Tuesday, December 07, 2010
Video And Screenshots Of Android 3.0′s Surprise Appearance
The video of Andy Rubin’s talk at the Dive Into Mobile event is up, and you can watch the juicy bit above, where he takes out the prototype Motorola tablet and toys with it for all to see, demonstrating the new Google Maps and “accidentally” teasing video chat capability and some other things.
The pad looks bigger than 7″, the size we heard about, but I can’t swear to it. If I had to take a guess at the screen resolution, I’d go with 8-9″ at 1024×600. It looks thin and rather unadorned right now, but this likely isn’t the final industrial design, so let’s just not worry too much about that. He seemed proud that it had no buttons on it, though, so I’m guessing that’s final.
Rubin mentions toward the beginning of his Maps demo that it’s running a dual-core NVIDIA GPU. So there’s that. I wonder what the CPU is — not an ARM SoC, since the graphics wouldn’t be discrete like that. A new dual-core Atom? Or something new, something custom? He does say a “new” processor, and for that matter a “new” screen, so it could be anything, and the screen might be different from the current crop. (as commenters point out, it’s likely that this it is running a Tegra 2 and Rubin was simply not describing it well)
Here are a few screenshots from the video. Sorry they aren’t very clear, but they’re better than the blurry ones from before.
As for the price? TBD. Unless you want to buy the prototype, about which Rubin said “literally, this thing is probably like ten thousand dollars.”
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The Google Map App on Android phones will soon get a major upgrade which will allow it to render map images a lot faster, incorporate 3D buildings, offer offline caching, and use the compass to orient the map. In a talk this evening at the D Mobile conference, Android chief Andy Rubin gave a sneak peak of the new app.
At the heart of the new app is a dynamic map rendering engine which draws maps as you use them, and offers smoother transitions when zooming in and out of different levels. The dynamic rendering will also make it possible to start to show 3D buildings as you zoom into the street-level view. The touch screen will allow you to tilt and rotate the map and buildings.
The new maps load faster because they require 100 times less data each. Instead of downloading the entire map image for each level, the app downloads meta data which describes the entire map at all different levels and then renders the appropriate sector on the fly. This will start to give Google Maps offline capabilities on mobile phones. It may be possible to cache a map of an entire city on the phone. And for people who use the turn-by-turn navigation in Google Maps, when the new app comes out it will be able to recalculate the route even without a data connection.
The Google Maps app will also use the built-in compass on Android phones to automatically flip the orientation of the map to the person holding the phone. That orientation feature will come in handy when you are coming out of a subway station in an unfamiliar stop, or exiting a building.
Meaningful Work through Passion, not Genius
At the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, Malcolm Gladwell, author of "Blink" and the upcoming "Outliers," gives two examples of hard work that later looked like genius. Bill Gates got up at 2am to program as a teenager, while the Beatles played together 1200 times, far more than most bands, before they ever got famous. Success, he believes, is the result of putting your heart and mind into something to create successful, meaningful work.
Are you doing what you were made to do?
Everyone has a passion and something that drives them. What is yours? Are you doing what you were made to do? Watch Joel Comm discuss how to find your passion and live your life to the fullest.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Saturday, December 04, 2010
RedLaser: How A Company That Nearly Died Sold To eBay – with Reddy and Powers
RedLaser: How A Company That Nearly Died Sold To eBay – with Reddy and Powers
Posted on Dec 2, 2010 - 2:59 PM PST
How could two guys whose company nearly died end up selling millions of apps and changing the way people use their mobile phones?
That’s the seemingly impossible feat that Vikas Reddy and Jeffrey Powers, founders of Occipital, achieved. They created an app called RedLaser that made the cameras on people’s mobile phones into smart barcode scanners. With their app, users can, for example, scan items in stores and see if you can buy those items cheaper online.
They sold RedLaser to eBay for an undisclosed amount and now they’re working on 360 Panorama, which offers real-time panorama creation.
Posted on Dec 2, 2010 - 2:59 PM PST
How could two guys whose company nearly died end up selling millions of apps and changing the way people use their mobile phones?
That’s the seemingly impossible feat that Vikas Reddy and Jeffrey Powers, founders of Occipital, achieved. They created an app called RedLaser that made the cameras on people’s mobile phones into smart barcode scanners. With their app, users can, for example, scan items in stores and see if you can buy those items cheaper online.
They sold RedLaser to eBay for an undisclosed amount and now they’re working on 360 Panorama, which offers real-time panorama creation.
Friday, December 03, 2010
Canada-Israel: The other special relationship
Canada-Israel: The other special relationship
Seen as an honest-broker in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Canada has become one of Israel's most fervent supporters.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
FUTURE OF SCREENS – EXPERIENCE VIDEO
Capacitive screens has now become a commodity for touch screen devices. Screen technology is now taking the next leap and the coming years imagination is the only thing stopping us. We will soon have dual screens, malleable screens, screens built into wifi connected mirrors, desks or backside of gadgets clothed with e-ink screens, tactile feedback, color screens with great contrast in sunlight, holographics/stereoscopic screens, color e-ink touch screens, or screens actually knowing where they are in relation to other screens thanks to ultrasonic emitters and microphones.
We want to show some of these things in an “experience video”, that shows a normal day in a couple of years when all these technologies are affordable enough to be used everywhere. This video is the result of our experiment with open innovation, read more about our experiment here. Big thanks to all the people from TAT and around the world who helped out and sometimes shared their ideas and sometimes gave us homework on our own ideas.
