Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Book burning on the internet

A 62 pound "velvet and marble" book would be pretty tough to burn, not that you should ever to burn a book, much less a $100,000 book on Michelangelo.

"I love books," Marilena Ferrari, the Italian publisher who produced the extravagance, said in a telephone interview from Bologna, Italy, where she's president of a company called FMR, which publishes fine books about art.

"Books are being destroyed by the Internet, they're losing their identity — it's the modern, Internet version of burning books," she said. "Today, things last so little before they disappear. "

Most expensive new book arrives in NY from Italy - Yahoo! News

UNESCO tracks the number of books published per year per country to measure "an important index of standard of living and education, and of the country's self-awareness."

It looks like Harry Potter has the US beat, in 2005 at least.

  • United Kingdom (2005) 206,000 [2]
  • United States (2005) 172,000 [2]
  • China (1994) 100,951 [3]
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_published_per_country_per_year

    If they included e-books or blogs in their count what would change?

    Tuesday, October 07, 2008

    cat caused screen to flip upside down : screen, flip, upside, down

    icanhas CRT disaster.  Sometimes I wish I had an Experts Exchange membership.  Not very often though.

    MY cat "Bandit " version 1.0 walked across my laptop keyboard and now the screen is upside down and I cant firgure out how to revert it to normal > I have tried to replicate the scenario by haveing him walk back over it to no avail

    cat caused screen to flip upside down : screen, flip, upside, down

    Thursday, October 02, 2008

    Windows software on Wakoopa

    Tracks installs of software and provides lists of what’s popular. 

    What should you have on your PC?

  • 1.Firefox Firefox-
  • 2.Windows Internet Explorer Windows Internet Exp...-
  • 3.Google Chrome Google Chrome-
  • 4.Windows Explorer Windows Explorer-
  • 5.Opera Opera+1
  • 6.Windows Live Messenger Windows Live Messenger-1
  • 7.Microsoft Office Outlook Microsoft Office Out...+15
  • 8.Microsoft Office Word Microsoft Office Word-
  • 9.Microsoft Office Excel Microsoft Office Excel+10
  • 10.World of Warcraft World of Warcraft-3
  • Windows software on Wakoopa

    Thursday, September 11, 2008

    Wednesday, September 10, 2008

    LostCircuits, Tech Advice Guide

    A review of the OCZ along with a really interesting background on the device.

    Being able to measure a brain transfer function led to the development and running of another research effort from 1986 to 1990. The transfer function output was used to control an F16 roll-axis flight simulator. It was hypothesized that the person might more effectively control the transfer function output if they were immersed in the tracking task. Control of the F16 roll axis was compelling. Tests were successful. People were able to successfully control the roll of the simulator using EEG signals from the back of their head. However, control was difficult to achieve and it was difficult to obtain the EEG measurements from the back of the head.

    Dr. Junker left the US Air Force research labs and moved to the island of St. John in the Caribbean to undertake private research. He was living on a sailboat and decided to incorporate ideas he had previously discovered with a new approach that he developed in the aft cabin of his sailboat setup as a laboratory. The idea was to build an interface to control his sailboat as a proof of concept; this time using signals from his forehead detected using a headband with three sensors. This new approach became the foundation for the technology that became known as "Brainfingers".

    LostCircuits, Tech Advice Guide

    NIA Resources & Downloads - OCZ Forum

    From the OCZ Forum, tools for the OCZ NIA.

    OCZ Tools

    http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/be_pagegen.php?id=tools 

    NIA Resources & Downloads


    Official Drivers and Downloads:
    Downloads Page: http://www.ocztechnology.com/drivers...ulse_Actuator/
    1.009 Patch: http://www.ocztechnology.com/drivers...ta32_1.009.zip
    1.007 Patch: http://www.ocztechnology.com/drivers...ta32_1.007.zip
    1.007 CD Rip: http://www.ocztechnology.com/drivers...7_cd_image.zip
    CD Rip from RyderOCZ - Unknown Version: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/st...cz/nia/NIA.zip
    ---
    Brainfingers Site:
    Downloads Page: http://www.brainfingers.com/downloadNiaSoftware.htm
    1.010 Patch: http://www.brainfingers.com/nia_driv...ta32_1.010.zip
    1.009 Patch: http://www.brainfingers.com/nia_driv...ta32_1.009.zip
    1.007 CD Rip: http://www.brainfingers.com/nia_driv...7_cd_image.zip
    1.007 Patch: http://www.brainfingers.com/nia_driv...ta32_1.007.zip
    ---
    Original Brainfingers Device:
    Online Manual: http://www.brainfingers.com/cyberlink.htm
    Downloads: http://www.brainfingers.com/downloads.htm
    ---
    Reviews/Articles:
    http://www.lostcircuits.com/advice/ocz_nia/
    http://techreport.com/articles.x/14957
    http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/...ter_Interface/
    ---
    Practice Games:
    TankHunter: http://www.javagameplay.com/tankHunterb.html
    SkateGirl: http://www.brainfingers.com/skategirl_game.zip
    Helicopter: http://www.addictinggames.com/helicopter.html
    Addicting Games(Java/Flash): http://www.addictinggames.com/index.html
    *** Latest Files are RED ***

    __________________
    -TFB
    http://code.google.com/p/nia-remdreamer/

    NIA Resources & Downloads - OCZ Forum

    Tuesday, September 09, 2008

    A visit to Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver - Boing Boing

    One attraction I’m kinda glad I missed in Denver.

     

    A visit to Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver

    Posted by Mark Frauenfelder, September 8, 2008 1:49 PM | permalink

    A visit to Casa Bonita restaurant in Denver - Boing Boing

    Monday, September 01, 2008

    popculture Tshirts and Tees - PleaseDressMe

    PleaseDressMe brings web 2.0 and t-shirts together...

     

    popculture Tshirts and Tees - PleaseDressMe

    Monday, August 25, 2008

    » 30 Essential PDF Documents Every Designer Should Download :: Positive Space :: The Graphic Design Blog

    It’s actually 30+ documents, and some are actually templates… nonetheless very useful.

    Well it took me a lot longer than I had originally expected but I was able to track down the original links to more than thirty PDF documents that I have collected over the past couple of years. I have personally archived every one of these files due to the high quality of content. No matter what you call them; ebook, white paper, or resource they all contain information that no designer should go without. (In actuality there are more than 30 files however it was a good round number for the title…)

    » 30 Essential PDF Documents Every Designer Should Download :: Positive Space :: The Graphic Design Blog

    Wednesday, August 06, 2008

    I-CubeX Online Store - BioWave v1.2 : Skin surface voltage sensor

    Not the best marketing catch-phrase, and the price at > $500 US (not including the transmitter) gets blown away by the NIA, but this still sounds pretty cool.

    We don't care what you think - this sensor is mind-boggling. Developed by the inventors of the renowned BioMuse, it captures EEG (brainwaves), EOG (eye movements) and facial EMG (muscle movements). Includes notch filter to reduce power grid noise (50 or 60 Hz). Here is the user guide. Use the BioWave with a wireless Wi-microSystem in all cases to operate conveniently without tether and ensure electrically safe operation (see application notes below).

    I-CubeX Online Store - BioWave v1.2 : Skin surface voltage sensor

    Infonec Computers - Computer parts Canada, PC Components, laptop computers, motherboards, processors, CPU’s and much more : OCZ NIA Brain Mouse - USB

    Infonec out of Markham has the NIA at a cash-discounted price of $149.00.

