The World, Filtered*

Steven Levy on the Burden of Twitter
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-02/st_levy
 
"Guilty. I feel guilty that I have a blog and haven't contributed to it
for seven months. Guilty that all my pals on Facebook post cool pictures,
while the last shots I uploaded were of Fourth of July fireworks- from
2007. Guilty that I haven't Dugg anything since, well, ever.
 
It's not that I don't like social networking - I adore it. I love the way it
transforms my ragged circle of contacts and acquaintances into something
approaching a community. Every site becomes a personalized small town
where strangers don't stay that way for long. I'm fascinated by the quirks
and preferences my "friends" reveal through comments, status reports, and
alerts.
 
...The latest source of my dilemma is Twitter, which lets you spit out
real-time reports about what you're thinking and doing. It's fun to track
the digital ejaculations of selected Twitterati. But a couple thousand
people signed up unsolicited to follow my tweets. And I feel guilty when
not serving this hungry crowd - remorseful when I am."
 
 
--------
 
Jon Stewart on the Bizarro World of Wall Street
http://www.oculture.com/2009/02/john_stewart_on_the_bizarro_world_of_wall_street.html
 
"As usual, Stewart cuts to the chase and says what has to be said. And
gets a good laugh along the way…"
 
--------
 
 
Calendar and Contact syncing for iPhone and Windows Mobile Devices
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/calendar-and-contact-syncing-for-iphone.html
 
"One advantage of storing information online is being able to access it
from anywhere, on any device. Last year we released a tool for Blackberry
devices to sync Google Calendar and Gmail contacts with the pre-installed
calendar and contacts applications. Today, we're offering more people easy
access to their information on the go with two-way calendar and contacts
sync for iPhones and Windows Mobile devices, and two-way contacts sync for
mobile devices that support SyncML. This will be a particularly handy
improvement for people who regularly use Google tools, like corporate
employees, university students, and busy families.
 
For iPhone and Windows Mobile devices, Google Sync allows you to get your
Gmail contacts and Google Calendar events onto your phone. Sync uses push
technology, which means that any changes you make to your calendar or
contacts from the browser or phone will be reflected on your device within
minutes. For phones that support SyncML, the tool will allow you to get
your Gmail contacts onto your phone. For all of these devices,
synchronization happens automatically over the air, without having to
manually sync your phone. The connection is always on, which means your
information is always up-to-date, no matter where you are or what you're
doing."
 
--------
 
Trackle Feeds You Personalized RSS
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/02/10/trackle-feeds-you-personalized-rss/
 
"Silicon Valley start-up Trackle.com is launching the public beta of its
personalized Google Alerts to track pretty much everything in an internet
user's life. Trackle's technology and interface is innovative and
disarmingly comprehensive. It provides real-time personalized RSS feeds of
the latest crime in a user's neighborhood, fluctuating airline ticket
prices, how much a user's house value is down this week, updated job
listings, sports scores and much more.
 
The breadth and specificity of Trackle's information is what
differentiates itself from other RSS tracking applications like Google
Alerts, Yotify and Notify.me. Trackle doesn't just search for keywords, it
incorporates change into the keywords and provides up-to-date, highly
customized information about ever-fluctuating internet content. For
example, if a user is eyeing a camera on sale at Amazon.com but only wants
to spend $200, Trackle will monitor the sale and provide you updates of
when the camera price reaches $200. Trackle keeps all of this information
on the user's personalized site but the user can also choose to receive
the real-time alerts via SMS and e-mail. Imagine if a user is bidding on
an Ebay item; Trackle claims to give real-time price updates on an
auctioned item. For free."
 
--------
 
Descry
http://www.visitmix.com/Lab/Descry
 
" Ever wonder what goes into building an effective visualization? Look no
further. We decided to roll up our sleeves and explore the topic. We're
calling it Project Descry.
 
Project Descry demonstrates the power of data and information
visualization as a communication tool. As a part of Descry, we are
releasing a set of open source, web-based visualizations and an article
written by the Jon Udell that serves as a broad introduction to the
topic."
 