The video of Paul Blomdahl showing off some of our demos on episode 13 of The Engadget Show on September 17th is now available. They start talking about the Future of Screens concept video that is shown just before we come in, and then they look at and discuss the Horizon demos.
Zuckerberg , Bush At Facebook HQ [Video]
Watch live streaming video from facebookguests at livestream.com
Looks like President Obama isn’t the only one resorting to Facebook as a way to reach the American people. In a first for a U.S. President past or present, former President George W. Bush will hold a discussion and Q&A live from Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto. The event will start in about 20 minutes at 2 pm PST.
Bush will be talking to Facebook employees about his new book Decision Points, and those of us not employed by Facebook will have the opportunity to watch it on Facebook Live and the Livestream above. According to The Next Web, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself will in fact moderate the discussion along with Facebook General Council Ted Ullyot. Ullyot also happens to have been an attorney for the Bush White House, which might explain why the former President’s only Bay Area appearance is at the social network.
Bush belatedly joined Facebook over the summer primarily to promote Decision Points through his fan page. W. currently has 619,516 fans as opposed to the 16,889,927 people “liking” the decidedly more web savvy Barack Obama.
We’re hoping the Q&A will also extend to the folks at home, or that some Facebook employee will muster up the courage to ask Bush what he thinks about Wikileaks. Stay tuned!
Boxee CEO To Big Media: “Resistance Is Futile”
With all the new Internet TV boxes and services sprouting this holiday season—from Google TV and Apple TV to the Boxee Box, Shufflr, and beyond—there is a lot talk about people cutting their cable cords and just getting all of their TV from the Internet. That is not going to happen anytime soon until the best TV shows and movies become available online at the same time as on TV, but the direction is clear. Today at the SAI Ignition conference in New York City, Boxee CEO Avner Ronen declared, “Resistance is futile.”
Ronen was responding to the question of when will there be something worthwhile to watch on the Web. Getting Web video to your TV is becoming increasingly easy, but there are so many restrictions on the best video (network TV shows and Hollywood movies) that it is still not worth watching on the Web for anybody but geeks. Ronen himself admits that his modest goal is to get “from geeks to early adopters.”
Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone, who was also on the same panel, argued that quality isn’t really the issue. “At some point, 80 percent of major network TV content was online.” The problem is that “it doesn’t stay there.” As a viewer, you have to know when to catch the shows, because unlike all other content on the Internet, TV shows and movies don’t stay online. They get placed online and then plucked off based on the different licensing windows the media companies adhere to in order to squeeze more profits from their shows and movies by making them available at different times through different distribution channels (theaters, DVDs, pay-per-view, cable, and now online).
Internet TV, however, doesn’t really fit into this distribution model because the generation of viewers who are growing up now on Youtube and Hulu want t watch TV or videos whenever they want to, not when the media companies tell them they can.
“The Internet is just a distribution model, it does not dictate business models,” argues Ronen. The existing media companies may not like the new competition that the Internet is bringing, but if consumers move there they won’t have a choice but to follow suit. He predicts that 50 percent of households in the U.S. will have Internet-connected TVs in five years and that “Netflix is going to have more paid video subscribers in two years than Comcast.” People will pay for broadband from one provider and pay for content from others (perhaps Netflix or Hulu or Boxee). Resistance is futile because over time, the Internet will prevail.
Below is a video interview I did with Avner a couple weeks ago on the same topic:
Ronen was responding to the question of when will there be something worthwhile to watch on the Web. Getting Web video to your TV is becoming increasingly easy, but there are so many restrictions on the best video (network TV shows and Hollywood movies) that it is still not worth watching on the Web for anybody but geeks. Ronen himself admits that his modest goal is to get “from geeks to early adopters.”
Clicker CEO Jim Lanzone, who was also on the same panel, argued that quality isn’t really the issue. “At some point, 80 percent of major network TV content was online.” The problem is that “it doesn’t stay there.” As a viewer, you have to know when to catch the shows, because unlike all other content on the Internet, TV shows and movies don’t stay online. They get placed online and then plucked off based on the different licensing windows the media companies adhere to in order to squeeze more profits from their shows and movies by making them available at different times through different distribution channels (theaters, DVDs, pay-per-view, cable, and now online).
Internet TV, however, doesn’t really fit into this distribution model because the generation of viewers who are growing up now on Youtube and Hulu want t watch TV or videos whenever they want to, not when the media companies tell them they can.
“The Internet is just a distribution model, it does not dictate business models,” argues Ronen. The existing media companies may not like the new competition that the Internet is bringing, but if consumers move there they won’t have a choice but to follow suit. He predicts that 50 percent of households in the U.S. will have Internet-connected TVs in five years and that “Netflix is going to have more paid video subscribers in two years than Comcast.” People will pay for broadband from one provider and pay for content from others (perhaps Netflix or Hulu or Boxee). Resistance is futile because over time, the Internet will prevail.
Below is a video interview I did with Avner a couple weeks ago on the same topic:
Real time monitoring of your energy consumption
Would you conserve energy if you could monitor your consumption by the hour? Lucid Design Group has developed new software that provides users with instant feedback on how much energy they're using. SmartPlanet visits the start-up to see their dashboard up close.
TED Featured on Ignite OTC by David Glover.
Stroke victims: Tiny coil saves lives by pulling blood clots from the brain
A device known as the Merci Retriever is a potential life saver for stroke victims, but it must be used within 8 hours. The device looks like a tiny corkscrew and it is used for blood clots that occur in large arteries where clot busting drugs are not effective.