    Is it worth it for 2-3 keys on an input device?  Or should you just go for a Throttle Quadrant with 350 button positions at $125.00?

      ?

    ???

    Regular price: $153.47. All listed prices are in Canadian fund and before taxes & shipping.

    Infonec Computers - Computer parts Canada, PC Components, laptop computers, motherboards, processors, CPU’s and much more : OCZ NIA Brain Mouse - USB

    Or go open-source?

    http://biomusic.wikidot.com/usb-dux

    http://openeeg.sourceforge.net/doc/

    http://www.sensorwiki.org/index.php/Sensors#Biosignals

    In terms of value for your money and the development effort gone into this, $149.00 seems like a steal.

    OCZ NIA Brain-Computer Interface - HotHardware

    A very comprehensive review of the OCZ NIA.   Should be interesting for daytraders and gamers alike, and those with repetitive keystroke jobs (enter key anyone?).

    According to the article, a grounding strap might be a good add-on.  And a sweatband.

    And it isn’t going to replace the mouse just yet.  Like the Dvorak keyboard, it might be more efficient, but if nobody knows how to use it the chances of mainstream adoption are going to be slim.

    Overall, the NIA is no where near as convenient as traditional input methods. Often, a significant amount of preparation is required before using the NIA, although setup never took more than 2-5 minutes. We didn't feel the extra preparation was unbearable, but it does become a bit annoying when all you want to do is frag some people with your mind (and face and eyes).

    OCZ NIA Brain-Computer Interface - HotHardware

    Microsoft Flight Simulator - a knol by Felipe Bachian

    What’s a knol?  It’s a new beta application from Google which allows you to be the “expert” on a subject and write an article.  Similar to Wikipedia, though it focuses more on a single unit of knowledge (knol) rather than a comprehensive encyclopedia definition. 

    It is also a forum for advertising through creating articles for products or services  (unless you are in Cuba, Iran, Burma (Myanmar), North Korea, Syria, or Sudan of course!)

    Here’s a snippet from one knol.

    Bruce Artwick developed the Flight Simulator program beginning in 1977 and his company, subLOGIC sold it for various personal computers. In 1982 Artwick's company licensed to Microsoft a version of Flight Simulator for the IBM PC, which was marketed as Microsoft Flight Simulator 1.00. Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was fascinated with Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's Night Flight, which described the sensations of flying a small aircraft in great detail.

    Microsoft Flight Simulator - a knol by Felipe Bachian

    Thursday, July 31, 2008

    Product summary - NeuroSky

    Another Brain scanner, this one licensed by Sega.

    Waiting for Apple to pick up on this one with a brainPod (thinkPod perhaps too close to IBM trademark).

    Neurons that comprise the brain work on electrical impulses known as brainwaves. The last century of neurological research has demonstrated that brainwaves of different wavelengths can be indicative of unique emotional and mental states, like a focused awareness, a meditative state, or drowsiness. Brainwaves have been used in medical research and therapy for years. NeuroSky is introducing it to the consumer world.

    NeuroSky Inc. has developed a non-invasive, dry, bio-sensor family of products that capture the electrical waves generated by neurological activity and eye movements and translate mental state information into digital signals for simple Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCI). Our wearable technology unlocks worlds of new applications in consumer electronics, health, wellness, safety, education, training, market research and a host of many more.

    Product summary - NeuroSky

    Tuesday, July 22, 2008

    A Better Windows World Tools Library | NetworkWorld.com Community

    I’m a big fan of utilities, though I will probably be running them in a silo after my last hard drive crash.  Here’s a bunch of good ones.

    A Better Windows World Tools Library

    Submitted by Ron Barrett on Fri, 07/11/2008 - 6:58am.

    I cover a broad range of tools on A Better Windows World. So it makes sense to publish an index by tool name and category to make it easier for you to find the ones you need. Here is a list of the tools featured on my blog so far. Please bookmark this page. I will update it regularly. Enjoy

    Tools by Name: A-Z
    Amazon Kindle
    Angry IP Scanner
    ClamWin Portable
    ClipTraining
    Cobian Backup
    Eraser
    Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA)
    Filezilla Server
    FOG
    GIMP 2
    GroundWork Monitor
    H-Inventory
    Hyena
    Internet Explorer 8 Beta2
    jNetStream
    Joomla!
    Juice
    LifeRay
    Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder
    Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer (MSBA)
    Mremote
    MS Sync Toy 2.0
    NetStumbler
    Numara's Track-IT
    Open Office Portable
    Paglo
    Performance Point Server 2007
    PsKill
    R- Studio
    ReactOS
    Recover My Files
    RSSOWL
    Site Provisioning Assistant
    Size Explorer
    Skype
    SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer (SQLBPA)
    Thunderbird
    ToolbarToggle
    TrueCrypt
    Wall Cooler VPN
    WinAudit
    Windows in a Box
    Windows Meeting Space

    Tools by Category

    Security Tools
    ClamWin Portable
    Eraser
    Exchange Best Practices Analyzer (ExBPA)
    Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer (MSBA)
    SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer (SQLBPA)
    TrueCrypt
    Wall Cooler VPN

    System or Network Management Tools
    Angry IP Scanner
    Cobian Backup
    FOG
    GroundWork Monitor
    H-Inventory
    Hyena
    jNetStream
    Magical Jelly Bean Key Finder
    Mremote
    NetStumbler
    Numara's Track-IT
    Paglo
    PsKill
    R- Studio
    Recover My Files
    Size Explorer
    WinAudit

    Enterprise Productivity Tools
    Filezilla Server
    Joomla!
    LifeRay
    Performance Point Server 2007
    Site Provisioning Assistant

    Personal Productivity Tools
    GIMP 2
    Internet Explorer 8 Beta2
    Open Office Portable
    ReactOS
    Thunderbird
    ToolbarToggle

    Just for Fun
    Amazon Kindle
    Juice
    MS Sync Toy 2.0
    RSSOWL
    Skype
    Windows in a Box

    Training & Collaboration
    ClipTraining
    Windows Meeting Space

    A Better Windows World Tools Library | NetworkWorld.com Community

    Sunday, June 22, 2008

    Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) on Vimeo

    Matt's been busy over the last couple of years.

    ... he's still an inspiration...

    Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) on Vimeo

    Sunday, June 15, 2008

    StatCounter Blog » Blog Archive » Outage - Explosion at The Planet

    How come more companies don't speak like this? 

    I’m not happy – how do I complain?
    We completely understand why you feel aggrieved. Should you wish to submit a complaint to us please do so by logging into your StatCounter account and clicking the “support” link in the top menu bar. Within this area you will be able to submit a ticket to us – we will endeavour to respond to you as soon as possible.

    StatCounter Blog » Blog Archive » Outage - Explosion at The Planet

    StatCounter, a great service which I have been using for free for the last few years had an outage last week.  For me it was a minor annoyance I chalked up to my ISP being down.  Perhaps the 500 or so visits per month to this site took it down?

    Apparently it was more serious - an explosion in a data center of a hosting provider they were using took out a few walls.

    I bet if more companies promoted the "how do I complain" mentality, and were as candid as StatCounter, there would be a few less angry people complaining in the world.  Most people just want a good, honest, explanation.

    My father-in-law is on day 43 of working to get Bell Sympatico's High-Speed-Lite up again.  After 2 technician trips, 3 replacement modems, and untold calls to India call centres his service keeps dropping every few minutes...

    He is looking for another provider... 

    Thursday, May 29, 2008

    101 BEST WAYS TO EXPERIENCE CAMBODIA

    One of my goals is to someday visit Angkor Temple.  Here are 100 other things to do.

