Rig Intelligence

Is this an iPhone 5 blueprint? A hard-copy leak appears to lend...

Fri, 01 Jun 2012 08:28:09 -0500

Is this an iPhone 5 blueprint?

A hard-copy leak appears to lend more credence to the rumor of a new iPhone with a 4-inch screen.

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Mind-controlled videogames become reality via...

Thu, 31 May 2012 08:11:41 -0500

Mind-controlled videogames become reality

via kurzweilai

NeuroSky Inc. and Emotiv Systems Inc. are among the companies vying to emerge in the brain-wave market using electroencephalograph, or EEG, technology.

Uses include concentrating and relaxing, improving mental health, and games:

London-based MyndPlay Ltd. is using NeuroSky chips inside its own headset to enable viewers to control the outcome of movie scenes by concentrating and relaxing. Two prisons in England show inmates a gangster-themed film from MyndPlay that teaches them to stay calm during threatening situations.

Some doctors believe mind-controlled games can provide more than fun and relaxation, by improving mental health. SuperBetterLabs Inc. is attempting to introduce cognitive therapy into games optimized for NeuroSky and Emotive headsets.

Another Use Case from Japan:

NecoMiMi headset, a fashion accessory that has taken fans of Japanese animé by storm, is a set of catlike ears that perk up when the wearer’s concentration intensifies, and flatten out when relaxed.

[read more @Wall Street Journal] [NeuroSky Inc.] [Emotiv Systems Inc.] [Necomimi | Video]

Tiny chip inserted in the sole of a shoe can charge the...

Wed, 30 May 2012 18:17:16 -0500

Tiny chip inserted in the sole of a shoe can charge the wearer’s cell phone

The ubiquity of cell phones has inspired countless creative ways to keep them charged, whether it’s through a pedal-powered table, a charging handbag or a USB-equipped urban bicycle — to name just a few recent examples. The latest spotting? A tiny chip insertable in the sole of any shoe that gathers and stores energy as the wearer walks. READ MORE…

Don't Be an Idiot

Wed, 30 May 2012 12:08:55 -0500

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook and former Googler, had a great speech to the graduating class at Harvard this past week (you can watch the video here). One of my favorite parts of the speech was where she intoned the advice given to her by Google’s former CEO, Eric Schmidt: ‘Don’t be an idiot’ - I love it when CEO’s know exactly what to say to employees! Below are some of the best snippets from the speech:

As the world becomes more connected and less hierarchical, traditional career paths are shifting as well. In 2001, after working in the government, I moved out to Silicon Valley to try finding a job. My timing wasn’t really that good. The bubble had crashed, small companies were closing, big companies were laying people off. One woman CEO looked at me and said, we wouldn’t even think about hiring someone like you. After awhile I had a few offers and I had to make a decision, so what did I do? I am MBA trained, so I made a spreadsheet. I listed my jobs in the columns and my criteria in the rows, and compared the companies and the missions and the roles. One of the jobs on that sheet was to become Google’s first business unit general manager, which sounds good now, but at the time no one thought consumer internet companies could ever make money. I was not sure there was actually a job there at all. Google had no business units, so what was there to generally manage. And the job was several levels lower than jobs I was being offered at other companies. So I sat down with Eric Schmidt, who had just become the CEO, and I showed him the spread sheet and I said, this job meets none of my criteria. He put his hand on my spreadsheet and he looked at me and said, Don’t be an idiot. Excellent career advice. And then he said, Get on a rocket ship. When companies are growing quickly and they are having a lot of impact, careers take care of themselves. And when companies aren’t growing quickly or their missions don’t matter as much, that’s when stagnation and politics come in. If you’re offered a seat on a rocket ship, don’t ask what seat. Just get on.

About 6 and half years later, when I was leaving Google, I took that advice to heart. I was offered CEO jobs at a bunch of companies, but I went to Facebook as COO. At the time people said, why are you going to work for a 23 year old? The traditional metaphor for careers is a ladder, but I no longer think that metaphor holds. It doesn’t make sense in a less hierarchical world. When I was first at Facebook, a woman named Lori Goler, a 1997 graduate of HBS, was working in marketing at eBay and I knew her kind of socially. And she called me and said, I want to talk with you about coming to work with you at Facebook. So I thought about calling you, she said, and telling you all the things I’m good at and all the things I like to do. But I figured that everyone is doing that. So instead I want to know what’s your biggest problem and how can I solve it. My jaw hit the floor. I’d hired thousands of people up to that point in my career, but no one had ever said anything like that. I had never said anything like that. Job searches are always about the job searcher, but not in Laurie’s case. I said, you’re hired. My biggest problem is recruiting and you can solve it. So Lori changed fields into something she never thought she’d do, went down a level to start in a new field and has since been promoted and runs all of the people operations at Facebook and has done an extraordinary job.

Researchers Craft Stable Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell Generic...