San Francisco water meters get smart
In the future, San Francisco residents will be able to monitor and track their water usage via Web software on the hour instead of monthly, which is the case now. The new automated water meters will be connected to a little gray box that houses a low radio frequency signal and collects data. SmartPlanet visits the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to see how it works.
The Future Of... Hospitals
Hospital stays are rarely relaxing - but at Mountain View's El Camino Hospital, robots run errands, communication devices keep noise to a minimum and patient beds help translate doctors' orders. SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das takes a tour of one of the most technologically advanced medical facilities in the world.
Berkeley tele-immersion lab developing 3D video conferencing
New tele-immersive technologies could be the future of video conferencing. The technology allows users to share a 3D environment with other individuals from a remote location. SmartPlanet talks to University of California at Berkeley's Gregorij Kurillo about how the system is being used to create virtual spaces for users to interact and manipulate 3D objects.
Honig Winery applies pressure bombs for better vineyard irrigation
SmartPlanet visits Honig Vineyard & Winery in Napa Valley and sees their 'green' practices up close, which include a solar array that produces energy for 100 percent of the winery's operations and a pressure bomb--a device they use to improve irrigation practices.
Groasis, the company that makes the Waterboxx, calls it an "intelligent water incubator." Simply put, the device captures rainwater in a round plastic container and then feeds plants steadily. SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das talks to Daniel Bosch, head of viticulture at the Robert Mondavi Winery, about how the winemaker is using the Waterboxx to reduce traditional irrigation practices at its vineyards.
Groasis, the company that makes the Waterboxx, calls it an "intelligent water incubator." Simply put, the device captures rainwater in a round plastic container and then feeds plants steadily. SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das talks to Daniel Bosch, head of viticulture at the Robert Mondavi Winery, about how the winemaker is using the Waterboxx to reduce traditional irrigation practices at its vineyards.
Travel gadgets go green
With air travel and hotel stays, business trips can be taxing on the environment. There are ways to conserve, though. SmartPlanet correspondent Sumi Das shows you some travel products that have an eco-friendly spin.
Helping Haitians access safe drinking water
LifeGivingForce CEO Jim Chu demonstrates one of the solar-powered water purification systems the foundation is sending to Haiti to combat cholera and provide safe, clean and accessible water to people there.
MIT using sunrays to make clean water
MIT researchers Steve Dubowsky, Amy Bilton and Leah Kelly have created a solar-powered portable desalination system that could make clean drinking water available in countries that need it most. Using a process called reverse osmosis, the solar panel powers different pumps in the system that then force the seawater through a permeable membrane that filtrates the salt from the water. SmartPlanet shows you a time-lapse video sequence of the process.
Animation: Honda's new plug-in hybrid platform
Honda unveils its plug-in hybrid platform at the Los Angeles Auto Show. The goal is to allow for all-electric short trips and longer commutes with a 2.0-liter, i-VTEC inline 4-cylinder gasoline engine tied to a CVT, or continuously variable transmission. It has three modes: all-electric, gasoline-electric and engine direct-drive. SmartPlanet goes under the hood and shows you animation of how it works.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
William Ury: The walk from "no" to "yes"
About this talk
William Ury, author of "Getting to Yes," offers an elegant, simple (but not easy) way to create agreement in even the most difficult situations -- from family conflict to, perhaps, the Middle East.
William Ury is a mediator, writer and speaker, working with conflicts ranging from family feuds to boardroom battles to ethnic wars. He's the author of "Getting to Yes."
Why you should listen to him:
William L. Ury co-founded Harvard's Program on Negotiation and is currently a Senior Fellow of the Harvard Negotiation Project. He is the author of The Power of a Positive No: How to Say No & Still Get to Yes, and co-author (with Roger Fisher) of Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, translated into 30+ languages. He is also author of the award-winning Getting Past No: Negotiating with Difficult People and Getting To Peace (released in paperback under the title The Third Side).
Over the last 30 years, Ury has served as a negotiation adviser and mediator in conflicts ranging from corporate mergers to wildcat strikes in a Kentucky coal mine to ethnic wars in the Middle East, the Balkans, and the former Soviet Union. With former president Jimmy Carter, he co- founded the International Negotiation Network, a non-governmental body seeking to end civil wars around the world. During the 1980s, he helped the US and Soviet governments create nuclear crisis centers designed to avert an accidental nuclear war. In that capacity, he served as a consultant to the Crisis Management Center at the White House. More recently, Ury has served as a third party in helping to end a civil war in Aceh, Indonesia, and helping to prevent one in Venezuela.
Ury has taught negotiation to tens of thousands of corporate executives, labor leaders, diplomats and military officers around the world. He helps organizations try to reach mutually profitable agreements with customers, suppliers, unions, and joint-venture partners.
Birke Baehr: What's wrong with our food system
About this talk
11-year-old Birke Baehr presents his take on a major source of our food -- far-away and less-than-picturesque industrial farms. Keeping farms out of sight promotes a rosy, unreal picture of big-box agriculture, he argues, as he outlines the case to green and localize food production.
Birke Baehr wants us to know how our food is made, where it comes from, and what's in it. At age 11, he's planning a career as an organic farmer.
Why you should listen to him:
At age 9, while traveling with his family and being "roadschooled," Birke Baehr began studying sustainable and organic farming practices such as composting, vermiculture, canning and food preservation. Soon he discovered his other passion: educating others -- especially his peers -- about the destructiveness of the industrialized food system, and the alternatives. He spoke at TEDxNextGenerationAsheville in 2010.
Baehr volunteers at the Humane Society and loves working with animals.
