New research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make that tangle of wires under desks and in data centers a thing of the past. Researchers at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech are investigating the use of extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances........
Source: Technology blog
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Multi-gigabit wireless computers
Making tomorrow's computers from a pencil trace
Troy, N.Y. A key discovery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could help advance the role of graphene as a possible heir to copper and silicon in nanoelectronics. Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, eluded researchers for years but was finally made in the laboratory in 2004 with the help of everyday, store-bought clear adhesive tape. Graphite, the common material used in most pencils, is made up of countless layers of graphene. Scientists simply used the gentle stickiness of tape to break apart these layers........
Source: Technology blog
Animated beer smooth to pour
CSIRO fluids researcher Dr Mahesh Prakash says the physics of bubble creation in carbonated drinks like beer is complex. "As you pour beer into a glass, you see bubbles appearing on what are called nucleation sites, where the glass isn't quite smooth," Dr Prakash says. "The bubbles expand to a certain size then rise up in streams to the surface, where they bump into each other and form a raft of foam that floats on the top"........
Source: Technology blog
Graphics, Video and Rock
American Idol and Comic-Con have come and gone, but fun in San Diego's summer sun has just begun. From August 4 to 9, the top computer graphics and interactive media folks from around the world will flood San Diego for the SIGGRAPH 2007 conference - and UC San Diego is part of the action. UCSD's Calit2 is rolling out a red, pixilated carpet and serving up video in 4K - more than four times the resolution of high-definition TV. The video program includes a short movie by Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson shot entirely with a 4K video camera. These video performances will complement digital performances and installations at UCSD that are part of SIGGRAPH, the premier computer graphics and interactive technologies conference, which will attract an estimated 25,000 people to San Diego from August 4 through 9........
Source: Technology blog
Shed light on Internet scams
Computer researchers from UC San Diego have found striking differences between the infrastructure used to distribute spam and the infrastructure used to host the online scams advertised in these unwanted email messages. This discovery should aid in the fight to reduce spam volume and shut down illegal online businesses and malware sites........
Source: Technology blog
Users Mistakenly Trust Higher Positioned Results in Google Searches
An eye tracking experiment reported in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication revealed that college student internet users have an inherent trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query. When participants selected a link from Google's result pages, their decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position, even if that content was less relevant to the search query........
Source: Technology blog
China's Eye on the Internet
The "Great Firewall of China," used by the government of the People's Republic of China to block users from reaching content it finds objectionable, is actually a "panopticon" that encourages self-censorship through the perception that users are being watched, rather than a true firewall, as per scientists at UC Davis and the University of New Mexico........
Source: Technology blog
Image-search tool speaks hundreds of languages
From the fall of the Tower of Babel to the Esperanto global language movement, a number of humans have dreamed of sharing a common tongue. Despite the Internet's promise of global communication, language barriers remain. Even pictures on the Web get lost in translation. "Images are universal, but image search is not," said Oren Etzioni, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. "A person who types his or her search in English won't find images tagged in Chinese, and a Dutch person won't find images tagged in English. We've created a collaborative tool that solves this problem.".......
Source: Technology blog
New report on mobile phone research
Mobile phones have not been found to be linked to any biological or adverse health effects, as per the UK's largest investigation into the possible health risks from mobile telephone technology. The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme published its conclusions on September 12 as part of its 2007 Report........
Source: Technology blog
Qubits poised to reveal our secrets
IT MIGHT seem like an esoteric achievement of interest to only a handful of computer scientists, but the advent of quantum computers that can run a routine called Shors algorithm could have profound consequences. It means the most dangerous threat posed by quantum computing - the ability to break the codes that protect our banking, business and e-commerce data - is now a step nearer reality........
Source: Technology blog
Computer poetry pushes the genre envelope
What happens to poetry in the Digital Age? In one of the first academic works in the field, Swedish researcher Maria Engberg has studied how the ability of the computer to combine words, images, movement, and sounds is impacting both writing and reading. The dissertation, to be publicly defended on September 14, has been jointly submitted at Uppsala University and the Blekinge Institute of Technology........