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:43:40 -0500

Researchers Craft Stable Dye-Sensitized Solar Cell

Generic solar cells are made with a significant amount of silicon. Unfortunately, silicon can be pretty scarce, expensive and toxic. So a variation was made by replacing the silicon with the semiconductor titanium oxide in a dye-sensitized solar cell. This is referred to asa Grätzel solar cell. Even more unfortunately, these can leak and tend to have a short shelf life. But a team at Northwestern University may have solved all that by developing a stable version of the Grätzel cell.

The traditional Grätzel design includes an electrolyte made from an organic liquid that can leak and corrode the cell. In order to prevent leaks, the group at Northwestern simply limited the liquid aspect of the design. A combination of cesium, tin, and iodine is added to the dye-coated particles in liquid form but then solidifies.

Traditional silicon-based solar cells have a conversion rate around 20 percent of the light they take in while the regular Grätzel design converts near 11 or 12 percent. Improvements on the Grätzel have been slow to development due to the leaking problem. Northwestern’s version was shown to convert at 10.2 percent but leaves open the possibility of major improvements now that the solid won’t spoil the cell over time.

Even if the efficiency fails to be significantly improved, the lower costs and increased durability provided by the new design might win the day and see commercialization. If so, it could mean an increase in cheap, sustainable energy.

(Gizmag via Engadget, image credit via PNNL – Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Geekosystem

My pictures from the Spartan Race just came in!

Tue, 29 May 2012 13:37:17 -0500

My pictures from the Spartan Race just came in!

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog - The hierarchy of...

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:09:47 -0500

Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog - The hierarchy of innovation

If progress is shaped by human needs, then general shifts in needs would also bring shifts in the nature of technological innovation.

…One of the consequences is that, as we move to the top level of the innovation hierarchy, the inventions have less visible, less transformative effects. We’re no longer changing the shape of the physical world or even of society, as it manifests itself in the physical world. We’re altering internal states, transforming the invisible self. Not surprisingly, when you step back and take a broad view, it looks like stagnation - it looks like nothing is changing very much…

If the current state of progress disappoints you, don’t blame innovation. Blame yourself.

What Happened To The Hype About Hyperlocal?

Thu, 24 May 2012 10:50:21 -0500

Two things today made me assess the small progress made in hyperlocal journalism to date, and to reconsider the direction we might be headed in.

First, I saw a tweet go by pointing to a WSJ story:

Keach Hagey, For AOL, a Costly Gamble On Local News Draws Trouble

Mr. Armstrong, has held his ground in defending Patch, which he co-founded in 2007 before he joined AOL, but he recently promised to make it profitable by next year. In a small step toward that goal, Patch said Tuesday it will cut around 20 jobs, or less than 2% of its workforce. The cuts will come from merging the management of its eastern and southern regional reporting operations.

Whether Mr. Armstrong can make Patch a success could determine his fate at AOL. As the ad-supported network has expanded to more than 850 towns from 30 in the past two years, its annual loss has widened sharply to more than $100 million in 2011, analysts say.

The main problem: It is tough to sell enough online ads to cover the cost of producing local news, especially while maintaining a local reporting staff and a local advertising sales force.

“I don’t think anybody’s figured out local yet,” said Rick Blair, an angel investor in several companies that run local websites.

AOL is losing $100M on Patch this year, and Ariana Huffington tried to integrate Patch into the very successful Huffington Post but then lost interest after Patch management chafed at her attempts.

My bet is that Patch will end Armstrong’s career at AOL, and Ariana will take over as CEO. She’ll either scrap Patch or integrate it totally into HuffPo. But to make it a ‘success’ Patch will have to become something very different from what Armstrong envisions.

Note that the Patch model is closed: there is no Patch for Beacon NY, where I live, and there is no provision for me or anyone else to start one. It’s all centrally managed, which just runs counter to hyperlocalism, in my view.

The second reason I am thinking about hyperlocal is that the Guardian — a group that really gets the web in a way that Armstrong seems not to — announced n0tice.org, their ‘open journalism toolkit’, which is a platform for crowdsourcing journalism capable of being used by publishers, brands, communities and developers.

I started fooling around with the tool, and immediately decided to wait for the iPhone app. I created a community ‘n0ticeboard’ for Beacon NY, where I now reside, in about three minutes. Check it out at beacon.n0tice.com.

The UX of n0tice.org is a lot like Tumblr: you login as an individual, and you can create and participate in various n0ticeboards, posting events, reports, or good to sell, swap or share. You can follow other users or n0ticeboards. And you can post to any n0ticeboards, so it is very open (which will lead to a moderation overhead, I am sure).

The Guardian plans to share revenues with those contributing, but has no firm date for that generation of the platform.

At any rate, two very contrasting approaches: Armstrong’s Patch which feels very 2005ish and limited to specific communities, and the Guardian’s n0tice which is based loosely on the basic model of Tumblr — much more contemporary — and based on ‘open journalism’ crowdsourcing. I just wish the n0tice iPhone app was available.