Transcript:
Hello. My name is Birke Baehr, and I'm 11 years old. I came here today to talk about what's wrong with our food system. First of all, I would like to say that I'm really amazed at how easily kids are led to believe all the marketing and advertising on TV, at public schools and pretty much everywhere else you look. It seems to me like corporations are always trying to get kids like me to get their parents to buy stuff that really isn't good for us or the planet. Little kids, especially, are attracted by colorful packaging and plastic toys. I must admit, I used to be one of them. I also used to think that all of our food came from these happy, little farms where pigs rolled in mud and cows grazed on grass all day.
What I discovered was this is not true. I began to look into this stuff on the internet, in books and in documentary films, in my travels with my family. I discovered the dark side of the industrialized food system. First there's genetically engineered seeds and organisms. That is when a seed is manipulated in a laboratory to do something not intended by nature -- like taking the DNA of a fish and putting it into the DNA of a tomato -- yuck. Don't get me wrong, I like fish and tomatoes, but this is just creepy. (Laughter) The seeds are then planted, then grow. The food they produce have been proven to cause cancer and other problems in lab animals. And people have been eating food produced this way since the 1990's. And most folks don't even know they exist. Did you know rats that ate genetically engineered corn had developed signs of liver and kidney toxicity? These include kidney inflammation and lesions and increased kidney weight. Yet almost all the corn we eat is altered genetically in some way. And let me tell you, corn is in everything. And don't even get me started on the confined animal feeding operations. called CAFOS.
(Laughter)
Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers made from fossil fuels that they mix with the dirt to make plants grow. They do this because they've stripped the soil of all nutrients from growing the same crop over and over again. Next, more harmful chemicals are sprayed on fruits and vegetables, like pesticides and herbicides, to kill weeds and bugs. When it rains, these chemicals seep into the ground, or run off into our waterways, poisoning our water too. Then they irradiate our food, trying to make it last longer, so it can travel thousands of miles from where it's grown to the supermarkets.
So I ask myself, how can I change? How can I change these things? This is what I found out. I discovered that there's a movement for a better way. Now a while back, I wanted to be an NFL football player. I decided that I'd rather be an organic farmer instead. (Applause) Thank you. And that way I can have a greater impact on the world. This man, Joel Salatin, they call him a lunatic farmer because he grows against the system. Since I'm home schooled, I went to go hear him speak one day. This man, this lunatic farmer, doesn't use any pesticides, herbicides, or genetically modified seeds. And so for that, he's called crazy by the system.
I want you to know that we can all make a difference by making different choices, by buying our food directly from local farmers, or our neighbors who we know [unclear]. Some people say organic or local food is more expensive, but is it really? With all these things I've been learning about the food system, it seems to me that we either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital. (Applause) Now I know definitely what one I would choose. I want you to know that there are farms out there -- like Bill Cainer in [unclear] Farms in Tennessee -- whose cows do eat grass and whose pigs do roll in the mud, just like I thought. Sometimes I go to Bill's farm and volunteer, so I can see up close and personal where the meat I eat comes from. I want you to know that I believe kids will eat fresh vegetables and good food if they know more about it and where it really comes from. I want you to know that there are farmers' markets in every community, popping up. I want you to know that me, my brother and sister actually like eating baked kale chips. I try to share this everywhere I go.
Not too long ago, my uncle said that he offered my six year-old cousin cereal. He asked if he wanted organic Toasted O's or the sugar-coated flakes -- you know, the one with the big striped cartoon character on the front. My little cousin told his dad that he would rather have the organic Toasted O's cereal, because, Birke said, he shouldn't eat sparkly cereal. And that, my friends, is how we can make a difference one kid at a time.
So next time you're at the grocery store, think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food. Thank you.
(Applause)
11-year-old Birke Baehr presents his take on a major source of our food -- far-away and less-than-picturesque industrial farms. Keeping farms out of sight promotes a rosy, unreal picture of big-box agriculture, he argues, as he outlines the case to green and localize food production.
Birke Baehr wants us to know how our food is made, where it comes from, and what's in it. At age 11, he's planning a career as an organic farmer.
Why you should listen to him:
At age 9, while traveling with his family and being "roadschooled," Birke Baehr began studying sustainable and organic farming practices such as composting, vermiculture, canning and food preservation. Soon he discovered his other passion: educating others -- especially his peers -- about the destructiveness of the industrialized food system, and the alternatives. He spoke at TEDxNextGenerationAsheville in 2010.
Baehr volunteers at the Humane Society and loves working with animals.
Transcript:
Hello. My name is Birke Baehr, and I'm 11 years old. I came here today to talk about what's wrong with our food system. First of all, I would like to say that I'm really amazed at how easily kids are led to believe all the marketing and advertising on TV, at public schools and pretty much everywhere else you look. It seems to me like corporations are always trying to get kids like me to get their parents to buy stuff that really isn't good for us or the planet. Little kids, especially, are attracted by colorful packaging and plastic toys. I must admit, I used to be one of them. I also used to think that all of our food came from these happy, little farms where pigs rolled in mud and cows grazed on grass all day.
What I discovered was this is not true. I began to look into this stuff on the internet, in books and in documentary films, in my travels with my family. I discovered the dark side of the industrialized food system. First there's genetically engineered seeds and organisms. That is when a seed is manipulated in a laboratory to do something not intended by nature -- like taking the DNA of a fish and putting it into the DNA of a tomato -- yuck. Don't get me wrong, I like fish and tomatoes, but this is just creepy. (Laughter) The seeds are then planted, then grow. The food they produce have been proven to cause cancer and other problems in lab animals. And people have been eating food produced this way since the 1990's. And most folks don't even know they exist. Did you know rats that ate genetically engineered corn had developed signs of liver and kidney toxicity? These include kidney inflammation and lesions and increased kidney weight. Yet almost all the corn we eat is altered genetically in some way. And let me tell you, corn is in everything. And don't even get me started on the confined animal feeding operations. called CAFOS.