    2008-05-28 13:04:29 - Stay Another Day is an initiative by Mekong Private Sector Development Facility (IFC MPDF), a multi donor funded initiative manage by International Finance Cooperation, to reduce poverty through sustainable private sector development in Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos PDR. Stay Another Day provides a briefly description about tourism activities in Cambodia, which is known as 101 things to do in Cambodia.
    Most tourists consider Angkor Temple as a substantial destination, while they do not yet explore the other interesting thing to do in Cambodia. 101 Best ways to experience Cambodia will let you know and plan what to do if you aim to visit Cambodia, a charming kingdom. These activities possibly help to alleviate poverty in Cambodia through the sustainable tourism promotion.

    101 BEST WAYS TO EXPERIENCE CAMBODIA

    Monday, May 26, 2008

    Extreme PC - OCZ NIA delayed

    Apparently there's another couple weeks to wait.

    Our Price:
    $175.50

    Retail:
    $175.50

    Code:
    XPC5989

    In Stock:
    Pre-order ETA Moved to: June 6th

    Vendor:
    OCZ Technologies

    Rating:
    unrated

    Extreme PC

    Thursday, May 15, 2008

    Move over Ironman - it's Fusionman

     

    That didn't take long.  Ironman comes out and already jet-powered flying suits and wings are starting to crop up (in the news anyway - this one's been in the works for 5 years).

    Only problem is getting off the ground -

    you need a plane to take off. 

    Man soars above Alps with jet-powered wing - Yahoo! News Photos

    Wednesday, May 14, 2008

    It made Scoble cry...

    It just plain annoyed me at first.  I made it all the way to 99%! 

    I guess it's the last 1% that's the hardest.

    image 

    A refresh let me download the app.

    My first impression?  I like the vector graphics.  Reminds me of Qix or Tron.

    I clicked on the Interactive Tours icon.

    image

    What happened to "background transfers"?  I lost control of the app as it was downloading.

    After downloading a couple tours, my ears started bugging me due to the differences in recordings.  Volume leveler would be good

    The verdict?

    Get it. It's free.  Didn't make me cry but the amount of effort put into this app must have been enormous.  It's an incredible learning tool.

    WorldWide Telescope

    image

    I knew I should have bought the digital telescope I saw at that garage sale last week...

    Tuesday, May 13, 2008

    Hobnox - VST Online

    Hobnox is a flash-based beat composer and synching tool for the web.  It has all the effects pedals of a studio application, but on the web.

    Pretty impressive.

    http://www.hobnox.com

    #

    Friday, April 25, 2008

    Extreme PC has it

    Extreme PC has the OCZ NIA for preorder with a May 20, 2008 availability.

    Priced in Canadian, it may be better value to order from the US.

    Our Price:
    $175.50

    Retail:
    $175.50

    Code:
    XPC5989

    In Stock:
    Pre-order ETA: May20th

    Vendor:
    OCZ Technologies

    Rating:
    unrated

    Extreme PC

    Sunday, April 20, 2008

    Where's the NIA?

    As of April 15, 2008, the NIA is still to be released... without an SDK either.

    I'm sure somebody will figure out a way to hack something together.  How about changing channels with your face, or preventing a nuclear disaster just by grimacing. Homer and his reaching broom would be proud.

    Carl, at this point there is no SDK, the control console allows the mapping of different keyboard keystrokes to the various nia joysticks. The product will be released shortly and we have had almost more coverage in the media than we like including pretty good descriptions of how it works, all it takes is a Google search to find the relevant coverage. We are working with a number of third party companies already that have expressed interest in the nia, however, we prefer to have a bullet-proof product on the shelves before releasing the gory details. Likewise, as long as the software is still undergoing some changes, an SDK would not make sense.
    As for Emotiv, they take a different approach than we do.

    Neural Impulse Actuator (NIA)??? - OCZ Forum

    Homer climbs the side of the ready to burst tank. He passes signs pointing to the "manual shutdown" switch. As the workers count off the last few Iroquois Twists, Homer struggles to reach the switch, only to fall and grab clutching at the catwalk above the tank. "Stupid switch!" he laments, "I wish I had my reaching broom! Wait a minute, there's probably a --" The tank explodes, venting green gas with great force. Homer falls screaming into the tank opening, his tremendous girth sealing the opening and ending the crisis. Later, all the employees gather to applaud Homer.

    Burns: Homer, your bravery and quick thinking have turned a potential Chernobyl into a mere Three Mile Island. Bravo! [Places an award around Homer's neck.]

    Lisa: I think it's ironic that Dad saved the day while a slimmer man would have fallen to his death.

    Bart: And I think it's ironic that for once Dad's butt prevented the release of toxic gas --

    Marge: Bart!

    http://www.snpp.com/episodes/3F05.html

    So what's the different approach?

    Competitors

    Emotiv has two main commercial-competitors in the area of consumer EEG technology for gaming- and PC-users. The competitors have gone for a lower price, but with much fewer electrodes and thus less detections.

    OCZ has a $160 US Neural Impulse Actuator with 3 electrodes on the front of a headband. OCZ are hoping to gain market share by bringing their product out first (April, 2008). Unlike Emotiv, they are marketting it as a faster, more efficient way of controlling existing games and applications (mostly using facial expressions), instead of as a more immersive way of triggering magical abilities in games or making avatars show your facial expressions.

    NeuroSky has a very cheap single electrode headset. However they are not marketting it directly to the public. They are selling their technology in bulk to other companies for those companies to incorporate into their products. Currently Neurosky's headset can only detect the strength of two emotions.

    There is also an existing game machine table based on EEGs, called Mindball. Players must move a ball on the table by relaxing and not thinking, until the ball reaches the opponent's circle. The machine costs roughly $20,000 US and is usually rented out to groups.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotiv

    It appears Sega is back in the game too, according to this Italian designer of the Mindball table.

    ...Sega!

    http://mindballinventor.blogspot.com/

    CeBIT 2008: OCZ NIA Reaches Mass Production - TrustedReviews

    2008 will be known as the year of mind control... that is, using the mind to control.

    OCZ, the makers of my PC's power supply, are distributing a device that allows the use of the brain (!) to control video games.

    But does it work with solitaire?

    As mentioned in previous coverage, the NIA doesn't remove the need for a mouse to control games, but all the rodent is used for is aiming, so the criticism is a small one. OCZ claims that the NIA is far faster than any mouse, as there is no delay between, for example, thinking shoot and the computer receiving the command to fire your gun. Of course with the device costing $300 to retailers, on the street pricing is likely to be pretty high so we can't see too many of these popping up at LAN tournaments any time soon.

    CeBIT 2008: OCZ NIA Reaches Mass Production - TrustedReviews

    The final version of the NIA uses a sleek metal housing, a USB 2.0 interface, and streamlined headband with carbon “dry” interface sensors. Due to the anticipation surrounding the release of the NIA, OCZ will be demoing the mass production device and begin accepting orders at the CeBIT 2008 in Hannover, Germany.

    http://www.ocztechnology.com/aboutocz/press/2008/273

    More from Engaget

    http://www.engadget.com/2008/03/04/heads-on-with-oczs-neural-impulse-actuator/

    For $300, it should look cooler.  For 90 pounds it sounds like a bargain.

    Buy it here, soon?

    http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143036

    Now if it can control an iPod or iPhone, it will become a billion-dollar product.

