…At this time, Ubuntu Touch is only officially supported
on the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 4 smartphones; and the 2012 Nexus 7 and Nexus 10
tablets…”
48.
ownCloud Documents: open
source Google Docs competitor http://www.muktware.com/2013/10/pure-open-source-open-standard-google-docs-iwork-office-365-competitor-arrives/15232 “There are…many online word processors
including Google Docs, Office 365, iWorks…There are a lot of organizations and
individuals who want to use a standard based, open source online editor to
avoid any vendor locks…ownCloud is working on a web-based editing software
which offers native support for ODF formats and works across platforms and
applications. The upcoming release of ownCloud, version 6, will come with
ownCloud Documents…you can invite users from the same ownCloud to work
collaboratively on the same document with you. Or you can send invitation links
by email to people outside your server to collaborate with you on the
document.” That sounds like the first true open source killer of Google Docs,
iWorks and Office 365…”
Civilian
Aerospace
49.
Landing gear failure on
Dream Chaser’s first free flight http://spaceflightinsider.com/space-flight-news/commercial-spaceflight-space-flight-news/sierra-nevada/dream-chaser/dream-chasers-first-free-flight-ends-in-failure/ “…Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Dream
Chaser spaceplane, after…conducting a “perfect” free flight…encountered a
mechanical failure during landing….The 9-meter-long craft, resembling a
miniature space shuttle with upturned wings, was dropped from an Erickson…helicopter
where it glided to an automated approach at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research
Center…Today’s events follow two captive flights, in the second of which the
ETA was carried under an Air-Crane…to put the vehicle’s flight computer,
guidance, navigation and control systems, and aerosurfaces through their paces.
Additionally, the landing gear was lowered and nose skid deployed. The Dream
Chaser ETA has also undergone tow tests, involving it being pulled behind a
pickup truck along the concrete landing strip at various speeds. Today’s
failure is being defined as “mechanical” in nature…the craft touched down, but
the left landing gear failed to deploy, at this point the Dream Chaser ETA
placed weight on the landing gear and the ETA flipped over on the runway…it is
unclear how much damage the ETA has suffered or even if it can be repaired…”
50.
Help NASA crowdsource
products and services and share the profits http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/10/help_nasa_crowdsource_products.html “NASA and…marblar.com are teaming up to ask
the public to brainstorm new products and services using NASA technologies.
Come up with a new idea worth developing and you'll own part of the new thing
when it rolls out…Fourteen NASA-patented technologies are on the Marblar site
now. An example is NASA image-stablizing technology developed for studying
solar flares that could stabilize the main image and the background of shaky
videos. Another 26 technologies will be added over the next year. People can
submit ideas for products and services, and watching commercial companies will
decide if something is worth pursuing. If an idea gets developed, the
originator shares ownership…”
Supercomputing
& GPUs
51.
GPU Database Speeds Big
Data Visualization http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-10-21/gpu-based_database_speeds_big_data_visualization.html “…A new massively parallel database, called
MapD…uses off-the-shelf GPUs to crunch complex spatial and GIS data in real
time. The approach is significantly faster than conventional CPU-based systems.
Using a single high-performance GPU card, Mostak reported a 70-fold speedup…the
"new technology achieves big speed gains by storing the data in the
onboard memory of graphics processing units (GPUs) instead of in central
processing units (CPUs), as is conventional."…Where previous technology
would take seconds or longer to render data into images or animations, MapD
turns millions of data points into maps and animations in just milliseconds.
The MapD technology will work for different kinds of data, but the prototype is
being demonstrated on tweets…MapD can show how a meme (in this case
"rain") is trending in real time on regional or world maps. The user
can set search terms and other parameters, e.g., time frame or geographical
region, and the new visualization appears instantly…”
52.
Scientists Prepare
Weather Model for GPU-based Systems http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2013-10-25/scientists_prepare_weather_model_for_gpu-based_systems.html “…A recent article…provides an in-depth look
at recent developments with the COSMO application, including how it is being
modified to take advantage of hardware accelerators, like GPGPUs…The main goals
of this project were to make the software more efficient and to adapt it to
leverage the performance gains offered by hybrid GPU-based computing systems…Fuhrer
also explains that the two HP2C projects illustrated three important points: Firstly,
it is feasible to target GPU-based hardware while retaining a single source
code for almost all of the COSMO code. Secondly, using GPU hardware is very
attractive for accelerating simulation time and reducing the electric power
required…Thirdly, it is possible for domain scientists to develop and work with
this new version of the COSMO model. Even though it's a lot of work to make the
changes, the efficiency gains and power consumption benefits are a compelling
case, especially given the still-expanding popularity of GPUs in big science
systems…”
Trends &
Emerging Tech
53.
The 9 Hottest
Trends In HR Technology ... And Many Are Disruptive http://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2013/10/21/the-9-hottest-trends-in-hr-technology-and-many-are-disruptive/ “…I…want to share some insights on key
directions in HR technology. Here are the 9 biggest trends…taking place, many
of which are highly disruptive…1. The
Convergence of Talent Management and ERP is Here…2. User Experience is The New Battleground…3.
“Taps Replace Clicks” - Mobile is The Platform, Not A Platform…4. Big Data Talent Analytics Tools Have Arrived…5. HR Vendor-Provided Middleware is Becoming a
Standard…6. Evolving Assessment Science
and BigData is Changing The Way We
Source…7. MOOCs and New Learning
Modalities…8. Video and Social
Everywhere…9. Watch for Wearable
Computing and The Internet of Things…”
54.
4 Big Trends
in 2014 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/beverly-macy/4-big-trends-in-2014_b_4133257.html “Here's what's hot in 2014: 1.
Social-mobile-data in the Cloud is the competitive advantage…2. Predictive
matching in B2B content…3. Workplace transformation…4. Wearable technology…Companies
that provide social-mobile-data in the cloud to knowledge workers have the
competitive advantage over companies that don't….With all the social
intelligence and big data out there, smart analytics have provided predictable
matching…in the consumer space…2014 brings this to the enterprise…The 24/7 BYOD
(bring your own device), "anywhere-anytime" workplace has arrived. Along
with it comes the Millennial Generation streaming into the workforce…Watch for
worker productivity apps in wearables as medical professionals, rescue teams,
warehouse workers and others are starting to use devices that overlay images
and relevant data on goggles…”
*****