Source: Technology blog
Computers to 'read the minds' of users
Tufts University scientists are in the process of developing techniques that could allow computers to respond to users thoughts of frustration too much work or boredomtoo little work. Applying non-invasive and easily portable imaging technology in new ways, they hope to gain real-time insight into the brains more subtle emotional cues and help provide a more efficient way to get work done........
Source: Technology blog
Fighting phishing attacks with phishing tactics
Early findings by Carnegie Mellon University scientists suggest that people who are suckered by a spoof email into visiting a counterfeit Web site are also people who are ready to learn their lesson about phishing attacks. Phishing attacks have become a common method for stealing personal identification information, such as bank account numbers and passwords. Lorrie Cranor, associate research professor of computer science, said phishing often is successful because a number of people ignore educational materials that otherwise might help them recognize such frauds........
Source: Technology blog
Researcher traces history of the personal computer
Carbon paper? Punch cards? What are those? The Internet, personal computers, word processing and spreadsheets are so embedded in todays society that its hard to remember that just 35 years ago they didnt exist. Thomas Haigh, assistant professor of information studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), is among a very small number of computer experts in the world who are also historians, studying the role of technology in broader social change. These new experts are tracing how computers have changed business and society........
Source: Technology blog
Vocal Joystick uses voice to surf the Web
The Internet offers wide appeal to people with disabilities. But a number of of those same people find it frustrating or impossible to use a handheld mouse. Software developed at the University of Washington provides an alternative using the oldest and most versatile mode of communication: the human voice........
Source: Technology blog
Monday, October 8, 2007
How the brain and an iPhone differ
How many simple objects can you think about at once? Even though people feel they have rich visual experiences, researchers have found that the average person is only aware of about four items at a time. This ability, say researchers at the University of Oregon, varies from person to person, and theyve found that an individuals capacity of short-term memory is a strong predictor of IQ and scholastic achievement. People with high IQs can think about more things at once........
Source: Technology blog
Multi-gigabit wireless computers
New research at the Georgia Institute of Technology could soon make that tangle of wires under desks and in data centers a thing of the past. Researchers at the Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech are investigating the use of extremely high radio frequencies (RF) to achieve broad bandwidth and high data transmission rates over short distances........
Source: Technology blog
Making tomorrow's computers from a pencil trace
Troy, N.Y. A key discovery at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute could help advance the role of graphene as a possible heir to copper and silicon in nanoelectronics. Graphene, a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon, eluded researchers for years but was finally made in the laboratory in 2004 with the help of everyday, store-bought clear adhesive tape. Graphite, the common material used in most pencils, is made up of countless layers of graphene. Scientists simply used the gentle stickiness of tape to break apart these layers........
Source: Technology blog
Animated beer smooth to pour
CSIRO fluids researcher Dr Mahesh Prakash says the physics of bubble creation in carbonated drinks like beer is complex. "As you pour beer into a glass, you see bubbles appearing on what are called nucleation sites, where the glass isn't quite smooth," Dr Prakash says. "The bubbles expand to a certain size then rise up in streams to the surface, where they bump into each other and form a raft of foam that floats on the top"........
Source: Technology blog
Graphics, Video and Rock
American Idol and Comic-Con have come and gone, but fun in San Diego's summer sun has just begun. From August 4 to 9, the top computer graphics and interactive media folks from around the world will flood San Diego for the SIGGRAPH 2007 conference - and UC San Diego is part of the action. UCSD's Calit2 is rolling out a red, pixilated carpet and serving up video in 4K - more than four times the resolution of high-definition TV. The video program includes a short movie by Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson shot entirely with a 4K video camera. These video performances will complement digital performances and installations at UCSD that are part of SIGGRAPH, the premier computer graphics and interactive technologies conference, which will attract an estimated 25,000 people to San Diego from August 4 through 9........