    For $159, I'm willing to test drive.

    http://www.tomsgames.com/us/2008/03/10/price_of_ocz_s_brain_controlled_mouse_confirmed_159/

    Straight from the CEO's mouth:

    To clear up the confusion surrounding the NIA, we talked to Ryan Petersen, co-founder and CEO of OCZ Technology. Petersen said that the suggested retail price of the NIA will be $159. "We want people to buy the thing, not to just look at it and think that they cannot afford it," he told us.

    This reminds me of the iFeel mouse I bought a few years ago...

    http://www.dansdata.com/ifeel.htm

    The device probably doesn't do anything more miraculous than detecting small movements of facial features and building patterns against them... but it will still be a cool item to type with... the 4 letters that your face would recognize at least.

    Veronica Belmont tries another one from Emotive Systems out, with 3D-staring puzzle like results.

    http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/22/gdc08-brain-control-emotiv-headset-round-two/

    So apparently your mind is your face... could be interesting to attach this to a heart-rate monitor, temperature sensor, and pedometer... and maybe a wii-mote too.

    Emotiv's offering is to be released in the fall.  OCZ's is hitting the stores this month(?!?)

    Wednesday, April 16, 2008

    Friday, April 11, 2008

    Techtree.com India > News > Hardware > Nvidia Planning a 'Whoop-ass' for Intel?

    The flag has dropped.  The war is on.

    Huang opened the meet enunciating on the fact that Nvidia is a visual computing company and not a semiconductor corporation, and that its goal is nothing else but to make GPUs better and deliver great experience. But later referred to Intel's discrete visual computing chip "Larrabee" as "Laughabee", and added that Nvidia was "going to open a can of whoop-ass" and that "Intel has crossed the line and they're saying false things".

    Techtree.com India > News > Hardware > Nvidia Planning a 'Whoop-ass' for Intel?

    GPGPU - next gen performance

    Graphics Processor Unit processing is the way of the future.  Basically the main reason AMD bought ATI was to get at this technology.  Intel is producing their next generation CPU architecture in combination with a GPU.  The speed improvements are dramatic - from 2x-30x differences in calculation performance.

    CUDA compatible GPU cards as efficient hardware accelerators for Smith-Waterman sequence alignment

    The Smith-Waterman algorithm has been available for more than 25 years. It is based on a dynamic programming approach that explores all the possible alignments between two biological sequences; as a result it returns the optimal local alignment. Unfortunately, the computational cost is very high, requiring a number of operations proportional to the product of the length of two sequences. This paper by Svetlin Manavski and Giorgio Valle describes SmithWaterman-CUDA, an open-source project to perform fast sequence alignment on the GPU. Although the software performs the optimal Smith-Waterman alignment it is faster than heuristics approaches like FASTA and BLAST. The tests on protein data banks show up to 30x speed up related to reference CPU implementations. (Svetlin A. Manavski, Giorgio Valle, CUDA compatible GPU cards as efficient hardware accelerators for Smith-Waterman sequence alignment, BMC Bioinformatics 2008, 9(Suppl 2):S10 (26 March 2008))

    GPGPU

    Finally, some food for thought: The GPU is becoming so powerful that companies like nVidia are pitching them as GPGPUs and selling HPC (high performance computing) products that provide massive amounts of power (128 processors, massively parallel) in a little box. So, imagine that we took this same concept a step further and implemented an entire library outside of WPF that allowed you to leverage those kinds of platforms for general programming. Just like DLINQ where the expression is translated to SQL and remove over to your DB server for processing, we could translate and remote over to one of these boxes and execute it in a nanosecond

    http://blog.hackedbrain.com/archive/2008/02/19/6141.aspx

    Where technology like this would really shine is when programs have been optimized for parallel computing. 

    PC Perspective recently had an interview with John Carmack, one of the 2 Johns responsible for creating Wolfenstein & Doom.  He is the one person who would probably take this technology and demonstrate its full potential.

    http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=532

    That is my big take away message for a lot of people about the upcoming generation of general purpose computation on GPUs; a lot of people don’t seem to really appreciate how the vertex fragment rasterization approach to computer graphics has been unquestionably the most successful multi-processing solution ever.  If you look back over 40 years of research and what people have done on trying to use multiple processors to solve problems, the fact that we can do so much so easily with the vertex fragment model, it’s a real testament to its value.  A lot of people just think “oh of course I want more flexibility I’d love to have multiple CPUs doing all these different things” and there’s a lot of people that don’t really appreciate what the suffering is going to be like as we move through that; and that’s certainly going on right now as software tries to move things over, and it’s not “oh just thread your application”.  Anyone that says that is basically an idiot, not appreciating the problems.  There are depths of subtly to all of this where it’s been an ivory tower research project since the very beginning and it’s by no means solved.

    Tuesday, April 08, 2008

    OurAirports: OurAirports: Where have you been?

    Nice Google Maps Mashup with Airports from around the world.

    Before you fly, read about the airports you plan to visit.

    Places to start ...

    Sign up for a free account to create a personalized map and leave signed comments (if you want to wait a bit before signing up, you can still explore and leave comments as an Anonymous Flyer).

    Search for airports code, airport name, city/region/country name, latitude and longitude, etc. etc.

    OurAirports: OurAirports: Where have you been?

    Saturday, April 05, 2008

    If only it was this simple

    I think Flight Simulator X uses a similar codebase with one overriding if clause:

    if (FramesPerSecond>10)
    {
       sleep(30);
    }

    I recently picked up a Quad Core system with 2GB of RAM and an Nvidia 8800 GT.  I even have the blue blinky LED light on the front of the case that's supposed to speed up things.  I'm still only seeing 9FPS using high levels in FSX.  What gives?  Do I _really_ have to turn off all of that vehicle traffic, weather, clouds and defrag my hard drive every night?

    There's something about "future-proofing" software that leaves much to be desired.  Sometimes simplicity speaks volumes.

    Don't lose a tempermental model's luggage

    No more throwing cell phones around... this time it's all about assaulting an officer on an international flight out of the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow.

    A cell phone to the head is serious... but this looks a bit worse.

    When the police were called in to manage the dispute, Campbell flew completely off the handle and assaulted the police officer, which, apparently is against the law. She was thus subdued, handcuffed and removed from the plane along with her entire entourage of Campbellites.

    Naomi Campbell flips out in Heathrow Terminal 5, gets arrested - Gadling

    And another case for backing up your important data in the "cloud" or somewhere not physically near you, and definitely not in your luggage!

    First the opening day woes, then Naomi Campbell, now 24 year old Scottish singer, song writer and record producer DJ Calvin Harris. Harris was flying from US to London’s Heathrow (Terminal 5) when his laptop with the only existing copy of his second album went missing (in the notorious Terminal 5 Baggage crisis). The airlines offered him GBP 750 as compensation for the loss.

    Would you like to help out the folks at BAA with their luggage problem?

    Try "Wee Willie Walsh" in TERMINAL PANIC!

    clip_image001

    Reminds me of that old Commodore 64 game, Beer Tapper.

    If you don't want to help BAA, you can join the Stop Heathrow Expansion web site, though I think it's a bit late for that.

    Apparently luggage is now being sorted by hand until they can figure the mess out.  I don't think they can outsource that work to another country.

    Grupo Ferrovial stock seems to have weathered the storm okay. British Airways, not so much...

    System update kicks Heathrow baggage system offline | IT Project Failures | ZDNet.com

    This is probably one of the highest profile computer/infrastructure failures in the last few years

    The error occurred, “[A]fter an update to the system made it reboot….” Additionally:

    BAA told Computerworld UK that a computer software upgrade, conducted Monday night, was the cause of the failure. Despite testing the software, the “glitch crashed both baggage sorting machines….”