(Laughter)
Conventional farmers use chemical fertilizers made from fossil fuels that they mix with the dirt to make plants grow. They do this because they've stripped the soil of all nutrients from growing the same crop over and over again. Next, more harmful chemicals are sprayed on fruits and vegetables, like pesticides and herbicides, to kill weeds and bugs. When it rains, these chemicals seep into the ground, or run off into our waterways, poisoning our water too. Then they irradiate our food, trying to make it last longer, so it can travel thousands of miles from where it's grown to the supermarkets.
So I ask myself, how can I change? How can I change these things? This is what I found out. I discovered that there's a movement for a better way. Now a while back, I wanted to be an NFL football player. I decided that I'd rather be an organic farmer instead. (Applause) Thank you. And that way I can have a greater impact on the world. This man, Joel Salatin, they call him a lunatic farmer because he grows against the system. Since I'm home schooled, I went to go hear him speak one day. This man, this lunatic farmer, doesn't use any pesticides, herbicides, or genetically modified seeds. And so for that, he's called crazy by the system.
I want you to know that we can all make a difference by making different choices, by buying our food directly from local farmers, or our neighbors who we know [unclear]. Some people say organic or local food is more expensive, but is it really? With all these things I've been learning about the food system, it seems to me that we either pay the farmer, or we can pay the hospital. (Applause) Now I know definitely what one I would choose. I want you to know that there are farms out there -- like Bill Cainer in [unclear] Farms in Tennessee -- whose cows do eat grass and whose pigs do roll in the mud, just like I thought. Sometimes I go to Bill's farm and volunteer, so I can see up close and personal where the meat I eat comes from. I want you to know that I believe kids will eat fresh vegetables and good food if they know more about it and where it really comes from. I want you to know that there are farmers' markets in every community, popping up. I want you to know that me, my brother and sister actually like eating baked kale chips. I try to share this everywhere I go.
Not too long ago, my uncle said that he offered my six year-old cousin cereal. He asked if he wanted organic Toasted O's or the sugar-coated flakes -- you know, the one with the big striped cartoon character on the front. My little cousin told his dad that he would rather have the organic Toasted O's cereal, because, Birke said, he shouldn't eat sparkly cereal. And that, my friends, is how we can make a difference one kid at a time.
So next time you're at the grocery store, think local, choose organic, know your farmer and know your food. Thank you.
(Applause)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
TEDxTokyo - TEDx Youth Day - 05/15/10 - English
TEDxYouthDay is a series of TEDx events happening over a 24-hour period all around the world. Dreamed up by a group of TEDx organizers, the events are designed to empower and inspire young people.
Presented by Lara Stein and Patrick Newell.
http://www.ted.com/pages/view/id/418
About TEDx, x = independently organized event
In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
Looking back:
Looking ahead:
TEDxYouth Amsterdam 20 November 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z46vZdiWTk4&feature=related
Trailer - Challenge 'Ideas Worth Doing'
Rules of the challenge
It's pretty simple: TEDxAmsterdam is about 'ideas worth spreading,' and our TEDxAmsterdam Challenge is about 'ideas worth doing!' We challenge you to do something good in your local community, your city, the Netherlands, or the world. Take your pick.
Your chosen project has to be undertaken in the period between 29 June until the 19 October.
To verify the project, you must document it with some authentic proof. We're looking for a newspaper or published article, clear photos, a short movie clip, or testimonials on film. Be creative.
The TEDxAmsterdam Challenge is free for everyone of every age to join. Our event is international, so entries must be in English.
Entries must do good for someone, some place or something in your local community, city, the Netherlands or the world.
Sound good? Full of ideas? http://www.tedxamsterdam.com/register...
Made by: Bonafide Binky (www.bonafidebinky.com),
Aad Duineveld (Illustrations),
Arriën Molema (music),
Ivana Kowsoleea (direction, concept, production),
Laurens Hebly (Voice-over),
Milan van den Bovenkamp (direction, concept, production),
Sasha Naod (copy)
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)
Mobile Games App Store Strategies, Business Models & Forecasts 2010-2015
http://www.juniperresearch.com/reports/mobile_games
Overview
- Unique In-depth Forecast Suite
- High Value Strategic Assessment
- Board Level Planning Tool
This sixth edition of the mobile games report investigates a number of mobile games business models considering the opportunities for freemium content, including in-app purchases, as an alternative to the traditional pay-to-download approach.
Key forecasts include the number of users downloading mobile games, the number of downloads (both offstore and onstore) as well as end-user revenues (pay-per-download and in-game purchases) and mobile advertising expenditure revenues (adspend).
As part of a detailed strategy assessment the report analyses the decline in Java and BREW platforms in relation to the mass deployment of app stores, as well as considering the positive impact of handset development, and highlights challenges to further development of the market, such as, discoverability, and OS fragmentation.