--------
 
Thomson Reuters Releases Reuters Messaging Interchange
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=52500
 
"Thomson Reuters announced the launch of Reuters Messaging (RM)
Interchange, which allows Enterprise Instant Messaging (EIM) users to
connect and communicate with colleagues and counterparts by using one
link. RM Interchange connects Thomson Reuters RM with other EIM systems -
Cisco's Jabber XCP, IBM Lotus' Sametime, and Microsoft's LCS/OCS. Users
of these systems can now connect with over 5,000 external organizations
and add their business contacts to a global external community. RM
Interchange offers carrier-grade connectivity for IM across the corporate
community. Customers connecting to RM Interchange are also automatically
connected to the Reuters Messaging community including over 130,000
end-users in 5,000 firms worldwide."
 
--------
 
Microsoft's New Mobile Strategy
http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/techbeat/archives/2009/02/for_the_past_fe.html?campaign_id=rss_innovate
 
"For the past few years, Microsoft has been losing share in PCs to Apple.
It's been losing huge money on the Web. And it's been badly shown up in
mobile phones, where Apple and Research In Motion have far more momentum
and even Palm seems to have more mindshare. But now, the company is
preparing plans to do what no other company is as well-positioned—at least
on paper - to do: tie the PC, Web and phone together.
 
On Feb. 16 at the Mobile World Congress, CEO Steve Ballmer will announce
the outlines of the plan. He'll unveil a service called My Phone, that
allows anyone with a Windows Mobile phone to automatically have their
photos, contacts, calendar items, favorite websites and other data
backed-up on a web-site hosted by Microsoft. The service, which will be a
beta version, will be free to anyone that has a phone running a version of
Windows Mobile 6."
 
--------
 
Apple's Flatland Aesthetic, Part 1: The Mac
http://www.asktog.com/columns/075AppleFlatlandPart1.html
 
"Appleland is becoming progressively flatter and, at the same time, less
usable.
 
Apple has released a series of revolutionary products over the last
several years, from System X to the iPhone. All represent Herculean
software efforts. With such marked changes, one can expect that early
releases will tend toward the primitive. Over time, users can expect
missing functionality to fill in. For the most part, this has occurred and
will continue to do so, with even highly-sophisticated features appearing,
such as copy and paste.
 
Filling in obvious features, however, is only one aspect of software
evolution. Equally important is keeping up with the users. The beginner
today will be the expert of tomorrow. The user with 200 photos today will
be the user with 2000 a year from now. The user with 10 songs today will
be the user with 100 songs six months from now. The user with one or two
extra apps on the iPhone will be the user with 100 apps three months from
now"
 
--------
 
Writing Usability Requirements and Metrics
http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2009/02/writing-usability-requirements-and-metrics.php
 
"In this installment of Ask UXmatters, our experts discuss how to write
effective usability requirements and metrics for the redesign of a legacy
public sector system."

Loading mentions Retweet

How Comics Can Save Us From Scientific Ignorance
http://www.wired.com/culture/education/magazine/16-12/pl_print
 
"What's the solution to America's crisis in science education? More comic
books. In December comes The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics
and DNA, a remarkably thorough explanation of the science of genetics,
from Mendel to Venter, with a strand of social urgency spliced in. "If
there was ever a time that we needed a push to make science a priority,
it's now," says Howard Zimmerman, the book's editor and, not
coincidentally, a former elementary-school science teacher. "Advances in
treatments for disease cannot take place in a society that shuns science."
Zimmerman works with the New York literary publishing house Hill and Wang,
which discovered Elie Weisel and has been creating a new niche for itself
as one of the premiere producers of major graphic "nonfiction novels" like
the war on terror primer After 9/11 and the bio-comic Ronald Reagan.
 
Stuff of Life is the first in a series dedicated to the hard sciences. The
author is Mark Schultz, a DC Comics veteran and creator of the
postapocalyptic classic Xenozoic Tales. The 160-page work, illustrated by
Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon (improbably, no genetic relation), covers
the regenerative processes of DNA, human migratory patterns, cloned
apples, and stem cells. In a rapidly changing field, it's as up-to-date
and accurate as possible."
 
--------
 
Copper Thieves Threaten U.S. Infrastructure, FBI says
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/12/copper-thieves.html
 
Copper thieves, sometimes acting as "organized groups," are threatening
what the FBI said is "critical" U.S. infrastructure, from electrical
sub-stations, cellular towers, telephone land lines to railroads and
crops, the agency said in an unclassified report unveiled Wednesday.
The report, Copper Thefts Threaten US Critical Infrastructure, said
bandits are taking advantage of unprecedented high prices for copper, an
almost 500 percent increase since 2001 as measured earlier this year.
 