    System update kicks Heathrow baggage system offline | IT Project Failures | ZDNet.com

    Computer glitches were part of the issue, but the key problems appeared to be logistics.  Staff couldn't find parking spaces in the morning, and couldn't log in to the system.  After that, it's no wonder they were having a bad day.

    But British Airways added that staff log on issues were also part of the problem. “The log on system initially didn’t work,” a BA spokesperson told Computerworld UK. “There was an issue with that for some reason.”

    The airline said that “the car parking problems meant the staff were not in place.”

    Who designed the baggage system? 

    The high tech baggage system, was heavily featured in the Terminal Five pre-opening publicity. Created through 400,000 man hours of software engineering, it was designed and supplied by Vanderlande Industries in conjunction with IBM technology and Alstec, who are operating the system.

    Didn't George from Seinfeld work for Vanderlande Industries?

    British Airport Authority (BAA) is ultimately responsible for the operation of the terminal and it's technology.

    The technology investment is immense. T5 boasts 17 kilometres of baggage conveyor belts in a system designed to handle as many as 12,000 bags an hour. Over 400,000 man-hours have gone into developing the system's software, which has the ability to prioritise late bags. The terminal has involved 180 IT suppliers, runs 163 IT systems, manages 546 interfaces, more than 9,000 connected devices and 2,100 PCs. The building has 96 self check-in kiosks, 54 traditional check-in desks and 90 self-drop baggage depots.

    This release from February 14, 2008, seems to be a preclude to the disaster.

    Airports authority BAA has begun looking for a service provider to work with it to help develop consistent IT systems at Heathrow and across the authority’s airports.

    It appears that 50 of the IT staff for BAA transferred to IT services company LogicaCMG, when BAA signed a 5-year outsourcing contract with them.

    LogicaCMG will manage more than 400 different applications, including Oracle Enterprise Suite, as well as aircraft stand allocation and staffing.

    Other components of the luggage handling system include wireless connectivity.

    The network will have 800 access points connected to two separate redundant Aruba Mobility Controller wireless switches, in two separate locations in Heathrow. The APs used are Aruba's 802.11abg devices. The new 802.11n specification was too risky and early at the time the network was designed – "but we can just clip in 802.11n when we need it", says Newbold.

    The wireless LAN will be used for the baggage-handling system. Engineers with laptops and PDAs can manage the infrastructure and check barcodes on luggage anywhere in the building.

    However, Newbold made a deliberate decision not to focus on making the WLAN "seamless". He explains, "It's not a contiguous medium, it's not connection oriented." For instance, when staff step from the shopping mall to "back of house", it is very important that they experience a transition, and some resources are not available the other side of the line. Sometimes this is enforced by excluding radio signals from other parts of the space. "There are a lot of Faraday cage materials in the building."

    That would tick me off if I was a baggage handler having to setup connectivity every time I leave an area.

    Here's a question that shouldn't have to be assumed... it should be proven in a lab when dealing with this kind of scale.

    Will it work?

    Despite careful planning, Newbold can't be sure the WLAN will work straight away, because the building has not yet seen a full complement of visitors. "Optimisation is the biggest challenge," he explains. On an average day, the building expects to see 53,000 people, all of whom will have a definite effect on the propagation of radio signals, since they are mostly made of water.

    Could login issues be as simple as wireless connectivity?

    And with ever-increasing numbers of people wishing to fly, the things that can turn airports into nightmares are getting bigger and more frightening.

    The line above was written almost 3 years ago.

    Passengers arriving very early, say seven hours before their scheduled departure, will also be able to check their bags into the system rather than wait for check-in to open and add to the queues.

    Doesn't sound like Just in time baggage check-in to me...

    I had my luggage "delayed" somehow on a trip to NY last year.  It was shipped to my hotel 7 hours after the flight, however by then I had already purchased a new outfit.  (So I guess it wasn't really a bad thing. )

    There was one other person with me waiting anxiously at the baggage carousel for bags that would never show up.

    That was only 2 people and the person manning the desk for lost luggage still looked stressed.  I wonder how the staff at new Heathrow dealt with 12,000 "delayed" bags.

    If my reaction was to go out and buy a new outfit and toiletries, then I guess that losing people's luggage is one way of indirect economic stimulation. 

    Friday, April 04, 2008

    LHC 2008 - Journée Portes Ouvertes

    Something to do on Sunday... visit CERNs Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland.  At 27km long, this circular tunnel contains the largest particle accelerator in the world.  It was supposed to come online in November, 2007.  Looks like it might be August before we find out just what it's capable of...

    On Sunday 6 April 2008 CERN will throw open all the doors to the LHC. A range of exciting activities will be organised around the ring, both on the surface and underground.

    LHC 2008 - Journée Portes Ouvertes

    Tuesday, April 01, 2008

    Techgage - Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition

    This is definitely going on my wish list for FSX. 3840x1200 gaming...

    In order to power the maximum resolution of 3840x1024, a dual-link DVI connection is needed. While many PCs today have dual-link either through their motherboard's video out (notebooks) or their graphics card (desktops), there are many that don't and it's because of this that Matrox included the analog VGA connector on this product. This allows Matrox to market the TH2Go Digital to many more people than they would be able to without the VGA out port.

    Techgage - Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital Edition

    Friday, March 28, 2008

    MaximumSignal - Dropped cell phone calls

    Here's one way to keep a decent signal on your cell phone...

    9DB 30 inch Super Trucker Antenna - Omni Directional
    SKU: SKU9DB30INTRUCKER
    The best Trucker antenna available period from any manufacturer!. Covers all North American Carriers on 800 MHz and 1900 MHz including CDMA , TDMA , GSM , EVDO , HSDPA ,EDGE, iDEN and ANALOG , This bad boy will leave all the other drivers drooling and begging you to know where you got it!!

    MaximumSignal

    Thursday, March 27, 2008

    blog.pmarca.com: The Psychology of Entrepreneurial Misjudgment, part 1: Biases 1-6

     
    I picked up Charlie's book last year in Los Angeles at the Huntington Library.  It is worth it's weight in gold.  I just wish the darn thing wasn't so heavy...

    Charlie Munger is an 80-something billionaire who cofounded top-tier law firm Munger, Tolles & Olson and is Warren Buffett's long-time partner and Vice-Chairman at Berkshire Hathaway, one of the most successful companies of all time.

    Some people, including me, consider Mr. Munger to be an even more interesting thinker and writer than Mr. Buffett, and recently a group of Mr. Munger's friends assembled a compilation book of his most interesting thoughts and speeches called Poor Charlie's Almanack, inspired by Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack. (The Munger book is only available on Amazon in used form, although you can apparently buy a new copy here.)

    blog.pmarca.com: The Psychology of Entrepreneurial Misjudgment, part 1: Biases 1-6

    Thursday, March 13, 2008

    Air Charter Hot Deals — Charter Flight Promotional Offers, Discounts from Virgin Charter

    Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin brand are now selling direct-to-internet charter flights.


    Want to book a trip from Tokyo to LA on a private Jetstream V for $58,000? How about less? Just put in a bid.


    Can't see any stink bids being accepted but who knows? Not sure if they accept Paypal just yet... on second thought... $50k & paypal probably don't mix.


    This is a neat way to see where the rich, famous, and business execs frequently travel. Namely NJ, CA, and TX, with some flights from Portland, OR to Hawaii.