Source: Technology blog
Shed light on Internet scams
Computer researchers from UC San Diego have found striking differences between the infrastructure used to distribute spam and the infrastructure used to host the online scams advertised in these unwanted email messages. This discovery should aid in the fight to reduce spam volume and shut down illegal online businesses and malware sites........
Source: Technology blog
Users Mistakenly Trust Higher Positioned Results in Google Searches
An eye tracking experiment reported in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication revealed that college student internet users have an inherent trust in Google's ability to rank results by their true relevance to the query. When participants selected a link from Google's result pages, their decisions were strongly biased towards links higher in position, even if that content was less relevant to the search query........
Source: Technology blog
China's Eye on the Internet
The "Great Firewall of China," used by the government of the People's Republic of China to block users from reaching content it finds objectionable, is actually a "panopticon" that encourages self-censorship through the perception that users are being watched, rather than a true firewall, as per scientists at UC Davis and the University of New Mexico........
Source: Technology blog
Image-search tool speaks hundreds of languages
From the fall of the Tower of Babel to the Esperanto global language movement, a number of humans have dreamed of sharing a common tongue. Despite the Internet's promise of global communication, language barriers remain. Even pictures on the Web get lost in translation. "Images are universal, but image search is not," said Oren Etzioni, a professor of computer science and engineering at the University of Washington. "A person who types his or her search in English won't find images tagged in Chinese, and a Dutch person won't find images tagged in English. We've created a collaborative tool that solves this problem.".......
Source: Technology blog
New report on mobile phone research
Mobile phones have not been found to be linked to any biological or adverse health effects, as per the UK's largest investigation into the possible health risks from mobile telephone technology. The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Programme published its conclusions on September 12 as part of its 2007 Report........
Source: Technology blog
Qubits poised to reveal our secrets
IT MIGHT seem like an esoteric achievement of interest to only a handful of computer scientists, but the advent of quantum computers that can run a routine called Shors algorithm could have profound consequences. It means the most dangerous threat posed by quantum computing - the ability to break the codes that protect our banking, business and e-commerce data - is now a step nearer reality........
Source: Technology blog
Computer poetry pushes the genre envelope
What happens to poetry in the Digital Age? In one of the first academic works in the field, Swedish researcher Maria Engberg has studied how the ability of the computer to combine words, images, movement, and sounds is impacting both writing and reading. The dissertation, to be publicly defended on September 14, has been jointly submitted at Uppsala University and the Blekinge Institute of Technology........
Source: Technology blog
Computers to 'read the minds' of users
Tufts University scientists are in the process of developing techniques that could allow computers to respond to users thoughts of frustration too much work or boredomtoo little work. Applying non-invasive and easily portable imaging technology in new ways, they hope to gain real-time insight into the brains more subtle emotional cues and help provide a more efficient way to get work done........
Source: Technology blog
Fighting phishing attacks with phishing tactics
Early findings by Carnegie Mellon University scientists suggest that people who are suckered by a spoof email into visiting a counterfeit Web site are also people who are ready to learn their lesson about phishing attacks. Phishing attacks have become a common method for stealing personal identification information, such as bank account numbers and passwords. Lorrie Cranor, associate research professor of computer science, said phishing often is successful because a number of people ignore educational materials that otherwise might help them recognize such frauds........
Source: Technology blog
Researcher traces history of the personal computer
Carbon paper? Punch cards? What are those? The Internet, personal computers, word processing and spreadsheets are so embedded in todays society that its hard to remember that just 35 years ago they didnt exist. Thomas Haigh, assistant professor of information studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM), is among a very small number of computer experts in the world who are also historians, studying the role of technology in broader social change. These new experts are tracing how computers have changed business and society........