--------
 
Stores Clueless About Mobile Barcode Scanning Applications?
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/stores_clueless_about_mobile_barcode_scanning_applications.php
 
"With the rise of app-laden smartphones like the iPhone and Google's
Android OS, now on T-Mobile's G1, many penny-pinching shoppers have
downloaded barcode scanning applications onto their mobile devices. These
apps allow consumers to compare the prices of merchandise on a store's
shelf to competing stores in the area just by taking pictures with their
smartphone's camera. The prices are instantly retrieved and displayed on
the mobile phone so consumers can know before they buy if they're getting
a good deal."
 
--------
 
A Design-Oriented National Endowment for the Arts
http://www.designobserver.com/archives/entry.html?id=38859
 
"The National Endowment for the Arts should embrace design and innovation
as a means to fulfill the larger agendas and programs of the Obama
Administration. The choice of the NEA Chairman is an important opportunity
to shape the contribution of the NEA in coming years.
 
Impactful NEA initiatives already exist to support the literary and
performing arts: what's missing are solutions and innovations that could
come from additional emphasis on the arts in a troubled economy, a nation
struggling with environmental crisis, a country that needs its entire
infrastructure rebuilt (and the resultant jobs that would come with the
challenge).
 
These are precisely the times when a design-oriented NEA could most
effectively benefit the nation with practical solutions, progressive
thinking and citizen-oriented improvements affecting all aspects of civic,
cultural and artistic life."
 
--------
 
New York Cheat Sheets
http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/13/new-york-cheat-sheets/
 
Too Funny! This is Visual storytelling well done. I think every New
Yorker has these little cheat sheets rattling around in our heads. The
fact that two of his (Fairway supermarket & the Dumbo Playground) coincide
with my own makes me think a lot of us New Yorkers cope in similar ways.

Loading mentions Retweet

"Smart" wastewater bio-treatment takes over where porta-potty leaves off
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13639_3-10098074-42.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

…...the Texas Research Institute for Environmental Studies (TRIES) at Sam
Houston State University and PCDworks, a technology innovation firm, have
developed a self-sustaining, portable and "smart" wastewater treatment
system that promises to take over where the porta-potty leaves off. (PDF)
Housed in the ubiquitous 40-foot shipping container, the Deployable
Aqueous Aerobic Bioreactor (DAAB,) can convert a battalion's worth of
wastewater (the effluent from approximately 600 soldiers) to something
that meets Environmental Protection Agencystandards within 24 to 48 hours,
according to TRIES.

A self-contained, bio-digestion unit uses specially selected bacteria to
remove organic and inorganic materials from the waste, and then releases
"clean" water into the environment "with no harmful consequences." The
system is completely autonomous. It adjusts flow and fluid levels
automatically, and can dispatch reports and alerts, and be turned on and
off via the Internet.

It runs on common household 120-volt, and while the treated runoff is not
potable (yet), it's good enough for other uses like irrigation, according
to PCDworks.

--------

Lose the BlackBerry? Yes He Can, Maybe
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/16/us/politics/16blackberry.html?_r=3&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

WASHINGTON - Sorry, Mr. President. Please surrender your BlackBerry.
Those are seven words President-elect Barack Obama is dreading but
expecting to hear, friends and advisers say, when he takes office in 65
days.

For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but
addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side -
on most days, it was fastened to his belt - to provide a singular conduit
to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter
throughout his campaign.

"How about that?" Mr. Obama replied to a friend's congratulatory e-mail
message on the night of his victory.

But before he arrives at the White House, he will probably be forced to
sign off. In addition to concerns about e-mail security, he faces the
Presidential Records Act, which puts his correspondence in the official
record and ultimately up for public review, and the threat of subpoenas. A
decision has not been made on whether he could become the first e-mailing
president, but aides said that seemed doubtful.

--------

Ringing in the New Year by Wrestling Bulls
http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/03/22/travel/21webletter.html?pagewanted=all

AC: I recently met the author of this article. I knew nothing of this
event prior to talking to him. This sounds fascinating, if a little
dangerous.