    I saw Sir Richard a couple of times when I went to those roving Learning Annex seminars. Although the brand name is successful, I'm not sure how well his companies do. It was impressive to see him show photos of the Royal family flying around in the 80s and 90s in his private jets. It wasn't so impressive when he was advertised as a motivational speaker, and was hung over after VirginFest in Toronto. Motivation and alcohol don't mix for me.


    His other comment about always keeping a notepad in his back pocket to take down information during parties (because of alcohol-induced blackouts?) kind of made sense. Memory's always a problem when liquor kills your brain cells.


    Best way to get a flight to anywhere and become influential in the world? Buy an airline.


    Worst way to get famous? Fly around Washington, DC.


    Speaking of flying, my quest to master FSX and take on the real world of flying has hit a snag. The keyboard seems really sensitive, so when I hit the throttle to taxi I end up either driving into a ditch or crashing into a terminal. This is not a confidence-builder. There is no "realism setting" in real flying. This is really ticking me off since I bought a new computer and was looking forward to flying around with the maximum effects turned on. At least I can see the cars I'm crashing into when I try to land on the highway.


    Guess I'll have to break down and buy a yoke & rudder... or maybe just go for the real thing... or maybe do both.


    With American Airlines and Virgin America promising in-flight broadband I might be able to fly FSX multiplayer while flying in a real plane.


    That makes my head hurt... or was it the 2 bottles of Baron Phillip de Rothschild Merlot from last night? Searching for reviews on that wine comes up with "buy cheap wine." Sigh. Should have stuck with the Chateau Mouton.



    Air Charter Hot Deals — Charter Flight Promotional Offers, Discounts from Virgin Charter

    Sunday, March 09, 2008

    A Flipbook on China: A Magnum photo essay. - - Slate Magazine

    This video steps through 30 years of photographs of China, and has some really powerful images.

    "China Transformations" is the theme of the 12th International Biennial of Photo-Related Art, which takes place in Houston on March 7 to 20.

    "A Flipbook on China" celebrates 60 years of observing the changes in China, as documented in Magnum's living archive. More information about the festival can be found on the FotoFest Web site.

    A Flipbook on China: A Magnum photo essay. - - Slate Magazine

    A book I just received in the mail and definitely worth picking up if you like art history and want to learn more is 30,000 Years of Art. 

    Be careful if you have a weak lower back... this thing weighs about 13 pounds, is 12" tall, 3" thick and is over 1000 pages.  Quite possibly the best value for your free shipping coupon, though the postal delivery person will hate you.

    The book would make a good side table, a project I may consider since it crushes my legs when it sits on my lap.

    I managed to 'read' it in half-an-hour, though it will probably take years to actually acquire some "art appreciation" with it.  It's really a picture book of art appreciation, with one photo per page, but the small caption for each piece is misleading.  A wealth of information has been captured detailing where the piece currently resides, country of origin, how it was created, and why it is relevant.

    Don't bother with the bookstore.  Get this thing delivered.

    If you're interested in China, news, language, and culture, please check out my blog at: http://kneehow.blogspot.com/

    Friday, February 29, 2008

    Essays About The Elevator Pitch

    The elevator pitch is a key skill to have, to people's eyes from wandering...

    As a result, I have started putting down in words everything that I have learned about what makes an elevator pitch effective. This includes a primer entitled Elevator Pitch 101 as well as a number of related essays...

    Essays About The Elevator Pitch

    Monday, February 25, 2008

    Read email with a dance pad

     

    Explanation

    We’ve created applications that can be controlled using a dance pad instead of the keyboard or mouse. We have StepMail which allows you to read, delete and flag your email and StepPhoto which allows you to organize your photos. Using these applications is fun, helps reduce RSI, and gets you up out of your chair.

    http://research.microsoft.com/vibe/projects/stepUI.aspx

    Everyone wants a new PC

    Sorry to hear my P5E board doesn't support DDR3 RAM... but who cares about geekspeak... it's still a smoking fast system.

    I managed to run out of 2GB of memory with Flight Simulator X though... what a pig.

    Apparently building a new PC and creating a video qualifies for a reward.  I should have taped my experience... 6 hours of cursing, dropped screws, band-aids, and XP still took 45 minutes to install (same as my old PC).

    It’s finally done! The “Max Builds a PC series” wraps up with the build process from start to finish. I had a lot of fun throughout this entire series starting with debating and choosing the parts with all of you all the way to the time I spent in the studio putting it all together. My only regret is that I have to give this 5.9 rated PC away rather than keeping it for myself……… Oh yes, you read that right: this got a 5.9 rating from Windows Vista’s experience rating system!

    Page 3 - Max Builds a PC: The Final How-To Video and WINNER! | Posts | Channel 8

    I'll probably cough up $50 for another 2GB of RAM.  Glad I got the 8800 GT... if you're buying a new PC for anything but email & web surfing, get a good video card.

    Thursday, February 21, 2008

    Why i like my new computer

    I recently upgraded to a more powerful "beast" of a computer to play the latest Flight Simulator X and for checking my email (and maybe some work too).  I'm a bit rough at assembling systems (the last one I built was in '99) but I managed to figure out how to put the pieces together without bending too much, and in only 8-10 tries.  With no smoke, and only a few reversed cables, I think my warranty is still good.

    I'm still trying to figure out why I need to deal with standoffs, motherboard mounting screws, and those stupid connectors for power switches, reset buttons, and LEDs.  There has got to be an easier way.  This stuff has been the same since the 80s.

    The other thing that killed me were the rebate forms.  I kept asking myself why I'm wasting a half-hour of my life filling out an $8 rebate form and going to the different web sites for registration.

    One thing I liked, since I don't have front-facing audio jacks...  this stuff is magic.

    image

    Another thing I liked... the Asus Nvidia 8800 GT...  this is the real beast.

    image

    I did have to upgrade the motherboard BIOS and video card drivers from Nvidia to get the system stable.

    Now I can see cars driving in FSX... for the price of a couple of hours of real flying time. 

    Now if I can only figure out how to stop an uncontrolled helicopter spin.

    http://www.canadacomputers.com/

    Wednesday, February 20, 2008

    BBC NEWS | Technology | Brain control headset for gamers


    Well, looks like my wiimote just became obsolete.  Worst $45 I ever spent.

    A neuro-headset which interprets the interaction of neurons in the brain will go on sale later this year.
    "It picks up electrical activity from the brain and sends wireless signals to a computer," said Tan Le, president of US/Australian firm Emotiv.
    "It allows the user to manipulate a game or virtual environment naturally and intuitively," she added.

    BBC NEWS | Technology | Brain control headset for gamers

    Actually, it seems to use a similar technology, a gyroscope, to detect movement and facial expressions.  The one difference?

    "Communication between human and machine has always been limited to conscious interaction, with non-conscious communication -- expression, intuition, perception -- reserved solely for the human realm. At Emotiv, we believe that future communication between human and machine will not be limited to the conscious communication that exists today. Users will demand that non-conscious communication play a much more significant role."

    http://tinyurl.com/2ad9ur

    Though the thing looks a bit like an 80's headset with tentacles, it still sounds incredible.

    The 80s is probably where they got their design idea...

    "I honestly believe that the next big leap in immersive technology will be very much like Brainstorm." - Douglas Trumbull, Brainstorm

    But why gaming?  Why not just turning off the lights in your house, or changing the channel on the TV, or programming your Tivo?

    More info on the Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) technology.

