[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDxz8bpqOMU[/youtube]
littleBits is a company that mixes hardware and software in a delightful way that is part of the human computer interaction theme. It’s roots can be traced to the MIT Media Lab. They have done a promotional video for their product (the Synth Kit) with Reggie Watts.
Continue reading… “Everyone will have some litteBits in the future”
Innovations introduced more recently are being adopted more quickly.
The rates of new product introduction and adoption are speeding up and it seems to be across the board. For instance, an automobile industry trade consultant observes that “Today, a typical automotive design cycle is approximately 24 to 36 months, which is much faster than the 60-month life cycle from five years ago.”
Continue reading… “Adoption of technology is speeding up”
23andMe has been advertising that its tests offer diagnostic information for a variety of human conditions.
23andMe, the pioneering genetic screening service, has been told by the FDA that it “must immediately discontinue” marketing of its Personal Genome Service (PGS) until it receives FDA authorization.
Continue reading… “FDA orders 23andMe to stop selling genetic tests”
At Carnegie Mellon University computers are running a program that analyze images to learn common sense.
A computer program analyzes images 24 hours a day to try to learn common sense. The aim is to see if computers can learn, in the same way a human would, what links images, to help them better understand the visual world.
Continue reading… “Computer analyzes images to teach itself common sense”
The expansion means hundreds of thousands more cars must come onto the Uber system.
To overcome its growing pains, Uber has come up with a brilliant new strategy. Uber is launching a pilot program to finance new cars. The company is partnering with GM, Toyota, and financial institutions to offer 100,000 driversreduced monthly car payments, in an effort get more Uber drivers on the road.
The interior of the Tesla Model S offers a glimpse of the data-rich driving environments of tomorrow.
Cars will be big data collectors in the future. They will continuously monitoring the operation and function of the many moving parts of the vehicle and hopefully giving you a warning well in advance of pending failure.
Now, for my next trick, I present hoover cat!
Quote of the Day: “Just the fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown.” – Carl Sagan
Continue reading… “Top 13 Photos of the Week”
Flying robotic jellyfish.
Leif Ristroph, an applied mathematician at New York University, wanted to build the “simplest possible” flying machine. Ristroph glued together several tubes of carbon fiber to build this: a sphere with four wings attached to it that propels it as a jellyfish swims. (Video)
Continue reading… “The flying machine that was inspired by a jellyfish”
Global consumption of natural gas will rival the use of coal and steal the market share from oil on the world market.
The “next defining energy trend” is poised to be natural gas as it increasingly becomes a primary global energy source, according to a report released today by GE.
Continue reading… “Natural gas is set to be the next big energy trend”
Circuit Scribe, a new Kickstarter project, seems to have made laying out a new electronic circuit a less cumbersome task. Instead of fiddling with those components, you can just draw a circuit on paper, hook up a battery to it, and go on your way.
Machines will generate more data than will people in 2014.
Connected fitness gadgets such as Fitbit and Jawbone are being snatched up by consumers this year. But in 2014, we will see this kind of ubiquitous sensor technology extend to the enterprise as part of the “Internet of things,” according to an analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Continue reading… “2014 will be the year of the Internet of Things”
Futurist Thomas Frey: Recently my wife Deb came up with a rather comical phrase to describe her occasional memory lapse, referring to it as her “photogeriactric memory.”
Continue reading… “Where do great ideas come from? More importantly, where do they go?”
By delving into the futuring techniques of Futurist Thomas Frey, you’ll embark on an enlightening journey.
Learn More about this exciting program.