"…Jallikattu, an ancient and bizarre bull-wrestling sport that takes place
in villages throughout Tamil Nadu every January to celebrate Pongal, a New
Year's festival that coincides with the ancient rice harvest. Though
similar to and older than the Spanish running of the bulls, it's bloodier.
Instead of bulls getting killed, it's the people. In previous years, as
many as 20 young men have been fatally gored, and several hundred,
including spectators, have been mauled, trampled or otherwise injured.
The ritual dates back as far as 2,000 years, but the pandemonium became
intolerable to the public in 2004 when a 14-year old boy died after a bull
plowed into the front row of the audience. His father petitioned the
courts and, last year, for the first time in maybe three centuries,
Jallikattu was banned.

The villagers were devastated. Farmers, who spend at least three years
raising and training the deadly bulls, were left with livestock.
Competitors, who spend years preparing to risk their lives - and village
reputations - were deflated. Rumors began surfacing that farmers were
planning to hold competitions in secret. But with only a week to spare,
the ban was reversed, lending this year's festivities a victorious, almost
giddy air…"

--------

Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is Finally Mac Compatible
http://gizmodo.com/5089925/livescribe-pulse-smartpen-is-finally-mac-compatible

After promising long ago that Mac software for the Pulse Smartpen was in
the works, Livescribe finally delivered on that promise, today announcing
that the OS X beta client will be available for download next week. The
Mac version of Livescribe Desktop not only does the same things it's PC
counterpart can do (digitized notes, Paper Replay audio syncing,
handwriting recognition), but it has a couple of new tricks up it's sleeve
as well.

The Mac version of Livescribe desktop can export audio as an AAC file or
export your notes as a PDF (via OS X built-in function). This gives users
the option of sharing their files with people who may not have a
Livescribe smartpen or the software. These same features are planned for
PC users eventually, but for now, they're exclusive to the Mac.

I also had the chance to get a quick hands on with the new Mac software
and found it to be fairly smooth and polished, despite still being in
beta. The software is laid out in a manner similar to iTunes (when you're
viewing album covers in a grid), and is very easy to use. Click on a
thumbnail and it brings up the notes for that section. If you're looking
for a specific section of notes you can do a text search. And if you're
only interested in audio, you can bring up a list of recordings. It's
nothing radically different from the earlier software, but it's nice to
know that Livescribe didn't cut any corners for the Mac version.

Not to be outdone by the Mac version, the PC software also comes with a
few new features. First, it now has the ability to transcribe your
handwriting into text and export it as a document. Livescribe teamed up
with Vision Objects to provide a one click handwriting to text transfer of
your notes. This feature, like the handwriting search feature, works best
with handwriting that's actually legible. It will be available for
download on November 24 for an extra $30. They also have plans for an
audio transcription service where someone will listen to your recordings
and transcribe them (for a fee of course). Release and pricing are still
in the works on that.

--------

WANTED: A Command Line for the Web
http://mashable.com/2008/11/16/command-line-web/

Kwyno, which launches in private beta next month, wants to be a command
line for the web: a single box where you can type commands to navigate to
web pages, search the web or check your friends' updates on Facebook,
Twitter or Pownce.

The web isn't where a command line might shine though: it's Kwyno's support
for commands sent via text and IM that make it intriguing: text in "Check
Mashable", and Kwyno returns the latest Mashable headlines. Text "Check
News" and get the latest headlines from CNN (or any news source you
configure).

Loading mentions Retweet

MindManager 8
http://www.mindjet.com/products/mindmanager/default.aspx

Mindjet has been busy addressing pressure placed upon them from web 2.0
mind mapping services. Their newest version has just been announced. You
can see a strong trend towards making MindManager a project management
tool with the integration of JVC Gantt Pro and new enhanced Automated Task
Management. Another big improvement is the Mindjet Player - you now have
the ability to share maps easily in PDF or SWF files for distribution to
folks who do not have the application.

--------

Google Maps Now Availalble For Blackberry Enterprise Server Distribution
http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2008/11/11/11readwriteweb-google_maps_now_availalble_for_bes.html

The iPhone may have outsold RIM's Blackberry devices here in the U.S., but
Google knows that getting their software in the hands of business execs
still means building Blackberry apps. The company's recent offering in
this arena is a new, deployable package of Google Maps for Mobile which IT
admins can distribute using Blackberry Enterprise Server.