    It looks like controlling a computer with your brain has been around since the mid-90's.  From Wikipedia:

    "in experiments beginning in the mid-1990s, Niels Birbaumer of the University of Tübingen in Germany used EEG recordings of slow cortical potential to give paralysed patients limited control over a computer cursor."

    Of course, it took months of training to write 100 characters an hour, so it didn't work very well.

    Looks like my light switch idea was already tested with good results, albeit in the virtual world.

    "In 2000, for example, research by Jessica Bayliss at the University of Rochester showed that volunteers wearing virtual reality helmets could control elements in a virtual world using their P300 EEG readings, including turning lights on and off and bringing a mock-up car to a stop."

    Who's behind this latest innovation?  I'm guessing the Fraunhofer Society, the killers of the physical music media and inventors of MP3 have something to do with it.

    Tuesday, February 19, 2008

    Neatorama » Blog Archive » The Evolution of Tech Companies’ Logos

     

    You’ve seen these tech logos everywhere, but have you ever wondered how they came to be? Did you know that Apple’s original logo was Isaac Newton under an apple tree? Or that Nokia’s original logo was a fish?

    Let’s take a look at the origin of tech companies’ logos and how they evolved over time

    Neatorama » Blog Archive » The Evolution of Tech Companies’ Logos

    Saturday, February 16, 2008

    Yahoo eats its creative brains?


    Design and Innovation are really similar and complementary terms.  Design is "to conceive or fashion in the mind; to invent" while innovation is to improve on a design, or invention, probably through more design.  It is an iterative process that happens in waves.

    Kind of like job cuts.  During times of stress, the first ones to go are R&D.  The last person to go is the one who turns off the lights at night and makes the coffee in the morning.

    Interesting times are in store for Yahoo after axing 1,000 employees.  Someone else did some cold ballpark estimates for the effect the cuts will have on YHOO's stock price & EPS.  Apparently the more people they cut, the more operating profit they will have?  Sounds a bit flaky and unsustainable to me.  Are they going to have the board of directors installing more memory in the servers at Yahoo, or are they just going to outsource everything to Amazon S3?

    The entire Yahoo Design Innovation Team, aka yHaus, has been axed en masse, Portfolio.com has confirmed with one of the team's former members.

    "Yahoo Design Innovation team has been shut down completely," wrote Doug Fritz, a former full-time staffer for the team, in an email.

    Confirmed: Yahoo Design Innovation Team Axed - News Blog - Daily Brief - Portfolio.com

    No word on whether they were measuring innovation vs. profit at Yahoo, or the social aspects cutting 1,000 jobs will have on corporate culture.  Perhaps this is a poison pill designed to stop any hostile takeover?

    One designer posted some really interesting data visualization videos around FAA flight data here.  Like living organisms, the planes graphically pour in and out of the US.

    Here is a list of a few of web sites of the former Yahoo design innovation team for further inspiration.

    http://www.aaronkoblin.com/
    http://www.ghost-hack.com/
    http://www.bigpixel.com/
    http://www.practicalist.com/
    http://www.dougfritz.com/
    http://jennylc.com/
    http://danielmassey.net/
    http://recombine.net/
    http://interactive.usc.edu/members/adm/

    Innovation is quite similar to the creation of life.  It is a drastically changing event that impacts everyone around it.  Sometimes innovation may even shorten life.

    Speaking of life and living, one of my friends sent me photos of their unborn son.  This feels to me like looking into a crystal ball and being able to see a life before it sees the world.  Incredible stuff...

    Like watching the creation of life, being able to watch what is happening in the brain is as incredible.  It is still a very mysterious part of our anatomy, though every day technology turns into a Rosetta Stone for translation and decoding of our thoughts and actions into meaning.

    One technology that captures my interest is brain single-photon-emission computed tomography (SPECT) 3D imaging.  This technology gives psychiatrists and scientists the ability to compare the brains of various subjects and view incredible 3D visualizations of the inner workings of the brain.  Picture a cure for brain-related disorders, and perhaps even better-tasting food.

    Cardiac MRI provides the ability to look into the inner workings of the heart.  Picture longer lives and a healthier brain.

    However, with all of the advances in science, there does not yet exist a tool to visualize the soul or even prove that it exists, though fetal imaging gets pretty close to seeing a mother and father's soul combined into a living being.

    What does this all have to do with Yahoo cutting its innovation teams?  Perhaps it leaves them to go on to more important work than just building a better web site, search engine, or social network, like getting rid of lost baggage or delays at airports, or inventing a way to visualize the soul.

    Just my $0.02.

    Thursday, February 14, 2008

    Innovation in Canada

    I am a member of a task group studying innovation within our company.  This seems to be a prevailing topic as the focus moves from monetizing physical assets (capital goods, real estate, hardware, software) to monetizing innovative ideas (think green, cost reductions and efficiencies, patents, best of breed designs) and ensuring that we keep up with the increasingly fast-moving R&D train of the world, and all of those building cranes.

    Canada does have a way to go, though we do have RIMM and our Canadian Space Agency... and CATA.

    Canada’s lack of innovation, a 14th place ranking or a D Grade in Innovation, among the 17 OECD nations, is leading to mediocre socio-economic performance compared to other developed countries (Conference Board of Canada)

    Source: CATAAlliance Executive Dashboard, February, 2008

    Is D a pass? 


    Some of the focuses of CATA, the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance, include:

    • Building a brand for Canada (isn't this Tim Hortons?)
    • Creating an Industrial Strategy for Canada (outsourcing and a higher CAD?)
    • Attracting, retaining and training best talent (George Romero is moving to Toronto)
    • Public Safety and National Security with an eye on protecting privacy(unlike the US, where the GOP walked out of the House today because they couldn't get their NSA bill passed)

    The membership has a noticeable slant towards manufacturers, which is probably because Canada has a large amount of them. 

    So what is OECD and how do they have the authority to rate our innovative spirit? It's the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development.  Since this was written, there are now 30 nations on the list, so maybe Canada's been bumped a bit higher (or lower..)


    In the US, a government task group has been created from top executives in the largest corporations to figure out how to quantify and measure innovation.  This committee, aptly and verbosely titled Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economic Advisory Committee (MI21cEaC would make a good strong password) has Steve Ballmer of Microsoft as one of its members.  Other companies with representatives include Wal-Mart, 3M, and IBM.

    Oddly enough, Steve Jobs or anyone else from Apple isn't represented.

    So why is everyone caring so much about innovation today?

    "Innovation is a key determinant of economic growth and improvements in living standards over the long run. "

    Sounds important.  So how do we measure innovation in an IT consulting organization?  In the "real world" outside the business, patents and R&D expenditures are used as proxies to measure innovation.  One KPI used is R&D / GDP (%).  SInce we don't have GDP in our organization, perhaps R&D spend / Total Revenue is a good KPI?  For measuring expenses perhaps, but innovation has got to be much more than figuring out how much money is being thrown at a problem.

    Inside the business, there should be many ways to measure innovation.  Of course, before you can measure you must define.  The problem with the term "innovation" is that it has many possible connotations.  Invention is the creation of an idea.  So is innovation?  No.  Innovation, from what I understand is an idea that significantly improves on a previous idea (invention) or combines multiple ideas in a unique way, and demonstrates it to others in a repeatable fashion.

    For things like this I look to Wikipedia, possibly the most revolutionary innovation since the printed word.  Since we're trying to relate this to business & government, I will go with this example.

    In economics, business and government policy,- something new - must be substantially different, not an insignificant change. In economics the change must increase value, customer value, or producer value. Innovations are intended to make someone better off, and the succession of many innovations grows the whole economy.