Web 2.0 Summit 2010: Frank Quattrone, "A Conversation with Frank Quattrone"
Frank Quattrone (Qatalyst Partners),
Bill Gurley (Benchmark Capital),
"A Conversation with Frank Quattrone"
Sharp也趕Tablet尾班車 Galapagos專攻日本書市場
筆者無意歌頌蘋果如何改變世界、如何改變大家的生活，卻無法否認這間公司的產品完全改變他的科技界同行。自IPAD 推出後，多家公司已先後仿傚其設計陸續推出產品，先是內地的廠商包括漢王及一眾山案廠，及後如Ausu及HP均先後宣佈或傳出Tablet 產品，較知名的公司則有Toshiba的雙面Tablet、DELL 的Streak，另外韓國三星亦來勢洶洶，準備推出Galaxy Tablet七吋及十吋版以對抗蘋果。
繞了一圈後，今日連日本的Sharp也要在Tablet 市場上一分一杯羹，宣佈推出自家的Tablet──Galapagos。GALAPAGOS分為5.5吋的「Mobile type」及10.8吋的「Home type」，前者LCD顯示屏解像度為1,024 × 600，後者則為1,366 × 800，同樣內置了無線上網Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11b/g功能。「Mobile type」備有紅色及銀色兩種外殼選擇，外型與iPhone相近，不過在Home Button位置崁入了一個trackball作揭頁之用。至於「Home type」則只有黑色，外型近似iPad，兩者同樣對應並預載自家開發的「Social App」。
由於Galapagos的定位為一部連結網絡多媒體服務的電子書閱讀器，故此Sharp刻意在閱讀體驗上下功夫，該公司指5.5吋的大小正是為了迎合大眾讀書的習慣(大概因為此面積與日本的文庫本相近)，而10.8吋則是遷就了大家翻雜誌的習慣，該公司更聲稱其獨有的XMDF格式針對了日本的書寫風格設計，能為讀者帶來最優質的閱讀體驗(相信若其所指是直行書寫的話，應該對廣大的華文社會亦有幫助，不過未知該公司會否計畫發展華文市場)
在發怖會上，SHARP的重點在於其推出的雲端多媒體服務及網上書店，對GALAPAGOS的規格沒有作詳細著墨，甚至連發售日期及售價等皆沒有公怖。該公司表示其網上書店將於12月正式運作，目前已肯定有三萬本讀物及雜誌於首日運作時同步推出。
對此機有興趣的朋友不妨到Sharp公司的官方網頁研究一下。
Bloomberg to America: Lay Off The Chinese
Mayor Michael Bloomberg in Hong Kong.
By Peter Stein
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on a visit to Hong Kong and the neighboring city of Shenzhen, had some harsh criticism for his own fellow Americans: Stop blaming the Chinese for their problems.
As the debate rages over China’s trade and currencies policies, the 68-year-old Bloomberg, now in his third term as mayor of New York, was tough on China’s critics in the U.S. He spoke to reporters Saturday in Hong Kong after addressing a meeting of leaders from top cities around the world, dubbed the C40, focused on climate change and environment.
“I think in America, we’ve got to stop blaming the Chinese and blaming everybody else and take a look at ourselves,” he said.
A day earlier, Mr. Bloomberg visited several businesses (incluing a solar panel maker) in Shenzhen, a manufacturing hub that borders Hong Kong.
China’s big push into solar and other environmentally friendly energy technologies has begun to attract negative attention. Last month, the U.S. Trade Representative’s office said it would investigate China’s policies over complaints that the country was using tactics that violated its World Trade Organization commitments to shut other countries out of the burgeoning market for clean energy.
Mr. Bloomberg attacked the notion that using Chinese-made technology to promote green energy in the U.S. was politically objectionable. “Let me get this straight: There’s a country on the other side of the world that is taking their taxpayers’ dollars, and trying to sell subsidized things so we can buy them cheaper, and have better products, and we’re going to criticize that?”
Earlier, in an interview, the mayor was deeply, undiplomatically critical of provincialism and populism in U.S. Congress.
“If you look at the U.S., you look at who we’re electing to Congress, to the Senate—they can’t read,” he said. “I’ll bet you a bunch of these people don’t have passports. We’re about to start a trade war with China if we’re not careful here,” he warned, “only because nobody knows where China is. Nobody knows what China is.”
The mayor said his biggest impression from meeting his mayoral counterparts from China (the C40 includes about a half dozen heads of major cities in China) was their focus on environmental issues.
In the past, he said, “they have focused on jobs, jobs, jobs, economic development at all costs. Now all of a sudden they are realizing their rivers are becoming undrinkable, their air is killing people.”
China’s growing concern for the environment was good for Hong Kong, he noted, given how much of the city’s pollution problem wafts in across its border with the rest of the country. He recalled many years ago renting a helicopter (he’s a certified pilot) and flying it into the city’s mountainous New Territories district, only to get lost in the pollution.
“At one point I had to go down almost to tree level to figure out where I was, just to get out.”
Bloomberg, whose past business experience frequently took him to Asia, spoke highly of prospects for Hong Kong, where the stock exchange has dominated the global market for initial public offerings for a second year.
“The future of Hong Kong as a financial center is not going to be challenged by anybody else in Asia,” he said. Going in its favor were widespread use of English; a family-friendly, low-crime environment that attracts workers; and ease of commuting.
“The only other city that has the potential of doing that, of course, is Singapore,” he added, but not Tokyo. “I love Tokyo, but unless you speak Japanese, you can’t survive.”
Monday, November 29, 2010
Thousands Protest Irish Nightmare Economy
Thousands Protest Irish Nightmare Economy
Leo Panitch: US created financial crisis and European banks turned the Irish Miracle into a nightmare
Transcript
PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR TRNN: Welcome back to The Real News Network. Over the weekend in Ireland, thousands of people demonstrated against austerity measures and against bearing the burden of the Irish crisis. Just how did the Irish miracle turn into the Irish nightmare? Now joining us from Toronto is Leo Panitch. He's a distinguished research professor at York University, teaches political science there, and he's the author of the book In and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives. Thanks for joining us again, Leo.