… Now, BES admins can deploy Google Maps for Mobile to those millions of
users with ease, thanks to Google's new packages designed specifically for
this server technology….

------

Why Project, Portfolio Management Matter More in a Recession
http://www.nytimes.com/external/idg/2008/11/10/10idg-Why-Project-Po.html

IT departments are scrapping projects in response to tightening budgets
and the ever-deteriorating economy. But this is no time to cut back on
project management or portfolio management, experts say.

"High project failure means you're wasting money, and there's even less
tolerance for that in a down economy," says Margo Visitacion, a vice
president with Forrester Research who covers project portfolio management
and quality assurance.

Portfolio management can help you zero in on the projects that are most
worth their effort and scant budget dollars, while project management can
help you execute those projects most efficiently, IT managers and project
management experts say.

David Muntz, CIO of Dallas-based Baylor Health Care System (which warned
patients last week of a potential breach of their personal data), agrees
that an economic downturn increases the need for project management
software. "Good project management tools enhance the three Cs:
communication, coordination and collaboration," he says. "With fewer
people [on staff], you can't afford missteps."

------

In Crisis, Remote Access
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/giving/11NET.html?_r=1&ref=technology&oref=slogin

RUI LOPES'S first impression of Banda Aceh, Indonesia, after the 2004
tsunami was chaos. Bone-jarringly rough roads led to a hastily assembled
field office, where Mr. Lopes, the senior technical director of Save the
Children, learned that the communications infrastructure, along with just
about everything else, had been destroyed.

Aside from a few satellite phones and even fewer working cellphones, the
area was isolated as relief workers scrambled to assess the security
situation and address the vast humanitarian needs.

On the ground, Mr. Lopes unpacked a contraption made of circuits, chips
and wires, pointed it at the sky and rolled out a solar mat, which turns
sunlight into energy, to power it up. Aid workers plugged their laptops
into the device, which offered the first stable Internet connection since
the disaster had hit a week earlier.

Assessment reports and supply requests streamed out. Photographs went to
news outlets to help spread awareness of the situation. Plans to
coordinate agencies came in from abroad.

This device, called a Network Relief Kit, weighs less than four pounds and
"is a grand slam invention," Mr. Lopes said. "It's portable, light and
brings the outside world to the most remote, disconnected places."

--------

Lessons from innovation's front lines: An interview with IDEO's CEO
http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Strategy/Innovation/Lessons_from_innovations_front_lines_An_interview_with_IDEOs_CEO_2185

Many companies claim to be innovative, but few can claim innovation as
their raison d'être. One such innovation machine is IDEO'a designer of
products, services, and experiences ranging from Apple's first mass-market
computer mouse to aspects of Prada's store in New York City to the
patient-care delivery model at SSM DePaul Health Center, in St. Louis,
Missouri.

IDEO's single-minded focus makes it an intriguing port of call for
executives seeking insights on innovation. The company's deep experience
collaborating with other businesses and with nonprofits and government
agencies gives it valuable perspectives on what distinguishes winning from
losing innovation efforts. Yet as CEO Tim Brown is quick to point out,
what works at IDEO won't work everywhere.

Brown has worked at IDEO since its formation, in 1991, when three
established design firms came together. He became CEO in 2000, after
stints heading IDEO Europe and the company's San Francisco office. Over
the years, Brown has stood for the development of ideas through
action "observing customers, prototyping, testing, refining" rather than
abstract thought.

In this interview with McKinsey's Lenny Mendonca and Stanford professor
Hayagreeva Rao at IDEO's offices in Palo Alto, California, Brown provides
his perspective on innovation at IDEO and at other ...

--------

World Wireless Map
http://visualthinkmap.blogspot.com/2008/11/world-wireless-map.html

The GSM Association and coveragemaps.com are proud to announce the
availability of the updated GSM World Coverage map for 2008. This
publication is available in printed form at all GSM Association events and
can also be downloaded in PDF using the links below. Unfortunately we are
unable to post copies of the map. This maps is updated from time-to-time
and new versions can be identified by a change in the colour used for
coverage.

Loading mentions Retweet