    To simply even further, you need to define what "value" is from an economic sense.

    Value is...

    "the amount (of money or goods or services) that is considered to be a fair equivalent for something else; "he tried to estimate the value of the produce at normal prices" - Free Dictionary

    Sounds like apples to oranges... each of them could be priced matched and both are fruits, but some people like apples and some people like oranges.  Maybe Total Economic Value provides a better defnition?

    "TEV is composed by use values, option values and non-use components. There is not in the literature a single standard categorization nor terminology. Often Total Value is reported as the sum of use value and non-use values or passive values"

    Ouch.  Maybe not.

    How do you increase value through innovation? 

    Change the world.

    Simpify. 

    Tuesday, February 12, 2008

    Livestation Beta Opens Up


    I just got approved for the Livestation trial.  I'm a bit underwhelmed, since I have 1 channel (Al Jazeera) and a couple radio stations.

    The quality is good, but for now I'll stick with Joost.

    European Livestation users will have access to the BBC, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, France 24 in French and English, Euronews, Canal+, Sky News and two BBC Radio stations with the new beta test unveiled today. US users will just get Al Jazeera, France 24 and BBC Radio for now, but Berlucchi was quick to remind me that this is still a technical trial to prove that the technology is working and that there is actually a demand for such an offering.

    Livestation | NewTeeVee: Livestation Opens Up Beta Test, Focuses on News | Download the free Livestation player

    Friday, February 08, 2008

    Friday, January 25, 2008

    Opacity - Nassem Taleb's view on e-Books

     I am an avid book collector ("hoarder") and I agree that it is much better to pick up a book, to read the spine, look at the dust jacket, the writing font, the photos, the colours; before picking it up and physically measuring the quality of its content by weight and visualizing the content inside.

    That doesn't stop me from wanting one of those e-ink e-book readers when they come down in price and have a faster page turning rate.

    I think the best type of reader will be like the wiimote or iPod, with various dust jackets, book-style holders, and containers to hold the reader, based on the type of book you are reading.  A double-sided reader with two screens and the layout of a book could also mimic the feel of a true book.  This type of experience would be immensely closer to the true experience... though it still won't match the real thing.

    Fools do not want to accept that the real thing is better than the electronic. In other words, a text does not simplify a book. A book is so much real than a PDF on my hard disk. The experience of reading something you hold in your hands is more aesthetically rewarding: a book is better looking than a flat screen –it has an extra dimension. But to me, the main advantage is that I remember far, far better what I read in a book. My memory solidifies around hard objects, specific books, parts of my library. The classical mnemotechnic originates with the Greeks method of the loci: it consists in attaching memories to physical objects, a stone in a wall, a specific part of a ceiling, etc. You imagine a building & invest some of the locations with things to remember. In Luria’s account of the synesthete who could remember everything in great detail, there is a striking scene. Sh. [the patient-protagonist], has his memory failing him on a small detail because there is a cloud hiding the object to which the memory was attached.

    Source: Opacity

    Of course, there is something to a book that contains video, 3D virtual reality, links to web pages, music, and an author's commentary to figure out what exactly they were trying to say.  Some fools can appreciate this kind of book... I'm one of them.

    http://www.bcpictures.com/pages/richmediaebrochures.html

    Monday, January 14, 2008

    YouTube - NXT Rubik's cube solver - Final version

    Yet another useless but amazing application for Lego Mindstorms...

    This last version of my LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT Rubik's cube solver can solve ANY cube (no matter how shuffled) in 3'30" minutes maximum.
    I adopted on PC a fast algorithm to solve the cube.
    Anyone who thought this robot was fake must see!

    YouTube - NXT Rubik's cube solver - Final version

    Engadget - Alpine


    I was never a big fan of Alpine - their decks seemed really klunky to me, however I know that the quality of the sound that comes out is much better than any dolphin-swimming stereos like the ones I used to have.  And my audiophile friends always liked them.

    Now it sounds like they have a way to measure the interior space of your car and eq the deck properly.

    Audyssey's MultEQ acoustic correction technology to "measure and analyze the entire interior space," after which it combines results with a set of equalization filters to produce the best sound for each environment. As if that weren't impressive enough, the integrated RoadEQ is also there to "compensate for music distorted by vehicle / road noise."

    Engadget

    Wednesday, January 09, 2008

    Dakar costs a bit underestimated

    I slightly underestimated the costs of the cancellation of Dakar Rally for one team... by a few million.

    DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. --Robby Gordon said Monday the cancellation of the Dakar Rally cost him approximately $4.5 million, and he disagreed with the decision not to race at least a portion of the event.

    Sports Betting and Gambling Odds Online

    ''An entry for the Dakar is $12,000 per person, not counting the vehicles,'' he said. ''I think our entries were $360,000 and that's just the entry fees. That's not shipping trucks. That's not flying people there. That's not hotels in Lisbon. It's a big deal, and it's got me completely messed up right now in the head.

    What's even more interesting is that all of the infrastructure was setup to race and a course alteration would have been acceptable in lieu of cancellation.

    ''All of the equipment was there,'' he said. ''All of the teams were there. Television was set up. All of the stuff was done, and Portugal is not a dangerous area to race. It's a safe country, it's a beautiful country, and we had the permits to run on those roads and those trails. Some of it was military proving grounds, and we had what we needed to do to race there.

    ''Why didn't we go to Morocco and run a few stages in Morocco? ''

    One team member is still going to Dakar with supplies intended for a school.

    Despres will still be in Dakar on January 20, “I have decided to honour my own humanitarian obligations. I will inaugurate the new school in Dakar and make sure the school materials that I took to Lisbon will reach their intended destination."

    http://www.motorcyclenews.com/MCN/sport/sportresults/mcn/2008/January/7-9/jan0808cyrildespresondakarcancellation/

    Tuesday, January 08, 2008

    Noise-cancelling... speakers?

    Think of a video projector... now translate that to audio.   Audio that follows you around when you walk, but doesn't disturb others.

    “If you have audio going into a single speaker, it pours into a room like water. It just goes everywhere. Once we have multiple speakers under computer control, we can pre-distort the audio so that it builds up in some areas of the room and cancels itself out in others. We can do computer simulations of how the sound is going to propagate from the individual speaker cones and specify that we want more sound in one region and less sound in another.

    Personal Audio Space: The Headphones Experience sans Headphones

    First step is to catch up to "state of the art".  Second step is to blow right on by.

    “The way I like to design research projects,” Droppo says, “is that each phase answers at least one or two questions that we don’t know [the answer to]. While we don’t have anything spectacularly different yet, in the past few months, we’ve been able to catch up to the state of the art, and the real exciting part for me is where we’re taking this in the future.”

    Monday, January 07, 2008

    Bikers Dakar Rally Dream Is Shattered (from York Press)

    The stories about losses around the Dakar Rally cancellation are coming out now...

    Duncan Tweedy, 44, who lives in Harrogate, but is formerly from York, said he had spent tens of thousands of pounds and a year of his life preparing for the famous endurance race.

    Bikers Dakar Rally Dream Is Shattered (from York Press)

    One quote that caught my eye...

    "I'm just a small fry here. There are teams here from all over the world - China, Russia - who've spent millions of pounds."

    How much did teams spend on Dakar?  Perhaps around the $100,000 EUR mark each?  More likely much more.

    Over 525 teams competed last year.  That's only $52 million EUR... but with tourism & media costs it should be much more...