LEO PANITCH, PROF. POLITICAL SCIENCE, YORK UNIVERSITY: Hi, Paul.
JAY: So, in your view, how do we get from this miracle economy of Ireland with so low unemployment, and apparently a booming middle class, to bust?
PANITCH: Well, we got to it via the bust of the financial sector that Ireland certainly didn't cause. It was very much a American-made crisis. But insofar as a good part of the Irish boom involved Irish Banks borrowing short in order to lend long to their property boom, and to some extent to lend to foreign investors who were creating jobs, a lot of them American companies but borrowing from Irish Banks, the result of that when the financial boom ended in the United States was that the knock-on effect meant that Irish banks were virtually bankrupt. And one of the first places on the face of the earth that that was felt apart from Iceland was Ireland, and the Irish government immediately guaranteed all bank deposits. And insofar as they did so, they socialized, took onto the public shoulders the private debt of the banks. And you see the consequences.
JAY: So people are saying what happened is the banks bet, helped create a real estate bubble in Ireland. They bet on it, they lost the bets, and now the Irish people are being asked to bail them out. Is that a fair [inaudible]
PANITCH: Yeah. And, you know, Ireland didn't have a large public sector deficit, but it now does by virtue of having taken on the burden of the private sector banking deficit. And the result of that is what you see with the Irish debt, the Irish fiscal debt, not being willing--the banking sectors, especially in Europe, who provided most of this lending, not being willing to, as I said before, roll over that debt, not being willing to, in other words, lend any more when Irish bonds come due.
JAY: Paul Krugman wrote a piece recently where he compares what happened in Ireland to Iceland, where he said Iceland took a different approach towards a somewhat similar situation. What do you make of that?
PANITCH: Yeah. They tried to make the Dutch and the British bear some of the burden and came under a lot of pressure from the Dutch and the British for this and had to compromise somewhat, but they did spread it around a little. But you shouldn't think that the Icelandic people [inaudible] to carry most of that burden they have. Now, I must say, this is now a larger situation. And when the Germans, who always do this, since they never want to take responsibility for this themselves, it always falls more on the American state to organize the bailout. The Germans said that in the future, beginning in 2013, the banks ought to be taking some of the haircut themselves, rather than have the EU states lend--or the IMF for the Americans--lend the Irish state the money, provided they engage in this terrible austerity program. And as soon as the German banks heard that, and not only the German banks, they all the more wouldn't lend money to Ireland, because they didn't want to be caught holding Irish debt if they were going to be the ones who would have to take any of the haircut for this.
JAY: So first the banks get saved by the Irish state, and then they beat the hell out of the Irish state 'cause they may not be able to pay off the debt the Irish state took on to save them.
PANITCH: That's the situation, and there's nothing new about this.
JAY: Brilliant system. So what are Irish people demanding? What do you think they should be? What's the alternative for Ireland?
PANITCH: You know, the austerity program involves raising the sales tax--the value added tax, as it's called there--to 23 percent (look at the hysteria here in Canada when we have a combined sales tax of 15 percent), that at a time when corporate taxes in Ireland are famously at 12 percent and it is being pledged that they will not be raised. And I might point out that the American corporations that have been the largest investors in Ireland in terms of manufacturing investment and exports from Ireland are threatening they'll pull out unless this 12 percent corporate tax is maintained. So you see the enormous class inequity that's built into this, the enormous demonstrations that have taken place in Ireland. And they're not new. They occurred last year when austerity measures were introduced as well, and being led by a very, very moderate corporatist trade union leadership, which doesn't want to engage in any class mobilization--less radical than the AFL-CIO, but they're being forced into undertaking these demonstrations by virtue of the anger of the people. They're not demanding nearly enough. It's a very, very defensive set of demands they're engaged in. As I've argued before, the only real solution here is for Ireland to lead the way by defaulting on the debt, to do what Argentina did at the beginning of this century. But that will mean, and I hope it will mean, a much more radical set of responses in Europe, not only in Spain and Portugal and Greece, but much more broadly, whereby people are given a lead in terms of not just socializing the private banks' bad debts but actually nationalizing the banking system and turning it into a public utility. It'll mean breaking up the European Union, but reconstructing it on a basis of democratic and cooperative economic planning, where the money, our money that passes through the banking system, the people's money, is actually allocated in a democratic way. That--we have had a banker's Europe, a Europe based on free capital flows. It is inevitably one that was highly volatile, inevitably producing one crisis after another. And Ireland is facing the brunt of it at the moment. Greece faced it a few months ago. Portugal's [inaudible] to face it at all.
JAY: But what do you make of the argument that the reason these countries are in difficulty is 'cause there's too much entitlement programs, the pension age is too low, unemployment insurance is too high, and so on?
PANITCH: I think it's ludicrous. This isn't the problem. The problem is not that Irish workers are too well off. The problem is the enormous wealth inequality, and above all inequality in power, and irrational investment that has gone on in these countries. And it will mean, if people are going to try to maintain something like the civilization that we've known, it'll mean redefining what our standard of living is. It will mean that we will not be able to engage in the kind of individual consumption, and have to turn to the kind of collective services that would be so rational and so needed--much more, much more extensive public transit and freer public transit, rather than private transit through automobiles that reproduces the ecological crisis and worsens it. But the answer is not that, you know, the Irish working class (give me a break) is so well off and wealthy, much less the Greek one. Now, it's true that many of these states are corrupt and are indeed the kinds of states that are built on clientalism. The type of democracies we've had there, the types of capitalist democracies we've had there, have involved bribing people, bribing people to--through agreeing to let them not pay as much taxes or any taxes, through giving them kickbacks, etc.