Source: Technology blog
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Palm Gets Personal With New Centro Smartphone
Last week Palm announced a new consumer-oriented smartphone device called the Centro. Palm CEO Ed Colligan said, "[The Centro] is meant to be the center of your life, both your business and personal life. We're trying to reach a new demographic." While Palm has been traditionally strong in the business-user market, they have been criticized for not "keeping up" in the consumer space. Recent Compete analysis shows that releasing the Centro may be a very positive step for Palm as consumers are definitely interested in smartphones for personal use.
Compete surveyed 235 smartphone owners about how they use their smartphone with regards to their work and personal lives.
These data suggest that while work considerations are important factors, personal considerations are more important factors in driving smartphone purchases and usage. 83% of consumers said they use their smartphones for personal reasons in some form or another. 71% of consumers told us that they have a smartphone to stay organized in their personal life versus 46% to stay connected to work (respondents could choose both). Given that until now most smartphone makers have primarily focused on the business-user segment, these are surprising results. They also tend to hold true when comparing across mobile operating systems.
In this chart, only RIM/Blackberry users had a higher percentage of respondents that purchased their smartphone to stay connected to work than to stay organized in their personal life (37% and 31%, respectively). While that particular finding may not come as a surprise, what is surprising is that more Palm and Windows Mobile users said that organizing their personal life impacted their decision versus staying connected with work. This is especially true for Palm, which had the largest differences between the two categories (63% personal, 10% work). A significant portion of respondents thought both were important but, except in RIM's case, personal considerations won the majority of mindshare.
The Centro is a clear shift from Palm's current smartphone strategy, but seems to be well aligned with the interests of the Centro's target demographic. Looking at the current portfolio of smartphones on the market today, Palm may be seen as taking a big risk with the Centro. But if it pays off, Palm could be soon leading the way for others to begin catering to this segment (Apple deserves some credit for this as well) and could cement themselves as a consumer-focused, not just business-focused, smartphone player.
Source: Blog compete
Friday, October 5, 2007
Rottentomatoes.com top 20 Movies: What people watch before they watch
I don't think I'm alone in thinking that a) going out to the movies has gotten ridiculously expensive and b) most mainstream movies aren't terrific. Given these two truths, RottenTomatoes.com is a default stop most Fridays; one critic's review may not be a good measure of my future satisfaction with a movie, but when multiple reviews are averaged they become a powerful tool.
Rotten tomatoes has been steadily growing for the past 5 years. The chart below shows unique visitors per month, from August 2002 to August 2007. Over that time period the site has grown from just over 1 million visitors to nearly 2.5, peaking in December at over 3 million. Interestingly, while unique visitors has fallen since the December peak, Visitors spend about 25% more time on the site, so monthly attention remains relatively consistent.
The home page of Rottentomatoes.com answers the most immediate question visitors have;"Is the movie I'm about to see not a dive?". But at around $10 a seat, there are reasons to dig deeper, so what movies were RottenTomatoes.com visitors researching the most? The chart below shows the top 20 movies on RottenTomatoes ranked by the amount of total time spent on each movie, from January 2007 to August 2007, along with each movie's total budget, opening weekend revenue, and "TomatoMeter" score.
- Its (sort of) all about the ad spend: It appears that the primary influence on consumer interest all comes back to money. Generally, movies with the largest budgets received the most traffic.
- …then our ticket lines will wait in the shade: An internet rock star, 300 was the only site with a sub-$100 million budget to make it into the top five. It's enormous online presence also helped drived $72 million in opening weekend sales.
- Lipstick on a pig: Bad movies with big budgets (Eragon, Fantastic 4, Ghostrider) tend to attract far less interest on the site than their more positively reviewed peers, but it doesn't seem to impact opening weekend sales.
- A different kind of action movie: Amazingly, even RottenTomatoes isn't immune to the adult industry's massive web presence. WWE Divas Undressed captured more attention on the site than Live Free or Die Hard.
…but I'd still bet on Mclane any day.
Source: Blog compete
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