The Guardian project gives me hope that the dream of hyperlocal can really come true, through a very open model of participation.

SpaceX rocket carries the ashes of Scotty from ‘Star Trek’ and...

Tue, 22 May 2012 12:04:59 -0500

SpaceX rocket carries the ashes of Scotty from ‘Star Trek’ and 307 others into space

James Doohan, the actor who famously portrayed Montgomery Scott, the chief engineer on the original Star Trek series, has finally made his way into space, albeit posthumously. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that successfully launched this morning carried on board the ashes of Doohan and 307 other people who had signed up for a so-called memorial spaceflight service.

Tuesday morning meetings (Taken with Instagram at Claydesta)

Tue, 22 May 2012 09:08:30 -0500

Tuesday morning meetings (Taken with Instagram at Claydesta)

Brands are Finally Starting to Get It

Mon, 21 May 2012 17:09:41 -0500

For me Monday’s = me building reports for about 10 straight hours, with that in mind it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Pandora (sorry no link, if you don’t know what it is please stop reading this right now and never come back) has become one of my closest friends each Monday. And with all of the psychic’ish songs, I’m used to having to listen to the obligatory advertisements every couple of songs. However for great music I can’t complain about ads, Pandora has to write some very large checks to bring us medleys for free.

Today I was greeted with the option of accepting an additional trial of PandoraOne (the premium, ad free version) of Pandora. And who should I thank for my ad-free listening experience this week? Red Bull. They’re paying to give listeners (even those who have already had a 7 day trial in the past, like myself) a free week of the premium account.

It seems like everyone talks about how brands can garner a positive reputation online: viral videos, sponsored stories, twitter ads, et al et al. However I have a better feeling about Red Bull right now because they:

Gave me something I want, completely for free
Removed the chance that I will hear ads from any of their competitors

Hopefully companies will start to realize this is the type of advertising that users want online, and will start putting their marketing dollars towards worthy ventures such as this.

Leap Motion, a San Francisco startup has created a device (“the...

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:59:35 -0500

Leap Motion, a San Francisco startup has created a device (“the Leap”) that lets you control your computer just my moving your fingers over it, as if you were using a touchscreen in the air.

Leap Motion is now taking pre-orders for the $69.99 device but won’t begin shipping it until the end of this year or early 2013. The company is also opening up its developer ecosystem to give software makers a head start on developing new applications.

Don’t let bad publicity depress you. Business Week cover...

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:48:32 -0500

Don’t let bad publicity depress you.

Business Week cover story, week of Feb 5, 1996

The rise in app installations per device corresponds with the...

Wed, 16 May 2012 07:58:02 -0500

The rise in app installations per device corresponds with the amount of time people are spending on apps vs. perusing the mobile Web, with Nielsen reporting that users are consuming 8% more time on native Android and iOS applications than this time last year. (via US Smartphones Have an Average of 41 Apps Installed)

Researchers Using Bio-Engineered Viruses to Power Nano...

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:02:09 -0500

Researchers Using Bio-Engineered Viruses to Power Nano Electronics

The researchers looked to viruses as a new material to work with because they reproduce rapidly and align far better than other materials, making them good candidates to accumulate a charge on one end of the virus.

The researchers then genetically engineered the virus with proteins that enhance the buildup of charge on the ends of the rod-shaped viruses. The viruses only attack other bacteria so are considered benign. The viruses are stacked onto thin films and then several thin films are layered to build up as much voltage as possible.

The Lawrence Berkeley Lab group isn’t the first to pursue viruses as a means for building up electric charge. Researchers at MIT in 2009 said they were able to wire a charge-building virus to a lithium ion battery. The Lawrence Berkeley Lab’s prototype was only able to generate about a quarter of the voltage of a triple A battery, but they believe that their approach to “viral electronics” can scale up.

(via Step on it: Virus could lead to motion-powered gadgets | Cutting Edge - CNET News)

(via 18M UK Internet Users Turn to Social Media for Customer...

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:57:00 -0500

(via 18M UK Internet Users Turn to Social Media for Customer Service)

Great setting for the finish line! (Taken with Instagram at...

Sat, 12 May 2012 17:49:30 -0500

Great setting for the finish line! (Taken with Instagram at Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott Granite Ballroom)

Very cool technology at #otchouston (Taken with instagram)

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 14:04:03 -0500

Very cool technology at #otchouston (Taken with instagram)

Walking through OTC (Taken with Instagram at Reliant Arena)

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 09:10:25 -0500

Walking through OTC (Taken with Instagram at Reliant Arena)

Excited to try a new place! (Taken with Instagram at Onion Creek...

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 11:58:30 -0500

Excited to try a new place! (Taken with Instagram at Onion Creek Coffee House)