JAY: And you're using the public sector to make politicians rich.
PANITCH: Yes, and engaging in the type of relationships between politicians and capitalists that are indeed very, very unsavory, which involve, if not corruption, certainly scratching your back if you scratch mine. So there's no sense pretending that these have been, you know, wonderful democratic societies. And when one's calling for a different kind of economy, one needs to call for a different kind of state.
JAY: Thanks very much for joining us, Leo.
PANITCH: Good to talk to you, Paul.
JAY: Thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
End of Transcript
Imagine it! – Post-It Challenge
Imagine it! – Post-It Challenge
Posted on: August 7, 2009
Posted in: Imagine it!
As part of Entrepreneurship Week 2007, Stanford University created an Innovation Challenge; asking students to take an everyday item (Post-Its) and create value. The remarkable program received thousand of participants at hundreds of universities in dozens of countries. The documentary shares their stories and offers perspectives from competition and university officials, celebrated authors and entrepreneurs from around the world.
Imagine it!² Ch11: Is Science Art?
Imagine it!² Ch11: Is Science Art?
Posted on: July 23, 2009
Posted in: Clough, G. Wayne, El-Baz, Farouk, Imagine it!², Vest, Charles
This film is about connecting imagination and creativity with science and engineering in education. The 52-minute film is designed provide a forum for discussion around the power of big ideas in action and to inspire people to imagine a better world, to unleash their creativity and then take action to solve global challenges.
In the film, there is a chorus of voices joining a movement to get creative thinking and the arts back into schools and connect those with science and engineering (STEM education). Imagine it!” helps the public have a better understanding of the importance of science, engineering and technology and inspires the next generation of innovators.
The film reports on the promise of a new youth culture engaging their curiosity to change the world, empowered by science, technology, education…and desire.
Play All
Chapter 1: A New Generation (01:04) It’s positive. It’s about the future. It’s about what’s possible.
Imagine it!², Chapter 01: A New Generation (01:04) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 2: The Future (04:20) Unleash the power of your imagination to solve the global challenges facing society.
Imagine it!² Chapter 02: The Future (04:20) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 3: Apollo Challenge (06:45) A half century ago, the U.S. set a goal of reaching space and engaging every citizen in that historic mission.
Imagine it!² Chapter 03: Apollo Challenge (06:45) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 4: X-Prize (04:07) Today, millions of dollars in prizes go to the people who bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity.
Imagine it!² Chapter 04: X-Prize (04:07) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 5: Grand Challenges (05:24) The National Academy of Engineering has identified 14 Grand Challenges awaiting engineering solutions in the 21st century.
Imagine it!² Chapter 05: Grand Challenges (05:24) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 6: New Generation (01:33) Inspire and prepare students to seize the opportunity to change the world through science, technology, engineering, and math.
Imagine it!² Chapter 06: New Generation (01:33) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 7: Challenges for Education (03:15) Encourage curiosity and creativity to put your students on a path to making the world a better place.
Imagine it!² Chapter 07: Challenges for Education (03:15) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 8: Inspire Teachers (02:48) The great hope for the future rests with the quality of our teachers.
Imagine it!² Chapter 08: Inspire Teachers (02:48) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 9: The WOW in Education (01:54) Spark a sense of wonder and excitement in a new generation by connecting science and engineering with humanities and art.
Imagine it!² Chapter 09: The WOW in Education (01:54) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 10: The Arts (01:23) The arts have always been important, but today, more than ever we need creative thinking to meet global challenges.
Imagine it!² Chapter 10: The Arts (01:23) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 11: Is Science Art? (01:27) If ever there was a time for a scientific renaissance, now is it.
Imagine it!² Chapter 11: Is Science Art? (01:27) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 12: Opportunities in Education (05:57) Create new and innovative ways to engage and educate the next generation.
Imagine it!² Chapter 12: Opportunities in Education (05:57) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 13: Be Curious (02:54) Curiosity is an emotion that causes natural inquisitive behavior such as exploration, investigation, and learning.
Imagine it!² Chapter 13: Be Curious (02:54) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 14: Mindset (01:45) Challenges are actually opportunities for you to create innovative solutions.
Imagine it!² Chapter 14: Mindset (01:45) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 15: Risk & Reward (02:17) The risk is in not uncovering new discoveries. The reward is to continue humanity’s strivings for a better world.
Imagine it!² Chapter 15: Risk & Reward (02:17) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 16: Finding Your Element (02:45) Solving challenges will take all of us. Seizing opportunities will take all of you. The world is waiting to find it what’s inside of you.
Imagine it!² Chapter 16: Finding Your Element (02:45) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Chapter 17: Your Role (02:22) Choose to accept the challenge to make the world a better place.
Imagine it!² Chapter 17: Your Role (02:22) from imagine it project on Vimeo.
18. Imagination in Action: FIRST Robotics
Imagination in Action: FIRST Robotics from imagine it project on Vimeo.
19. Imagination in Action: The Blue School
Imagination in Action: The Blue School from imagine it project on Vimeo.
20. The Grand Challenges
The Grand Challenges from imagine it project on Vimeo.
21. Imagine it! Post It Challenge Preview
Imagine it! Post It Challenge Preview from imagine it project on Vimeo.
22. A New Generation :30 PSA
A New Generation :30 PSA from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Imagine it!² Preview from imagine it project on Vimeo.
Interview Sampler Reel from imagine it project on Vimeo.
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