Learn-to-code programs bent on teaching anyone, even children, programming skills are on the upswing.
Meaningful education was all about learning your ABCs in the 20th Century. Today, it’s centered on Alphas, Betas and C++. Programming skills are becoming ever more important, quickly turning into the core competency for all kinds of 21st Century workers.
Continue reading… “Programming is the core skill of the 21st Century”
We are at the point right now where faster-than-light travel is still theoretical, but possible.
Currently, NASA is working on the first practical field test toward the possibility of faster than light travel.Traveling faster than light has always been attributed to science fiction, but that all changed when Harold White and his team at NASA started to work on and tweak the Alcubierre Drive.
Continue reading… “NASA working on faster than the speed of light travel”
Wikipedia Nearby
Wikipedia, the encyclopedia-of-everything, has launched a new Nearby page for the web and mobile devices that shows information about locales that are close to you.
Continue reading… “Wikipedia launches Nearby feature for mobile & web to discover places around you”
iTunes
Asymco analyst Horace Dediu has a very smart point regarding the real impact of shifting media consumption patterns on legacy gatekeepers.He estimates that iTunes’ average revenue per user (ARPU) has fallen from over $100 in the fourth quarter of 2007 to about $39 by the fourth quarter of 2012. Over that same time, the number of total iTunes accounts has roughly doubled, from around 250 million to roughly 500 million.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVyLGQUmXcg[/youtube]
Homemade bullets are now part of the growing arsenal of 3D printed weapons. A Tennessee man recently posted a YouTube video demonstrating what kind of damage can be done (hint: a lot) by the plastic shell, created by 3-D-printing enthusiast Tony Griffy, as highlighted by the Daily Dot.
Continue reading… “World’s first 3D printed bullets fired in YouTube test”
Graffiti is reported to cost Deutsche Bahn about $10m a year.
The Deutsche Bahn, Germany’s national railway company, plans to test small drones to try to reduce the amount of graffiti being sprayed on its property.
Continue reading… “Germany’s national railway to test anti-graffiti drones”
Noise-canceling headphones could boost both the speed and reliability of Internet connections.
According to researchers, the basic mechanism behind noise-canceling headphones could boost both the speed and reliability of Internet connections. Their findings were published via Nature Photonics.
Google blimp
Google plans on building huge wireless networks to sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia using high-altitude balloons and blimps. The intend to finance, build and operate the wireless networks that will connect a billion people to the web.
Continue reading… “Google will use blimps to bring Wi-Fi to Africa and Southeast Asia”
.
The best way to understand new technology, according to futurist Jamais Cascio, isn’t to ask people who made it, but you need to ask the people who are using it in off-label ways to do potentially illicit things. These are the people who are going to find the most compelling ways of using things, and also unpack the ways a new tech might impact society in unpredictable ways.
Continue reading… “To understand new technology ask the people using it for crime”
The technology-enabled business trends will not only be a boon for consumers but also stimulate growth.
McKinsey & Company described ten information technology three years ago that enabled business trends that were profoundly altering the business landscape. Since then, the pace of technology change, innovation, and business adoption has been stunning. Consider that the world’s stock of data is now doubling every 20 months; the number of Internet-connected devices has reached 12 billion; and payments by mobile phone are hurtling toward the $1 trillion mark.
Continue reading… “10 tech-enabled business trends for the decade ahead”
Hollywood seems to hate technology.
Chris Dixon tweeted something thought-provoking a few weeks ago:
What were the last Hollywood movies you saw about technology & the future that were optimistic? They seem to be systematically dystopian.
Continue reading… “Why does Hollywood hate future technology?”
3D printed trachea splint
The life of a baby in Michigan was saved by the insertion of a 3-D printed trachea at two months old. The baby was diagnosed with tracheobronchomalacia, a condition in which the airways collapse, not allowing oxygen to enter the lungs.
Continue reading… “Doctor’s save baby’s life with a 3D printed trachea splint”