Netizen

Friday, August 03, 2012

Apps Are Where It's At

In 1996 everyone wanted a website. Today everyone wants an app.

Why a High-End Software Maker Pursues App Companies

selling expensive software to businesses, lucrative as it may be, is becoming a less reliable way of staying on top of trends in computing. As employees use tablets and smartphones both at home and work, and as desktop software moves to the Web, the lines between consumer and business customers are blurring.... Autodesk's consumer offerings are either free and supported by advertising, or they cost one or two dollars to purchase in app stores, while its typical software packages retail for thousands. ...... Historically, IT innovation started in big organizations, such as the military and large companies, and trickled its way down. But today, Bass argues, software trends are starting at the level of individual users ..... "I get more mail from people who have bought SketchBook and Pixlr for 99 cents than some of our $5,000 applications," he says. "The letter always starts: 'Dear Mr. Bass, I paid 99 cents for SketchBook and when I did, I expected it would have this filter or do this.' I rarely get that around our $5,000 professional products. For 99 cents, people feel very entitled."

Visionary Sergey

Sergey looks quite the visionary in this picture, don't you think?

Augmented Reality Getting Closer

You don't need zombie goggles to experience augmented reality. In its stripped down form you experience augmented reality more often than you realize you do. If your smartphone is helping you better navigate your surroundings, you are already on.

Augmented Reality Is Finally Getting Real

As smartphones explode in popularity, augmented reality is starting to move from novelty to utility. ... helped by the massive popularity of smartphones and tablets, and their constantly improving processors and sensors, along with the growth of high-speed wireless data networks ..... The software uses a smartphone's GPS, accelerometer, and compass to determine a user's position and line of site; but also to triangulate with other phones using the same software to determine specifically what everyone in a cluster is looking at. The company's technology has been used in a number of apps, including one for a recent NASCAR race in which fans, who couldn't see the entire 2.5-mile track, could point their phones at distant turns and get photos and videos generated by others who were closer to the action. .... Project Glass draws attention to the idea of a digital layer on top of the physical world..... Swedish furniture maker Ikea's 2013 catalog, 211 million copies of which were shipped out Wednesday, includes additional content that readers can see with an Android or iOS app.

Augmented reality could also make possible intimate remote engagement. You could have participated in Tahrir Square action. I guess you already did through Twitter. See? Twitter is also augmented reality. It is a stretch to say that, but it is.

Privacy, Security And Consensus

There is more room for mischief in mobile. The average person is not aware how much they are already giving away.

Study Reveals a Confused View of Mobile Phone Privacy and Security

Smartphones store a wealth of valuable personal data—photos, videos, e-mail, texts, app data, GPS locations, and Web browsing habits—that is increasingly falling into the hands of advertisers, app makers, law enforcement, and crooks...... The majority of respondents also said they believed their mobile phone to be as private as their personal computer. .... millions of people already provide mobile data to marketers, business analysts, and law enforcement, often without their knowledge or consent

Power Grids Overloaded Many Places

This is the real solution: The Moon Does Not Have Water.

Outage in India Could Be a Harbinger for the Rest of the World

The growing complexity and reliance on the electric grid in both developed and fast-growing countries is making stability tougher to achieve..... "Saying the reason for India's gridwide collapse was that they had more load than generation is too simplistic." .... Mansoor suspects it is something fairly mundane, such as a failed relay or a grid operator making a mistake ..... the causes of India's blackouts have more to do with politics than technology and engineering

You might argue the same for APIs. They are so intermingled, there might be an outage or two down the line.

VoiceGem (2)

VoiceGem

@paramendra Sure, the more the merrier! :)
— Arda Kara (@ArdaKara) August 3, 2012

@ardakara What would be your email?
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) August 3, 2012

@paramendra Was this on the web or the iOS app? I would refresh the page, if it was the web
— Arda Kara (@ArdaKara) August 3, 2012

@ardakara It was on the web. In a Chrome browser.
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) August 3, 2012

@paramendra Thanks for the tweet!
— VoiceGem (@VoiceGem) August 3, 2012

@voicegem My blog posts automatically show up as tweets. :-) But still, welcome. Most welcome.
— Paramendra Bhagat (@paramendra) August 3, 2012

Drones In The Sky

A MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle prepares to land after a mission in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The Reaper has the ability to carry both precision-guided bombs and air-to-ground missiles. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is like the Google Maps truck peering through your window, all the time. Allowing domestic use by law enforcement will be tricky enough. Wait until civilians get their hands on the licenses. This thing is a serious invasion of privacy, potentially speaking. Paparazzi would have a field day. Too bad because so many great uses can be thought of.

Lawmakers Want to Know: What Are Those Drones Doing Up There?

issue licenses to commercial drone operators and to make it easier for law enforcement and other government agencies to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles ..... Drones are already used to monitor movement on the borders .... shooting Hollywood movies, monitoring oil spills and conducting criminal investigations ..... the possibility of ubiquitous surveillance, especially because the law currently protects the right to take pictures of anyone and anything in public. ..... a voluntary code of conduct which includes a provision to “respect the privacy of individuals.” .... The prospects of any imminent movement on Capitol Hill, though, seem to be minimal. Stubborn partisan divisions have so far doomed agreement on a bill that seeks to strengthen cybersecurity for the electrical grid, nuclear power plants and other critical infrastructure